And Here's What You Missed on...GLEE

“Let’s see…” I mumbled during lunch. I was sitting with a couple of people that I knew, but wouldn’t really consider friends, at lunch, and my iPod was being hidden under the table. I seriously needed a song to sing after school, and I was on a desperate search. If I got caught with my iPod out, though, it would get taken away, and I would die.

Now, many people had the newest, up-to-date iPods: the Touch, the newest Nano. I, however, had the original iPod. It was clunky and had numerous scratches and dents, but I loved it too much to dispose of it.

“So what are you doing?” Caroline, a girl from my Spanish class, questioned, looking over my shoulder. “The 80’s AKA Decade of Amazingness?”

Okay, so I liked the 80’s and had a playlist on my iPod dedicated to it. Sue me. “Yeah,” I replied, too busy in picking out my song. Finally, I decided that nothing in my 80’s playlist was going to work. Depressing, but true.

So I scrolled down all my songs. What I needed was something that showed off my voice a little, but it also had to have meaning. Something relatable would make me connect with the song more, and also help me connect to the audience. In this case, my audience was just Glee Club, but it was still something.

Then, I came across Bad Influence by Pink. PINK! Perfect! Some of her songs really showed off her voice, and some of them had really good meanings, too.

So I went to Pink under Artistas (my iPod was in Spanish…I thought it was funny). My eyes fell upon a certain song, and everything clicked. No one had to know that it applied to my life. They could just think that I liked the song.

“Perfect,” I muttered to myself before holding down the play/pause button. The screen went black, and I switched on hold before dropping the MP3 player back into the front pocket of my backpack.

* * *

“So!” Rachel exclaimed as she sat down next to me in Spanish. I hesitated slightly, scared out of my mind. I don’t know how I forgot that she was in my class… “How is your search for your song going? You ready? It’s in only an hour, just to remind you.”

I turned toward her overly-bright face and replied, “I’ve picked out my song, and I’m ready to perform it when the time comes.”

“You going to tell me? I promise not to tell.”

Struggling not to let out a snort of amusement, I told her that I just wanted to keep it a secret until the time came. Everyone knew that Rachel couldn't keep a secret for her life.

When Mr. Schuester, who I knew was also the director of Glee, so he’d have to hear me sing later, walked into the classroom, I expected Rachel to go back to her normal seat so that Caroline could sit next to me.

But she just stayed where she was, like we were best friends. After shooting her a confused look, I just shook my head, deciding that it wasn’t worth bringing up. I would have to get along with her anyway, since we were going to be fellow club members. Feuding inside the group would not be good.

As Mr. Schuester went over how to conjugate a few irregular verbs, I sat back and watched, not taking notes. For some reason, I was really good at Spanish. It just made sense to me.

Later in class, we had to complete a worksheet, which I did in about ten seconds. For the last ten minutes, I just sat there and ran through the lyrics of my song in my head. If I forgot while I was performing, I would be extremely embarrassed and would never live it down.

Soon enough, Spanish class ended. “See you at Glee Club!” Rachel bid enthusiastically before heading out of the classroom. I blinked a couple of times, wondering if I was making a mistake. If Rachel was going to be so hot and cold with me, one day getting irritated because she thought I was going to steal Finn from her, and the next, acting like we were best friends, I was probably going to get whiplash.

Then, I remembered the bathroom earlier in the day and laughed. No wonder Rachel was being nice to me! Lisa had been fawning over Finn, talking about how cute he was, and I just acted like I didn’t care. So Rachel was reassured that I wasn’t after Finn. Oh, lord…

After a fast stop at my locker to grab my English reading book (horrible read), I made my way to the Glee room. It had a piano and a lot of space to perform. Against the back wall were rows and rows of chairs, lined up as if waiting for an audience.

“Mariana?” Mr. Schue asked as I entered the room. “Are you joining?”

Mr. Schue had ultra-curly brown hair and light eyes that I couldn’t pinpoint the exact color of. Lots of girls at the school had crushes on him, but to me, he was just another teacher. A cool teacher, but a teacher nonetheless.

“Outside Spanish, it’s Ellie,” I laughed.

“Ellie then,” he smiled. “You auditioning?”

At the mention of the word, the butterflies kick-started in my stomach. “Um, yeah, I was planning on it.” Then, I started to regret it and tried to talk my way out of it. “Actually, if this is a bad day, I can just do it another day. I don’t want to be a bother or anything.”

“No, no. Actually, you picked the perfect day. We’re starting a new project today, so you’ll be able to participate.”

“Great,” I mumbled, my heart starting to pound. I had never sung in front of anyone, unless my cat counted.

“Bathroom girl!” Puck greeted as he walked into the chorus room. I rolled my eyes. Did he have to bring that up again?

“Um…hi? I have a name.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He just laughed a little and sat down in a seat. I wasn’t really sure what that whole thing was about, but I didn’t care. The less I had to talk to Puck, the better.

One after one, the members of the club filed into the room, talking amongst themselves. When I realized just how big the club was, my nervousness intensified, which I didn’t even know was possible.

“Break a leg, Ellie,” Rachel granted before sitting in a seat and crossing her legs, sitting up perfectly straight. I ran a hand through my hair, which had dried by now. All these people were so talented…what did I think I was doing there?

“Okay!” Mr. Schue started, making everyone stop their side conversations. “Ellie here is going to audition, so everyone listen up.” He stepped back and crossed his arms, keeping his eyes on me. Everyone else’s eyes were on me, too.

“Um…” I trailed off, swallowing. Just breathe, Ellie. They’re just people. You’re not afraid of people.

After pep-talking myself for a second, I started, and the guy on the piano picked it up quickly.

Momma, please stop cryin’, I can’t stand the sound
Your pain is painful and it’s tearin' me down
I hear glasses breakin’ as I sit up in my bed
I told Dad you didn’t mean those nasty things you said

You fight about money, ‘bout me and my brother
And this I come home to, this is my shelter
It ain’t easy growin’ up in World War III
Never knowin’ what love could be, you’ll see
I don’t want love to destroy me like it has done my family

Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
I promise I’ll be better, Mommy, I’ll do anything
Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
I promise I’ll be better, Daddy, please don’t leave

After I finished the whole song, I took a deep breath and smiled. No one was saying anything, which made me nervous. Was that a bad sign? While I was singing, I started to get into it, but now that the song was done, my stomach was in knots again.

“Was it that bad?” I winced, biting my lip.

“Wow,” was all Finn said.

Rachel’s face fell. “She better not take my solos, I swear.” ‘Kay, I guessed I was back on her hate list. Threaten her solos or her boyfriend, and the person was as good as dead.

“Girl, you got pipes,” a girl I knew was named Mercedes informed me.

Mercedes was a pretty black girl. She was overweight, but she didn’t care. She embraced her curves and radiated confidence. More people needed to have her self-assurance. I also knew that she was one amazing singer, so the fact that she had complimented me made my self-esteem go up about seven thousand points.

“Really?” I was kind of shocked. No one had ever told me that I had a good voice before.

“I think you’ll make a good addition to the club,” Kurt told me.

Kurt was adorable with his perfectly-styled brown hair and light blue eyes. He was gay and had just come out recently, but no one cared other than the football players. He was too lovable to hate.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

“Ellie,” Mr. Schue grinned, “welcome to Glee Club.”