Chapter 5

The Past and the Future

The New Directions were still on a high after the fantastic auditions that the 8 new members had. Of course new friendships had been made, but as of now, some are still waiting to happen.

Cameron was leaning at his locker while listening to his MP3 player. Three locker cabinets away, he saw Marissa, chatting with Emily, and their now added friend Lindsay. He still could not forget what happened in the girls' bathroom. He wanted to be friends with her. He wanted to get to know her. And he hates it that these remain into things he wants, not things that are actually happening.

Marissa was kind, quiet, mysterious, and sometimes shows moments of not taking crap and standing for what she believes in. And her hair, her eyes, those lips, that smile. Those were enough for him to probably establish the fact that he likes her. However, does she like him back? He could pour his feelings through song for sure. Damn, I hope Mr. Schuester assigns themes which will help me do that.

"Who are you staring at, loverboy?"

He turned around to see Matheus, who again had remnants of colored liquid on his shirt.

"Hmm, cherry. Delicious isn't it?"

Matheus smirked. "I'm getting kinda used to it, actually. If I'm not going to react like I cared, maybe they'll stop."

The two were approached by Damian and Hannah, who became fast friends after she did an intense Q&A on him during lunch.

"All set for the choir room?" The two boys nodded as they began to walk.

All the members were anxiously waiting for the homework assignment Mr. Schuester is going to assign. Sure, he's had his fair share of good and bad ideas. However, having new members might have made his mind pumped to give a theme that will surely be splendid. He entered the room, bringing his fedora hat. He wrote on the white board and faced the students.

"Growth. It's a very powerful word. Some say that when you grow, you adapt to life. Also, some say that only those who grow, can actually live the world to the fullest. And by growing, we mean becoming mature and becoming better persons."

"Now I know why Rachel isn't a better person. Her boobs haven't grown yet," said Brittany with her ever monotonous voice. Some cracked up while some controlled themselves. Rachel was upset when she couldn't come up with a quip of her own.

"So!" Mr. Schuester continued. "I want the new members to pick a name in the hat."

"What for?" asked Hannah.

"I'll give the details later."

One by one, the new members picked out a piece of paper from the hat. First was Matheus, who picked out Puck's name.

"Sweet!" said the small guy. "We're going to be best buds!" Puck hesitated, but smiled nonetheless.

"I picked Artie!" said Samuel, who hurriedly offers a handshake to him.

"Rachel," read Lindsay. She looked at her and gave a wide smile, while Rachel just nodded. Hearing her voice during the auditions, she was terrified that this girl could compete with her for solos.

Emily goes to the hat and reaches for a piece of paper. "Quinn. Girl, we're going to paint the choir room sassy!" Quinn gave a polite smile.

It was Damian's turn. "Santana?" He looked at the Latina, who shot a look at him. "Ireland? Hmm, you're cool, I guess."

Brittany raised her hand. "Mr. Schue, can I join Santana and Damian instead? I want to hear him sing and talk at the same time."

"Sorry Brittany. This is about growth. It would be more helpful to have one partner only."

Cameron stood up and picked from the hat. "Kurt." He looked up to where Kurt was seated and smiled. Kurt returned the gesture.

"Tina!" said Hannah, who immediately went near her and hugged her. And just to not make him feel left out, she hugged Mike as well.

It was Marissa's turn, and she judged which of the members were left. She would like to pick Mercedes, as they both seem to have the same taste in song selection. Finn would be a good choice too, since he was dubbed the leader of the group, and he was good at motivating them. She wasn't too sure about Brittany, Mike and Sam though. She picked a name from the hat. "Finn."

She looked at him and he smiled back. Finn then turned to Rachel, who looked like she felt that assignment wasn't fair to her.

"Okay, so now that you have picked the names, here's what we're going to do! Those people you picked…will be your mentors this year!"

"What?"

"Mentors?"

Mr. Schue nods. "You will be the one to guide our new recruits in the school, be it Glee Club-related, or not at all. And, if you guys feel that your mentor or 'student' is slacking off…no solos will be given to those slackers."

Bursts of excitement filled the room. The old members were actually excited to be given some sort of a year-long Glee assignment. Plus, the fact that they can influence and teach a new Glee Club member so that the club can continue on its legacy inspired them the most.

"I think it's too early to celebrate guys."

They all kept quiet, wondering what surprise will be next.

"That was the Grand Assignment. To let you adjust, there will be no assignments this week. But to prepare you for next week…I want the mentors to help their charges do a song that we've already done before in assignments and competitions. But, I want different interpretation of the song."

Rachel stands up. "Sir, don't you think that this is a little bit hard? I mean, I know that we can come up with ideas quickly, but reinventing our previous performances? I believe nothing could top what we did before."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Rachel, I didn't say that you should top them. You could give it a new spin, or sing it in a different way. It doesn't have to be better than the one previously performed."

Rachel slowly sat and nodded as Quinn raised her hand. "Sir, surely this must have a prize if you want us to do good in it."

He smiled. "Nice that you brought that up Quinn. For the prize…"

He brought out a something that looked like a coupon. "This is for the Lima Bean, and this is good for 9 free orders. Each. "

Although again the prize was food-related, they were excited and overwhelmed. The Lima Bean serves some mean coffee and for it to be free is like winning Sectionals.

"Now, that you are all pumped, you could now get prepared for your performances. Here is the list of the songs we already did. Now I'm reminding you. Sing it in your own way."

Those who weren't chosen as mentors were now selected as judges. As the 'judges' discussed their criteria, the students looked over the song list and brainstormed on the endless possibilities of what to do. Samuel and Artie hit it off immediately, and he chose to sing You Can't Always Get What You Want. Hannah, because of her cheerful disposition, really clicked with Tina. And because of her rapping skills, they decided for her to sing Bust A Move.

However, some of them considered their pairs to be a mismatch.

Cameron and Kurt were seated at the corner. Cameron was scanning through the pile of sheet music he gathered on the piano. Kurt leaned to see what he would pick. He was, after all, his mentor.

"I don't know any of these songs…" he said, one by one putting some sheets to the side.

"Don't worry. I'll help you go through them. Just pick something that we, or rather you, can work with."

Cameron rummaged through but stopped at a particular page. He nods and finds for the other accompanying pages. Kurt leaned even more and saw the title.

"What? You're expecting to sing Valerie? It was the number that won the club Sectionals last year! You sure you're going to impress them with that?"

The boy with the glasses nodded. "By the way, I want to express, not impress. I could play the guitar with this, right?"

Kurt looked at him, still astounded at his song choice. "I guess you could. I don't know how I could help with that. My fingers are a little too dainty for those steel strings."

"It's okay," smiled the taller one. "I believe I can do this by myself. But, of course, mentor, I need your support."

Kurt nods slowly and mouths the word 'Okay'. He sighed. I wish I could've gotten a girl as a protégé.

Meanwhile, Emily was also searching for her song. Quinn was beside her, but wasn't providing much input. Emily picks a song and sits down. Quinn faces her.

"Your song choice is great," she said.

Emily sighs and shows her the sheet. "Gold Digger? You expect me to rap?" She goes back to the piano and puts down the sheet music. She then holds Quinn by her shoulders.

"Look, you're my mentor. You've got to be more energetic than that! You were captain of the Cheerios! Where'd all that spunk and fierceness go?" She let go of her and resumed to picking songs.

Quinn was shocked. A sophomore was telling her to cheer up? True, she'd been so sullen these past months, she never really tried to have fun. Okay, I'm going to try. She went near Emily and looked at all the songs.

"How about that one?" she points to one particular stack of papers.

Emily smiled. "Beyoncè? I'm totally in!" Quinn smiles back as they start to discuss.

Marissa and Finn were both seated on the floor, going through the different sheet music. While Marissa was focused on picking the perfect song, Finn was wondering why a lot of them did not join last year. They might've won Nationals if they had been added.

"So, what made you decide to join now?"

Marissa stopped and looked at Finn. "Well…I just wanted to challenge myself, I guess."

"Challenge yourself?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "See, I play things safe. Emily is my only friend and I don't talk to people that much, because I don't want to…flaunt who I am to the whole world. But then I realized I could be stronger if I opened myself up more." She let out a little smile and continued choosing a song.

"I see. That's very cool and brave of you." He said as he monitors her progress. "You can't see any song you like?"

She shook her head. "Some are good, but I wanted to sing something that I could relate to."

Finn helped her search around the sheet music. They were down to the last song.

"Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. It's okay; I think it could suit your voice pretty well."

He bent over and saw her staring at the sheet music. She even looked like she wasn't moving, or breathing. "Marissa?"

"What? Oh…" She blinked and straightened herself. "Yeah…I think I'll do this then." She took the sheet music and sat on a chair in front of them. Finn was puzzled. He wasn't sure why she reacted like that. But then again, he wasn't really sure of a lot of things.

On the other end of the choir room, Matheus and Puck were now practicing, the taller one holding a guitar. Now, about Puck, everyone knows how he was all over Lauren Zizes last year. However, this year, she decided to quit the Glee Club since they have new recruits. Also, she told Puck to stop pursuing her. He is now single, and he has settled on being that way for a while to figure things out.

As for this performance, they decided to let Matheus sing Somebody to Love by Justin Bieber just for the fun of it.

"Come on man! You want to be sexy? You have to show it!"

"But…" He sits of the floor. "How are people supposed to see that I'm sexy? With my height—"

"Hey!" Puck goes near him. "Don't even get started on pitying yourself. Look at Artie, he's in a wheelchair, and he can rap like a boss. You shouldn't let your height get in the way of who you are inside."

He then offered his arm to help him up. "Now, let's do it one more time!"

On the top-most platform, we have Santana, who was watching Damian rehearse his version of Somehwere over the Rainbow.

"Alright, stop stop stop!" She raised and waved her hands. "Seriously what's with your brows?"

Damian's eyes widened. "It's my mannerism, I guess."

"Well, control your little pets. You have a good voice, but they're too distracting."

"Okay ma'am."

She stood up and looked at him close in the eye. "Okay no one calls me ma'am here! Tu entiendes?"

Damian leant backward. "Err, I don't really speak Spanish that well…"

She rolled her eyes and backed off. "Just…just sing, okay? And don't move those centipedes above your eyes."

Last but not the least; we have both Lindsay and Rachel at the piano, opposite Emily and Quinn. Lindsay had a stack of sheet music beside her, most of which were showtunes. Rachel was looking over her scanning these papers. She usually frowned whenever she sees a song she sang before, because she knew that no one could best her renditions of these songs. Finally Lindsay chooses a song.

"What do you think?" She showed the sheet to Rachel. She nodded slowly as they both sat on their chairs. It was On My Own, the tune that she used to audition for the club.

"Lindsay, while I commend your song choice…It's actually part of my repertoire for audition songs…I don't think you can do much with the song."

The blue eyed girl frowned. "Of course I can. I'm turning it into a more contemporary sound."

Rachel opened her mouth and slightly gasped for air. "But, but…by changing its arrangement, you're completely destroying the essence of the song! It is meant and only meant for the orchestra!"

"And if I do that, I lose the essence of this assignment. You do know that we have to let this song 'grow' to its capabilities. Rachel, can you please just support me? You are my mentor, and I want to win this."

She stands up. "Fine. But, if you don't pull this off, it's completely your fault."

"Fine by me," Lindsay said as she started to sing.

The four judges were thoroughly discussing who their favorites were since the audition.

"I heard that Marissa likes to sing RnB songs…that's definitely a plus for me," said Mercedes.

Sam nods. "And I always like guys who can play guitar. Of course, I'm going for my namesake. And Cameron as well."

"I'm rooting for Damian," said Brittany. "If he wins, he might accompany me to go leprechaun hunting…"

Mike frowns at Brittany. "Anyway, for me, I think Matheus is going to do well. Big things come in small packages."

"Okay guys!" Mr. Schuester retakes the floor as they all went back to their seats. "I believe you already have your song choices. I guess we could call it a day. Next week, be ready!"

Some nodded, while some answered with the appropriate 'Yes, Sir' or 'Yes, Mr. Schue'. They all were leaving the choir room. Marissa and Emily were still at the doorway talking. Hannah and Matheus grabs Cameron.

"Hey what's the fuss?" he said as he was nudging both, who were tightly holding his arms.

"You've got to talk to her! And we mean now!" They both drag him and carry him to Marissa.

"Hey wait! Guys!"

"Ehem…" said Matheus.

Both Marissa and Emily turned around to see Cameron, sandwiched in between Hannah and Matheus.

"Um…" Marissa said as she looked down.

Emily smiled. "Okay!" She reaches into Marissa's bag.

"Hey! Emily!"

"I'm going ahead to start the car? Can the two of you please accompany me?"

Hannah and Matheus quickly nodded as the three headed to the parking lot. Cameron was looking side to side, his hands in his pockets, while Marissa was still looking down. Both then started to talk.

"Look—"

They both looked at each other, but immediately broke their eye contact. Cameron finally takes a deep breath and looks at her.

"Marissa, I know this has been long overdue…but I want to thank you. For the dumpster, the slushie…I'm completely indebted to you."

She looks up at him. "I told you, right? You would've done the same for me."

"In a heartbeat," he said as he looks at her directly.

Marissa bit her lip and looked down again. She let out a deep sigh and looked at him. "I'm sorry I ran away like that a while ago. I was just…you know…didn't know how to react, I guess…"

He smiled. "It's okay. I understand."

"And, I don't want things between us to be this awkward…"

"I definitely agree," he said as he put out his right hand. "Let's start over, as friends. Hi my name's Cameron."

She looked at his hand, then looked up to him and smiled. "I'm Marissa, nice to meet you."

They both looked at each other, smiling. "Shall we go then?"

They were both walking down the hallway. "So, you're new here, right?"

"Yep. We had to move because of my dad's job. So far, I'm enjoying it here, minus the slushies."

She giggled. "I, for one, cannot wait to be slushied."

"Come on! It's not something to look forward to at all."

"Yeah, but…I'm preparing for the worst."

"You should always bring a raincoat."

"And a change of clothes."

As they were talking, she glanced to her left. She stops walking and sees something, or rather someone, who she did not expect at all. Cameron was already ahead of her, but stops, realizing that she wasn't beside him anymore.

"Marissa?"

"Can you wait outside the parking lot? I need to talk to someone."

He started walking towards her. "I can accompany you."

"No!" She said, as he stopped walking. "I'm doing this alone."

Cameron nodded as he looks at her, still looking to her left. He didn't know what she's seen, but he respects her request and proceeded to the parking lot. She walked down the path, the person she saw now being clear in her eyes. Tall guy, slightly tan, and was wearing his bonnet. As she was nearing him, he looks up, and stands from where he was seated.

"Marissa? I didn't know you go to school here! How have you been?"

"What are you doing here?" she said, her tone being slightly angry and serious.

"Hey, just chill, okay?" He offers her to sit, but she just stands there, her arms folded.

"My mom was transferred to this town. Something about managing the company's branch, or whatever. I'm now a student here."

Her eyes widened. Just when she thought that her life was going to be fine, someone who knows about her past comes to haunt her. Bryce Ross-Johnson was her schoolmate during her first four months in high school at New York. He was a friend of a friend, and they had little conversations with each other. However, both of them were members of the Glee Club, the ones who first noticed and were aware of what she was doing to herself.

He looks at her from head to toe and smiles.

"Glad to see that you're healthy now."

She goes closer and points a finger at him. "You better keep quiet about that here!"

He goes near her. "Why would I want to bring up what happened in the past? No one wants to remember what happened."

She looked at him with discerning eyes. He then grasps her arms and looks at her.

"We were all concerned about you, especially when you left. However, it was the talk of the school for months. You weren't even answering Karen or Michelle; they were messaging you every 5 minutes."

She took a deep breath and finally sat down. "Don't get me started on those two. They were talking about me all the time, and not because they're concerned."

He sat down with her. "I know what you mean. Some crazy ass-girls they were." He smiled as she looked at her, who was looking down.

"Look, I'm not here because I want to tell everyone about what happened to you. It's a secret I'm going to keep, that's a promise." He raised his right hand.

She smiled. "Thanks Bryce, that really means a lot to me."

"Now, you have the burden of accompanying me to every class tomorrow. I'm sorry and thank you."

"Yeah, I was kind of expecting that. But anything for a friend." She stood up. "My friends are waiting for me at the parking lot. I should probably go."

He nods. "Of course. Hope I can be friends with them too."

"You will. We actually need a certified goofball right now. You could fit in."

"Heh, yeah…nice seeing you again," he said as she walked to the school parking lot.

Unknown to both, a certain Irishman was standing behind his locker, surprised and curious as to what he has heard.

Author's Note:

Yes, Chapter 5 is here, and pretty fast than all my other updates! (Maybe it's because I have no life and have nothing to do :D) Okay, this mentor-apprentice sub-plot was something I wanted to put in the story after I wrote the first chapter. Not only does it provide more interaction with the new and old members, it also sets up funny and romantic scenes (IMO, ^^). And Bryce is now here! Seeing that we only got to see him one episode, I don't know if this is really how he is. But, he's getting a pretty interesting story arc, so watch out for that! Plus, Damian eavesdropping! Hehehe, it's going to set up something that you will all look forward to!

I've been looking at my hits and I see that a lot are viewing my story. But, I would appreciate it a lot if some would take time to review this. A simple "thank you" will do, or you can even suggest pairings, or songs to perform, or even little plot bunnies you want to see here. Getting a little extra love will certainly help me bring out the best in this story.

Again, I'm writing Chapter 6 immediately after this, to keep the creative juices flowing. Here, you will see more of the Sue-Cheerios subplot! Once again, thanks to all those who gave their reviews and insights! You all get a fondue for two with the amazing Lord Tubbington! Sounds yummy.

Please stay tuned for the next chapter, and I love you all so much!