Chapter Six
A/N: I OWN NOTHING! Yeah, so. I know the songs aren't Canon but I thought the Trouble Tones were more dramatic with their one song that New Directions needed to up their A game to win. Bold italics=Quinn and Underline=Kurt.
Oh, also I just wanted someone from New Directions to sing The Coolest Girl. Darren is on Glee. It's only right.
Getting home in Puck's care was like asking for a death wish. Teddy was glad he'd managed to learn to control his hair; otherwise the whole wizarding world would have been exposed right then and there.
"Dude, where are your parents?" Puck asked.
"At work," Teddy said. Santana hopped out. "Thanks for the ride Puck."
"No problem," Puck grinned and tore out of there. Teddy sighed.
"LAND!" he shouted as he fell to the ground. "Remind me never to accept a ride with Puckerman again."
Santana shook her head. "Come on Drama king. Let's go see if we can enact Step Two."
Step Two, it seemed, involved creeping on a computer. Santana pulled out a laptop, which she said, had been borrowed from Quinn.
"Ummm…."
"Hush," Santana ordered. "Finn's security settings are worse than Brit's. Just give me a minute."
A couple of taps later and Teddy could see a blue and white screen.
Finn Hudson: relationship changed from "in a relationship" to "it's complicated"
Puck Sexbomb: Dislike, dude. Guess the Jewish American Princess didn't like the tussle between you and John.
Rachel Berry: Actually Noah, I found the example as a natural demonstration of male aggression. I simply found out something about Finn that I found disgusting.
Kurt Hummel: Finn, what happened?
Finn Hudson: …
Rachel Berry: I'll text you Kurt.
Santana grinned; something that sent chills down Teddy's spine.
"Excellent," she said. "Finnocent now has relationship problems."
"How does that enact Step Two?" Teddy asked. Santana looked at him as if he was mentally slow.
"It splits the Glee club apart," she simply said. "If they have problems, Finn gets blamed. He gets knocked down off of his pedestal which he honestly doesn't need to be placed on."
The screen binged.
"Oh, Facebook is busy tonight!" she said with an evil grin.
Kurt Hummel: FINN HUDSON! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!
Finn Hudson: How'd you find out?
Kurt Hummel: Rachel texted me.
Finn Hudson: THANKS RACHEL!
Rachel Berry: Honestly Finn, there's no need to yell.
Mercedes Jones: I'm confused. What did Justin Timberlake do, Kurt?
Blaine Anderson: Ditto the confused notion.
Kurt Hummel: I'm texting you both.
Finn Hudson: …
Teddy couldn't help the grin that formed on his face. If Finn's life got ruined, he'd officially know what it'd be like. But then he frowned. Was he any better than the bullies who ruined his life at Hogwarts?
"Look!" Santana pulled Teddy out of his musings by pointing at the screen.
Burt Hummel: Finn, we need to talk.
Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry and two others like this.
Kurt Hummel: Wait, Rachel? Why are you friends with my dad?
Rachel Berry: I'm not. You're friends with him, and it showed up on my news feed. Personally, I think he'd be a great Congressman.
Kurt Hummel likes this.
Both Santana and Teddy had evil smirks on their faces. Glee club was going to be interesting tomorrow. Even if only one of them was going to be around to see the dissent.
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Teddy woke up early again in order to make the breakfast.
"Hey John," Santana walked into the room and grabbed a plate.
"So Figgins tried to suspend you for two weeks because of the fact you slapped Finn?" Teddy asked.
"Yep," Santana nodded. Her phone buzzed. Looking at it, Teddy could see Brittney's name lit up.
"Hola chica," Santana said. "What? Brit-Brit, calm down. No comprende! Shelby said what?"
Teddy watched as Santana tried to get information out of Brittney. Finally, she slammed the phone on the table.
"Sugar pulled the plug on the funding for the club," she said in misery. "Complained to her father. Whiny rich brat!"
"What's going to happen?" Teddy asked. He liked the idea of having competition. It was only fair.
"Well I guess Samantha, Elizabeth and Juliana will just go back to Sue," Santana said. "Sugar will fall back into oblivion but I don't know what Mercedes, Brittany and I are going to do."
Teddy thought for a minute.
"Hey Santana," he said. "What if you saw the dissent of Glee club for yourself?"
"Go back?" she asked. "Like I'd do that. It's the Blaine and Rachel show there."
"Actually, Finn gets more solos than Rachel and way more than Blaine," Teddy told her. "He said that Rory would get the big solo, but apparently went behind his back and took the solo."
Santana smirked.
"So you're saying I could take down Finnocent from the inside?" she asked.
"Yep!" Teddy nodded. Santana thought for a minute.
"Sounds like a good idea," she finally said after a while with an evil smirk on her face. "Let me just see what Mercedes and Brit are going to do."
A couple of texts later and the two of them walked into the school with smirks on their faces. That changed when they had to veer off to separate classes.
"Do it Santana," Teddy said. "Make them fear you, not the other way around."
Santana nodded and walked to her math class with a smirk of death on her face. Teddy walked to his English class with only one slam into a locker.
Lunch. The worst part of the day, at least in Teddy's opinion. He didn't have it with Santana, and he normally sat with Finn. Normally, that is, until he decided to be an idiot.
"Hey White Boy," the African American girl from the other day said with a grin. "Come sit with me and Kurt."
Teddy smiled at her and followed her to their table.
"Hey Kurt, Blaine," Teddy said.
"Hello John," Kurt said with a nod and a smile. "I see you're doing well after that fracas yesterday."
Teddy grinned. It was words like 'fracas' that made Kurt fun to hang around with.
"Kurt, you never texted me about why you're mad at Finn," Blaine said all of a sudden. Just then, Teddy saw Mrs. C walk by.
"Excuse me for a minute," he said and got up. Santana didn't know that he'd pulled out half of his 350,000 dollars to restart the Trouble Tones.
"Mrs. C?" he asked, knocking on the door to her room.
"Aren't you supposed to be in lunch now Mr. Thomas?" she asked with a smile. He pulled out the envelope.
"Santana told me about Sugar cutting the funding to your glee club," he said and handed it to her. "Wouldn't be fair to see you guys go down without a decent fight at Sectionals."
Shelby raised an eyebrow and gasped at the amount of money in the envelope.
"John, this is extremely generous but—"
"Take it," Teddy said. "If Trouble Tones lose at Sectionals, the money can be transferred to New Directions. I'm off to talk to Mr. Schue about naming the club something that doesn't sound so sexual."
He turned and left before Mrs. C could say anything else. He returned back to their table only to see both Kurt and Blaine glaring at Finn.
"Something tells me I should be missing Glee today," he muttered under his breath. Pulling out the phone which Santana gifted him yesterday—a 'thanks for having my back' gift—he started to text.
Facebook lurk after school today? Skip Glee? –John
He closed his phone and proceeded to eat the rest of his meal. It wasn't much and made him really miss Hogwarts. Luckily the bell rang just as he bit into his burger, allowing him the 'opportunity' to throw out the meal without awkward questions.
"Hola broha!" Puck said as they walked into Spanish. Teddy raised an eyebrow. If anything, he would have expected Puck to be on Finn's side of the fight.
"I'm neutral," Puck said as if he knew what Teddy was thinking. "I've already told Finn. Mike, Tina and Artie are neutral too."
Teddy was shocked. He was the new kid while Finn was king of Glee. Before he could answer, his phone buzzed.
"Sorry Puck," he said. "Gotta get this. Might be from the rents."
"No prob," Puck said and turned back to whatever Mr. Schue was saying. The text was from Santana.
Sorry. Shelby texted all of us and said that the Trouble Tones were back on! Someone gave up some serious cash to restart it.
Teddy grinned and started to text back.
No prob. I'll probably just be in the library doing Spanish.
Why are you skipping Glee? Aren't Sectionals in a week?
Teddy frowned. She had to remind him. That night, after she'd gone to bed, Teddy had done some more Facebook lurking. Apparently, Rachel had gotten herself banned from competing, according to Finn.
Too toxic right now, he texted back. Rather do work than deal with Finn glaring at me all hour.
Fair enough. Tell me if Finn acts like his usual d-bag self and I'll go all Lima Heights on his ass.
Smiling, Teddy closed the phone just as the bell rang. He left the room quickly and entered the library. He worked until the librarian kicked him out at about nine at night.
"It's the weekend," she said kindly. "Go home. Bet your parents are worried about you."
Teddy nodded and grabbed his bag. All and all, he was shocked about how much work he'd gotten done. Calculus, Spanish and English were all done and Physics was halfway.
As he was passing by the Glee room, he heard the piano going.
"Mr. Schue?" he peered in. Sure enough, his curly-haired Spanish teacher was playing the piano.
"Hello John," Schue said. "Care to explain why you missed practice? Everyone needs to be there if we want to get first at Sectionals."
Teddy shrugged. "Needed to do homework."
Schue kept playing the piano, and Teddy found his foot tapping along to the beat.
"You know what Glee is, John?" Mr. Schue asked after a while.
"The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get into its pants?" Teddy said blandly. Schue abruptly stopped the piano.
"What?" he asked. Teddy chuckled.
"Never mind," he said. "Can I go now?"
Schue nodded. "You'll be here on Monday right?"
Teddy nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here." He turned and left the building, humming under his breath. Opening his eyes, he saw his place and instantly was confronted by Santana.
"How'd you appear there so quickly?" she asked. "One minute you weren't there, the next you were."
"You must have blinked," Teddy said, inwardly cursing that she'd seen him apperate.
Santana glared at him but accepted his answer. Teddy walked in and crashed on the couch before she could grill him.
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Teddy woke to a pillow being thrown at him the next day.
"Get up," Santana told him. "We've apparently got company."
Teddy groaned, but did as she requested. As he got up, he saw that Finn and Rachel were at his door.
"Wha—how'd you guys even find out where I lived?" Teddy asked in shock.
"That's not important," Rachel brushed off his concern. "Sam needs a place to stay as he comes back to school."
"Can't he stay with you?" Santana raised an eyebrow.
"Who's Sam?" Teddy asked, taking a break from glaring at Finn.
Both girls ignored him.
"Well, he could—"
"Then that's that," Santana finished and closed the door on the two of them. Turning to Teddy she said, "This is for you."
It was an envelope, with the set list for Sectionals inside. Teddy worried for New Directions when he saw that one of the titles was ABC. Honestly, the judges were never going to choose a group who sang the alphabet!
Sneaking online, he began a search for new lyrics.
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On Monday, school went by in a blur and Teddy was walking into Glee club just as Santana was walking out.
"Prepared to meet your lookalike?" she asked. "Troutymouth is right in there."
"Who?" Teddy asked but Santana just walked off with a sly grin instead of an answer. There, holding a guitar, was a boy Teddy's exact height and coloring. The only difference was the mouth size.
"So you're Sam?" he asked with a grin. "Heard much about you."
"You must be John," Sam said, returning the grin. "Heard you've been stirring the pot here at old McKinley."
Before Teddy could say anything else, Mr. Schue stood up and started talking.
"Now, let's talk solos to our set list—"
"Mr. Schue?" Teddy raised his hand and the Spanish teacher slash Glee director stopped talking and looked his way. "I think we should go a different direction than the alphabet song."
"Huh? It's ABC by the Jackson Five," Quinn said. "Not the alphabet song."
"But John's right," Tina said. "If he got confused, I'm sure there will be others, and it will be our luck that one of those would be a judge."
"So what do we do?" Schue asked the group. "Learn a new set list in a week?"
"We learned a new set list in twenty minutes two years ago when Sue leaked the set list," Puck said.
"We learned a new set list in a day at Nationals," Mike piped up. Finn growled at that.
Teddy stood up and shot Finn a look.
"I've got it figured out Mr. Schue," Teddy grinned and handed the curly-haired man his list of possible songs and solos. Mr. Schue looked through it in interest.
"You've only two songs listed," he finally remarked after putting down the song titles on the board.
"Yeah, it was one in the morning and I was knackered," Teddy said. "Maybe the group could come up wit—"
"Born this Way," Kurt said instantly. "Mr. Schue, we still have those shirts."
"We could take off the blazers if we made it the last number," Tina nodded.
"Don't you think it might put us in the lose category?" Quinn asked. "I think we stick to our planned set list."
"I vote for the new one," Puck said, and the neutrals nodded. Teddy grinned. Those votes, along with Kurt and Blaine, put them in the majority.
"Majority rules," Schue said. "Now, let's talk solos. John has some listed possibilities but I think we do this the old fashioned way."
"Try outs?" Tina asked.
"Better, name out of a hat."
Everyone groaned but the names of both the songs and the students were added to a hat.
"Finn, you draw," Schue said and Finn walked up.
"First up," Finn said drawing the first name, "the song No One. It will be soloed by…."
He drew two names.
"Mike and Quinn!" he said in shock. Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect Mike or Quinn to be picked. But Rachel wasn't there so there was no way for them all to just write down Rachel's name for her to get all the solos.
"Next up," Finn said as Schue wrote who got what solo on the board, "The Coolest Girl."
He rummaged through the hat and pulled out a new name.
"The soloist for that will be…." he paused for dramatic affect as he opened the sheet. "Tina!"
Everyone applauded the girl, who blushed at the applause. The last time she got a solo, Rachel had left the Glee club. That was irony for you.
"Hey Kurt," Schue said, "you mind opening for Born this Way?"
"No problem Mr. Schue," Kurt grinned. "We'll get Blaine a shirt as well."
"Great!" he said with a grin. "Oh, John. You'll need a shirt as well."
"I'll get one," he said with a nod. It was decided that the girls duet Born this Way at the first part, and then Kurt would solo in the middle. All Teddy knew was that it was confusing but confusing was better than thinking they were singing the letters to the bloody alphabet. Right?
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The week went by in a blur, and Teddy made sure not to have any more slip-ups like he did the previous one. Finally, it was the night they'd been waiting for. Sending Santana a good luck text, he straightened his bow tie and sat in the green room.
"Dude," Finn shook him awake. "We're on."
"Oh," he groaned but followed the tall kid. The rest of the glee club stood off stage while Tina stood dead center.
All my dreams
I'm chasing after,
they don't need
all this laughter...
I take a grain of salt,
stiff upper lip.
It's not their fault
I'm not as hip.
Wake up kid, you know you're more than this...
I'm the smartest person
that I've ever met.
So why do I allow myself to
possibly forget:
There's so much I know how to do,
so much more than all of you.
The only thing I wish I knew
was how to make them see
the girl that I can be...
I am
the coolest girl in the whole wide world
I know it
but can't show it at all.
I am
sick and tired
of low, not higher
places, where I should belong.
It's about time I proved them wrong...
Give me a shot
to show what I've got!
I'm a hell of a whole lot more
than this frizzy hair,
these frumpy clothes I wear,
though I rock 'em like nobody you've seen before
'Cause I am
the coolest girl in the whole wide world
I know it
below it all.
I am
done with losin',
on with choosin'
the coolest girl on the face of the planet,
the coolest bitch on earth, goddammit!
The coolest chick you've ever seen or heard!
So you can try to bring me down,
but sorry guys, I'm stickin' around!
I've thought about it, and I've found
that I am
the coolest girl!
... Yeah!
Teddy grinned as Tina got a standing ovation. She rocked that song; she deserved the attention. The group walked on stage and the stand for the mic got taken off stage, along with the mic.
I am moving through the crowd
Trying to find myself
Feel like a guitar that's never played
Will someone strum away?
And I ask myself
Who do I wanna be?
Do I wanna throw away the key?
and invent a whole new me
and I tell myself
No One, No One
Don't wanna be
No One
But me..
Mike stepped forward as Quinn stepped back.
You are moving through the crowd
Trying to find yourself
Feelin' like a doll left on a shelf
Will someone take you down?
And you ask yourself
Who do I wanna be?
Do I wanna throw away the key?
and invent a whole new me
Gotta tell yourself
No One, No One
Don't wanna be
No One
But me.
Mike stepped back towards the group and they finished the song off. He hated to say it but he owed Finn's wandering elbows. It kept him awake through the performance.
Your life plays out on the shadows of the wall
You turn the light on to erase it all
You wonder what it's like to not feel worthless
So open all the blinds and all the curtains
No One, No One
Don't wanna be
No One
But me.
We are moving through the crowd...
The crowd applauded them but they weren't done yet. Kurt stepped forward and everyone else bowed their heads.
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up
'cause you were born this way, baby
Looking over at Kurt, Teddy was surprised to find that his shirt read 'Likes Boys.' Teddy'd seen Kurt, and he could see that his sexuality was one of the things Kurt was not ashamed of. Tina got to the center of the stage as they began their dance in the background.
My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause he made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up girl and you'll go far,
Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'cause baby you were born this way
No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to be brave.
I was born this way hey!
I was born this way hey!
I'm on the right track baby
I was born this way hey!
I was born this way hey!
I was born this way hey!
I'm on the right track baby
I was born this way hey!
The group finished the song with their heads up high and to thunderous applause. Looking around the group, Teddy saw shirts that said things like 'Nose' or 'Brown Eyes'. Blaine's shirt said 'Height' and Teddy's own shirt said 'Blonde.'
You try figuring out a shirt in a week, he thought to himself. It wasn't like he could put 'Cub' or something else. Waiting on stage after the judges deliberated, Teddy honestly thought his heart would burst out of his chest. He'd never been so nervous in his entire life.
"And first place goes to…." the clown said. Teddy thought he could hear how nervous he was and was trying to delay it. "THE NEW DIRECTIONS!"
Teddy forgot all about how much he hated Finn and just started hugging the guy. But then he looked over at the Trouble Tones and wished he hadn't. They looked….crushed.