Fifteen minutes earlier, behind the stage

"They´re here," I said and walked out in the room behind the stage. "I can´t do this, I can´t, I just can´t."

"Lex," Mr. Schue began.

"I can´t, I can´t," I sat down. "There´s no way I´m gonna walk out on that stage and sing to them…"

"Lex," Mr. Schue said again.

"I can´t."

"ALEXANDRIA RALSTON" Mr. Schue shouted, and I looked up. "Listen to me. You can do this, I know you can."

"No I can´t."

"Come with me," Mr. Schue said, and he took my arm and pulled me out on the outcasts on the stage, where we could see the audience, though they couldn´t see us.

"Can you see who´s sitting over there?" he pointed to the middle of the audiences, I nodded, Burt and Carole, and smiled slightly.

"They love you," Mr. Schue turned around to look me in the eyes. "And even if your dad and uncle doesn´t, love is so much stronger than hate." He clapped my shoulder. "Besides, do you really want to give your dad and uncle that satisfaction with you being too afraid to go out on that stage and sing your heart out?"

"No."

"Exactly. Now go change."

"And there´s no way we can lose," we heard Tyler´s voice behind us. "We´re the only team with a mascot." He was holding a small hutch I had bought this week, to carry Ned in when I needed to carry him somewhere. I smiled.

"Yeah, yeah of course," I took Ned´s hutch, and walked over with it to the choir room, when my phone beeped, I got it out of my pocket and checked the text- message.

Good luck from New York, loads of love from Kurt, Blaine, Finn and Rebeccah.

I smiled.

"Who was that from?" Tyler had sneaked up behind me.

"It´s Finn, Kurt, Blaine and Rebeccah wishing good luck." I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Who´s Rebeccah?"

"Finn´s girlfriend." I put Ned´s hutch on the piano, then I took the clothes I was gonna wear.

It had been Marcie´s idea, that we were all gonna use like clothes, both girls and boys, it was because, it doesn´t matter where we come from, or who we are, we´re still all the same, so now we were all dressing in black jeans, white button- up shirts, long sleeved, but we were all rolling up the sleeves to the elbows, and black converse. I changed the clothes in the bathroom, then I looked at myself in the mirror.

"I can do it." I said to myself. "I can do it." I took a deep breath, and walked out of the bathroom. I could hear the unitards starting to sing on their song, later it was the warblers, and then it would be our turn. I walked around the auditorium, and to the curtain in the back of it, where I would go through the door, and start singing in just a couple of minutes.

One minute

I could hear Mr. Schue start talking,

Ten seconds

The audience gave Mr. Schue a round of applause

Two seconds

I took a deep breath, then I grabbed the curtain

It´s time

I stepped out in the stairs with the first line and saw big parts of the audience turning around to see who was singing. During the next few lines I walked down the stairs. Forcing myself to act like I had a great amount of confidence I actually didn't- and that through the whole song until it ended.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I said in the microphone. "We´re the new directions. And the next song we´re gonna preform is Mean by Taylor Swift." Tyler and Ethan had grabbed each acoustic guitar, and they started playing

"So, now it´s time for our final song," Tyler said in the microphone after the second song. "It´s skyscraper, by Demi Lovato, enjoy" The music started playing and…

The audience gave us a third round of applause when the song had ended, I was on my way to follow the others in the glee club back in the corridors, when Mr. Schue came out on the stage, with my violin in his hands, he gave it to me, I looked questioning on him, but he just showed me to get back to the middle of the stage, I did as he showed me, and he took a microphone, and gave me one of those microphones that you pull over your head. I took it, and turned it on.

"So, that was New Direction´s three songs." Mr. Schue began. "And now, I would like to say a few things. But… I believe, that Lex here could say them better, if you just turn around Lex." I did as he said, and waited a few seconds, and then… a big picture turned up on the curtain on the back of the stage, and this, was exactly the same picture that I had found of me and Maddie, a couple of weeks ago.

"Hi, my name is Lex Ralston. I survived getting…" I swallowed. "… getting abused… but my sister Maddie did not. And that´s the last picture that was shooted on me and her…. Maddie died just before her eighth birthday, but if… if she hadn´t… today, would have been the day she turned fourteen." I swallowed again, trying to save some time, as I didn´t know what more to say. Mr. Schue took the microphone to his mouth once again, and continued.

"When this is finished today, there´s gonna be teachers from this school, standing in the corridors, and by the doors, with money boxes, and all the revenues we get in those, will be counted, and then it will go to the fund that helps the police and social services, to give children that´s being abused at home, a better life. But, in honor of Maddie, and all those who have not survived. I turn to you Lex, and ask you if you can play the song, I know you know which one." I nodded, and lifted the violin.

I lowered the violin when my voice broke, I was almost crying now, and I looked down to the floor, when I heard Tyler´s voice continuing to sing on the song, and slowly I started singing along, just as the other of the New Directions stepped out on stage one after one and sang along too.

I lowered the violin again. And then the audience started clapping, one after one they stood up and clapped their hands, all along, there were only two people not clapping, and they sat in the front row. And when I saw the looks on their faces, I couldn´t help but start to giggle. Tyler looked back at me. And then it was time for the other two show- choirs and the judges to come back on the stage. A man from the judges took the microphone, and the auditorium went all quiet.

"First of all" the man said. "Well done to all of the glee- clubs here today… This was a hard choice, but we have come to a decision, and we have decided that the ones on third place is…" I grabbed the shoulders on Hayley´s and Tyler´s shirts hard, and bit my lip…

"…The unitards." We put our hands together when the unitards walked of the stage.

"And on first place... the ones that´s going through to regionals of western Ohio is…"

Playlist
First song- Part of me- Katy Perry
Second song- Mean- Taylor Swift
Third song- Skyscraper- Demi Lovato
And at last- Gone too soon- Simple plan