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?

9. A Promotion of Interest

Hey ya'll! MAN I took WAY too long! AGAIN GOD DARN IT! Well no matter; on the bright side, we now finally have a new chapter to read ^_^. And in this long awaited new chapter, Daniel and Zach have a little 'talk' on the way to lunch. And at lunch, the New Directions get their request from Mr. Schuester done and over with. Question is, just what will the end result be for our favorite new generation of gleeks where their current audience is concerned? Ready to find out? Read on! Here's me hoping you enjoy and leave plenty of feedback! ^_^

A/N: But first, real quick, I own neither Glee nor the song that is featured in this chapter. Now that that's out of the way, let's get reading shall we? :)

Chapter 9:

A Promotion of Interest

A couple of hours later, Daniel was walking by himself through the McKinley High School hallways; making his way to the cafeteria to both have lunch and hopefully meet up with Diana and the other nine New Directioneers that he currently hoped to form lasting friendships with. Admittedly, he was still on guard for the possibility of Charlotte making another attempt at him despite getting sent running away screaming with her metaphorical tail between her legs not too long after the glee club's recess session. And of course, he also still had the unpleasant matter involving Zach still weighing glaringly heavily on his mind. But for now, he was willing to put those two matters on relatively lower priority for the sake of preparing himself for hopefully both strengthening his potential new friendships as well as perhaps fulfilling Mr. Schuester's request alongside them all during lunch. "Just think on the bright side," he thought to himself. "Yes things could be better. But hey, they could just as easily be worse." He let a smile come on his face as he thought of another important detail. "And besides, would Finn Hudson let a little bit of adversity like this stop him? No, he would not. And that's a fact."

As he had these thoughts, he let his smile widen and brighten to an especially large length and level of happiness. "Yeah," he thought to himself, "I'm not gonna let a little extra adversity then I was expecting bog me down and ruin this good day. No sir. Not at all."

"Hey there buddy."

Daniel came to a stop so suddenly that the stock sound of a car screeching to a stop would have not at all been out of place. After what seemed like an eternity, time finally restarted for Daniel, and he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth at the sound of the voice that had just now caused him to stop. "Damn you Zach," he thought to himself. "Did you really have to catch me now of all times?"

With a heavy mental sigh, Daniel turned around to face Zach, who was standing a couple feet behind the quarterback with a smile on his face. Putting on as convincing (though weak) a smile as he could manage, Daniel managed to say, "Hey Zach."

Zach chuckled, seemingly not at all aware of Daniel's not entirely happy air. "Man, it's so good to see you right now." He scratched the back of his head. "Boy, it sure is fun to be in the glee club, isn't it?"

Daniel let his smile become slightly more genuine upon hearing this question. He could definitely at least agree on that bit. "You can say that again," Daniel responded.

Zach chuckled once more. "Well, I suppose it's off to lunch we go."

The two boys resumed their walking in the direction of the cafeteria. As they did so, Zach continued to have an absolutely slap happy grin on his face while Daniel continued to appear in a mixture of indifference and unease.

Zach soon chuckled. "I daresay today's been a good day so far."

Daniel smiled nervously. "You could say that," he stated.

Zach chuckled again, seemingly oblivious to Daniel's tone of voice. "I'll admit, I'm definitely having a good day today; doubly so considering some not entirely pleasant events that unfolded directly before I left school yesterday."

At this point, even though he managed to keep on walking alongside Zach, Daniel otherwise felt as if all time had stopped. Heart in his mouth, he eventually managed to ask, "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing too bad," Zach responded. He shook his head side to side. "Let's just say, I decided to try to move onto an eligible girl that I hadn't yet attempted, and for once I got turned down. It's not too bad though; I suppose, statistically speaking, this would have to happen at some point or other."

That was enough to get Daniel to stop walking. Zach walked ahead another couple feet before he noticed Daniel's pause, prompting him to come to a stop as well. The African American boy turned his head towards Daniel, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Um Daniel?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Daniel took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Best get it over with," he thought to himself. He lifted his head to face Zach. "This girl you're talking about," the Caucasian boy began. "Was it Susan Caraway by any chance?"

Zach's eyes widened, and he gaped at Daniel, utterly floored into silence by the unexpected question, as well as the equally unexpected fact that Daniel had guessed correctly on only the first try without having received any indication about any detail regarding the girl in question that he'd been describing. For what seemed like an eternity, Zach found himself struggling to think up a way to properly respond. Unfortunately, his long silence turned out to be enough of an answer for Daniel.

The quarterback facepalmed. "God in Heaven," he groaned. He lowered his hand and stared straight at the still stunned Zach. "What has gotten into you? Look man, getting turned down? I can totally understand that you'd be under the weather." He spread his hands and arms out to his sides as if in exasperation. "But seriously? Arranging for that undignified cult of yours to gang up on her and trying to force yourself upon her after school yesterday? And after Calvin had already made it crystal clear that Susan was off limits no less? What is wrong with you?"

Zach, however, completely missed out on the last two questions. He was already stunned and wide-eyed enough now by the reveal that Daniel was apparently aware of the exact nature of his stunt involving Susan the previous day. "How'd you know about that?!" he blurted out, only to then gulp and slap his hands over his mouth, belatedly realizing that his latest comment had just now confirmed Daniel's words.

Daniel's gray eyes narrowed upon hearing this. "Calvin and Susan told me and Diana about it this morning on the way to class." He folded his arms across his chest. "And before you start irrationally blaming my second in command, I'll have you know that I would have probably found out about this even if Calvin hadn't been the one to tell me. After all, I would have eventually learned it from Diana not too long after she'd heard the news from Susan herself."

Zach mentally winced, having completely forgotten the small detail of Susan and Diana being close gal pals. "Look man," he managed to say. "I know this looks bad. . ."

"Yeah no shit!" Daniel snarled, and shook his head side to side. "And don't even get me started on how you've been practically harassing Bailey on the phone, or those mean-spirited pranks you pulled on Cody and Raj yesterday, or on the abuse you subjected the sophomore gleeks to this morning."

Zach's eyes widened once more. "WHO TOLD YOU THAT!?" He promptly winced, closing his eyes and mentally facepalming once more. "Darn it," he thought to himself. "That's twice I've put my foot in my mouth now. What is with me today?"

Daniel snorted, and rolled his gray eyes irritably. "Never mind who told me about all that," he hissed. He pointed his finger at Zach accusingly. "The real problem here is that you even did all those things at all! Jesus Christ man! What is the matter with you!? I thought you were better than this!"

Zach mentally winced, and he extended his hands and arms forward in an effort to placate his clearly enraged best friend. "Daniel, listen to me," he began. "There's a perfectly logical explanation for all this."

"There's a world of difference between logical and acceptable," Daniel snarled spitefully, not at all missing out on the fact that Susan herself had said this very line to him word for word that very morning. He folded his arms across his chest once more, angry snarl still on his face. "And I don't care how mean I'm gonna sound right now, but your recent behavior against most of our peers in the glee club is quite simply not acceptable."

"I'm just trying to look out for you man," Zach responded.

"How the fudge does bullying our fellow glee clubbers and treating them like shit qualify as looking out for me?!" Daniel roared.

Zach mentally winced again as Daniel's latest comment to him made it clear how he wasn't buying the excuse he'd made up to cover his real intentions behind his current actions. "Daniel please," he stated, trying his best to stay calm. "I know it looks bad, but I'm serious. I am honest to God, trying my absolute best to look out for you and your best interests."

"Let me ask you this again," Daniel growled. "Or better yet, I'll rephrase it. In what universe, does looking out for my best interests entail harassing, bullying, or similarly antagonizing other students that we barely even know and haven't even given you any reason for you to believe that they could pose any danger to me or my, quote-on-quote, best interests?" He very deliberately air quoted 'best interests'. "And for that matter, how does attempting to look out for my best interests have anything to do with, let alone justify, attempting to rape someone?!"

"Daniel," said Zach, but with a now noticeably tight voice. "You're really starting to get overdramatic here. . ."

"The Hell I am!" Daniel shouted. "You're the one who's suddenly made a complete and utter U-turn in personality and started antagonizing all the other people in this club we're in that I want to befriend and running the risk of soiling mine and Diana's credibility and reputation amongst them as both leaders and friends! Not to mention, that one girl that you tried to force yourself upon yesterday is one of Diana's best friends! I mean for God's sake Zach! Are you trying to antagonize me and Diana?! We're supposed to be your friends!"

"We are friends!" Zach shouted, now clearly just as angry as Daniel. "Look man, I'll admit, maybe I was a little out of line going after Diana's best gal pal. But regardless, there's really no need for you to get all flustered over this!" He pointed his finger at Daniel. "Trust me, you and Diana will thank me for all this someday! I mean come on! You wouldn't want to end up associating with the wrong sort now, would you?!"

"Who are you to decide whether any of the other students in the glee club alongside us are the wrong sort?!" Daniel yelled. He pointed his own finger at Zach, seething with increasingly difficult to contain rage. "You don't know them!"

"And you do?!" Zach countered.

"A Hell of a lot better than you!" Daniel countered. "And unlike you, I'm at least trying to give them a chance and actually get to know them before making any important decisions or value judgments on them instead of just automatically assuming stuff about them based off superficial details or secondhand sources and dismissing them out of hand!"

"Well maybe I already know enough!" Zach shouted. "I mean come on! Sure I haven't hung out with them personally or gone to any of the effort you've apparently gone to recently. But the people I have hung out with have told me plenty about them; and trust me, their judgment and advice are perfectly trustworthy!"

"And who would those people be?" Daniel asked coldly. "The cheerios? Those assholes on the hockey team? The cowards in the baseball team? Or any of the other 'high caste' students?"

"What's it to you?" Zach spat. "You're already prejudiced enough about all of our peers on that level as it is."

Daniel snarled. "I've told you a million times, including yesterday." He took a deep breath, and exhaled angrily. "But spending large amounts of time directly around people, not to mention just relying strictly on what other people say about someone, doesn't automatically make you a 100% perfect judge of their character!"

Daniel leaned forward, fists clenched in rage. "It's like they always say Zach! You can't judge a book by its cover! You have to read the pages! And apart from Diana, I'm the only one amongst the three of us who's even bothering to look at the pages the other members of the glee club have to offer; let alone read them!"

Zach growled, now too angry at Daniel's continued rebuttals against him as well as how, deep down, he knew that Daniel was actually right, to even think want to continue this current branch of their argument. "Well even so, surely you can admit that there are other students around here, especially amongst our own caste, who'd make much better choices of friends then all those nobodies you're getting all twisted up over!"

"And what's wrong with befriending students who aren't in the same student hierarchy level as me? Huh? You don't know them! And not to mention," he lifted his finger to emphasize his point, "Diana's in the same level as all the gleeks you've just recently been bullying, and you've never given me any grief over that!"

"That's different," said Zach. "You've known her since long before this point." It took all of one second after saying this comment for Zach to realize the very unpleasant implications behind it.

Daniel was clearly aware of these implications as well, as his already angry look turned downright murderous. "So, you're saying that if Diana wasn't already my friend right now, you'd be bullying her and giving me grief over trying to befriend her to?!" Zach winced, mentally cursing himself for yet again digging himself deeper. Before he could respond, Daniel turned his head and raised his right hand towards Zach in a very dismissive looking gesture. "You know what? Don't answer that. I don't even want to know."

"Well never mind that," Zach snapped. "My point still stands! There's God knows how many other students around here, especially in your own social class, who'd be so such better choices of people for you to befriend right now! God knows how long you've kept blowing off your chances with them!"

Daniel narrowed his eyes, his gray eyes burning hatefully. "You know who you're starting to sound like?" he hissed. "Charlotte. That's who."

"Well maybe Charlotte has a point!" Zach shouted.

"Maybe Charlotte," Daniel damn near growled, "isn't the 100% perfect, do-no-wrong, goddess you seem to think she is!" He pointed his finger at Zach once more. "And maybe, just maybe, all those assholes amongst the jocks and cheerios who aren't on the basketball team aren't the ideal better choices of friends for me that you seem so Hellbent on blinding yourself into believing they are!"

"And who are you to say all that about them!?" Zach yelled. "You don't know them!"

"Oh, you couldn't be more wrong," Daniel hissed. "I may not hang out in their company to the degree that you do. But unlike you, I actually pay attention to how they behave and what they say. And through all that, I know enough about them to be more than capable of accurately judging their character. And thanks to that, I know, for a fact, that they are exactly as untrustworthy as I say they are." He leaned forward threateningly, gray eyes still burning with rage. "How many times do I have to say this to you Zach? I've known this and been telling you about it since middle school. Since elementary school even!" He pointed his finger at Zach. "And you'd have noticed it to and been just as aware of it as me if you weren't so busy always ogling and spacing out over every attractive single girl that moves to the point that you're always treating their backsides like your own personal television, making mental scrapbooks out of their breasts, and daydreaming about how they might look when they're naked or how satisfactory they'd be as bedding partners!"

If Zach had been angry before, he was downright livid now. "Making this personal, are we?" he hissed.

"You already made this personal by taking those potshots at Diana not too long ago!" Daniel barked.

Zach narrowed his eyes, and then proceeded to lean towards and point his finger at Daniel. "Well you need to calm the heck down!" He gestured towards thin air with his left hand. "Because as ungrateful as you're currently acting, that doesn't change the fact that I at least seem to care about your best interests enough to look out for them and you!"

"And that's another problem!" Daniel snapped at the top of his lungs. "Contrary to your belief, there's an actual difference between looking out for someone's best interests and being selfish. And right now, what you're doing is being selfish! And that's not even taking into account the fact that you're going so far as to risk breaking your own moral code when it comes to Susan, who I'll remind you again, is Diana's best gal pal!"

"You're being overemotional," Zach growled.

"NO!" Daniel roared. "You're being selfish!"

"What's so selfish about looking out for my best friend's best interests!?" Zach snarled.

"Going at it strongly enough to treat me like a child and risk ruining my own life in favor of your own damn happiness, that's what!" Daniel howled. He lifted his hands and arms in the air to emphasize his point, as well as showcase how exasperated he was now getting. "Maybe I don't need you hovering over me and trying to forcibly take control of my life 24/7! This isn't freaking preschool Zach! I'm not a baby! I'm not a toy that needs to be always handled delicately for fear of breaking! I'm not some stupid puppet made of yarn or wood that you can stick your hand up the ass of or force to dance around while you pull the strings! I'm not some robot that runs on batteries that are in constant need of changing! I'm not some mindless ant that's physically and utterly dominated by your will!"

Daniel pointed his right finger at himself, his face now seemingly frozen in a silent snarl of fury. "I AM A PERSON ZACH! I AM 16-YEARS OLD! I AM IN MY JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL! I AM MADE OF FLESH AND BLOOD! I HAVE A BEATING AND PUMPING HEART INSIDE ME THAT'S KEEPING ME ALIVE! I HAVE A MIND OF MY OWN! AND I CAN MAKE MY OWN DAMN DECISIONS ABOUT HOW I LIVE MY OWN FREAKING LIFE!"

He pointed his finger at Zach. "AND I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH GRIEF YOU GIVE ME OVER IT OR HOW MUCH YOU BULLY THEM ALL, BUT I AM GOING TO BEFRIEND ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS CURRENTLY IN THE GLEE CLUB ALONGSIDE ME APART FROM CHARLOTTE, AS WELL AS ANYONE ELSE I DAMN WELL WANT! I AM GOING TO LIVE MY LIFE THE WAY I WANT TO! BECAUSE GUESS WHAT ZACH, I AM PERFECTLY FINE AND HAPPY WITH ALL MY LIFE CHOICES SO FAR! AND NOT ONLY ME EITHER! MY PARENTS ARE FINE WITH THEM! DIANA IS FINE WITH THEM! ALL THE OTHER GLEE CLUB MEMBERS THAT YOU'RE SO INTENT ON BULLYING ARE FINE WITH THEM! COACH BIESTE IS FINE WITH THEM! YOUR BUDDIES ON THE BASKETBALL TEAM ARE FINE WITH THEM! MY ENTIRE FAMILY IS FINE WITH THEM! AND THE ONLY PEOPLE I KNOW THE NAMES OF WHO AREN'T FINE WITH THEM THAT I GIVE ENOUGH OF A DAMN ABOUT TO EVEN MENTION RIGHT NOW ARE CHARLOTTE AND, APPARENTLY, YOU!"

Zach gaped at Daniel, wide eyed, open mouthed, and likewise in shock. He was that strongly affected by how utterly slammed he'd just now been by Daniel's tirade. For what seemed like an eternity, Zach continued to remain speechless with shock as Daniel heavily breathed in and out, snarling in lingering rage and glaring hatefully at his supposed best friend. Eventually, the gray eyed boy snorted, and shook his head side to side, still glaring hatefully at the supposed friend who'd now given him so much grief. He sighed irritably. "I am done with this." He turned around to face the direction leading towards the cafeteria and started stomping off down that way once more, just as he'd been heading before his talk with Zach had begun.

At that moment, Zach finally snapped out of his blue screen of shock. "Daniel wait," he began.

"I already told you," Daniel hissed. "I'm done with this."

"Daniel, come on," said Zach.

"Just leave me alone!" Daniel shouted, now practically sprinting as he continued to angrily storm away.

Long after Daniel stormed out of his sight and hearing range, Zach remained standing where he was. He gulped, now no longer feeling angry, but instead now feeling guilty. He hung his head. "Have I gone too far?" he thought to himself. "Is my current effort at winning Charlotte over alienating the friends I already have? Could success at winning Charlotte's heart in this fashion come at the cost of Daniel's friendship with me?"

For what seemed like an eternity, Zach thought to himself. Then he shook his head side to side, an uncertain look still on his face, and he then spoke that sounded far more as if he were trying to convince himself of what he was saying then of him truly believing what he was saying. "No," he said with clear uncertainty. "I could never go that far. Never. Daniel's my friend. He'll always be my friend. He'll definitely forgive me after I'm finished and I've dropped my façade and reverted back to my real personality in full. And so, will Diana. And all those other gleeks will give me a chance with Daniel and Diana. Everything will be fine. I could never cross a line sufficiently enough to truly ruin my friendship with Daniel and Diana or any of those other people in glee club I haven't even truly befriended yet. Right?" With this shaky decision made, Zach slowly resumed his trip through the halls to reach the cafeteria. But even as he continued to walk, he still couldn't get his current uncertainty off his mind. For as much as he wanted to believe that his friendship with Daniel and Diana was strong enough to survive his current attempts at winning over Charlotte, he just could not shake off that one tiny voice in his mind that was very glaringly refusing to let him forget the now very chilling and real possibility of him being wrong about this assumption; and of what sort of cost would come to him from successfully winning Charlotte over in the way he was currently attempting.

. . . . .

A little while later, during lunch at the cafeteria, Zach still couldn't fully get these unpleasant thoughts off his mind. It had now quite frankly only been by a miracle that he'd successfully eaten his lunch. Even now, all the other basketball players, plus all the other jocks and cheerleaders seated at the de facto cluster of tables for the 'high caste' students were busy eating, chatting, and likewise acting like they were in a good mood, Zach himself was very noticeably silent and seemingly numb.

At the same time, though, Zach also couldn't help but pay attention to what was going on at a small cluster of tables a good yard or so away from the 'high caste' group. At this cluster of tables, Zach saw none other than Daniel, Diana, and the nine glee club members that he hadn't yet bothered to put too much effort in getting to know just yet, plus Hobbes, gathered around together. And from what he could see alone, he could tell that they were all happy and having a good time.

What Zach didn't know was that Charlotte was watching this particular cluster of tables as well. Unlike Zach, however, she had all her focus placed on Daniel and every single one of his interactions with Diana. The latter object of focus was now responsible for a very angry looking glare that was now firmly stuck upon her face.

Naturally, out of the two of them, Zach was the only one who was paying enough attention to hear what Daniel and his 10 table mates were saying, and what he was hearing was not making him feel any better.

. . . . .

Daniel, by contrast, was now in a very good mood. Granted, his current misgivings about Zach and the tense argument that had unfolded not too long ago were still on his mind. But even so, Daniel felt very happy now to be hanging around and chatting with Diana and his 11 fellow glee club members that he hoped very much to befriend. The other glee club members, likewise, seemed happy and getting along well in his company. Out of all of them, however, Diana, Calvin, and Susan were by far the happiest.

Diana unconsciously placed her arm over Daniel's shoulders, sighing in content. "It sure is nice to have a change of scenery for lunch, isn't it?" she asked innocently when her friend turned his head in response to the contact upon his shoulders.

Daniel smiled, and nodded his head. He could remember how he'd typically chosen to reluctantly sit at the cluster of tables where the jocks and cheerios sat, albeit, amongst the basketball players instead of any of the cheerios or football players, for virtually every school day before this one. He had to admit, he certainly had become considerably more confident in his own ability and less ashamed to be different from the other jocks within a mere two days of joining the glee club. "It sure is," he then responded, proceeding to unconsciously start stroking his fingers through Diana's hair. Diana smiled, closed her eyes, laid her head down on Daniel's shoulder, and hummed contentedly in a way that would have almost certainly been a happy purring if she'd been a cat.

At this moment, Calvin and Susan, having managed to catch sight of the unconscious behaviors Diana and Daniel had performed towards each other and heard Diana's humming that sounded almost like purring, looked each other in the eyes, the exact same blank look of disbelief in their eyes that silently said, 'How the Hell do they not see that they both dig each other?'. Bailey, Cody, Raj, and the four sophomore gleeks, likewise shook their heads with similarly disbelieving looks on their faces as to how Daniel and Diana were acting so clearly romantic towards each other while still being completely oblivious to the fact that they were both so clearly showing signs of affection towards each other. Even Naomi, as blind as she was, could sense the attraction. In fact, even Hobbes, could sense the matter, and had a canine equivalent of similar disbelief on his own face as he shook his head side to side from his position on the floor to the right of his master's chair.

Daniel looked over at the other gleeks. "So, how has everything been going today? Has Zach bothered any of you again today?"

The other gleeks all snapped out of their bemusement over Diana and Daniel's current dynamic, and they thought carefully about what had happened at school that day between the recess glee club session and lunch. "To tell you the truth," said Bailey. "I don't think he's bothered any of us anymore today." She drew out her phone and looked it over. "He hasn't even sent me any more of those asinine texts since the last time he did it this morning."

"That's certainly good news," said Cody.

"No kidding," Raj agreed. At that point, both Asian Americans were too relieved about both Zach's apparent cessation of his annoying behavior towards Bailey and his abstaining from annoying them any further today then he had the previous day to care about how they had yet again been in a rare moment of agreement.

The four sophomore gleeks, meanwhile, certainly weren't about to make any effort to complain about this moment of peace between the two feuding Asian Americans. "All good on our end," said Dunlap. He placed his left arm comfortingly over Naomi's shoulders, the ginger haired girl smiling at the contact and clasping her own left hand around Dunlap's hand that was now dangling near her left shoulder; but not without maintaining an extremely tight grip on her cane from her right hand.

"Same here," Darren agreed. He looked over at Amber, his face silently asking out of concern to be sure. "At least I think so anyway . . ."

Amber placed her hand on the ginger haired boy's shoulder, her black eyes warm with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," she said. "I appreciate the sentiment and care Darren; I really do. But really, I'm ok now."

"You sure?"

Amber sighed patiently. "Yes Darren. I'm sure."

"If you say so."

"For those of you who were wondering," Calvin broke in, keen now on directing attention away from Amber's state of mind and preventing her from getting overly annoyed, "things have been good on mine, Susan, and Hobbes's end as well where Jerkanova's concerned." Hobbes let out a low snarl, and nodded his head up and down in apparent agreement.

Susan nodded her own head, and lifted her left fist with a firm expression on her face. "And thank God for that to."

The other gleeks all nodded their heads in agreement, Daniel and Diana almost reluctantly so. Then Diana's eyes widened as she seemingly had an important thought.

"You know," she said, "Now that we're all sitting here, I can't help but wonder if there's ever been a New Directions membership roster that has ever spent an entire year together always sitting at any one cluster of tables."

Daniel and the other gleeks all thought to themselves, silently noting that Diana had brought up a valid point. Even Hobbes appeared to become deep in thought on the matter. Now that they thought about it, they weren't entirely all that certain themselves if there in fact ever had been a case in which every gleek of any generation or roster from previous years had always sat together at an unspoken cluster of tables for every single school day of a McKinley High school term in which they'd been affiliated with the club. Try as they might, they could not think of any prior generation to have done so. "Honestly," Daniel eventually managed to say. "I'm not sure if even Mr. Schue would have any idea." The other gleeks all slowly nodded in agreement.

"Well," said Calvin. "I suppose there's always a first time for everything." He leaned backward, placing his hands together behind his head in the process. "I certainly don't see any harm in trying to get ourselves all at the point that we're all sitting together by default at an unspoken 'New Directions Table Cluster' over the course of our membership in the glee club." His eyes then narrowed. "Admittedly though," he growled, "I'd very much like for this to be a gradual process. And I do mean gradual." Immediately as he said that last sentence, he directed a pointed glare out of the corner of his eye towards the area of the 'jocks and cheerios cluster' where Charlotte was seated.

The other gleeks present alongside Calvin all looked towards Charlotte as well. And in that moment, they all silently agreed with Calvin that it would be best to let Diana's suggestion come to fruition at a gradual pace where the head cheerio was concerned.

"I certainly don't see any problem with that," said Diana.

"I hear you sister," said Bailey. "The longer it takes before she shares valuable breathing space with us at our cluster of tables, the better."

"You can say that again Bailey," Cody agreed. He nodded his head. "And I'm not ashamed to say that this is a matter I'd be perfectly happy to agree with Raj about. After all, two people with a common goal may be able to accomplish a lot."

"Indeed," said Raj. He lifted his finger to emphasize the point in his next comment. "But two people with a common enemy can accomplish so much more."

"You got that right," said Darren.

"Amen," said all the other gleeks present at the cluster in unison.

At that moment, the relative silence in the air was broken by the sound of two cellphones going off in a way that indicated a text message. The phones in question turned out to belong to Calvin and Susan, who drew out their phones. They looked at the notifications that had shown up, and narrowed their eyes in unison.

"Seriously?" Calvin hissed. "You waited till now to tell me about this?"

"For the love of God," Susan grumbled. She placed her phone next to her empty lunch plate, leaned her head back, and groaned. "Seriously mom?"

"What happened?" Diana asked, clearly concerned.

Susan groaned, straightened herself back up in her seat, and shook her head side to side. "According to this text I just got, my mom got caught up in something at work, and neither she nor my dad will be able to pick me up from school today at the usual time."

"Same with me," said Calvin, lifting his phone for good measure.

The four sophomores winced, and shook their heads side to side. "That's gotta suck," said Dunlap.

"Yeah, well, it could be worse," Calvin grumbled. He placed his phone down on the table. "As it stands, they're still planning to pick us up from school today. They'll just be later than usual now; that's all." He glared down at the phone and the offending text message. "Right now, my mom's just letting me know about the unexpected development and asking if it's alright for me to wait a little while longer after school before she arrives to take me and Hobbes home."

"Same basic principle on my end," said Susan. She rolled her eyes. "This would have been handy to know earlier."

"Well I'm sure it won't be that bad," said Diana, trying her best to avoid allowing things to become needlessly depressing or dramatic at the current moment. "Surely you've got something available to keep you busy or entertained while you're waiting?"

"Well yeah," said Calvin. "But it would be easier to do my homework and whatnot at a place where I have a table that I can properly spread my stuff out on and a chair to sit on." He gestured at his phone. "And according to my mom's text, the absolute latest time she could arrive to pick me up at this point will be at least a half hour or so past the time that the library and most of the other facilities at this school are closed."

"My mom shouldn't take as long as yours," said Susan. "At least not according to her message anyway." She reached for her phone. "I could ask her if it would be ok for you and Hobbes to tag along in the car with her and I when she picks me up. I'm sure she wouldn't mind, and I'm sure I could help you out in staying busy and entertained while we're waiting. . ."

"That may not be necessary either," said Daniel.

The other gleeks all looked over at Daniel. Diana, Calvin, and Susan seemed to be directing particularly intent looks at him. "What do you mean?" asked Calvin. Hobbes gave out a low whimper of apparent confusion and curiosity as well.

Daniel smiled as he continued to act as if he were typing something on his phone. "Just give me a minute or two to finalize things."

"What are you doing?" Susan asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Just a minute," Daniel said in an effort to reassure Susan. "My mom should reply soon. . . yes."

"What's going on?" Diana asked.

Daniel lifted his phone in an apparent act of triumph, smiling proudly in the direction of his and Diana's seconds in command. "Well guys," he stated, "I just got you a ride home."

Calvin and Hobbes raised their eyebrows. "And how might you have managed that?" the autistic boy asked.

"Simple." Daniel typed one last message and sent it in response to his mom's latest text, and then turned his phone off and slipped it back into his pants pocket. "Quick question Susan, has Diana ever told you anything about the system her mom and mine use for dropping us off at school and picking us up?"

Susan nodded her head. "Yes," she confirmed. "You are dropped off individually, but her mom and yours take turns in carpooling you two home after school. And if I remember correctly, Diana's mom does the carpooling on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while yours does the carpooling on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Calvin raised his eyebrow again, clearly still confused. "What does this have to do with . . .?"

"As of now," said Daniel, "I've just finished talking with my mom, and she'll be more than happy to let you, Susan, and Hobbes tag along with us in our carpool ride home."

The other gleeks were left stunned speechless for a solid three minutes. "I . . . I don't know what to say," said Susan.

"No kidding," said Calvin. He managed to look over at Daniel. "Thanks . . . I guess."

"No problem," said Daniel. "I mean hey, you're my friends now. Kind acts like this? That's what friends do."

"Ain't that the truth?" Diana asked, giving Daniel a playful light punch on the shoulder. Daniel chuckled and playfully swiped his hand back and forth towards Diana as if pretending to shoo her away, much to his now giggling friend's delight.

Susan now couldn't help but chuckle at the display. "Get a room you two."

Daniel and Diana promptly flushed from the embarrassment. "It's not like that!" they hissed in unison.

"You really didn't have to do this you know."

The other gleeks all looked at Calvin in confusion. "The ride business, I mean."

Susan slumped, a bemused 'really?' look on her face as she realized that Calvin still had his mind locked in on the previous topic of discussion and had completely missed out on the recent byplay between Diana and Daniel as a result.

Daniel, unabashed by this detail, chuckled, and nodded his head up and down. "I know." He smiled. "I'm just nice like that."

Calvin thought to himself, and then let a small smile come to his face as he remembered the similarly kind deed that Daniel had done for him earlier that very morning during the encounter with Miles and John. "True enough."

Daniel chuckled, and leaned back in the same relaxing fashion that Calvin had done not too long before the whole business with the phones and ride dilemma had unfolded. "Yep, still a pretty good day today."

"I suppose that's true," said Calvin. He picked up his phone. "And that being said, I'd best let my mom know that I've managed to get a ride home for the usual time."

"Me to," said Susan as she picked up her own phone to do the same. Daniel and seven of the other gleeks at the table chuckled in response to this.

Diana, meanwhile, now had something else on her mind. "How much time till lunch period ends?" she asked once the chuckling had ended and Calvin and Susan had sent their newest texts to their mothers.

The other gleeks all paused and thought to themselves. "Um . . .," Naomi managed to say. "I think about 15 minutes? Maybe 20?"

Diana thought to herself, and then nodded her head. "In that case," she then said before lifting her head to face all 10 of her peers present at the newly christened 'New Directions Table Cluster', a stern and focused look now on her face. "I do believe we have a small mini assignment to take care of for Mr. Schuester right now."

For a brief moment, the other gleeks were confused. Then, as one, their eyes all widened in varying degrees of shock, comprehension, and nerves as they all remembered exactly what it was that Diana was talking about.

"Oh yeah, that," said Daniel. He looked over at all the other gleeks apart from Diana. They all looked at him. Then Daniel looked over at Diana. "Now?" he asked.

Diana nodded her head up and down with her eyes closed. She opened them back up. "Now," she confirmed.

Daniel thought to himself, gulped, and then looked over at the other gleeks. They all thought to themselves. Then, one by one, they all slowly gulped, sucked it up, and nodded their heads up and down as well, clearly ready. All of them, that is, except for one person. "Do we really have to?" Calvin asked, still clearly nervous about the upcoming prospect of taking part in a live performance by the glee club in the cafeteria of all places. Hobbes, as a result of his instincts telling him of his master's current unnerved state, likewise now appeared uncertain.

Diana narrowed her eyes, now seeming to start to slightly lose patience. Susan placed her hand on Calvin's shoulder before Diana could run further risk of getting angry. "Calvin," the tanned skinned brunette said in a clear tone of sympathy. "I know it's rather early in the game for you to be comfortable enough yet to perform in any environment that isn't traditionally built or fitting with custom for performing." She gestured towards the other 9 gleeks sitting with her, Calvin, and Hobbes. "But this? This is an important task for us all that Mr. Schuester needs us to do. And you don't want to let him down; do you?"

Calvin thought to himself. "Well no . . ." he began tentatively.

"And furthermore," Susan began, clearly meaning to take full advantage of her newfound position of being in the lead for the discussion. "You've performed in front of a large audience before without anything all that bad happening to anyone."

"That was different," said Calvin. "That was at a talent show. Which, I might add, is an environment deliberately built to be performance friendly." He gestured with his hand to indicate the entire cafeteria. "This is a cafeteria; not the standard place for a musical performance. And furthermore," he indicated all the other students in the area not affiliated with the glee club. "This audience? Nowhere near as guaranteed to be safe in how they treat performers. In this environment, it's perfectly fair game for them to throw food at us. And I may not have ever been personally involved in a food fight before, but I know enough about them from what I've seen and heard of them to know that all that needs to happen is for one student here to start throwing food, and the entire cafeteria's worth of students will have this place reduced to a complete and utter madhouse in seconds, with us smack dab in the thick of it."

"No one becomes a star by playing it safe," said Diana.

Calvin directed a narrow-eyed glare at Diana, only for Susan to quickly sooth him once more with a reinforcing of her grip on his shoulder. The autistic boy looked back at Susan.

"Calvin, please listen," the tanned skinned brunette began. "I understand that there's risks involved. But be honest Calvin, life is full of risks. It's the natural way of the world. Sad but true."

Calvin hung his head, grumbling slightly. "Yeah; that is true."

Susan nodded her own head in understanding. "And I know you're scared. Really, many people would be scared in this situation, or any similar ones to be honest." She gestured towards the entire cafeteria around them all. "But sometimes, the best solution to a problem is to just go on ahead and get it over with; that way, you'll both stop worrying about it and nullify any chances of it having time to potentially any more nerve-wracking or similarly worse off than it already is." She placed her other hand on top of the one already on Calvin's shoulder. "Trust me Calvin; don't you think it would be much better for you to get it over with right now then to risk allowing things to get worse? She gestured towards the other 9 gleeks sitting at the same table cluster as them. "Besides," she then said. "I'll be right there performing alongside you the entire time, and so will the rest of us who are sitting here at this table cluster, and possibly Hobbes." She spread her hands and arms sideways as if shrugging. "Who knows? Maybe if we're lucky, Captain Douche and Queen Whore will join in with us by some impossible miracle."

The other 9 gleeks at the table cluster promptly found themselves chuckling at the sound of this last sentence, with Hobbes quietly emitting his distinctive gurgling snorts. Even Calvin couldn't help but let a small smile reach his face alongside a slight chuckle of his own. "Well ok," he then said. "If you say so." He nodded his head with his eyes closed. Then he opened his eyes again to reveal a stern look now present. "But I'm telling you all right now," he began, "that if this heads south. . ." Calvin paused, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Don't blame me for whatever shit storm ends up befalling us in the aftermath of what I was willing to take the opportunity to avoid."

. . . . .

About four minutes later, all 9 of the gleeks in the group, plus Hobbes, were ready. Naturally, Diana had already decided upon a song based upon information she'd managed to learn about where the season's Nationals Championship would be occurring. The other gleeks had all agreed to it within mere seconds after learning exactly which song it was. For Calvin's sake, Diana had also decided that it would be best for them to just up and start singing without announcing their intent to sing or similarly calling attention to themselves before they'd begun their performance. And as it would turn out, even Zach and Charlotte ended up unexpectedly (though quite reluctantly in Charlotte's case) getting up from their seats and discreetly moving along to join up with their 11 peers in the club in time to take part in the performance as well. With the preparations out of the way, the group needed only to wait a further ten seconds for Calvin to take two deep breaths. Once that was taken care of, the relative silence was emphatically broken as the gleeks proceeded to begin their performance with a resounding call of the appropriate beginning vocalizations. The resulting performance that unfolded complete with all the gleeks involved moving about and vocalizing as needed and seen fit, went something like this:

(Calvin:)
Yeah
Yeah, I'm up at Brooklyn
Now I'm down in Tribeca
Right next to DeNiro
But I'll be hood forever
I'm the new Sinatra
And since I made it here
I can make it anywhere
Yeah, they love me everywhere
(Daniel:)
I used to cop in Harlem
All of my Dominicanos
Right there up on Broadway
Brought me back to that McDonald's
Took it to my stash box
Five-Sixty state-street
Catch me in the kitchen
Like a Simmons with them pastries
(Zach:)
Cruising down 8th street
Off white Lexus
Driving so slow but BK is from Texas
Me, I'm up at Bed-Stuy
Home of that boy Biggie
Now I live on Billboard
And I brought my boys with me
Say what up to TyTy
Still sipping Mai Tai's
Sitting courtside
Knicks and Nets give me high fives
Jigga, I be spiked out (New Directions Girls: Come on)
I can trip a referee (New Directions Girls: Come on)
Tell by my attitude (New Directions Girls: Come on)
That I most definitely from
(Charlotte with New Directions (Zach):)
In New York (From, hey, aha)
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of (Yeah)
There's nothing you can't do (Yeah)
Now you're in New York (Diana: You're in New York) (Aha, aha, aha)
These streets will make (with Diana: you feel brand new) (New)
Big lights will (with Diana: inspire you) (Come on)
Let's hear it for New York (You're welcome, old G)
New York
New York (I made you high, jigga)
(Daniel (Susan):)
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game (Oh, ooh-wooh)
Dude I made a Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can
You should know I bleed Blue, but I ain't a crip, tho (Oh-ooh-woah)
But I got a gang of brothers walking with my clique though
Welcome to the Melting Pot (Whoa-ooh)
Corners where we selling rocks
Africa bambaataa, home of the hip hop
Yellow cap, gypsy cap, dollar cab, holla back for foreigners
It ain't for they act like they forgot how to act
(Zach (Susan):)
Eight million stories out there in it naked (Oh-wooh, woah)
The city is a pity, half o' y'all won't make it
Me, I got a plug Special Ed, "I Got It Made" (Woah-ooh-ooh)
If Jesus payin' LeBron I'm payin' Dwayne Wade
Three-dice Cee-Lo (Whoa, ooh-ooh)
Three-card Marley
Labor Day Parade
Rest in peace, Bob Marley
Statue of Liberty (Whoa) (New Directions: Come on)
Long live the World trade (New Directions: Come on, yeah-eah)
Long live the kingdom (New Directions: Come on, yeah-eah)
I'm from the empire state from
(Charlotte with New Directions (Zach):)
New York (Diana: New York) (Hey)
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothing you can't do (That won't do) (Susan: You can't do, oh)
Now you're in New York (Diana: You're in New York) (Welcome to the bright lights, baby)
These streets will make (with Diana: you feel brand new) (Susan: Brand new, baby)
Big lights will (with Diana: inspire you)
Let's hear it for New York (Susan: Oh)
New York
New York (Diana: Yeah, hey)
(Calvin (Susan):)
Lights is blinding (Oh-ooh, wooh)
Girls need blinders
So they can step out of bounds quick
The side lines is (Oh-ooh, woah)
Lined with casualties
Who sipping life casually
Then gradually become worse
Don't bite the apple Eve (Uuh, ooh)
Caught up in the in crowd
Now your in-style
End in the winter gets cold
En Vogue with your skin out (Whoa, hoo)
The city of sin is a pity on a whim
Good girls gone bad
The city's filled with them (Ooh, woah)
(Daniel (Susan):)
Mommy took a bus trip
Now she got her bust out
Everybody ride her
Just like a bus route (Ooh-oh, oh)
Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin
And Jesus can't save you
Life starts when the church end (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Came here for school
Graduated to the high life
Ball players, rap stars
Addicted to the limelight (Oh, whoa)
Dub MHS got you feeling like a champion (New Directions: Come on, yeah-eah) (Oh, woah)
The city never sleeps (New Directions: Come on)
Better slip you an Ambien (New Directions: Yeah-eah)
(Charlotte with New Directions (New Directions):)
In (with Diana: New York) (Daniel: In, uh-huh)
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of (Diana: Hey, yeah)
There's nothing (with Susan: you can't do) (You can't do)
Now you're in New York (Diana: You're in New York) (Susan: Yeah, yeah, eh)
These streets will make (with Diana: you feel brand new) (Susan: New) (You feel brand new)
Big lights will (with Susan and Diana: inspire you) (Inspire you)
Let's hear it for New York
New York (Susan: New York)
New York (Diana: Yeah, hey)
(Susan with New Directions Girls:)
One hand in the air for the big city
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty
No place in the world that could compare
Put your lighters in the air
(Daniel and Susan with New Directions:)
Everybody say yeah, yeah (New Directions Girls: Come on, come on)
Yeah, yeah (New Directions Girls: Come on)
(Charlotte with New Directions (New Directions):)
In (with Susan: New York) (Hobbes: Aroo!) (New York)
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of (Hobbes: Aroo!) (Susan: Jungle, yeah, yeah)
There's nothing you can't do (Hobbes: Aroo!) (You can't do)
Now you're in New York (Susan: New York, New York) (New York) (Hobbes: Aroo!)
These streets will make you feel brand new (Hobbes: Aroo!) (Susan: Brand new) (Brand new)
Big lights will (with Susan: inspire you) (Hobbes: Aroo!) (Inspire you)
Let's hear it for New York (Susan: New York) (Hobbes: Aroo!)
New York (Susan: New York) (Hobbes: Aroo!)
New York (Susan: New York) (Hobbes: Aroo!)

(Susan: Oh-ho-oh whoa oh)

Immediately after Susan sang that last string of 'ohs', all 13 of the gleeks slowly came to a stop while emitting the final series of vocalizations designed to wind down and bring the performance to a close. Coincidentally, all 13 of the gleeks, plus Hobbes, found themselves positioned together in one large group in the dead center of the cafeteria. In the silence that ensued for what seemed like an eternity afterward, 12 of the gleeks seemed to be anticipating a potential positive response from the audience, and even had the appropriate facial expressions to convey such a hope. Calvin, however, who had spent almost the entire performance walking in the style of a t-rex was now both straightened up and slightly cringing with a nervous expression as if tensing himself up for a more negative response from the audience. Hobbes, thanks to the conflicting signals from his master and everyone else in the club, seemed uncertain of how to act and stood still in confusion.

As it would soon turn out, Calvin had been very wise to take the course of action that he'd chosen. For after the silence had gone on long enough, one random female student walked up towards the group, came to a stop right in front of Diana (who just happened to be in the very front and center of the group alongside Daniel), and proceeded to splatter her plate of spaghetti on Diana's shirt.

For another apparent eternity following this, every student in the cafeteria, gleek and otherwise, stared at Diana and the girl that had just now splattered her with spaghetti. Most of the students appeared stunned. The two notable exceptions were Charlotte (who was smirking) and Calvin (who was wincing). Hobbes, meanwhile, was now directing his confused look directly towards his master with a facial expression that clearly was his way of saying 'what do I do?'.

As Raj would have been happy to attest in less relatively perilous circumstances, the last food fight to occur at William McKinley High School before this day had happened three years ago, when Raj had been a freshman and the only current gleek amongst the school's student body. Thus, just as Calvin and Susan had been lucky enough to never be involved in a food fight in any way before now, Hobbes himself had never been involved in a food fight either. And because of his and Calvin's mutual lack of direct exposure to a food fight, Hobbes had never had the chance to learn how to react in the event of a food fight. Thus, Calvin, Hobbes, Susan, and the other gleeks now had no choice but to endure the upcoming food fight without being spared through a timely reaction from Hobbes.

Sure enough, just as Calvin had begun to suspect, all the other students who weren't amongst the 13 gleeks gathered in the center of the cafeteria gradually began to smile and smirk as they all came to a unified decision on what to do in response to that one girl's spiteful move. As one, they all started to prepare themselves for tossing food and similar behaviors. At that moment, while 11 of the gleeks proceeded to turn quite horrified and surprised, Charlotte's smirk became an outraged glare, and Hobbes directed a considerably more nervous and uncertain look towards Calvin then he had before, Calvin nodded his head and sighed resignedly; for he knew what was about to happen next. "Here we go."

In that instant, the autistic boy had just enough time to grimace with his eyes closed, pull the hood of his hoodie over his head, and bend his now hooded head downwards slightly as if to lessen the incoming impact before one of the freshmen students, a young ginger haired boy named Jeremy Ben-Israel stood up to his full height on the 'table bench' he'd been sitting on and yelled "Food fight!" And all of one second later, the entire cafeteria erupted into chaos as literally every single one of the students not affiliated with the glee club, out of spite or from being carried away in the heat of the moment, proceeded to start throwing their food helter skelter in every which way they could, with a sizable amount of it proceeding to splatter on the 13 gleeks and the now very bewildered German shepherd that would have otherwise never been so willingly antagonized. And in that instant, none of the gleeks cared about how long their performance had lasted or how much time was left for the lunch period. All they wanted now was for the current unpleasant situation they were in to end as swiftly as possible.

And just like that, another chapter complete! :) BOY I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, found it well worth the long wait, and leave plenty of feedback. As long as I receive an exact minimum of 2 reviews by the time the next chapter is ready (however long that may take, though I do hope very much that it won't take too long, especially compared to this one), then the next chapter can be posted immediately upon completion, no trouble at all ^_^. Once again, hope you all enjoyed!

Song Used:

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Performed by the New Directions

Coming up next: The after school session of glee club is now in order. The gleeks themselves, however, are not happy. And after what just happened in the cafeteria, can you really blame them? Can a round of singing and work to fulfill the week's assignment get everyone back in good spirits? Find out next time! ^_^