Well I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry for the wait and I hope it's worth it. All mistakes are mine. Enjoy.
It's the middle of the week, hump day as some would call it. That sweet tortuous day that is so close but yet so far from the blessed reprieve of Friday. The whole day has been a cold rainy late winter drag, the type of day where the rain is seemingly never ending as it soaks you to the bone and the blistering wind freezes you down to your core. Hell, the whole week has been super slow. Mike looks down at his watch, it's only mid day and he's already felt like he's been here for years. Sighing and resisting the urge to scream, Mike grabs his history book out of his locker and heads to class. The teacher is as usual boring to tears but Mike tries his hardest to pay attention and ignore the giggling from the boy in the next row.
"Richard pay attention!" Mrs. Mendoza snaps already irritated by the boy's antics. He quiets down for the time being and class continues on but Mike is intrigued and glances over to Richard wondering what has the boy so playful.
"Hey you want some?" Richard asks his friend quietly, holding up his water bottle and giving it a little shake.
"Sure." She takes the bottle and takes a sip before nearly choking.
"What is that!?" She whispers, wiping her mouth from the little that spilled over.
Richard giggles at her reaction and takes the bottle back, "Vodka."
Mike's eyes widen in shock, vodka? In school? During class of all places? Why? What would even possess someone to do such a thing? It's only Wednesday and he's already drinking. He does wonder briefly about what issues the boy might have going on in his personal life that would drive him to drink at school. Mike is pulled from his musings when Richard suddenly falls from his chair and laughs as if he's just heard the world's funniest joke.
"Richard! What is wrong with you!?" Mrs. Mendoza yells from the front of the class before making her way over to him. She helps the boy up before sniffing,
"Is that alcohol? Are you drunk?" She screeches, drawing the full attention of everyone in the classroom and a few people start to whisper.
"No, you're drunk." Richard giggles before he's being dragged off to Figgins' office by an enraged teacher at her wits ends. The class immediately erupts into loud conversation as soon as they leave the room.
Mike yawns loudly while making his way to glee, the cold has been seeping into his bones and sapping away what little energy he did have. There are just some places in the school that never seem to get warm enough. The day had quickly gone back to being boring after the excitement of Richard being dragged off to the principal's office and the selfish part of him wanted the scene to go on longer so he had some type of entertainment. Mike shakes his head at the thought and makes a quick stop to his locker to drop off his books.
"God, can this day get any longer? I kinda don't even wanna go to glee, just go home and sleep." Santana complains while walking up and joining Mike.
"I feel the same way. Hey, guess what happened in class today? A kid got caught drinking, he was completely drunk."
"In class? Bold." Santana replies looking mildly impressed.
"I don't see the fun in getting drunk at school but whatever." Mike replies and Santana shrugs. He closes up his locker and the two continue on to glee.
"So, if you haven't heard Rachel is apparently having a party this Saturday. Are you in?" Santana asks and Mike grimaces.
"At Rachel's? Won't that be super lame?"
"It will be, that's why I made sure Puck and the others were going before I agreed to go. I absolutely refuse to suffer alone." Santana explains and Mike does briefly wonder if Santana actually wanted to go but didn't want to seem too eager.
"Sure, I guess I'll go if you want to go." Mike answers with a smile.
"I don't actually want to go." Santana huffs and glances away.
Mike smirks, "Then why work so hard to make sure other people go? Don't want Rachel's first party to fail?"
"I don't care if the hobbit's party fails." Santana sneers and folds her arms in defiance.
"Okay, whatever you say. I'll take that as your version of caring." Mike laughs, giving Santana a hug. She scoffs and pushes him away from her, causing Mike to laugh even harder.
"Shut up!" Santana growls as she enters into the choir room and Mike just continues to laugh as he follows her in and takes a seat next to Tina.
"Alright guys, everyone take a seat and settle down." Mr. Shue says walking in and starting immediately. Mike has to fight one last bout of giggles as Santana gives him one final glare from her seat next to Sam.
"To start off, I've got a bit of good news. If you haven't heard, next week is going to be alcohol awareness week and Figgins wants us to perform in the assembly." Mr. Shue announces excitedly.
Rachel jumps up excitedly clapping her hands and Mike internally groans. They haven't had the best track record when it comes to school performances and this probably won't be any better. He internally shivered at what happened the last time they performed for the school.
"Now, what ideas for songs did you guys have.?" Mr. Shue asks and the group gets started on brainstorming ideas.
Later that night at dinner Mike decides to bring up Rachel's party, he's really hoping that his parents will actually let him go. From a strategic standpoint this is the best time to ask as his parents have had time to relax and decompress from work and are more likely to be in a favorable mood. It also strikes him in this moment that this will be his first real high school party, not like the celebratory meals he and the guys would get after a win. Does that seem a little pitiful? That Rachel Berry's little party is gonna be his first party experience? There probably is a little something sad about that but Mike supposes he can't be too picky.
"Hey, I was wondering." Mike starts off suddenly, catching his parents' attention.
"Yes?" Mr. Chang asks.
"I've been invited to a party this Saturday and I was wondering if I could go." He asks, tone completely hopeful.
"Whose party is this?" Mrs. Chang asks, taking a sip of water from her glass.
"Rachel from glee club."
"I'm assuming this is a house party? Without parental supervision?" Mr. Chang asks, raising his eyebrow.
"Um… yes." Mike answers nervously, past experience teaching him that being honest in these moments really is the best course of action. He just really hopes that his parents won't consider that to be a deal breaker. A concern that grows greatly as he watches his parents give each other a look.
"Well, I'm not so old that I've forgotten what goes down in house parties with teens. How are you kids planning on getting home at the end of the night?" Mr. Chang asks after a moment.
"Rachel isn't particularly rowdy so I don't think she'll allow things to get too crazy. She's kinda controlling in that way so I don't think there will be a lot of drinking if any at all but we're responsible and will have designated drivers just in case." Mike says, hoping that his answer will be good enough. His parents look at each other again, having some sort of silent conversation.
"Okay, you can go but we're trusting you be responsible." Mr. Chang agrees as Mrs. Chang nods along silently.
"Yes! Thank you!" Mike exclaims happily, smiling hugely at both of his parents before they continue with their dinner.
The rest of the week past by in a boring blur of familiar faces and routines. Mike was at least grateful for the small blessing of the final bell signifying that this week was truly and officially over and he didn't have to suffer through another mind-numbing class. The dreary weather must really be affecting his mood as he couldn't seem to focus on class the way he usually does. Honestly, he's just ready for winter to be over so it can hurry up and warm up. Finishing up at his locker, Mike makes his way over to the choir room to meet up with the rest of the glee kids to discuss their plan to tackle Rachel's party tomorrow. Mike enters into the room to see mostly everyone there but he doesn't have to wait long before Puck and Lauren stroll in and the group is completed.
"So honestly, how is this party gonna go? I mean it's Rachel we're talking about." Mercedes asks as soon as everyone is gathered close enough.
"All I know is there better be alcohol involved." Santana throws out before anyone can respond.
"Oh, there will be, I'll make sure of it. I don't think any of us will survive without it." Puck replies seriously.
"Designated drivers? I told my parents we'd have them, it's the only way they'll let me go." Mike asks, if they're already talking about drinking then this is an extremely important point to settle before anything else.
"I'll be one, I don't mind." Finn offers first and no one fights him on it because he's the only one who can handle Rachel for several hours sober.
"I'll have my mom's car for the night so I can drive people." Puck offers as well and the others look at him.
"Won't you be drinking?" Quinn asks with an eyebrow raised.
"I'll hold back, plus I can hold my liquor better than anyone here." A few people look at him dubiously but don't say anything. Mike wonders how safe that could be but they don't have a lot of options and Puck says he'll hold back then he has no choice but to take him at his word.
"Kurt is also gonna be there with Blaine so I know he isn't going to be drinking either. I know he'll be up driving some people and making sure they get home safely as well." Finn says and Mike starts to feel more relieved that they all have a reliable means of getting home safely.
"Cool. Now that that's settled, I guess the only thing left is to get ready for this train wreck tomorrow. I'll see you guys later." Puck says and everyone says their farewells before going their separate ways.
Mike is about to turn away when his hand is grabbed by Tina, fully grabbing his attention. He swings their hands back and forth a few times with a smile and gives Tina a quick kiss on the cheek.
"What's up?" he asks.
"I know we have Rachel's thing tomorrow but are you busy next weekend?" Tina asks, smiling brightly from the kiss.
"Not really. I know my mom wants to get an early start on this year's spring cleaning and other errands Saturday so she'll probably want me to help with that." Mike replies.
"Sooo… say I wanted to do something fun, like going to the roller rink for example..." Tina trails off obviously hinting at her intentions.
"We could totally do that Friday; it'll be the perfect way to end the week and take my mind off of how my mom is probably gonna use me as her personal pack mule for heavy boxes and any other heavy object that she can find." Mike says and Tina giggles at the image.
"Does she really do that?" She asks.
"I don't know where they all come from. I swear she conjures them out of thin air or something. There's always a new box to be put away or something that needs to be loaded up to be donated. Last year she had me move almost every piece of furniture so she could clean. I was exhausted." Mike lamented.
"Awww poor baby." Tina coos as she leans in for another kiss that Mike is happily to receive.
"So Friday, because I'll be absolutely useless Saturday."
"Sounds perfect. It's a date." Tina smiles and they kiss again. The break apart when a loud gag could be heard from the doorway, Mike turns to see Santana standing there.
"Could the two of you get any more gross?" She asks, voice full of fake disgust.
"I don't know, can we?" Mike replies snarkily before grabbing Tina and giving her a twirl, causing her to giggle loudly before they come to a stop. Santana just rolls her eyes and shakes her head as his antics.
"Okay okay I'm coming." Mike says as his puts Tina down. They give one final goodbye before he heads out of the choir room to head home.
"Just so you know, I talked it over with Sam and we're gonna arrive at the party together as a couple, really sell the whole thing to Quinn and make her regret her life choices. Then I'm gonna head to Brit's afterwards." Santana states.
"Oh? That sounds fun, you and Brit get to hang out and catch up." Mike replies, zipping up his coat and preparing to step out into the cold.
"It's better than being stuck in that house. It's so fucking suffocating with my parents constantly arguing."
"I'm sorry you have to deal with that. I hope it can get better soon." Mike says sadly.
"Yeah, it probably won't until they finalize the divorce or my dad leaves, whichever comes first." Santana sighs and Mike spends the entire drive home trying to keep her mind off of her parents' divorce.
Today's the day, the moment of truth Mike thinks as his dad drops Tina and himself off at Rachel's house. Mike does wonder what all they'll be able to do at this party because the last time they were all here, the house didn't really have a set up for a bunch of kids dancing around in a party environment without potentially breaking something. Looking over to his left he can see Artie being unloaded out of his parents' car before wheeling over to them in greeting, Brittany following behind.
"Alright guys, you ready for this?" Artie asks try to spark up some optimism.
"Let's just get this over with." Tina says, not even attempting to have any hope for this party. They walk up to the door and Mike pushes the doorbell. It doesn't take long for Rachel to appear and answer the door. The first thing everyone notices is the floor length gown she's wearing and Mike is horrified. Why in the world is she dressed like she's going to some type of formal black-tie event? Has she never seen any type of teen movie? Glancing over Mike can see everyone else also trying to not have a visible reaction to Rachel's outfit choice; Brittany failing the most out of all of them.
"Welcome everyone to my home. If you just follow me, I'll lead you to where we'll be having our festivities for the evening." Rachel welcomes in her usual pompous flair. She leads everyone down into the basement and Mike is impressed by how everything is set up. It was a very nice lounge setup complete with a bar and a stage that just screamed Rachel Berry. The sight of it makes Mike force down the urge to roll his eyes; of course, she would have a stage in her house.
"Wow it's pretty nice down here." Artie says, the surprise obvious in his voice. Mike continues to look around as he takes a seat on a bar stool.
"Thank you. My dads transformed our ordinary basement for our famous annual Oscar parties." She then turns and points to the stage. "I kind of like to give impromptu performances for our neighbors sometimes."
The doorbell rings and thankfully saves them from the awkward atmosphere and any potential monologue that Rachel was about to go into. She excuses herself and heads upstairs to let in her next batch of guests.
"Jesus this is already awkward." Quinn says suddenly nearly giving Mike a fright. He didn't even notice her quietly sitting alone on the couch out of the way. Tina sits next to her,
"It's almost unbearable and we haven't even been here for five minutes."
"Tell me about it. I got here first and was alone with her until you all showed up." Quinn admits quietly and they can hear Rachel heading back before anyone else could respond. Coming down the stairs reveals that Santana, Sam, Puck, Lauren and Mercedes have all shown up together… almost as if coordinated. Mike wonders if the group had planned to show up together or if they just happened to meet up like he and Tina did with Artie and Brittany.
"Well, since mostly everyone is here, I just want to take a moment to go over the rules. Everyone gets two drinks to keep things from getting out of hand. We are serving wine coolers today. That is our specialty drink. Well actually it's all that we have." Rachel says happily, ignoring the awkward atmosphere as she hands out drink tickets to everyone and points to the bucket full of wine coolers in the middle of the room. It doesn't take long for everyone to move to grab one. Mike didn't even think he would be drinking let alone this early into the night but even he can't stomach how horribly awkward this party has been so far. He knocks back a few sips and coughs a bit as he tries to adjust to the taste. This is going to be a very long night.
Rachel puts on some ambiance music and tries to make conversation with her guests, which to their credit, people have been polite enough to hold a conversation with her, everyone except for Santana and Sam. Santana chugged a wine cooler before dragging Sam over to the couch and sitting in his lap; they've been making out ever since then. The doorbell rings again and Rachel whisks away up the stairs to let in more guests. This time Mike can hear the voices of Kurt and Blaine and despite everything he really is excited to see Kurt again. They come down the stairs revealing that Finn is also with them and Rachel is going over her same spiel from before.
"Brittany! No sitting on anything!" Rachel suddenly snaps, shocking Mike and a few others as he turns to see Brittany slowly getting down from the washing machine she was previously sitting on, looking like a kicked puppy.
"Okay, okay everybody, Cheers!" Rachel says holding up her own unopened wine cooler, trying to salvage a clearly dying party. Halfhearted cheers follow hers and Mike sighs, halfheartedly attempting to lift his mostly empty bottle.
"Hey girlfriend having fun?" Rachel asks excitedly, walking over to Quinn, completely missing, or rather flat out ignoring, her sour mood as she keeps glancing over to Santana and Sam on the couch. The two of them are seriously dedicated considering how long they've been going at it now.
"Yeah. Awesome party." She replies quietly, not in the least bit believable to anyone paying attention. She turns away, no longer able to stomach looking at the couple. Mike can see that the others are already over this awkward party and have begun to put their coats on. When Tina makes to grab hers, Mike decides to grab his as well. Maybe they could have their roller rink date early instead of being here; there's still plenty of time.
Artie is already dressed to leave and rolls over to Rachel, "Great party Rachel. We gotta run."
Mike quietly snorts at Artie's bluntness as he makes his way over to Tina and Brittany. He almost feels bad about leaving this early but at least they showed up. That has to count for something right? He just can't bring himself to suffer on a Saturday night when he could be out with Tina or at home gaming. Anything is better than this.
"Yeah. Dinner reservations." Tina lies trying to back Artie up.
"But- but we haven't even played celebrity yet." Rachel says desperate for people to stay. Mike grimaces at the thought of it and they all turn to leave. Mike is trying to help Brittany get Artie in position to get up the stairs when he overhears Rachel talking to Puck.
"Wha- why is everybody leaving?" Rachel stage whispers.
"Because this party blows." Puck says not as quietly. Mike tries not to laugh but his ear does catch Puck trying to convince Rachel to let him break into her fathers' liquor cabinet and he taps Tina to wait. There's a brief pause before Rachel yells out,
"LET'S PARTY!"
It doesn't take long for Puck to bust out the real booze and Artie has found real party music to dance and have fun to. Now it's really time to party.
The music is blasting and the vibrations flow through him invigorating his soul and giving Mike plenty of energy to move as he dances around the basement, changing partners every few minutes. Laughter fills the basement almost as much the singing accompanying the songs that people know. Everything is so bright and swirly, and Mike wonders if this is what being drunk is like. Is he drunk? Maybe? Everything is super fun, the music is great, this party is great, life is good and oh? Look at that, Brittany has lost more clothes. Seeing a shirtless Brittany running around the basement sends Mike into a fit of laughter as he takes another large gulp of his drink.
Mike doesn't know how much time has passed since the drinks have started flowing but it has greatly improved the party and made everything a lot livelier. In fact, it has most definitely probably gone off the rails. Yes, matter of factly… truly. Mike takes another drink finishing off his cup. He then goes and slightly stumbles over to the group as Santana is finishing up a body shot off of Brittany to a round of cheers, which he immediately joins in on. Sam is getting another refill and Mercedes and Tina are on the couch laughing and just enjoying the atmosphere. Artie at some point has found a fedora and a feather boa that he's currently using to act like he's some type of rap star in a video. Puck, Blaine and Lauren are on the stage chanting 'chug' as Rachel chugs down another wine cooler. She belches loudly before grabbing her mic.
"It tastes like pink. It tastes like PINK!" She yells before everyone bursts out into laughter.
Mike pulls Tina off the couch and they dance together for a bit before Mike hears Rachel calls to play spin the bottle and everyone makes their way over to Rachel on the floor. Things tame down a bit as everyone that wants to participate settles down in a circle. The first spin is simple enough as Tina goes first and it lands on him. Mike smiles and shares a quick kiss with his girlfriend.
"Boring." Puck says as he grabs for the bottle and gives it a strong spin. It stops on Santana and people 'ooooh' and laugh, looking to Lauren to see her reaction. She only really raises an eyebrow and looks at Puck; it seems as though that was enough to make him take pause for a second.
Santana rolls her eyes, "Why are ya'll acting like we didn't use to date last year."
She quickly grabs Puck's face and pulls him in for a deep kiss. It goes on for a fraction longer than people expect but ends before it could get awkward. Santana pulls away first, biting his lip gently before letting go, and Puck starts to follow her movement, not quite ready to let the kiss end but he comes to his senses and pulls back. He does look a little dazed and lustfully looks at Santana, who just smirks in return. Lauren clears her throat and Puck immediately sobers and looks over to his angry girlfriend, while others chuckle at the scene. Santana doesn't say anything, just takes a sip from her cup and blinks at the group innocently.
"Next." Puck says quickly, trying to get the attention off of him. The next few turns were pretty tame: Quin and Finn, Puck again this time thankfully with Lauren, and Tina and Mercedes, which they decide to just kiss each other's cheeks. Brittany reaches over and spins the bottle and it lands on Sam. Everyone gets excited again to see a non-couple kiss and the potential reactions of their significant others.
"You know what?" Santana calls out over the cheers. "A reminder I owns that guppy mouth. Those trouty Aerosmith lips belong to me, so..."
She trails off with a pointed look as Brittany and Sam move in to kiss each other. The moment their lips connect the room goes wild and the only quiet ones are Quinn and Santana. The kiss continues a beat too long before Santana jumps in to interrupt.
"You know what this is not? Hey, honeys, it's not a big red commercial. No me gusta." Santana says irritably as she tears the two apart before sitting back down. Mike giggles at Santana's obvious jealousy and knows that it's more about Brittany kissing Sam than the other way around.
"Woo! Party! My turn my turn." Rachel yells out bringing Mike's focus back to the game. The bottle spins and lands on Blaine to much of everyone's surprise and Kurt's amusement.
"This is outstanding." Kurt laughs and he claps his hands.
"Blaine Warbler, I'm gonna rock your world." Rachel says sloppily as she drunkenly crawls over to Blaine and they share a kiss. The kiss goes on, and on, and starts to get a little deeper the longer they go. By now everyone has quieted down and things have started to get a little awkward; Kurt at this point has a very strained smile on his face.
"Okay I think that's enough of that." Kurt says nervously as he's reached his breaking point of watching his crush make out with a girl. Rachel and Blaine finally break apart but continue to stare at each other with their faces close.
"Your face tastes awesome. I think I just found a new duet partner." Rachel says out of the blue before getting up and dragging Blaine with her to the stage.
It doesn't take long to get the stage set up and the music started. The opening beats to 'Don't You Want Me' start kick in and Rachel and Blaine drunkenly take their places. Mike laughs and almost falls over when he looks over to find Santana back to making out with Sam while he taps her ass to the beat of the song. Eventually the music gets him grooving and Mike grabs Tina so they could dance to the performance. By the middle of the song everyone is jamming out and having a good time, even those two have stopped making out long enough to pay attention. When Blaine and Rachel get to the second chorus of the song Santana drunkenly calls out,
"I want you; I do!"
Everyone else is having too much fun to pay attention but Mike's jaw drops at the bold admission and he really hopes that he remembers all of this because he really needs to ask Santana about her obvious attraction to Rachel. Mike goes back to jamming out and dancing with Tina before she pulls him down to make out.
Sunlight filters in through his window the next morning and Mike awakes to a blinding, pulsating pain in his head. His tongue feels like it's grown three times its size and his mouth is the driest it has ever been in his life. What truck hit him? Is this a hangover? The is freaking horrible. Mike sits up slowly before his stomach tumbles and gurgles violently and in a flash he's up and running to the bathroom; barely making it to the toilet in time before his stomach decides to turn itself inside out. The retching seems almost never ending and he's gagging so hard that it hurt and tears start to well up in his eyes. After several long agonizing minutes Mike thinks it may be safe for him to leave the bathroom. He flushes the toilet and cleans his mouth out a bit before leaving and nearly running into his mother who is standing in the hall. She has a look on her face that Mike can't quite decipher in his state but he does at least notice the flash of disappointment before she sighs.
"Now, what have we learned?" Mrs. Chang asks, looking over her son slightly amused. The loudness of her voice causing painful stab in his head.
It takes a few moments of painful swallowing before Mike works up enough moisture in his mouth to talk and he whispers, "Hangovers suck."
"Yes, they do. Come back to bed and I'll make some tea to try and help settle your stomach. I would reprimand you right now but I think this hangover is plenty punishment enough."
Mike only has enough energy to wince again at how loud she is. Does his mother really need to be yelling right now? He knows she's upset but can't she see how badly his head hurts right now? This is just horrible. Mike just groans lightly and shuffles to his bed before collapsing into it and curling up into a ball. After downing some weird tea, Mike dozes off hoping he can just sleep this pain away.
Mike blearily opens his eyes Monday morning to his alarm blaring on his night stand causing the pounding in his head to increase tenfold. He moves to turn it off before rolling back into bed, feeling a wave of nausea crash down on him in full force. This is misery, pure misery. He thought hangovers were only supposed to last for a day. So why does he still feel like absolute trash? The sun pouring in from his window does nothing but hurt his eyes and increase the pounding in his head. Mike closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, eventually working up the energy to get out of bed to begin getting ready for school. He goes through the motions in a haze, his main focus on trying not to vomit from moving too fast… again. It's not long before he finds himself in Santana's driveway, slightly disturbed that he drove here in a brain fog with no memory of the trip. Santana comes out of the house wearing sunglasses and from her movements Mike can tell she feels just as bad if not worse than he does. There is a small part of him that's happy that he's not alone in this misery but Mike ignores it.
"Wow, rough weekend?" Mike jokes weakly as Santana enters the car and he starts to pull out of the driveway. He immediately notices that something is wrong when he doesn't get a snarky reply. Maybe she's worse than he thought. Looking over Mike can see Santana nervously grabbing at her hands.
"Santana, is everything okay?" Mike asks, sobering at the quiet.
"Brittany and I slept together." Santana reveals quietly to his shock.
"What?" Mike gasps and it's enough to break the damn of contained emotion that Santana was holding back.
"It was a mistake, a stupid mistake. We were both drunk and just fell back into old habits… I can't believe I was so stupid… so fucking stupid to believe that- Fuck! I made her a cheater and I never wanted to do that- and she looked so heartbroken… and I just… I'm such a piece of shit. Just a useless cowardly piece of shit who made her a cheater and a liar." Santana chokes out rapidly through her growing tears.
"Santana slow down." Mike tries to keep up and calm down the girl next to him so she could at least take a breath. His head is still pounding but he forces himself to ignore it. Glancing over Mike sees that Santana is shaking and taking ragged breaths. She hasn't removed her glasses and just lets the tears fall down her face, making no attempt to wipe them away.
"I asked her to not tell Artie. She wanted to but… I-I just couldn't. You know he would spread it around a-and I… I just can't. Even if it's just glee club, you know they can't keep a secret… it would get out… and I can't." By the time Santana finishes her voice is nothing more than a frightened whisper.
Mike takes a deep breath himself as he tries to process everything Santana just dumped on him. It's a lot, Santana and Brittany cheated together, that's pretty heavy and Artie is most definitely gonna be pissed. Tina doesn't talk about it much but she's mentioned on a few occasions how nasty Artie can get when angered. So, as cowardly as Santana may see it, Mike thinks she made a good call asking Brittany to keep quiet. Mike reaches over to offer his hand and Santana gratefully takes it.
"I'm not usually one for hiding stuff like this but Artie can get pretty mean. People make mistakes Santana, and considering how horrible you feel about it, I think that's plenty proof that you're not a bad person, just human." Mike says hoping that his words will reach and that Santana won't beat herself up as much.
Mike slowly makes his way through the halls, he's somehow managed to make it through the school day and he's proud to say that he's only had to vomit twice today. That is a vast improvement compared to yesterday. Now he just has to make it through glee and he'll be home free to continue being miserable at home. They have to perform today but hopefully it won't be too bad, good think he doesn't have to worry about singing on top of his dancing. He spots Tina and Mercedes at the locker and makes his way over. Everyone looks as miserable as he feels and by the time Mike makes it to the lockers Santana has also shown up.
"I've been dry heaving all weekend. When my mother asked what that sound was, I said I was practicing bird calls." Santana says as the leave the lockers to make their way to glee.
"You guys I can't stop barfing." Mike says before groaning.
"Please don't say barf" Mercedes replies.
"I caught a whiff of hair spray and went full Linda Blair in the girl's bathroom." Santana says quietly next to him.
"My mom made me a traditional tea; I don't know what it was but it tasted horrible." Mike says thinking back to the tea his mother gave him. It tasted so horrible he wondered if that was her way of punishing him, even if it did help with his stomach.
"Can we talk about anything else." Tina asks, starting to look a little pale herself. Walking out into an intersection of halls the group runs into Brittany and Artie; the latter who was carrying a large thermos in his lap. Santana tenses slightly next to him but stays quiet and the groups meet.
"How about some bloody marys ya'll." He asks holding up his thermos.
"Are you kidding me? The last thing I wanna do right now is drink." Mercedes says, looking at Artie as if he had lost his mind.
"It'll help your hangover. That's what bloody marys are for. Hair of the dog that done bit yo ass." Artie replies as he starts to pour and pass the cup around. Mike can't believe that, one, they're doing this in school and, two, they're doing it out in the hallway in view of any and everyone. The cup is passed to Mike and he hesitates for a moment but honestly, he just wants the pounding in his head to stop and to stop feeling sick. Mike knocks he cup back and hopes that Artie is right and that this will make him feel better.
Mike has to hand it to Artie; he may have been right about the bloody mary. He most definitely feels a bit better and that allowed him to get through their practice performance for the assembly at the end of the week. They've just finished their performance of "Blame It" and Mike is feeling pretty good about how good they did. Everything went off without a hitch even though it's plenty obvious to him that everyone is still feeling the effects of the party on Saturday.
"Well done you guys. I mean you always bring it with the singing and dancing but what I was really impressed with today was your acting. I truly thought that some of you guys were drunk." Mr. Shue says praising their performance. The last part was like a punch to the gut and Mike feels really guilty about taking that drink earlier.
"We take our craft seriously." Artie replies.
"Problem is, that- that song is great but it kind of glorifies drinking don't you think? I mean we're supposed to sing about the dangers of alcohol for this assembly." Mr. Shue continues.
"Well good luck finding a song that does that." Mercedes scoffs. Mike nods along in agreement with Mercedes when he suddenly notices a weight on his right side. Looking down he sees that Rachel has now latched onto him and his currently playing with his tie.
"Mr. Shue?" Rachel speaks up after being temporarily distracted by his tie. "First of all that vest is very cute. You are all kinds of awesome" She clutches to him tighter and it starts to become uncomfortable.
"But second, maybe there's really no songs about the dangers of drinking because there's really none, as long as you have a proper designated driver. Have I ever told you how great you are?" Rachel finishes and it takes him a second to realize that that last sentence was meant for him and that her face is now super uncomfortably close to his. Suddenly Tina appears in his sight, grabbing his arm and dragging him away from the drunk clingy girl.
"Well Rachel yeah, driving drunk is dangerous and have you guys ever heard of alcohol poisoning? Yeah, it kills about 400 people every year." Mr. Shue replies, completely ignoring the odd behavior of his students. There's a quiet whimper that cuts through the silence and everyone turns to find Santana in tears.
"Santana are you- are you crying?" Mr. Shue asks incredulously.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." She replies as Brittany pulls her into a hug and tries to console her.
"You know, you're such a hypocrite. You drink, most adults do." Quinn snaps out of the blue and it catches a lot of people off guard.
"Yes, I do have an occasion beer but I'm allowed to legally as an adult. That still doesn't erase the dangers of alcohol if used irresponsibly." Mr. Shue pushes back.
"We're just saying that this is a waste of time. We're totally aware of alcohol, we see adult drinking it and having fun. Every commercial for NASCAR is for beer and every show and movie has someone drinking in it." Puck says cutting into the conversation.
"Okay, enough guys. Look, tomorrow come with your thinking caps on because we're going to spend the entire day brainstorming ideas for songs to sing at this assembly." Mr. Shue says clearly tired of all the back talk he was receiving. The group groans before heading back to choir room.
On their way there, Mike hears Puck start to gripe,
"Can you believe this? That performance was amazing, we could've totally rocked that at the assembly."
"Hell yeah Mr. Shue is crazy to toss it out." Mercedes agrees.
"If only I could get over this hangover it'll be even better." Mike grumbles and Puck overhears.
"You're still hungover from Saturday? Pfft. Noob."
"If I was feeling better, I would push you right about now." Mike replies and Puck laughs.
"Dude just drink some water. Your body is probably like super dehydrated right now. Go home and drink like half a gallon and you'll feel better when you wake in the morning."
Mike just gapes at him with his mouth wide open. That's it? That's all he had to do? Drink a ton of water? Why didn't anyone say so? He would did that all of today if he had known. Ugh, maybe there is a point to this whole week. Well either way it couldn't hurt to try, Artie's way worked even if it was only temporarily so who's to say Puck's idea won't work as well.
"Thanks man." Mike says after a brief pause and Puck laughs again, smacking him on the shoulder a few times before walking off.
The rest of the week passes by quickly and Friday is upon them in no time or maybe time just seemed to speed up for him since he was no longer hungover. A fact that Mike was extremely happy about and he could most definitely go the rest of his life without experiencing something like that again. Mike is sitting in Spanish class barely paying attention to Mr. Shue when a familiar jingle starts to play over the PA system. Mike and the others look up and he wonders what Coach Sylvester could be up to.
"Heads up McKinley, Coach Sylvester's gonna shout at ya." Becky says after she's done playing her intro jingle.
"Students, Colleagues, indeed all who understand the Queen's English. We all know that this week is alcohol awareness week and I just wanted to share with you one of the dangers of drinking. Two days ago, I received a drunk dial in the middle of the night from a horny Will Shuester."
"Oh no." Mr. Shue says quietly at the front of the class, eyes widening in horror before he turns away from his students to face the board.
"Open you ears McKinley high and behold the awful price of alcoholism." Sue finishes before a phone recording starts up and Mr. Shue's voice plays over the speakers.
"Heeeeeyyyy there sexy lady. There's something I really, really want to say to you." A clearly plastered Mr. Shue, voice slurred, starts off and Mike is immediately horrified. The recording continues,
"I love how you eat your lunch with your little plastic gloves and they crinkle and make the cutest sound I've ever heard in my life. Why don't you pick up some wine coolers and come over here? And it'll be just one night of us getting crazy. Let's just get crazy! Just really crazy and roll around in the hay." There's a brief pause as drunk Mr. Shue chuckled at himself. Current day Mr. Shue has yet to turn around but Mike can see mortification in his body language. Several students in the look green at even the thought of teachers having sex. Oh god, Mr. Shue was talking about having sex! Mike wishes this could end.
"I was just in some hay earlier tonight. Hey and I rode a bull and I was thinking of you." The recording finally mercifully ends. Mr. Shue hasn't moved and one of the girls in the row next to him gags.
"Will Shuester, you've just been publicly humiliated, and on the road to recovery, it's the very first step." Coach Sylvester finishes before signing off and the jingle plays again. It's awkwardly silent in the room before Mr. Shue speaks,
"Just finish up the chapter reading and study amongst yourselves for the rest of class."
He leaves out of the classroom and everyone immediately ignores their work in favor of gossiping about what just happened. Mike shudders, this doesn't bode well in him mind about the assembly. Speaking of which, the assembly is literally after class, is Mr. Shue gonna be okay by then? He doesn't get long to ponder this as the bell rings and people start to grab their things. Mike leave class and makes a quick stop at his locker before making his way to the choir room to get ready. By the time he gets there mostly everyone is there.
"How crazy was that announcement? Coach Sylvester was brutal for doing that." Puck says.
"I can't think of anything worse than drunk dialing an ex and accidentally calling the wrong person on top of that." Santana says horrified at the thought.
"Alright guys, enough standing around. Finish getting dressed so we can make our way over to the gym." Mr. Shue says seriously as he walks through the door of the choir room. Everyone can tell from his tone that he's not in the mood so they immediately get down to business.
They walk into the gym to a loud crowd of rowdy teenagers and make their way to the backstage of the temporary stage that has been set up for their performance. He can already feel the pre-performance jitters building up and tries to shake it out. From out front Mike can hear Mr. Figgins speaking into the microphone.
"Quiet please. Quiet please children. I would like to wish you and yours a healthy and happy alcohol awareness week. Unfortunately, Kitty Dukakis could not be here because of disinterest but Lima police chief Lawrence Krowley is here to show you a grisly slide show of auto accidents. Take it away chief."
There's a brief pause before the police chief speaks into the microphone and starts his presentation; they probably have about five minutes before it's time for them to go on. Mike is finishing up a quick stretch as Brittany walks back from the curtains. She looks super nervous.
"You guys I'm really nervous. Ke$ha's been a cultural icon for weeks and I really want to do her music justice." Brittany says, her voice full of worry. Mike was surprised that Brittany even volunteered to sing lead but it's obvious that the nerves are getting to her and she's just now realizing how big a role that is.
"We haven't had enough rehearsal." Sam says, pointing out how slapped together this performance is.
"Or any at all really." Mercedes says in agreement.
"And most of our assembly performances usually end in some kind of riot." Finn throws out, saying the quiet part out loud. He's most definitely just jinxed them.
"Never fear teammates. It's a Broadway tradition for nervous performers to take a shot of whiskey before going on to calm their nerves and to mask the stench of poor dental hygiene. In that tradition I have mixed us a playful showbiz cocktail of what was left in my dad's liquor cabinet. There's some brandy and vermouth and port wine and scotch in there. And also a little bit of kool-aid and some crumbled up oreos." Rachel says out of the blue coming over to the group with a giant plastic bottle of her concoction and some cups.
Mike quickly looks around to see if Mr. Shue is around and sees that he's gone. Seriously? Have they learned absolutely nothing from the horrible hangover most of them had to suffer through? He can't believe that they would do it again. A cup is placed in his hand before he knows it and some people are already taking sips. The smell wafting up from the cup is so strong Mike nearly gags, it smells like industrial cleaner.
"Oh my god this tastes like cough syrup." Santana says in disgust.
"There's also cough syrup." Rachel confirms after taking her own gulp.
"Cheers!." Everyone says and Mike just looks on with a frown nearly lifting up his own on autopilot.
"To Ke$ha!" Rachel says knocking back her cup and others follow along. Mike has a brief flash of his mother's disappointed face and he can't bring himself to drink. He only pretends to take a sip before getting rid of his cup into the nearest trash can.
"Thank you chief and now performing the hit single, Tik and also Tock by rapper Ke dollar sigh Ha, the New Directions." Figgins introduces dryly and it's go time.
The performance starts off pretty strong, the crowd is into it but not too rowdy and Mike is starting to feel pretty good about it until he catches Brittany pausing in the choreography to whisper to Rachel. She looks a little unstable but continues to power through it to finish the song out and Mike starts to think it may have been nothing until Brittany suddenly vomits onto Rachel. The music is cut immediately as everyone freezes in shock. The only movement is Santana who runs to the edge of the stage an vomits herself.
"Everybody drink responsibly." Brittany says to the crowd clearly trying to salvage what little she can of the situation. Her talking seems to have broken Mr. Shue out of his shock and he quickly rushes them off the stage and out of the gym.
Mike spends the rest of the school day on pins and needles. The jig is up and Mr. Shue clearly knows that people were drunk during the performance. He looked irritated and disappointed but didn't say anything; only told them to get cleaned up and go to class before quietly walking away. Honestly, he wishes that they were yelled at, the quiet disappointment makes him feel way worse. It's not until the end of the last class that Mr. Figgins calls for all of them to come to his office immediately. This is it. The other shoe has dropped and they're all in trouble for that performance and Mike only hopes that he's at least given the chance to explain that he didn't actually take a drink before the punishments are rolled out. He walks to Figgins office like a man on death row and squeezes in the small room with everyone else waiting for the principal to walk in.
"We're probably suspended." Puck says and Mike gulps. That can't happen, his parents will kill him.
"I think you'll definitely get suspended. You'll probably all get suspended." Mr. Shue snaps angrily.
"Oh, you're one to talk. How about you crack a four loko Count Boozy von Drunk-a-ton." Santana snaps defensively but he can tell from his spot that she's panicking. Principal Figgins walks in before Mr. Shue could respond and everyone tenses.
"William, glee club. I have one word for you." He pauses for dramatic effect and everyone tenses further, "Congratulations. Those special effects at the assembly really paid off! I had no idea what brilliant musical comedy performers you all have become. The kids at this school are scared straight. Today is the first day in a month without a single act of public drunkenness at McKinley high!" Figgins says as he starts to clap. The awkwardly join along. Is this really happening? Mike looks around in confusion and meet the confused face of several of his classmates.
"And as a thank you, here are coupons for half of frozen yogurt. Yum!" He passes the coupons to Artie who hurriedly passes them out as everyone awkwardly chuckles at Mr. Figgins' enthusiasm.
"William I also wanted to congratulate you on the skit you and Coach Sylvester came up with. I was shocked by authentic your performance was. I never knew you were such a skilled actor and your willingness to humiliate yourself to help the students is simply inspiring." Mr. Figgins continues completely oblivious to how uncomfortable everyone is.
"Thank you." Mr. Shue says quietly.
"Okay. Achievement!" Mr. Figgins says loudly, looking at everyone expectantly.
"Achievement." They all copy halfheartedly before they are released and go back to the choir room.
"I'm torn, part of me never wants to drink again because it made me so sick but if it weren't for the drinking the assembly would've been a disaster." Brittany says as they start to enter the choir room. Mike would have to disagree, the assembly was most definitely a disaster.
"I, for one, am never drinking again. Being thrown up on- it just does something do a person." Rachel shivers as she takes her seat and a lot of people nod in agreement as they take their own seats. Mr. Shue follows in not long after everyone is situated.
"Alright guys, while I'm happy things worked out with the assembly, I never want to see you guys pull anything like that again. Drinking while performing is unprofessional, drinking while at school is just plain stupid and, most importantly, any of you drinking at all is illegal." The room is silent as Mr. Shue berates them for their misbehavior.
"Now, I know that expecting you all to refrain from drinking until you're of age is completely unrealistic which is why I'm only asking you to do it until after nationals. Consider yourselves like prized fighters getting ready for a big heavyweight bout. Here are these pledge forms and I want you guys to sign them." Mr. Shue says handing out forms for everyone.
"And what if we fall of the wagon again." Puck asks as he takes a form.
"Look in the top corner of your form. That's my cell phone number. Part of your pledge is that if you slip up, no matter where you are or what time of the night it is, I want you to call me to drive you home. No questions asked. We got lucky this time that the only consequences of your drinking was some ill-timed vomiting. None of us want to see you guys get hurt." Mr. Shue replies.
"Cool beans Mr. Shue. I'll sign it." Santana says, being the first to break the silence.
"Me too. Alcohol has done nothing for my song writing." Rachel says in agreement.
"What about after we win nationals?" Finn asks cheekily with a smirk.
"I'm buying the sparkling cider." Mr. Shue responds, and everyone laughs before he dismisses them for the weekend.
Out in the hall Mike grabs Tina's hand and gives her a twirl before stopping giving her a kiss. He remembers about their date tonight and is super excited for it. It's their first real date since making up and getting back together. This will be good for them and their relationship, to just be able to spend some time together having fun.
"I can't wait for our date tonight." Tina says when the break apart from the kiss.
"Me neither. I guess we gotta rush home huh? I'll pick you up at 8?" Mike asks.
"That's perfect. I'll see you then." Tina kisses him again before leaving and rushing off to catch up with Mercedes.
"The two of you are so disgustingly sweet." Santana says walking up to him. Brittany brushes past them looking slightly upset but she's gone before Mike can call out to her. He does however notice that Santana has completely ignored her.
"Is she okay?" Mike asks in concern.
"It's nothing." Santana huffs and Mike gives her a look.
Santana squirms a bit before looking for eavesdroppers, "She still wants to tell him, but I basically begged her not to. She's not happy about it… the lying."
"I mean, she could still tell him though." Mike points out.
"That's true but even if she did, he can't do shit about it until Monday. Anyways forget about that. What has you so googly eyes over your girlfriend?" Santana asks changing the subject clearly not wanting to talk about the subject.
"Tina and I have a date tonight." Mike informs her with a big smile and Santana rolls her eyes as they make their way to the car.
"Gross. I'll call you later to make sure you don't dress poorly and embarrass yourself." Santana says snarkily and Mike just looks at her.
"I'll have you know that's I've been dressing myself for dates for a while now with now with no issues."
"Uh huh, I'll be the judge of that." Santana replies and Mike just laughs.
It's a few hours later and Mike has started to get ready for his date. His parents have let him use the car and it seems like they've moved past his little misstep from last weekend. He has everything planned out; a little bit of skating, then hit up some food, and maybe just maybe, he could actually get lucky. If Tina's parents are gone out, that is. Mike has just entered his room fresh from the shower when his phone starts to ring. Walking over to it and seeing that it's Santana he quickly answers.
"Hey what's up?"
"So, what are you wearing?" Santana asks in lieu of a greeting.
"I'm trying to figure that out now. We're going roller skating at the rink." Mike says holding the phone between his head and shoulder as he looks through his closet for something to wear that will impress Tina.
"Well jeans are always good, and they allow for good movement. Plus, if you fall on your ass there's at least some type of protection." Santana advises and Mike snorts.
"I know how to skate." He defends and pulls out a pair of jeans. Santana just laughs in response.
"Maybe I should layer up? It does tend to get chilly in there sometimes. "T-shirt with one of my plaid button ups on top?"
"No, one shirt but make it skintight. This is a date so you wanna make Tina squirm a bit." Santana says mischievously and Mike can faintly hear a doorbell in the background.
"Who the hell is here this late?" Santana murmurs and Mike can hear her move towards the door. He snorts at the comment. It's only 7pm, it's not that late. He busies himself with getting dressed while Santana deals with whoever is at the door. He had just finished putting on his pants when Santana speaks.
"Artie? The fuck are you doing here?" Santana says sounding confused and slightly panicked. Mike freezes, a feeling of dread building in his stomach; Brittany told him.
"Why did you do it!" Artie yells out sounding extremely pissed.
"Wha-"
"You couldn't just keep your hands to yourself!? Why do you have to keep meddling in other people's relationship!?" Artie continues with his yelling, steamrolling over whatever Santana was going to say.
"Artie keep your voice down." Santana says hurriedly, panic clearly in her voice now. With the phone however close she has it he can hear that her breathing has sped up significantly.
No! I will not keep my voice down, I'm fucking pissed! You fucking slept with my girlfriend!" Artie screams. Mike is frozen still, he can't move. This is bad, this is really fucking bad. God, he feels like he's gonna vomit.
"Look I'm sorry, okay? It just happened and we were drunk but-" Santana tried to explain.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT JUST HAPPENED!?" Artie explodes, "Sleeping with someone doesn't just happen! Making my girlfriend a cheater and ruining our relationship doesn't just happen!"
"Artie please! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Santana cries out, desperation and tears thick in her voice and it's enough to calm Artie slightly. Mike can hear Santana sniffling and swallowing thickly and it's obvious to him that she's openly crying at this point.
"Whatever. Just stay the fuck away from Brittany." Artie huffs angrily and there's a bit more silence before the sound of the door closing. Santana takes a breath and Mike realized he hadn't been breathing and takes one as well.
"Santana are you okay?" He asks, heart still hammering in his chest.
Santana gasps, "Mom."
Mike hears a loud slap.
The line goes dead.
Wow wow. That's rough, our poor baby has been outed in the worst of ways. So? Did you like? Yes? No? Tell me about it and as always, Until next time.
