Hey ya'll! Sorry I took a little longer then I expected. But nonetheless, here's a new chapter! And in this new chapter, Charlotte has gotten things straightened out with Ashley and Silena, and is subsequently not in quite so happy of a mood. However, things seemingly begin to look up for her when she ends up encountering another McKinley High student who is apparently sympathetic to her situation. And after this encounter, she goes so far as to apparently try to make up for the incident at recess and extend an offer of friendship to the rest of the glee club girls. Question is, is this apparent offer of friendship from Charlotte genuine? Or is there some sort of ulterior motive? And regardless, what about the apparent 'sympathetic student' that Charlotte has now met up with? Is he truly as trustworthy and sympathetic as he claims to be? Or does he have an ulterior motive of his own that not even Charlotte knows about? So many questions. Let's hope we can get a few answers in this new chapter! And for that matter, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!
A/N: But first, just to remind you all real quick, I do not own Glee. All I own are my OCs.
A/N: Furthermore, as of now, I have 8 more chapters left to write and post for this story. Once those 8 chapters are finished and posted, I will be taking another hiatus from Glee fanfiction. Why? To put it simply, the same reasons as my last hiatus from Glee fanfiction. To elaborate, my fans in the Teen Titans fanfiction community will probably have been kept waiting long enough by the time I've finished this story (and at least one, if not more than one, may or may not be starting to get a little antsy from waiting). That being said, once again, onward with the fic! ^_^
Chapter 19:
An Offer of Friendship . . . Or is It?
Charlotte Thornton was not entirely as happy as she'd initially hoped to remain for the entire day. Certainly not at the current moment anyway. She sighed as she walked somberly through the hallway to reach her locker and get herself ready for her 3rd period class. Not too long beforehand, she'd managed to talk things out with Silena and Ashley and get things settled and worked out properly. And of course, Silena and Ashley (but particularly Silena) had apologized for going overboard in their efforts at helping her out in her 'quest' and they'd all agreed that they were still friends and that just maybe they could still have other chances at attempting to help her in less extreme fashions at some point or other in the future, not to mention to only even consider mentioning the incident again (let alone actually mention it) in the most absolutely dire or necessary of circumstances. But despite this, she couldn't help but feel dejected and unhappy at the very real pitfall that had just occurred against her on her own birthday.
She came to a stop in front of her locker, hung her head, and sighed. "Happy birthday to me," she whispered to herself dejectedly. She turned around to directly face her locker, calmly entering in the combination to open it up. At this rate, she hoped more than ever that the mini celebration that evening and the 'official' celebration with her family and friends that weekend would more than make up for how rather unpleasant her actual birthday itself was currently shaping up to be. She finished her business at her locker, closed the door, locked it, and then sighed, hung her head, and turned away to go to her classroom.
Charlotte failed to notice, however, that she was being watched. As it so happened, another student was in the exact same hallway, watching the dejected birthday girl as she departed from her locker and made her way to where her 3rd period class would be. This student, a sophomore boy, had actually taken note of several things over the course of time he'd just spent watching her. And now, he had an idea on just how he could potentially put this information to good use. Acting strangely cautiously and quietly for a supposedly ordinary student, he drew out a cellphone, dialed a number, and placed the phone up to his ear. After a few rings, the call went through.
. . . . .
Charlotte Thornton still seemed noticeably quiet and withdrawn as she walked through the hallways later that day to go to the cafeteria for lunch. As far as she could tell, precious little could get her out of her current mood within the immediate future. In fact, she was now doubting that even cheerio practice that afternoon could cheer her up. And considering just how much she enjoyed her work as a member of the cheerios, that was saying something. She sighed. "That's life for you," she mentally sighed.
"Hello."
Charlotte turned her head to look behind her, eyes widened in shock at the unexpected voice from behind her. Then her eyes narrowed in suspicion at just who was behind her. "And who might you be?"
To be fair, the boy standing behind her right now truly didn't look like anyone she'd ever seen period, let alone amongst the McKinley High student body. Charlotte's eyes remained narrowed in suspicion as she looked the boy over from where she stood. From what she could gather from his appearance, her best guess was that he was a sophomore, if even a student at McKinley High. He was a good couple feet or so shorter than her for one thing. And judging from his bearing and overall atmosphere, she was quite certain that he was younger than her as well.
The boy seemed to wince, indicating in Charlotte's mind that he was clearly nervous. "As should any student of his standing when in my presence," she thought to herself smugly. The boy seemed to shakily calm himself down, taking a series of equally shaky deep breathes in the process. And while he did this, he went so far as to place his hands together in a ludicrously stereotypical kung fu master style, a gesture that looked especially ludicrous in light of how the boy was wearing a pair of sunglasses indoors that were such a dark black that it had to be a miracle for him to even be able to see anything with them on, had very unnaturally gold colored blonde hair that she was almost certain was a wig instead of his natural hair, and was dressed in a dark purple hoody that looked as if it would have been far more at home in Justin Bieber's wardrobe then on the pipsqueak currently standing before her.
The boy finally seemed to fully get his breath, and he looked straight at her. "Look, I know you probably find it more than a little weird that I'm suddenly trying to talk with you. . ."
"Probably?" Charlotte asked. "Seriously? More like definitely." She folded her arms across her chest, glaring in irritation. "I mean really, was the fact that I literally asked who the Hell you were not too long ago not enough of a hint to you?"
The boy winced. "Ok I'll admit, stupid question on my part. . ."
"Yeah, no shit," Charlotte hissed. She rolled her eyes derisively. "And with how you clearly still expect me to take you seriously even now despite both that, and how ridiculous you look, I'm now starting to wonder what force on Heaven, Earth, or Hell could have possibly gotten me to even want to ask, let alone know, who the Hell you are."
The boy winced again, further reducing his already low credibility in Charlotte's eyes. "Charlotte," he said, "I know this looks bad."
"That's Ms. Thornton to you, peasant."
Charlotte turned away, tossing her hair over her right shoulder in the process. "Good day." She started very purposely walking away, swiftly putting distance between her and the boy in mere seconds.
The boy, in stark contrast to how much he'd been stumbling in his words not too long ago, snapped instantly into action. He hurriedly ran to catch up with her. "Charlotte, wait!"
"La-la-la, I'm not listening," Charlotte said, her right hand raised and sarcastically waving without even turning her head to face the boy.
"I mean it," the boy stammered, now clearly in a panic. "I really need to talk to you! Honest, I do!"
"La-la-la-la-la-la-la, still not listening," Charlotte said, still not even bothering to turn her head to face the boy as she continued walking away from him.
"It will be worth your while," the boy yelled, now clearly getting desperate. "I promise!"
"La-la la-la-la, la-la la-la-la, you are an idiot. La-la la-la-la, la-la la-la-la, still not listening," Charlotte said, yet again without turning her head to face the boy.
In that instant, the boy lost his temper. He snapped to a stop, stamping his feet down on the floor and snapping his left pointer finger before shouting, "I KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO ALWAYS FAIL!"
The sheer volume of the unexpectedly decisive and angry shout was enough to stun Charlotte into coming to a stop. The actual words the boy had said, however, were what caused her to continue standing still in wide eyed shock. She had no idea why, but the specific phrase the boy had just said had really struck a nerve inside her. "I . . . I don't know what you're talking about."
It took all the boy's willpower not to gasp in relief. "Don't lie to me," he said, and in a surprisingly compassionate and sincere sounding tone considering the words he was saying. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. And you know what? That's ok, because I know how it feels."
Charlotte turned her head to face the boy once more, her face indicating that she was half angry and half saddened. "How what feels dweeb? Being a top dog stuck in a herd of losers?"
"Wanting something," said the boy. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then continued. "Wanting this one thing. This one special thing. More than anything you have ever wanted anything else. Wanting it more than you can say. More than you can understand. More than you can ever hope to explain. Wanting that one thing, just that one thing. Wanting it so badly that you will literally try anything, anything, to obtain it. Starting small, then going bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And with each day that passes with that one thing still not in your grasp, you become increasingly more desperate, and more extreme as you proceed to try even harder. And the entire time always giving it your all, regardless of how extreme or otherwise. And most of all, how even after God knows how many tries, how many plans, how many attempts, always, just always still finding that one thing you've been working so hard for remaining out of your reach, sometimes through a complete fail that never even gets close, and other times through something where you could have sworn that you were just so close to finally, finally, finally getting it at last."
Charlotte said nothing. She literally could not say anything. "What can I say?" she thought to herself. "He's absolutely right."
The boy pointed at her once more. "I could keep going on and on describing this all day," he said. "But no matter how much you might deny it, you know I'm right. You know I'm telling the truth. And that's ok." He lifted his hands up as if in a gesture of peace. "Because like I said," he continued, "I know exactly how that feels, just like you."
For what seemed like an eternity to both Charlotte and the boy, the head cheerio remained standing where she was, head turned and gazing at the boy in half sadness and half anger. Then she sighed, hung her head, and then turned her entire body to face him. "So?" she asked. "What if you do know how it feels?" She shook her head. "We can't both have it."
"Well that's good," said the boy, not even bothering to hide his relief over having gotten Charlotte's attention. "Because the thing you want isn't the same as the thing that I want. Heck, the thing I want, and the thing you want? They couldn't be more different, and I sure as Hell don't swing the same way as your water boy. . ."
He paused, closed his eyes, and winced somewhat. "Not like I have any problem with people his orientation anyway. . ."
Charlotte rolled her eyes, but this time still seemingly on the verge of tears as opposed to annoyed, and then moved as if about to turn around and start leaving again.
"Look the point is," the boy stammered, "we may want different things, but that doesn't change the fact that both of us want something more than we can possibly say, and we've both been willing to try, and actually have tried, literally anything we could think of to obtain that goal . . . only in the end, no matter how close, nor how far, to fail."
Charlotte directed her gaze back at the boy, eyes clearly still on the verge of tears. "So, what?" she yelled. "What does that have to do with anything? How will that make any difference for either of us?!"
The boy took a deep breath, exhaled, and then looked straight at Charlotte. And as if to emphasize how serious and sincere he was being, he lifted his hand and lowered his sun glasses to reveal a pair of warm and serious brown eyes. "I may have constantly failed at achieving the goal I've been wanting to achieve," he said. He took another deep breath, and then exhaled once more. "But that doesn't mean that I can't help someone else who's similarly suffered." He nodded his head. "You can go ahead and resume your trip to lunch if you want. I won't stop you, especially not now that I've managed to say what I needed to say the most in this situation. But trust me, like I said, it will be worth your while."
Charlotte only continued to stare at the boy. "How?" she asked. "What could you possibly do that would allow me to succeed after so many failures I've made on my own devices? And one just not too long ago with help from two of my own best friends? If they aren't enough to allow me to succeed, how could you possibly do any better?"
"Just give me a chance to explain, and you'll see," the boy said. "Trust me."
Charlotte raised her eyebrow. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that on your mere say so?" she asked. She shook her head side to side. "I barely even know you."
"I know," the boy admitted. "But I mean it, you can trust me. And besides," he indicated the entire area around them, but with particularly emphasis being placed on a nearby wall clock in the midst of his gesturing, "what I have to say right now? It won't take too long at all. Honest, it won't. You'll still have plenty of time for lunch, and preparing for the class to follow lunch, once I'm finished. You have my word."
For what seemed like an eternity, Charlotte considered what the boy had said. Granted, she was still far from 100% willing to just up and trust him the way he seemed quite hopeful of her doing, not to mention any more willing to believe that he truly could do all that much to help her in the way he said he could, regardless of how much he could empathize with her situation. But despite all this, there was just this one small part of her that wanted so much to believe that what this boy was saying was true. And for some inexplicable reason, she was starting to find that tiny part of her becoming increasingly stronger in its urges compared to the rest of her mind.
Of course, much later in her life, Charlotte would still look back on this moment with a tiny twinge of regret at the very least. In fact, she'd even go so far as to make jokes at her own expense later in her life over how stupid she'd had to have been to make the decision she'd end up making at this current moment in her junior year of high school, and on her own birthday no less. But at that particular moment in her life, she was still a teenager, newly turned 16, and still relatively innocent. She most certainly didn't yet have the higher level of wisdom, experience, or overall knowledge on how to properly read people and understand the workings of the world that she would have later in her life as an adult. Neither had she yet truly developed the sizable number of strong friendships she'd have later in life that would allow her to properly avoid making other bad decisions in the future. And of course, like she and the boy had made quite clear, she was rather blinded by her overwhelming desire to finally achieve the goal she'd been working so hard to accomplish, was desperate, and was more than willing to try just about anything. And besides, today was her birthday. And as much as things had gone from relatively pleasant to somewhat of a downer, things couldn't possibly get too much worse than they'd already gotten; especially not today of all days. Right?
And so, in that instant, she made one of the most unwise decisions she'd ever make in her lifetime. She directed her full gaze towards the boy, her blue eyes now no longer as at risk of tears. "I'm listening."
. . . . .
Diana was in a very good mood that day after her last class period for the day. In fact, she and Susan, not to mention Bailey, Amber, and Naomi couldn't stop laughing as they recounted what had happened during recess that day. Granted, Susan and Diana were still more than a little miffed at Silena and Ashley for kidnapping them, not to mention at Charlotte for effectively giving them the all clear to do such an action in the first place, plus heart warmed at how very vocal Daniel and Calvin had been in insisting that the glee club wait for them before beginning the recess session. But nonetheless, the exact antics that had unfolded in the choir room during Calvin and Daniel's efforts, plus the very event that had made those antics necessary in the first place, were also pretty funny now that everyone had gotten a chance to calm down and revisit the incident from a new perspective. And thus, they were now spending time together having a good laugh.
"So, let me get this straight," said Susan. She chuckled. "You're saying that Daniel and Calvin just up and walked right out of the choir room?"
"Oh, you heard correctly girl," said Bailey. "Mr. Schuester was just so utterly ready to start the lesson without you and Diana. But your good old friends Calvin and Daniel were like 'screw that' and walked right out to look for you, even going so far as to deliberately label the lesson as 'on hold' until they came back with you two."
"And Mr. Schue let them do that?" Diana asked.
"Sure did," said Naomi.
"Yeah," Amber agreed. "Though granted, probably only because he was too shocked to really do anything to stop them."
Susan chuckled. "This has got to be one of the funniest things that's happened around here this week." Diana burst out laughing in agreement, the other four girls almost instantly joining in.
"I see you're all having fun."
The girls stopped laughing, turned their heads, and narrowed their eyes upon sight of none other than Charlotte standing nearby. "Oh, it's you," said Susan.
Charlotte winced. Truth be told, she'd already had a bad feeling that this interaction between her and the other girls in glee club would be difficult long before she'd agreed to try it out during her earlier talk with her mysterious apparent sympathizer. In fact, now that she thought about it, part of her still wasn't entirely certain if she fully understood just what it was that the boy had planned. And it certainly didn't help that there were several elements that even now made her feel either suspicious or guilty.
Aside from something or other about having a little talk with Diana, and with the rest of the girls in the glee club for that matter if necessary, the boy had been unsettlingly vague on just what he planned to do to supposedly 'make things easier for her where Daniel was concerned'. Secondly, for the sake of what the boy had in mind, she'd found herself essentially forced to lie to Coach Sylvester in order to get out of taking part in that afternoon's cheerios practice session. Even now, she couldn't help but feel guilty and self-hateful for both missing out on cheer leading practice and lying to Coach Sylvester about her reasons for missing out, particularly since she still hadn't yet made her final decision on the coach's offer from Monday.
She shook her head side to side to clear her head. "Keep it together," she told herself mentally. She looked back at her fellow girl gleeks, clasping her hands together in the process. "Look, I get you're probably not all that thrilled to see me right now after what Silena and Ashley pulled during recess. . ."
"Well you've certainly got that right," Diana grumbled.
"Damn straight," Susan hissed. She glared at Charlotte. "Heck, it wouldn't matter if that unpleasantness had happened or not, we'd still not be that thrilled to see you right now. Sorry, but that's just God's honest truth."
Charlotte mentally sighed. "This is going to be even harder than I thought," she thought to herself. And considering how difficult a large number of stuff she thought would be pieces of cake had turned out to be in the past, the fact that she was currently having the kind of thought she was currently having was really saying something.
She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Look," she began. "I know that I've got a long way to go before you can trust me. But right now, since today's my birthday, let's just say that you're currently lucky enough to be dealing with me at my nicest." She lifted her head to properly gaze at the other 5 girls in front of her. "And if it's not too much, there's somewhere I'm about to drop by real fast now that school's done for today, and you guys are free to tag along if you want."
The other 5 glee club girls looked at each other, and then back at Charlotte. At the sight of all 5 of them having their eyebrows raised, Charlotte instantly knew she still had some work to do. "And why would we want to hang out with you?" Amber asked.
"What she said," Naomi agreed.
The 3 juniors amongst the group nodded their heads in agreement.
Charlotte took a deep breath, and then exhaled once more. "I understand full well how I've behaved, and that it's hardly endeared me to you," she began. "But even with all the stuff I've done before, even I have my limits." She nodded her head. "And I'm not ashamed to admit that what Silena and Ashley pulled today during recess was probably going a little too far."
"Yeah, no shit," Susan grumbled.
"That being said," Charlotte continued, seemingly ignoring Susan's latest comment. "I was thinking, since I'm currently now in my nicer mode as a result of both that incident and the fact that today's my birthday, I was thinking that I could openly allow you all the chance to hang out with me for a little bit as a way for me to make it up to you for what happened during recess today." The other girls seemed to start thinking to themselves.
"It's not like there's anything else you need to be doing right now," said Charlotte. "I mean, Mr. Schuester did cancel today's afternoon glee club session to have a break from all the drama after what happened during recess today. And given how recently he gave that bit of news, I'm pretty sure you haven't yet gotten the chance to tell your parents and inform them of any need for them to pick you up from school early."
The other 5 girls seemingly paused in their thinking. Charlotte certainly had a point there.
"And it shouldn't take too long," Charlotte continued. "I mean, as far as I can imagine, worst case scenario is that by the time we're done and back, it should be pretty darn close to around the time your parents should be expected to arrive to pick you up and take you home." She nodded her head, and then gestured her hands to her sides as if to indicate a 'win-win'. "I mean, sure, you don't absolutely have to come with me if you really don't want to. But hey, like I said, I'm in one of my nicer modes right now, and I'm feeling in the mood to make up for Silena and Ashley going overboard earlier today. So . . . um . . . what do you say?"
The other girls looked at each other again, then back at Charlotte, and then proceeded to gather around in a 'huddle'. Charlotte waited patiently as the other girls proceeded to whisper to each other, clearly discussing her offer and whether they'd take it up. Of course, despite the small series of sales pitches she'd just recently made, she still wasn't entirely certain they'd agree to her offer.
She certainly wasn't wrong to think so either. "I'll admit," Diana whispered. "Yes, she has brought up a couple valid points. But valid or not, that still doesn't change the fact that she's hardly proven herself trustworthy any time before now." Susan, Naomi, and Amber all promptly nodded in agreement.
Bailey, on the other hand . . . "I think we should give it a shot."
The other four girls gaped at Bailey. To say that they were stunned would have been a serious understatement.
"Are you crazy?" Amber asked. "How could you possibly think that this is a good idea?"
"I must agree," said Naomi. She shook her head side to side, and then glared at Bailey, her opaque blind blue eyes proving to make a surprisingly scary look. "No good could possibly come out of this, especially not after everything that she's done in the past, what her right hand whores did just this recess, and how she's only just now apparently trying to make friends with us just plain out of the blue."
Bailey shook her head side to side. "Guys," she began. "I know this hardly sounds palatable. . ."
"Oh," said Susan, folding her arms across her chest and directing a sarcastic glance to the side. "You think?"
"No kidding," Diana growled. She briefly directed a sidelong glare at Charlotte, and then looked right back at Bailey. "No one in their right mind would trust Charlotte. And right now, I daresay it seems as if you're the only one amongst us who isn't in her right mind."
Susan nodded her head in agreement. "I couldn't agree more; trust me, there is no force on Heaven, Earth, or Hell that could possibly get me to spend any more quality time around her then absolutely forced upon me by necessity."
"Yeah," said Amber.
"What they said," said Naomi.
Bailey took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Look, I get that you're not sold on the idea." The other five girls rolled their eyes. "But think about it," Bailey continued. "Isn't this sort of the kind of thing Mr. Schuester would want us to do right now?"
The other girls promptly stopped rolling their eyes and gave each other awkward glances. Bailey certainly had a point there.
Bailey nodded her head. "Like I said, it's hardly palatable." She gestured towards Charlotte. "But honestly, surely it's worth taking the risk? For Mr. Schue's sake? And besides, it's not every day that Charlotte reportedly goes into her 'nicer mode'. Can't hurt to at least give it a little test drive, right?"
The other girls thought to themselves some more, clearly acknowledging that Bailey had a fair point while also still clearly apprehensive about the idea that Charlotte had suggested for them. After what seemed like an eternity, Diana finally seemed to come to a decision. "Here's a compromise," she suggested. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Alright Bailey, if you really think it would make Mr. Schue happy and save his job, then we'll go ahead and give Charlotte a chance this time."
"Thank you," said Bailey.
"But listen," said Diana. "For now, it will only be this chance. And furthermore;" she took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "First sign that something's wrong, we get the heck out. Got that everyone?"
"Sounds good to me," said Susan.
"Loud and clear," said Naomi.
"I'm down with this," said Amber.
"Sounds fair enough," said Bailey.
"Alright," said Diana. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled, clearly bracing herself to grin and bear what she was expecting to possibly come. Admittedly though, at this point Charlotte herself couldn't have possibly guessed just what could have ended up happening within the next hour or so, let alone what actually did end up happening during that time. But of course, in the ignorance that came with not having yet experienced the future, the five girls all broke from their huddle and turned to face the still patiently waiting Charlotte. "We've made our decision."
And just like that, another chapter done! Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, that it was worth the wait, and that you leave plenty of feedback (but again, ZERO flames under any and all circumstances). Remember, I require an exact minimum of 1-2 reviews for this chapter. Fail to fulfill this quota, and the next chapter shall be withheld until the quota is indeed fulfilled. Get that? Got that? Good. Again, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one (not to mention, fulfill the review quota required to allow the new chapter to be posted upon its completion).
Coming up Next: Sometime later, at around the time that the girls are supposedly having their friendly little bit of hanging out with Charlotte, the boys in the glee club (or at least the more obviously trustworthy ones at the moment) soon start to get more than a little worried and concerned about just what is going on with the girls, particularly once several unnerving elements are taken into consideration. And before long, they soon decide to head off to make sure everything's alright . . . but not without giving one final metaphorical blow to Zack.