Author's Note: I've decided to make this longer than a two/three shot. Hope that's okay. )
Part Two: Message Received
With a loud clap, which stirred most of the glee club kids out of their slight stupors, Mr. Schuester entered the room, cheerfully greeting them, then asking, "You guys excited for prom?"
Instead of responding jubilantly, most of the kids barely reacted, or at least reacted with an extreme lack of noise. Quinn and Artie shared a secret smile while slightly nodding. Mike suffered a blow to the ribs from his girlfriend for his very enthusiastic YES. Puck and Rachel slyly glanced at each other as if not aware of those surrounding them and, perhaps, staring at them. Finn turned to high five his date for the prom, a goofy smile plastered on his face, even when said date did not high five back. Sam kind of sulked, eyes on the back of Quinn's head. Tina and Kurt had similar stances, with their arms crossed over their chests and frowns on their faces. Santana kicked her feet up, laying her legs across Brittany's lap and half grinned, while Brittany let out the tiniest of squeals.
As if answering for everyone, Mercedes spoke up. "No, we're not, Mr. Schuester."
Frowning, Will's eyes swept over the more dismal of the group, questioning their moroseness. "What's up, guys? This is your Junior prom! I remember my Junior prom. It was…well, it wasn't quite the night I expected but-"
"You don't get it, Mr. Schue," Mercedes said, resting her in chin in her hand. "We don't get to pick our dates. That's half the fun, isn't it?"
"Well," Will started, then faltered. "I…guess it can be a big part of the fun but, guys, come on, it's still your prom! I'm sure you'll all have a great time. Make the most of it. Maybe we can even -"
Before he could continue on, a student helper from the office appeared, depositing a note in the Spanish teacher's hands before vanishing just as quietly as he came. As Will read it, the smile on his face dropped. "Oh no…" he muttered.
"What's wrong, Mr. Schuester?" Quinn asked, tearing her eyes away from Artie, who she had been studying in profile rather absent mindedly.
"I…have to make the most of it," he said to himself, in an assuring tone. Realizing the kids were all focused on him, he lifted his eyes. "Uh…it appears as if the teacher chaperones for the prom were also paired by filling out online surveys and…I'm going with…" Pausing, he cleared his throat and ran a finger along the inside collar of his shirt. "Sue."
He had expected the room to erupt in a flurry of conversation but instead it became almost eerily silent.
"Still want to make the most of it, Mr. Schue?" Santana asked, mocking him a little in her tone and with her eyes. "And I, for one, don't need to make the most of it. I'm going with my girl here."
Grinning, Brittany brought her hands together in an almost soundless applause. "She means me," she clarified when no one responded to Santana.
"Lucky you two," Mercedes huffed. "My date doesn't even go to this school. There was glitch in the system and guess who gets the shaft." Sighing, Mercedes stood to her feet. "Mr. Schuester, do you mind if I head out? I really don't feel like being here right now." She didn't even wait for Will to answer, leaving when his mouth was only half way opened.
Watching her leave, Quinn felt kind of bad, her line of vision falling to her lap. After several minutes, she convinced herself that it wasn't her problem. The school had made the mistake and Mercedes wasn't even her friend, not anymore at least. Straightening her back, she paid attention to Mr. Scheuster as well as she could but her mind kept picturing Mercedes' slumping figure trudging out the classroom.
Once glee club was over, Quinn readied herself to leave but came to a pause when Artie rolled in front of her.
"Hey," he said, simply.
"Hi," she responded, crossing her feet at her ankles and waiting for him to continue.
"I was thinking we could out to dinner before we -"
From the other side of the room Finn's voice loudly interrupted Artie's dinner invitation. "Dude!" he bellowed, placing an arm around Sam's shoulders. "I made us reservations at this restaurant so we can have dinner before the prom."
"You did what?" Sam exclaimed as the two boys made their leave. "I thought we were passing on that kind of stuff…"
Scrunching her brow, Quinn wondered at the exchange then turned her attention back to Artie. "Were you going to suggest going to dinner before the dance starts? Because I would like that."
Grinning, Artie nodded. "I know exactly where we should go, too."
Tilting her head, Quinn waited for him to elaborate but he didn't. "And where is that?"
His grin turned into a smirk and he shrugged. "If we're compatible, as the survey claims, then I know you'll love it."
Giving a slight roll of her eyes, Quinn stretched her legs before standing. "I don't think those things are all that reliable. I mean, two people can have lots in common and similar personalities but it doesn't mean they're meant to be. Like Tina and Kurt. Or…Mr. Schuester and Coach Sylvester. Maybe on paper or, in this case, on screen, they look good together but…they'd kill each other!"
"You have a valid point," Artie said, wheeling beside her as she headed toward the door. "But it's still true that we have things in common and, apparently, similar personalities, which actually makes sense because well…sometimes you and I are the only ones laughing about something. Like when-"
"Artie," she interjected. "I don't mean to be rude but I have to get to cheerleading practice and being late is not good."
"Uh, right." Blushing, Artie twiddled his hands. "I was simply trying to say that you and I liking a lot of the same things guarantees that you will like my surprise. Plus, I've heard you mention it before."
Smiling, Quinn exited the room. "Now I'm excited. I love surprises…most of the time." With a wave, she took off down the hall.
Artie smiled after her then spun around, startled when he spotted Sam standing, arms akimbo, directly down the hall. The blonde haired boy menacingly marched toward Artie, assuming a more affable posture once closer to him. "Hey, Sam…" Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Artie raised his eyes to the other boy.
"Artie! I have to talk to you about something pretty important, man," Sam said, his tone light.
"What's that?" Artie asked, not feeling wary in the slightest.
Leaning over a little, Sam's voice became more hard edged. "I expect to dance with my girl at prom. And I expect that no one will infringe upon that right."
Clearing his throat several times, Artie finally murmured, in an intimidated fashion, "I th-thought you two broke up. Not that I was intending on infringing anyone or anything like that but I was just…what I mean is, I'm technically broken up with Brittany, because of that whole thing with Tina, when Britt thought something that wasn't true, with the feelings and all, but it wasn't really-"
"Okay," Sam laughed, patting Artie's shoulder in an almost demeaning way. "I get it. So we're cool then?"
"Um, yeah…"
With a nod and a kind of weird smile, Sam took off, not even glancing behind him as he did so.
They were cool, Artie knew, but the message had been implicit: Sam wanted Quinn all to himself at the dance and wasn't about to let the date she had been paired with by an online survey change that.