Hey ya'll! Miss me? Once again, I apologize for taking so long. In all seriousness, I had actually hoped to have this new chapter posted no later than June 12 this very year/month. But unfortunately, things got too busy that day for me to do the finishing touches I needed. And then I ended up on vacation in Cambodia and Vietnam under circumstances where I had neither the time nor resources to do any fanfiction-based work. Got home from that vacation this past Sunday, but have only NOW finally gotten this chapter done! Oh well, such is life; always throwing curve balls every now and then. That being said though, here's me hoping that you enjoy this chapter and find it worth the long wait. What's happening in this chapter, you might ask? Well for one, it's one Charlotte Thornton's 16th birthday, and she's in a quite appropriately happy mood. And she certainly ain't planning on letting anything or anyone, including a chance morning encounter with one Zach Skinner, ruin her special day. And with all that said and done, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy! ^_^
A/N: I shall remind ya'll once more; I do not own Glee. And I do not own the song used in this chapter either. All I own are my OCs. That being said, onward with the fic people!
Chapter 15:
Birthday
Charlotte Thornton was feeling quite happy and optimistic that Thursday morning on August 28, 2035. Sure, she was still miles away from making any progress in her efforts at her desired goals, was still stuck in the glee club with her rival and a large number of other of her considered social inferiors, and her original plan from earlier that week was now hardly likely to go anywhere. Not to mention the fact that, as she'd been informed by Silena and Ashley the previous day through text, Daniel had only continued to make progress in befriending and bonding with the other boys in the glee club by leaps and bounds, which could logically mean that it wouldn't be long at all before he managed to likewise befriend all of the other girls in the club as well. Yet despite all that, she still felt quite happy this morning and confident that today would be a great day for her. Why? The answer was simple. Today was her birthday. As of today, she was officially 16-years old. And while her official celebration of the fact would have to wait until the weekend, she was still quite keen to make the most out of her officially turning 16 that day to make it feel just as much of a celebration as the actual celebration she would have with her family that weekend.
She smiled as she calmly walked through the surprisingly empty hallways of McKinley High. She had to admit, sometimes she felt almost entirely at peace in moments where she could truly have peace and quiet. After all, in moments like that, it was considerably easier for her to have time to think and reflect. And much to her surprise, at least in this moment, she actually did have a lot to be happy about despite the more negative elements that were currently stacked against her.
For starters, there was her family to consider. Her mother absolutely loved her, of that there was no doubt; and Charlotte loved her mother very much. And despite how irritating she found it that her father was so stubbornly against her efforts at fulfilling her current dreams and plans regarding Daniel, a part of her knew full well that he was just trying his best to look out for her wellbeing, and she loved him nonetheless just as much as she loved her mother. And of course, there was Tamara. A wide smile, complete with her eyes widened and gleaming in joy, came on her face as she thought of her beloved little sister. Much like was the case with her parents, she loved Tamara quite a lot, and wouldn't trade her for the world. Likewise, she knew full well that Tamara had the exact same almost worship level love and respect for her big sister that all younger siblings seemed to possess to a degree for their older siblings. All in all, Charlotte truly did have a loving family that would hopefully remain in her life regardless of whether she ever succeeded in getting Daniel or any other man in her life, not that she was going to give up on getting Daniel or finding a worthy replacement man just yet.
Furthermore, she was also quite certain that she had several genuine good friends amongst her fellow cheerios at least, if not amongst all the other people she associated with. She at least had a somewhat better standing with senior member Kimberly, Ashley's younger sister Brooke, and Brooke's friend Mary, who also happened to be the younger cousin of Ashley's boyfriend, than she did with the majority of her subordinate cheerios. Then there were 2nd and 3rd in command to consider. Granted, she couldn't be entirely certain just how much either of them hoped to someday take her place as head cheerio, even if it meant somehow overthrowing her and seizing the throne for themselves if necessary. But nonetheless, she was certain that they nonetheless, to an extent, truly considered a friend. And if Silena herself didn't truly view her as a friend, then surely Ashley did. After all, Ashley had proven time and time again to be something of a nice girl, and Charlotte had no reason to believe that Ashley would have been pretending to be nice.
She sighed in content, and nodded her head. Sure she had plenty of stuff to be unhappy about. But at the same time, she still had some positive elements in her life. And besides, today was her birthday, and her sweet 16 no less. Surely today would be a happy day.
She opened her eyes, a wide smile on her mouth as she thought of just what to do at that moment. She was happy, there was no one around to see her potentially embarrass herself, and it was her birthday. What better moment for her to devote to singing a song for her own pleasure? And even better, she knew just the song to sing. And besides, she could hardly embarrass herself through singing if the performance was occurring strictly in her mind, right? She closed her eyes, and snapped her fingers. Seconds later, with the appropriate music playing in her mind, she proceeded to imagine herself singing her heart out. What could she say? She just felt that happy. How did the resulting performance unfold you might ask? Well, to put it simply, it went something like this:
(Scene Break: Girls' Locker Room)
I heard you're feeling nothing's going right
Why don't you let me stop by?
The clock is ticking, running out of time
So we should party all night
(Scene Break: Charlotte running and dancing down the hall)
So cover your eyes,
I have a surprise
I hope you got a healthy appetite
If you wanna dance,
If you want it all
You know that I'm the girl that you should call
(Scene Break: Cheerio Practice)
Boy, when you're with me
I'll give you a taste
Make it like your birthday every day
I know you like it sweet
So you can have your cake
Give you something good to celebrate
So make a wish
I'll make it like your birthday every day
I'll be your gift
Give you something good to celebrate
(Scene Break: Auditorium, on stage, in between Sue's confetti cannons)
Pop your confetti
Pop your Pérignon
So hot and heavy
'Til dawn
(Scene Break: Gym, sitting in midair upon prom night disco ball)
I got you spinning
Like a disco ball
All night they're playing
Your song
(Scene Break: Cafeteria Courtyard, alongside Silena and Ashley)
We're living the life
We're doing it right
You're never gonna be unsatisfied
If you wanna dance
If you want it all
You know that I'm the girl that you should call
(Scene Break: Cheerio Practice)
Boy, when you're with me
I'll give you a taste
Make it like your birthday every day
I know you like it sweet
So you can have your cake
Give you something good to celebrate
So make a wish
I'll make it like your birthday every day
I'll be your gift
Give you something good to celebrate
(Scene Break: Gymnasium, full on party-kind of environment, and jam packed with various students in various Halloween-Level costumes, and with Charlotte standing proudly in the center with her hands on her hips, smile on her face, and dressed fully in yesterday's 'Gaga outfit' while Silena and Ashley stand to either side of her in their cheerio outfits)
Happy birthday
So let me get you in your birthday suit
It's time to bring out the big balloons
So let me get you in your birthday suit
It's time to bring out the big, big, big, big, big, big balloons
Boy, when you're with me
I'll give you a taste
Make it like your birthday every day
I know you like it sweet
So you can have your cake
Give you something good to celebrate
Boy, when you're with me
I'll give you a taste
Make it like your birthday every day
I know you like it sweet
So you can have your cake
Give you something good to celebrate
So make a wish
I'll make it like your birthday every day
I'll be your gift
Give you something good to celebrate
Happy birthday
(Scene Break: Charlotte leaning against her locker with eyes closed and smile on her face)
No sooner had the mental music for her song finally ended when Charlotte opened her eyes, smile still on her face. "Yep," she thought to herself. "Today will be a fantastic day." And as far as she could tell at that moment, today would indeed be a fantastic day. As far as she was concerned, nothing would prevent her from having an at least somewhat happy day on her birthday, and on her sweet sixteen no less. Nothing. No one. Not. Even . . .
"Good morning Charlotte."
. . . . .
Zach mentally winced when he saw Charlotte abruptly tense up at the sound of his voice. He'd already had a feeling that he'd have a difficult time trying to talk to her at this moment, but the fact that she'd just now reacted the way she had was hardly encouraging. Then she turned her head, and the sight of the glare on her face only confirmed Zach's suspicions that she was indeed not happy to see or hear him right now.
Mentally steeling himself, he took a deep breath, and then said, "Look Charlotte, I get that you're probably not all that happy to see me right now . . ."
"Wow," Charlotte grumbled. "What gave it away?"
"I know this looks bad," said Zach. "Honest, I do."
"Good," said Charlotte. She pointed in the direction behind Zach. "Now go."
"Charlotte, please," said Zach.
"I said go," said Charlotte. She folded her arms across her chest, her blue eyes icy with suspicion and hatred. "I've now told you twice in a row to leave me alone, and you still haven't left. Does that mean you're going to attempt to force yourself on me just like you tried to do with my rival's right-hand woman? I'll have you know that I am not someone you want to try to pull that kind of idiocy against. And that's without considering you're already at risk of expulsion and imprisonment enough as it is."
Zach winced. "Look, I'm sorry. . ."
"That's good," said Charlotte, now getting even more annoyed. She pointed towards the direction immediately behind Zach once more, this time more forcefully and insistent. "But it's gonna take more than a single little apology to get yourself in my graces, let alone in anyone else's. Now go away, before I have to get you in even more hot water then you're already in."
"Charlotte, I'm trying to explain here . . ."
"What's there to explain?"
Charlotte folded her arms across her chest once more, her face remaining fixed in an icy glare. "Within a mere two days, you've gone from simple bad boy to all around thug. You've been going to needless extremes, passed off heavily charged and trigger heavy elements as jokes, and gone so far as to attempt to commit rape and murder. We all thought you were a decent guy; but turns out, we were wrong. You're not a decent guy. You're a thug, a monster, and a criminal. That's the truth. Plain and simple. No further explanation needed." She turned around and started walking away from Zach. "And most importantly, you're simply no longer the type of person I deserve to associate with, assuming you even were such a person in the first place."
Zach glared, now understandably angered at the direction things had now taken. "Oh, that's rich coming from you!" He pointed his right finger accusingly at Charlotte. "You're the one who told me three days ago that quite a large number of girls, you yourself included, are attracted to bad boys!" He lifted his finger for emphasis. "And I know full well both how many other bad boys amongst this school's students, and the names of every single one of your previous bedding partners! What makes me so unworthy of associating with you compared to them?!"
Charlotte stopped walking, slowly turned her head with her eyes narrowed to face Zach, and then turned the rest of her body around and walked slowly back up to Zach.
"You're right," Charlotte hissed. "I did tell you those things just this Monday. Yes, there are indeed a respectable number of girls who are attracted to bad boys." She folded her arms across her chest. "And yes, I am indeed one such girl." She pointed her finger, pressing it firmly against Zach's chest. "But let me tell you this," she snarled. "Just because you're attracted to someone doesn't mean that you love that person. There's a difference."
She lifted her finger. "And for that matter, there's no guarantee that the type of person you get attracted to and the type of person you fall in love with will even be the same type of person! I mean hey, just because I tend to get attracted to bad boys doesn't mean that I won't necessarily end up falling in love with and marrying a perfectly nice guy instead!"
"And how on Earth could something like that be possible!?" Zach yelled, too angry to rationally think about what Charlotte had said and accept the valid point she'd made. "Loving and marrying someone that's not even the type you're naturally attracted to? Or in any other way fundamentally different from you? That's counterintuitive!"
"Ever heard of 'opposites attract'?"
Charlotte folded her arms back across her chest. "Because God knows how there's plenty of examples both in fiction and reality that fulfill that sentiment perfectly fine. And like I said, there's a world of difference between attraction and love. And just as there are many girls who are end up falling for boys for their bad boy traits, there are also plenty of girls out there who fall for boys for their good man traits. Jean Gray said it best." She nodded her head. "The bad boy is the one that girls flirt with and take home strictly to piss off their daddies. The good man, however, is the one that they fall in love with, marry, and spend the rest of their life with. And in this equation, I hate to say it, but even without all the stuff you've done the last few days to make yourself poison in the eyes of the McKinley High student body's female population, the simple fact is that you're the bad boy in this equation. I'm Jean Gray. You're Wolverine." She let a dreamy smile come on her face. "And if I'm lucky, good ol' Danny Boy, will be my Cyclops."
Zach narrowed his eyes, just barely keeping himself from flat out snarling in rage.
"But even without all that in mind," Charlotte continued. "The simple fact is that, even with all the bad boys I've been attracted to and done the deed with over the last few years of my life, all of those boys are at least lovable rogues that still just have enough good and decency in them to be deserving of any affection. Contrary to what you seem to think, there's a difference between being a lovable rogue, and being a criminal." She pointed her finger, glare on her face once more. "And you're being a criminal," she hissed.
Zach raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?" He snorted, and folded his arms across his chest while turning his head away arrogantly. "Well by all means then, do elaborate on what makes me a, quote unquote, 'criminal', instead of a lovable rogue. Go ahead; tell me! What is it about me that makes me so much worse, let alone different, than any of those 'lovable rogues' you're so fond of. Because I'd certainly like to know."
As he said this, one could easily tell from his tone that he was being sarcastic. When Zach directed his eyes back towards Charlotte however, it seemed from the expression that had now come on her face that she was taking his sarcastic request dead seriously.
"You want me to elaborate?" she asked.
Zach raised his eyebrow, a smug grin coming on his face. "You bet."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "You really want me to elaborate?"
At the sound of the now considerably less welcoming tone that Charlotte's voice had taken, Zach's confident look faltered somewhat. "S . . . sure," he managed to say, but with a noticeable pause.
Charlotte lowered her arms to her sides, clenching her fists in the process. "You really, honest to god, want me to elaborate?"
At that point, all trace of his earlier confidence faded from Zach's face and body, and he noticeably tensed up and gritted his teeth in a wince while leaning backward in a cringe-like fashion. "Yes," he managed to say nervously.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes further. "Fine," she snarled spitefully. "I will."
She lifted her finger. "For starters, with the exception of the occasional slushy every now and then, or in the event of 'heat of the moment' type events like food fights in which everyone is fair game, only the most reprehensible, amoral, and irredeemable of bullies around here so much as dare think of breaking the unspoken rule of flat out bullying the school 'comedian' for no reason than for the fun of it. And just this Monday, you broke that very rule with that absolutely humiliating stuff you did to Raj.
"Secondly, the type of bad boys I'm attracted to? They don't stoop so low as to be cruel enough to do things to other students that either A: force the victims into not having a fair chance, B: permanently damage them, or C: could likewise easily prove outright dangerous to their health, if not lethal. To elaborate, none of the bad boys I actively am willing to associate with would go so far as to steal someone's glasses, take advantage of a blind person by leaving obstacles that they will have absolutely zero chance of avoiding strictly with the intention of them falling victim to said obstacles, sabotage prosthetics or any other devices a person wouldn't be able to move or similarly function properly without, or splash acid in a person's eyes! And those are just the examples that I already know, for a fact, that you've actually done!"
"Charlotte," Zach began shakily, both clearly aware of the valid points Charlotte had just brought up and not at all pleased with the fact that he'd indeed done those things she'd just said to differentiate him from her preferred type of bad boy.
"Thirdly," Charlotte continued. "The bad boys I prefer to associate with respect girls, care about their wishes and feelings, and don't go so far as to flat out harass them. Take Bailey for example. I know full well about how you were harassing her over the phone earlier this week. And to put it simply, harassment like that against a girl, regardless of what your screwed-up mind may think, is not funny, regardless of whether it's in person, or on the phone. And that one sophomore girl you pretended to be a stalking creeper towards two days ago? Behavior that, need I add, you passed off as a flipping joke no less?"
Charlotte took a deep breath, clenching her fists in rage. "I don't know what you were thinking; but behavior like that? That is not funny! Sexually stalking someone, even pretending to do so, is not funny! Rape threats, even bluff rape threats, are not funny! Hell, literally anything and everything related in even the most remote way to rape is never, I repeat, never, funny! Those things never are funny! They never have been funny! And! They! Never! Will! Be! FUNNY!"
"Charlotte please," Zach whimpered.
"Fourthly," Charlotte continued, clearly on a roll. "None; I repeat, none; of the lovable bad boys I've ever had fun with ever go so far as to commit outright jail worthy crimes! And both the one crime that actually did commit and the two you merely attempted to commit, are jail worthy crimes!
She lifted her finger. "Exhibit A: theft! This Monday, you stole a pair of Cody's glasses and flushed them down the toilet! This Tuesday, you stole Dunlap's oil can and replaced it with an identical copy filled with super glue!"
She lifted a 2nd finger. "Exhibit B: rape! This past Monday and Tuesday, you attempted twice to convince Susan to be your bedding partner! Once each day! And by 'convince', I mean you tried to force yourself upon her and proved yourself apparently more than willing to rape her! And unlike when you made similar threats against that sophomore girl, you were dead serious in your intentions against Susan!"
Zach winced, both at what Charlotte had just brought up and the fact that he'd acted convincing enough to get her (plus God knew who else) to actually believe that he'd genuinely planned to do such an appalling act, something that now he very much regretted having even wanted in the first place. "Charlotte," he began shakily.
"Exhibit C: murder!" She jabbed her finger upon Zach's chest again and again for emphasis as she spoke. "This past Tuesday, when you made your 2nd effort at raping Susan, you were respectable enough to at least give Calvin a fair chance at defending his own claim by challenging him to a fight. But during said fight, you proceeded not only to cheat, but also to try to flipping kill Calvin! I don't care how much you wanted to have Susan as your bedding partner, or how much you felt slighted over the fact that Calvin got picked over you as vice male lead, but that doesn't give you the right to murder him! I got passed over for both female lead and vice female lead! Did I try to kill Diana? Hell! Fucking! No!"
Zach opened his mouth to try once again to interrupt, but Charlotte was nowhere close to stopping her rant. "And on that same note, here's another difference between you and all the 'proper' bad boys around here; they at least don't go so are as to betray their principles!"
She pointed at Zach. "Don't you dare think that I didn't at some point become aware of how much you've bragged about your precious little moral code. Well let me ask you this, where was it this Tuesday? This Monday even?"
Zach opened his mouth to respond, only for Charlotte to once again continue speaking literally one second later. "And furthermore, this same difference is actually two differences in one! All those 'proper' bad boys around here I associate with? Not only do they at least have the decency to stick to their principles, but they at least are honest about themselves! What you had us all believe these last few years? Simple, that you were only a bad boy in a sense that you had the air of one around him, not that you were literally a living villain. That A: you had fun with large numbers of girls, but were always decent enough to treat them all with respect and accept their wishes and B: the only people you'd ever bully or get into fights with were other bad boys like yourself or assholes who had it coming! Over these past few days, you've bullied and picked fights with nice people who had done absolutely nothing wrong to you, attempted to kill one of those very people, and completely showed absolutely zero respect for Susan, a girl that I might add was the very first girl to ever say no to bedding with you, or her wishes!"
Charlotte took a deep breath, exhaled, and then folded her arms across her chest. "I hate Diana," she said. "I hate her. And for good reason. But even though she couldn't possibly be any further beneath Daniel and unworthy of serving company with him than she already is, is in love with him and is trying to earn his own love in return despite these inadequacies, and is daring to even consider such ideas even though it's an unspoken rule of the natural order that such a place in his heart is rightfully mine, I'm at least smart enough to tell that she's at least a genuinely nice girl and good friend to Daniel. Hell, she and Daniel may have only truly been friends with literally all nine of those other losers, plus that unnaturally intelligent mutt, for about two or three days. But there's no denying that all of them, plus Diana, are genuinely nice people and true, loyal, and good friends to Daniel. And that's something that I only wish I could say about you after all you've done the last few days."
At this point, Zach could only stand perfectly still where he was, gaping helplessly at Charlotte, and his arms hanging limp at his sides.
Charlotte snorted, rolled her blue eyes, and shook her head side to side, sending her ash blonde hair swinging side to side as well. "I hope that's more than enough of an elaboration to allow you to properly understand how much of a monster you are despite your thick numb skull." She lifted her finger. "Because as of now, I am not devoting any more time with you today than I already have. Why?" She pointed at Zach. "Because today is my birthday, and my sweet 16 no less. And I am not going to let anything or anyone ruin it! And I'm most certainly not going to let it be ruined by a sick, twisted, perverted, amoral, brainless, unfeeling, irresponsible, misogynistic, self-righteous, hypocritical asshole who cares only about himself, gives zero shits about anyone else, treats love like a toy, only loves girls for their bodies and their skill as bedding partners, shamelessly moves on from one girl to the next without a thought like a rooster with hens, and hides behind and brags about an oh so important moral code that he's all too willing to cast aside the moment he meets a girl brave enough to say no to being his newest bedding partner!"
She turned her back to Zach, her hair briefly billowing upwards. "Goodbye. Good day." She lifted her hand so that the back of it was facing Zach while she subsequently flipped him the finger. "Fuck off." She stormed down the hall away from Zach, radiating with outrage.
Zach remained standing, unable to move. He was that shaken up by the vicious verbal roasting that Charlotte had just now slammed him with. The fact that, aside from a couple erroneous details that he himself had idiotically gone to great lengths to make sure she actually thought were true, what she'd said was 100% correct didn't help in the slightest. He eventually managed to turn around, still frozen in shock and guilt, only to rear back in surprise at the sight of the three most ardent members of his fan girl groupies standing right there.
Before he even had a chance to get his voice back and say anything, the girl in the middle, who just happened to be the Chinese American ringleader, stated bluntly, "She's right you know Zachary."
"Yeah," said the cohort to her left, a blonde. "We may have been too blind to see it before. But now that Calvin's trashed your high-handed ass and we've had time to think about it, we've come to realize just how shitty we were to believe in someone like you."
"What they said," said the other cohort, a redhead. She shook her head side to side. "We don't need you. And honestly, we must have really been a whole new level of idiotic to think that we actually wanted you. And to put it simply. . ." She pointed past Zach down the direction Charlotte had gone. "She's right." She pointed at Zach. "You're wrong." She leaned her head sideways on her hands, a dreamy look now in her eyes. "Calvin rules." She glared at Zach. "You suck." She lifted her finger. "Susan's smart." She pointed at Zach. "You're dumb." She gestured at her two gal pals. "And until the day of your defeat and fall from your undeserved grace, so were we."
"Indeed," the Chinese American agreed. She glared at Zach once more. "But now?" She and her two cohorts lifted their hands and had their palms face Zach. "We officially wipe our hands of you, and so do the rest of us." They turned their backs to him in unison, lifted their hands, and gave a sarcastic wave in synch.
"Toodle-oo," they said in unison. And then they walked away.
By the time Zach finally regained his voice and ability to move, the three girls were already at the end of the hallway and walking away to the right. He hurriedly ran over to the end of the hallway. "Hey! Wait!"
Right as he reached the end of the hallway, he shrieked and skidded to a stop when none other than two of his highest-ranking subordinates amongst the basketball team stepped out from the hallway that the three fan girls had entered. When he finally got his breath back, he stared in shock at his two subordinates. "Wha. . . what are you doing here?"
"We were looking for you," said one of the two boys.
"We all were."
Zach turned around in time to find the entirety of the basketball team gathered behind him. He looked hurriedly back and forth between the duo in front of him and crowd behind him, and they all glared at him with expressions that looked very disturbingly hateful. "Well, you've found me," he said weakly.
"This some kind of joke to you?"
Zach winced, and opened his mouth, only to pause as he tried to think of an adequate response.
"Well we're not joking," said the 2nd high ranking subordinate in front of Zach. He pointed at Zach. "And as of the end of today, you're not our leader."
Zach's heart seemed to stop, and his eyes widened as he gaped at his two apparently now former subordinates. "What?"
"You heard them," said one of the basketball players behind him. "You ain't our leader. After the shit you pulled the past few days? You ain't got the right to call yourself our leader anymore. Hell, we're not sure you even got no right to even be a member of this here team at all, period."
Zach gasped and sputtered, unable to coherently respond.
"Throughout all the years that the New Directions glee club has been in existence," said another basketball player, "the members of the McKinley High basketball team have always, without any exceptions, been the nicest jocks in this entire school, to the glee club or anyone else, and only ever pulled off douche moves against pieces of shit who deserved it."
A third basketball player stepped forward from the crowd. "And there ain't no way in Hell we're going to let that reputation be ruined and sent down the tubes just because of some jackass we thought was just like us and deserved to be our leader."
"Indeed."
The two high ranking subordinates looked each other in the eyes with a silent message, and then looked back at Zach. "Today, Coach Bieste and the rest of us shall twice be putting things to a vote. First, we'll be putting to a vote which one of us will be taking your place as leader of the basketball team. And after that, we're gonna put it to a vote as to whether to let you stay on the team as a mere subordinate, or to kick you off." The two boys gritted their teeth angrily. "Spoiler alert," they said. "The two of us are gonna be voting for option 2." They nodded their heads. "Goodbye." The basketball team departed.
After another pause, Zach dejectedly continued onward, only to end up coming to a stop again at the sight of a group of nerds glaring at him. No sooner had he stopped when the nerds all crossed their arms across their chests. "Well if isn't Zach the Ripper," said one of the nerds. He shook his head side to side and continued glaring at Zach. "Well what are you gonna do now, huh? You gonna bully us to? Like you did your peers in the glee club?"
"Look at this," said a girl amongst the nerds who had her foot in a cast and was holding a crutch under her right arm. "You gonna take this crutch away from me? Force me to hop around on my good foot everywhere I go for the entire rest of the school day?"
"My cousin's diabetic," said another nerd, this one a boy. "What are you gonna do? Rip her insulin pump clean off of her and smash it? Force her to be without insulin for the entire rest of her time at school today? Force her to be unable to eat or do a single God damned thing without running the risk of going into shock? Sending her blood sugar to the moon and beyond? Going into a coma from a low blood sugar? Or better yet, dare I see it, just flat out dropping dead?"
The entire small group pointed their fingers accusingly at Zach. "Go ahead and try one of those deeds," the apparent ring leader of the group hissed. "Or any other heinous and sick little crime. We dare you. Because the sooner you end up in jail for life and out of this school, the better. Daniel Taymor doesn't deserve you. Mr. Schuester doesn't deserve you. The New Directions doesn't deserve you. This school doesn't deserve you. This town doesn't deserve you. This state doesn't deserve you. This country doesn't deserve you. This continent doesn't deserve you. The whole, damn, planet, doesn't deserve you."
Zach couldn't take it anymore. He practically forced himself to look away from the nerds and ran down the hallway as far away from the angry nerds as he could.
"Yeah you'd better run!"
Zach allowed no sign of his hearing that last comment show. He needed to get away. He needed some sort of escape or relief, and soon. Anything to help him shed the horrible, horrible, horrible shame and guilt he was now feeling for his actions combined with the slight despair and loneliness he was now starting to feel as a result of how so many people were now so quickly starting to turn against him.
"Just like Charlotte was hoping would happen with Daniel," he thought to himself, now feeling even more saddened and filled with despair. He closed his eyes, continuing to run aimlessly through the McKinley High hallways. But not even that was enough to help him shake off his current rapidly building black aura of misery, guilt, and despair. "What have I done?" he thought to himself. "Sweet Jesus; what have I done?"
And just like that, another chapter done! Once again, I hope you all enjoyed reading it and leave plenty of feedback! Remember, I require a minimum of one (though two is an equally strongly recommended number) review for this new chapter by the time the next chapter is finished in order for you to all to be allowed/made capable of reading the next chapter to come. That being said, I'm sure you've probably noticed just how rapidly Zach's life at McKinley High is starting to fall apart outside the glee club and his home life right? Yeah, it's not by accident that I'm having this befall him. And for those of you who really put their minds to it, the current fate starting to unfold for Zach does bear some unnerving parallels to the plan Charlotte originally wanted Zach to help out with involving Daniel that's proven responsible for Zach being inspired into doing the stuff that caused this whole mess trapping him in the first place. Nonetheless, feel free to comment on/with whatever you want (EXCEPT FLAMES!). Again, I hope you all enjoyed reading this Hellishly long awaited new chapter and leave plenty of feedback.
Coming up Next: For the sake of attempting to make Charlotte's special day truly fantastic, Silena and Ashley decide to try to take a hand at directly getting involved in Charlotte's efforts at achieving her insane quest for Daniel's love.