Paul sat in the teacher's lounge, the set list for sectionals which was drawing so near laid out in front of him at the table. He was so engulfed in his work that he didn't notice Ryan storming up to up with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Hey, fella," He said with a false sense of friendship as he slammed a magazine down in front of Paul, who peered at it. "So, unless my recent write-up here on Splits magazine naming me cheerleading coach of the decade has driven me completely insane, I'm pretty sure you and I had an agreement that you were going to show me your glee club set list for sectionals."

Paul gathered all his strength to remain professional with this kid, even though all he wanted to do was pretend like he wasn't there. Sometimes, he hated how he had to hide his dislike for the senior, but he had to keep up the façade to keep his job. He took in a deep breath and said, "Sorry, Ryan, I didn't think you were all that interested in glee club anymore."

"Not interested?" Ryan guffawed, "I'm the fine arts administrator or something."

"Um," Paul paused, looking up at him before returning to his set list. "Well, I'll be sure to get you a copy."

"That'd be fantastic," Ryan sneered, looking at him threateningly. "I'd hate to have to go to Lassiter about this. Hey, Paul-"

"Yes?" Paul snapped impatiently.

"I'd like my magazine back, please," Ryan said back at him, and Paul slowly pushed the magazine back across the table, which Ryan snatched up. "Thank you."

As Ryan walked away, Paul watched after him, his eyes narrowed in both dislike and suspicion. The problem with Ryan Sylvester was you never quite know where you stood. Paul knew he was up to something. In the last rehearsal for glee club, when Paul had been teaching some new steps to the kids, Amy stood on the riser and filmed the steps with the camera on her cell phone, but she told him meekly that "Ryan didn't tell me to do this," But that wasn't the end, it kept getting worse. As he was walking in the hallways, Ryan had snapped up to his side and said…

"Hey there, pal," Ryan snickered with a notepad and pen in his hands. "Would you remind me once again the names of the schools you'll be competing against at sectionals?"

"Jane Addams Academy and Haverbrook School for the Deaf," Paul had replied… and then he asked for their zip codes.

He had figured it out; Ryan was trying to leak the set list for sectionals.

~L~

"If the other glee clubs get set lists and videos," Paul ranted as he paced back and forth in Kathy's office, and she listened attentively from her place at her desk. "They'll know exactly how to beat us at sectionals!"

"Well, first, don't let Ryan distract you, alright?" Kathy tried to calm him, and Paul nodded, subconsciously taking a deep breath. "And if you can't take Mohammad to the mountain, then you've got to get Mohammad to bring the mountain down to his house... Mohammad's house, wherever he's staying."

The two looked at each other in awkward silence, before Paul's face transformed into confusion and Kathy cleared her throat.

"I don't understand," Paul said.

"You should drive over to Jane Addams Academy and ask the director point blank," Kathy clarified. "If something's going on, you'll know."

Paul nodded, and stood up straighter. "Thanks, Kath," he said brightly, and she watched him as he walked out of his office with a thankful nod and a wink in her direction. She buried her face in her hands before groaning in frustration, because he really was not making her efforts to get over him very easy.

~L~

The following day, Paul drove up to Jane Addams Academy, which was eerily reminiscent of a high-security prison. He was scanned for metals by a police officer and had to go through several metal doors – it was a little unnerving. He walked up to the principal's office, but he heard that she was talking to a student, so he waited outside the door.

"You're a good kid, Aphasia," the principal said in disbelief. "Why did you try to rob a bank?"

"Because, Ms. Hitchens, that's where they keep the money," Aphasia snarked, her arms crossed as she slouched in her chair. Ms. Hitchens rolled her eyes, and dismissed her back to class. Paul entered the office as the student whizzed past him with an angry expression.

"Uh, hi, Ms. Hitchens," Paul said, already nervous about what he was going to have to ask, "I'm Paul Greeby from McKinley High."

"Ugh, Aphasia," Ms. Hitchens called after the girl. "Give Mister Greeby his wallet back!"

Paul's eyebrows stitched and he patted down his pockets to try to find his wallet - to his surprise, the girl really had pick pocketed him. She walked back into the entrance of the office and handed him his wallet and left with a final glare towards her principal, and Paul shook his head and laughed slightly as he walked into the office and sat down in the chair across from Ms. Hitchen's desk. "She's good," he mused. "Thank you for seeing me."

"We don't get a lot of other educators paying us visits," Ms. Hitchens said blankly.

"Right, well, the reason I'm here is uh... a little weird, so I guess the best thing for me to do is to come right out with it," Paul said, and Ms. Hitchens made a face that read, 'get on with it'. "I think our cheerleading coach has been passing along our set list for sectionals to you."

"What kinda messed up school are you people runnin'?" Ms. Hitchens asked instantly; feeling offended but staying calm. "You think that because our students are thieves and arsonists that we're cheaters too?"

"No, no, no, no," Paul spluttered, shaking his head rapidly. "It's not you, it's Ryan-"

"Do you know that we don't have costumes? Or even an auditorium? Our show choir has to practice out in the rec' yard," the principal said, and Paul looked at her sympathetically. "This is Ohio, we have weather."

"You don't have to tell me about under-funding for the arts-"

"Look, all I know is that our choir seems to be the only thing that keeps my girls from recidivism," Ms. Hitchens confessed, thinking of the misfit students she was so fond of, even when they made the wrong choices. "It makes them feel good about themselves. I'm not going to we can get a leg up on your school of privileged misfits. Especially from what I hear... we're probably going to take you anyway."

"Oh really," Paul said with a friendly yet competitive tone. "And who'd you hear that from?"

"I had my spies at your invitational," Ms. Hitchens grinned. "Want some coffee?"

"Please," Paul accepted, but when the principal stood up, he stood up as well. "I'm-I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, let me make it up to you. You guys don't have an auditorium, come use ours. Yeah, let's have a little, uh, scrimmage at our place."

Ms. Hitchens eyed him suspiciously, but she held out her hand, and he shook it, "You've got a deal," she said.

~L~

A large group of girls stood on the McKinley High auditorium stage, all dressed in yellow and black. All twelve of the New Directions kids sat in the audience, and Paul stood on the stage, introducing their competitors.

"I want to welcome Ms. Hitchens and the Jane Addams Glee Club, we're all very happy to have you guys here," Paul said enthusiastically. "So, we're going to let you guys start us off, let's see what you got!"

Paul jogged up to his group and sat amongst them, and Ms. Hitchens yelled out, 'Hit it!'

"Shadonda, can you handle this?" the group sang as they all lined up, and as each name was called, they ran through the rows of people.

"Aphasia, can you handle this?" they sang a bit louder.

"Jayelle, can you handle this?" they sang. "I don't think they can handle this!"

But the following minutes were a whiz of spinning, dancing, hair tossing and even some terrifying splits as the group sang. After the provocative number, Paul sat in his seat as the group left, whooping and chattering, and his own students poured out of the room – but Casey lagged behind and sat back down in a seat a row behind him.

"Paul," She said gently. "You seem concerned."

"What? No," Paul said, but his voice stretched into octaves a little too high. Casey peered at him, not buying it. "I mean, they were great, but we're just as good…"

"Paul, if I may," Casey began, but she didn't bother to wait for the go-ahead. "What they were doing was just all smoke and mirrors, its called hairography."

Paul looked at her questioningly, "What?"

"Hairography," Casey continued, leaning against the back of the seat next to him. "All the whizzing their hair around just to distract from the fact that they're not really good dancers, and their vocals were just so-so – trust me, we have nothing to be afraid of."

Casey nodded confidently and stood up to leave for class, but Paul stayed behind, contemplating everything his student had said.

~L~

"Alright, guys, I did some research last night, and I think we found out new number for sectionals," Paul enthused as he walked into rehearsal with a spring in his step and a large duffel bag in his hand."We're going to do the title song from Hair, now, this show started a revolution!"

As Paul spoke, Casey's eyes widened slowly… he wasn't about to do what she thought he was, was he?

"Wait, did they have short hair back then?" Ralph asked. "Like, back in the '20s or whatever?"

"Yeah, Paul," Noel agreed. "If we're gonna do a song about hair, shouldn't we have more hair?"

"One step ahead of you," Paul smirked, and he tossed the brown duffel bag into Noel's lap. "Here are your wigs!"

But Casey quickly rose to her feet and seized his arm like a vice, moving him to the other side of the choir room. "Paul, what are you doing? We are fine the way we are, we don't need hairography, and it's just a distraction!" She whispered.

"Look, I have to be honest, those Jane Addams girls did freak me out a little, and I'm worried about our chances for sectionals," Paul confessed, but making a point to keep quiet as to not worry the other students. "And we have to pull out all the stops if we wanna win."

Casey nodded unenthusiastically as she found herself disagreeing with her teacher… she sometimes thought that Paul may have gotten a little too caught up in the club, but before she had the chance to say anything in return, Paul had turned to face six grinning faces in ridiculous wigs.

~L~

"Saw it in the book store, thought I'd buy it for ya'," Derek said nonchalantly as he walked down the hallway with Sally. He had just handed her a small book entitled, 'How to Raise A Baby On Five Dollars A Day', and she couldn't decide if it was absolutely sweet or a little bizarre."You know, in case you change your mind and decide you wanna keep it."

"That is so sweet," she decided. "To be honest? I really don't know what I'm gonna do about it anymore. My mind's pretty messed up about everything."

"Well, whatever you decide," Derek said supportively as he took a turn down the hallway. "No pressure!"

Sally sighed as she watched him stroll down the hallway. Thank God for Derek, she thought to herself. Thanks to him, she was starting to realize that what she needed, even more than looser pants, was acceptance. Everyone was putting so much pressure on the girl; it was so easy for them to be distracted... she don't have that luxury - she under siege by a kicking and squirming baby girl in her tummy. Maybe the problem isn't that I don't wanna keep the baby... the problem is that I don't wanna keep the baby with Ralph, she mused. Maybe I didn't give Derek enough of a chance, he is the real dad, after all. …But I'm still really worried that he's just being sweet and being nice to me because he feels like it's the right thing to do, but maybe I can find out… Ralph would freak if I started spending time with Derek, though. She needed to distract him so that she could take Derek for a test drive, but how? There was always Casey… Mm, forget about it, she looks like a five year old... still, maybe with a little bit of make up.

"Sally," Kendra heard a voice calling from the other end of the hallway, and she turned to see her. Before she could say hello, her friend interrupted her in a hushed whisper, peering behind her shoulder to look for anyone who might be listening. "Derek's the father?"

Sally stared at the blonde girl across from her and stuttered uncontrollably before finally admitting it. "How did you find out?"

"I overheard you talking to him about it," Kendra said, still in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was trying to keep it quiet," Sally said, looking down at the floor and absent mindedly placing a hand on her stomach. "Please don't tell Ralph!"

Kendra made a face, but eventually pulled her friend into a hug. Sally was shell shocked, and hardly moved… she was surprised that Kendra wasn't gouging her eyes out. "You aren't mad?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm mad!" Kendra hissed, but she pulled back and looked at Sally, who looked like a frightened child, and her heart swelled for her in empathy. "But I forgive you. And, to be honest, I'm glad you chose Ralph. He's a good guy, he's going to make a great father, and he loves you. He looks at you like a puppy sometimes. Look, if there's anything you need me to do, just let me know."

And then, a light bulb went off in Sally's head. "How about a makeover?"

"I'm in! Makeovers are like crack to me," Kendra enthused, clapping her hands together slightly. "My suggestion? Spanx, or a double-knit camisole with a control panel for the baby bump. Also, babydoll dresses are a dead giveaway."

"Not for me," Sally gritted. "For Casey."

"And why would I want to do that?" Kendra snorted as she crossed her arms. "I admit I like a challenge as much as the next guy, but Casey somehow manages to dress like a grandmother and a toddler at the same time."

"My point exactly," Sally exclaimed, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her very subject walk up to her locker. "What I need right now is a distraction, and glee club is that distraction. If the glee club doesn't succeed, then I have no more distraction. Look at her; she's wearing a pants suit!"

Kendra turned to see the brunette in question wearing a bright blue, nearly blinding pants suit, stuffing a neon pink binder in her locker. Kendra rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh my God,"

"Don't you think the judges are gonna take one look at her and maybe want to knock her down a peg or two?" Sally asked, and Kendra mulled the thought over in her head.

"You know what?" Kendra smirked. "Deal."

~L~

Kendra roughly pulled the wax strips she had placed underneath Casey's eyebrows away, and she flinched, placing her hands over her eyebrows, which were stinging like they had just been stung by a bee. "The key is to never wax above the eyebrow, always shape from below," she looked at the mirror in Casey's room, admiring her own eyebrows conceitedly. "Trust me; I get a lot of practice, look at mine."

"Kendra, why did you volunteer to give me a new look?" Casey inquired.

"One, I'm a sucker for makeovers, and two, you need something to distract from your horrible personality," Kendra said bluntly, and then she walked over to Casey's bed, sitting down on the edge of it. "Most of the time, I find it hard to be in the same room with you... especially this one, which looks like where Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobby come to hook up. You're extremely talented, Casey, watching you perform is amazing. But sometimes it's hard to appreciate what a good singer you are because all I'm thinking about is shoving a sock into your mouth."

Casey stared at Kendra, feeling torn between feeling hurt and feeling complimented because of her talent. She decided to drop the subject.

"...Alright, well, what kind of makeover did you have in mind?"

"We need to broaden your appeal," Kendra said as she leaned back on Casey's bed. "I want every boy in school to do a double-take when you strut past."

"There's really only just one boy I'd like to impress," Casey mumbled shyly as she turned in her chair. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course,"

"I'm in love with Ralph," Casey spluttered out loudly and quickly, heaving a sigh afterwards. It felt good to get that off her chest. "I mean, I really want to see where things would go with him… Derek and I could never work."

"I understand completely," Kendra said tonelessly, and then she grabbed Casey's shoulders and turned her around abruptly. "Let's move on to makeup. I happen to know that Ralph is attracted to loose women."

"What?" Casey bumbled, flinching as Kendra grabbed one of her many beauty products and began poking her face with… whatever it was. Casey didn't really know, but what she did know is that she was suspicious of Kendra's motives. Ralph was her best friend's boyfriend, after all. Why would she be so eager to get Ralph and her together? "But Sally is so wholesome."

"Let me put this into musical theatre parlance," Kendra offered, making eye contact with her through the mirror. "In Grease, what did Sandy do to get Danny Zuko? She had to ditch the poodle skirt and slap on a cat suit. In short, she had to dress like a ho. Maybe if your look was better, more desirable, Ralph would be in your arms right now, instead of Sally's."

Casey pondered the statement for a moment, and then she looked at Kendra through the reflection in the mirror. "Go for it," she instructed, and the cheerleader smirked.

~L~

"Look, we had no intention of discriminating against your glee club, Mister Rumba," Paul began in a desperate effort to fix this damaged situation as he was presented with a balding, loud teacher from Haverbrook School for the Deaf. "We extended an invitation to the Jane Addams academy to perform because we're lucky enough to have better facilities than they do."

"And you think we don't have the same problem? I run a glee club for a school for the deaf, you think I'm rollin' around in deaf choir money?!" Mister Rumba screeched, and Paul heard the man's cell phone ringing in his pocket. "I mean, yeah, sure, my kids may be deaf, but that shouldn't distract everyone from the fact that they still have a song in their heart! And they should have the same chance as everyone else to express it. Now, I had scarlet fever when I was a kid, leaving me deaf in one ear, so I remember what it's like to have full hearing, but my poor kids don't know the difference! All they know is that they love performing, and then they have to hear that McKinley went and invited those bad girls to the school?! That's just not fair, it's not fair!"

"I think your phone's ringi-"

"What?!" Mister Rumba yelped.

"Your phone's ringing," Paul continued, trying to speak as clearly as he could, but Mister Rumba waved it off.

"No, I've got it on vibrate," he corrected, and Paul fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Now, all I'm saying is that it would be nice if you went and hosted another scrimmage and had the courtesy to invite us this time."

"I couldn't agree more," Paul agreed with a smile, but the teacher opposite him questioned Paul. "I said I agree with you."

Mister Rumba took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I can't hear you. Talk into this ear, scarlet fever!"

"I'm sorry," Paul mumbled, and then he raised his voice. "You're on! Um, how's Monday?"

"No, it has to be Monday," Mister Rumba insisted, and Paul gave up on his feeble attempts of correction and agreed, saying that he couldn't wait to see the kids do their numbers, and implied as such by miming very bad dance moves. "Well, you don't have to make fun of me with those hand gestures."

"I didn't mean do," Paul said, and Mister Rumba fished through his coat pocket for his cell phone.

"Okay, let me check with my secretary. Oh, damn, four missed calls," Mister Rumba complained, and Paul rolled his eyes exaggeratedly when the other teacher wasn't looking. "What's that?"

"Oh, I didn't say anything," Paul said.

"Yes, thank you, I'll take it black, two sugars,"

~L~

After intense shopping trips and fashion tips, Casey strolled about the school in a black, spaghetti-strap halter dress. She tried not to stop breathing when she saw Ralph.

"Hey, Casey," he said nervously as he rubbernecked to look at her, and Casey turned to look at him with a smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Ralph, I didn't see you there," Casey smiled, fighting off the nervousness in her expression. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"I, uh, I just... I just forgot, I got, uh, distracted," Ralph stuttered, and looked down at her chest with his mouth wide open.

"Well, I'm glad I got your attention," Casey said with a suggestive tone in her voice. Ralph looked back up, because his grandma once said that it was rude to stare… he wasn't quite sure if that's what she meant, but he was sure the rule was still relevant. "I wanted to know if you wanted to come over on Friday night. As someone who has had long, luxurious locks since I was a toddler in the pageant circuit, I figured I could give you some... tips, on our hair number."

"Yeah!" Ralph yelped a little too enthusiastically. "That, that'd be great."

"Great," Casey said, feigning a nonchalant attitude by Kendra's advice. "How's eight?"

"Eight is terrific! It's terrific..." Ralph coughed, and then he watched Casey as she walked down the hallway, Kendra walking up next to her.

"Objective achieved. Commence phase two," Kendra said with a grin. Back down the hallway, Ralph ran to find Sally, and saw her talking to one of her friends, who left the two to themselves.

"I wanted to ask your permission to maybe do something on Friday night if you're-" Ralph began, but Sally interrupted.

"Oh, that's fine," she said. "I'm babysitting anyways."

A woman a few streets away from her had asked if she could babysit her children, but she had since heard bad things about the three since accepting her offer. She was a little worried, but she figured that maybe spending time with some kids would help her make a decision about her own baby.

"Oh, cool, I'll see ya' later," Ralph kissed her cheek and walked off to his next class, but before Sally made her way to French class, she spotted Derek walking down a hallway not too far from her.

"Hey," she said as she caught up with him. "What are you doing on Friday?"

"The usual - just gonna stand outside a seven-eleven looking depressed until someone offered to buy me a beer," Derek admitted, shrugging slightly. "What's goin' on?"

"You wanna maybe babysit with me?"

~L~

"Some of you, particularly the guys, have come up to me asking some questions about hairography," Paul announced to his club, and noted with a struggle not to laugh that Ralph was picking wig hair out of his mouth. "One of our own has volunteered to walk us through it - she has got it down. Amy, take it away."

"Take what away?" Amy asked honestly, and Max tried his hardest not to chuckle.

"...Show us what you've got," Paul rephrased.

"Oh. So, hairography, it works best when you pretend like you're getting tazered," Amy explained, and she pulled her hair out of her ponytail. "So you just move your head around like you're spazzing and stuff."

She held her arms out and began to whiz her hair around, and a few may or may not have wondered if that's how she got what everybody assumed to be brain damage.

"Very nice," Paul applauded.

"You guys, it's like cool epilepsy," Amy grinned.

"Come on, guys," Paul instructed, and the students tried their best, but it still looked like they were headbanging. "Let's see what you got."

Observing and giggling at his students, Paul had a feeling of being watched. He looked to the door, and from the small window in the door of the choir room, Ryan watched the futile attempt at hairography. Paul shook his head and walked out, seeing Ryan pretending to innocently get a drink of water from the water fountain.

"When is the lying gonna stop, Ryan?" Paul asked hopelessly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryan lied, walking up to Paul challengingly.

"You've been spying on me and we both know it!" Paul yelled, giving up his attempts at remaining calm with the senior. "You'll do anything to torpedo glee club, and it has got to stop!"

"I resent that accusation, Paul, and one I understand you've been making to our friends at Haverbrook and Jane Addams, and it's an outrageous affront to my sterling reputation!" Ryan shot back, pointing a finger in Paul's chest. "That being said, fine, I have been checking up on you, because I don't like what's going on in there. Do you know why I make each of my cheerios wear her hair pulled back in a ponytail? Because I don't want to distract from her impeccable talent. You seem to be taking the opposite approach, Paul, and that leads me to believe you know your kids don't have what it takes."

All the glee clubbers gathered in the doorway, all looking mildly hurt and insulted as Paul felt embarrassed and taken aback.

"I believe in my kids," Paul said unconvincingly.

"Well, maybe in the beginning, but not now," Ryan laughed. "Now that you've seen the competition that threatens your very position in this school! You're going to get me an updated set list by five o'clock tomorrow, and if there's anything on that list that involves demeaning, fruity hair tossing, I'm cutting it."

"I will not let you dictate my number choices," Paul growled, gaining a little bit of confidence back. "And you are not getting that list."

"Then I'm back as co-director," Ryan threatened, and he walked away with an arrogant swagger in his step that Paul loathed.

He turned back to his students and took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "Okay, guys, from the top,"

~L~

Ralph wasn't sure why he was so nervous, sitting on Casey's bed that Friday while she was still in the bathroom. "I'll be just a second!" she called.

"Thanks again for helping me out with this hairography stuff," he said graciously.

In the bathroom, Casey was applying deep red lip gloss to her lips, and mascara to her eyes. "Yeah, I mean it's all about getting warmed up," she said. "Could you think of a song, maybe, that we could practice with? What about the... the one from Grease? Y-you know, we did it when we first joined the club."

"Well, o-okay, only I was mostly nervous that day and-" Ralph began, but he stopped speaking abruptly when Casey strolled out of the bathroom in a very bizarre, very form-fitting black suit with her hair permed.

"Tell me about it, stud," she tried to keep her voice from shaking, but she couldn't mask how nervous she was. Ralph eyed her oddly, and Casey reached to turn the music on.

"I got chills, they're multiplyin', and I'm losin' control," Ralph sang nervously as the piano began. What was she wearing?! "'cause the power you're suplyin', is electrifyin'!"

"You better shape up, 'cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you-" Casey sang loudly, but Ralph sprang up from his spot on the bed and shut the music off, telling her to stop. "What's wrong?"

"I need to be honest with you," Ralph started, alarmed by this new look Casey had going on. He wasn't sure that he liked it as much as he did when he first saw it. "I'm really uncomfortable right now and I'm gonna say this as nicely as I possibly can, but you look like a sad clown hooker."

"W-what?" Casey stuttered, crossing her arms over her chest self-consciously.

"This look, it just isn't you. I mean, maybe when I first saw it I was caught off-guard by the fact that you looked all adult and stuff, but that's not what's really great about you, Casey," Ralph confessed, and Casey wouldn't let her eyes stray from the floor as her cheeks lit up in embarrassment and shame. "I actually like the way you usually dress, sequin leg warmers and stuff."

"I though this is what you liked," Casey mumbled, her voice barely audible.

"No... not at all," Ralph shook his head. He felt bad for clearly embarrassing her, but he didn't want to lead her on more than he already had the past few months. "Funny, I was just having this conversation last week with Kendra, and she asked me about this kind of stuff. I thought it was kind of weird, but I told her that this isn't what I'm into, Case."

Casey gave a small, tiny chuckle before shaking her head in disbelief. "I feel like an idiot."

"No, no, this is my fault," Ralph dismissed. "It isn't right for me to be here anyway... but I really like you, Casey. I gotta go."

Ralph cast one last look at her before turning for the door and exiting her room, gently closing the door after him. Casey slowly sat down on the edge of her bed and buried her face in her hands. After quite a good amount of crying, feeling like a fool, she composed herself and picked up her phone. She dialed Kendra's number weakly, and the phone rang a few times before she heard Kendra ask, 'Hello?'

"You set me up!" Casey hissed, trying to sound more confident and angry than she felt. "With Ralph!"

"Looks like someone is running for drama queen again," Kendra said, rolling her eyes from her room across town.

"How could you do that? I thought we were sort of starting to become friends," Casey said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"And what made you think that?" Kendra laughed. "You should be thanking me; all I did was make you realize that your schoolgirl fantasy of running off with Ralph is nothing but a fairytale. You need to get over him, okay? I was just trying to protect my friend and her relationship with her boyfriend, because you're doing nothing but trying to ruin it. So, what you need to realize is that I'm not the one who's wrong here, you are. Get over him."

Casey was frozen as Kendra stabbed the 'end call' button, leaving the other girl with nothing but the dial tone…

She sat quietly on the bed as she placed the phone next to her. She needed to take her mind off of this.

~L~

Oh, children… our next generation. The innocence they possess is something to be admired, the way that they truly enjoy the simpler things in life.

However, on occasion, they're a less like little perfect angels and more like drunken monkeys. And it just so happened that the children Sally and Derek were babysitting, were more like the latter.

Three red-headed children were running around and knocking things over as the two teenagers were tied to chairs facing back-to-back with a jump rope. "I told you we should've been the cowboys," she hissed, feeling panicky as she saw Andrew, the middle child, smashing a pie into Ben, the youngest child's face.

"My bad," Derek apologized flatly.

"What are we gonna do about this?" Sally asked, but she turned her head as much as she could and saw that he had his cell phone in his hands. "Who are you texting?!"

"Uh, Max Miller," Derek said. "He's got wig problems."

"Well, put the phone down and help me with this knot, I've almost got it." Sally instructed, and Derek rolled his eyes, but complied. He reached his hand down to help her with the jump rope knot, but his hand wound up entangled with hers. He really, really wanted to do the right thing by her. And if that meant making himself live with her and raise his little girl, he would do it, even if it wouldn't be his first choice… or his second.

But they got the knot untied just as Michael, the eldest child, knocked over the wooden coffee table. "Stop that, not the table!" Sally cried. "Ugh, think of something!"

"I brought my guitar, why don't we sing them a lullaby?" Derek suggested as he batted a wildly swinging pillow away from him.

"Give me this," said Sally, grabbing the pillow. "Hey, kids, look at me!"

The three calmed themselves and looked up at one of their babysitters as she spoke, "Wanna see a real live music video?" she asked, and all three nodded. "Okay."

Derek went to fetch his guitar, and Sally struggled trying to sit all the kids down on one of the two sofas. Derek sat on the couch opposite the kids, and Sally suggested the song 'Papa Don't Preach'. He began to strum the notes of the song.

"Papa, I know you're going to be upset, 'cause I was always your little girl, but you should know by now," Sally sang, and she leaned down to sing into Derek's ear. "I'm not a baby."

"You always taught me right from wrong, I need your help, daddy, please be strong," she sang, and she made the connection between the song and herself. She tried to keep her face smiling. "I may be young at heart, but I know what I'm sayin'."

"The one you warned me all about, the one you said I could do without," she sang, her shoulders bobbing along with the music as she cast a gaze in Derek's direction. "We're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe… please!"

"Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep, papa don't preach, I've been losin' sleep," her voice was sweet and captivated the kids as she danced along to the music. "But I've made up my mind, I'm keepin' my baby! I'm gonna keep my baby, mm!"

The song ended, and Michael was the first to speak. "Sing it again!"

~L~

"I think this is the first time they have all been asleep at the same time," the mother of the children, Irene, who was coincidentally Paul's sister in law said as she and Terri, who had 'come to see the show' of how the babysitters handled her sister's kids, watched the three sleep peacefully. "What's that smell?"

"Soap," Sally replied, and the sisters turned to face her.

"What are you, an exorcist?" Terri sneered, and Sally merely smiled gently.

Irene paid Sally and Derek, and as they walked down the hallway to leave, Derek struck up a conversation. "You were awesome tonight," he congratulated.

"I was surprised at how I kinda... enjoyed it," Sally admitted, turning to face him. "I was worried about you at first, you seemed distracted with all that texting to Max."

"Distracted? I was the opposite, babe, I was totally into it," Derek assured her, and she giggled. "All I know is that you've proved something tonight; this parenting thing? We can do this."

Sally looked at him unsurely, but he smiled at her and they kept walking. They both had a lot to think about.

~L~

You know what's awkward? Standing in the bathroom at the sinks next to the pregnant girl whose boyfriend you're in love with, but just got scolded for being interested in him. Casey cleared her throat as she stood next to Sally, and began to speak.

"So," she started. "How was your babysitting thing with Derek?"

Sally eyed Casey oddly, having not expected her to speak. "It was good," she said. "The kids were a little insane at first, but we calmed them down."

"Well, that's good," Casey said awkwardly. "I forgot about how you were babysitting with him until he mentioned it."

"When did he mention it?" Sally questioned, and Casey looked away quickly, her cheeks turning red.

"Uh, well, on Friday," she coughed. "We were texting, sort of. I've gotta go, um, bye!"

Casey rushed out of the bathroom as fast as she could, and Sally watched her as she left. Something was off about everything that had just taken place, and Casey was definitely not Max. Why would he lie to me? Sally wondered. She wasn't sure, but she sure as hell was going to find out.

~L~

"Thank you all so much for coming, we're all glad to have you here," Paul said brightly as the ASL interpreter translated what he was saying into sign for the Haverbrook students. "So, without further ado, I present the New Directions!"

The R&B music started, and all the students whipped their heads around with their hair flying around them, standing on the riser. "Yes, so crazy right now," Noel called. "Most incredibly, it's your boy, Noel. It's your girl, Emily!"

"You ready? Hey! I look up and stare so deep in your eyes, I touch on you more and more every time," Emily sang as her fellow glee clubbers executed the choreography. "When you leave, I'm beggin' you not to go, call your name two, three times in a row."

"I'm hairy high and low; don't ask me why, I don't know!" Noel sang the lyrics from the title song of 'Hair', trying to keep a straight face, both at the song and the insane hair-tossing they were doing.

"Got me lookin' so crazy right now, your love's got me lookin' so crazy right now," the group sang, and the Haverbook students looked at them oddly. "Got me lookin' so crazy right now, your touch got me lookin' so crazy right now!"

"They look totally crazy," one student signed to the girl next to her.

"Totally," the girl signed in reply.

"Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair," Noel sang as the girls hopped up and wrapped their legs around the torsos of the boys, gaining only more weird looks from their audience. "Shinin' gleamin', streamin', flaxen, waxen!"

"Got me hopin' you'll page me right now, your kiss got me hopin' you save me right now," the girls sang, going back to Crazy in Love. "Lookin' so crazy, your love's got me lookin', got me lookin' so crazy, your love got me lookin' so crazy right now, your touch got me lookin' so crazy right now!"

"Down to here, down to there, down to where it stops by itself," Noel sang, and he absent mindedly wondered if he looked like Cousin it if he had dreads. "Where it stops by itself."

"Oh, oh, oh, got me lookin' so crazy right now, so crazy, your love's got me lookin' so crazy right now," all the girls sang, and Casey got a look at the laughing Haverbrook students and the small amount of confidence she had wavered. "Got me lookin' so crazy right now, your touch got me lookin' so crazy right now, crazy right now!"

Amidst tired panting from the McKinley group and scattered giggles from the Haverbrook students, there were unenthusiastic claps and silent applause from the others, and Casey made a point to talk to Paul. "It didn't work at all, did it?" she asked.

"Well, it's just a rehearsal, it's just a little rough," Paul waved it off as the Haverbook kids took their place around and on the riser. "But we're on to something."

One of the teenagers from Haverbrook took his place in the middle of the group, and Tinkles began to play the chords to 'Imagine' by John Lennon.

"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try," the student in the middle sang as his classmates signed the lyrics. Nobody noticed that it was off-key, it was too inspiring and beautiful for that to matter. "Imagine there's no hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living life for today."

Emily gazed at the club opposite her, and she began to sing along. "Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too," her voice glided along with the notes, and she stood up to stand with the others. "Imagine all the people, living life in peace… you, ooh-ooh-ooh!"

Emily followed along with the signs, and Noel stood up next, and the New Directions harmonized along with the rest of them, all beginning to stand up and join in. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one," Noel sang. "I hope some day you will join us, and the world will be as one."

"Imagine no possessions," Casey sang, chills running down her spine as she signed along, becoming caught up in the moment. Across the room, Paul felt tears well in his eyes. "I wonder if you can."

"No need for greed or hunger," Casey and Ralph sang, although from different parts of the room, their voices still meshed. "A brotherhood of man."

"Imagine all the people, sharing all the world, you, ooh-ooh-ooh," they all sang, every one of them joining in and following the signs.

"You may say I'm a dreamer," Emily sang. "But I'm not the only one."

"I hope some day you will join us," The group harmonized. "And the world will live as one."

When the song ended, Paul, after moving his hand away from his heart, the ASL interpreter, Tinkles and Mister Rumba all waved their hands in the air, the sign for clapping.

~L~

Sally walked with a serious look on her face, strutting up to Derek's locker and grabbing his cell phone, "Hey babe," he said, trailing off as she looked through his texts from Friday night and saw rather explicit messages to and from none other than Casey. "Um, you really don't wanna do that."

"You lied to me," she hissed.

"I'm sorry. I tried to resist Casey, I did," Derek said, taking his cell phone out of her hands. "But I'm young, and girls have this power over me! …Okay, that was an awful excuse. Look, I'm really, really sorry."

"I thought you wanted to be with me," Sally spat, and Derek looked at the floor. She stared at him momentarily, because she knew that look. "…Or is that just you trying to do the right thing? Because that's not what I need right now, Derek. What I need right now is the truth, especially from you!"

"Sally, I really, really like you, okay? You're a great person, and a great girl," Derek began, placing his hands on her shoulders. "And I want to do everything in my power to help you with our baby, I want to be a part of her life if you're going to keep her, and I want to be a part of your life, but… I don't love you. Not like that."

"Thank you," Sally said, and she tried her hardest to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling. "Thank you for not lying to me."

Derek sighed and placed a kiss on the top of her head before apologizing once more, and walking down the hallway.

~L~

Sally sat on a chair in the choir room during lunch, not having much of an appetite that day. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her shoulders wracked with sobs. She was disappointed but relieved, upset but grateful, and everything was just so confusing. There was never a one-word, simple answer for anything anymore. "Sally?" she heard a voice ask, and she looked up to see Paul.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled, standing up from her seat. "I'll get out of your way."

"No, no, no, stay," Paul insisted, throwing his folder of sheet music onto the piano and gently grabbing her shoulder, insisting that she sit. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just," she began, and she sniffed slightly. "I'm going through a lot… everything's so weird now. I've been thinking about keeping her, the baby, and it's just so hard, because there are so many things I want to do, so many things I want to accomplish, and now I know that I won't be able to do them if I keep her, but I want to keep her."

"Adoption is always a safe option, Sally," Paul said, sitting down next to her. "You can still do the things that you want. And even if you do keep her, it's never too late to go to college. And your parents can always help you out-"

"My parents found out and they practically disowned me," Sally informed him, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "They kicked me out, so now I'm living with Ralph and his grandma."

"I'm very sorry," Paul empathized. It was sad to imagine what she was going through, not just with the pregnancy, but the situation with her parents as well. "If you ever need to talk to someone, you know where my office is."

Sally stood up and grabbed her bag, and Paul stood up alongside her. "Thank you, Paul," she said, and she unexpectedly leaned in for a hug. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to no longer have the guidance of the two people who were supposed to love you no matter what – your parents. So, he hugged her back, and she walked out of the choir room with a decidedly confident face. Right before school let out, she decided to find Ralph's locker and wait by it. It didn't take him long to show up, and he looked at her nervously. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she mirrored. "…Can we be in love again?"

"I have to tell you something first," Ralph began, and Sally looked up at him questioningly. "I, uh, want us to be honest with each other no matter what."

"You can tell me anything," she assured him, nodding.

"Cool, I, uh... it's not really even that big a deal, I mean, I didn't actually do anything," Ralph began, and Sally eyed him nervously. "But the other night when you were babysitting, I kind of went over to Casey's house. But nothing happened, I was just worked up about us fighting, and she put on some kind of really weird cat-woman suit... so I think something could've happened, but it didn't! 'Cause I only wanna be with you."

Under normal circumstances, she would've been sent into a fit of rage, but she had been given a new outlook on life as of late. "It's alright, thank you for being honest with me," she said.

"I love you, Sally," he said quickly and nervously, but genuinely, and he leaned down to wrap his arms around her.

"I love you, too," she said, and she pulled out of the hug, looking up at him as they walked down the hallway. On her way to gather her things from her locker so she could leave for the day, Casey spotted the couple, and she looked on at them sadly.

Kendra spotted her staring at the couple, and she made eye contact with her. In all honesty, she did feel somewhat guilty for what she had done. Casey waved at Kendra weakly and she waved back.

~L~

"Hey, Ryan, you got a sec'?" Paul asked as he poked his head into Ryan's office.

"Sure," Ryan said as he looked up from the computer on his desk.

"I owe you an apology," Paul confessed, sitting down on the chair across from Ryan's desk, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "I did think the kids needed to be a little more show-biz, and I was wrong. That isn't who they are, so thank you for helping me see that. Oh, and here's the new set list."

Paul handed the piece of paper to Ryan, and he looked over it. "Wow, these are great choices, Paul. Proud Mary? Smokin' hot deep cut."

"Smokin' hot," Paul mimicked.

"Don't mock me," Ryan deadpanned, and Paul apologized. "I don't recognize this last one."

"Oh, that's the new addition. Yeah, I want the kids to forget everything I taught them about hairography, because-"

~L~

"We're starting from scratch," Paul said as he unstacked twelve, silver stools. "Grab a stool."

"So," Noel began. "We're a stool choir now?"

"Nope, we're not dancing with the stools," Paul said, slightly amused by the thought of his kids doing a number with them. "No gimmicks, no false theatricality, we're just gonna sit in them and sing."

"Thanks, Paul," Casey said with an approving smile.

~L~

"This is their set list from sectionals. Don't Stop Believing, that's in. Proud Mary - performed blindfolded - that's in," Ryan said as he sat opposite Ms. Hitchens and Mister Rumba in his office, showing them the set list. "Now, I suggest you take these two songs, split them between your two groups, and I'll pull some strings and make sure that Paul and his kids perform last. That way, it'll look like he stole the songs from you."

"Um, who do you think I am?" Ms. Hitchens asked with an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"That's actually a very good question," Ryan segued, "Because I've forgotten both of your names."

"Look, I spend every waking hour of my day teaching those girls that lying and cheating is not the way you're ever gonna get ahead," Ms. Hitchens explained, and she peered down at the set list and back up at Ryan skeptically. "And you're suggesting that I do exactly that so that I can win a singing competition?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I think you're missing an opportunity to give your girls a second chance," Ryan said, knowing that he was striking a chord. "These McKinley kids are gonna do fine, but outside of glee club, your girls don't have a heck of a lot going for them, and I'd hate to see them so devastated by losing that they give up entirely. You know how many deaf choirs have won this competition?"

"Okay, everybody's gonna have to speak up because I can't hear," Mister Rumba yelled. "Deaf in one ear, scarlet fever!"

"I assume you read lips, read these," Ryan said, pointing at his mouth. "Never let anything distract you from winning. Ever."

~L~

All twelve of the New Directions sat on their seats and harmonized the first notes of 'True Colors', all in different colored shirts.

"You with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged, oh I realize it's hard to take courage in a world full of people," Sandra sang cheerily, and Ralph and Sally locked eyes. She felt so bad for not telling him the truth. "You can lose sight of it all, and the darkness inside you can make you feel so small,"

"But I see your true colors, shining through, I see your true colors, and that's why I love you!" Sandra's voice was sweet, bright and clear, but Derek hardly cared as he stared over at Casey, thinking back on the previous Friday, still confused and shocked by it, but he looked away from her when she looked at Ralph. Nothing was fair. "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 ya' laughin'," Sandra smiled while she sang, and Sally snuck a look at Derek. She wouldn't make him do anything he didn't want to. "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," the rest of the group sang while Sandra belted out a loud, clear, 'Yeah!', "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…"

And Sandra took the last words, "Are beautiful like a rainbow."