I don't own glee, only my original characters.
Jazz is the music of the body. – Anais Nin
All week Jazz had been avoiding Puck. She knew she'd have to talk to him about it at some point, but not yet. She'd be the first to leave class, the last to get there, and avoided to hallways and her locker as much as possible. After football practice, she'd hurry Cory out so they could leave quickly.
But today there was no escaping him, he sat right next to her in the auditorium where they were going to watch a preview of their competition.
"Jazz," Puck whispered, trying to get her attention. "We can't just ignore what happened. We need to talk."
"Shh," She chided.
"Guys, this is Jane Adams school." Mr. Shue told them. "Let's see what you got." He ran off stage.
The group of girls went off into a seductive song, dropping it low and moving there hips. Puck nodded beside Jazz making her clench her jaw. They weren't amazing. They're vocals were alright and there dancing was adequate, but the way they moved their hair had Jazz entranced.
Everyone clapped at the end, although it started off slow. Puck was too busy staring and didn't clap until Jazz elbowed him.
As they were leaving, Jazz got up and ran into the crowd.
"Jazz!" Puck called after her. She raised a hand, already mixed in with the Jane Adams girls.
In Glee club the next day, Jazz came in after Mr. Shue and hurriedly sat down between Kurt and Mercedes, who both knew about the incident.
"Alright guys," Mr. Shue called out. "I did some thinking last night and I think I found our new number for sectionals. We're going to do the title song from Hair. Now this show started a revolution."
"Did they have Mohawks back then?" Puck asked, tearing his eyes away from Jazz. She breathed in relief. "Like in the 20's or whatever."
"Yeah, Mr. Shue. If we're going to do a song about hair… shouldn't we have more hair?" Finn added.
"I'm one step ahead of you." Mr. Shue pulled out a black bag. "Here are your wigs." Rachel got up and pulled their teacher to the side. Kurt shared a glance with Jazz, he had told her what had happened last week and Rachel's crush. Although she felt he was leaving something out.
All the boys pulled on different wigs. Jazz looked around, and laughed. They looked ridiculous.
Puck had finally cornered her. He snuck into the girls locker room after practice. Luckily, she was still in her sports bra and pants.
"We need to talk about this!" He told her firmly, bearing down on her. She moved uncomfortably.
"What about?" She asked, playing dumb and ducking under him and over to her gym locker.
"You know damn well, what." He had crossed the room fast and slammed his fist into the locker near her head. "We kind of made-out in my car before you disappeared for a week."
"Well, sorry that my Aunt woke up from her coma." Jazz retorted, starting to get riled up. "I decided while I was there, I don't want to be another mark on your head board, just like all the other girls." She looked to the ground.
Puck rolled his eyes and grabbed her chin, making her look at him. "Let me take you out. Thursday, I have somewhere really special to take you." Jazz was stunned and nodded dumbly. He smirked, kissed her and walked away leaving Jazz to sit in the good feeling.
"Some of you have been coming up to me and asking about Hairography. One of our own has volunteered to show us and she has got it down." Mr. Shue said at the next glee club. Jazz was standing next to Puck, playing with his curls as he tried to swat her hand away. Finally, he laughed he hit her with his hip, making her step side-ways away from him. "Brittney, take it away."
"Take what away?" She asked. Jazz snorted and hid behind Puck.
"Show us what you got." Mr. Shue tried.
"Oh, so Hairography." Brittney stepped forward. "It works best when you pretend that you're getting tasered. So, you just move you're head around like you're spazzing and stuff." She pulled her hair out and started flipping it around. "It's like… cool epilepsy."
Jazz was spinning her hair around, hitting Puck in the face. He grinned and tried to do it back but Jazz caught the fake hair in her hand and it was yanked off his head. She ran up the risers, and behind the chairs, keeping the wig away from him. He cornered her as she ran out of room to run. She made a dash past him, but he grabbed her and picked her up. They were wrestling and giggling. Santana, Quinn, and Cory watched with narrowed eyes.
Puck put her down only when shouts came from the hall-way. Sue and Mr. Shuester were at it again. As Jazz sat there dazed, watching them. Puck yanked the wig from her grip. She laughed and made a face at him and Mr. Shue stormed back in.
Jazz was getting ready to meet Puck and was sitting in her room, brushing through her straight hair. Someone knocked on her door frame.
"Come in," She said without looking, praying it wasn't Cory.
"You have such beautiful hair," Jennifer said, running her hands through it. She took the brush and started combing it. "I would be so upset if you ever cut it off."
Jazz closed her eyes, enjoying this moment. "I would never. I love it too."
"I heard you have a date tonight…?" Jennifer asked slowly, not wanting a fight at the moment.
Jazz sat up straight. "And I'm going on it, no matter what you or Cory says. I'm sorry."
"Just…" Jennifer looked into the mirror and saw her beautiful six year old daughter and her eyes filled with tears. "Be careful with him."
"I will, Mom." Jazz grabbed her hand and smiled at her through the reflection.
Puck was driving them some where, and Jazz had no clue where they were going. He wouldn't tell her either. All he'd say was that it was really important to him. She kept quiet on the way there, enjoying the silence.
When they arrived, all she saw were trees. "Are we going hiking?" Jazz asked, looking down at her high-waist skirt and orange flats.
"No," Noah laughed, grabbed her around the waist with one hand and covering her eyes with the other. "You'll see."
She couldn't see anything but she knew they were walking through the woods. She felt secure with his hands on her. Every once in while she'd lose her footing and stumble, but he was there to catch her.
"Okay," He pulled his hand away from her eyes and set it on the other side of her waist. "Open you're eyes." He breathed into her ear.
Jazz slowly opened her eyes. Before her was a small pond in the middle of a clearing surround by trees. Under her feet was the beginning of a tiny home-made dock. There was a family of ducks on one side, with little ducklings following eachother. Jazz gasped. Puck wrapped his arms all the way around her, leaning his chin on her shoulder.
"This place was a really important part of my child hood." He told her, rocking slightly back and forth. "It's sort of near where my mom works, so when I had to go with her because she couldn't afford a babysitter, I'd come here. I built this dock, and I refix it every time I come here 'cause it falls apart. I used to bring a stick and tie string to it and a worm on the end and pretend my father was teaching me how to fish."
Jazz slipped out of his grip and walked to the end of the dock. "You may not want to do that, it hasn't been fixed in a while." Noah cautioned. Jazz ignored him and gently sat down, staring out at what was before her. She motioned for Noah to join her.
As he sat down gently, Jazz took his hand and kissed it then leaned her head against him. "When we first met, I would have never guessed you were capable of this kind of stuff." He shifted and Jazz looked to see what he was doing.
"Sorry, uhm, my mom was asking where my little sister stuck her tutu." He said, after he finished the message he threw the phone back in the grass. Noah reached across her to her hip. She jumped as his rough hand touched her thigh. He laughed and pulled her phone out of her pocket and threw it back in the grass by his. "No more distractions."
He bent down and began to kiss her softly, laying her back against the dock, as she put her arms around him. Jazz kissed back, enjoying the moment. Noah put a hand on her knee and slowly ran it up her leg, until, with a sort of reverence; it began to pull up her skirt. Jazz shifted a little and Noah followed suit, trying to make things more comfortable.
But that was all the patched dock could take, it broke apart, landing both of them into the shallow end of the pond. Jazz yelped as she flipped over and landed on top of Noah, completely soaking him. He popped his head out of the water and spit the dirty pond water from his mouth, into her face. She pushed his head back under water.
When he surfaced he was saying, "Don't not fear, I will save you." He scooped her up in his arms and lifted her out of the water. Bringing her back to the grass, where they both laid down.
They didn't start kissing again, right away. Jazz started asking him questions about his life and he answered as best he could. She was really interested in how he lived and what he liked. They talked until the stars started to show.
Jazz side was stitching from laughing so hard at the story about him and Finn, Noah was telling. When he finished, she turned to face him in the grass.
"Cory warned me not to come tonight." She told him as he flipped over.
"Why not?" He asked, rubbing her cheek.
"Because he knows how you are." Jazz said simply. "Were" She corrected.
"Were." Puck said slowly, his eyes flashing to his phone.
They kissed a little while longer, then Puck announced he'd better get her home. And after a long make-out session in his car, Jazz collapsed on the other side of her door, grinning like an idiot. She made sure to avoid Cory all Friday, and all weekend.
On Monday they did there Hair show. Mr. Shuester introduced them to the deaf people sitting in chairs in the choir room. Jazz was pumped and ready, wearing high black boots, small jean shorts, a white v-neck and a green army vest.
They performed, Jazz and Puck flirting the whole time since they were partners. Half-way through the piece Jazz realized that they probably looked crazy to these kids since they couldn't hear what they were singing. As she bounced on Pucks thighs, she burst out laughing. He gave her a weird look as she jumped off of him.
When the song finished and they sang their final note, Jazz noticed the look on the kids faces and had to hid behind Cory to keep them from seeing her laughing. It hadn't worked at all. Everyone dropped the pose and took a seat. Jazz sat down and Cory and Kurt immediately took the seats around her.
The opening cords of Imagine by John Lennon played, and Jazz put a hand to her mouth. It was perfect song. They didn't dance, but signed the words. They couldn't sing, but it touched her heart that they were trying without fear.
Mercedes started singing along and soon she got up to stand by the lead guy, learning the signs for the song. Artie followed suit, singing along. Jazz was next up, joining a fellow red head, singing back up and learning as best she could. Everyone was up soon and following along.
These kids had touched her heart more than anyone ever had. They taught her a lot, she wouldn't forget. As the song ended, Jazz hugged the girl she was singing with.
Jazz took the auditorium after glee to practice a new song. She popped in the tape and stepped up to the microphone.
At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Ohh yeah yeah
At last
the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you
I found a dream, that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Ohh yeah yeah
You smile, you smile
oh And then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine at last
As she finished her song, she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face.
"That was awesome Jazz!" She heard Mr. Shuester call out. He was sitting in one of the seats and smiling at her. "I'll keep this in mind for the ballad for sectionals."
"Thanks Mr. Shue!" She called back, grinning.
She grabbed the CD and made her way to her locker. Quickly she shoved her books in.
Her locked slammed shut in front of her face.
"I don't know what's going on between you two," Santana snapped, standing threateningly in front of her. "But back off, he's mine."
"What are you talking about?" Jazz asked, rolling her eyes.
"You and Puck. He doesn't care for you, he just wants in your pants.
"I know for a fact that isn't true."
"Oh yeah? Well I know for a fact that he went somewhere with Quinn the night after you two went out. Oh, and we were sexting the whole time." Santana smirked triumphant. Jazz stood their shocked.
After she recovered, she made a beeline straight for Puck's locker. Quinn was storming away from him. Oliver stood on the other side with narrowed eyes. Before Puck could do anything, Jazz snatched his phone from his locker and opened his messages. There were over twenty messages from Santana; all saved, talking about stuff she didn't need to know. The replies were deleted.
"Babe," He said, trying to get the phone back. She pushed it into his hands, tears already leaking out of her eyes. "I can explain."
"No need," She wiped her face with her arm. "I wish you would show everyone who you really were, instead of hiding behind this charade."
"I'm a dude, babe. I have needs. I try to control it, but it doesn't work…" He said, taking a step towards her and reaching out to touch her.
She let out a sob and smacked his hand away. "I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work." She turned on her heel and fled down the hallway.
Oliver ran after her, pushing Puck into his locker at he went. Puck threw his phone as hard as he could into his locker.
Jazz made it all the way out into the football stands, ran all the way to the end and collapsed crying. She could hear footsteps approaching, but she chose to ignore them.
"Jazzie," a distance voice said. She hadn't heard this one in a long time. Jazz looked up to see Oliver standing over her concerned.
"What do you want, Jones?" She asked, wiping her eyes and turning away from him.
"To check and see if you were alright." He told her, sitting down on the bench next to her. "I know that you probably still don't want to talk to me, but I want you to know that I'm still going to fight for you. It's been haunting me since I slushed you. I will do anything for you in this world." He reached out and grabbed her knee in a reassuring way. "I know that won't be your last drama with Puckerman, and when something big comes up, you can come to me." He gave her one last sad smile, stood up and walked away.
"Everyone grab a stool," Mr. Shue told them walking in the next day.
"So we're a stool choir now?" Artie asked slowly. Jazz smiled as the song was handed to her, she'd be lead vocals.
"Nope, we're not dancing with the stools." Mr. Shue continued to hand out the music. "No gimmicks, no false theatricality. We're just going to sit in them and sing."
"Thanks, Mr. Shuester." Jazz spoke up, rubbing her eyes again.
They set at once rehearsing. By the end of the week they had it down pat and were going through a dress rehearsal soon. All of them were in jeans and a colored shirt sitting on stools while multicolored light flash around them.
You with the sad eye
Don't be discouraged
Oh I realize
It's hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And darkness still inside you
Make you feel so small
But I see your true colors
Shinin' through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow.
Show me a smile then,
Don't be unhappy,
Can't remember when I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there
And I'll see your true colors
Shining through (I see them shining through)
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you (that's why I love you)
So don't be afraid (afraid) to let them show
Your true colors, true colors
I see your true colors shining through (yeah)
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid (afraid) to let them show
Your true colors
True colors, true colors
True colors, are beautiful like a rainbow
Jazz sang with her soul, tears pouring down her face as she did. Every once in a while she'd look over the Puck and they'd meet eyes and she'd look away. Then she'd look at Finn and Quinn and marvel at how in love they were. It wasn't fair. They were so natural around everyone. And that's what she needed. A boy who would show their true colors.
And if that wasn't Puck, she'd be okay with it.