A/N: Fell asleep last night before I could post this, so sorry about that. I've been really busy with work too, but I promise that I will keep updating this story! Again, if you have any song ideas for this next assignment, shoot me a PM. And please review, I like to know what you are thinking and liking and not liking.
Enjoy :)
"Ashleigh!" Briar Matthews-Rayne called from the bottom of the stairs. "Come on, sweetheart, it's time to go."
Ashleigh stuck her head out from the bathroom, half-way through putting her eyeliner on. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she assured before turning back to the mirror. "I don't know why we have to be so early," she grumbled quietly to herself.
"I have to meet with a student before school," Briar responded, and Ashleigh winced. Maybe she wasn't as quiet as she thought she was being.
A few minutes later, Ashleigh made her way down the stairs, hair and makeup done, looking beautiful as always. She gathered her stuff, trying to ignore the annoyed look of her mother from the doorway.
"Bye Daddy," Ashleigh murmured as she passed Jackson Rayne in the kitchen, giving her father a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight."
"Bye, sweetie," he called, watching her flutter away.
"Okay," Ashleigh said as she slipped on her shoes. "Let's go."
Briar nodded, picking up her purse. "Alright, come on," she said, picking up her purse and moving to the door. "Bye honey," she called over her shoulder as she exited the house, Ashleigh close behind her.
Ashleigh followed her mother into the car, humming to herself.
Cause when I'm kissing you my senses come alive
Almost like the puzzle piece I've been trying to find
Falls right into place you're all that it takes
My doubts fade away when I'm kissing you
"What are you singing?" Briar questioned as she slid her key into the ignition, starting the car up and pulling out of the driveway.
Ashleigh paused, turning to her mother. "Oh, just something I sung in Glee last week," she explained.
Briar nodded. "Yes, Riley Rodger's club. Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes," Ashleigh said, brightening. "It's fun."
"Is everyone there nice?"
Ashleigh sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yes mother, everything is fine," she assured, glancing out the window as they pulled up to the school, her mother parking the car in the nearly empty parking lot. They always got here early, even compared to the other teachers, and especially compared to the other students.
Her mother stopped the car, slipping outside and grabbing her things from the backseat. Ashleigh followed slowly, lazily walking over to her mother.
"I'll see you after school, yes?" Briar questioned as she the walked through the parking lot and into Westbank High.
"Actually, I have practice," she said. "And then I think Dylan and I are going to do something."
Briar scowled at the mention of Dylan, and Ashleigh scowled. "Why do you do that every time I talk about him?" she questioned sharply, knowing very well that her mother didn't approve of her boyfriend.
"What face?"
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she murmured, turning down the hall the led to her locker. "See you later," she called over her shoulder, pretending she didn't hear her mom calling after her.
Ms. Rodgers clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention, as she often did, smiling brightly at the group. She was much too excited for an adult who was about to spend an hour with some generally disgruntled teenagers. Emilio didn't really mind anyways, he kind of enjoyed her enthusiasm actually.
"So, guys, fabulous job last week, everyone who performed an introduction song did wonderfully," she praised, eyes sparkling. "Sorry to those who didn't get a chance to perform, which is why I think I'm going to start holding glee club three times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I would like for everyone to try and make it to at least two practices a week, sound good?' Without waiting for an answer, Ms. Rodgers clapped her hands together once more. "Now, onto this week's assignment."
The teacher stepped back, turning to write on the board.
"Duets?" Emilio questioned out loud, nodding. "Sweet."
"Lame," coughed Shay from the front seat.
EJ rolled his eyes. "You're lame," he shot back impulsively.
"Enough," Ms. Rodgers snapped, and EJ sunk back into his chair. He had never heard her speak so sharply. Her face re-brightened quickly, and she picked a piece of paper off of the piano.
"So, last night I put all your names in a hat and random drew your partners," Ms. Rodgers announced excitedly. She smiled at the teen, looking as if she were waiting for someone to give her a drum roll. When nobody did, she returned her eyes to the paper.
"Perry and Elizabeth," she read out.
EJ glanced around, looking for the two girls in question. Liz had a small smile on her face, nodding as she glanced back at Perry, who met her gaze for a moment before nodding and looking away.
Ms. Rodgers grinned, probably happy that there hadn't been any complaining yet. "Dylan and Levi."
A scoff came from the front corner, immediately followed by a reprimanding from Ashleigh, who was rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.
"Sunny and Greg," Ms. Rodgers announced next.
EJ elbowed Greg beside him, who nodded and grinned, eyes searching the room for his new-found partner.
"Anya and Spencer."
Speedy grinned from the front, turning and waving to Anya, who shyly smiled back at him.
"Alright," Ms. Rodgers continued, her excitement still not dissipating. "Sabrina and Ashleigh."
There was a excited squeal from the front row, and EJ turned his head just in time to see Sabrina and Ashleigh high five each other.
Ms. Rodgers eyes scanned the page. "Shay and Jordan."
Besides the rolling of Shay's eyes, neither girl made any move that indicated that they had even heard what their teacher had just said.
"And finally, Evan and Emilio."
Emilio nodded to himself, turning to meet Evan's green eyes, who were staring back at him from across the room. The older boy gave a charming smile, and EJ felt himself blushing before he turned away.
"Alright, so that's all for now," Ms. Rodgers said, still beaming. "I'll let you guys get to it."
The room slowly erupted into noise. Sabrina and Ashleigh were chatting animatedly at the front, Dylan still sat beside his girlfriend, not making any move to go see Levi. Speedy was making his way up to Anya, who sat close to a now-reading Jordan, who seemed more focused on her book than she did on Shay. Not that Shay was making any move to interact with her either. EJ looked around. Then again, Shay might've left all together.
EJ watched as Liz stood to meet Perry. "So, you free tomorrow after school? Your house or mine?" he heard Liz ask somewhat awkwardly.
"Yours," Perry responded without a second thought, tone decisive.
Liz nodded. "Okay, sounds good."
Emilio turned to Greg, who had just patted him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go talk to Sunny," he said, motioning to the girl in the corner. "Wish me luck."
"Luck," EJ responded quickly as his friend moved away.
"So," Evan said as he approached EJ, pulling a hand out of the pocket of his jeans. "I guess we're partners."
Emilio nodded, standing. "Guess so."
Evan offered him a hand. "I don't think we've really met," he continued. "I'm Evan."
Emilio grinned, taking his hand. "You can call me EJ."
"So, what do you think of this whole duet thing?" Evan asked, turning to Shay and lowering his voice so their teacher didn't hear.
Shay turned slowly to look at Evan, eyes narrowing. "You're really gonna talk to me?" she asked sharply.
Evan furrowed his brows. "Well, yeah, I'm just trying to be nice," he said. " All I was wondering is if you thought the assignment for this week was cool or not."
Shay rolled her eyes. "I think its lame," she responded lazily. "No way am I going to get together with that freak of a girl and sing some song."
"Oh," Evan said, sinking back into his chair. Then again, he probably should have expected that answer anyway, or at least something that was just as snarky. "Well, I think Emilio and I are actually going to perform something."
"Have fun with that," scoffed Shay sarcastically.
"So you aren't even going to prepare a song or anything?"
Shay sighed. "Do you not speak English?" she questioned. "I said I'm not going to talk to that dweeb that Rodgers paired we with, which I think means we probably won't be singing together."
Evan sighed. Fine, if she didn't want to talk to him, then she didn't have to. He turned his attention back to the front, trying desperately to focus on math instead of the broken girl sitting next to him.
Levi snuck quietly into the house, creeping through the kitchen on his toes in a desperate attempt not to wake his sleeping mother, who had passed out on the living room coach.
It was just after school, and the house already felt dark and heavy. He wondered if his mother had even gone outside at all today. Then again, he wouldn't be very surprised if she hadn't, she didn't often leave the house any more, not since his father had left.
Levi tried his best to tidy up the messy kitchen, but gave up after the clinking of plates and empty bottles caused his mother to stir.
"Levi?" came the sharp call from the coach. Ava Black glared at him through dark, bloodshot eyes, her black hair dishevelled. "What are you doing, boy?" she questioned, motioning for him to approach her.
Levi did so, ringing his hands in front of him. "Just cleaning up, ma," he said, wrinkling his nose at the heavy smell of alcohol that surrounded her.
"Well you're being awfully loud about it," spat Ava, eyes rolling.
Levi's hand curled into a fist. "Sorry, ma," he said through his teeth.
"Get out of here, boy," Ava said, waving a lazy hand through the air.
Levi nodded, exiting the room without a word, and if his mother wasn't so drunk, he might've been worried about her hearing him angrily smashing his fingers against the keys of his piano.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home," Elizabeth called as she stepped through the threshold of her house, Perry trailing closely behind. She kicked off her shoes, moving further into a the house and motioning for Perry to follow her.
It was a nice house, averaged-sized and fairly neat, except for Liz's room of course, which was full of clutter and dark clothing. She had tried to tidy up a bit, but still... "Sorry about the mess," Liz apologized as she led Perry upstairs in and into her bedroom.
Perry nodded, not responding. She had her hands in the pockets of her too-big jeans, face neutral and she slowly looked around Elizabeth's room. It made Liz feel a little weird, like she was under a microscope, even if Perry wasn't even looking at her. No one had really paid that much attention to her before.
"Elizabeth, I thought I heard you come in-," Elizabeth's mother began, pausing as she saw Perry. "Oh, um, hello," she said, slightly taken aback, for which Liz feel a bit sheepish. She didn't often bring friends around.
Perry turned, setting down the book that she had picked up off Liz's desk. She offered the older woman a small smile and held out her hand. "I'm Perry," she introduced. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Fletcher."
"Please, call me Kathrine," she replied, recovering from her surprise and taking Perry's hand, giving it a shake. She stepped back, looking at the two girls. "Well...is there anything I can get your girls?" she asked.
"I think we're good mom, thanks," Liz responded quickly. "We just have to practice something for Glee."
Katherine nodded. "Okay, well, I'm here if you need anything," she said, biting her lip. She stood there uncomfortably for another moment, watching Perry. "And, um, leave the door open, alright?"
"Mom," Liz groaned, blushing. "Don't do that," she exclaimed.
'Liz, honey, I'm just being a mother," Katherine protested.
Elizabeth flushed even more, glancing to Perry before looking back at her mom. "Stop," she hissed. "Perry isn't even gay."
"Oh, I am," Perry spoke up before either woman could speak again, resulting in two sets of eyes turning onto her. "Gay, I mean. I'm gay," she clarified simply. "But I promise, Mrs. Fletcher, I have no ill intentions with your daughter."
Katherine gaped at the Spanish girl, nodded. She glanced back at her daughter. "Um, yes, well, door open," she reminded before quickly fleeing the room.
"You and your mother look a lot alike," Perry commented after a beat of silence, turning to look at Liz, who had her mouth wide open. "What?"
Elizabeth swallowed, trying to collect herself. She had never seen anyone come out so casually, but then again Perry had probably done it a dozen times before, just not to Liz. "You're, um...really good with people's parents," she said finally.
Perry hardened again. "Yeah," she responded.
"Are you that nice to your parents?"
Perry furrowed her brows. "Why wouldn't I be good with other people's parents?" she asked sharply. "I happen to think I'm quite charming."
"You are!" Elizabeth assured quickly, and then felt her cheeks grow hot again. She looked away, biting her lip, and she when Perry didn't speak again, took a deep breath. "And you're gay?"
"I am," Perry said, tilting her head to the side and giving Elizabeth a small smile. "I didn't think you'd have a problem with it, considering..." she teased, raising a brow.
"I don't, I don't," Elizabeth nodded quickly. "So, have any ideas for our song?" she asked quickly, changing to subject.
Perry sat back on Liz's bed, pulling a laptop out of her backpack. "I had a few different options in mind..." she began typing quickly.
Elizabeth sat down beside her, glanced over Perry's shoulder. They spoke in quiet voices, considering that the door was open, and Elizabeth found herself enjoying Perry's company a lot more than she would've expect. They got along really well, and that didn't usually happen.
Perry also had a beautiful voice, and it always surprised Elizabeth when the other girl sang. Then again, she had only really heard her once before, and not like this. It was fun, singing with a friend, and by the time 2 hours had passed Liz's throat was beginning to get sore.
"My parents say you can stay for dinner, if you want," Elizabeth offered as she re-entered the room, handing Perry a glass of water.
Perry nodded. "Sure," she responded. "I would-" She was cut off but the ringing of her phone, and Perry dug in her bag to pull of the cell, answering her quickly. "Hello?"
Perry stood holding the phone close to her ear. Liz couldn't make out what the person on the other end was saying, but watched as Perry's brows furrowed.
"Whoa, slow down there baby, okay?"
A flash a jealousy ripped through Liz's stomach at the sound of the pet name, but she quickly ignored it.
Perry was already beginning to gather her things. "Okay, it's okay, baby, I'll be right there," she assured. "Okay, love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone, throwing her backpack over her shoulder and looking up at Liz. "Elizabeth...I have to go," she said, voice apologetic. "Tell your parents I'm sorry, um, bye," she called over her shoulder, rushing out of the room.
"Bye," Liz murmured, but Perry was already gone.