Forever Has to Start Somewhere
Chapter 22: The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
"What the hell happened?" Jesse demanded. He was holding his own phone in his hands, staring down at a picture of Puck kneeling in front of Rachel as he wrapped bandages around her knuckles, while he spoke into Adam's.
"Mr. Schue has this brilliant plan to have the football players join glee for the week," Kurt said. "Rachel and Puck performed Need You Now and Azmio made an insult towards Puck. He tried to smash his guitar against Azmio's head and it developed into a full fledged brawl."
Jesse groaned and dragged a hand down his face.
He knew how much the Need You Now number meant to Rachel. She saw it as a chance to prove what she said prior to Sectionals, to show Mr. Schue the talent he was ignoring the club. As much of as pacifist as she was, he knew having that ruined for her would be enough to set her off.
"And she punched him?"
"Nailed him right in the cheek bone," Kurt informed.
"No one stopped her?"
"Sam and Matt both tried, but she ducked under them and went straight for him. Believe it or not, she's the only one who got a punch in."
"Of course she was," Jesse said with a heavy sigh. He pushed his hand through his hair as he questioned, "Where the fuck was Shelby during this whole thing? We hired her specifically to curb Mr. Schue's stupidity."
"She doesn't get to the school until right before Glee Club starts," Kurt said. "Mr. Schue and Coach Bieste planned this whole thing out at lunch. By the time, she got here it was already set."
He bit down on the urge to swear.
"Her hand's the only thing hurt?" Jesse questioned, his hand tightening around his phone as he focused back on the photo. He'd been so caught up in his shock that the how had been the first thing out of his mouth despite how worried he was for Rachel personally.
"Her hand is the only thing hurt," Kurt confirmed. "And even then, it's just a few split knuckles."
Even though she looked fine in the picture, having someone he knew wouldn't lie to him about her well being was enough for Jesse's shoulders to relax.
"Okay, okay," Jesse murmured. He pushed his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "How are you?"
Kurt gave a soft hum before admitting, "It's not going to be a good week. That's for sure."
Jesse frowned. He didn't know much of what was happening with Kurt's bullying situation because Kurt never brought it up with him and he was reluctant to ruin the mood between them by bringing it up.
He glanced at Adam, who sat patiently on the floor with his back against Brody's bed, before saying, "I'll give Adam back his phone so you can talk to him."
"I would appreciate that," Kurt agreed. "I'll have Rachel call you as soon as Puck finishes up with her hand."
"Thank you," Jesse murmured. He held Adam's phone out for him. "All yours."
Adam flashed him a small smile as he closed his fingers around it. He drew the phone to his ear, greeting, "Hey, love."
"Hey, Berry." Rachel turned around in her chair, face still half zombiefied, to find Karofsky standing over her. "I know we're supposed to head to the choir room, but do you think you could help me with something before we do?"
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Is this some rouse to get me alone so you can slushie me as badly as you did Artie the other day?"
"What? No." He rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. "I wanted your help with some of the dancing."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel could see Kurt watching them as he walked over to Mike. She tilted her head slightly, telling him silently to wait before he started summoning the cavalry.
"Wouldn't it be better to ask one of your teammates?" Rachel questioned. "Seeing as how the point of this week is to unite you and all."
"I was going to ask Finn, but then I overheard Hummel saying that he was surprised he managed to get the choreography right."
"Finn certainly isn't the best dancer on the team," Rachel admitted.
"And everyone in this school knows you wanna be famous or some shit," Karofsky continued. "So I figured you must have at least some experience."
She eyed him for a minute before saying, "Michael is a great dancer as well. You could have asked him."
"Mike may be one of us, but he's not going to get on my ass if I get anything wrong. I'm the one that keeps him from hitting that field on his ass." He gave a shrug. "You, on the other hand, aren't afraid of us at all. I saw the way you went after Azmio in the choir room."
She scrunched her nose. "Yes well, Need You Now was very important ot me. I didn't appreciate him ruining it by riling Noah up."
"Right..."
Rachel watched him for another moment.
Standing in front of her, Karofsky didn't seem at all like the person he was when he walked down the hallways. There was something nervous, shy, in the way he was shifting in front of her.
"I'll help you," Rachel agreed after a moment. "But Michael has to stay as well. I don't think my boyfriend would react kindly to finding out I let myself be alone with one of my main tormentors."
"That's fine I guess." He seemed to hesitate before giving her a small nod. "Thanks."
"It's no problem," she dismissed. She bit on her lip in thought for a moment before saying, "If you don't mind my asking, why the sudden interest in perfecting the number? I thought you didn't like the idea of doing it."
He shrugged. "Mr. Schue said he thought I could be good at it if I tried."
"You could," she agreed.
Shock flickered across his face. "Really? I thought he was just saying it because he's a teacher."
A small bolt of satisfaction crawled up her spine at the idea of her opinion on the matter seeming more professional then her teacher's.
"Really," Rachel said. "You've got a nice voice and it would make an excellent addition to the club. You're voice is low enough to compliment Kurt's high register. And you've certainly picked up the choreography quickly, even if you're unsure about it."
"That's good?"
"That's good," Rachel confirmed. She pursed her lips, casting another glance towards Kurt. The boy raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head before turning to Karofsky. "If you find yourself enjoying the half time show, you should consider joining glee club. I know what you've been doing to Kurt is a little more extreme than what Noah ever did, but I think if we can all forgive him for throwing us in dumpsters and throwing slushies at us we can do the same for you."
"Rachel, can you come help me?" Matt whined. She tossed a glance over at him to find him sitting in front of one of the vanities with a pile of wipes in front of him. "It's not coming off."
"I'll be right there." She stood up, tossing the wipes she'd been using on her own face into the trash. She tilted her face up so she was still meeting Karofsky's eyes, despite their height difference. "You should consider what I said."
Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away from him.
"You invited him to join the glee club?" Jesse screeched, coming to a sudden halt. He ignored the way the other people in the courtyard turned to stare at him. "Rachel! I thought we talked about this!"
"You told me not to put myself in anymore physical danger," Rachel responded. "I hardly think that counts."
"I'm pretty sure inviting one of your tormentors into your space is the definition of putting yourself in physical danger!" Jesse answered. He bit down the feeling of wanting to scream sense into her. He demanded, "What were you thinking?"
Rachel was quiet for a minute before saying, "He just seemed so different when he was asking me for help. I thought maybe he could use a place to be that person instead of the person he is in the hallways. The same way Noah does."
"You had a thirty second conversation with him. You couldn't possibly have determined that."
"I'm very good at reading people."
A groan left Jesse's lips. He resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. He took a deep breath before asking, "Have you talked to Kurt about this? Karofsky is a lot worse to him than he is to you."
Rachel said, "Adam had suggested that Karofsky might be targeting him specifically because Kurt is so comfortable with himself and after I told him what I thought, Kurt agreed that it might be the truth. He said it would take him some time before he was comfortable with it, but that he was fine with testing it out."
"Fucking Adam," Jesse swore. He'd been hoping Kurt would put a full stop to this plan. He took another breath before saying, "Rach, I'm just not comfortable with this."
"It'll be fine," Rachel answered. "It's not like I'm going to be alone with him. Mr. Schue won't even give Noah a solo and he's been here practically since the beginning. He's certainly not going to give one to someone who just joined."
"That is not what this is about," Jesse argued.
"I don't see any other reason to worry. None of the others would allow him to hurt Kurt or I when they're in the room." There was silence for a minute before Rachel murmured, "Jesse, I really need you on my side with this."
Jesse felt like crying with frustration.
"It's like you're not hearing a single thing I'm saying," he forced out, his voice half amusement and half exasperation. He let out a soft sigh before adding, "You're certain about this?"
"No. But I'd still like to give a chance."
He scrubbed a hand over his face before nodding. "Alright. But be careful."
Rachel was standing at her locker the Monday after the Championship game when someone leaned against the locker next to her.
"Are you sure I'd do well in Glee Club?" Karofsky asked.
"Positive," she answered. She slammed her her locker shot and turned to look at him. "Despite all the drama and the fact that you had less practice time than the rest of us, you did spectacular during the half time show."
He watched her for a minute before confessing, "I don't want to be a loser. I had enough of losing during football season last year."
"We aren't going to lose," Rachel insisted. "Nationals is in New York this year. It's practically a sign that I'm meant to be there."
His lips turned up in a ghost of a smile.
"You know shit like that is why you get slushied right?" he questioned. Even though his words were rude, she could see the nervous and shy boy she'd seen in the auditorium shining through.
"I'm well aware that most of the students in this school detest the fact that I'm actually going to make it out of this town." She gave him a small smile of her own. "Glee club will be starting in a few moments. Are you coming with me?"
He rolled his lip nervously between his teeth. "You are absolutely sure it's okay? I've been horrible to all of you...Especially Hummel."
"Santana's pushed me to the same levels that you've pushed Kurt. I was playing with transferring for a very long time," she said. "The fact that you recognize that what you've done is wrong already puts you ages ahead of her."
Karofsky stared at her for a minute nodding. He tilted his head down the hallway, "Lead the way."
E/n: Again not much St. Berry in this one, but me introducing another character. Lol remember back when I kept Matt so he could be around more often and than scrapped that almost immediately in favor of Shelby and Karofsky? Bc boy I do. Hopefully you guys are intrigued enough by where I'm going with this to not mind?
As of right now the roster for the future is complete (although I am planning on two members of the current glee club becoming even closer to Rachel). It's just going to be a lot of building their relationships.
Anyway, i actually hated that Azmio pissed pacifist rachel off enough for her to attempt to join the fight but than she got pulled back by Sam. So, I let her get to him in this. And I actually can't believe anyone would go to Finn Hudson for help in a dance number - surely even the football team knows how bad he is at dancing after the whole single ladies thing in season 1 - so I fixed that too.
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