Disclaimer: I can't believe I reached 50000 words in 11 chapters. Someone shoot me now! :)

Chapter 11

The Auditorium

"You think that's hard? Try swimming in a pool of sharks! That's hard!"

Sue Sylvester was at the bleachers of the oval field of McKinley High. Carrying her trademark megaphone, she was overseeing the practice of her Cheerios. It was their 3rd day of practice, and she was frustrated that only a few of them were able to perfect the routine. About 50 girls were on the floor, sweating and resting their legs while drinking water. Some were still teaching each other steps to the routine.

"One more from the top! And if more than half of you still do not get it right, you are going to do it one more time until your legs fall off!"

She pressed play on the radio, playing a cheer mix, upbeat and fast. She looked at every single girl dancing, flipping, and cheering. The routine ended with a complex pyramid, and the cheerleaders faking a smile. Sue looked at the formation, the cheerleaders maintaining their positions until she spoke. She sighed.

"If you don't get the routine tomorrow, not only your legs would fall off, but also your status as cheerleaders! Off the field now!"

The girls hurriedly took their stuff and headed to the locker room. Emily and Marissa went on but stopped, seeing that Lindsay was approaching the coach. They stood by, wondering what she was doing.

"Coach? I was wondering if we could use other clothes instead of our uniforms?"

The coach was looking at her intently, questioning whether she was serious with what she said.

"I mean…we're done with practice, and there's really no use for us to wear the uniforms for the rest of the day and—"

"Stop right there, missy. Girls would practically do anything to wear that uniform, and you're asking if you could wear another outfit?" She leaned forward, maintaining eye contact with the brunette.

"Well, I just don't see the point in wearing the uniform when practice is over," She said, letting out a polite smile.

Sue frowned as the two other girls approach Lindsay. Emily leans to her ear. "Stop it; you may lose your position here."

The coach was in deep thought. Why would this girl ask to not wear the uniform? It represented status and power, yet she prefers to wear her own clothing. If she was asked this during the previous years, she would immediately remove the girl from the squad. But now, she cannot seem to justify why she should be.

"You know what, I don't care." The coach stands up and starts to walk. "Just as long as when you wear that uniform, you wear it with pride and dignity."

The three girls look at Sue, surprised about what she said. They looked at each other and smiled as they walked to the locker room.

The old members of the New Directions were huddled in the choir room. Quinn, Santana and Brittany were looking as bored as ever, as Sam was rubbing Mercedes' back, the latter knowing that her beauty sleep was interrupted. Puck and Finn were seated there, not looking bored, but not looking interested either. Artie kept on glancing at Tina and Mike, who couldn't contain their smiles. Kurt and Blaine were quite content, holding cups of coffee while looking at Rachel, who, as always, stood in front of them.

"Okay, I called this emergency meeting to address a matter that is of concern to all of us."

"If this is the setlist, I don't know why you couldn't delay it 'til later," stated Mercedes. "Don't you know what 15 minutes of sleep can do to your body?"

Rachel nods at Mercedes. "Speaking of the setlist, I already made one and I'd be happy to share it with you."

She takes the sheets of paper on top of the piano and gives it around the other members. The others looked at it and they were nodding.

"Wow, Berry. I actually dig this set list. Yay." Santana was giving her a polite applause.

"While I would like to revel in this particular moment, this meeting was planned to attend to a more important matter." She straightens herself. "I give the floor to Tina and Mike."

Rachel returned to her seat beside Finn as the two Asians replaced her spot, Mike carrying a laptop.

"Okay, so we were having a date at some Chinese restaurant around a neighborhood," Tina said, looking around to get everyone's attention. "The glass was tinted so people can't actually see us inside."

"While dining, we took this." She points to the laptop as Mike plays a video. First, they see Marissa, running and sitting towards a bench.

"Wait, what is this?" Finn was frowning.

Then, in the video, Damian rushes to her side. They all see their mouths moving.

"Oh my god, they starred in a silent film?" asked Brittany, watching the video in awe.

They continued watching. Marissa suddenly hugs Damian, and they all were drawn into the video. Kurt's eyes widened. After a few minutes of talking, they see them leave, smiling. The video ends, and Mike closes the laptop. Rachel immediately stands up, signaling the two to return to their seats.

"As much as I enjoyed watching the video, I have a more exciting idea in my head." She smiled at all of them. "I think we should play matchmaker and get these two cuddled up and breed them into the next Glee Club it-couple!" She does a subtle clap, but no one follows her. They were all frowning.

"Did you say 'next' Rachel?" Quinn asks. "If you're referring to you and Finn, I'm finding that hard to believe."

Finn looked around, feeling a little doubted.

"Thank you Quinn," says Santana. "While my little Irish student can be a little like Finn because he's friends with everyone and is nice, I can't say the same for you and Marissa."

Rachel was aghast at her comment. "What? What makes you say that—"

"She's beautiful."

"She's quiet and nice."

"She cares about her friends."

"Not to mention she's a Cheerio."

Rachel opened her mouth, but no words came out. "Well, I…um…that's not the point! I'm just saying that if the Glee Club needs to be identified with a cute power couple, I think that it should be them."

"I object!"

They all look at Kurt, his eyebrows drawn together, and his jaw clenched. "Did you not even pay attention in the first homework assignment? Cameron obviously declared his love for her, and she seemed to return the favor by saving him from being slushied."

"We can take all that into consideration Kurt, but who did she choose as a duet partner, hmm?" Rachel pointed a finger at him as he sat down.

"Rachel, while you are one of my closest friends, I cannot let my protégé suffer in this scheme you are plotting!" He again stands up, dragging Blaine. "We will plot our own matchmaking process." They stand beside her, obviously prompting the others to choose a side. Rachel again looks at them. "So, is anyone following their footsteps?"

Quinn stands, fixing the folds of her dress. "While I do believe both of you have good intentions, I think that this is just wrong. Leave the kids alone, I don't want to wreck their lives." She leaves the room, not even bothering to look back. Finn immediately stands.

"Finn…you too?" Rachel asked sincerely.

"Quinn's right. I think what you're doing is wrong. They should figure out their own feelings. Sure, we could help them, but we can't force them to love someone."

"You just spoke the truth, my man." Puck raised his hand, supporting Finn.

Rachel's eyes become more narrowed. "So, this is a split between three groups? All right then. All in favor of Operation DM, follow me!"

"Operation DM? You're naming this after a disease?" Mercedes asked.

"Well, I would gladly accept a better name, if you can suggest one."

Artie goes near Rachel. "Operation MD is a lot cooler, if I may. Let's give those lovebirds what they deserve."

Rachel and Artie start to walk out the door, with Tina and Mike following them. Kurt looks around. "And how about for Operation MC?"

"How original," mocked Blaine as the other sighed. "Not now Blaine. This is a serious matter for my dear apprentice." Sam and Mercedes approach the two as they too walked out the door. Those left in the choir room were Finn, Puck, Santana, and Brittany.

"You're not siding with Rachel?" Puck asks Santana as she shakes her head. "While they looked good together, I want my boy to be happy. I'm just not sure yet if he's going to be happy with her."

Finn looked at her and nodded. "Let's all just stay out of this for a while until we get a good look at the situation."

Damian was walking down the hallway of the school. He remembered the group date that transpired the past week, and he admits…it was fun with all 11 of them bonding together. He was relieved that the others bought the 'Accompanied Marissa to buy medicine for her headache' excuse, because if they knew the truth, she would have to deal with a lot more. Although, she also must've been pretty fed up with the others, especially Cameron, who kept asking if the headache was already gone.

That afternoon, he learned a lot about his fellow new members of the New Directions. First was Alex, who shared that he lost his father when he was young, and his mother took care of him all these years. He even told them that that might've contributed to him being more in touch with his feminine side.

Ellis, on the other hand, was a self-proclaimed state hopper. Her father is in the military and he gets stationed almost every two years in a different state. She's lived in Kentucky, Illinois, and Wisconsin. But, so far, the longest she stayed was here in Ohio, which was for 3 years.

Hannah thought that she didn't have any serious problems. She made a lot of friends growing up probably due to her cheerful demeanor. Also, her rapping was one thing that she was confident about. Then, they were all surprised when Matheus tells that he lived in Brazil until he was 8 years old. They moved here to consult with the doctors about his height. They told him that he was just relatively short, but his family decided to stay here.

Samuel shared that he was homeschooled pretty much the rest of his life, until now. He persuaded his parents that he needed to experience the real high school setting, and lucky for him, they considered. He didn't say why he was homeschooled though. Then next was Emily, who was from New York. Her mother always told her that she was going to be a famous, so she enrolled her in dance classes since she was young. She thought they were always going to stay in New York, but her father lost his job but found a new one, which required staying here.

The most shocking revelation, however, was Lindsay's. She divulged that she was adopted, but she seemed okay with telling it to the others. She claimed she looked different from her three brothers, so she dyes her hair black. She says that she tried to fit in the family by overachieving so much, so that they can truly say that she is their daughter. She has no place for mistakes, and she wishes she'll achieve her dream of being on the spotlight.

Next was Marissa. Like Emily, she lived in New York, and there, her father was an opera singer. They all were surprised by that, but she says that it's not really a big deal. She was always into the arts. Stuff like drawing, painting, dancing, and singing occupied her days. She confessed that she became very stressed when her father told her that they were moving since he accepted a teaching job at one of the universities in the area. She considered New York as her one and only home, yet, she was surprised that she was enjoying it here so far.

Then, it was Cameron's turn to share his story. He was from Texas, and his first year of high school there, he was immediately branded as the nerd due to his sense of style. He loved playing the guitar and he kind of preferred to be alone before, to focus on writing songs. Although he had a few friends, none really were that close, so moving wasn't a big deal for him.

He and Bryce seem to have parallel stories before going here. He was from Ireland, but his father was assigned to manage the branch of a company, which was going to be stationed here. Bryce, on the other hand, had the same case, but it was his mother who was assigned to a branch here.

They probably stayed at the Lima Bean for about 2 and a half hours, just talking and laughing, and getting to know each other. Although Cameron probably didn't mean to do this, it was still a good decision to invite everyone, as that afternoon, they became a family.

"Hello Damian! I'm sorry to interrupt your morning walk!"

He almost jumps in surprise. Rachel Berry suddenly appears to him out of nowhere, carrying sheets of paper. She hands him a portion of the papers.

"This is going to be your duet with Marissa. Now, I know that it may be too early but I was wondering if you could come over the auditorium at around 12:20. I was hoping I could coach the two of you for your performance at Sectionals."

Damian's eyes were widened. Rachel was scaring him a bit, and that big smile at the end of her long statement did not help at all. He looks at the sheet music.

"Come on…another song I don't know…"

The senior went near him. "Don't worry! I fully know the song, and like I said, I'd be happy to help you in practice until Sectionals. Be sure to give Marissa her copy and tell her about the practice!"

"Sure…" He nodded and smiled. "Thanks Rachel."

He looks as the captain of the club walks away as cheerful as ever. He starts walking again towards his lockers, while looking at the sheet music. From the looks of the song, they're going to be 'acting' as lovers again.

"Hey Damo, what's that?"

Someone suddenly pats him in the back, and again, he flinches and turns around. It was Marissa and Lindsay.

"Marissa, don't surprise me like that!" She grabs the sheet music and starts walking, leaving Damian and Lindsay, who walked behind her.

He takes a glance at Lindsay. "Where are your Cheerios uniforms?"

"We decided not to wear them, with Coach's permission of course." She looks at him with a refined smile. "I'm just not too comfortable showing a lot of skin."

"It must be tired having to wake up in the morning, practicing those routines."

"Yeah, but it's like exercise, so I guess it's a win-win situation."

Damian glances at Lindsay again, looking at her blue eyes. He remembers that day he was first slushied. Both of them were in the restroom alone.

"It would've been nice to be your duet partner."

Why would he blurt that out? Surely that was the way he felt, but he certainly did not expect to be saying it to her. Because of that, Lindsay leaves him in the restroom. His heart starts beating faster. Ever since that incident, every time he thinks about Lindsay, his pulse just seems to rise up. All these emotions curling up into one…maybe he does like her…there doesn't have to be a reason to like someone right? You just…do…

"I still haven't said thank you to you helping me the other day…with the slushies…"

Lindsay looks at him. "Oh, well…I-I didn't really do much…I even left you, right?"

Lindsay immediately breaks away. Ever since that time, she couldn't look at Damian and not feel uneasy. Why is this happening? They're just friends. Damian's a nice guy, and he's charming, and sweet and caring and—. Stop Lindsay. You may like the guy, but don't get your hopes up just yet. They even hadn't had a real conversation.

"But, you still helped and accompanied me. Thank you Lindsay."

"Sure Damian. Anytime…"

She nods as they continue walking. Marissa looks at the two of them and smiles. I can't believe they don't realize how adorable they look right now.

Out of the blue, someone bumps the redhead, the sheets of paper flying across. She looks in front and sees Cameron, on the floor picking the sheets up.

"I'm sorry Marissa! I was just…n-not paying attention…"

She sighed as she bends down to help him. She looks at him as he was picking up the papers.

"Hey, you're not wearing your eyeglasses."

His head shoots up, looking at her. "Yeah…well…someone suggested that I wouldn't be slushied if I don't wear them…so…" In his mind, he remembers something that happened moments ago…

Earlier that day, Cameron was doing his usual routine, leaning on his lockers and listening to his mp3 player.

"Robert Cameron Mitchell I need to speak with you!"

He sees Kurt and Blaine sprinting towards him. He removes his earphones. "Hey mentor what's up?"

"Have you made a move on your girl yet?" Kurt was looking at him intently, Blaine just smiling beside him.

"What are you talking about, Kurt?"

The pale one sighed as Blaine does the talking. "Kurt just gave me the details on what transpired the past few weeks, and I have to say I agree with him. You like Marissa, don't you?"

Cameron's smile turns into a pout. Okay, why does everyone know this already? Is it too obvious? He reluctantly nods as the couple smiled.

"Now, how's your status with her?"

"Well, we're doing pretty well as friends."

"Being friends won't count! You have to work now! Starting with your look." Kurt takes his glasses and snaps it in two.

"What! My glasses!" His mouth was wide open as Kurt goes to throw his glasses in the garbage bin. He had been wearing that since he was in middle school. That was the only thing that identified him and his look. Kurt walks back to Blaine and Cameron.

"Cam, I know that you can see very clearly without those glasses, so why bother wearing them? All right?"

"But…I looked cool in them…"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "If you want to get her, start with the easy things." He brings out a comb as Blaine grabs Cameron's shoulders and brings him down. The other starts combing his hair.

"Being confident about how you look is the first step." Blaine moves closer to him. "Now, we want you to approach her. Show her that this is who you are…confident and unafraid."

He lets go of him as Kurt brings out a mirror. Cameron looks and sees him, except…a lot more good-looking.

"Wow…I can't believe I could look like this."

"Well, anyone can, as long as they know what they're doing." Kurt says, smiling as always. "I say go look for her now, and tell us what she thinks about this whole new you!"

Cameron looks at them and nods. "I won't let you down." He starts walking down the hallway, looking for Marissa. Blaine cups his hands over his mouth. "Don't forget, courage!"

Kurt frowns and looks at him. "Do you say that to everyone?" Blaine looks at Cameron, as if not hearing the question.

So now, Cameron is here, and screwing up once again, bumping into Marissa and scattering her sheet music. He notices that she was staring at him.

"You look…different…"

"I do?" He picks up the last sheet and organizes them. "Here you go." He hands them over to her as they both stand.

"Yeah…your hair looks neat." She brushes her hand on his head and smiles. "It looks good on you."

"Really?" He frowns a little, but smiles immediately. Wow, this is working.

Marissa looks at Cameron. He wasn't wearing his glasses, and his hair was styled and combed perfectly. I have to admit he looks cute. And, it was the first time she could see his eyes clearly. She never realized they were blue. Judging from this, it looks like he might've had fashion tips from the one and only Kurt Hummel, who did a pretty good job. She could stare at him all day.

What! What the hell are you thinking Marissa? Cameron is just a friend, nothing more, nothing less.

She immediately turns to Damian and Lindsay. "W-we should get a move on then, if we want to get to our lockers before the bell rings."

"I'll come!" Cameron walks beside Marissa, as the two behind them tag along. Damian leans toward Lindsay.

"I have to say they absolutely look like a couple right now…"

Lindsay smiles. "I can't believe they don't realize how adorable they look right now."

Damian smiles back. And I'm kind of hoping that we do too.

It was lunchtime and Lindsay was in the auditorium. She was practicing 'Over The Moon' alone, seeing that she wasn't able to get to that last week. She starts singing loudly, as if it was her last song to sing.

Outside, Damian was rushing to the auditorium. Rachel will flip if he was late for the practice. He walks in the auditorium and hears a loud voice, screaming and singing at the same time. It was Lindsay, alone on the stage, practicing. He goes down the stairs slowly. She mustn't have seen him enter, seeing that she was focused on singing the song perfectly. He begins to feel chills all over his body. Man, she can sing.

She stops singing and opens her eyes. She takes a step back, seeing Damian inside.

"Oh…hey. Were you going to use this?"

Damian nodded. "Rachel was going to help us practice for our duet with Marissa." He looked around to see that it was only the two of them inside. "I guess you could still practice. Both of them still aren't here."

He walks up to the stage and sits on the piano seat. Lindsay just stands there, holding the mic stand. She then turns around to Damian and studies the sheet music he brought.

"Wow, that's a really great song…"

He looks at her and her eyes, scanning the sheet music and humming the notes. You like her, Damian. Don't you think now is a good chance?

"Um, Linds…I really don't know the song, and I was wondering if you could sing it, just so I could get a hang of the tune…"

Lindsay looks at him and smiled. "Sure." She leans towards him, singing softly. Damian looked at her intently, as she sang the song. He wasn't even paying attention to the song anymore. He looked at her blue eyes. They were all that he looked at every time he sees her face. He looked at her lips, which moved flawlessly as she sang.

She glanced at Damian while singing and she could tell that he was looking at her. She could feel her blood slowly rush to her cheeks. But, she kept on singing.

Damian looked at her hands, rested on the piano, holding the sheet music. His hands were also rested on the piano. He moves his hands closer to hers, Lindsay not noticing. At the spur of the moment, he touches her left hand. She stops singing and looks at his hand touching hers. She doesn't withdraw them. Both of them look at each other, and Lindsay moves her hand, motioning to grasp his.

"Okay then you two lovebirds! Let's start our practice!"

Rachel walks to them from the backstage but stops, seeing Damian and, unexpectedly Lindsay.

"Wait? What are you doing here? Where's Marissa?"

Lindsay takes a step back, withdrawing her hand from Damian's. He stands up as well.

"Well, Marissa must've been running late so…"

The senior glared at Lindsay then looked at Damian. "Are you sure you told Marissa about this!"

Damian thought for a while. He traces what they did in the morning. They went to the lockers, and he takes the sheet music from her. The school bell rings, and he went to class. He snaps his fingers. "Oh my god, I think I didn't tell her…"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Well hurry on then! Call her now!"

He nods as he runs up the entrance, leaving the mentor and the student at the stage.

"I'm sorry, I was just practicing and—"

"Well, if I know any better, are you trying to take the duet from Marissa?"

Lindsay laughs nervously and frowns. "What! Why would I steal anything from my friend? They won this fair and square! I was just helping Damian…"

"Yes, like I could believe that. I know your kind." Rachel folds her arms and nods. They both hear the door open, and Damian and Marissa rush to the stage.

"I'm sorry Rachel, I didn't know about this! If I did, I would've come straight away." Marissa goes to Rachel, showing an apologetic expression on her face. She turns to her right.

"Oh, hey Linds. What are you doing here?"

Lindsay looks at Rachel, her lips tightened. "I was just leaving."

Damian looks at her as she goes down the stage hurriedly and exits the auditorium, slamming the door. Rachel approaches the piano looking at the sheet music. "Okay let's get to work!" She looks at the both of them, still looking at the door.

Author's Note:

Okay guys! I was totally watching The Glee Project while writing. I was just finished before the four live performances!

So, how was the chapter? Relatively shorter than the others, but I hope it was with substance (^^). This was heavy on Damian/Lindsay! But I like it! Plus, the matchmaking storyline really surprised me. Now I don't know where I'm going to go with that. More humor and awkwardness perhaps!

The next one will be another long chapter. And we'll be seeing more of the Rachel/Lindsay rivalry! And, we're going to revisit Samuel/Emily, Puck/McKynleigh, and Bryce/Quinn. This is going to be a very unexpected chapter, I assure you.

Reviews, comments, and suggestions are always appreciated! Chapter 12 is Scheming, Plotting, with Bonding on the Side.

Thanks once again for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!