Okay.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.

Obviously, everyone was loud, but they were excited. Liz mostly kept to herself, taking it all in, piece by piece. Just as she suspected, there were quite a few divas and wannabes. But even they were entertaining, in their own special way. What surprised her the most were the amount of people that weren't interested in being onstage. They seemed the most invested in being stagehands, prop masters, costume designers, sound technicians, etc. This made Lizzie feel a tad more comfortable, knowing that she didn't HAVE to perform to participate in shows. Or, so she thought.

It was during first period, shortly after Liz had gotten to her first class, when a voice could be heard over the intercom; "All freshman, please report to the black box for the beginning of year assembly." She gathered her things, wondering what the hell a 'black box' was, following her new classmates, craning her neck to try and spot her cousin. After failing to find Maria, Liz gave up and sat at the edge of the risers, followed by a boy, who seemed far too tall to be a freshman. About ten seconds of silence passed, before the boy spoke.

"Hi."

Liz looked over, smiling. "Hello. It's nice to meet you!" She offered her hand for the boy to shake. "I'm Liz."

"Nathan! But, uh, you can call me Nate, Nathan sounds too fancy."

Lizzie chuckled. "Either one is fine by me, dude, as long as I know what to call you."

"Yeah, cool! What're you here for?"

"Um, the assembly?" Liz furrowed her brows, confused.

Nate laughed. "No, I mean, what do you do? Performing-wise?"

Oh.

Well…

"I don't know, yet."

Overthinking was one of Liz's 'talents'. The topic of, "Hey, what do you want to do with your life?" had always been a stressful one. She knew it was silly to be so worried about it, but she couldn't seem to make it stop. And now, she had already wasted a year of her life by having to repeat freshman year. She could feel her opportunities wasting away, at the ripe old age of fifteen. However, Nate's response was anything but what Liz expected.

"Cool! I don't know, yet, either! I want to do everything, you know? Sing, act, dance, direct, write, anything I can, really! You know, I-"

"Class of 2043!"

Nate was interrupted by the loud cheering of their classmates. Speaking into the microphone was their principle, a short, friendly, looking man. He was wearing a funky tie, and his teeth were white as paper. "Welcome to your first year, here at Shaw High School!"

More cheering.

"As many of you know, my name is Mr. Simmons, and I am your new principle. Behind me," he gestured to the row of adults sitting behind him, "Are the teachers that you will have the pleasure of working with during your time here."

The line of teachers wasn't very long. Then again, the school was small, with only about fifty students per grade. Mr. Simmons asked for two women from the line to come forward. "This is Mrs. Napta," he gestured towards a taller woman, with springy blonde hair and blue-rimmed glasses. "And Ms. Lake," he then gestured towards a short woman, with stick-straight, black hair, and plum-colored lipstick. "They are your assistant principles. If I'm busy with something that requires all of my attention, I want all of you to know that Mrs. Napta and Ms. Lake are happy to help with whatever you may need." The two women smiled warmly, and Mrs. Napta waved at the students, accepting the microphone offered by Mr. Simmons.

"Hello, everyone! It's so nice to finally see all of you together!" Her voice sounded like birds chirping. "Now, if anyone would be so kind as to help me hand a few things out, that would be lovely!" About ten hands shot up, like rockets. Mrs. Napta chose a girl in the second row, who immediately stood up and strode towards her with confidence that Lizzie could only dream of. As the mystery girl was handing out the papers, Mrs. Napta continued, "I'm the head of activities here at Shaw, as well as the organizer of all the assemblies and shows. If you want to join any groups in particular, or want to be a part of the stage crew for any of our shows, you should speak with me. This year's musical is Chicago, and this year's play is Oedipus Rex. The musical will be in the Fall, while the play will be in the Spring. Audition dates for Chicago will be announced shortly. However, those of you interested in joining the stage crew can come speak to me, starting Friday."

Liz was handed her set of papers, the first one was a scheduled list of school events, reading;

October 22nd - Hispanic Heritage Assembly

October 29th - Halloween Dance

December 9th, 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th - 'Chicago' performances

December 23rd - Christmas Assembly

February 24th - Black History Assembly

March 23rd - Women's History Assembly

April 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 29th - 'Oedipus Rex' performances

May 16th, 17th - Senior Distinction Projects

May 24th, 25th - Sophomore New Play Festival

June 8th - Pride Assembly

June 15th - Senior Prom

June 27th - Graduation

And, at the bottom of the page, it read;

All students must perform in the end of year showcases for their final grades in their theatre classes.

Great.

Now Liz had to be onstage at some point. Oh, well. At least she had the whole year to rehearse for one show, and not a whole bunch of smaller shows. Still, the thought of being on stage made her stomach do backflips. Her turning to the second paper coincided with Ms. Lake taking the microphone.

"Hello, everyone!" Her voice was a bit deeper, and raspy, as if she's had to use her 'classroom quieting' voice for almost a decade. "As Mrs. Napta said, it's great to finally meet you all. And, please forgive us if we can't remember all your names right away. Same goes for pronunciation. You'll just have to be patient with us for a few weeks while we get used to you. Now, I'm not sure if you're aware, but I'm the head of discipline here at Shaw." A few snickers came from the crowd. Despite her small stature, Ms. Lake looked frighteningly large in that instant, cocking an eyebrow so high that Liz was sure that people in the back could see it. In a manner that almost seemed too sweet, Ms. Lake continued. "If any of you disrespect the rules here, or eachother for that matter, I'm the one the teachers will take you too. And, I assure you," She gave them another look that would make the Devil wet himself, "You won't be making any disruptions more than once."

The snickering stopped after that.

The second piece of paper detailed all the rules that Shaw had in place. What really caught Lizzie's eye was one of the largest printed sentences, right in the middle of the page.

BULLYING OR HARASSMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Nice.

Liz smiled, appreciating that this place at least tried to appear accepting. She knew that no one was going to follow the rules, and that cliques would run rampant within a month. Then, it was going to be all-out turf wars. Although, with Ms. Lake, Liz felt a bit safer. The rest of the assembly was college-planning, as if they didn't just get there. Once the bell rang, all of the classes were more or less the same. For each period, a contract was given to everyone, teachers introduced themselves, and struggled with names. Liz's name got an interesting reaction almost every time.

"Elizabeth Anderson-Hummel?

As soon as she would raise her hand, about five faces turned to look at her curiously. In a class of eighteen people, five was a lot. And, after a class ended, she would always get the same question from at least one person.

"Are you related to Blaine Anderson-Hummel?"

"Yeah, he's my dad…?"

"Cool!"

Liz didn't really understand the fascination, but then again, she was going to a theatre school. There was one question that caught her off-guard, though.

It was right when lunch started, and Liz had settled herself at a table in the corner, near the stairs. Nathan came to join her, and while they were becoming better acquainted, the mystery girl from the assembly approached their table with a smile. Nathan waved at her to come over, and Liz couldn't help but notice the girl's jewelry. She knew it wasn't her place to ask, but Liz had a feeling that the girl's necklace cost more than her whole outfit. The girl sat opposite of Liz, next to Nate.

"I saw you guys at the assembly, and all the other tables are full. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"Nah, we're fine! We could use a few more faces at this table, it's too quiet here." Nate exclaimed, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Liz offered her hand to introduce herself, once again. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Liz!"

The girl's smile got wider. "Cheyenne!"

A few seconds passed, and Cheyenne blurted out, "Wait, so, your last name is Anderson-Hummel?"

Here it comes…

"Like…like Kurt Anderson-Hummel?"

There it i- Wait, what?

"Uh, yeah, he's my dad." Liz laughed, happily surprised. Saying this made Cheyenne get very excited.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry if that made you uncomfortable, but you see, my mom has had me modeling for a few years now, she's a big fan of fashion, so she's been subscribed to Vogue since forever, and I read all of them when I was little, and your dad's name kept getting mentioned more and more! It's so cool to actually meet someone who knows a Vogue editor!"

"Hi!"

Cheyenne turned to see Maria standing behind her, giggling. Cheyenne turned bright red, and got quiet. She suddenly seemed very interested in the crumbs on the table. Maria, ever-so maternal, noticed immediately, and said,

"Oh, no, I wasn't laughing at you! I thought your gushing was cute!" Maria went around the table and sat next to Liz, elbowing her in a suggestive way. "You're a celebrity around here!"

"Please don't say things like that."

Nate looked over at Maria. "You know eachother?"

Simultaneously, they spoke.

"Sisters."

"Cousins."

They laughed, Liz leaning on her hand and Maria resting her head on the table. After a few seconds of mad giggling, they looked over to see two very confused faces.

"Huh?" Nate had paused mid-bite to stare at them, perplexed. Liz and Maria quickly explained themselves.

"Biologically, we're half-sisters. Same dad, different moms. My parents and her parents are very close friends, so I've known Liz basically forever." said Maria.

Nate still looked puzzled. "That doesn't explain the biology of it, though."

Lizzie smiled. "Maria came along after my older brother and I. My aunts needed a donor to have kids, and they wanted someone they knew and trusted, so they asked my dad, and he said yes!"

It was Cheyenne's turn to be confused. "So, you both have the same dad?"

"Yes!" said Maria.

"Your family is confusing."

"We get that a lot."

Lizzie snorted. "That's nothing compared to Luke."

"Who's that?" Nate asked.

"My older brother. He's four years older than me, and his conception was complicated, from what I've been told."

"I wanna know everything." Nate leaned forward, resting his head on his elbows.

Grinning, Lizzie said, "If you insist! I have two brothers. One older, one younger. My older brother is Luke, and he's nineteen. He technically has two moms. Two of my dad's friends wanted to help them have a kid, so one of them donated an egg, while the other was the surrogate for nine months. My younger brother is Michael, and he was adopted when he was around four. He's thirteen, now."

"Cool!" Nate grinned, and Cheyenne followed suit. They both glanced at Maria. Cheyenne asked, "Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a sister. Bridget! She's twelve, and she is smarter than anyone I've ever seen!"

"You're biased." said Liz.

"And I'm right."

Cheyenne continued, "What's the story behind her? How was she … concieved?" She made an awkward hand gesture that made everyone laugh.

"Well, interestingly enough, Bridget and I aren't biological sisters, at all! We have completely different parents. My other mom carried her, and Liz's other dad was the donor."

Nate finished his sandwich. "I'm still totally lost."