CHAPTER 2
Tina woke up feeling very disoriented, but was surprised to see that she was back at home. She cleared her eyes and noticed, much to her confusion, that her bedroom did not look the same. She had no Marilyn Manson or Britney Spears posters anywhere, everything was either a pink, orange, or white color, and even her bed looked childish, complete with illustrations of mermaids and horses. She pinched herself to see if what she was seeing was real, but nothing changed. Tina shook her head in confusion and got out of bed, and was surprised to see that she was wearing very childish pajamas.
At that moment, Tina immediately recognized the room as her bedroom from when she was seven years old. She pushed open the bedroom door lightly to see that the house was now the house in which she grew up in. The familiar, inviting smell of blueberry pancakes brought her downstairs, where she saw a younger version of her mother cooking breakfast.
"Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?"
"I'm kind of confused", said Tina, looking at her reflection in the metal toaster, shocked to see how young-looking she was.
"Well, I know what always clears your head. Come on, I've got your favorite waiting for you", said Michelle, and Tina noticed a small blue plate with two blueberry pancakes. Tina shrugged and sat down, but found it difficult to reach the syrup, which Michelle passed to her.
"Thanks, Mom", said Tina, and she saw her father enter the kitchen, ready to go to work.
"All right, troops, I've got to get going. Those divorce settlements aren't going to solve themselves", said Ian.
"Breakfast first, honey", said Michelle, pointing him towards a plate of sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, toast, and apple slices, with a glass of orange juice on the side. Ian sighed and sat down to eat, ruffling Tina's already messed up hair on the way. Tina then saw her older brother, Cecil, enter the kitchen as well. Tina was taken aback, not having seen Cecil since he dropped out of high school and joined the military, and she barely recognized him with his diver's physique, tank top, and sagging shorts. The only thing Tina remembered about him was that he was a fantastic dancer, much like Mike.
"What's up, people? I'm ready to get going!" Cecil shouted excitedly, grabbing an orange and peeling it by hand.
"Do you want any help with that?" asked Michelle.
"Nah, I've got it, thanks. Well, today's the day I find out if I make Varsity on the basketball team."
"You've got in the bag, son. Who knows? Someday, you may even play for the Lakers", said Ian.
"The Lakers? Nah, I've got my sights set on the Knicks. They've got much better lineups. Get what I'm saying, sis?" Cecil grunted, playfully punching Tina in the arm. Tina was not paying attention to what he was saying, but was instead trying to figure out what was going on.
"Guys, what day is it today?" asked Tina.
"It's Wednesday. Why?" said Michelle.
"I don't know, I guess it's just not my morning."
"When is it ever?" Cecil snorted, taking a bite out of his orange.
"Cecil, don't start. Tina, don't worry, today is going to be great. You'll find out that you aced that History exam just like you've done so many other times, you'll meet your friends, you'll get into some music, and you'll start again tomorrow", said Ian.
"But, Dad, I just don't feel like myself. Somehow, I feel like I've disappointed you."
"Tina, you will never disappoint me. You know why? Because you have something that I never had."
"What's that?"
"Luck, that's what. No matter what you do with your life, I will support you. So will your mother, and so will Cecil. Because we know that you'll always make the right decisions. Don't make a mess of your life, do what you love, and above all, know that family comes first. That's how we get by", said Ian, and he gave everyone a quick kiss before leaving for work. Tina looked down at her pancakes, remembering that they had had this exact conversation when she was seven years old. It was at that moment that Tina had dedicated her life to not disappointing her family, taking her father's words into account every day. Almost instantly, Tina realized that this was a memory, and that she was still asleep.
Tina awoke with a start, realizing that she had dreamed about Sam saving her in the bathroom and helping her to the hospital, the Glee club's discussion about her decision to abort her pregnancy, losing her baby, and her parents never leaving her bedside. As soon as she understood this, she noticed her parents and the Glee club standing at her hospital bedside with joyous and relieved looks on their faces.
"Welcome back, Tina", said Mr. Schuester.
"Mr. Schue? Guys?"
"You're okay, Tina. You've been through quite an ordeal", said Sam, and her parents sat by her bed and held her hand.
"What's going on? Is my baby okay?"
"The baby is doing just fine. You're still pregnant. There was no need for an emergency birth", said Mr. Schuester.
"But I don't understand. I thought I caused enough damage to terminate my pregnancy."
"All that happened was that you caused some damage to your liver and several blood vessels. Fortunately, the doctors were able to fix you up", said Emma, and Tina looked at her father, who had tears in his eyes.
"Daddy, I'm so sorry that I disappointed you. I remembered when I was seven and you talked about how my decisions would affect our family. When this happened, I knew that I had betrayed your trust, and…"
"Tina, don't. I'm the one who should be sorry. You needed me and I let you down. I pushed you away for something that shouldn't have ruined your life. I know that this wasn't your fault, it's mine. The only thing I care about right now is that you are still alive and that you're going to be okay. I love you, and I won't let you go again", said Ian, and he pulled her into an embrace, crying tears of joy and sadness.
"Guys, we should probably let them have some alone time", said Mr. Schuester, and he ushered everyone out of the room.
"Mr. Schue, we can't tell you how relieved we are that you're back", said Artie.
"Why? What's happened?"
"Zane sexually assaulted me, Mr. Schue", said Brittany, and he looked at her in confusion.
"Uh, I don't think so, Brittany. He's a good man. He's happily married with kids. He's never committed a crime in his life."
"You obviously never knew him that well. Brittany openly admitted it, and Zane isn't showing any remorse", said Joe.
"Did he admit that he did it?"
"Well, not exactly. He just mockingly went along with the accusation", said Rory.
"And there's no other way to prove it?"
"No, there isn't", said Brittany, and Mr. Schuester sighed and shook his hand in frustration.
"Okay, I'll talk to him later today. Sam, I want you to stay with Tina", he said, and Sam went back to Tina's room as everyone else left.
"Will, I would trust the kids' word any day. You really should get Zane to admit whether he did something or not", said Emma.
"Don't worry, I intend to", said Mr. Schuester, and he watched as Tina took Sam into a tight embrace.
INTERLUDE
Later in the day, at her home, Hannah and Joe were engaged in a tender and romantic make-out session under a small cross nailed to the wall. With her parents out of the house for the night, Hannah was uncertain if she should take big steps in her relationship with him, which prompted her to stop.
"Joe, do you think sex between two unwed, underage Christians is wrong?"
"I've never considered the matter, really. I always go with God's will."
"I just want to make sure that we don't go too far too fast."
"I'm not in a hurry for anything. If you want to take baby steps, that's fine with me."
"It's weird to me, though. Most boys at your age are practically ready for sexual activity."
"I'm not most boys", said Joe, and they resumed their kissing, until Joe accidentally brushed Hannah's breast, and they stopped again.
"Joe, what was that?"
"Sorry, I was meaning to go for your hair."
"You're really not good at this, are you?"
"No, not really. Never had much practice."
"Maybe that's a sign that says we shouldn't do this now."
"I'm pretty sure it was just an accident."
"Just to be safe, though, I'd like a clear sign that we shouldn't make out under God's supervision."
"Like what?" asked Joe, and the fire in the fireplace briefly burned red, alarming them.
"Like that", said Hannah, and they both watched carefully to see if the fire would do the same thing. After several minutes, they relaxed.
"Maybe for now, just regular kissing is probably fine", said Joe.
"Yeah, maybe", said Hannah, and they resumed their kissing session, careful not to have their hands stray.
INTERLUDE
Back at the school, Vance led the Music Masters on a break-in, including Blaine, who was feeling extremely uncomfortable.
"Would you mind telling me what we're doing here?" Blaine whispered, watching as one of the members picked the lock on the entrance.
"Regionals is going to be here tomorrow, Blaine. We just want to get some intel on our competition, that's all", said Vance.
"Yeah, and what's to guarantee that that's all you're going to do?"
"Relax, all we're going to do is see what stands in our way to victory", said a female member, and pretty soon, they were inside, trying hard to stay silent in the echoing halls.
"There's not much to find out, you know", said Blaine.
"Well, we'd ask you, but you're the New Directions' liaison. You won't dare reveal anything about them to us even if your life depended on it", said a male member.
"What do you hope to find out anyway?" asked Blaine as they entered the choir room, and he didn't notice that several members had strayed away to the auditorium.
"Anything we can. If we don't know our competition's mindset, we can't possibly hope to use their weaknesses to our advantage", said Vance.
"So, what? You guys are going to cheat?"
"Picture it what you will. We're willing to do whatever it takes to go all the way to the top and stay there."
"Guys, if you're going to play dirty to win, then I don't want any part of it", said Blaine, and Vance pulled him aside, just enough so that he couldn't see the others planting bags of drugs in random areas of the room.
"Blaine, you're one of us now. Once you're one of us, you've made a commitment. We need you to be at our level. You're one of our most talented members. Don't stand here and tell me that if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't do what I'm doing now."
"I wouldn't cheat to win. If I do that, then it's not a real win."
"All we're going to do is expose the New Directions' vulnerabilities as high school students, friends, artists, performers, and most importantly, our enemies. I realize you have a good conscience, and maybe that's interfering with your judgment, but this is not the time to hold back, okay?" said Vance, and he went over to the others.
"Weren't there more of us?" asked Blaine.
"Oh, yeah, some of the guys went to go check out the auditorium", said Vance.
"There's nothing to see. It's just a lot of seats, a stage and curtains with props", said Blaine.
"That's always where it starts. But don't worry: we will use even the properties of the stage to our advantage", said Vance, and the members who went to the auditorium returned.
"Everything's checked out", said a male member.
"All right, good. Let's get out of here. Just the scent of this room makes me sick to my stomach", said Vance, and Blaine followed them out of the school, uncertain that he should see if they did anything.