Chapter 8- The Return
Author's Note- Hey everybody! Sorry that it took over a week to update…I got my laptop taken away and then I got sick and I still am. Promise you I'm not trying to make up excuses. Anyways, I made a mistake in the last chapter. I said the dance was on Wednesday, it's on Monday, sorry for any confusion. So, right now it's Friday and the dance is on Monday. Thank you so much for the reviews last chapter! You guys are super sweet! Here's the chapter, enjoy!
Will Schuester's alarm clock rang, it was 6:30 on Friday morning. He groaned, sat up, and pulled off the covers. Today was the day he'd finally have to face Emma and he didn't even want to see her. I have to do this. It'll show her that I'm stronger and I'm the bigger person, but…why do I always have to be the bigger person? I'd like to be small just for once. I can't just put this off forever, I work there too. I can just ignore her. I mean, I don't think that would be cowardly. Yeah, that's a great idea. That way I won't speak to her until I sing on Monday at the dance. Then she'll really get the message. Emma needs to know that she really hurt me. Wait, it's going to be really hard to ignore her. Every time I see her, I feel like crying like a little girl. So then I'll just like hide, but knowing her she'll want to talk this out. I don't want to talk to her or even look at her. Sorry Emma but you're not going to just counsel me through this, Will thought, as he got dressed. Will was brokenhearted, scared, and nervous to see Emma all at the same time. This was going to be a rough day for him, plus he had glee practice after school.
Emma Pillsbury was cleaning her office windows. It was 7:45 and she hadn't seen Will yet. He has to come to school today, he can't keep avoiding me. Well…if this happened to me, I'd probably be avoiding him for the rest of my life. Will's strong though and he'll pull through. Also, the New Directions are performing at the Christmas dance on Monday. Wait, Monday's the last day before the winter break. Yeah, Monday's December 22nd so after that I won't see him for two weeks unless…we make up before them. Okay, today when I see him I'm going to talk to him. Even if he doesn't want to see me, I'll tell him just to hear me out. But what about Carl? I already told Carl that he'd be my date for the dance. Ugh, I should've never brought him into this. It's going to crush Will to see me with Carl at the dance, that'll be just icing on top of the cake. I seriously hate myself right now. If only he knew how much I miss him and how sorry I am, Emma thought. The bell rang and Emma looked up at the clock, it was already 8:00. Students began piling through the doors, Emma mentally scanned through the sea of heads. She didn't see any light brown curls or lopsided smiles. She knew half the time Will arrived just as the students did but she had a feeling that today would be one of those days. Well, at least I'll get to see him at lunch, Emma thought.
Ring! Ring! The first period tardy bell rang, just as Will dashed into his classroom. Perfect timing! I didn't have to talk to Emma or anything…even if it means coming in later than usual, the Spanish teacher thought. As Will set up his desk and emptied out his messenger bag, he looked at his students. All of them were dead silent and there weren't even any glee kids in this hour. The kids looked up at him with curious, big eyes. "Hi guys, sorry I haven't been here in the past few days for um, personal reasons. So if you guys could just pass last night's homework up, that would be great," Will said. The class passed up the homework and got started on their warm-up without even being asked. Will skimmed through their homework, surprisingly the whole class had done it. Do they feel…bad for me? They never act like this, he thought. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.
There were scattered cries of 'yeah', 'sure', and 'we're fine.' But one girl, a nice Cheerio, asked, "Are you Mr. Schuester?" At this everyone in the class looked up from their work and towards their teacher.
"I'm fine guys, don't worry about me. What happened a few days ago is in the past, and I think it would be better if we all just forgot about it," Mr. Schue replied, nervously. If even his students could tell something was wrong with him, then what would Emma think?
The rest of the morning passed by smoothly and it was now lunch. All of Will's classes had been quiet and well-behaved. At the end of third hour Puck and Finn came up to him and suggested that he eat lunch with them, to avoid Ms. Pillsbury. He politely declined the offer but then realized what he would do about lunch. Crap, Emma's probably looking for me in the lounge and if I eat in here she'll find me just as easily. Where's a place I can eat that she can't? I could eat in the…bathroom? Yeah, the men's room for teachers. It'll be sad but I can't talk to her right now…I'm just not ready to, he thought. With that Will scooped up his lunch and went into the bathroom. Luckily there were no teachers there at the moment.
Where's Will? I know he's here today, I saw his car outside. I can't believe I hurt him so much that he won't even talk to me, Emma thought. She was eating lunch in the teacher's lounge, sitting at what used to be their table, in the back of the room. As she nibbled on a carrot stick she realized where he may be. Duh Emma! His classroom…we ate lunch there sometimes, she thought. Emma quickly packed up her things and headed to the classroom. She peeked through the window but nobody was there. No, where is he? I just…I need to talk to him, Emma thought sadly, as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Emma swallowed hard, trying to escape from crying. Just then Ken Tanaka; Emma's former fiancé walked by, "If you're looking for your little boy toy, he's eating lunch in the little boy's room," Ken said, snickering. "You really are a heartbreaker, M &M," Ken told her, then he walked off.
Emma, you are the stupidest person alive right now! You ruined a perfectly good relationship with Will, by breaking his heart. Oh god…he's eating lunch in the bathroom, surrounded by germs. But what do I want? To be friends again...or more? I'm with Carl right now, I can't just dump him before the dance. Okay, I'll dump him after the dance…because that's me. I'm just the queen of dumping men. Ugh, I hate myself right now, Emma thought, as she returned to the lounge.
After the final bell rang, Will hurried down to the choir room. He didn't want to risk running into Emma by accident. All the members of New Directions were already there, clapping at his return. Will smiled for the first time all day, "Hi everybody. The dance is Monday, so I hope you've been practicing in my absence," Will said.
"We've been practicing a lot, Mr. Schue," Matt said, while the others nodded in agreement.
"Good, then let's get started," Will told them.
The kids all ran through their individual songs and group numbers and after a few hours they were done. Will didn't practice his own song, he'd been practicing a lot the past few days at his apartment. He said bye to the kids, packed up his things, and made his way to the parking lot. Thankfully, his clunker of a car was the only one left in the lot, which meant Emma had already gone. As he approached the car, he noticed a folded-up paper on top of the thin layer of snow on his front window. What's that? He thought to himself as he picked it up and dusted the snow off. Will slowly unfolded the note and began reading.
Dear Will,
I know you probably never want to talk to me again but I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you. What I did to you was wrong on so many different accounts and I'm really sorry. And I know right now you're probably thinking 'Well, sorry doesn't cut it Em.' But there are no words to express how regretful I am of my actions. I heard from Ken that you ate lunch in the bathroom today, no doubt because you were hiding from me. I can't believe that I've caused you so much pain that you had to eat there. It's filled with germs you know. I know you're very hurt and sad right now and you need time to heal from the wounds and pain I've caused you but I really think we should talk this out. I understand if you aren't looking to be friends again right now but I think you should at least hear me out. So if you feel like coming over and listening to my apology and sorting things through, then just call me. I'm pretty sure you have my number but if not its 327-8824. Please call me or just stop by my apartment, when you're ready to talk. I miss you Will and I don't want to lose you forever. –Emma
Will re-read the letter three times before entering his car. As much as the letter had saddened him, it also made him the slightest bit happier to know that Emma still cared for him. I just…I don't even know right now. Half of my heart just wants to run back into her arms and pretend everything's okay but…the other half doesn't even want to look at her, or even speak to her again. And right now, I'm not sure what half to listen to, Will thought glumly as he drove home for the weekend.
Okay, what did you think? I know this is getting sad but trust me, it's all part of the plan. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I feel extremely bad, please don't stop reading and reviewing because of that. I'm thinking to do Monday's school day next chapter and then after that break the dance down into multiple chapters (sorry Moonbike). I hope you like the story so far. Please review! You guys make my day! Promise to update within a week.