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

Before too long, Friday came along, the day of the performances. I had to say, our group was looking really good. The boys didn’t have a prayer.

After school, I changed into my costume for the performance, shorts and a lacy tank top. In the bathroom, Mercedes helped me cake the makeup on my face without going overboard or making me look trashy. Even though I could barely recognize myself, I kinda liked it. Not an every day look, but not so bad for the performance.

“I wonder what song the guys are doing…” I trailed off as we made our way to the auditorium.

“Puck didn’t tell you?” Mercedes asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Nope. I didn’t even ask. He was annoying the hell out of me trying to get what song we were doing out of me, so I definitely didn’t want to return the favor.”

“Makes sense,” she nodded.

We were one of the first girls to arrive, though the guys were all there, tuning instruments, talking, and laughing. Tina was the only girl sitting on our side of the auditorium, wringing her hands in her lap.

“Hey,” I smiled as I approached. “You look great.”

“Th-th-thanks,” she responded with her stutter, standing up and pulling down her shirt a little further over the waistband of her jean shorts. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Probably still getting all sluttied up,” I shrugged, looking back toward the entrance of the auditorium, seeing no sign of them. “Though I expected Rachel to be here by now.”

“Present!” she called, putting up her hand. Suppressing a snicker, I looked up and smiled at her.

“Nice of you to join us. Santana, Brittany, and Quinn are still getting ready, right?”

“Yeah. They were putting on makeup and messing with their hair when I left,” she responded, running a hand through her teased hair once more.

“Okay, everyone!” Mr. Schue started as he walked into the room. “Everyone ready?”

“We’re still waiting on three people!” I exclaimed. Glancing over at the guys’ group, they were laughing a little, and I caught Puck’s eye.

Smirking slightly, I turned back to my group. “Rachel, want to go get them?”

Her eyes twinkled with disbelief. “Are you serious? They’d throw me out of the bathroom after insulting me.”

“You’re right,” I admitted. “I’ll be back.”

As I stepped into the hallway, I realized that me yelling at Santana for her to hurry her butt was probably not the best idea on the planet, but whatever. The last thing I needed was for us to lose by default, since we actually had a great change of winning this thing.

They were gossiping about someone or other when I pushed the door open and slipped in before it swung shut in my face. “Can you guys hurry it up a little? The guys are all ready, and Mr. Schue wants to get things started.”

Santana turned to me with an evil look in her eye. “I want to look good. Unlike whatever the hell you’re wearing.”

“It’s like what everyone else is wearing,” I retorted. “And my makeup is tasteful. You look like a depressed clown that got its face sucked into a vacuum.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, but I cut her off. “I’m not about to fight with you before a performance because I really want to win this. So just finish slopping that shit on your face and get to the auditorium.”

With that, I marched right out, feeling pretty proud of myself. First of all, I got the last words in, which was always a plus. Second of all, I was so totally the bigger person there.

My body was swelling with pride when I walked back in. “They should be here soon enough,” I announced, skipping back over to my group.

After replaying the whole thing, Mercedes grinned at me. “That’s it, girl! She’ll stop being on your back now.”

“I can only hope,” I mumbled.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, and I turned to look at Puck. “You look hot,” he informed me, smiling as he checked me out again and again.

“Eyes are up here,” I reminded him, lifting his chin. “But thanks. That’s kinda the point. So…you wanna tell me what song your group is singing?”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s not fair. You never told me what your group was doing.”

“Well, that’s because I didn’t want you to have an unfair advantage. We both have our own ideas now, so telling wouldn’t hurt.”

“So why don’t you tell me yours?”

Damn. I was hoping he wasn’t perceptive enough to pick it up from that angle. “Only if you tell me yours first.”

He opened his mouth, only to close it again and look down at me condescendingly. “You think I’m really stupid, don’t you?”

Thinking about his question again, he put up a finger and elaborated, “Never mind. Don’t answer that.”

“We’re here!” Santana announced, the three of them walking in. Brittany and Santana looked like they just walked off a street corner, and Quinn was marginally better.

“Great. So, girls or boys first?” Mr. Schue asked, looking between the two groups.

My first instinct was to look at Rachel. She was the one who had strong views on the subject.

Finn had started to say something, but his breath was immediately cut short by Rachel firing, “We’re going last.”

“That okay with you, boys?” Mr. Schue asked.

There was a mumble of affirmation among the group before they climbed up onto the stage. It took a few minutes for them to assemble and get everything squared away with the band.

Then, the first notes started to play, and a small laugh burst from my lips.