Back to the Start Chapter 9: Have You Thought of Surgery?, a glee fanfic

I found Quinn on the bleachers was the Cheerios practice. I wanted to tell her that she would be able to cheer again next year, even though I didn't know if that would be realistic with her baby. I mean she could probably cheer after giving birth, but I didn't know if she would want to do it. If she ended up keeping her baby, she may not want to spend so much time away from her. Even though we hadn't found out the baby's sex yet, I was pretty sure that it would still be a girl. I walked over and took a seat next to her.

"You shouldn't do this to yourself." I declared.

"Do what? I'm just watching my teammates." She argued. That actually was an excuse for doing it. "I need to watch so I can give them pointers."

"You're not the coach." I pointed out. "I know you miss being able to cheer, but you have to do what's best for your baby."

"I needed a distraction." She declared.

"From what?" I asked as she pulled out a piece of paper. Oh my god. I forgot that she had to pay her own medical bills. I should have tried to find a job sooner. "I thought you had the money to pay for this."

"I can't use my insurance." She pointed out. "Sonograms aren't cheap and this is just the beginning for me."

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? I would have gotten a job." I remarked.

"Do you even have time for a job?" She questioned. "You're practicing so much and I don't want your play to suffer for me."

"I can at least get something on weekends. In fact, maybe you should get a job too." I suggested. "I know it can't be something that requires you to move a lot, but it would be good to have your own money."

"I don't know if I can do that. My parents will wonder why I want a job." She pointed out.

"Just tell them that you want to earn your own money." I declared. "Plus, if we're working together, I can give you rides."

"Do you think anyone will hire me?" She questioned.

"I'm pretty sure that a place can't refuse to hire you because you're pregnant." I pointed out. "So do you want to do this with me? It could be fun."

"I guess we can look for something, but I don't want to work somewhere if you're not that." She replied. "I kind of feel like I should be asking Sam to help, but he can't even get a job and his family has enough problems without me. I can't watch this anymore."

"Wait. One more thing. Did you ever talk to Coach Kiernan about trying to find a spot on the squad for Katie?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. I've just been so stressed lately that I kind of forgot about it." She admitted. "I don't even know if she'll listen to me."

"You won't know if you don't ask." I pointed out.

"Well I don't want to ask right now." She retorted. I looked at her in surprise. "Sorry. Part of this is it feels like I'm on my period all of the time. I'll ask her later."

I had learned what it was like to have a period and it did suck. Everything about it sucked.

The two of us went to Glee club.

"So how would you feel about working at Wal-Mart?" I asked.

"I don't know if I can do that." She declared. "I feel like a lot of people would be judging me wherever I work."

"You shouldn't worry about that. What about the movie theater?" I suggested.

"I guess we can. I'm just really afraid that my parents are going to find out about this." She admitted.

"You're not going to be able to hide this forever." I told them. I had a feeling that her parents would still kick her out. I wondered if I could convince Chrissy to help me.

"Hey, is there anything that I can do to help?" She asked as she came over to the two of us.

"Do you have 685 dollars?" Quinn asked her.

"No, but I'm willing to help you get it." She replied.

At that point, Mr. Schue walked in.

"So I have a new number for Sectionals." He declared. "It turns out the judges really like Broadway songs."

I was pretty sure that wasn't true because they just seemed to go with whoever said yes for the judges. It seemed to be a random selection of people every year.

"'Defying Gravity'." Katie declared in excitement. "I love this song. I love Wicked, I know it's a little bit unorthodox but can I please sing this?"

The thing about her was she was actually starting to look like a girl. I didn't know if she was taking anything special. If I didn't know any better, I would think that she was a girl.

"I was going to have Rachel sing it." Mr. Schue declared. I was kind of surprised that he didn't want me to sing it.

"Wait. If Katie wants a chance to sing it, maybe we should give her a chance to do it." I argued.

"I don't know if people will be comfortable with that." Rachel stated. I couldn't help but sigh. I hoped that she wasn't transphobic as well.

"I have an idea. We're going to have a competition." Mr. Schue declared. "Does anyone else want to throw their name in the ring?"

I kind of was interested if I was able to sing a song like this, but I also knew how important it was to both Katie and Rachel. One of them deserved to sing it more than I did, even though for some reason we had chosen not to sing it at Sectionals. Come to think of it, I wondered how that would go without Sue sabotaging us.

So one thing that I noticed was that since Artie wasn't around, we didn't need a special bus to take us to Sectionals. So there was no real need to raise money for anything. Well that was what I thought at least.

"So onto Item 2. The school isn't willing to pay for our costuming budget." He remarked. "We're going to have to raise the money ourselves."

"Do we really need costumes?" Ben asked. I probably was good for us all to be wearing matching outfits. Usually that meant that I was going to be wearing a dress, but it was still important.

"Yes. When I was in Glee club and we needed things, we held a bake sale." Mr. Schue explained.

"Mr. Schue, with all due respect, I don't think that it's a good way to make hundreds of dollars." Chrissy piped in.

"Why don't we just ask Ms. Rich Girl to pay for it?" Adonis suggested as he looked at Quinn. I knew that he didn't understand the stress that she was under, but it was still a pretty insensitive thing to say. I didn't think her parents would pay for it either.

"Enough! We are not placing the financial burden on any of you." Mr. Schue declared. "We are going to have a bake sale."

As much as I wanted to care about our costume budget, I just had too many other things that I needed to worry about. I wanted to help Quinn take care of the baby more than anything. I needed to find a job at least for myself. I hoped Quinn would be able to get something as well.

Chrissy started to walk with me once we were done.

"So you really don't have to get a job to help me with this." I told her.

"Maybe I want to. I saw how you struggled to do this the first time." She argued.

"So you don't think that Quinn's parents are going to kick her out again, do you?" I asked.

"Unless they're very different from how they were in our universe, they will." She replied. "That gives me even more reason to help you."

"So where are you going to work?" I challenged.

"I was thinking about applying to be a lifeguard at the YMCA. I know how to do CPR, even though I probably wouldn't have to do it." She stated. I didn't know if I could do a job like that. I didn't know if I could wear a swimsuit for several hours.

Later just before Glee club, Quinn came up to me.

"I talked to Coach Kiernan." She stated. "She said that she won't just put Katie on the cheerleading squad. She did say that she could try out if she wanted to. Are you sure she would be able to do though? She doesn't seem very athletic."

I supposed that I didn't consider that Coach Kiernan wouldn't just let her on the squad since Sue was know for letting just about anyone on her squad…except for me. That was one of the most embarrassing things that I had ever done.

"I'll talk to her about it." I stated.

When we got there, we found that Katie was in the middle of the room. I wasn't sure what it was about.

"I want to thank you for giving me the chance to sing this song." She stated. "I promise that I'll sing it to the best of my abilities."

"This is going to be weird." Jasmine commented.

"Everyone, I don't think you understand how hard Katie has it compared to everyone else." Mr. Schue declared.

"It's true. I can't even go to the bathroom unless I'm using the teacher's bathroom." Katie stated. "And some of them don't even want me in there."

I couldn't understand why everyone cared so much about transgender people. Maybe it was the same reason people seemed to hate gay people. I don't even think it was because of the Bible. I was pretty sure that was one of the reasons that I was a little jaded with religion. I believed in God (I knew it was true because I had heard them) but a lot of Christians really rubbed me the wrong way.

"So in order to support her, we will be performing a special number for Sectionals." He declared. I couldn't help but wonder what number he had chosen. Would it just be tangentially-related like how "Proud Mary" was to wheelchairs? Tangentially? I didn't know that I knew that word. I was pretty sure that I was actually learning things in this second run through school. I had recently gotten my report card for the quarter and I had gotten several As. I couldn't believe it. The only class I had ever gotten an A in was gym and you usually just had to show up to get an A in that.

When I got home, I decided to practice the song. Like I said, I did want to sing it but I didn't want to take anything from Katie or Rachel's desire to perform it.

Something has changed within me, something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts close my eyes and leap

It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity
And you won't bring me down

I'm through accepting limits cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know
Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost
Well if that's love it comes at much too high a cost

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you won't bring me down

Unlimited, my future is unlimited and I just had a vision almost like a prophecy
I know it sounds truly crazy and true the vision's hazy
But I swear someday I'll be flying so high
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity

So if you care to find me look to the Western sky
As someone told me lately everyone deserves a chance to fly
I'm defying gravity and you won't bring me down
Bring me down, bring me down

I was once again one of breath after singing that song. I didn't know how I was able to hit those notes. I didn't even have any vocal training beyond what I had received from Mr. Schue. It also did feel kind of empowering to sing. I could see why people liked it so much.

The next day at school, I didn't have any practice, so I was trying to try my hand at baking something. I was never really good at cooking, so this would probably be a bit of a challenge.

"What are you doing in here?" A voice interrupted. I turned to see James was there.

"We're having a bake sale for Glee club and I was going to try to make something." I replied. Try was the key weird.

"Well you'll probably want to wear an apron so you don't get the ingredients all over your clothes." He remarked. Yeah that was probably a good idea. I grabbed an apron and put it on. At that point, I noticed that he was putting on an apron as well.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm going to help you." He declared.

"Why? You're not in Glee club." I declared. Was it because he had a crush on me? While it definitely wouldn't be as bad as Jacob having a crush on me, it still wasn't something that I wanted.

"Well it seems pretty clear that you don't know what you're doing and we don't need to burn this school down." He joked.

"You know that's not very nice." I declared. I supposed if he really wanted to help me, I would let him. However, there was one thing that I wanted to know about him first. "So how did you end up getting sent to Juvie?"

"I was actually covering up for something that my brother did." He explained. "He was about to go to University, so I decided to take the heat so he could move on with his life."

"That's very noble of you." I admitted. "Why don't you tell more about that?"

"They don't really care. They just see me and they think that I'm automatically trouble." He explained. "It's not worth it to try to correct them."

At that point, I noticed that the bag of flour was on a shelf. I tried to grab it before I noticed that I wasn't 6'4" anymore. I was 5'4" and I couldn't reach it.

"Let me help you with that." He offered as he grabbed it. Unfortunately, he bumped into me causing it to fall on top of us. I couldn't help but laugh looking at him, even though I knew that I probably looked just as ridiculous as he did.

"What's going on in here?" Quinn interrupted. Well, this was a bit unexpected. I was the one who had caught her in a compromising position before.

"We're baking." I declared with a laugh.

"I can see that." She stated.

"I'm gonna go change." James announced before he left. I noticed that Quinn had a smile on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"He likes you. He really likes you. You should ask him out." She suggested.

I tried to think of a good reason why I didn't want to do that. It was then that I remembered one.

"I don't really want to date anyone right now. I'm too busy trying to find a job." I stated.

"I don't want your social life to suffer because of me." She declared.

"I don't care if it suffers as long as I'm able to help you. Also Chrissy said that she's going to try to help me help you. I don't think she's willing to take no for an answer." I explained. I hoped that would distract her from trying to set me up with him.

At practice, I was a little tired. I was still pretty good but I felt like I wasn't reaching my full potential.

"Faith, what's going on?" Coach Tweedy asked me. "You seem distracted."

"It's just Quinn is struggling a little financially with all of the baby expenses and I'm trying to find a job to help her out with it, but I'm not entirely sure what to do." I explained.

"Doesn't she have insurance?" She asked.

"She doesn't want her parents to know just yet." I explained. "She hasn't told them."

"Well, that doesn't seem very smart. Also, I'll never understand why your country doesn't pay for healthcare like everyone else does." She declared. She seemed to think for a moment. "I have an idea for you. I know the perfect job for you."

"What?" I inquired.

"I have a friend who's looking to start a new youth football team for their kids, but they don't have a coach. She's willing to pay pretty well for one. She offered me the job but I obviously can't do it." She explained. "I think that you would be a good coach and it would help you raise some extra money."

"I guess I can talk to them." I agreed. I didn't really know anything about coaching, but how hard could it be? "So I have something that I wanted to ask you. Why didn't you play professionally?"

"Well for starters moving to a country that doesn't really care about it hurt my chances…as well as hurting my knee." She explained. "I think this would be great for your resume if you decide to go to university."

I decided to give them a call and they said that they wanted to see me. I found out that they were willing to pay for five grand for the job and I didn't think that I could say no to that. I just hoped that I would be a good coach. I had to tell Quinn, but I didn't want to interrupt her during dinner.

During my first practice, I realized that I didn't quite know what I was doing. I should have planned more for it. The kids were pretty young, but I was pretty sure that their parents wanted them to win. I decided that it would probably be a good idea to start with the basics. I needed to bring up the most important rule about the game.

"So the more important rule about football, or soccer as it's commonly referred to in this country is that you can't use your hands…unless you're the goalie." I explained.

"Then what do we do?" One of the kids asked me.

"You use your feet." I explained. "You're supposed to kick it. You are also allowed to use your knees or on rare occasions your head, but you should avoid using your head as much as possible. I know I may seem a bit young for this, but I know what I'm talking about."

I hoped that I would be able to do it well without yelling because the last thing that I wanted to do was make the kids cry. I would have to try to keep my cool. The things was as long as I didn't quit, I would be able to keep the money.

The following day, I was helping Rachel practice for the song. I didn't know why she was willing to ask me.

"I'm a bit surprised that you said yes to this." She admitted. "I thought you didn't like me."

"It's not that I don't like you. I just don't like the way you act sometimes." I explained.

"What's Quinn have to say about this?" She inquired.

"Quinn's not my girlfriend." I answered. "Also I'm going to be helping Katie practice as well, but I'm going to be completely impartial in my voting."

Part of me thought that I should charge them to be their vocal coach, but I wasn't going to do that and I was pretty sure that I was good with money.

"I'm not going to win this. People don't like me." Rachel declared. I sighed at that.

"You shouldn't think about what other people are going to think of you and just try to do your best." I explained. "Also, please don't leave again if you lose. We have to know that we're able to count on you."

I remembered what happened last time we did this. I later found out that Kurt had intentionally missed the note. It was for his dad or something, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. Rachel was glad that she had won. I couldn't help but wonder if he had ever told her the truth like he had told me.

After I was done with Rachel, I went over to Katie.

"Thanks for doing this for me." She declared.

"I mean it's only fair since I agreed to help Rachel as well." I explained. "Are you sure that you want to do this though?"

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I mean this isn't going to make anything easier for you. I don't think the people who are bullying you are going to care if you can sing well." I pointed out.

"I want to do this for me. So is it okay if I sing another song as a warmup?" She asked.

"I guess so." I answered. I didn't how that would help her, but I supposed she could do that.

Grew up in a small town
And when the snow would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out
But when I try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray I could break away

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how fly
I'll do what it takes so I touch the sky
I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And break away

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging round revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me
But gotta keep moving on moving on
Fly away
Break away

"I thought it was 'when the rain would fall down'." I declared.

"No, the song was written by Avril Lavigne about her small town in Canada. However, Kelly Clarkson grew up in Texas where it doesn't snow."

At that point, Quinn came into the room.

"I just found out my balance is paid off." She told me before she ran over and gave me a hug. "Faith, I love you."

"I love you too." I stated. I was pretty sure that she meant platonically. I mean she was straight, wasn't she?

"So how did you do it?" She asked.

"I'm actually coaching a kids' football team." I explained. I replied before I looked at Katie and remembered something. "Oh I forgot. I have something that I wanted to ask you. Did you want to try out for the Cheerios?"

"I don't think Coach Kiernan would want me to do that." Katie answered.

"She already said that she'll let you audition." Quinn replied. "She also kind of needs a replacement."

"I don't want to take your spot." Katie told her.

"I'm okay with it. If you can do it, you deserve it." Quinn remarked.

So during the competition, Katie did not blow the final note. It left me at a bit of a conundrum about who to vote for. I ended up voting for Katie, but there was another problem. The competition ended in a tie.

"It looks like you're the deciding vote, Mr. Schue." Rachel told him. She was probably hoping that he picked her.

"I think…you should both get to sing it. We'll rework it as a duet." He answered. That was a bit of a copout, but I supposed we could. We probably wouldn't sing it anyway. "Now I have the idea for the special number for you."

So it turned out that Mr. Schue's idea involved having us girls wearing suits while the guys wore dresses…except for Katie who was going to take off her suit to reveal a dress underneath. The song was actually a little bit predictable but it was a good song so I didn't really care.

Let's go girls! Come on.

I'm going out tonight, I'm feeling alright, gonna let it all hang out
Wanna make some noise, really raise my voice, yeah, I wanna scream and shout
No inhibitions, make no conditions, get a little outta line
I aint gonna act politically correct, I only wanna have a good time

The best thing about being a woman
Is the prerogative to have a little fun

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady, men's shirts, short skirts
Oh, oh, oh, really go wild-yeah, doing it in style
Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction, color my hair, do what I dare
Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel. Man! I feel like a woman

The best thing about being a woman
Is the prerogative to have a little fun

I get totally crazy, can you feel it
Come, come, come on baby, I feel like a woman

It would definitely be an interesting number to perform at Sectionals.

So I decided that since I didn't have Artie to do a chapter, I would do one about Katie. She looks Miley Cyrus now by the way. Also Faith ended up with a different job to help Quinn and she had a bit of an interesting moment with James. The next chapter is a big one. The songs are "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson and "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain. Please don't forget to review.