A/N: I've just decided to add this first chapter quickly after the Prologue, so whatever… please REVIEW!!! I LOVE REVIEWS!!!

One: Ticking

Will Schuster drove to work on that Friday morning with as much enthusiasm as her ever had, if not more.

When he walked into Glee, everyone was there. But there was a new girl, as well. "And who might you be?" Mr. Schuster asked her.

"Warner," she replied.

"Last or first?"

"Last," she nodded.

"And your first is?" he asked.

"Eleanor."

"Alright, Eleanor," he began.

"But most call me Ellie."

"Okay."

He showed her some of the basic choreography, and she learned quickly.

Mr. Schuster started to realiaze how much potential Ellie had. He began to envision Warner and Berry, the two Divas that would lead McKinley Glee back to National prominence.

Near the end of the rehearsal, he gave Rachel the music to "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie, but set Ellie to perform Part B of the Duet (All-Female) Version.

It worked. "Perfect!" he said, raising a fist when they finished.

Tina and Finn sung a Minor Duet after that, and Rachel didn't seem to have a problem with it. They finished off rehearsal with a Group rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'", which had essentially become the trademark of the Club.

Except this rendition was better, because of Ellie.

When Mr. Schuster got home, he got on his computer and Googled the website of the Champions- National Champions of last year's show choir finals.

He went over the roster. Coached by a former Male Glee star- Check. Two lead quality females- with Ellie check. A strong male voice- Finn (and Puck really) made check. And a very solid supporting cast- Check.

McKinley had a winning formula.

And Will was excited.

Will's wife Terri came home to find Will doing a very embarrassing Victory dance and she laughed.

"Will Schuster, you're crazy!" she said.

Will figured "what the hell" and started doing a crazy "boogie," as he described it, with Terri, because frankly, he was so excited he could dance with a horse at this point.

"Come on, Terri, let's go to Carry's Steaks and Fries, and talk about baby names," he said.

Terri laughed an odd, off-kilter laugh that seemed to Mr. Schuster to be very forced. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Terri seemed to panic, her eyes widening and breath speeding up. She blinked a few times.

"Terri? Are you okay?" Mr. Schuster asked his wife.

"I'm fine," she told him, slowing everything down. "I'll take a shower to calm everything, and then we'll go to Carry's."

Will smiled at her, and then dialed Emma Pillsbury's number, wanting to talk to someone who could clean his brain. He laughed at his own joke before hearing Emma answer.

"Hi, Emma, it's Will."

"Oh, hey, Will," he could picture her smiling through the telephone.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said.

"Talk about what?" she asked.

"Is it possible that you could get New Directions booked for a show soon? Like, before Christmas?"

"I'll talk to Principal Figgins about it, but don't you already have your 'Hello, Happy Holidays' on the 16th, and the Exhibition on January 21st?" Emma asked.

"Yes, but both of those are just at McKinley," Will said, his eyes gleaming. "Could you get us in Caramel's tournament on the 20th?"

"But won't…" Emma began.

"Yes, Vocal Adrenaline will be there. But I think we're better than them."

"Really?" Emma inquired. "Because last week, you said you needed one more star."

"Yeah, I did," Mr. Schuster said. "But now, I think we have one more star."

"Tina is singing as well as you said she could?"

"No, but Ellie is almost as good as Rachel," Will said. "And, she's high-school age."

"Who's Ellie?" Emma asked.

"The new girl. She has talent."

Terri walked back into the room with her pink bathrobe on. She took notoriously quick showers. She cringed a couple of times. "Will, honey, I don't think I can go to Carry's tonight," Terri said. "I've got a headache, and I think I just need to lie down."

"One moment," Will said into the receiver, and heard Emma say of course. "Terri, I'll get you some Aspirin, but do you mind if I take Emma out to Carry's since her boyfriend is in Cincinnati for a few more days?"

"No," Terri said. "Not at all." But it was obvious to Will that she minded. Did Terri think Will liked Emma? He did, of course, but not in that way. Terri wasn't jealous, was she?

Couldn't be. "Hey, Emma, you want to join me at Carry's Steak and Fries in a half-hour?" he said into the receiver.

"Well, I don't see why not," Emma said.

"Great, I'll meet you there," Will said and hung up.

He quickly set everything up so Terri could lie down for a few hours. "Have a good time," Terri said, with the same surprising ingenuity he really hadn't seen before today.

He packed up a couple of small things and drove to Carry's, where Emma was waiting outside the door.

"I suppose it's like you to be her early," Mr. Schuster told her.

"Well, I was already dressed to go, and I live much closer," Emma said.

"Okay," Will answered.

They were seated by a man named Jeffrey who Emma said looked familiar. "He was the little brother of one of my ex-boyfriends."

"Oh, Brian? Yeah, from High School? Oh, now I remember him," Will said, not helping feeling a tinge of sadness.

"Yeah," Emma answered, absentmindedly. "So besides this new girl…"

"Ellie," Will interrupted, beaming.

"Yes, Ellie," Emma said. "What is going on?"

"Terri is sick, and she's been acting kind of weird.

"How so?"

"She isn't having the problems that everyone said she would have if she was pregnant, but she has other problems, like she starts breathing really fast and sort of panics whenever the subject comes up, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand what you mean in some ways," Emma said.

"Like understanding what?"
"Everything," Emma said, something about the way she said it being so faraway.

Like an Emma way. There was truly no other way to describe everything about her- Emma was one of a kind. Her exotic clothing patterns (like wearing the lime green and forest green dresses) were simply Emma. So was her need to be so clean, such as when she took four (count 'em, four) decontamination showers after Kurt puked on her feet. So was her look and her voice and everything else about her. She was Emma, the School Guidance Counselor. But more than that, for Will, she was just Emma. Less is more.

To Will, anyways.

Will ordered a steak and fries, and Emma remarked that Will didn't need a menu. "You just look at the sign- Carry's Steak and Fries, alright I'll have Steak and Fries."

He laughed. "Yeah."

The two sat in a half-awkward silence for a few minutes, Will quickly losing count. "Ken is out of town for the week, huh? Cincy, right?" Will asked, trying desperately to strike up a conversation. He didn't hate silence, but he hated awkward silence.

"Yeah. He's with some of his friends from college. They decided to have one of those 'Male Bonding' experiences, you know?" Emma said.

"Yeah, you know, I like Ken a lot. He's a good guy. Gritty. He's an underdog of sorts, but he works hard, and you want to root for him," Will explained, a speech that philosophical coming out of his mouth surprising even him.

"He certainly is," Emma said, and their food arrived.

"Excuse me, Emma, but I eat fries like a pig," Mr. Schuster said, a grin and a lick escaping his lips.

"So does Ken," was Emma's quite dignified reply.

"Hey, we're men," Will said. "It's primal instinct."

"It's disgusting," Emma informed Mr. Schuster.

"Well again, we're men," Will tried to defend himself.

Emma Pillsbury just laughed.

Will Schuster laughed along.