AN
Thank you, thank you, thank you! To all the people who have read/followed/favorited and especially reviewed! It means the world to me!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If you recognize it, it belongs to Ryan Murphy. If not, it's mine.
Enjoy!
Santana and Brittany stared at Noah and I incredulously as we started devouring our mountain of food during lunch.
"Do you guys always eat like this? Where does it go?" Santana asked in wild disbelief, her eyes huge.
"Mhm. We run a lot." Noah murmured, his mouth still full. I elbowed him for talking with his mouth full before swallowing my own food and repeating what he said.
"We run a lot. Burns off all the calories, but it also creates the need for more." I explained. Truth was, while Noah and I did run a lot, our metabolisms were much higher than the average human. We burn calories twice as fast as most humans on a regular basis and then we also have to compensate for how much we exercise, therefore, a huge diet.
"That's crazy." Brittany uttered softly, still staring at us in wonderment.
"Hey San, Britt." A happy voice said from behind us and Noah and I immediately looked up and behind to see who the new voice was.
"Hey Chang! Chang 2!" Santana greeted the two Asians. The boy, whom I recognized from my first two classes, appeared to be about six foot and a mesomorph, just like Noah, though leaning more towards an ectomorph. He has straight black hair that hung down into his eyes and a sunny disposition. The girl next to him, was completely unfamiliar. She had long straight black hair with a few blue streaks. She was clearly a mesomorph, though not as athletic, with a style comparable to punk meets artsy. Neither of their scents presented them as dangerous so I smiled warmly up at them. "Puck and Rach, this is Mike and Tina. Mike, Tina, this is Rachel and Puck." Santana introduced as the Asian couple took their seats with us.
"It's nice to meet you." I offered brightly. Mike beamed back at me.
"Likewise! You both are in my first two classes right?" He asked, looking between Noah and myself.
"We are." I nodded.
"Cool. How are you liking it here so far?" Noah and I shared a look before answering Mike.
"It's not bad. High school is high school and it blows." Noah told him. "But it's better than some other schools we've been to." He confirmed.
"Do you move around a lot?" Mike asked.
"You could say that." Noah said and I stepped on his foot under the table. He winced and looked at me.
Shut up, idiot! That was about as a vague futurity! And we all know being vague drums up curiosity! I admonished him with a scowl and he frowned.
Sorry, Rach. I'll fix it. "Our father was in the military so we moved around a bunch." Noah elucidated, placating the curious looks we were getting from the table's occupants.
"That had to suck, moving around so much." Tina commented and we shrugged.
"You get used to it after a while." I said, reaching for my soda as Mike questioned Noah about football. I was mid sip, when I caught wind of a familiar scent. I swallowed my soda quickly, setting it down and looking around in the direction the scent was coming from. I could see Noah turning his head as well out of the corner of my eye.
Finally, pin-pointing the source of the scent, I zeroed in on a blonde boy, about Noah's height with a similar body type. I felt Noah put his hand on my shoulder, his instinct to protect kicking in, as the boy came closer. I held my head up and straightened my shoulders, in preparation for his arrival at our table.
"Hey guys!" He greeted happily, looking around the table.
"Hey Sam!" Mike said with a grin and I noticed the other occupants smiling at the boy as well. He locked eyes with me and his smile faltered and I knew that he knew. We stared at each other for a moment before he gave a slight nod, confirming my suspicions. He turned back to the table and took his seat next to Brittany.
"Sam and Puck, this is Sam. Sam, this is Rachel and Puck." Santana said, making introductions again.
"It's nice to meet you." Sam said politely, but I knew his guard was up, just like mine and Noah's.
"Nice to meet you as well." I said shortly.
We all returned to our lunch, making conversation amongst ourselves. Noah and I still had our hackles raised so to speak and I could feel the tension rolling off of Sam in waves.
We need to talk to him. Noah told me and I gave an imperceptible nod.
We can find him after school.
After our sixth period Astronomy class, Santana and Brittany led us to the choir room for Glee. We were met at the door by Tina and Mike and exchanged friendly hello's before heading inside. We took our seats as more students filed in. A flamboyant gay kid with impeccable fashion sense strolled in shortly after we took our seats. He was followed by a bigger black girl and I instantly felt a pull toward her and my eyes widened and I put my hand on Noah's arm, physically holding him in place as his thoughts whirled.
I want to…I have to…She's mine. I have to mark her. He thought, his eyes smoldering and his expression completely smitten. His eyes had turned a vibrant green and I willed him to relax.
Noah, calm down. You can't scare her. I told him and he frowned, sitting back in his chair but not taking his eyes off her. Her own eyes locked with his and her cool expression dropped into something softer and I smiled knowingly.
The two friends took their seats, though the girl kept glancing back at Noah every chance she got and he couldn't take his eyes away from her.
Next in was a kid in a wheel chair being pushed by…Blaine? Noah and I recognized his scent and we both whipped our heads around to look at the boy, Noah momentarily forgetting his obvious attraction to the darker skinned girl. He grinned when he saw us and we stood, rushing down the risers to embrace him in a huge hug.
"Holy shit! What are you doing here?" Noah asked him excitedly.
"You didn't tell us you went to school here. We thought you were still at Dalton!" I exclaimed, excitement pouring out of me. Blaine laughed and shook his head.
"I just transferred in this year. Kind of here for him." He said with a dopey smile as he looked at the gay kid who had walked in earlier, who gave Blaine a happy smile in return. I followed his line of sight and smiled back at Blaine. "I didn't expect you guys back yet." He murmured, softly.
"We had to come back. It's getting bad." I told him in a hushed whisper.
"I know. It's all mom talks about. Speaking of…" He said looking me directly in the eye. "…I'm ready." My eyes widened and I looked at him in surprise.
"Are you sure, Blaine?" I asked him cautiously. He nodded vehemently.
"Absolutely." He said assuredly.
"Come over. We'll talk about it at home." I told him with a nod as the sudden scent of roadkill hit my nose and I frowned, a scowl breaking over my face as I looked toward the door and saw Finn walk in with Sam. They were talking animatedly about something as Quinn followed them in, shaking her head. She cast her eyes around the room, ultimately landing on me. She gave me a soft smile but I could see the confusion and uncertainty in her eyes and feel it in her emotions. I returned her smile and watched as she broke eye contact and took her seat next to Finn, who immediately put his arm on the back of her chair. My smile broke into another scowl and I turned back to Noah and Blaine who was looking at me curiously.
"I'll explain later." I mumbled as Mr. Shue walked in the door from his office. I had met him during Spanish and he seemed nice enough.
"Alright guys! Welcome back!" He said happily, stopping short as he noticed three new kids standing at the front of the room. We all snapped our attention to him and he cocked his head to the side, looking curiously, but happily, at us. "You must be our new members!" He commented, excitement dripping from his voice. "Please, tell us about yourselves and then I trust you have all prepared something to sing?" He demanded more than asked. I gave him a beaming smile before going first.
"My name is Rachel Puckerman and this is my twin brother Noah. We just moved here and we both love to sing so here we are." I said happily.
"Please call me Puck." Noah interjected and I rolled my eyes but smiled at him nonetheless.
"And I am Blaine Anderson, as I'm sure some if not all of you know. I just transferred here from Dalton." He said, grinning around the room and throwing a wink to Kurt who blushed but smiled.
"It is a pleasure to meet you guys. Could I have everyone in the room introduce themselves please." Shue asked.
"I'm Kurt." The gay kid answered and I grinned, finally putting a name to the face of Blaine's mate. "Mercedes." The black girl said with a smile at Puck who just grinned back at her stupidly.
Mercedes. God. Even her name is beautiful. Noah thought and I glanced at my brother.
"Artie." The wheelchair guy said and I nodded to him. Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Finn, Mike, and Tina all introduced themselves to follow suit and Shue beamed at us all before turning to Noah, Blaine, and I.
"Who wants to sing first?" Shue said, taking a seat with the rest of the class.
"If you don't mind, Rach, I'd like to go first." Blaine said, addressing me and I nodded.
"Of course, Blaine." I told him. Noah and I returned to our seats as he passed off some sheet music to the band and passing along a few notes. Moments later, music filled the room and Blaine gave a wonderful and playful rendition of Stutter by Maroon 5 as he danced around the room. Noah and I recognized the song and joined him, singing some back up and complimenting his dance moves and soon Brittany and Mike had joined us followed by the whole club.
"That was fantastic, Blaine!" Mr. Shue praised as last notes faded into applause and cheers from the club. "Welcome! It will be an honor to have your voice on our team." He complimented and Blaine blushed. Every but Noah and I took their seats and Noah grabbed his electric guitar from it's case, plugging it in. He spoke briefly with the band and grinned at Rachel. "We're ready when you are." Shue said with a smile, reclaiming his seat. Soon, the violinist started to play and then the rest of the band and Noah joined in as he started with the vocals of Who Says You Can't Go Home. Within minutes the whole club was on their feet again, dancing and singing along with the chorus.
"WOW!" Shue said as the song came to an end and once again, the club was cheering and applauding happily. "Three brilliant new singers!" He said happily.
"You guys kicked ass!" Santana commented and the rest of the club murmured their agreement. Quinn gave me a shy smile and I could see Mercedes looking at Noah appreciatively.
"You all did! But now, we must move on with our first lesson of the year!" Shue said and we all took our seats. There was no set theme for National's this year but all of the participating Show Choirs had to take a theme at a random draw. Ours is Dancing Through Life!" Shue announced as excitement washed over me. I might be a badass but musical theatre was my first love and I recognized the theme from the song from Wicked of the same name. "Does anyone have any song ideas?" Shue asked us, looking around the room. I immediately raised my hand. "Yes, Rachel?" He asked, looking to me.
"Well, we could do the obvious and perform Dancing Through Life from Wicked." I told him, my eyes gleaming. He chuckled and nodded.
"I have thought about that. It would be a great song to end with and it has some fantastic choreography. Now, I forgot to mention, we will need nine different songs. 3 for sectionals, 3 for regionals, and 3 for nationals. All will follow the same theme." He explained and we all nodded along and brainstormed for the next half hour.
"Alright guys! We've got a pretty solid list so come in tomorrow ready to start learning some of these!" He said as the bell rang and we were all dismissed for the day.
"Noah! Rach!" Blaine called to us as we headed for the door. We turned and he was pulling Kurt along with him. "I'd like for you to formally meet my boyfriend, Kurt and his friend Mercedes. Kurt, Mercedes, this is my older brother and sister, Noah and Rachel." He said excitedly as he beamed at us. Kurt looked between the three of us, confused.
"I didn't know you had an older brother and sister." He said, narrowing his eyes.
"It's complicated." I told him, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.
"We share a father but we have different moms." Blaine explained and Kurt nodded, accepting that answer.
"Well, it was nice to formally meet you." He said with a kind smile and I grinned at him. Noah was too busy gazing at Mercedes and she him to pay much attention to the rest of the conversation.
"Blaine, we have football tryouts and then we'll be home. I'll text you and you can meet us?" I asked him and he nodded.
"Of course. We have to get going too. I'll see you guys later." Blaine said, happily as he pulled Kurt and Mercedes from the room, Noah's eyes following Mercedes the whole time.
"Who would have thought." Noah mused, still staring at the empty doorway, leaving it open for me to fill in the blanks which I could with about five different things.
"It's nice to see him again though. We've been gone for a while." I told Noah as we headed for the door, only to be stopped by Sam. We backed up and we came in, shutting the door.
"How long?" I asked him.
"About three months." He confessed, dropping his guard, his face taking on a scared childlike expression.
"Who's your alpha?" I asked him, letting some of my own guard drop.
"Don't have one. I was attacked one night while running in the woods. I haven't seen the other one since. I haven't smelled anyone else until you two showed up." He said softly. I sighed. I had a bad feeling and I didn't like it.
"How did you control your impulses?" I asked him, curious. He was still a pup after all.
"I don't really know. I know I hunted small animals at first. But people…I never. I don't know why. I wanted to. But something always stopped me." He said honestly.
"You have a pure heart." I explained to him. "Humans with a pure heart don't ever want to hurt other humans or other living things if they can help it. Even with the change. Unfortunately, it's in our nature to hunt small animals. Not all things can be helped. But that's what stopped you."
"Who all is in your pack?" He asked me and I frowned.
"It's just us now." Noah said, sadness tinging his voice.
"I heard Blaine say that he was your brother…" Sam trailed off, confused.
"He is. It's complicated. How about this. You come over tonight after football tryouts, and we'll explain everything." I told him. He mulled it over for a few moments and nodded.
"Okay." He said with a nod.
"Wonderful." I said before opening my notebook and scribbling down our address and my phone number before handing the paper to him. "Our address and my phone number. Call me when you get to the gate and I'll come out to meet you." I told him softly and he nodded.
"I have football too so I'll walk with you." He said, pocketing the paper and we all headed for the locker rooms. "I played last year but I'm concerned about playing now. I mean, all of my reflexes are quicker and I'm faster now even in human form." He said quietly and I smirked.
"You just gotta keep a handle on it. It's easy once you learn." I told him and he nodded.
"I have a question." He started and Noah and I both gave him our attention. "Which one of you is the Alpha?"
"Rach is." Noah answered for me. "She makes all final decisions."
"That being said, I don't make any decisions without consulting Noah. We are a team first and foremost." I told Sam.
"That makes a lot of sense." Sam commented as we entered the locker room, where Coach Beiste's locker was located. The guys that were already in there got a little rowdy when they spotted Rachel, but one disparaging look from Noah and they all went back to their business. Sam escorted us to his coach, knocking on her door and waiting for her to answer before opening the door. "Coach, I have a couple of kids who want to try out. Their names are on the list, but I figured you'd want to meet them." He offered and the coach looked up from some papers on her desk. She observed Noah and I with interest.
"Coach," I acknowledged. "I'm Rachel Puckerman and this is my brother, Noah, and we are trying out for the football team today." She looked at us thoughtfully.
"A girl on the football team." She mused. "Okay. What positions do you play?" She asked and Noah grinned.
"Rachel is typically a running back and more specifically a tailback. Though she is a fantastic kicker too. I'm typically a tight end but I'm also a pretty solid linebacker." He said and I nodded along.
"Fantastic! Well, get padded up and in a practice jersey and I'll see you out there. Rachel, feel free to grab pads and change in the girl's locker room."
"Sure thing Coach." I said, leaving her office with Noah.
Once we were all out on the field, coach addressed us as a group. "I don't care if you were on the team last year. Everyone is trying out again for a fresh start and we have some new faces, so bring your all and let me see what you've got." And with that, tryouts commenced. Noah and I were constantly holding ourselves back and we were also watching Sam and making sure he didn't do anything obvious. Aside from one moment, where he slipped and tackled a guy too hard, he did relatively well.
Coach called it for the night around 6 and we all gathered around. "Great job out there, guys! I'll have the list posted tomorrow morning! Hit the showers!"
AN
Songs mentioned: Stutter by Maroon 5
Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles
Ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph are the three different body types. The simple breakdown: ectomorphs are tall and skinny, mesomorphs are average, endomorphs are short and stocky. For a more detailed explanation, you can visit this website: www-dot-directlyfitness-dot-com/store/3-body-types-explained-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph/ (Replace the -dot- with an actual period)
