A New Generation is Born

by A-LionGleek

It's the first official week of glee club sessions for the 13 newest members of the New Directions, and they are more than ready to get the show on the road. But with drama popping up at every turn, the beginning of their time in glee club will be far from easy. Can the 13 brand new gleeks handle it all and show that they have what it takes to be a worthy new generation of gleeks?

2. A New Fresh Start

And now, I proudly present, the 2nd chapter of A New Generation is Born! In this new chapter, we watch as Mr. Schuester gets properly introduced to his 13 brand new students, all while more than ready to allow yet another Glee-ful year to get on the road. And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!

A/N: Just to quickly remind you all, I do not own Glee. All I own are the 13 OC members of the New Directions. And now, onward with the fic.

Chapter 2:

A New Fresh Start

Quite a few hours later, during the recess session, Mr. Schuester couldn't have been more excited. He was so happy right now as he walked through the McKinley High hallways that not even a punch to the face would have been enough to rid his face of his smile. For at that moment, the time had finally come. Now was the time for him to once again get to work in the McKinley High choir room. Now was the time to hold his first official meeting of the New Directions for the current school year. Now was the time to properly begin his work with and get to know the members of his 100% brand new generation of New Directions. And he was looking forward to it already.

After what seemed like a far longer amount of time to him than the actual amount of time to unfold, Mr. Schuester finally found himself within the final few feet from the familiar comforting entrance to the choir room. He could already see through the window nearby that all 13 of his brand-new students had beaten him there and were all gathered around and seated on the familiar red chairs waiting for him to arrive.

He silently made note of them all. There were 7 boys and 6 girls. Two of them, a boy and a girl, were African American. Two of the boys were Asian American. One of the two boys in question was obviously an Indian American, and the second looked more like a Korean American. The remaining 9 students were clearly Caucasian; although one girl with black hair and blue eyes amongst the Caucasians had surprisingly quite tanned skin. Two of the students had red hair. About four of them were blonde. Possibly five if he counted the fact that one of them was an albino. The rest all had dark hair. And for added variety, there was also a dog in the room with them. The dog in question was a German shepherd. Nonetheless, Mr. Schuester was looking forward to get to know them all and begin his work with them.

A few minutes later, he noticed 12 of the students turn their heads towards the door and lean in that direction in anticipation. He guessed that they must have heard the sound of his footsteps. He did make note, however, of the one girl amongst the group who didn't seem to show any interest alongside her fellow members of the club. Even without the distinctive McKinley High cheerios outfit she was wearing, he would have likely recognized her with little difficulty anyhow.

He remembered this girl from the auditions. Her name was Charlotte Thornton, and she was the head of the cheerios. She'd been the 6th person to sign her name on the sign up sheet, and the 6th to audition. She had auditioned with Carrie Underwood's Good Girl. He also remembered that she'd at one point made one or two minor flirting attempts towards him and had seemed to give off an almost nauseating aura of being a person not to be trusted. And judging from the way many of the other students now in the choir room alongside her had behaved the previous Friday in her regard, it seemed he was not the only one to get this feeling around her. The only one he noticed who seemed to not at all be affected was the African American boy now sitting in the choir room alongside her and the others. He mentally took a deep breath to keep himself calm and happy. "I let her in this club," he thought to himself. "She deserves a chance; just like Quinn, Kitty, and all the other less palatable girls like her that I've allowed in this club over the years. If she proves to be the one rotten apple I can't freshen up, then so be it. At least then, I'll have given her a chance to be freshened up and not just dismissed out of hand."

Mr. Schuester entered the choir room, and he felt quite happy indeed when the 12 students who'd initially shown interest upon hearing his footsteps started clapping and cheering in clear pleasure at his arrival. He came to a stop between the students and the location of the club's trusty piano, yet at the same time near one of the walls, turned to face the students, and proceeded to wave and even bow to them all before clapping his hands twice to signal that it was time to get down to business.

"Good to see you everyone," he said enthusiastically. "Alright, who among you is happy to be in this club?"

All 13 of the students raised their hands, though he did notice that Charlotte was the last to do so and seemed much slower in joining in. Of course, he allowed no sign of his awareness of the matter to show.

"Good for you everyone! Alright, now before we start out on our first week's assignment, I'd like to discuss a few things with you." All of the students apart from Charlotte clasped their hands together, their faces glowing with clear eagerness to hear what he wanted to talk about with them. "The first thing I'd like for us to do is for all thirteen of you to stand up and tell me and the others a few things about yourself. That way, we can break the ice and build up some camaraderie among us."

He turned to face a short blonde girl sitting in the front row. "Diana," he said, "as the first to audition, would you like to have the honor first?"

The girl gulped, her green eyes wide with nerves. A tall boy sitting next to her with black hair and grey eyes placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Mr. Schuester didn't overhear what the boy whispered, but he guessed that it must have been something encouraging, as the girl then took a deep breath, got up from her seat, and walked up to take a position directly in front of her 12 peers. The boy who'd encouraged her, plus 10 of the other students, cheered enthusiastically at her as if to encourage her.

The girl smiled nervously, and eventually managed to say, "Hello everyone. As you heard me say yesterday, I am Diana Eberhart." Her 11 supporters nodded and gestured for her to continue. "This is my third year at this school, and I hope to someday be a Broadway actress."

Her 11 supporters amongst the other 12 students cheered in approval, and Mr. Schuester couldn't help but nod his head in his own gesture of approval. "Not a bad idea," he thought to himself, thoughts of Rachel Berry now fresh on his mind. He couldn't help but wonder sometimes just how things were going for the club's very 1st female lead nowadays that the papers and other media failed to mention.

Seemingly more confident now, Diana continued, "One of my closest friends here is Susan Caraway, but my dearest companion I have ever had, is Daniel Taymor." The dark-haired boy who'd encouraged Diana and the tanned skinned girl with black hair cheered loudly upon hearing these words. Mr. Schuester also noticed that the African American boy smiled warmly in the direction of the two cheering students, as did a blonde boy sitting right next to the dark-haired girl.

Now smiling widely with pride, Diana finished by saying, "However, I hope very much that by the end of this year, I will have formed excellent friendships with the rest of you, and I hope that I will have the time of my life." Her 11 supporters amongst her fellow members of the glee club clapped enthusiastically, and Diana returned to her seat with a smile.

As this happened though, Mr. Schuester made note of how Charlotte didn't clap at all, and never once let any expression be on her face aside from what seemed to be narrow-eyed hatred directed towards Diana. "It seems we have a rivalry on our hands," Mr. Schuester thought to himself. He surreptitiously glanced towards Diana and the dark-haired boy who'd initially whispered encouragement to her. "Why do I have a feeling that this boy is involved in some capacity?"

The boy in question got up from his seat without even being called, and all the other students in the choir room, Charlotte included this time, cheered as he took the initiative and took his place at the exact area where Diana had stood. Mr. Schuester smiled on sight of this. Clearly, the boy remembered how he had in fact been the 2nd student to sign up and audition for the club the previous Friday. "This ought to be good," he thought to himself.

The boy smiled. "Hello everyone. I am Daniel Taymor, the quarterback of the McKinley High Titans. As you all might know, the football team hasn't lost a single game with me as the quarterback, and I definitely enjoy football."

The other 12 students in the room nodded their heads up and down. They had expected no less from the quarterback. Diana, however, had a look on her face that indicated that she knew something else that Daniel hadn't yet said.

"However," Daniel continued. "Nowadays, I feel that while I do enjoy football, I don't want to pursue a football scholarship. Deep inside, I have a feeling that I have a different dream I want to pursue."

Diana smiled happily, and 10 of the other students still seated clearly looked interested in the information as well. Charlotte, however, had a narrow eyed glare on her face as if in disapproval.

"Also," Daniel continued. "Within this room, is a very special someone that I care about a lot, and while I am happy to develop strong friendships with the majority of you, I am also hoping very much that I will develop the courage I need to tell this special someone how I feel and bring our friendship to a much higher level." All but Charlotte smiled and nodded their heads in encouragement. Charlotte, meanwhile, looked fit to burst.

Mr. Schuester saw this, and nodded his head. "Yep," he thought to himself. "That boy is definitely involved in some way with whatever beef Charlotte has with Diana."

"Most of all, I am hoping that by being a member of the New Directions, I will eventually grow up to be just as great as my own personal idol, Finn Hudson."

At the sound of the name, all the students apart from Charlotte cheered excitedly. Even Mr. Schuester himself allowed a warm smile to come on his face as he nodded his head in approval. "Not every day I meet someone who has that strong of an opinion of Finn Hudson this time and age," he thought to himself. "I'll bet Finn will be happy to hear about this." Charlotte, meanwhile, was shaking her head side to side with a half disapproving and half concerned look on her face. Daniel smiled at the applause from Diana and the other 10 students that were cheering, and returned to his seat.

The next student to rise from his seat to take part in the introductions was the blonde boy sitting next to the tanned skinned girl with black hair. The German shepherd that had been lying down near the boy's feet got up on its feet and followed its master as he took his place at the area where Diana and Daniel had stood. As the boy and his dog came to a stop and silently prepared themselves to begin, Mr. Schuester watched them intently. He remembered how the boy had been the 3rd person to sign up and audition, and that the dog had teamed up with the boy to perform a very unique performance. Now, perhaps he would get a good idea of just how unique this boy was to have a dog this well trained, plus anything else that would allow him to properly work with and perhaps even befriend this boy.

"Hello everyone," the boy began. "I am Calvin Martenson, and this is my faithful dog, Hobbes Martenson." As he said the last bit, he gestured silently at the dog, who was standing directly to Calvin's right. The dog started panting happily as dogs tended to do.

"Some of you may wonder why I'm allowed to have my dog in school with me."

Mr. Schuester silently nodded his head in agreement, for he himself was very much curious as to what it was that allowed for this dog to be such an obvious exception to the school's usually very rigid 'no dogs allowed' rule.

"Well here's the thing," Calvin continued. "I have high functioning Autism, and Hobbes here, was bought for me by my parents when I was eleven years old and he was a puppy for use as a therapy dog."

"So that's why," Mr. Schuester thought to himself.

"Over time, I grew to like having Hobbes with me, and I started taking him with me everywhere I went. In fact, thanks to my parents' work in revising my IEP accommodations, I even bring him to school. I am especially happy to have done this because, while Hobbes is a great therapy dog, he is also well trained for a variety of other activities, such as . . ."

"Oh like we care."

At the sound of this remark, the other 11 students that were seated turned their heads to direct annoyed glares at the guilty one who'd just now interrupted; Charlotte. Mr. Schuester also directed a small annoyed glare of disapproval towards her as well. "Not off to a good start," he grudgingly admitted.

Calvin turned his head towards her as well. "I beg your pardon?"

Mr. Schuester directed a small glance towards Calvin out of the corner of his eyes. Emma had had experience with Autistics before, and she'd been able to fill him in on a large variety of important information. And he could tell from the boy's tone, that he seemed just as annoyed, if not even more than the others, by Charlotte's less than respectful remark. "This could get ugly," he thought to himself.

Charlotte sneered, tossed her blonde hair over her left shoulder, and said, "Mr. Schuester said that you were supposed to tell us about yourself, not about your stupid dog."

Calvin pointed his right pointer finger at Charlotte and viciously growled, "Watch it you little . . ."

But Charlotte would have none of it, and she continued, "And it's not like there's anything else we want to hear about you either! You may look like a human, but in truth, you're really a wild animal. And you've already told us that your autistic, so you're basically a retard, and therefore not very interesting at all."

At the sound of Charlotte's scathing remarks, Susan, Diana, Daniel, and all the other members gaped at the cheer leader in horror. Mr. Schuester was shocked at what he was hearing. "What the Devil?" he thought to himself. The first session of the year hadn't even finished, and already there was drama afoot. He was so stunned at this unexpected turn of events that he didn't even notice the small smile of smug satisfaction that popped up on Charlotte's face as she continued to watch the now very annoyed and angry Calvin.

Mr. Schuester noticed Calvin start to tense up in his body language, clearly on the verge of potentially losing his temper. He extended his hand towards the angry Autistic as if trying to soothe him. "Calvin, please calm down."

Calvin leaned forward, angry look still on his face, clearly not having heard Mr. Schuester at all. "Don't push me hag!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes and responded, "Or else what dodo? You can't do anything to me. And I certainly doubt that your dog will do anything to me. From the way he looks right now, he doesn't even understand what's going on."

Hobbes, to Charlotte's credit, did look confused. Mr. Schuester winced. "Of all the days. . .," he thought to himself.

Then Calvin seemed to think to himself, and he abruptly straightened up with a clear 'eureka' look on his face. Mr. Schuester watched closely as the now suddenly no longer angry Autistic directed a sidelong glance towards Hobbes, an almost smug grin now on his face.

"Hobbes."

As Mr. Schuester and the other students watched, the dog turned his head towards his master at the sound of his name. Calvin pointed at Charlotte, and said "Danger." Immediately after hearing this, Hobbes whipped his head towards Charlotte and snarled furiously. Charlotte's confident and arrogant smile faded as she watched this scene unfold, for this was not what she'd expected. Mr. Schuester and the other students couldn't help but also be surprised at the sight.

As Hobbes snarled viciously at Charlotte, Calvin smiled, and said, "As you can see, Hobbes is very well trained. Simply by pointing at something or someone and saying the word 'danger,' he instantly learns to consider it as a threat to me, his master. Therefore, with you now considered as a threat to me in his eyes, you need only to make it even seem as if your about to do harm to me, and he will do everything in his power to protect me."

Charlotte, angered by how Calvin was daring to brag about his dog when he should have already been cowed down into furiously running after her to attack her, rose furiously up from her seat and stormed resolutely towards the boy. With an angry snarl on her face, she indignantly began, "Ok do you seriously expect me to believe. . .?"

All of two seconds after Charlotte started talking, she was suddenly knocked down on her back hard with a scream. . . by what appeared to be a barking brown and black blur. And of course, when Mr. Schuester and the students that were still seated managed to get a good look, the blur turned out to be none other than Hobbes. And at that moment, as Mr. Schuester watched in shock and the other seated students watched in what seemed more like an awestruck wonder, the clearly angry German shepherd stood over the downed head cheerleader, his hind paws on her stomach, his front paws positioned on either side of her neck, and his head positioned so that he was now furiously barking right in her face. Mr. Schuester was speechless as he watched. "Didn't see that coming," he thought to himself.

The teacher saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head in time to see Calvin walk over to where Hobbes was still barking at the incapacitated Charlotte. Seconds later, Calvin placed his foot down on her chest, leaned over with a cold look on his face, and said, "Now you listen to me you little bitch. I will have none of your conceited princess attitude against me. You are now my enemy, and with the position you're in now, all I have to do is say the right command word, and Hobbes will rip you apart. And I won't stop him either. Now you are going to let me finish, and you will not repeat what you just did to me with anyone else this lesson, or you will rue this day for the rest of your newly reduced life. Got it?"

Charlotte didn't respond. This seemed to anger Calvin further, as Mr. Schuester then heard the boy unleash a disturbingly realistic tiger-like growl before he leaned down at Charlotte's face again and shouted, "I said, GOT IT!?"

Charlotte's widened eyes and gaping mouth could have easily matched the look that Mr. Schuester was almost certain he now had on his own face. As the teacher watched, Charlotte continued to gaze in terror at the two angry figures staring down at her face. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Charlotte gulped nervously, and then managed to croak, "Yes, I got it beast. . ."

Calvin abruptly snarled, clearly not amused by Charlotte's choice of word to refer to him by, and he tensed up as if about to lift his right hand and shout. Mr. Schuester gaped in stunned horror at the sight of this. "Is he seriously. . .?" he thought to himself.

Fortunately, Mr. Schuester was able to avoid finding out the answer to this question when Charlotte hurriedly shouted, "I meant Calvin! Yes! I got it Calvin!"

By that point, Calvin had lifted his right hand all the way up in the air, and had seemed virtually seconds away from giving the command word that would have spelled instant doom for Charlotte. After a tense moment of silence, Calvin snarled, lowered his hand, and lifted his foot off Charlotte's chest. He turned his head to Hobbes and said, "Hobbes, off." The dog got off Charlotte, and the cheerleader hurriedly got up and rushed straight back to her chair.

As soon as Charlotte was back in her chair, Calvin and Hobbes headed back to where they'd been before the unpleasant incident with Charlotte. The instant Calvin turned back to face the other members once again, he was smiling again, and he said, "So! Where was I?"

The other members, who had been looking in awe at the way Calvin and Hobbes had handled the potentially ugly situation, were quick to remind him that he had been about to tell them about some of the other tricks that Hobbes could do. Mr. Schuester shook his head side to side with a quite bewildered look on his face. "Sheesh, that girl must really be hated if they're reacting this way to her narrowly avoiding getting killed."

Calvin smiled, and said, "Exactly. Well as you can see, he is a very well trained body guard of mine. Also, I have trained him to sometimes join in with me when I perform certain songs, move or stay in a specific spot without having to use a leash when in familiar places, and to never consume any food or liquid that isn't his own food or water in his food and water bowls. And there are also a few other things, but now back to me. Being autistic, I have great difficulty in social situations. However, I have already had two very good friends in my life from very early ages in my life. Susan Caraway has been my best friend since preschool, and Hobbes has been one of my greatest family allies ever since we first got to know each other as master and pet. However, I hope very much to develop close friendships with all other members of this club that I don't later consider an enemy. Also, I have a variety of interests, including animals, dinosaurs, fantastical creatures, and a large number of other things. In fact, I would like very much to work with the animals at a zoo when I grow up. Once again, I hope that the majority of you become my friends."

The other students clapped and cheered as Calvin returned to his seat. Hobbes followed close behind his master and lay back down on his side at Calvin's feet when the boy sat down. Mr. Schuester nodded his head in an almost numb fashion, both happy to know all the facts that Calvin had revealed about himself, but also still somewhat unnerved by the tense situation that had unfolded. "He might take some time to get used to," the teacher thought to himself. "Let's hope things don't get too tense in his regard. I don't even want to think of what could happen if he were to outright lose his cool entirely." At that moment, he then noticed Calvin and Daniel seemingly exchanging a few words even though Diana and the tanned skinned brunette were sitting between them. Judging from the looks on their faces and Daniel's briefly pointing his finger in Charlotte's direction, it was clear that they were in agreement over a common enemy. "Well at least he now seems to have found a good potential new friend this early in the game," he thought to himself.

The tanned skinned brunette rose from her seat and took her place at the area where Calvin, Diana, and Daniel had stood. She smiled warmly, her blue eyes agleam. "Hello everyone," she said with a slight wave of her hand. "My name is Susan Caraway."

She gestured over towards Calvin and Hobbes. "You just met my especially good friends Calvin and Hobbes. And I apologize for the drama that unfolded not too long ago."

Diana, Daniel, and 7 of the other students chuckled upon hearing this. Calvin smiled warmly at his friend. Charlotte, meanwhile, rolled her eyes and glared in annoyance in Charlotte's direction. However, Mr. Schuester couldn't help but direct a watchful eye towards the African American boy. He couldn't tell for certain, but it almost seemed as if the boy was paying a little too much attention to Susan herself rather than what she was saying.

Susan chuckled alongside the 9 giggling other glee clubbers, clearly not at all aware of the scrutiny she was receiving from the one boy. "I'd also like to inform you that you've also received a warm introduction to my gal pal Diana." Diana nodded her head in agreement as if to add further confirmation about her being a good friend of Susan's.

"However," Susan continued, placing her hands on her hips in the process. "One thing that Calvin and I, plus potentially Hobbes, are currently hoping to come from our being in this club, is for us to expand our roster of friends." She gestured her hand towards Calvin once more. "As Calvin made quite clear, it's rather difficult for him to make friends without help due to his condition. And I myself have had my share of difficulty at making friends as well since very few people I know have really been all that willing to associate with Calvin."

The Autistic boy nodded his head with his eyes closed. Mr. Schuester felt a sense of sympathy flare up in his heart at the sight. "They've certainly come to the right place," he thought to himself.

"As much as I'm sure that Calvin and I will have plenty to offer for this club where singing, dancing, and perhaps even acting are concerned, the two of us, and Hobbes, hope very much that at least someone among you will be willing to give us a chance at friendship with you." She nodded her head. "Because really, as good of a friend Calvin, Hobbes, and Diana have all been to me, we'd all greatly appreciate it if you were to allow yourselves to perhaps become our friends as well. Because honestly, as different and unconventional his Autism might make him, Calvin his still a human like all of us. And just because I am a firm and loyal friend of his doesn't mean I should be treated as if I'm a freak any more than he should be." She nodded her head. "Once again, I hope this year for Calvin, Hobbes, and I to meet some valuable new friends amongst you all." Susan returned to her seat, and Mr. Schuester couldn't help but smile when he saw Calvin and Diana simultaneously place their hands on her shoulders from their respective sides as if to silently reassure her that they would be there for her regardless of whether or not any of the other members became friends with them over the course of their time in the New Directions together.

The African American boy rose from his seat and took his spot at the silently reserved area for introductions. He clasped his hands together, a wide smile gleaming on his dark face. "Good morning people," he said. "I am Zachary Skinner, but you can just call me Zack. How's that sound?"

Scattered chuckling came from the other students. Daniel just rolled his eyes, Calvin just narrowed his eyes as if still trying to get a good read on Zach, and the two girls sitting between them just shook their heads side to side with indifferent looks on their faces.

Zach did not seem at all phased by the response from his fellow glee clubbers, and he chuckled. "Well nonetheless, I'm sure you've all probably heard of me in some way or another. After all, with my little history of partying and other . . . unique activities . . . I figure that, unless you're a Freshman, it would be an absolute miracle if you haven't indeed heard about me in some fashion or other."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Schuester found himself mentally placing a puzzle piece into position. "I remember now," he thought to himself. Truth be told, he had indeed heard about this boy's history. From what he remembered, the boy seemed to be quite the legend around the McKinley High students this time and age. With all the talk he'd heard about the boy's reportedly quite wild parties, the glowering and grumbling he'd heard from just about every guy foolish enough to pick a fight with him, and the absolute glowing words that he'd heard a sizable number of girls use to describe their experiences with him, Mr. Schuester couldn't help but feel as if his old student, Noah "Puck" Puckerman had somehow passed on his DNA and mind into an African American teenage clone of himself. "Here's to hoping he's not too much of a handful," he thought to himself.

"Why did I join this club?" Zach chuckled. "Well for starters, as I think you were all able to hear during my audition, I am a pretty snazzy singer if I do say so myself." He chuckled again. "However, there is one especially important reason that has nothing to do with any musical or similarly show choir oriented talent on my part." He pointed at Daniel. "Diana isn't the only student in here who's a close friend of Daniel's. I to, am a strong companion of his. Suffice it to say, cliché as it may sound, we're basically brothers in all but blood and name." He folded his arms across his chest, a determined look now on his face. "As Daniel has made clear, he has some very important goals of his own he hopes to accomplish by the end of his time here at McKinley High over the course of his membership in this club. And by God, as his friend, I'm going to make damn well sure that he gets those goals accomplished. Because that's what friends do. Isn't that right?"

Upon hearing this, Daniel, Diana, and all the other students nodded their heads. Even Charlotte found herself grudgingly acknowledging with a nod that Zach did have a valid point in his statement. Zach smiled. "Thank you." He bowed, and then straightened up. "Alrighty then," he said. "Next up."

Zach returned to his seat, and none other than Charlotte was the next student to walk up to introduce herself. She stood tall before the gathered students still seated. Mr. Schuester watched her intently from his position at the side. "Here goes nothing," he thought to himself. Even now, he was still hoping that she'd yet prove potentially capable of developing into a nicer girl the way previous students like her, such as Quinn Fabray and Kitty Wilde among others, had managed to do.

"Hello," Charlotte said simply. "For those of you who've not yet had the pleasure of hearing about me, I am Charlotte Thornton." The other students, except for Zach, showed no visible sign of reaction, and maintained guarded, but otherwise emotionless, glances at her. Zach, on the other hand, was visibly smiling. Charlotte continued. "Yep, that's me, top of the class, top of the food chain, top of the pyramid. I've got it all."

She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "At least, that's what I always thought." She directed her gaze back at the assembled students in front of her. "But recently, I've become aware of something missing. I will admit, I still can't tell for certain exactly what it is that's missing. But I feel its absence nonetheless." She nodded her head. "And as you can probably guess, I've decided that doing time in the glee club could potentially help me find it. Why I think so? Honestly, no idea. Call it a hunch really."

Charlotte took a deep breath once more. "Nonetheless," she continued. "Regardless of the results of my little search, I hope very much that I'll look back on my time in this club with fond memories." She made an obvious and rather drawn out curtsy. "Thank you very much." She started walking back to her seat. "Next," she said in an almost dismissive tone.

A seventh student rose from his seat and made his way up to the introduction point. This particular student was the albino boy. And as Mr. Schuester watched the boy take his place at the introduction spot, he also noticed what seemed to be a slight metallic clinking and clanging in his ears occurring while the boy was walking. This noise reminded him of another detail that had been in plain sight at the auditions last Friday; the boy's legs were metallic prosthetics designed to resemble steel skeleton legs.

For a couple seconds, the boy stood facing his audience, an almost blank look in his crimson eyes. Then a small smile came on his face, and he directed a small wave at the other 12 students seated in front of him. "Hello everyone," said the albino boy. "My name is Dunlap Carmichael, and as you have probably noticed, I am McKinley High's resident albino." He nodded his head. "I will admit, if any of you felt the need to look away from me not too long ago, I'm not surprised, nor at all heartbroken. You wouldn't be the first."

Dunlap clasped his hands together, intertwining his fingers in the process. "Honestly, I don't really know how I managed to be this way. Just about everyone in my family agrees that it came basically out of nowhere." He looked down towards his legs. "And this isn't the only abnormal aspect of me either. It's just the only one that I was born with."

Dunlap reached down towards the bottom of his left pants leg. The other students all watched, clearly remembering the sight of his legs uncovered from the day of the auditions and aware of what was coming. "When I was 10-years old, I ended up getting these." At the exact moment he said that last word, he lifted his left pants leg sufficiently enough to allow everyone else in the room to get a clear view of the resulting uncovered portion of his metallic left leg. Mr. Schuester nodded his head silently at the sight of this. He had definitely seen this part coming.

Dunlap nodded his head, and rolled his pants leg back down. "Yep, definitely not something you would see every day." He straightened back up and looked at his assembled audience once more. "And as I'm sure won't be at all surprising to you, these legs of mine, combined with my albinism, has made it understandably quite difficult for me to make any friends. I mean hey, you all know what it's like here in Lima. And trust me, there are plenty of people I've met over the course of my life so far that have been either scared of me, bullied me, or likewise didn't care to spend that much time around me anyhow."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Schuester noticed how all the students apart from Charlotte had clear looks of understanding and sympathy on their faces. Calvin had even closed his eyes and was nodding his head up and down with a facial expression that couldn't have been a more obvious silent means of saying 'I can relate'.

Dunlap nodded his head. "Granted, I'm not 100% friendless. As you may or may not have noticed last Friday during the auditions. There are three other students here in my grade who've been especially good friends of me since we were all elementary school age." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "But regardless, sometimes, even a small group like us needs a little more people to add to the ranks. And as members of this club, we all hope to find exactly the people we need to fill in the ranks of our roster of friends. Believe me, as close as my three current friends and I already are, we could really use the added companionship just as much as the Autistic boy." Calvin nodded his head once again. The other students, apart from Charlotte of course, likewise appeared to agree. Dunlap cleared his throat. "Thank you." He returned to his seat.

Before sitting down though, Dunlap worked to help another student, the ginger haired girl, up from her seat. As Mr. Schuester watched, he mentally face palmed as he noticed Dunlap hand the girl a distinctive white cane with a red handle. "I forgot," he thought to himself. "She's blind. How could I have forgotten that?"

With some assistance from Dunlap, the ginger haired girl managed to make her way over to the position for introduction. The instant the girl was firmly positioned at the right spot, Dunlap hurried back to his seat.

Seconds after Dunlap had returned to his seat, the girl took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Hello," she managed to say. "My name is Naomi Bright." She gestured vaguely in Dunlap's direction. "As you may have guessed from watching the boy who went before me help me out, I am one of the 3 companions he mentioned having before joining this club." She nodded her head.

"There are people I know from elementary school who may claim that the only reason I even gave Dunlap so much as the slightest chance at being my friend was because of how I was unable to see how much of a hideous freak he was. But as I have said to them, I am more than willing to tell you all right now that such claims couldn't be further from the truth." She took a deep breath, and then exhaled as if trying to keep herself calm. It seemed that this matter was a bit of a sore topic for her.

"Anyway," she continued. "Like Dunlap himself made clear, as close as he and I are, and as strong of a friendship we have together alongside our other two close allies, we hope just as much nonetheless to find more friends amongst you to add to our little fellowship." She hung her head, and then sighed. "Also, another reason we all joined this club is because . . . well . . . last year, our Freshman year, I underwent a not entirely pleasant experience. And to put it simply, despite the reputation I've heard this club has developed as being a haven for drama, we all hope that being a member of this club will be the experience I need to properly recover, emotionally heal, and move on." She nodded her head. "I'm already blind, and I've already got only three close friends and their families to turn to when it comes to my problems. The last thing I need, or that any of us need, is to be alone." She nodded her head once more. "Once again, I hope to have a good experience in this club. Thank you." Almost as if he'd been given a telepathic signal, Dunlap wordlessly got up from his seat and helped Naomi back to her own seat.

The next student to rise from his seat and take his position at the introduction post was the 2nd ginger haired student amongst the group. As he turned to face the other 12 students in the club, Mr. Schuester once again took careful note of how the boy's eyes seemed for some strange reason to be yellow.

The boy cleared his throat, looked carefully at each of the other students to make sure that they were paying attention, and then began to speak. "Greetings everyone," he said, a faint Scottish accent present in his voice. "My name is Darren McCrimmon. And yes, as you may have noticed from my voice, I am of Scottish descent."

His eyes narrowed. "And before anyone asks." At the exact moment he said the last two words, he directed a meaningful glare towards Charlotte. "No, I have not undergone some strange genetic mutation, my mom did not have cat DNA injected into her while she was pregnant with me, and I do not take nicotine. These are contact lenses. No more, no less." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily. "And no, I do not wear these yellow contact lenses because I'm satanic, crazy, or otherwise not all there. I wear them strictly because I think they look cool."

Darren took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Nonetheless, I very much hope to both prove myself a worthy addition to this club and to enjoy myself. Furthermore, since I might as well get this out of the way," he gestured towards Dunlap and Naomi. "The two students you had the pleasure of being introduced to right before me? They're pals of mine."

Darren cleared his throat. "And finally, much like Naomi, and somewhat like Dunlap, I to have my own personal reasons for joining this club besides talent and being alongside my friends." He took a deep breath. "The thing is," he began. "My academic history before high school? It wasn't exactly what you'd call normal. And to be honest, it's really only thanks to my 3 pals I already have here at this school with me that I've been able to make it all the way to my sophomore year in high school without completely screwing things up for myself through my own awkwardness." He took another deep breath. "Needless to say, being a member of this club . . . it's something I hope very much to be an opportunity to further develop and become comfortable with my life as a high school student. Because believe me, my life's already been difficult enough before now both in school and out of school." He nodded his head, and started walking back to his seat. "Carry on."

No sooner had Darren finally sat back down when the 4th member of the little quartet seated in that area, a blonde girl with contrasting black eyes, rose from her seat and took her own place at the introductory spot. "Good morning everyone," said the girl. "My name is Amber Lawson, and as you can probably guess by now, the 3 students who introduced themselves to you before me are especially good friends of mine. In fact, it is an especially great honor that all four of us have made it into this club, as doing something like this is a wish we've been dreaming of and hoping to fulfill since the summer after our 7th grade year in middle school."

Amber nodded her head. "And much like my 3 companions, I wish to both prove myself truly worthy of the membership I've been granted in regards to my skill at singing and similar activities related to glee club, as well as to further expand my roster of friends." She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "And much like Naomi, I experienced some dark times of my own last year, and I hope that my experiences in this club will turn out to be exactly what I need to finally get it all put behind me so that I can move on. And in the event that doing so allows me and my other pals to have a large number of those amongst the rest of you becoming our friends, then double joy right?"

All the other students but Charlotte were very quick to nod and mumble in agreement. Hobbes even gave a light growl combined with an up and down nod of his head as if to give off his own means of agreement. Amber chuckled. "Well that's good." She nodded her head. "Again, hope to enjoy my life as a member of this club. Happy to meet you all." She started walking back to her seat. "Here's to having fun everyone."

The Korean American boy rose from his seat immediately after Amber had sat back down. When he was ready to begin his own introduction, he paused just long enough to clear his throat. "Greetings fellow glee clubbers," he began. "My name is Cody Nakamura." He paused briefly to readjust the position of his glasses. "As you may or may not remember hearing me say at the auditions last Friday, the quarterback ain't the only one amongst us who has an idol amongst the previous generations of New Directions members. I to have such an idol. My idol? The famous dancer Mike Chang."

The other students were very quick to mumble in agreement or likewise make note of the fact. Mr. Schuester silently nodded. "Certainly doesn't hurt to get that little reminder," he thought to himself.

"And as you all might remember from my audition, I would say that I myself am either an exact equal, or a close enough runner up, to Mike Chang in regards to my dancing ability."

Immediately after Cody said this, he lifted his right leg while simultaneously lifting both of his arms above his head and causing himself to spin 5 times in a counterclockwise circle. The other students oohed and awed at the display, and Mr. Schuester smiled with a nod of his head.

Cody came to a stop, cleared his throat, and continued. "Of course, my singing ability isn't something to be ashamed of either. But again, much like I hear Mike Chang was during his own time in this club, I myself am somewhat more comfortable with my dancing then I am with my singing. So there." The other students, bar Charlotte yet again, nodded their heads.

"Furthermore, much like virtually everyone else who's gone before me, I have my own personally important reasons for taking part in this club." He took a deep breath, exhaled, and readjusted his glasses. "Right now, I'm a key player in two major points of drama. To be more specific, I am both hard at work in efforts to win the heart of a girl I've come to develop feelings for and in the midst of trying to resolve a rather strong feud that's arisen between me and another close friend of mine."

Cody hung his head, and then sighed. "I'm sure what I'm about to say next is pretty obvious knowledge, but these two situations are not something that I can easily solve period, let alone through use of my dancing." He looked back up. "But nonetheless, this baggage of mine? Both situations are serious matters, and ones that I very much hope to resolve without having to worry about potentially leaving either the girl or the old buddy holding the metaphorical short end of the stick."

He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "And in the event that I prove myself lucky enough to make several more brand new friends amongst all the members who've had the pleasure of introducing themselves before me over the course of my time in this club, the more the merrier I guess." He nodded his head. "Thank you." He made his way back to his seat. "That will be all."

The next student to rise from her seat and take position at the introductory spot was the African American girl that had been seated directly between the two Asian American boys, and she did not take long at all to make a lasting impression. "Hello ya'll," said the girl. "My name is Bailey Kellogg, and I hope that my membership in this club will be the next big step to my potentially becoming a star."

She lifted up her hands as if to forestall any comments. "I get it, I see the looks on your face, and I'll admit, that's a pretty bold thing for me to say. But please, do let me explain."

At that moment, the two Asian American boys were the only students who didn't look either confused, intimidated, or similarly put off. Mr. Schuester himself couldn't help but mentally whistle at the girl's rather spunky attitude. "Warning," he thought to himself. "Incoming diva."

"I'm not at all saying that none of you should try to become a star as well, or that I'm going to be actively trying to compete with any other hopeful star power amongst you for the sake of some petty title amongst our ranks. I just genuinely hope for my time in this club to allow me to become well on the way to potential future stardom of my own. And believe me, that audition I had for you last Friday?" She shook her head, an amused grin on her face. "That sure as Hell wasn't the last you'll be seeing of my talent."

Her face took on a more serious expression. "And my talent ain't the only reason I joined this club either." She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Let's just say, this club is no stranger to drama. And with that in mind, especially in regard to some admittedly quite serious matters between me and two close pals of mine, I'm bound to fit in just fine."

The 10 students who'd been initially put off by Bailey's overbearing vocal diva aura unconsciously turned their heads to stare meaningfully at Cody and the only student left who hadn't yet introduced himself. The two Asian Americans shrugged noncommittally.

"Nevertheless," said Bailey, smile back on her face. "Here's to hoping that I both get well on the way to potential future stardom, that me and my two pals get our shit together over the course of our membership, and that I make a good collection of brand new pals amongst you all." She bowed. "Thank you." She straightened up, and returned to her seat with a completely nonchalant look on her face. "Next up," she said in what couldn't have possibly been a more casual sounding tone.

There was only one student left to formally introduce himself. That student, was the tall Indian American boy. No sooner had Bailey sat back down at her initial spot between him and Cody when he rose from his seat and took his place at the introductory spot. And when he began, he had a smile on his face. "Hello everyone," said the boy. "I am Raj Patel." He clasped his hands together, fingers intertwining. "And I am very pleased indeed to meet you all, and very much look forward to getting to know you all some more over the course of our glorious time together in this club."

The 10 students who'd gone before Cody and Bailey very noticeably looked quite happy, albeit stunned, at how very affable, personable, and friendly Raj was turning out to be. Cody and Bailey let out a low chuckle in unison upon sight of how their 10 peers were reacting. "That's Raj for you," they thought to themselves.

Raj chuckled. "I can see from your reactions that you appear to view me as quite an intriguing character. And I will admit, you most certainly are not wrong to think such a thing about me." He spread his hands and arms out to his sides nonchalantly. "Well, I am of the same race as Ghandi, so there's that."

The other students couldn't help but chuckle at this comment. Raj chuckled as well. "Well nonetheless, I for one hope to have lots of fun in this club." He nodded his head. "And I certainly wouldn't mind if we really got into the swing of things here." He leaned forward dramatically, an almost comically serious expression on his face. "Forget Life of Pi yo," he said in an almost robotic sounding voice. "Me am Life of Party!"

All 12 of the other students burst out laughing. Even Charlotte found herself laughing, even going so far as to cover her mouth with both hands to try to keep herself together. It seemed even she had to admit that Raj's joke was actually pretty funny. Mr. Schuester himself briefly had to turn his head away and clench tightly onto his seat to keep himself from all out falling apart in hysterical laughter. And the real crowning jewel of the moment? Hobbes was actually letting out a series of gurgling snorts, and with a look on his face that couldn't have been a more obvious canine equivalent of an expression of amusement. Yes. Even the dog amongst the group clearly seemed to think that Raj's joke was funny.

Eventually, Raj managed to finally get them all calmed down, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "In particular, I hope especially much to enjoy my time in this club. Why? The most important reason, is because I'm a senior." He nodded his head. "Yes, that's correct. I am a senior. This is my last year. And as you can see, I have only now just finally managed to make it into becoming a member of this club." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "And with all that in mind, even though this shall be both my first and my last year in this club, I hope very much to enjoy my time in this club, have the honor to be able to refer to as many of you as possible as my friends, look back on my time here with pride and joy in the future, and feel proud to have received the honor of being a gleek." He bowed. "Once again, I am very pleased to meet you, and couldn't feel more honored to be a part of this club alongside you. I hope very much that I will not prove to regret being a member of this club." He straightened back up, and then nodded his head. "Thank you." He nodded his head, and then silently returned to his seat.

After about a minute or two, Mr. Schuester got up from his seat and moved over to where all the students had stood one by one to give their introductions. "Well I'm glad that we've all gotten to know each other better," said the teacher. "Now, who can tell me what's coming up for us in two months from now?"

Darren raised his hand.

"Yes Darren?"

Darren lowered his hand and replied, "Would I be correct in guessing Sectionals?"

"Correct!" Mr. Schuester shouted happily in response, and all the other members cheered in excitement.

"Alright everyone!" said Mr. Schuester. "With that in mind, we need to make sure that we all have our act together for that. Therefore, since you are all completely new to this club, I want to make sure that we try our hardest in preparing for your first competition. Bad news, I am afraid I will have to inform you that the musical was moved to after Sectionals due to technical difficulties."

At the sound of the disappointed noises that the glee clubbers made, Mr. Schuester continued, "However, a few months from now, we shall be doing the old New Directions tradition of the mash-up competition between the boys and the girls of this club!"

The New Directions all cheered upon hearing this news, just as Mr. Schuester had hoped. "Now, I shall go over one other thing before I tell you about the week's assignment. How many of you have watched either all eight, or at least some of the Harry Potter movies?"

All thirteen students raised their hands.

Mr. Schuester smiled, and said, "Alright, now remember what Harry said to Voldemort about love and friendship in the fifth movie?"

The New Directions kids nodded to indicate yes.

"Alright," Mr. Schuester continued. "Now here's the thing, an underlying message that was made in what was said about those two things in that movie, is how love and friendship are among the most valuable things in the world, yet can't be bought with money or created artificially. But there is also another aspect about these two things that relates them to another valuable element of life; trust."

Mr. Schuester walked over to the white board and wrote the word 'trust' on it. He turned to face his new students. "Now love and friendship have two things in common. The first of these I have already told you. They are among the most valuable things in the world, and are even more so because they are among the few things of value that can't be bought or created artificially. If they could, then they would be worthless. However, the other thing these two elements have in common makes them very similar indeed to trust, which is in turn like ice." Upon saying this, Mr. Schuester drew a picture of a frozen lake with cracks spread out all over the surface of the ice.

He looked back at his students, who he was pleased to notice were still gazing intently and with interest. "Now ice, as those of you who've taken biology might know, is water in its solid form. Also, natural ice takes a very long time to form and build up. However, despite how long it can take to form, it is very easy to break as seen in this drawing on the white board. In that regard, trust is very much like ice. Like ice, trust is easy to break, but takes time to build. These facts are all very important information for the glee club, for in order for us to truly make it, we all need to be able to trust each other, and for this to truly be a happy memory for all of us, friendship is the key to trust."

Mr. Schuester leaned forward, and said, "That being said, I am counting on you to work as best as you can to not only train as hard as you can for your performing, singing, dancing, and other skills for the club, but to also develop strong friendships between each other and to be able to trust each other."

All the other students were noticeably silent upon hearing him say this. The silence lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, right as Mr. Schuester to fee a slight twinge of worry, he saw all 13 of the students make silent facial expressions in unison that were indicative of a whistle. He smiled. Clearly, his words had had a very real and strong impact on his 13 brand new students for the glee club. "And good thing to," he thought to himself. "Because glee club, by its very definition, is designed to allow us all to open ourselves up to joy. And if that isn't enough to make this a truly epic club, then I don't know what is."

Eventually, Mr. Schuester said "Alright with that being said, I shall discuss one other thing with you while telling about this week's assignment with you all. Do any of you remember Cody's audition yesterday?" All the glee club members replied that they did.

Mr. Schuester nodded. "As you may or may not also remember," he responded, "when I complemented Cody on his dancing, he told me that he was inspired to become a great dancer by watching Mike Chang himself on MTV. How many of you have heard of the famous dancer Mike Chang?" The New Directions raised their hands.

Mr. Schuester then said, "Well as you probably already know, Mike Chang was once sitting in this very room as one of my students many years ago. Long before he became a famous dancer, he was just another ordinary student like you. Now he's gone far in his life all thanks to his time in the New Directions, and has even inspired one of you guys to be just like him. That being said, I shall ask all of you one question; do you have a personal idol among former members of this club that are now famous?" All thirteen students immediately replied.

Diana: "Yes. Rachel Berry."

Daniel: "Finn Hudson."

Calvin: "Sam Evans."

Susan: "Mercedes Jones Evans."

Zack: "Noah Puckerman."

Charlotte: "Quinn Fabray."

Dunlap: "Artie Abrams."

Naomi: "Santana Lopez."

Darren: "Joseph Hart."

Amber: "Brittany Pearce."

Cody: "Mike Chang."

Bailey: "Tina Cohen Chang."

Raj: "I actually have two. Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson."

At the sound of hearing how such a large majority of his former students served as idols and sources of inspiration for his new students, Mr. Schuester smiled, and said, "Well in that case, I am happy to inform you that the assignment of this week is," before turning around, erasing what he'd already written on the white board, and writing down:

WWNDD

What Would the New Directions Do?

At the sight of this, the thirteen brand new members of the New Directions cheered. Mr. Schuester eagerly responded to this, "That's right everyone! This week, I want each of you to perform a song that you think that your own personal idol among the New Directions alumni would do!" The cheering of the New Directions members reached fever pitch after Mr. Schuester shouted this.

Eventually, Mr. Schuester raised his hand, and the thirteen students went silent. Mr. Schuester said, "Alright now one more thing. Just so you know; I am happy to inform you that if things go as planned, there will be something going on later this year at around the time that we will hopefully be preparing for Regionals that I know that you will all enjoy very much. And by that, I'm not referring to the school musical."

The New Directions members looked at each other, all very intrigued by what this special treat might be.

Dunlap said, "What is it?"

Mr. Schuester responded, "It's a surprise. However, I can tell you right now that it is something that you will definitely find worth looking forward to."

The bell rang seconds after Mr. Schuester finished saying this. Mr. Schuester said, "Well there's the bell. Remember, after school, we will all meet up here for our first true meeting. And remember the week's assignment!"

The students all gathered up their supplies and belongings and exited the glee club room to head to their classes, all of them eagerly awaiting the wonders and fun times to come.

By the time all the students had departed, Mr. Schuester shook his head side to side, chuckling to himself. "Yep," he thought to himself. "I am definitely going to enjoy myself with this new generation of New Directions." He nodded his head, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Here's me hoping for yet another enjoyable experience at today's after school session." He exited the choir room, head held high, smile on his face, and a noticeable determined aura in the way he looked and moved. Admittedly, he could already tell just from the introductions his students had given that this year would once again have a healthy dosage of drama in regards to his work with the New Directions, as per usual. But he didn't care. So far, the first lesson had come and gone without disaster striking. Today was a brand new day of a brand new school year. And he had now gotten firmly on the way to getting to know and properly working with a now very firmly established new generation of New Directions. "And by God," he thought to himself as he continued to make his way through the hallways of McKinley High to reach the classroom where he taught American History, "they are ready to show this school what they've got."

And just like that, another chapter done! Here's me hoping you all enjoyed this chapter and that you leave plenty of feedback! Admittedly, this chapter is somewhat of a rehash of chapter 5 from the main GWAF story. But bear in mind, this new chapter shows the events of that chapter almost entirely from the point of view of Mr. Schuester. Plus, you also get treated this time to the introductions given by all 13 of the NND (whereas in the original chapter 5 of GWAF, you only got directly exposed to the introductions given by Diana, Daniel, and Calvin; so there). Again, all in all, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, that it was worth the wait, and that I receive plenty of feedback from you all. Remember, I require a minimum of 3 reviews for this chapter in order for me to post the next chapter. And again, no flames allowed.

Coming up next: In the last hours that remain before the after school session of glee club, two of the brand new members of the New Directions (namely, a certain quarterback and head cheerleader) find themselves thinking carefully and undergoing some important thoughts and reflections during practice of their respective other activities they attend alongside Glee club. But while the quarterback has thoughts on his mind that are of his usual gentle and 'nice guy' type of nature, the head cheerio's thoughts are far from pleasant (at least where the readers and all the gleek people we're supposed to be rooting for at this point in the GWAFU are concerned). Sound fun? I certainly hope so!