Hi. Like I said when I posted the last chapter, I know that this episode was very controversial and that there are some people who have strong feelings. I did my best to fill the gaps, but ultimately, I do need to stick to canon. Thanks for all your support on the last chapter. Enjoy this one and review if I should keep going.
Chapter 54: I Kissed A Girl
As Finn got home from school with Rachel, he saw his parents sitting at the dining room table, talking with Blaine and Kurt. Did Blaine and Kurt somehow know about what happened with Santana? Had they told Burt and Carole?
Finn gulped, not wanting to go inside. He turned to Rachel. "Can we go to your house instead?"
"Finn, it'll be fine," Rachel said. "You were wrong, but you weren't unprovoked. We'll make sure they hear your side of the story too."
Finn opened the door. When he went inside, Burt, Carole, Kurt and Blaine all looked at him. "Finn, have a seat," Carole said.
Finn sat down. Rachel sat down next to him. Finn figured he might as well speak. "I know what this is about."
"So that's why she slapped you," Kurt said.
"Please don't make it seem like I'm evil," Finn told his family. "I feel really bad about what I did. I wasn't even thinking. She was insulting me in the hall in practically every way possible and I didn't know what else to say that might get her to stop."
"Santana's mean, I know," Blaine said. "But it's terrifying to come out. It was really hard for me. And it's something that you should decide to do on your own."
Finn didn't feel like a lecture. "I know what I did was wrong! I've apologized. And if I'd known what was going to come next, I wouldn't have said that. I didn't know that Reggie Salazar's niece goes to our school and that she would say something."
"What exactly does this ad have to do with Santana anyway?" Rachel asked. "She's not running for congress or related to anyone running."
Burt got out the DVD. "I'll show it to you two." He put the DVD in the DVD player.
"Sue Sylvester want to represent Ohio," the narrator said on the DVD. "She says she shares your values. If that's true, boy do we have some questions. If you're so into family values, why did you promote a lesbian student to be your head cheerleader and when did you plan on telling Ohio families?" Then a photo of the cheerios with Santana circled appeared, followed by a photo of just Santana with a rainbow heart with two linked female symbols in it and "this is the lesbian sign" as the caption. "Here's another questions; why don't you have a husband Sue?" the ad continued. "Is there something else you're not telling us? Sue Sylvester, so many questions."
"That's got to suck," Finn admitted.
"Yes, it really sucks," Carole said. "Finn, I know what she said upset you, but not every gay kid has parents like Burt. There are kids who get thrown out of their parents' houses for being gay."
"I know," Finn admitted.
"A few weeks ago, one of the kids from the It Gets Better videos committed suicide," Blaine added.
"I apologized to Santana," Finn said. "And I'm going to try to help her get through this."
"We are sorry for how she talked to you, Finn," Kurt said.
"But I shouldn't have responded like I did, I know," Finn said. "I already feel bad."
"How do you plan to make things right?" Burt asked.
Finn had to think fast. "Well, we could get the glee club to talk to her about how we accept her and sing songs of encouragement and empowerment to her."
"That's actually a good idea," Rachel said.
"Yeah, it is," Kurt said. "Maybe Blaine and I could kick things off tomorrow?"
"You can," Finn said.
"Well, Finn, I'm glad you're trying to make things better," Carole said.
x
At school the next morning, Finn went straight to the principal's office. Mr. Schue had called his parents last night and asked him to go there before school, and now Finn was worried. Was he in trouble at school, too?
When Finn got to the office, Santana, Ms. Corcoran and Mr. Schue were already there. "You were slapped in the face by Santana yesterday, right Mr. Hudson?" Principal Figgins asked.
"Yes," Finn said. At least it didn't sound like he was going to be lectured here...
Principal Figgins turned to Santana. "Miss Lopez, you're suspended for two weeks. I'm sorry, but since a student had lit firecrackers stuffed down his pants three years ago, we've had a zero tolerance physical violence policy."
"Is that why you suspended all the kids who have been tossing slushies in our faces for the past two years?" Santana asked. Finn was wondering the same thing. Why hadn't Karofsky been suspended for shoving Kurt into lockers last year if the school had a no tolerance policy.
"Slushies are not on the school board's approved list of suspend-worthy weapons," Principal Figgins said.
"Here's what you have to understand: I didn't do it," Santana said.
"We all saw what happened," Mr. Schue said. "You slapped Finn in the face, unprovoked."
"No," Santana continued. "See, you don't get it. When I get really pissed off, Santana gets taken over by my other evil personality. I call her Snixxx. Her wrath of words is called Snixxx juice. I'm kind of like the Incredible Hulk. You can't blame me for anything Snixxx does."
"I'm suspending you and this Snixxx two weeks. No argument," Figgins declared.
"Sectionals is next week," Santana complained. "If you suspend me, I won't be able to beat Grimace and Mr. Schue's butts. Ms. Corcoran, I highly recommend you do something about this."
"I'm sorry, Santana, Sectionals is important, but you need to be punished for what you did," Mr. Schue said.
"I hate to say it, but I agree," Ms. Corcoran added.
"This is garbage. Hamburglar Finn is fine," Santana protested.
Finn tried to think fast. He definitely wouldn't help Santana or make up for what he did if she got suspended. "She didn't slap me. I know that it looked and sounded like she did, but she actually didn't. What is it called in a play or a movie when you pretend to hit someone but you don't?"
"A stage slap," Ms. Corcoran said.
"It was a stage slap. That's what it was," Finn confirmed.
"What is your angle here, Finn?" Mr. Schue asked.
"The truth. If she didn't actually hit me, then you can't suspend her, right?" Finn asked.
"No," Figgins admitted.
"Then that's what happened," Finn confirmed.
"Okay, then I guess you're not suspended," Figgins said. "You're free to go."
As Finn and Santana left the office, Santana turned to Finn. "I'm a mischievous bitch, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell this is about."
Finn tried to start off neutral. "Well, I want Sectionals to be a fair fight. And that can't happen without you on the Troubletones."
"Well, actually, it would only be a fair fight with me off the team," Santana said.
Finn decided to get to the point. "And I also kind of feel bad for you. Look, I know we've been at each other a lot over these past couple of years, but the truth is I think you're awesome. And when you hide who you are, I feel like you hide part of that awesomeness with it. And that's why you act out because you hurt inside... every day." It was like Burt, Carole, Kurt, Blaine and Rachel had helped Finn understand: there could be life changing consequences for this.
"That's sweet, but if you think that, in exchange for keeping me from getting suspended, I'm gonna come..." Santana began.
"Back to the Glee Club?" Finn finished. "Exactly. You and all the Troubletones. I have an idea for a lesson but it won't work out if you're not there."
"Did Ms. Corcoran and Mr. Schue already agree to this?" Santana asked.
"Look, it's up to you," Finn said. "Either you can come back to the choir room and embrace your awesome or take a two-week vacation and enjoy your seat in the audience for Sectionals." He figured he couldn't blame Santana for being cold to him, but he was doing his best to help.
x
"Do you think I have a chance?" Kurt asked Rachel. The election was days away, and Brittany was bribing the school with candy.
Rachel didn't know what to say. She wanted so badly for Kurt to win, but she'd seen the polls. Before she could say anything, Jacob Ben Israel came up to Kurt. "How's the concession speech going? Can I print an early copy on my blog?"
"Who says I'm ready to concede?" Kurt asked. "I'm leading that hockey playing kid by ten percent."
"But that's mostly because he's in a medically induced coma after being brutally checked in a game last week," Jacob snapped. "Also, you're trailing Brittany by 17 points. If this was a horse race, you'd be glue."
"And the glue that keeps this school together when he gets elected president," Rachel declared.
Jacob looked ahead and began running away. "Oh, my God, it's Brittany. Madam President?"
Rachel was glad that Jacob was looking at another girl as if she were eye candy. At least now she didn't have to worry about him being attracted to her. "Don't worry about it, okay? We still have the rest of the day to change the minds of the voters," Rachel told Kurt.
"What's the point?" Kurt asked. "I'm gonna lose unless I pull a JFK."
"You're gonna shoot Brittany?" Rachel asked.
"No, no... when Kennedy ran against Nixon in 1960, he had all his Mob buddies in Chicago stuff the ballot boxes so that he would win Illinois," Kurt explained. "It won him the presidency."
Rachel knew that probably wouldn't work. "No, I can't let you do this, okay? Come on. Can't we just do, like, a great duet in the cafeteria or the library to just drum up some support?"
"I have Kennedy's impeccable hairline," Kurt rambled. "Why can't I have his ends- justify-the-means mentality? If I lose, and my résumé remains blank, I'm not gonna get into NYADA. And I can't accept that."
"You're seriously considering cheating?" Rachel asked.
"What choice do I have?" Kurt asked.
Rachel didn't know what to say to that. She wanted so badly for Kurt to win this election. And like she'd realized last week, her dream was to go to New York with him (and Finn), not alone.
x
Mr. Schue and Ms. Corcoran had agreed that singing to Santana this week was a good idea and that they should all be there for her this week. Mr. Schue had even praised Finn for coming up with this. After school, both glee clubs were in the choir room.
"Can someone tell us what's going on, please?" Mercedes asked.
"This week, the Troubletones and New Directions will both be singing music created by ladies and for ladies," Finn said.
"Oh, hell no," Santana groaned.
"Next week, all of us will be going to Sectionals, and one of us is probably gonna win. But, Santana, we're worried about you," Finn said.
"Worry about yourself, fetus face," Santana demanded.
Finn decided not to respond to yet another insult. "Glee's about learning how to accept yourself for who you are, no matter what other people think. And that's what this music is all about."
"So, wait, I don't even get a say in this? Not cool," Santana snapped.
Finn tried to explain that he was only trying to help. "Everybody in this room knows about you and Brittany. And we don't judge you for it. We celebrate it because it's who you are. Look, I know not everybody outside of this room is as accepting and cool, but we're doing this assignment this week so that you know in this rotten, stinking mean world that you at least have a group of people who will support your choice to be whoever you want to be. That's it. That's what we're doing here. Blaine? Kurt?"
Finn took his seat as Blaine and Kurt went to the center of the room. "Santana, Kurt and I have a song we like to sing to each other in the car and we want to sing that for you right now," Blaine said.
"While there's nothing I'd love more than having two Pretty Ponies serenade me, I think we'd get further staging a gel-ervention for Blaine than singing lady music," Santana sneered.
"I know it's hard. It was hard for me, too. But you can get through this," Kurt said.
"If you could just stop being so defensive," Blaine said, which Finn completely agreed with.
At the end of Kurt and Blaine's song, the glee club applauded, and everyone turned to Santana. "Thank you, guys. Thank you, Finn, especially. You know, with all the horrible crap I've been through in my life... now I get to add that," Santana said.
This wasn't starting off so well.
x
After a few days, Finn decided to approach Santana again. Numerous members of the glee club had sang and declared their support, and today Finn was planning to do so. "So, what do you think of the new assignment? It's pretty sweet, right?" Finn asked.
"Do you realize you're basically forcing me out of the flannel closet?" Santana asked.
Finn knew he was guilty, but he wasn't the only guilty one. "Salazar's ad's going to run. That's what's forcing you to deal with this."
"Why are you getting so worked up about this?" Santana asked.
Well, Finn knew he'd done something wrong. And he knew how bad things could get. "Cause I don't want you to die. A few weeks ago, some kid who made one of those "It Gets Better" videos killed himself. All right? You deal with your anxiety surrounding this stuff by attacking other people, and someday, that's not going to be enough and you might start attacking yourself."
"Well, thanks, but that's never going to happen. I'd miss me too much," Santana declared.
Finn could tell she was continuing to insult him. Maybe trying to reason with her wouldn't get him anywhere. Couldn't she realize he was only trying to help? "Look, you were my first. That means something to me. You mean something to me. If something ever were to happen to you, and I didn't do everything that I could to try and stop it, I'd never be able to live with myself."
That day, Finn performed his song in glee club. He'd done lots of research because he wanted to make the right choice. This song symbolized enjoying your life, no matter what, something that he wanted for Santana. (He had to look at Rachel when he sang the line about a beautiful girl though.) He'd chosen to cover the ballad version, because he thought that would be appropriate for today.
Finn: I came home, in the middle of the night
My father says "What you gonna do with your life?"
Well daddy dear, you know you're still number one
Oh girls, they wanna have fun
Oh girls, they...
The phone rings, in the middle of the night
My mother says "When you gonna live your life right?"
Well momma dear, we're not the fortunate ones
Oh girls, they wanna have fun
Oh girls, they...
That's all they really want...
Those girls, they wanna have fun
Some boys take a beautiful girl,
Oh, and they hide her away from the rest of the world.
But not me, I wanna be the one in the sun.
Girls, they wanna have fun
Oh girls, they...
That's all they really want...
Those girls, they wanna have fun
At the end of the song, Santana came up and gave Finn a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
"We love you, Santana," Finn whispered back.
x
Election day was here. Finn, Kurt and Rachel stood in the gym, waiting to cast their votes. Rachel hadn't stopped thinking about her conversation with Kurt. He didn't think he could get into NYADA if he didn't win the election. So she'd made dozens of xeroxes of the ballot on her dads' copy machine and put them in her purse. She knew that cheating was wrong. But she wanted Kurt to get into NYADA. And she figured this was a risk worth taking.
Jacob came up to where Finn, Kurt and Rachel were standing. "Come on. One last interview before you lose."
Finn pushed Jacob away. "Hey, hey, hey, give it a break."
"God, I feel like a lamb waiting in line to be slaughtered," Kurt told his brother and friend.
"Chin up, Kurt. It's not over till all the votes are counted," Finn encouraged.
Rachel tried to hide her nervousness. "Yep, and you're going to get loads. Look, look, Quinn is going into the voting booth right now. She's definitely going to vote for you."
When Rachel got to the booth, she took a peek out to make sure no one was looking. Then she reached into her purse and put the fake ballots in the box. Would she get caught? Would people fall for it? They were in the box now. She couldn't do anything now. She left the booth, hoping Kurt would win anyway so it wouldn't matter.
But Rachel couldn't stop thinking for the rest of the day. Even in glee, when she and all the other girls sang the number they'd put together, her mind was on Kurt, not on the song.
"Okay, okay. Update, y'all," Santana said at the end of the number. "Um, I told my parents last night, and they were actually okay with it."
That was some good news. Rachel applauded as Santana continued talking. "I just have to tell my Abuela before she sees that stupid commercial. But luckily she only watches Univision."
Principal Figgins came in. "Excuse me, New Directions and Troubletones singing groups. Mr. Kurt Hummel, I need to see you in my office immediately."
Kurt got up and followed Figgins out of the classroom. Rachel didn't know if this was good or bad, so she went outside as well and waited outside Figgins's office.
"Do you think it's good news or bad news?" Rachel turned and saw Finn.
"I don't know," Rachel admitted. "I hope it's good." She was about to tell Finn about the boxes. But she couldn't. Finn and Rachel stood outside the office before Kurt came out in tears. "Someone stuffed the ballot boxes. They think I did it. If they can prove it, I could be suspended."
Rachel knew she had to tell him. "Oh, my God, Kurt..."
"And I lost," Kurt continued. "I lost the election. I lost the lead in West Side Story. I can forget about New York and NYADA, 'cause they'll never take me now. You know, the worst part is that I really, for a second, thought I won."
"Kurt, I'm so sorry..." Rachel began.
"I have to find Blaine," Kurt said before running away.
Finn turned to Rachel. "Rachel, I want you to know, I didn't do this."
"I did it," Rachel admitted.
Finn looked shocked. "What? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking. I just... I wanted to help him so bad," Rachel explained.
"You have to go tell Figgins," Finn said.
"I can't, I'll get suspended," Rachel protested.
"Rachel, Kurt'll get suspended," Finn pointed out.
That was true. Rachel would rather get in trouble than see Kurt get in trouble. Shelby had told Rachel she had a good resume. She couldn't let Kurt get suspended.
"Okay," Rachel said. "I just... I wanted to help him."
"I know you did," Finn said.
"I'll go tell him," Rachel said. But by the time she got to the office, the principal was already gone.
x
The next day, Rachel made it to the principal's office. "I need to tell you something, Principal Figgins," Rachel said.
"And what is that, Miss Berry?" Principal Figgins asked.
"You know how the ballot boxes had more ballots than seniors?" Rachel asked, feeling her heart beating fast.
"Yes," Principal Figgins said.
"Well, I did it," Rachel said. "Kurt Hummel is my best friend and I wanted him to win so I xeroxed my ballot and made a bunch and put them in the box. Kurt didn't even know."
"You did?" Figgins asked.
"Yes," Rachel admitted. "I just wanted him to win and to get into the school."
"Well, you're suspended for a week," Figgins told Rachel. "This is going to go on your record."
Rachel nodded. She knew that this was to be expected. "Sectionals are next weekend..."
"I'm sorry, Miss Berry, but that includes Sectionals."
"I guess I'll go get my stuff," Rachel said. "Can I please at least tell Mr. Schuester?"
"Yes," the principal said.
Rachel couldn't believe it. What if New Directions lost Sectionals? She'd never get to compete again. Finally, she reached the choir room and walked in.
"Rachel?" Mr. Schue said as she came in.
Rachel faced the group. "I just, um, told Principal Figgins that I rigged the election so that Kurt would win. Kurt, please, don't hate me. You're totally in the clear."
"What did he say?" Finn asked.
"He said that he had no choice but to put it on my permanent record, and that I'm suspended for a week," Rachel said. "Also he said that I was banned from competing at Sectionals." Rachel couldn't face them anymore. She turned and left the room, Finn and Kurt running after her.
"Rachel..." Kurt began.
"I'm so sorry, Kurt," Rachel said, feeling close to tears.
"I didn't think you would do that," Kurt said.
"I'm so sorry," Rachel said. "I want you to be able to get into NYADA and I felt so bad for what I did earlier."
"Well, I'm glad you care so much about me," Kurt said.
"I'm glad you ended up confessing," Finn said. "I'm sure it was hard, but you did the right thing."
"Guess we both had to do the right thing to make up for something wrong this week," Rachel admitted. "I can't be here. I have to go home."
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