A couple of weeks has gone by. Castiel is settling in, but hasn't made any friends yet. He wants to join Glee-club, and a comment from his new Spanish teacher seals the deal.

Jim Novak, aka Castiel makes a friend.

The new Spanish teacher was a bitch. The whole class had come to a mutual agreement about her status. She mocked them all from the moment she set her foot in the classroom, and it hadn't gotten any better over time.

Castiel was still sitting in the back trying to keep out of it all, but he was pretty sure that she'd discover him sooner or later.

"If I dropped you all off in Tijuana or something, your Spanish would not be good enough to get you a decent meal." Mrs Lopez' voice roared through the classroom. "Will Schuester is a fraud. He doesn't know anything."

They all knew she was talking about the principal, and they were a little taken aback by her harsh words. She panned her audience and chuckled a little. "I love the man to death, but his Spanish sucks." For a moment she looked a little out of her depth. "Oh. Can I say that? Can I say 'sucks' without getting into trouble?"

The whole class nodded in unison, but nobody dared to say a word.

Castiel didn't quite agree with his classmates. He really liked the young teacher. He knew she was speaking the truth, although she could have been a little more subtle about it. He kind of liked Mr Schuester also, so he didn't want to contradict them, but he agreed with her wholeheartedly.

When she professed her love for the man, Castiel felt a little better. He had exactly the same thoughts about the guy. Not that he loved him, but he really liked their principal.

"Is there anybody in here that can translate the text that I gave you last time?" Mrs Lopez paced in front of her desk as she occasionally threw a glance at her class. "Anyone?"

When nobody responded, Castiel noticed that she got a little worked up, so against all his instincts, he volunteered. "I'll do it, Ma'am. I can do it." He drew his breath heavily and was about to start when Mrs Lopez slammed her hand on the blackboard. "Ma'am? If you call me Ma'am ever again, I will fail you."

Castiel had tried to be polite, but that had obviously not gone around well. "Sorry, Ma… Er, Mrs Lopez. I can call you Mrs Lopez, right?" He wasn't sure about anything at the moment. "Yes you can, and if I'm happy with your progress I'll even let you use my first name." She cocked her head as she rested her body against the desk. "Go ahead, read."

He read the text in Spanish, earning a few stares from some of his classmates. He could easily spot the resentment in their eyes, but Cas didn't really care. He'd always been a loner, and if the guy's in Spanish class didn't accept him, it wasn't much of a loss.

Mrs Lopez nodded slowly. "I guess that was good enough." She walked up to the board and grabbed a piece of chalk. "Gracias a la vida. A Chilean song written by Violeta Parra. Learn the lyrics, and translate them." She hesitated for a second before she turned around. "If any of you can sing, I want to hear it next time we meet."

The rest of the session was she concentrated strictly on grammar, but as they left, she reminded them about their homework. "I want a good translation."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Castiel knew the song by heart, so he didn't even bother spending time translating it. He could do it blindfolded, so for him the homework was easy.

The next time he went to spanish class, he felt excited. The new teacher was somewhat intimidating, but she was good.

She had made a point earlier and proved that she was unforgiving, so when the class assembled, a couple of the students tried to make an impression by singing their own version of the song.

They sucked. They really, really sucked. Castiel got embarrassed on their behalf, and he wondered what was to come.

"Seriously? I can't expect you guys to be singers, but the translation was horrible at best. You could at least have cheated and used the internet. Please give me something better."

Castiel clenched his fists and closed his eyes for a moment before he dared to raise from his seat. "This is a beautiful song. Making a good translation is impossible unless you're a professional." He almost hyperventilated for a moment. "I know this song. It should be sung in Spanish."

Without any more ado, he just started.

"Gracias a la vida

que me ha dado tanto…"

He sang half the song without any interruptions, and then he just slumped down totally embarrassed about the whole thing. He could hear that the rest of his class was mocking him a little, but some of them were actually applauding. He was too self conscious to take it to heart.

A tap on his shoulder made him lift his head slightly. "Hey. That was really good. You should join the Glee-club. " Mrs Lopez was standing next to him. "They need people like you. I'll put in a good word."

Cas looked up at her. "I don't think that is needed. They are struggling to get enough people."

Mrs Lopez looked at him dumbfounded. "Really? SO, why haven't you joined them yet? If you like to sing, and they need people..."

She didn't ponder about it, and a few seconds later she was back at her desk. "Mr Novak didn't really give me what I asked for, but it was a nice performance." She grabbed the book from her desk and panned the room. "Lets get on with the curriculum."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He really wanted to join the Glee-club, but his family had been so against it that he hadn't dared to try. With Mrs Lopez' nice words ringing in his ears, he got a little bit more confident about it, so he decided to go for it regardless. Nobody needed to know; it wasn't like he was going to be a lead singer and make a career out of it.

He walked through the hall towards the door of the choir-room where he soon discovered that he wasn't the only one trying out today. The somewhat heavy set African-American girl was busy applying lipstick, and didn't seem to notice that Cas came up behind her.

Castiel looked at her from the corner of his eyes as he walked up to the door. Before he got a chance to reach for the doorknob, the girl grabbed his wrist. "Wait! I'm trying to make an entrance, don't ruin this for me."

She gave him a quick smile as he put the little mirror and the lipstick back in her purse. "Sorry. It's just… I was in the New Directions before, and I know Mr Shue very well." She drew her breath. "I hope he'll be as happy to see me as I am to be back here."

Cas had no problems with that, although he was a little taken aback by her use of a pet name for their principal. "You are talking about Principal Schuester?" He was brought up to respect his elders, and throwing out nicknames like that could easily be perceived as a little disrespectful.

The girl widened her eyes and stared at him for a moment. "Are you kidding me?" She displayed a range of some over-dramatic gestures before she covered her mouth and giggled a little. "Principal, huh? I heard the rumor, but I didn't believe it."

She reached her hand out for him. "I'm, uh, I'm Unique, by the way. What's your name 'Blue eyes'?" Cas took her hand and shook it. "Castiel, Cas. You can call me Cas." He rarely used that name outside of the family because it always spurred some uncomfortable questions, but he felt bold at the moment. Unique raised a brow and cocked her head. "Cas-ti-el? Beautiful." She gave him a quick once-over and frowned a little. "You need a makeover dear. That accountant-look doesn't go with your name. You need glitter and lace, baby."

Unique's plan of making an entrance got ruined by the door being flung open as a dark-haired girl in a short leather jacket came running out. She got visibly startled when she almost ran into them. "Sorry. I…" She looked at them both before she hurried down the hall. "Just go in there. Nobody will bite."

Cas and Unique looked at each other for a second before they both turned towards the girl running down the hall. As they saw her turn the corner they both started giggling. "She speaks funny." Unique shrugged a little and smiled at Cas.

"And you better not tell her that. She will bite your head off." Mr Schuester was standing in the doorway with his arms stretched out. "Wade! Sorry. Unique! I hope you're here to join. I'm in desperate need for a leading lady."

The two of them hugged it out before Will turned to Castiel. "And Mr Novak. Jim, Jimmy. What do you prefer?" He gestured for Cas to enter. Unique threw him a sideways look as she went over to the piano and greeted the pianist. "You're the only familiar face in here. How odd. Where's everybody." Then she turned to Will. "His name is not Jimmy. Is it?" She gave Cas a puzzled stare. "I thought… never mind."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Are you not going to have me audition?" Castiel stared at Mr Shuester as the group shuffled together in front of the piano. After a quick introduction of the members, Will had just urged them to get out of their seats and come over.

"It's okay. Santana..., uh, sorry, Mrs Lopez told me about you, and I trust her judgement. I just need to see how you work together as a group." Mr Schuester handed out lyrics. "We're just gonna do an easy one first."

Will had pushed the boys over on one side, while the girls was standing opposite. Jo stared at Will before she threw her hands out. "Are you kidding me?" She nodded towards Unique. "That's a boy, why is he on this side?"

Cas startled a little, but then he suddenly realized that she was right. Not that he cared one little bit. It was a little strange that the guy dressed and behaved like a girl, but she, or he, or whatever he preferred, seemed like a nice person.

Kevin and Garth had obviously also been taken by surprise, and they both looked like fish out of water. John's subtle nod and the way his lips curled into a crooked smile, told Castiel that he hadn't been fooled at all. Gwen gave Unique a quick once-over before she just shrugged. The Welsh guy didn't react at all. He was leaning on the piano humming through the music in his hand.

Castiel's observation of the rest of the group had only taken a few seconds, and he was about to step up and defend Unique, but Will beat him to it.

"Jo. Enough is enough. I will not tolerate prejudice in this room, whether it is gender, color, sexual orientation or religious beliefs." He was standing right in front of Jo now, and the stare he gave her was not what you could call forgiving. "I need a few more people if this Glee-club is going to survive, but I won't hesitate to kick you out if you can't live by that simple rule."

For a moment it looked like Jo was about to walk away, but then she slumped her head down. "I didn't mean it that way. Sorry, but… explain it to me then." She threw a quick peek at Unique. "If he wants to dress like that it's his choice, but…" She looked up at Will, and Cas could see that she was blushing a little. "I have a feeling that the competition for a female lead is over before it has begun." She waved her hand between herself and Gwen. "I heard what you said when he entered."

Will looked down for a second as he chuckled. "Damn straight. Unique can outsing anybody in this room. Girl or boy. You'll all get your chance to solo, but so far she is the best one in here."

If a pin had been dropped, they would definitely have heard it. It seemed like everybody was holding their breaths waiting for Jo's response. The girl looked like she was about to explode, but then she sighed heavily. "Okay, okay. Let's get on with this then."

Everybody exhaled in unison before they all looked at each other and smiled. Cas didn't know any of them although he'd seen Garth in Spanish class. There had obviously been some commotion about these thing earlier, and he was happy to have avoided being a part of it. If random little dramas were a common occurrence, he wasn't sure if he wanted to stay, but decided to give it a go for now.

"Everybody should know this song from Aladdin. Let's try." Will took a few steps back and gestured for the pianist to start. "Let's just sing it as it is, we can add harmonies later."

With Unique there, the dynamics in the room changed significantly. The excitement she showed just being there rubbed off on the rest of them, and suddenly the group seemed more focused.

Brad was ready, and soon the intro to 'A whole new world' trickled out of the piano.

"I can show you the world…." The boys sounded fine, but Cas was not so familiar with the lyrics, so he had to hum some of them. He had a hard enough time just reading the music. The Welsh guy - that Cas couldn't for his life remember the name of - had the same struggles, and the two of them smiled to each other as they did their best to follow the rest of the group.

On the chorus, John tried to do a harmony, and it went rather well. They could all see that Will nodded in approval.

Unique was leading the girls into their part, and it sounded really good.

When the end chorus came up, John stepped forward and grabbed Unique's hand. The two of them managed to make such a show of it that the rest of them almost became props.

"A thrilling chase, (A wondrous place)…. For you and me…." John and Unique looked into each others eyes and held that last note longer than the rest of them, and when they were done they hugged and giggled a little.

For Castiel, it didn't matter. Four hours ago he didn't even know if he was going to join, and now he was in the middle of it. He wasn't going to compete with those two; he was perfectly content being in the background.

Songs in this chapter:

Gracias a la vida, Violeta Parra

A whole new world. From Disney's Aladdin, M: Alan Menken, L: Tim Rice,