Book Five: The Locker

By: KeshBeast

Chapter 1

"Hey cutie." Sam heard but wasn't sure if it was directed towards him and when he looked around he didn't see anyone so he continued trying to open his locker. It was his first day at McKinley and he was a freshman so he knew for a fact that it couldn't be directed towards him.

"Hey cuteness?" He heard the voice again and turned around this time and smiled at the girl standing behind him.

"Umm... hi?"

"Is this your locker?" She asked gently, touching his arm.

"Oh ah yeah.. am I in your way?" He asked blushing unwillingly and he felt his face grow warmer when she smiled at him.

"Do you want to switch? They changed the height of the lockers so my top shelf is a little out of reach... that way you wouldn't have to bend down." She asked, nodding at the locker above him.

"Can we do that?" He asked innocently and couldn't help the grin when she giggled

"Freshman I presume?" She asked with an amused smirk

"That obvious huh?"

"It's okay we've all been there, but yes we can switch here's the combo to this one." She said handing him the small paper and he quickly gave her the one to his with a warm smile.

"Hey baby you ready?"

"Yeah just give me a second. Thank you, cuteness." She said, squeezing his face gently before walking away.

"Dude! Do you know who that is?" Sam's friend asked excitedly as he walked up.

"No?"

"Mercedes Jones! She's a senior and she throws the best parties and not to mention is the sexiest thing ever!"

"Well she has a boyfriend and I doubt either of us have a chance in hell of getting invited to one of those parties. Besides Puck you have a girlfriend."

"Hey if hot moma asked me out I would dump her!" Puck replied and Sam just chuckled, shaking his head before they walked off to class.

"Welcome Freshman to McKinley High! My name is Mercedes Jones and I'll be you guy's student adviser this year. If you need any help with anything just ask. I'll be in the main office for an hour in the mornings and in the library for two hours every afternoon. Good luck and go Titans!" Mercedes said before handing over the mic to principal Figgins who was about to ruin yet another pep rally.

"I'm so happy this is our last year… this school seriously sucks." Mercedes said to her friends when she sat down.

"Oh come on, it's our Senior year and we barely have to be here as is… I say we make the most of it and have some fun!" Quinn said looking around the gym at all the Freshman with a smile.

"I don't know I'm with Wheezy… I hate it here but at least we get to hangout most of the day." Santana chimed in, shrugging her shoulders.

"Easy for the both of you to say you get to go off and make out with your boyfriend and girlfriend, I just had to be a damn overachiever… why didn't you two stop me from signing up for this advisement thing?" Mercedes asked, looking at them both and they just laughed.

"Because when have you ever done what we suggested?" Santana asked, still laughing and Mercedes couldn't help but agree and laugh along with them.

"Speaking of, I gotta go Britt's waiting. I'll see you later Quinn and Merce. I'll see you tonight right?"

"Yeah, just meet me at my house." Mercedes said, nodding and winking at her boyfriend when he waved at her.

"You two are so cute." Quinn said, nudging her with her shoulder.

"Yeah we are huh?" Mercedes asked giggling before realizing two people standing in front of them and smiled when she saw the freshman from this morning.

"Hey there cuteness, how's your first day?" Mercedes asked with a smile Sam blushed slightly and Quinn looked at Mercedes mouthing 'aww' making her roll her eyes.

"Hi… it's going pretty good, umm this was in your, well my locker." Sam said, handing over the note that he found after his first class.

"Oh aww thank you for getting it to me, I forgot to tell my boyfriend we switched lockers." She said taking it and putting it in her pocket, noticing his friend looking at Quinn.

"She's taken hot stuff." Mercedes said, winking at Puck and laughing at this expression.

"Damn-it all the good ones are!" He said, throwing his head back making them all laugh.

"We're gonna go now!" Sam said, pushing Puck away and smiling at Mercedes before turning to face his friend.

"Well isn't he cute?" Quinn said with a chuckle.

"Right? Too bad we didn't have any that looked that good when we were freshman." She replied getting up when Shane walked over after Figgins dismissed everyone.

"Bye girl!" Mercedes said, kissing her on the cheek and taking Shane's hand to leave.

A few weeks later

"Baby I love you I do but that skirt is a little short for my liking." Shane said looking at his girlfriend with his head tilted and a raised eyebrow before smiling slightly.

"Mhm… I see you smirking." She responded, shaking her head and hitting his chest playfully.

"No seriously if you bend over any more I'll be able to see your panties." He said, giving her a serious look.

"Who says I'm wearing any?" She replied with a wink handing him her books before closing her locker and grabbing his hand.

"Don't play like that…"

"I'm only kidding and besides my skirt is fine unless you want me to take it off?" She said looking at him with a challenging expression.

"You're such a tease." Shane said leaning in, giving her a soft peck before handing her her books. "I'll see you after second , okay?"

"Okay baby." She replied smiling and headed towards her French class before she noticed someone sitting with their head in their hands and their shoulders shaking. She looked at her watch before walking over to the person and gently tapping their shoulder and when they jerked up she realized it was the freshman she switched lockers with a while back.

"Hey cutie… what's wrong?" She asked, looking into his sad green eyes.

"Oh… nothing, just a long day." He said quickly, wiping his eyes and giving her a weak smile before looking down again, she shook her head and sat down in front of him lifting his head up so that she could look at him.

"What happened to your face?" She asked, turning his head slightly and noticing the bruise.

"It's fine really, just a stupid accident." He said avoiding her eyes.

"What's your name?" She asked, realizing she never asked him that.

"Sam… Sam Evans." He said looking at her and then around noticing that they were the only two people in the hallway.

"Well finally a name to go with the face." She said with a sweet smile before sighing.

"Who hit you?" She asked and noticed him stiffen before shaking his head and gently grabbing her hand and moving it off of his face.

"No one, it was really an accident." He said looking directly at her with a sadden expression.

"Bull shit, come with me." She said getting up and holding her hand out for him.

He hesitated for a moment before she gave him a reassuring smile and he took her hand. He wasn't sure where they were headed but he let out a sigh of relief when they didn't head towards the office, she led him out the front of the building and towards the parking lot. Stopping in front of a black car he watched as she dug around until she found what she needed and pulled out a set of keys. She unlocked the door and nodded for him to get inside.

"Umm… what are we doing?"

"You're telling me where you live and we're going there." She said calmly looking at him waiting for him to tell her what she just requested.

"No, no you're not going there." He said sternly and started to get out but she reached over and held the door closed shaking her head.

"I can clearly see the bruise on your face and the one on your arm, you can either tell me or we will drive around until my curfew and when that happens I'll have to take you to my house. My dad's a sheriff…" She said holding firmly to the door and looking at him and mentally cursed herself for wearing such a short skirt because when he tried to open the door again she felt it move up.

"Just tell me what happened!" She shouted now fighting with his hands trying to maintain control over the door handle without breaking it and each movement meant the more her skirt rose until she felt the cool breeze on underwear. She instinctively let go of the door to pull her skirt back down and Sam took that as her giving up but she wasn't about to do that so she wiggled over to his seat trapping him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Sam shouted scaring her slightly but she didn't let him know he had.

"My best friend went through that shit and barely got out, I know I don't know you but I can help… I really can." She said softly and let out a breath when he finally stopped struggling and she saw the tears falling again. She wasn't in the best position to comfort him but she still managed to give him a hug and let him cry while she sent a silent prayer no one saw her straddling this kid and holding him.

"He's my step dad… I wanted to live with my dad but my mom doesn't want me to go. I told her he was an asshole and we got into a fight, she said I was being ungrateful and that I should show respect. She's not there when he makes fun of me or hits me… she takes his side every single time. I promised I would come and visit on the weekends and I even told her that maybe me being with my dad will make my relationship better with my step dad but she keeps telling me no." He said with his head buried on her chest, she pulled back so he could see her and wiped a few of his tears.

"Does your dad live close?" She asked softly and tried hard not to cry herself.

"Yes, about twenty minutes from where I live now… I wouldn't be that far, I just can't do it anymore." Sam replied letting out a sad sigh and looking back down.

"How does he make fun of you?"

"I have dyslexia so it's hard to keep things straight when I read… he makes fun of my appearance, lips mostly." He replied looking up when she put her hand under his chin moving his head so she could see him.

"You have nice lips so fuck what he thinks and if you need help I can tutor you but first you need to tell your dad about all of this, so I'm going to get off of you now and you're not going to jump out of the car right?" Mercedes asked, looking at him with narrowed eyes and waited for him to respond.

"I won't get out of the car..." He said softly before looking at her with a half smile. She smiled back and slowly eased back to the driver's side and let out a deep breath before looking over at him and saw that he was looking at her before he blushed and looked away.

"Okay ready?" She asked after locating her keys again.

"Please don't tell anyone about this… my friends don't know." Sam said, looking at her again.

"I won't cutie, now tell me where your dad lives."

"What about class?" Sam asked suddenly, remembering he still had two more classes to attend.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get you excused." She replied and pulled off after he gave her the address.

"He's at work..." Sam said letting out a sigh after getting to his dad's and realizing he was working.

"It's okay I don't live far from here, we can walk actually. Come on." She said walking down the driveway with him behind her. She wasn't kidding, the walk was only a few minutes and she gave him a nudge to walk up the steps, she unlocked the door and let him inside first then followed behind.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll grab us something to drink and a snack. I'm starving." She said kicking off her shoes and heading to the kitchen, Sam stood there for a minute before sitting on the love seat with his hands in his lap. He could hear her moving things around and humming before he heard someone at the door and got nervous looking at the kitchen hoping she would hurry but the door opened and he stood up, scaring her.

"Holy shit! Well hey there, who are you?" The woman asked with a confused look and he heard Mercedes coming from out of the kitchen.

"Mia… what are you doing here?" Mercedes asked, smiling. Sam felt his hands growing sweaty and looked at Mercedes with a concerned look.

"Oh right, Mia this is Sam. Sam, this is my sister Mia, we're waiting for his dad to get home. He lives like a block over." She said calmly and her sister just nodded.

"Wait, why aren't you two in school?" She asked, realizing it was a school day.

"Long story, why are you here?"

"The alarm."

"Shit! So daddy knows I'm home?" She asked looking at her sister hoping like hell he didn't.

"Moma called me because I was already headed this way, daddy's on a call so you're good… you're awfully cute." Mia said, winking at Sam before pulling her phone out to call their mom to let her know everything was fine.

"So Sam, what's your- what happened to your face?" Mia asked, moving closer. "Did somebody hurt you? Who was it? I have no problems kicking their asses!"

"Mia! Calm down, I'm sorry Sam, she's a bit protective… she's pregnant and crazy!" Mercedes said walking into the room with a tray of different snacks and drinks. She sat it down on the coffee table and smiled at her choices.

"It's okay… you two look like twins when you get that way." He said and chuckled when they both gave him the same expression.

"Please Mercy wishes she looked this good. So that's why you're out of school?" Mia said, Mercedes looked at Sam first before responding he nodded and she smiled.

"Yeah, he's gonna tell his dad about what's going on at his mom's but he wasn't there so we came here to wait." Mercedes replied, handing him some chips and a drink because she wanted him to eat something.

"Well you listen to me cuteness, if you ever need me to kick some ass you just tell Merce here to call me okay? I have to go back to work, I just came to grab the file I left last night but please come back by okay Sam? Let me know how it all goes." Mia said, patting his face gently and walking over to give her sister a hug grabbing the file off the coffee table before heading out.

"Oh and that skirt is too short." She said laughing when Mercedes rolled her eyes before walking out.

"Sorry she wouldn't have left until we told her why you were here." Mercedes said.

"It's okay, she seems sweet."

"Yeah until she's in a pregnancy rage or hangry. I swear she's been pregnant for ten years..." She said laughing, making him laugh as well.

"I'm not sure what time he'll get off and I don't want you to get into any trouble by having me here."

"Oh hush, it's okay you can stay until he gets off." She started to say something else but her phone buzzed and she excused herself tossing the remote to him and mouthing pick a movie before walking away. Sam smiled and looked for a movie to watch feeling more comfortable after she said everything would be fine, Mercedes didn't know but he was really thankful she stopped when he was in the hallway.

He picked a movie and realized he was hungry and looked at the other snacks she brought opting for one of the sandwiches and the chips she'd given him, he could hear her talking and decided it was rude to eavesdrop so he turned the tv up slightly but when he heard her slam a door and then talking more loudly he got a little concerned. He was about to try to find her when she reappeared typing on her phone a mile a minute shooting him a small smile before laying down on the couch before shooting up and sitting up straight.

"Sorry, I need to change out of this damn thing..." She said face palming herself and running up the stairs.

Sam didn't intend on watching her but he was a teenage boy and curiosity got the best of him. He felt his face grow hot as he watched her get higher up the stairs with her skirt bouncing up with every movement he forced himself to look away before he got over excited at seeing her skimpy satin panties. He looked back in the direction and was met by her brown eyes smirking before she rolled her eyes and continued until she was out of view giggling.

"Smooth Evans… real smooth" He said to himself before looking back at the TV. Mercedes came down a few minutes later in a pair of sweats and a tank top and her hair was pulled into a messy bun. Sam closed his eyes for a minute because her in that skirt was one thing but damnit if she didn't look ten times sexier now.

"So Sammy, since you're gonna be here for a while tell me about yourself." She said after she grabbed some cookies.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, studying her face and noticing she had freckles. They weren't extremely noticeable but he saw them and smiled for no reason at all.

"Anything, everything… hobbies." She replied with a shrug.

"Well… I'm originally from Tennessee, we moved here when I was ten then my parents split up. Mom got remarried, had my brother and sister, dad never remarried… I like comics and football, I play the guitar and sing a little. That's all I can think of right now." He answered with a soft laugh.

"Hmm… friends?"

"Well my best friend is Puck, he was the first person I met when we moved here and then there's Finn, he's a Junior I think but he's cool too."

"Yeah I know Finn, he's dating Rachel Berry." She replied, rolling her eyes, making him laugh.

"I thought I was the only one who had that response when her name was mentioned."

"Oh no, she's good people, she's just a little… annoying at times but is incredibly talented. If you ever tell anyone I said that I will deny it."

"Yeah, her voice is awesome… So what about you?"

"Mhm… well I'm a senior obviously, I'm dating Shane Tinsley. We've been going strong for almost two years now. Ex-glee club member, currently waiting for an admissions letter from UCLA fingers crossed! I've had the same friends since birth Santana and Quinn… I sing sometimes and I'm a closeted nerd."

"Wait, isn't Shane being looked at by Ohio State? Wouldn't you want to be with him since you two have been together for so long?" Sam asked.

"Well… that would be ideal, yes but I have no intentions of staying in Ohio after I graduate, don't get me wrong I'll be here to visit but we're only boyfriend and girlfriend… I sound so heartless huh?" She said, biting her lip and sighing.

"No you have your own dreams so chase them."

"Huh… think you can tell Shane that?' She joked. "No he wants me to at least apply there but I feel like if I do it'll make him think I'm changing my mind about UCLA and it'll hurt him more when I tell him I only applied for him."

"Well I hope you get into UCLA, you seem like it's what you really want."

"Thanks cutie." She said with a half smile before his phone went off and she noticed him stiffening.

"It's my mom… excuse me." Sam said walking outside and answering.

This about to be damn rollercoaster- be prepared for many time jumps and these two fools playing cat and mouse!