Chapter Two

The Surprise Announcement

"Thank you, Coach Sylvester. You won't regret this; I'm sure of it."

This was turning out to be one of the best days ever. Had God made her wish come true? Santa Claus? Rory the Leprechaun?

Whatever miracle made it happen, Brittany was still happy. She had gotten her Cheerios uniform back after proving to the cheer coach that she would improve in her academic success. She knew she would try and do better once Sue announced she would be back on the squad. Not just because she was tired of people calling her stupid, but because she wanted to feel as accomplished as many of the students who have graduated from McKinley High.

It had been several days since the uniform was placed on the girl's porcelain body. She felt so important every time she wore it. Sure, every girl on the Cheerios wore it, but it made Brittany feel like she was a part of something – if Glee club didn't already.

The leotard, once zipped up, felt a tad snug on her. Maybe she should've laid off the cookies and chips during her time off. Good think the skirt fit, though. The girl then tied her hair in a perfect ponytail in the back of her head, and slipped the clean, white tennis shoes on her feet.

She suddenly grew that confidence she had in her before losing the uniform. Voiceovers were coming to her in her head out of nowhere. She literally imagined herself as a reality TV show.

It's my time again. Thank goodness. I regained my Cheerios uniform, my high pony, and best of all – my conscience. I'm starting to get good grades now that Mr. Schue and Emma Pillsbury are coaching me. Now I've got something to say about all of this.

She walked out of the bathroom stall towards the sink, eyeing herself in the mirror with a smirk on her face. "Brittany's back, bitches!" she exclaimed. She knew someone was probably listening to her. That would sometimes happen when she had those voiceovers in her head and the spark driving through her veins.

"Yeah, I can see that."

The tall blonde rolled her eyes. She recognized that voice anywhere. It was that snarky evilness Santana had sometimes, but this was a different kind of snarky. Brittany didn't like it at all.

Another Cheerio had come out of the bathroom, having already changed into her cheerleading uniform after her gym session. She had spotted Brittany with hers as she slipped out of the smelly, red gym shirt and into her red, white, and black leotard.

"So…" The girl had started up the conversation, unenthused. "Sylvester let you back on?"

"Yes. I have renewed my spot on the Cheerios," Brittany replied, dignified, "and your plan to try to stop me any way you can has been backfired."

"Oh, I was never trying to kick you off the Cheerios –"

"Save it, Kitty. Okay? Oh, and by the way, I'm going to keep the Unholy-Trinity tradition up – you know, my other two friends have all been successful captains on this squad…or at least Quinn used to until she got pregnant –" The Cheerio, identified as Kitty, snickered under her breath. "Anyway, I will be cheer captain and make them proud. They've made the school proud. Why not I make them?"

"Because you're hopeless."

"What makes you think so?"

Kitty turned towards the girl and gaped, making it obvious. "Look at you. You got a freakin' 0.0 GPA last year and didn't even graduate. You should be in college right now." The short blonde, after washing her hands and while taking out her makeup bag, took a moment and snickered again. "And I thought Lady Hummel was the only underachiever from this school."

"Kurt's not an underachiever; he's smarter than Mitt Romney."

"But back to you." The tone in Kitty's voice got serious. Every time she tried focusing on Brittany in this situation, though, she couldn't help but think of the many ironic things about her. It made her laugh on the inside. "I'm still surprised that Sue even considered bringing you back. Even though you're getting the help you need, you still don't have the right GPA for the squad. So what makes you think that the Cheerios would want a leader with knowledge as poor as Hispanic neighborhoods?"

"Because the Cheerios would want someone inspirational."

Kitty took out a small, pink eyelash comb and brushed at her long, thin eyelashes. Her blue eyes glittered in the fluorescent lighting. "And how the hell are you, of all people, are inspirational?" she quipped.

"Well, I've been going through a rough time in school, since Santana came out last year and her leaving was one of the most devastating things that happened to me," Brittany explained. "Then I realized that I have everything right in front of me all along. Of course I have my friends in Glee club, but I also have the Cheerios, Santa Claus, my athletic body, and my love for dancing. I can use those to help me improve myself. They're my motivation."

Okay, what in God's name was that about, Kitty wanted to say.

Kitty knew inspiration when she saw it. Katy Perry is an inspiration; she, telling by one of her albums, has been going through a rough time, relatively with her love life. It hit a rocky road, but then realized that she didn't need it, and had the independence to move on. All of that was pretty much explained in a song Kitty listened to a hundred times over the summer.

But whatever Brittany was talking about didn't seem like inspiration to her. It sounded like Brittany was just spitting words out. Anyone can miss someone, whether they're moving away to another city forever, dead from a disease or injury, or just gone for a couple of days or even weeks. Sure, most as devastated – mainly for the death part – but those who had people who moved or were absent for a while didn't mind much.

The short blonde shook her head. "Oh, Brittany. You will not make it out of here alive," Kitty finally spoke, putting her eyelash comb away and taking out some mango lip gloss. "I would have to watch you roam the halls of McKinley High for another two years. And somewhere around the time I graduate from Miami University, you would still be here. What age is that again, twenty-two?"

"No, I won't. I would've graduated then."

"And then what? Is the college drop-out thing pending in your mind somewhere?"

"No, I'll go wherever Santana's going. I promised I'd be with her once I graduated from McKinley. Nothing would separate us."

Kitty shook her head, placing the mango lip gloss in her makeup bag. "And you said you realized everything was right in front of you all along; yet, you still think about her –"

"What did you say?"

Brittany had stopped Kitty in her tracks, right in front of the girls' bathroom entrance. Her hands were on her hips, staring down at the short blonde in front of her.

"Uh, I have to get to class," the shorter blonde reminded her.

Brittany folded her arms, still looking down at her. "Let me remind you – okay? – that I am Brittany S. Pierce, senior class president of McKinley High School. Your bullying is going to stop at once –"

"What bullying?"

"Now like I said, I will be captain again…and you're not going to stop me."

That was the rush of power the tall blonde dancer needed all day. That Cheerios uniform did some wonderful stuff to her, eternally. She's brave enough to say or do whatever she can. Plus, Kitty has only been to McKinley for two years. What would she know about running the Cheerios anyway?

She wouldn't know as much as Brittany, that's for sure.

Satisfied with her courage, she smoothed her skirt out and marched on out of the bathroom. Before she made it to sixth period, another Cheerio had ran up to her – Becky Jackson.

"Principal Figgins and Mr. Schuester want to see you in the principal's office right away," the Downs girl spoke as clearly as she could.

Brittany was just about getting tired of people calling upon her so much, especially these last couple of days. It's almost as if she gets in trouble almost every day, and she doesn't even do anything. She only wondered what Mr. Schue and Figgins wanted with her now. Did she set a piano on fire? Slushie an autistic kid? Threaten to kill a freshman?

It had been only moments before Brittany had arrived in the principal's office. A wrinkly man with a dark suit was sitting at the desk, as usual; another man with a plaid shirt and black tie accompanied him in the room, seated on the leather couch.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Schue?" the blonde told her Glee club coordinator.

"Yes, we did." Mr. Schue didn't seem to have much of a serious tone. Maybe Brittany was making more progress than she thought. "Actually, there's something important but thrilling we would like to share with you."

Curious as to what was going on, the blonde Cheerio took a seat in one of the chairs facing Figgins' desk, and Mr. Schue joined her in the neighboring seat.

"Brittany," the principal began, "we have gotten a call from Regina Hills. She is a manager all the way from Hollywood, California."

"Was she involved with the Justin Bieber trials?" the blonde asked.

Neither adult replied to that question.

"She has something very exciting for you to be a part of…and I assure you that you'll love it. That is, if you're willing to take the opportunity."

Brittany sat there attentively. She was willing to take any opportunity, especially if it was something thrilling as Mr. Schue said. Maybe someone entered her in a contest, and the prize was a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. She's always wanted to go there; it seemed to have better weather conditions there than Lima – or any place for that matter. Maybe she got to do the routine for the Glee club at a special event. Sure, Mike Chang wasn't there to help choreograph, but she was just as good of a dancer as he was.

So many questions popped through the Cheerio's mind. Anything thrilling could possibly be thrown at her. She kept wondering as the seconds past.

And then, her life flashed before her eyes as she's given a scanned document.

This…this can't be. But it really was.

The students down at Yale University have been dismissed for the day. It was a good thing, too. Quinn was so exhausted that she could sleep for a nonstop week.

Thank goodness she got to go out with some of her Yale friends.

The oldest one, Lizzie, requested for Quinn to come with her and a couple of other student to the Yale Lounger, the campus' coffee shop and study center. Lizzie was only a junior, but she made Quinn feel welcome and gave her several tours around. She had a boyfriend, Trenton Raymond, and he was Quinn's second male friend coming to Yale – first being a freshman named Eddie Frankfurt.

All four of them, along with two freshmen girls named Beatrice McCoy and Samantha Douglas, were at the Yale Lounger after school, seated in a booth area. They all had lattes and completed their homework for the next day. In between finishing work and drinking their lattes, they had random conversations with each other.

"So, where are you going after Yale?" the petite blonde asked Lizzie a couple of people down from her. "You graduate next year."

The chestnut-haired girl shrugged. "I considered heading on to Miami or something, and get inspiration on songs. I like to sing, mostly R&B and love songs. And I have an older cousin that lives down there; he graduated from Berklee College of Music, and then started up a recording studio in Florida. He wanted to assist once I got my degrees in performing arts and music."

Intrigued, Quinn nodded to everything she said. Music and performing arts seemed pretty interesting now that she graduated from a high school with so much inspiration and excitement from one amazing Glee club.

"I'm going to Los Angeles and work with my uncle who's a music agent," Trenton explained. "He said he was going to coach me with my singing, and once I'm good enough, we could possibly work on an album together."

"That's nice," Quinn replied, sipping her latte through her straw. "I mean, since you don't have much of a father figure and all –"

The girl suddenly paused at what she just said.

Trenton's father had left him at around seven years old. He and his wife broke up after an affair and child custody. Ever since then, Trenton hasn't seen his old man. Most of the time, it would be hard to discuss his father with other people. He would cover that up by talking about music and stuff on YouTube he would watch that would make him laugh.

Now, Quinn felt like she made a big mistake. The Yale Lounger wasn't the right time to break down, especially when the place was full of a bunch of people relaxed, studying, and enjoying their drinks.

"I'm…I'm so sorry." She hoped he accepted her apology. "It kinda slipped out, and I know how much that has affected you –"

"No worries." The boy held his hands in front of him in defense. "It's mostly deep conversations like the ones at therapy for me to get that emotional."

"Are you sure?" She didn't seem so much convinced at first.

"Positive."

The blonde was still nervous about what she said. She and Trenton can practically relate in terms of having family problems. She can still remember her dad leaving her mother. Judy had said it had something to do with a tattooed freak he met, and she moved out of the house into a new one.

And that was right around the time Quinn got pregnant.

That was the worst time of Quinn's life other than being stuck in a wheelchair for a couple of months. She had to deal with walking down the halls of McKinley and feeling like an outcast. People would stare at the growth of her stomach, whispering rumors behind her back. She wasn't supposed to be that way; she was supposed to be the one they eyed positively and treated her with respect – at least that's what the old Quinn would've said.

The new Quinn was different. The new Quinn was in the Yale University School of Drama, her life only beginning, and is trying to make it into the world with a successful degree.

She spent the rest of her time with her Yale friends at the Yale Lounger for another hour, and then headed back to her dorm. The latte helped her relax just a little bit, plus the little tour Lizzie gave for her. But excluding all the fun, Quinn needed a few moments to lay back.

Once she entered the cluttered dorm room, she kicked her shoes off and placed them on the side of the door near the coat rack and the umbrella holders with two umbrellas in them.

Her roommate wasn't anywhere in sight. Quinn assumed that she was at the library cramming for an exam, or out in another city in Connecticut, visiting her aunt, uncle, and two cousins. She would always tell stories of how they camped in the summer and hanging out on New Year's Eve. Now that she's living in a college life, she doesn't get to see them that much.

The blonde sat on the couch and faced the thirty-two-inch television in front of her. She couldn't think of any good show that was on right now, nor an entertaining movie she could watch. She thought about tuning in to The Vampire Diaries or Supernatural, but she's been caught up with too much to figure out what happened in the previous episodes.

Before she turned the television on, her eyes had drawn to an envelope on the coffee table below her. Her roommate must have placed it there before she left. Quinn saw the name and address of the person who sent the letter.

Regina Hills, Manager

PO Box 5573 Hollywood Dell (Apt. 33)

Hollywood, California 90068

This Regina person knew who Quinn was; but somehow, Quinn didn't know who she was. Quinn didn't know anyone with that name or address. She knew a relative that lived in Los Angeles, but that was her older cousin, James, and his father and little sister.

What did this Regina Hills person want? And what is she a manager for?

Quinn stopped thinking so much and just opened the envelope. There was a one-page letter typed just for her. Quinn's eyes inched over every single word in the letter, and then widened as she continued reading. Her mind was tossing and turning at this point. She got a little excited and lightheaded. Was this really happening to her? Did this Regina person really do this for her?

And then she found out that she wasn't the only one in this.

You and the other members of the Unholy Trinity have been chosen by me to be the next big stars. Are you up for the challenge?

Santana and Brittany.

Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter than the last. My problem with my fan fics, I believe, is that I make the chapters too long. I'll work on that in the future, probably.