A/N: YES! Okay, while I'm not out of the woods yet, I've finally begun making some real progress in the story, so I will be able to at least keep up the once-a-week updates. While not as optimal as I'd like, this is a really good development for me, since we've seen what happens if I get into a writer's block that requires me to take some time off...
A/A/N: Song featured is "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" by Panic! At the Disco.
The sound of flushing filled the bathroom as Emma emerged from her stall. She'd had to excuse herself from AP European History before they were halfway through, she'd been so disgusted with watching her ex glancing up at her morosely. She felt betrayed, and hurt, and all of those feelings welled up inside of her until she couldn't stand it anymore and took a bathroom pass, retching out all of the awful emotions and relishing the cathartic release that came with purging.
And now she stared in the mirror, looking flushed and haggard. Her face too round and squishy, her nose off-center; she was short with stumpy legs and she should have known better than to think that anyone could be attracted to what was displayed in the mirror, much less the head-over-heels, unshakable adoration that Ashwin had been spouting off. She wasn't the kind of girl that happened to.
"Fancy meeting you here," a voice greeted, and she grimaced at the intruder of her solitude.
"This is the girl's room, in case you couldn't read," she bit at him, hiding her terror at Liam possibly realizing her secret for the second time. Why couldn't he just stay away from her?
"Well, yeah, but I saw you go in from down the hall and got tired of waiting for you to come out, so I figured it'd be okay."
She stared at him incredulously. "What are you, some sort of creeper? Stop stalking me."
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay," he told her, ignoring the jab. "It's been a rough week, so I figured you could use someone to talk to."
"I have plenty of people—friends—to talk to," she retorted, though it was only partially true. The Glee girls had rallied around her when Ashwin's duplicity came to light, but the brunette only felt vaguely comforted by their presence. She honestly felt more like she was being constantly scrutinized, either for her feelings or for her scandal, and it was an uncomfortable attention that she didn't want. However, being with Liam Stewart and his docu-tendencies wasn't the adjustment she was searching for. "Why don't you go turn your lens onto someone else?"
"Hey, this isn't about any film," he insisted, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "And I'm positive I'm a lot better about discretion than the noisy hens you're currently spending time with. I can keep my mouth shut under pressure."
"You can keep a secret?" she repeated dubiously. "Prove it."
Liam arched an eyebrow at her. "You want me to prove I can keep a secret by telling you one? That seems a little Catch-22, doesn't it?"
"I'm surprised you know what a Catch-22 is," she replied derisively.
"Mike Nichols is a great director," he told her, causing her to roll her eyes—of course he'd only seen the film. "But, to put your mind at ease, I'll bite: you've seen this," he reached underneath his tee and pulled out a chain carrying the dog tags he always removed before they raced. "They were my dad's. My mom gave them to me three years ago after he died." He unhooked the clasp and placed the necklace in her hand.
Emma bit her lip uneasily as she fingered the tags. "I'm sorry," she told him. "Were you close?"
Liam smiled sadly. "He was my hero. We Skyped all the time while he was deployed, and he always encouraged me to go after my dreams. He was going to be in the front row of my Cannes debut. Instead, he got blown to bits by an IUD and now it's just me and my mom."
Emma winced at his bluntness. Liam, however, shrugged out of his thoughts and took his father's legacy back from her, reattaching it around his neck and underneath his shirt again. "So now you are one of three people at this school that know my sob story. Your turn."
The brunette shrugged. "My dad bailed on us before I was born," she told him. "But my brother Mark said he wasn't around a lot anyways, so I've never seen it as much of a loss."
The lanky sophomore gave her a look that fully verbalized his opinion of her avoiding his original question, but Emma kept her eyes averted.
"Look, I don't have any secrets," she told him. "I am an open book to the masses. Apparently it's my boyfriend who's had something to hide all of this time. Something blonde and slutty that wears too much makeup."
"You know who she is?" her teammate asked in surprise.
Emma blushed slightly. "No," she admitted sheepishly. "I just kind of made it up to give myself someone to hate."
"Maybe that's your secret," he told her. "That you can't bring yourself to reconcile with what Dr. Bollywood did, so you just make up a scenario to keep it as bizarre as possible so you can forgive him easier for what happened."
"You think I don't believe he cheated on me?" the perfectionist scoffed.
"No, I didn't mean it like that—" he replied.
"Because I know he cheated," she fumed. "I know that he looked me in the eyes and told me he loved me while we were together, and then he went off and screwed around with some chick for god knows how long and then lied to me. Every day was a lie. That girl's face, her name haunts me and I don't even know who she is. And you know what? I haven't been trying to make it easier on me by ignoring it—I've been making it easier on him. I've been letting him hide away and avoid everything that he did by not demanding to know about her while everyone's been gawking and laughing at me. Well, you know what? Screw that." And the petite sophomore strode past a bewildered Liam as she stormed down the halls.
Oh, she sang as she passed by her whispering peers, well imagine as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor
And I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words
She leaned against a locker as she glared at two Cheerios mouthing at each other obviously and continued, "What a beautiful wedding, what a beautiful wedding" says a bridesmaid to a waiter
"Oh yes but what a shame, what a shame the poor groom's bride is a WHORE"
The petite sophomore threw her head back and then upright as she stood in front of the club, I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality
I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of…
Oh, Emma suddenly found herself walking around the cafeteria, glancing from clique to clique, well in fact
Well I'll look at it this way, I mean technically our marriage is saved
Well this calls for a toast so, pour the champagne
Oh! Well, in fact, she repeated as she paced her office in the newsroom, glancing at the various paperwork in front of her before throwing it up in the air
Well I'll look at it this way I mean technically our marriage is saved!
Well this calls for a toast so, pour the champagne, pour the champagne
As she sang out the chorus, she was back in the Glee Room, slamming her hands angrily on the piano.
I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality
I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality
She flew through the hallways in a run, furiously weaving around her peers as she bee-lined for the brown-skinned boy smiling reluctantly within the group of flannel-infused students. Again
"What's her name?" Emma demanded, causing Ashwin to glance around the hallway wide-eyed in mortification.
"Emma, this isn't the best time or place—" he whispered.
"I don't care about the timing anymore Chima," she spat back at him. "I've been made a complete fool of this past week, and now I think it's your turn. What is the whore's name that was so mind-blowing that you couldn't keep it in your pants when you supposedly loved me?" The tall boy hung his head, remaining shamefully silent.
The brunette felt a pang of regret as she watched him guiltily worry his lip, but she'd come too far now to back down. "Ashwin Ajay Chima," she whispered intensely, leaning close to his face and forcing him to make eye contact. "If you ever really loved me, if I ever mattered to you, you'll give me this. Please, let me get some closure."
Her former boyfriend's eyes were weighted in remorse, but he cleared his throat and she heard him choke out the words, "Casey Austin," he confessed miserably. "That's the person I cheated on you with. We met at soccer camp last summer and it was just once, not that it makes it any better."
"Soccer camp," she repeated quietly. Looking back, he'd seemed a little distant when he'd returned from the month-long excursion, but after a few days he'd been back to his same self, so she'd let it go. Perhaps she shouldn't have. "Was she blonde?"
Ashwin looked at her quizzically, but Emma just watched him. She couldn't explain why it was so important for the girl that had taken her boyfriend to be just another floozy like Rhi—like that would somehow make it easier. But she needed to know and it crushed her when she watched the brown-skinned boy finally shake his head.
"Well," she hissed harshly. "I hope for your sake Casey was worth it, because I'm never forgiving you for this." And she stormed back off toward her next class, leaving the wretched boy in her wake.
Ashwin looked up from his spot in the corner or the room just in time to witness Emma and her new support system glaring daggers at him. His face snapped down immediately and he leaned sideways toward Nina. "I cannot believe you talked me into coming," he whispered bitterly.
Nina sighed. "You're my best friend, and you're my teammate," she reminded him, raising her voice as she continued, "And if we're breaking out the dark and dirties, I want the people I am closest to around to hear it."
She took a deep breath as she stood and walked to the center of the Music Room. "Mr. Schue's right—we need to show the rest of the school that they can't break us with our own shields. My secret..." the Bulgarian glanced around nervously. "Is that I'm adopted."
She watched as Emma, Michelle, and Dalton's eyes all widened in surprise. "I lived in Bulgaria until I was three when my parents died in a car accident. I was sent back to the States to live with my Grandmother, but she deferred her rights and I've been living with my foster mom, sisters, and brother ever since." She pressed her lips firmly together and met eyes with Annie and Dylan. "I've been hiding behind being the boring nice Cheerio persona because I didn't want anyone to notice that we're not as… comfortable as the Harrison's or Johnson's, but being in this group makes me realize that families come in all forms. My foster family isn't perfect, but I love them with all of my heart and I don't want to hide anymore."
Mr. Schuester smiled proudly from his place against the piano, and Annie stood up quickly to bring her teammate into a hug. The rest of the group quickly followed, and Nina's face soon blushed scarlet from all of the attention.
"I never want you to feel like you have to be a Cheerio to wear clothes you like," Michelle emphasized from her place in between Annie and Teddy. "Next time we go shopping I think we should all get matching 'Nina' outfits as an act of solidarity. Oh!" she squeaked happily. "And we should go on a road trip this summer for big time thrift shopping—it'll be perfect!"
"God, are you kidding me?" a voice groaned from the risers, and the group looked back to see Hayley still seated. "She's from Russia—"
"Bulgaria," Nina corrected.
"And you're surprised she's freaking adopted? Come on: sweet and demure and perfect- Nina's practically got 'Commie import' tattooed on her forehead. This is the dumbest reveal assignment I've ever heard of." Hayley stood up and spread out her arms. "You want to hear a real secret? I've got one for you." The team watched her quizzically, and she pointed at Caroline. "Caroline Fabray, freshman and transfer student, now one of two Captains of the pom-squad. Don't you ever wonder how you managed that one?"
Caroline squinted uncertainly. "Sue wanted me there because of my sister—" she began.
"And you blew her off," the Asian girl interjected. "And the HBIC had it out for you. So how did it happen that four Cheerios just randomly appeared at your side to help your rise to fame?" She scoffed incredulously. "I'll tell you how—they were plants. Each and every one of them were sent to manipulate you into being friends and dragging your sorry ass over to the Cheerios."
"How would you know?" Michelle rebutted defensively.
"Because I was screwing around with Anastassia Moran most of that time, and she basically told me that she was still pulling all of the strings with her bestie Nikki Hardy. And since you were all following her, I'm guessing you were all in on it." Hayley shot a mocking grin at a dumbfounded Caroline. "See Care—that's a secret. And now I feel so much closer to everyone!"
The streaked-haired rebel laughed nastily and flitted out the door before anyone could think to stop her.
Michelle was the first to speak. "Not Nikki," she told her Captain adamantly. "Whatever Stassi was doing with Medusa, we weren't any part of that."
"But someone did tell you to be friends with us?" Katie shot back angrily.
"Coach Sylvester," Annie revealed. "She wanted Care on the team, and she told us to do whatever it took to get her."
"Sue put you up to this?" Will spat unhappily.
"But that was after we'd already signed up for Glee," Michelle argued insistantly. "Sue exploited our choice—she didn't force us to join in the first place."
"We're not spies, Mr. Schuester," Nina attempted to assure him and her team. "And Caroline—"
The freshman raised her hand to stop her, shaking her head hard as she forced herself to look anywhere but at the entire team staring at her.
After another moment she could hear Mr. Schue gearing up to say something, and she couldn't stand it—her honey-brown high pony flew behind her as she raced out the door and down the halls.
She kept her head down and sprinted out of the school, not stopping until she was halfway through the parking lot The tears must have spilt over at some point, because they flowed freely now and she leaned against a car, panting haltingly as she tried to regain her composure.
A set of soft arms wound themselves around her and Caroline allowed her best friend to pull her close, sniffling softly as she buried her face into the crook of the blonde's neck. She didn't even protest when the hesitant hand of her boyfriend gently rested itself on her own shoulder in an awkward attempt at comfort.
"Liars," she choked out in embarrassment. How could she have believed them all so easily? That they would choose her so abruptly? "I should have known. Everyone—Nina, Annie, Michelle. God, even Teddy probably—"
"Don't," Katie shushed her, hugging her tightly. "Don't let yourself snowball like that."
"It would explain why Andrew wouldn't ask me out," her friend disregarded, rambling on. "It's not like people are lining up to date me." A fresh sob escaped her and she bit back new tears. "God—what if Drew was a plant too? What if Teddy-?"
"Stop," Dylan spoke up, surprising Caroline so much that she turned to face him. His eyes widened at her sudden attention, but he continued, "Stop pretending that you're not worth all of this. Whatever happened in the beginning, you've got a huge backing now. You're a Captain who isn't evil, and you're pretty and popular, and you've got real friends whether they started out that way or not."
"And you've got me," the other Cheerio assured her. "You know that right? That first day in the bathroom? That was nothing but us." Caroline nodded and gave a small smile. "Dylan's right: we've got each other, and they came around, so you're just as well off as you were to begin with."
The youngest Fabray nodded uncertainly, but she leaned against her friend as she stood and allowed her to guide her back toward the school.