"Seriously, Mr. Schue?" was Santana Lopez's reply to Will Schuester's proposal for this week's project. "There is absolutely no chance I'll agree to sing another Journey song. One was alright. Two, I could deal with. But after we covered the last song on album number fifteen, I think every single one of us can agree that it just isn't gonna happen this time."
Will sighed and looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be nodding in agreement.
"Alright, guys," he said at last, finally giving up on his dream of recording every Journey song ever created. "I guess I am getting a little out of hand. So here's what we'll do instead. We're going to do something a little different this week."
"You say that every week.." noted Finn Hudson.
Will pretended not to hear him. "You've all sung in large groups before," he said as he turned to face the whiteboard of the choir room. Brad the piano player listened intently as he stroked his beard. "You've done duets, too. Most of you have at least auditioned for a solo, if not actually performing one on stage," he began to write a word on the board in thick red marker. "But this is something none of us have tried here in Glee club."
Brittany Pierce smiled at the shiny writing. "Try-o," she pronounced. "Sounds like some kind of inspirational toothpaste."
Will sighed and Artie whispered the correct pronunciation to Brittany. "Oh," she nodded, now understanding the word.
"Trio!" Will proclaimed. "Okay, well, I guess I shouldn't say none of us have tried this. But it's hardly been done, so we're going to see how this works."
"But Mr. Schue," Rachel was shifting nervously in her seat. She brushed her skirt and sat straight up in her chair. "Trios don't allow anyone's voice to stand out- aside from my own, of course, mine will always have a lasting effect on the audience, but regardless-"
"Enough, Rachel," Will threw his head back in a groan.
"We all know you're the best." Mercedes Jones added. "So hush."
Rachel exhaled and slouched back down in her seat, eyes shifting nervously around the room.
"Now," Will started up again, clear about his desire to move forward with the project. "I will be choosing the trios at random. That's right, the oh-so-familiar pulled-out-of-the-hat trick." The room quickly shifted from silence to worried whispers and biting lips. He walked over to the piano where the hat was already set up for name selection.
"Okay, the first group will be…" Will shuffled his hand in the mix of names, not looking as he chose the first slip of paper. "Finn," he placed the paper on the table and pulled out two other names "with Mercedes and Brittany."
"Uh-… what?" Finn looked confusedly at Will. Tina and Mike exchanged a snicker and Quinn couldn't help but laugh.
"What an awful combination." she commented.
"Awkward is more like it," Kurt offered.
"I don't think it's awkward," Brittany noted. "They both have good voices, and I'm hot so we're going to win this."
Will shook his head. "This is not a competition," he explained. "I just want to see how well you all work in different situations than what you're used to. Anyway, next group," he shuffled the names some more. "Tina, Puck, and Quinn."
Tina glanced between Puck's nervous expression and Quinn's unsatisfied one.
"This should be interesting," was all Quinn said.
"Next," Will continued, "Kurt, Mike, and Rachel,"
Rachel seemed content with Kurt as one of her partners, but Mike made a disgusted face from the back of the room at the thought of having to deal with Rachel's bossiness for the next week.
"Alright, so, that's everyone-" Will said as he set down the hat on the piano again.
"Uh, hello?" Santana called out. Everyone turned and looked at her. "Do you really expect me to be my own trio? I mean, I'm used to doing solo performances- if you know what I'm saying- but this is just ridiculous."
Will contemplated the options. He could merge Santana with a group to make a quartet, have her sing alone, or…
"I know," he said at last. The tension in the room sliced in half. "I'll put everyone's names back in the hat," and he did so as he said it. "I'll pull out two more names, and those people will also do a trio with Santana." he finished.
"That's not fair." Kurt argued. "We shouldn't have to do double the work just because there's an extra person in Glee club. That's not our fault."
Will already had the answer to this. "Each person I pull will get to choose songs for two of the four trios to perform."
Everyone seemed to agree at this compromise so Will reached in for two more names. "Okay, looks like Brittany and Quinn will be doubling up to perform with Santana."
The entire room went silent as all eyes fell upon the three girls known as the Unholy Trinity. What were the odds that they would once again be performing together?
"I would really like to perform a cover of Rachel's song," Brittany informed Quinn and Santana. "My Headband."
"Brit, I don't think that would be the best for us right now," Santana rejected. Brittany frowned and nodded. Santana was always right.
Will looked at his watch. It was almost time to dismiss. "Well, Quinn, Brittany, you two can think about songs and discuss them tonight, and let us all know what's happening tomorrow. I'll give you guys a week and two days to get it all together, then we have to get ready for Regionals."
Quinn half-smiled at Will as if she already had this whole thing under her grasp; she was going to make this perfect.