Lima Loser.

After lunch, I had Health, and then English. Puck was in my English class, but not Health, so I’d be able to have a break from him. Finn was in my Health class, though, and I was glad, because I’d wanted to ask him how he was doing.

When I walked into the classroom, he was sitting in the back corner by himself, looking more depressed than ever. I decided to take a seat in front of him, which just so happened to be the only free seat in class.

“Hey,” I gave him a caring smile.

“Hi,” he mumbled back.

“I’d ask how you’re doing, but…” I trailed off.

“Yeah, the answer’s quite obvious,’ he told me with absolutely no tone to his voice.

“It’ll get better,” I patted his back. He gave me a careless shrug.

“Okay!” the teacher, Mr. Cline walked into the classroom. “Class has begun.”

I gave Finn a heartfelt look, and turned around. I was really worried for the poor guy.

Mr. Cline gave us a pop quiz. By then, my mood was rock bottom. But then I noticed that the quiz was based upon sexual education, so I had felt a bit better.

I felt that I needed to talk to and comfort Finn, but I didn’t get the chance to talk to him anymore in that class. He was also in my English class, which I was about to go to, but Puck was also in that class, and I refused to say anything to Finn when Puck was around. Puck would just try to fit his opinion in, and there was no room for it.

We didn’t do a whole lot in English. Puck and I talked about the Glee rehearsal after school, and jokingly argued about whose song should win. Puck said that his was the best, while I was torn between Artie and Kurt. Either way, there wasn’t a vote.

Finn sat a few seats away, choosing not to participate in our conversation. He was just so…not Finn.

When the bell rang, I went directly to my locker. Puck followed me, of course.

“Good luck,” he said, sincerely.

“Thanks, bud,” I grinned. “Hey, do you think I can borrow your guitar?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get it,” he walked away.

“Meet me in the music room!” I called after him.

I made my way to the music room, where a few others were already gathered. I noticed Artie, Kurt, Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes sitting in chairs that seemed to be scattered all over the room. Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsberry were standing by the piano, talking.

I went over to Rachel and Mercedes. “You guys pumped or what?”

“Hell yeah, I am!” Mercedes shouted.

“Me too,” Rachel softly smiled. “This is going to be fun.”

“Agreed,” I grinned. “Good luck to both of you.”

I noticed that Quinn was nearby, but like fuck I was going to wish her luck.

A few minutes later, all of the Glee students were seated and ready. Puck came in and handed me the guitar. “Be careful with my baby,” he winked. I rolled my eyes, but nodded.

“Like earlier today, we’re going to chop up the time a bit and let you do only a small part of the song,” Mr. Schue spoke up. “Who’s up first?”

Nobody had to move, because Rachel was already at the front of the room.

“Now, I know that every single one of you think I’m going to go all Broadway and theatre, but I’m actually going to take a different approach this time,” Rachel explained. “This song is about trying to hold on to relationships, no matter how horrible they are, and I hope-”

“Rachel, we only have an hour,” Mr. Schue pointed to his wristwatch.

“Oh, right. I’m sorry,” she apologized, and took a deep breath. She began her song, which surprisingly, I was familiar with.

“You said I must eat so many lemons, 'cause I am so bitter.
I said ‘I'd rather be with your friends, mate, 'cause they are much fitter’.
Yes, it was childish, and you got aggressive.
And I must admit, that I was a bit scared,
but it gives me thrills to wind you up.”

“My fingertips are holding onto the cracks in our foundations,
and I know that I should let go, but I can't.
And every time we fight, I know it's not right.
Every time that you're upset, and I smile.
I know I should forget, but I can't.”

She suddenly stopped. But she didn’t immediately go back to her seat like everyone else had. She stood there, waiting for every single person in the room to comment on her performance.

“Rachel, do I even have to say anything?” Mr. Schuester looked like he was trying really hard not to roll his eyes. “Every performance you do is beyond amazing, so take a seat, please.”

She just gave him a look, and made her way back to her chair, which was next to me.

“Who wants to go next?” Mr. Schue wondered.

Santana stood up, and walked sluttishly to the front of the room. I really didn’t like her. She thought she was better than everyone else, when she obviously wasn’t. And maybe I was a little jealous that she and Puck used to have a thing.

“I'm not yours, and you're not mine.
But we can sit and pass the time.
No fighting wars, no ringing chimes.
We're just feeling fine.”

“This is where we're supposed to be.
Sitting by a broken tree.
No tragedy, no poetry.
Just staring at the sky.”

“I could wait a thousand hours,
even sing in summer showers,
pick apart a hundred flowers,
just to be quiet.”

“Tell me when you'll feel ready.
I'm the one; there's not too many.
Hold my hand to keep me steady.
Just to be quiet...with you.
With you.”

She stopped and gave the room a look that said “Beat that”. Well, sure, her voice was cute, and I absolutely loved Lights, but the overall performance was mediocre. And I’d be able to “beat that” with no problem.

“Your voice is gorgeous, Santana,” Mr. Schue commented. “Please take a seat.”

She shook her ass all the way back to where Brittany was sitting.

“Alright, Brittany. Since you’re Santana’s best friend, why don’t you follow her lead?” Mr. Schuester suggested.

Brittany stood up and walked-- excuse me-- stumbled, to the front of the room. That’s right. She bumped into at least four chairs on her way.

She stood at the front of the room, staring at everyone, for at least thirty seconds.

“Whenever you’re ready…” Mr. Schue looked impatient.

“I forget what song I was supposed to sing…” she said in her stupid blonde voice, which she used 100% of the time.

“'Hello Brooklyn',” Santana whispered.

“Oh, yeah!” Brittany slapped her forehead. “Okay.”

“This city, was your city.
Heels on the sidewalk, begging for a backbeat.
Don't worry. I fight dirty.
Tonight’s like a right hook, knock you off your feet.”

“I'll be yours truly, unbelievable.
Can't miss this chance to take you.
And here’s your invitation.”

“Hello Brooklyn! Hey LA!
Take the streets all night ’cause you sleep all day.
When the world comes crashing down, who's ready to party?
Hello Brooklyn! Hey LA!
Coast to coast, I'll take you down in flames.
Let the good times roll, we can let go.
Everybody knows that there's a party at the end of the world.”

The song had fit Brittany perfectly, because she was the only person in the room who would actually believe that there’s a party at the end of the world. And knowing Brittany, she’d probably try to find it.

She stopped and looked around. “I forget the rest…”

“It’s okay, Brittany. That was good enough,” Mr. Schue couldn’t get her to sit back down fast enough.

She sat back down by Santana, who high-fived her.

“Next?” Mr. Schuester still seemed pretty irritated from the last performance.

“I’ll go,” Quinn stood up and walked to the front of the room. Before anybody could even say anything, she belted out the lyrics to a really familiar and great song.

“I could only sing you sad songs,
and you could sing along.
And you could see the melody,
that's been calling out your wrongs.
And this never will be right with me, and now you're trying desperately.
But I'm tongue-tied and terrified of what I'll say.”

By then, Finn had already left the room. Poor guy couldn’t even handle his ex singing. I wanted to follow him, but I knew he’d just push me away.

“But I never told you everything.
I'm losing hope and fading dreams.
And every single memory along the way.”

“And then we both go down together.
We may stay there forever.
I'll just try to get up.
And I'm sorry.
This wasn't easy.
When I asked you, believe me.
You never let go.
But I let go.”

Quinn was singing this to him on purpose. It was too obvious, hearing the lyrics coming from her mouth. I personally thought she should’ve picked a song that wouldn’t make Finn leave the room, but hey, I wasn’t about to tell her what to sing.

“That was really nice, Quinn,” Mr. Schue smiled. “Please take a seat.”

She did as she was told, and Mr. Schue didn’t even have to ask who was next. Mercedes brought her chocolate thunder to the front of the room. “I’ll be doing a real classic today, Mr. Schue.” She said "classic" as if it was the coolest thing in the world, and it probably would be, considering Mercedes was about to sing it.

“The word is out, you're doin' wrong.
Gonna lock you up, before too long.
Your lyin' eyes, gonna take you right.
So listen up, don't make a fight.
Your talk is cheap, you're not a man.
You're throwin' stones, to hide your hands.

Well, they say the sky's the limit.
And to me that's really true.
But, my friend, you have seen nothing.
Just wait 'til I get through…”

“Because I'm bad! I'm bad!
You know it!
You know I'm bad! I'm bad!
You know it!
You know I'm bad! I'm bad!
Come on, you know!
And the whole world has to answer right now.
Just to tell you once again.
Who's bad?”

“We can change the world tomorrow.
This could be a better place.
If you don't like what I'm sayin', then won't you slap my face!”

I could tell that she wanted to continue, and I wanted her to continue, too, but the time limit prevented that from happening. Anyway, everyone in the room was on their feet, like they usually were when Mercedes sang. She was so good.

“Mercedes, that was amazing!” Mr. Schuester was pretty much in awe of her performance, and I had no problem admitting that it was the best one yet.

Once everybody calmed down, and Mercedes sat back down next to Kurt, who looked so proud of his best friend, it was the next person’s turn.

There were only two girls left, which was Tina and I. She looked over at me and shook her head frantically, as if to say “I can’t go yet”. Tina was pretty nervous and stuff, so I’d go next.

I picked up Puck’s guitar and made my way to the front. At that moment, Finn walked back in. All eyes were on him as he sat as far as possible away from Quinn. He avoided eye contact with everybody and stared at the ground.

“Finn,” Mr. Schue began. “While you were gone, you missed Mercedes’ and part of Quinn’s performance. We’ll catch you up on that after.”

Finn just nodded a little.

“And now, Courtney is about to perform,” Mr. Schuester nodded towards me. “Take it away, Courtney.”

I strummed a few chords on the guitar for an intro, and began to sing.

“In my eyes. In disposed.
In disguise. As no one knows.
Hides the face. Lies the snake.
The sun, in my disgrace.
Boiling heat. Summer stench.
'Neath the black, the sky looks dead.
Call my name though the cream.
And I'll hear you scream again.”

“Black hole sun, won't you come?
And wash away the rain.
Black hole sun.
Won't you come?
Won't you come?”

I stopped, wondering if that was enough, but Mr. Schue gestured for me to continue.

“Stuttering. Cold and damp.
Steal the warm wind, tired friend.
Times are gone for honest men.
And sometimes far too long for snakes.
In my shoes, walking sleep.
And my youth, I pray to keep.
Heaven send, Hell away.
No one sings like you anymore.”

“Black hole sun, won't you come?
And wash away the rain.
Black hole sun.
Won't you come?
Won't you come?”

I concluded the song with a small ending on guitar, and everybody clapped and whistled.

“That was brilliant!” Mr. Schuester exclaimed. “I had no idea you played the guitar.”

“Yeah, I do,” I told him. “I’m no pro or anything, though. The pro would be him.” I pointed to Puck, who grinned proudly.

“Well, that song is one of my favourites, and you just made me like it a whole lot more,” Schue admitted.

“Aw, that means a lot, Mr. Schue,” I smiled. “Thanks.”

I walked over to Puck, handed him his guitar, and sat my ass down.

Tina slowly trudged her way to where everybody else had stood before. She looked so nervous, but Tina had a really nice voice, and I knew she could do it.

“Headed for disaster.
Way beyond the fear.
In the rearview, watch it all just disappear.
Disappear.
I don't care where I'm headed.
Anywhere but here.
Won't waste my life, can't waste another night.
In this town, in this town.”

“Live faster, live stronger.
Let us speed up, or get blown over.
Time's wasting...how much longer?
Before I get myself free of these hurricane streets.”

She stopped and looked around at our reactions. Everybody was clapping with smiles on their faces. She did such a good job with the song, and it fit her voice perfectly.

“That was great, Tina,” Mr. Schue complimented her. She went over and sat by Artie, who gave her a congratulatory pat on the back.

“So, now that we’re done performing…” Mr. Schuester seemed relieved about this fact. “…we’re going to put the song names in a hat.”

“What hat?” Kurt wondered. I didn’t see a hat, either.

“Uh…you know what? We can just shuffle them in-” Mr. Schue went over to where a bunch of instruments were lodged in the corner of the room. He picked up a trumpet. “We can shuffle them in the top of this trumpet.”

Everybody laughed at how random Schue was, and Miss Pillsberry, who’d been standing by the piano like a dummy the whole time, handed out small pieces of paper to everybody. “We only have, uh, two pens right now, so when the pen comes to you, you can, uh, write the song name on it.”

Once the pen went around to all of the Glee students, we folded our papers and Mr. Schue came around with the trumpet. When we’d submitted all of the folded pieces of paper, Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsberry went to the front of the room.

“Alright, guys, are we ready?” Schue smiled.

All of us nodded.

He took the first piece of paper out of the trumpet. “The first song we’ll be performing at the school dance is…” he opened the paper, and grinned. “…‘D.A.N.C.E’! Congrats, Kurt!”

I cheered. All I wanted was for that song to get in. Kurt seemed tickled pink as well. I knew how much getting chosen had meant to him, so it was pretty nice.

Miss Pillsberry reached her hand into the trumpet this time. “The next song that will, uh, be performed at the dance is…” she pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. “…‘Hello Brooklyn’!”

Everyone looked over at Brittany for a reaction of some sort, and Brittany just looked at Miss Pillsberry. “So, who sang that one?” she asked, stupidly.

“You did, Brittany…” Mr. Schuester forced a smile.

“Oh… okay…” was all that came from her mouth.

We all just looked away and moved on.

“Everybody else, this is your last chance,” Mr. Schue took a deep breath. “Good luck to all of you.”

He dug around in the trumpet and hauled out the last piece of paper. “Congratulations to…” he opened the paper. “…Mercedes! ‘Bad’ is the last song that’ll be played at the school dance!”

Mercedes jumped up and started freaking the fuck out. I was so happy for her. “Bad” was such a genius song, and we’d actually get to perform some decent shit at the school dance. I couldn’t be more excited.