So here's what you missed on Just Me

Sectionals are coming up, which of course means that the glee club is hard at work, without Blaine's help since he had to go back to work. Can you believe he's a lawyer? How strange is that? And something is definitely up with Anna - and Andy probably has something to do with it. Oh, yeah, and Liz kinda sorta... punched Julia in the face. Guess she really is Santana's daughter. (Wonder if she has razor blades in her hair)

And that's what you missed!

"Guess what, Blaine?" Daddy K said when Daddy B came home later that night.

"What?"

"Liz got suspended." Yeah, you heard that right. I got suspended. It was only for one day, but still.

Daddy B, who was in the process of taking off his jacket. "What?"

"Liz got suspended," Daddy K repeated.

"Yeah, I got that. But... why?" Both of my dads looked at me. Apparently, I was going to have to be the one to explain myself. And here I thought I was just going to get to be a not-so-innocent bystander.

"I punched a girl in the face," I replied, feeling both proud and ashamed. I was proud because I had defended my family, but ashamed because I'd let Julia get under my skin so much that she'd made me no better than her.

"Broke her nose, too." Okay, that part kind of gave me a sick sense of satisfaction.

"I'm probably going to regret asking this... but why exactly did you punch a girl in the face?"

"Okay, so her name is Julia Clark and she's a total bitch. Sorry," I added when he gave me a "look" for swearing. "It's true, though. Anyway, she just seems to hate me and loves making me miserable. You see, she likes Matthew and thinks that she can break us up... or something. And she's always making all these nasty gay jokes and today she..." I faltered, not knowing whether or not to bring up what she did today.

"She what?"

"She brought up junior prom," Daddy K said, his voice lifeless.

"Oh," Daddy B said, his voice low. "Kurt," he continued, coming to sit on the couch with us, "I am so sorry. I know how hard that night was for you."

"Well... it wasn't all bad." They both smiled at the unspoken memory.

"Still. And Liz." Great - time to get grounded for the rest of my life. "You were mad at this Julia girl - I get that. But, next time, please don't punch her. Violence never solves anything. In fact, sometimes it just causes bigger problems. Okay?"

"Okay," I said hesitantly, still waiting for my punishment. When neither of them said anything, I had to find out what was going on. "So am I in trouble or what?"

"I think getting suspended is punishment enough," Daddy K said. "What do you think, Blaine?"

"I agree. But if you do it again, you will get in trouble. Got it?"

"Got it." Then I stood up and went up to my room, thinking that I had the coolest parents in the entire world.

When I got back to school after my suspension, it seemed as though everyone knew what had happened between me and Julia. It also seemed as though everyone had taken sides - either they thought I was awesome and congratulated me... or they thought I was some kind of monster. I didn't care either way, I was just glad to be back. Especially when I got to glee and Mr. Schue said, "Since Sectionals are almost here, it's time for the annual Girls vs Boys competition. For those of you who don't know, every year right before Sectionals I have this competition between the boys and girls to see who can come up with the best mashup. It's mostly just to get you pumped for Sectionals, but the winning team also gets a dinner at Breadstix... on me." Everyone started talking at that point and it took Mr. Schue five minutes to calm them down. "All right, now split up into your groups and start brainstorming."

I got up and went over to the girls' side. Natalie, Julia's friend, gave me a death glare before turning to talk to the recently bandaged Julia. Her eyes were blackened and her nose was swollen and off-center. I'd heard that once it healed, she was going to get a nose job. Guess my punching her had an upside after all.

"So," Charlotte said cheerfully, trying to ease the obvious tension between me and Julia. "Anyone have any ideas?" Most of the other girls shook their heads.

One girl, Riley, spoke up. "What's a mashup?" she asked.

"It's when you take two songs and mash them together to make a new song," Charlotte explained.

"Oh, okay," Riley said, looking relieved that Charlotte hadn't made her feel like an idiot for not knowing (not that Charlotte would do that. I swear the girl was on her way to becoming a saint).

"Hey, Anna," Charlotte continued, turning to my cousin, "I know you've done mashups for fun before. Got anything we can use?"

Anna was toying with the sleeve of her too-baggy sweatshirt. "No," she answered, not looking up. "They all suck." I knew for a fact that they most certainly did not suck. I also knew that Anna knew that they were amazing. I was more than a little concerned now because she was usually so confident in herself (sometimes overly so).

"Now, Anna," Charlotte said consolingly. Bad move, Char, I thought. "You know that's not true."

"Don't tell me what I do or do not know!" Anna burst out with. Charlotte winced - she didn't like when people got angry. "God! Why can't you people just friggin' leave me alone?" She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and jammed the headphones into her ears. She pulled her knees up to her chin and stared straight ahead at the wall. Did she think that by making herself as small as possible, she could just disappear?

We all looked at her for a minute, but then I said, "Well, I sort of have an idea..." As I told them my idea, I felt like I was two people. One was in the group and the other was outside of it, watching over Anna.

I needed to find out what was wrong.

After rehearsal, I caught up with Anna and Andy right before they left the building. "Hey, guys," I said, as if nothing were out of the ordinary. "Hey, Anna, can you come to the bathroom with me?"

"Can't you go by yourself?" Andy said pointedly, making a show of pulling Anna closer to him.

I laughed. "You know us girls, Andy. We travel in packs. Girls never go to the bathroom alone."

"Fine," he conceded. "But come right back, okay?" he said to Anna.

"Okay. Love you." The way she said it sounded like someone was forcing her to, not like she actually meant it.

"Love you, too." He released her and she followed me in the direction of the nearest bathroom. Once we turned the corner, however, I pulled her into an empty classroom.

"I thought you needed to go to the bathroom," she said, her voice hard.

"Yeah, well, I lied. I'm surprised you didn't catch it, considering how much you've been lying lately."

She crossed her arms over her chest, shielding her heart. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I'd had enough beating around the bush. "Is Andy hurting you?"

"No! Why - why would you even think something like that? Andy l-loves me. He'd n-never hurt me." I was floored. Anna never stuttered. Ever. To hear her doing it now was on par with seeing a purple duck walking backwards and singing show tunes.

"Well, something's up. Anna, please tell me what's going on. I'm your best friend - I want to help you. But I can only do that if you tell me what's wrong." I put my hand on her shoulder and for the first time in a long time, she didn't shrug off the touch. In fact, she seemed to relax and before I knew it, she had collapsed into my arms, crying. "Oh, sweetie, it's okay. Just tell me what's going on."

She straightened and wiped her tears. "D-Don't tell anybody. Not the twins, or your dads, or Charlotte or anyobdy. Okay?" I nodded. She took a deep breath and I noticed how much effort it took her to do so. "I - I... I think I'm..."

"Oh, there you are!" Andy said gleefully from the doorway. "Thought you were going to the bathroom."

"Yeah, but then I remember that I left my notebook in here and I need it for my homework," I lied smoothly.

"Well, come on, Anna. We're going to miss the movie if we don't leave now."

"Coming, Andy," she replied obediantly. "See you later, Liz." Then she turned and slouched out of the room, trailing behind Andy like a kicked dog.

Now, I'm not saying I have a sixth sense or anything, but when it came to Anna, I felt like there was twin telepathy or something. I always knew what she was thinking or feeling and right now... I felt scared. So I left the classroom and carefully walked in the direction I'd seen Anna and Andy go. Right before I rounded the corner, I heard Andy's voice.

"What were you two talking about?" The words were innocent enough, but I could hear the threatening tone beneath the surface.

"N-Nothing, Andy. I swear."

"Don't lie to me, Anna," he warned.

"I-I'm not. I would n-never lie to you."

"Good. Because you know what will happen if I find out you are lying, right?"

"Right." It was silent after that with exception of footsteps, so I knew they had walked away.

Quickly I pulled out my cellphone and fumbled with the numbers on the touch screen, not able to get it right. Damn iPhone, I thought as I tried again. This time, I got the numbers right and put the phone to my ear. "Come on, answer your phone."

"Hello?"

"Matthew?"

"Liz?" He sounded concerned - and with good reason. To even my own ears I sounded crazy. "Is everything okay?"

"No." I swallowed. "Matthew, I think Andy's hurting Anna." I didn't want to say the words aloud - that somehow made everything real - but I would do anything to help Anna.

Matthew - to my utter shock - laughed. "You're crazy. Andy would never do something like that."

"I know Anna. And something's not right."

"Liz, listen to me. On the football field, Andy's a beast. But off it... he wouldn't even kill a fly."

I was starting to get annoyed now. "Matthew..."

"No, Liz. I know Anna's been acting strange lately, but I can assure you it has nothing to do with Andy. Maybe something's wrong at home, you know?" I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn't see me. Nothing was wrong at home. Anna's family was almost sickenly perfect. The day something was wrong at the Hudson house was the day I saw that purple duck walking backwards singing show tunes.

"But I really think..."

"God, Liz! Just give it a fucking rest. I know you're dramatic and stuff, but this is over the top even for you. What I want you to do is go home, calm yourself down, and then call me when you start acting like a normal person again."

"But.." I said to the dial tone.

Guess I was in this alone.

Dun dun dun. What a twist this story is taking.

And next time...

Liz and Charlotte: No fair! They cheated!
Gabe and Ian: We did not!

Finn: ANNA!
Anna: Daddy... I'm scared...

Doctor: I don't exactly know how to say this...

You guys want to know what happens next? You know what to do!

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