The final chapter of Acafellas is now up and live for you guys. I hope you enjoy.
*POSSIBLE TRIGGER: the last paragraph talks about an eating disorder*
'No sabes una mierda de español. Es vergonzoso' = 'You don't know shit about Spanish. It's embarrassing' (according to google translate)
Glee: Season 1 Episode 3 - Acafellas
Chapter Five
The next morning, I woke up to a flurry of heightened emotions and a sharp pain in the pit of my stomach. Trying to ignore the pain I turn and look at the time lit up on my alarm clock. 4:21am. I can't stomach going on my daily run with Quinn this morning, so I decide to text her and cancel.
'Q. Can't run 2day. M+P need 2 talk 2 me'. I lie in my text, my parents are currently asleep after just getting home from working the night shift, but Quinn doesn't need to know that. I turn over in my bed and press down hard on my stomach, closing my eyes as I do so, and try to get back to sleep. After an hour or so of contestant twisting and turning trying to find a comfortable position I give up and come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to get anymore sleep this morning. I stick my right hand out and feel on my bedside table for my phone Quinn has replied to my earlier message
'Ok San. C u skool. Coach Sue want 2 c us' Shit, I'm sure it's about what happened in Glee Club yesterday I think to myself as a tear involuntarily falls down my face. Why the fuck am I crying? I throw the sheets off my body and go to the bathroom and stand in front of the mirror. I wipe the singular tear rolling down my face away and look down to my bloated stomach. Heightened emotions, involuntary crying, stomach cramps, bloating, yep, it's that time of the month I think to myself, rolling my eyes and grabbing a tampon. Fuck's sake, I don't need this right now, especially not today. Today is going to be a shit day, I can tell.
I reluctantly make my way across the McKinley High field towards the rest of the Cheerios as I spot the blonde silhouettes of Brittany and Quinn. Maybe Coach Sylvester will go easy on us this morning I try to kid myself tapping the blondes on their shoulders. "Morning San" they say in unison as they turn around.
"Morning" I return, plastering a fake smile on my face to hide my discomfort.
"How did your family meeting go?" Quinn asks.
"Huh?" I reply. Family meeting, what is she talking about? I suddenly remember my text from earlier "Oh yeah. It went okay" I look at Quinn, sensing she's expecting more I continue "Just boring work rota stuff"
"Position's ladies" Coach Sue shouts through her megaphone, cutting off our conversation. Nope she doesn't look in a good mood I tell myself, shit. I was right, Coach Sue was in a terrible mood. Nothing we did during the session was right to her. Finally, once the session had come to an end, I went to pick up my backpack and make a swift exit trying my best to avoid eye contact with Coach Sue. Just as I think we've gotten away unseen, her voice fires out of the megaphone. "Fabray...Lopez…my office, third period"
"Yes Coach" we answer in unison after turning to face her. She pushes past us. This is not gonna be good I think to myself. We both turn back around and head to the school entrance. I entwine my pinkie with Brittany's as we walk. My mood instantly lifts.
I walk into my first lesson of the day, it's double Spanish with Mr. Shue. Oh, great I think to myself rolling my eyes. I know I'm at an advantage compared to the rest of my classmates having been taught Spanish from an early age by my abuela, but seriously you could learn more Spanish from Dora the Explorer than from the doofus stood at the front of the class. I really don't have the energy to deal with this today, so I go to sit at the back of the room, put my earphones in and lean back on my chair resting the back against the wall. Completely blocking Mr. Shue and the rest of the class out, I shut my eyes and I am left alone with my thoughts. What is Coach Sue going to say? Is she gonna kick us off the Cheerios? No, surely not. She would have done it by now. Well, if she does, I've still got Glee Club, right? Glee Club could actually be alright and Britt's there. Aww, Britt. I smile thinking of the blonde. Britt loves Glee Club, so maybe I could love Glee Club. If it's important to her, it's…
"SANTANA" I almost fall of my chair at the sound of a hand smacking my desk and my name being shouted. I open my eyes to see Mr. Shue, face to face with me. I put my chair down properly and he pulls the earphones out my ears.
"Hey" I shout standing up "You can't do that!" I square up to the Spanish teacher and grab my earphones back. This is not the day to push me.
"Sit back down and pay attention Santana" he replies, an air of calm in his voice, but it doesn't matter I'm all riled up and Snixx has come out.
"Pay attention?! To what?" I reply standing my ground "This is not even Spanish. And yeah, Frankenteen" I motion to Finn "and his band of misfits might not realise that, but I do"
"Principal's office. Now" Mr. Schuester replies, still calm in his demeanour. I cross my arms and roll my eyes as I think over my options. If I go to the principal's office it will look like he's won, but if I don't then I'll have to sit though even more of this monstrosity. Maybe there's a third option? I grab by backpack, sling it over my shoulder and storm out of the classroom, bumping into Mr. Shue's shoulder as I go.
"No sabes una mierda de español. Es vergonzoso" I mutter shaking my head as I leave. I don't go to the principal's office; I turn and head for the school doors. The suns shining outside, the perfect time to catch some rays I decide, pulling my sunglasses out of my bag, putting my earphones back in heading for the bleachers.
I try to calm down, but it doesn't seem to be working, the events of the lesson replaying constantly in my mind. The more I think about it, the more irate I become. How dare he call me out like that, and in a Spanish class. I shouldn't even be in that class. I can pass Spanish easy. I don't need to be in that class. I start to open my eyes as I feel the sun go in. "Erm excuse me, you're blocking my sun" I say lifting my glasses to the top of my head, allowing my eyes to adjust to the natural light. I start to see the outline of a person. I squint. Is that Britt?
"C'mon San. We've got a meeting with Coach Sylvester. We don't want to be late". Urgh, its Quinn not Brittany. It's the wrong blonde. I take a deep breath and stand up.
"How did you know I'd be here?" I ask as we walk down the bleachers and towards the school doors.
"I went to Spanish and Finn said you'd walked out after an argument with Shue" Quinn explains smiling at me "You obviously wasn't going to go to Figgins' office and the suns out and we both know how much you love the sun" Quinn laughs. I shake my head a laugh in response as we head towards Coach Sylvester's office.
We enter Coach Sue office and sit down in front of her desk. She's already sat in her office chair, an angry expression across her face. "Let me get this straight. The Glee Club got rid of Dakota Stanley; Mr. Schuester is back; and they're busy at work on a new number, more confident than ever" she pauses, staring right at us. I just sit there, trying to fight back the tears. I really don't need this today. Fucking female emotions. "This is what we call a total disaster, ladies. I'm going to ask you to smell your armpits" I look to Quinn, are we really gonna do this. We both slowly raise our arms and do as Coach Sylvester says. Oh my god, do my pits smell? My emotions heighten again. "That's the smell of failure, and it's stinking up my office" Shit, why am I on the verge of tears, c'mon hold it together Lopez. Coach Sue puts her glasses on and looks down at her desk "I'm revoking your tanning privileges for the rest of the semester" I burst into tears.
"Oh, no!" once I start, I can't stop myself. I run out of Sue's office. I feel my face puff up, I can't spend the rest of the day here, looking like this. Knowing that both of my parents will be out, I decide I've done with school for the day and head home.
Once home, I throw my backpack on the ground, kick off my shoes and fully break down. I'm not even fully aware why I'm crying. Was it because I woke up to a shitty visit from Aunt Flo? Was it because of the shitty Cheerios practise? Was it because of the shitty Spanish lesson? Was it because of a shitty meeting with Coach Sue? Or was it a shitty mixture of everything? I'm going to go with the latter. I switch my phone off and head to the kitchen. I don't want to speak to the outside world, I just want to drown my sorrows in junk food. I open the freezer and grab the tub of Ben & Jerry's I hide at the back for such occasions and then head to the cupboards. I take a bag of chips out and grab a spoon from the drawer below. I grab a couple of cans of soda from the fridge and armed with my supplies I make my way to my bedroom, walking carefully as I go, trying my hardest not to drop anything. Spilling a tub of ice-cream would really tip me over the edge.
Once in my bedroom i drop the food on top of my bed and switch on my television. I sit next to the pile of food and pick up the ice-cream and spoon. I take off the lid, throw it down and take a big spoonful and put it in my mouth. The cold, sweet ice-cream tastes so fucking good too, I haven't eaten ice-cream since Coach Sue put us on her new nutrition plan. All this sweetness is overpowering my tastebuds, time for something salty I think opening the bag of chips. I spend the next fifteen minutes alternating between the smooth, sweetness of the ice-cream and the crunchy, saltiness of the chips. Once I'd finished eating, I open a can of soda and down the whole thing with ease. I stretch and kick my legs out, lying down on the bed when I hear my stomach grumble. I look down and see how bloated I've become. Fuck. I take a deep breath and head to the bathroom, knowing what I must do to rectify the situation. What goes in must come out I tell myself, finding myself heading over the toilet bowl again. This was the first time I'd proper pigged out since I'd started making myself throw up. This is not going to be nice I tell myself; I grab the bottle of water I'd hidden next to the toilet and down most of it, waking up my gag reflexes. I then take my two figures of push them to the back of my throat. After making myself sick a few times before in the past week or so, I'd realised that water helps massively to cool down the burning sensation in your throat and allows me to get more out. I spend the next couple of minutes alternating between taking a sip of water and pushing my fingers down my throat until I feel completely empty. I wait a few moments before standing up and returning to my bedroom. I throw the empty food wrappers in an empty drawer, disgusted by the sight on them and what they made me do and flop on my bed face down. I knew today was going to be a shit show, I say, putting a pillow over the back of my head, trying to shut the world out.
