Forever Has to Start Somewhere
Chapter 24: Comeback
"Absolutely not," Shelby declared.
She was sitting in the second chair in Emma's office. Her legs were crossed at her knee and her arms cover her chest.
"See," Will declared, waving a hand at Shelby. There was a triumphant grin on his face. "I told you Shelby wouldn't go for it."
Emma shot him a look before fixing on her. "Shelby, Sue is a very fragile emotional state right club would be a good outlet for her."
"She spelled suicide using her own name. Her attempt involved incredibly weak vitamins," Shelby deadpanned. "She is perfectly fine. This is clearly an attempt to regain the attention losing at regionals took from her."
"Sue has a history of messing with the glee club. If she's in the club, you can keep a better eye on her."
"We'd also be giving her more information for when she inevitably turns on us." She continued, "Not to mention, I was hired for the sole purpose of protecting those kids from the bullying Will was allowing to happen. Sue has showed on multiple occasions that she's not against using their emotional states against them. There's too much going on in the club right now to add that to the mix."
The smile had fell off Will's face. He glanced over at her, "What do you mean?"
Shelby looked at him before heaving a sigh, "Honestly, are you really that oblivious to what's happening in that club? Rachel's been slowly recruiting various members of the club to do duets with so she can prove that she was right with what she said before sectionals – and, as I told you at sectionals, she is absolutely correct. People have been telling Sam that Quinn got mono by cheating on him with Finn and it's clear that while he doesn't necessarily believe it, he does think Finn has feelings for Quinn. Considering the fact that they already don't like each other, I don't imagine it's going to take very long for that to blow up. Then there's David's introduction to our club. Kurt may have okayed it, and the two of them have certainly made progress, but he's still dealing with a lot emotionally. Adding Sue's bullying into the mix would just be a disaster."
The other adults in the room gaped at her.
"How do you know that much about their personal lives?" questioned Emma.
"Because I pay attention to them," Shelby declared. She leaned forward so she could look at Will as she said, "You get so caught up in your own drama that you ignore what's happening in their lives. You tell those kids your there for them, but you have absolutely no idea what's going on in their lives until they tell you. There are kids in that group who need help, but will never come to you on their own. I don't know what happened to you Will, but you haven't been the same since last year. You were their hero. They talk about all the things you did for them constantly. You messed up before sectionals last year, but you found a replacement and fixed your mistake. You supported Finn and Quinn when you found out she was pregnant, and than did the same for Puck, Quinn, and Finn when you found out who the father was. You found a solution for Finn and Puck when they were on the verge of getting expelled for slashing Vocal Adrenaline's tires. You came to my house to talk to me about the situation with Rachel and how I was harming her."
Shelby pushed her self to her feet as she took a deep breath. "You want to help Sue comeback from her depression? How about bringing yourself back from yours first. Because I'm working hard to get to know those kids and I'd like to think a few of them are starting to like me, but there's not a single one of them that don't want you back. Not even Rachel, for all her complaints about you."
She looked at Emma and stated, "Sue is not joining New Direction's for any period of time."
Then she turned on her heel, the move had both of the others in the room flashing back to Rachel doing the exact same thing, and strolled out of the room.
"They're all doing it?" Jesse questioned.
Rachel made an agreeing sound. "Everyone except Finn, Kurt, and David."
"Why aren't they?"
"Kurt said that while he loves Justin Bieber, he refuses to subject himself to any jokes by singing one of his songs. David excused himself by saying he didn't have anyone to sing Justin Bieber to. Finn thinks the whole thing it stupid, but I think that has more to do with everything going on with him and Quinn."
"Ah yes," Jesse said, drawing in a breath. "The great mono scandal."
"You are vastly overplaying this whole thing."
"New Directions overplays everything. I am simply following the trend." He took a sip of his latte. Now at the end of February, it had started to warm up again, but not enough for him to go back to iced drinks. "You should talk to him."
"Why?"
"You know better then anyone what it's like to be burned by Finn Hudson and Quinn Fabray's inability to think of anyone but themselves," he pointed out. "Don't you think he could use someone who understands?"
She hummed softly. "I think Santana is doing just fine on that front."
"Ahh I see..." He went quiet for a minute before saying, "Are you sure leaving him to Santana is a good idea?"
"No. But I'm not willing to get in her way either. I don't need another blowout with her this soon after the last."
"Fair enough."
They fell quiet for a while before Rachel said, "Bringing us back to the original topic, feelings on Justin Bieber?"
"Personally, not a fan," Jesse answered. "Professionally, I recognize that he fits perfectly into the mold of a teen idol while still being moderately talented. His popularity is understandable."
"Mmm..."
He picked out exactly where her train of thought was heading. "I take it the Justin Bieber Experience has appealed to you as well?"
"A little bit," she admitted, a trace of embarrassment in her voice.
He smiled to himself. He hummed a bit before singing softly, "I always knew you were the best, the coolest girl I know. So prettier than all the rest. The star of my show."
"Mercedes!" Rachel called as she hurried up to her. She came to a stop in front of her locker. Mercedes watched her with a raised eyebrow. "I just wanted to say thank you for performing with me this week."
She stared at her for a minute before slamming the door shut.
She looked down at Rachel as she said, "Look, I don't really like you. I find you annoying and obnoxious and somehow you managed to steal my best friend over the summer even though he couldn't stand you when school let out." Rachel opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off by Mercedes speaking again, "But, you know what your talking about when it comes to singing. I appreciate you sticking up to Mr. Schue and trying to show him that you and Finn aren't his only options."
"You're a great singer, Mercedes," Rachel complimented. "I consider myself more talented, but I have never denied that fact."
They watched each other for a minute.
"Rachel!" Both of their heads turned to see Matt and Mike standing at the end of the hall. "You have a free period right now, right?"
"Yes," she called back. "Do you need help with something?"
"Pre-Calc," Matt admitted.
"I'll be right there." Rachel turned her attention back to Mercedes. She gave a small smile, "Like I said, thank you for performing with me despite the fact that we don't really get along."
She gave a small nod before jogging towards Mike and Matt.
Mercedes watched them walk away. As she did, a thought of what could have been ran across her mind.
"Mercedes!" she turned her head to see Quinn hurrying towards her. The broken look on the blonde's face reminded Mercedes of when she'd stayed with her while pregnant. "Can I stay with you for the night?"
"Of course," Mercedes agreed, all thoughts of Rachel chased away from her mind. "What happened?"
"Sam found out that I kissed Finn. He's going out with Santana now."
E/n: So i always found it unrealistic that Mercedes and Quinn weren't closer when Mercedes had practically carried her through her pregnancy and labor? Fixed that.
I feel like there hasn't been a lot of St. Berry in the last few chapters? Hopefully you don't mind that? Let me know if you do!
Songs in this chapter: Justin Bieber's "Favorite Girl"
Happy holidays!
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