So this week was going to be a big week. Sectionals were going to be coming up soon and we needed to be ready. On top of that, they were also doing yearbook photos this week. I kind of wished that the football team could wait until after the playoffs were over, but they must have only had the photographer for one week. I also knew that I wasn't going to dress up for picture day. No one really cared what your sophomore photo looked like. It was mainly because I didn't want to wear a dress while someone takes pictures of me. It sounded uncomfortable. I didn't think that I would ever be able to be a model.
"I'm really nervous about this." Chrissy told me in the morning before we were about to head to school.
"You don't need to be. This isn't a big deal." I assured her.
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have to be all pretty for the Cheerios photo." She declared. Was she going to be in the center? I supposed that she was the main flyer with Quinn not cheering anymore. I also needed to talk to Quinn because one of the things that she had been stressed about last time was not being in the photo, but I didn't think that there was any indication that Coach Kiernan wouldn't let her be.
When we got to school, I couldn't help but notice that Katie had gotten a lot of old yearbooks out. The first thing that I wondered was where she had even managed to find them. Did the library just have a bunch of old yearbooks? Actually that did seem plausible.
"Where's Rachel?" Katie asked. I didn't see her but I wasn't sure why it was a big deal.
"I haven't seen her yet." I answered.
"Perfect." Katie declared. "Glee stands on a delicate precipice. We have all felt the cold humiliation of a slush to the face, but as of right now our relative anonymity as a club shields us from more persecution."
I was pretty sure that she was not shielded from much persecution at all. People knew who she was as the trans girl at school.
"Based on my investigation, I am of the opinion that a yearbook photo would only fan the flames of anti-Glee club hysteria." She continued. I was pretty sure that she was being overly dramatic. It also seemed like there were some individuals at the school who were actually willing to take a stand against bullying. She started to list off examples that I was pretty sure were completely coincidental, especially since I knew that nothing would happen to us as a result of the photo.
"None of that is going to happen to any of us." I declared. I kind of wished that I could tell them what I knew, but I knew that they wouldn't believe me. Also some of those people were only in Glee club, pretty much everyone in the club was also involved with something else.
"Hey guys, are you looking at old yearbooks?" Mr. Schue asked.
"They're pretty gruesome," Sam commented.
"And that's a little bit unfair, but I can assure that this year's photo will have a Glee club photo with every one of your smiling faces in it. You have my word." Mr. Schue declared. I could notice that there were a lot of frowns around the room at that.
I found out that I was going to one of the first photos. We were all going to be wearing our uniforms for the shoot as was to be expected. It would have been strange if we didn't to be honest.
"So we're just going to hold up last year's trophy?" I asked Coach Tweedy.
"I know it would be better to wait until we win this year, but the school doesn't want to wait and the trophy will pretty much look the same. At least it will be better than last year's when we didn't have a trophy."
I supposed that they could just edit it into the yearbook later. We already had a photo in the trophy case though, so I wasn't sure why we needed to be doing it.
We headed out for the photo and sure enough, I was expected to be in the center and holding the trophy.
"Now I want one of just the team captain." The photographer told me.
"Coach, we don't need a photo of just me." I argued.
"Faith, you're the reigning league MVP and you're the favorite to win it again this year too." She pointed out.
"It just feels like we're taking up extra space in the yearbook that could go to someone else." I remarked. I wasn't sure why we didn't have a photo in the yearbook because Sue wasn't hogging all of it this year. Granted, it was possible that they just thought that we didn't deserve it…which was fair.
"You know what? That sounds fair." She admitted. "I'm a little bit surprised by your humility though. I think that maybe you should at least take one for your mother. It's not often that you get a professional photographer. I will pay for an 8x10 for you. Also why does this country not have the metric system? It's so much easier to understand when everyone uses the same thing. Do you know how hard it was to learn it when I came here?"
"No." I answered as I headed over to pose for the photo. You know it was nice of her to do that, even though I was pretty sure that I didn't need. I also had no idea how much something like that would cost. I hoped that it wasn't too much. Maybe I would be able to pay her back.
"So how has the coaching been going?" She asked.
"I mean I can't really do much more until the spring because the parents don't want their kids practicing in the cold." I explained. At least I was still getting paid for it.
"Now you can see why I didn't want to coach children." She quipped. "Also I'm trying to get used to you having your photo taken. If everything works out for you the way that I think it will, you're going to be dealing with a lot of photographers. Look at David Beckham and Messi."
I actually had been studying up on more footballers lately, I even knew that was the correct term for them. It was weird having a big goal for myself that I actually believed that I could do. I mean I did believe that I could have eventually become a teacher, but I really didn't have a chance as a football player and probably not as an actor either…and I also got kicked out of the Army. I actually wanted to be a footballer and it was possible that I could do it.
After we were done with the photo, I decided that I needed to talk to Quinn. I wanted to know if she was really going to be in the photo like I thought that she would be and the best way to find out would be to talk to her.
"So were you going to be in the Cheerios photo this year?" I asked her.
"Yes, I'm not going to be in the middle, but I should still be there. I have to behind some of the other girls in order to hide my baby bump." She told me.
"Are you okay with that?" I questioned.
"I mean I guess so. I wish that I was in the middle but it was hard uniform just to get a uniform that would fit me. I don't want to push too many boundaries." She explained.
"So are you still going to be traveling to competitions with the squad?" I asked.
"I mean. I'm listed as being injured with a hernia." She answered.
"It kind of sounds like you could get in trouble for lying." I pointed out.
"It's technically not a lie." She admitted. "I do have a small one. I can't really afford the surgery to get it removed right now. My parents cut me off from my health insurance…which is why I'm glad that you're still getting paid, but I can't ask you to pay for that for me."
I was conflicted. I didn't know how much it would cost for the surgery there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to afford it anyway. I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to get Quinn some health insurance. Wasn't that Obamacare stuff supposed to help with that? Could you get it if you were under 18? I didn't think she would be able to use our health insurance just because she was living with us. I was pretty sure there was paperwork or something? The American health insurance system was confusing and I knew I didn't want to become involved in it.
"So I used to love taking pictures but I don't know how I feel about it now, Part of me doesn't even want my regular picture in the yearbook because everyone will know that I was pregnant." She admitted. I could see why that would suck.
"Can you do something to hide your pregnancy?" I questioned. "You're not that big."
"I don't know. It would probably be better for me just to not take them. I mean there's no one to buy the pictures anyway." She declared. I couldn't help but hate how she was so sad about this.
"Well what about after the baby is born?" I questioned. "Do you think that you want to take pictures of your baby?"
"I don't know. I don't know how I feel about posting them on Twitter." She explained. "I don't know if I really want everyone on the internet to see pictures of my baby. I do have a good song about pictures that I can sing though."
You know I was a little surprised that we didn't have any assignment for this to be honest. It seemed like Mr. Schue was so focused on getting the picture that he forgot to give us one.
This is the clock upon the wall, this the story of us all
This is the first sound of a newborn child before he starts to crawl
This is the war that's never won, this is a soldier and his gun
This is the mother waiting by the phone praying for her son'
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Hung upon the wall for the world to see
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Remind us all of what we used to be
Confess to me every secret moment
Every stolen promise you believe
Confess to me all the lies between us
All the lies between you and me
We are the boxers in the ring, we are the bells that never sing
There is a title we can't win no matter how hard we might swing
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Hung upon the wall for the world to see
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Remind us all of what we could have been
One thing that I was a little surprised by was the fact that Mr. Schue seemed to think we were interested in buying the yearbook. As freshmen and sophomores, we really didn't have much use for it. It wasn't like it was the senior yearbook. Sure, our parents might want it, but it wasn't something that really appealed to us. Okay, I was a little curious about last year's yearbook since it existed in a time before I was here, but I didn't know if I should look at it. It was a version of me that wasn't me if that made any sense. What happened last year hadn't really happened to me. Maybe I was just overthinking all of this stuff.
When we got to Glee club, we were once again told that the photo would only include two of us.
"So we're only going to be able to have two people in the photo." He replied. "I assume that Rachel wants to be in it, but we're going to need someone else, so does anyone else want to do it?"
"We're fine with just Rachel." Quinn replied.
"Actually, we'd prefer it." Katie added. I couldn't help but sigh. Part of me thought that I should just volunteer, even though I was sure that we would somehow end up with a photo with all of us in it.
"Fine, I'll do it." Adonis declared. He was just as dramatic as Rachel. I didn't know if she was interested in him, but something about him getting a photo alone with Rachel didn't sit well with me.
"I don't know if it's that good of an idea to not have Faith in the photo." Ben declared. I blushed a little. You know I couldn't help but think that he was acting like he was my number one fan. I didn't think that it was an obsessive way though so I probably didn't have anything to worry about that there.
"I don't have to do that." I replied. It wasn't because I didn't want to be in it, but I was a little bit embarrassed by it. I wasn't embarrassed to be in the glee club but I was a little embarrassed about having my photo taken. Having the football photos were easier because at least there were outside but there was just something about being a room having my pictures taken that I never really liked. Maybe Coach Tweedy was right and I would have to start getting used to it.
"Well since we have multiple nominations, how we put it to a vote." Mr. Schue replied. "You will be voting for either Faith or Adonis since Rachel has already volunteered."
I was pretty sure that Rachel would be extremely upset if she didn't get to be in the photo. I didn't understand why she wanted to be in it so much. Who loved school pictures that much? It was a bit of a complicated situation and I wasn't entirely sure what to do about it. I also hated how this vote wouldn't even matter, but none of them even knew about that.
The other thing that I couldn't help but wonder was who was going to be our supervisor for Sectionals because I assumed that we were going to need someone else. Actually, would we? I was pretty sure that his wife was actually pregnant this time around. It would feel pretty weird if he went to Sectionals with us. If he didn't, I was pretty sure that it would either be Coach Kiernan or Coach Tweedy, but I didn't which one it would be. It was probably something that I would just have to wait and see to find out.
After school, I couldn't help but notice that Rachel was following me.
"I don't want to talk about this right now, Rachel." I told her.
"You have to be in the picture with me. Glee club only started working at your joined." She pointed out.
"Yeah and as I've learned multiple times, whenever I'm alone with you, I feel uncomfortable because you're always trying to bone me." I remarked. This version of Rachel seemed like she was even more insufferable than the one that I knew. I didn't think that it was possible but I knew it was definitely true.
"I wasn't trying to have sex with every time we we've been alone together." She argued. I was pretty sure that she was trying to assure me and it definitely did not. "You're a leader Faith and that's what leaders do."
"I'm leading a few other things right now and once again, being with you makes me nervous." I replied. I wasn't sure how she did not seem to grasp that.
"If things don't change, we're not even going to place at Sectionals and the club will be over." She replied. Did she forget who we were up against? We had the easiest Sectionals that we had ever had because both of the other teams were terrible.
"We're going to do fine at Sectionals." I countered before I walked away.
After school, Rachel called us all to the choir room. I was pretty sure that she was going to tell us about the commercial. You know I couldn't believe that they were completely okay with casting teenagers for the commercial and we didn't even need permission slips to do it. I was pretty sure that was a violation of child labor laws, but it probably wasn't the best to question it. Also weren't mattresses pretty expensive? It seemed like it would have been easier just to pay us in cash.
"So I have an announcement to make." She replied. She was really being dramatic about all of this. Just because we didn't want a photo didn't mean that we weren't interested in the club. "I understand that none of you are brave enough to be in the Glee club photo with me, but I have an idea that I assume you will be very interested in. "There is a commercial for a local mattress store and I've got us all cast in it."
I could tell that everyone except for Chrissy and I seemed to be very excited about it and I was even a little excited even though I knew that it was coming. Shooting the commercial had been a lot of fun even though the consequences of it weren't the greatest. I still didn't know if there would be any consequences, but I assume that there would be somehow. We wouldn't just be able to do something like this without any sort of repercussions, would we? That would be pretty cool if we did, but it seemed pretty unlikely.
We were all going to be wearing blue pajamas for the commercial just like last time. I had to admit that I did look good in them. I still wished that I was getting money because then I would be able to pay for Quinn's hernia surgery. Maybe I could at least talk to my doctor about it. There had to be some sort of option there. I couldn't just let her have to keep dealing with the pain like that. It would too bad that she couldn't blame it on the school because they would have to pay for it.
"Okay guys, we're very glad to have you here. We here at Mattressland believe that mattresses aren't just for sleeping and fornicating on." The owner declared. They were also good for laying on when you're tired, but not tired enough to sleep and even though I hadn't done it in this body, they were good for cuddling on. "We believe that buying an affordable mattress should be fun,"
The first thing that we learned was that the script for the commercial was terrible and Chrissy was actually the one to bring up the idea for us to sing this time. We had also chosen a different song to my surprise. "Jump" might have been a better choice in my opinion because the youth weren't really the ones looking to buy mattresses. Rachel was still going to be the one that was doing the sales pitch while the rest of us jumped on the beds and sang. Well Quinn wasn't jumping. She was more in the background.
Tried my best at moving on, have yet to find another one like you
I see things that I didn't before, now wishing that I had more time with you
How do you stay awake knowing all I do is think of you
All the things that we thought about never happen again if I could just see you
If I had my way come and get you girl
In your favorite car with the missing top
Remember round my way where we used to park
And did all those things to steal your heart
It's been about a year now, aint seen or heard from you
Been missing you crazy how do you how do you sleep
I found the letter you wrote me it stills smells just like you
Been missing you crazy how do you how do you sleep
I had to admit that it was a lot of fun and I felt like I was a kid again, even if my hair was going everywhere. The director seemed to be annoyed by, but the owner really liked it and he was the one whose opinion matter there.
"So I bet after this, we'll have enough to pay for your surgery," I declared on the way home. I wasn't supposed to know that we were going to be paid in mattresses. I hoped that she would be okay with doing it like this.
"I don't want to get the surgery until after Sectionals." She declared. "I want to be able to be there with you."
"You need surgery?" Chrissy asked.
"Coach wasn't lying when she said that I have a hernia." The blonde explained. I couldn't help but wonder if I should have told her about that.
"Our mom will be able to get it done for you." Chrissy promised. I didn't know if it would be that easy, but I supposed if anyone knew a good way to do it, it would be a nurse. "You're not going to have to pay anything."
"I still want to wait until after Sectionals." Quinn reiterated.
So as it turned out, the reason that Mr. Schue had used one of the mattresses was because his wife had been cheating on him. He probably couldn't guarantee that the kid wasn't his, but I could see why he wouldn't want to be with her. I supposed that made sense. He was also going to take the fall for what happened. The good news was that we were going to be getting a full-page photo in the yearbook, so at least there was that.
"You're going to have go on without me for Sectionals." Mr. Schue declared. "I was the one who accepted the payment, not you. I am going to be the one who's suspended. We have worked too hard for you guys not to do this and I am confident that you will be able to do this even without me. If you can't win without me there, then I haven't done my job."
We then closed it out with one final number before everything happened in a few days. We probably wouldn't even sing it at Sectionals. Adonis and I would be singing it.
Do you remember stayed up just laughing
Smiling for hours at anything
Remember the nights we drove around crazy in love
When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
like it's all we have to hold onto
And we'll be a dream
Do you remember the nights we made our dreaming
Hoping of being something big
We were so young and we were too crazy in love
When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
like it's all we have to hold onto
And we'll be a dream
After we were done, we went to get our pictures taken. I was actually happy that we were going to do it and I couldn't wait to be smiling in the photo.
So this was the last chapter before Sectionals. Who's going to be the faculty advisor and will there be any other drama surrounding things? Will Quinn be able to have the surgery that she needs? The songs are "Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight, "How Do You Sleep" by Jesse McCartney and "We'll Be A Dream" by We The Kings and Demi Lovato. Please don't forget to review.