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

As I got ready the next morning, I kept humming the song in my head, just to make sure that there weren’t any spots that I had forgotten the song. Of course, I had known it for years, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t crack under the pressure.

“You look nervous,” Mercedes told me. I was slightly scared out of my mind, since she had come out of nowhere, but after I recovered, I nodded.

“I have to go after you. Of course I’m nervous. You’re amazing, and I’m so not.”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” she told me bluntly. “You’re good, and you know you’re good. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have tried out for Glee, and you wouldn’t be in this situation. So have a little confidence. You’re going to do great.”

Before I could thank her for the unlikely pep talk, she was already weaving through the crowd to get to her class faster, making it so that I couldn’t say anything. She did make me feel better, strangely.

The entire day, all I really did was go through the song lyrics in my head. No matter what I tried to focus on, no matter what else I tried to do, the song interrupted any thoughts that I was having, just to be certain that I could remember the whole thing.

By the time Glee Club rolled around, I was extremely nervous, butterflies doing kung fu in my stomach. Waiting for the other kids to arrive, I was sitting in a seat, listening to the song over and over on my iPod.

“There’s such thing as over-preparation,” Kurt informed me, looking over my shoulder to see what song I was listening to. “That song’s fun.”

“I know. I like it a lot.” Glancing up, I realized that most of the club was there by that time, just waiting for Mr. Schuester to arrive.

A few minutes later, he did, with a large grin on his face. “Ellie! You ready?”

Ignoring the overwhelming urge I had to vomit, I nodded, standing up. “Go, Ellie!” Kurt screamed in encouragement, noting that I was about to pass out. Ugh. Why was I so nervous? I wasn’t even this nervous when I auditioned.

I walked over to the piano guy and whispered my song. He nodded and readied his hands on the keys, looking up at me to make sure that I was ready. I nodded ever-so-slightly and readied myself. Right after he started to play, the rest of the people playing the instruments picked up on what I was doing. After the introduction, adding my own little touches, I started on the song.

Clock strikes upon the hour
And the sun begins to fade
Still enough time to figure out
How to chase my blues away
I’ve done alright up ‘til now
It’s the light of day that shows me how
And when the night falls, the loneliness calls

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me

I was dancing around the front, getting into the song and grinning as I watched the Glee kids sway back and forth with the beat. Then, as I approached the second chorus, I saw Rachel and Finn in the corner, looking really into it.

I wasn't really sure what came over me, but I went over and grabbed Finn’s hand, singing about how I wanted to dance with somebody. He caught on quickly, dancing in that adorably awkward way of his.

After a few more seconds, Mike realized that dancing up front with me was totally an option, so he started busting moves that most people couldn’t even do in their dreams.

When I finished, I was grinning widely, looking around the room. Rachel looked pissed, but I couldn’t worry about that then. Finn appeared to have been having fun, so that was what mattered.

“You were great,” Finn told me with a smile before going back to his seat. He and Rachel immediately started exchanging heated mutters, and I bit back a smile. Anything to get on Rachel’s nerves, right?

Wow, that was kind of bitchy.

“Very good, Ellie. Good job making your presentation energetic, like the song. Any particular reason you chose it?”

“I just really like it,” I admitted. A few giggles ripples through the members, which made me feel even better.

It didn’t go unnoticed by me that as I made my way back to my seat next to Kurt, Puck’s eyes were on me.

“See, girl?” Mercedes elbowed me lightly in the side. “You totally rocked that!”

“And you made Rachel extremely jealous,” Kurt added. I looked over to see Rachel’s brown eyes throwing imaginary daggers in my direction.

“There’s nothing to be jealous about,” I scoffed. “Finn was just right there, and he looked like he was getting into it.”

“Exactly,” he nodded. I let a smirk pull on the left side of my mouth as I sat back. I don’t know why I was so happy about getting on Rachel’s nerves. Maybe because she spent her entire life getting on everyone else’s nerves.

It felt good to know that I didn’t have to perform later, just getting my presentation over with. It was something that I was going to have to get used to, but I just wasn’t yet.

Maybe it’d come with time.

After Glee Club let out with the promise that both Finn and Rachel were going to present the next day (they were doing separate performances, but they had just offered to go on the same day), Kurt was talking.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to have to start preparing for Sectionals, too. It’s not easy.”

“I got that,” I sighed. “I can’t really dance.”

“Neither can Finn, but he manages,” he reminded me. I thought back to how uncomfortably Finn moved and laughed aloud. It was true, that was for sure.

“I’m not sure I’m as endearing as Finn, though,” I voiced.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Kurt smiled. “Anyway, I have to get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Alright,” I smiled, waving as he turned and walked away.

Instead of going straight home, I sat on the front steps of the school, looking like I was waiting for a ride. Of course, I wasn’t actually. I just knew that when I went home, all I was going to hear was screaming and complaining, and I wouldn’t have Grayson to distract me from that. He only came over once a week, if that.

“You were pretty good in there,” a person told me before sitting down next to me. I looked over to find the shaved head of none other than Puck.

“Um, thanks,” I responded uncomfortably. There was just something about him that made me slightly nervous. Maybe it was his reputation as a serious player, or maybe it was his cockiness. I wasn’t actually positive.

“You pissed off Rachel pretty bad.”

“Yeah, well,” was all I could think to say as an answer to that.

“She’s a control freak though. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, but I wasn’t worried. What is there to worry about when it comes to Rachel Berry?” I joked before standing up. Puck immediately stood up, too, to make sure that it didn’t look like I had any power over him.

“Do you need a ride home?” he asked.

“No, thanks. I’m just going to walk.”

“C’mon. How far is your house?”

“Two miles,” I mumbled.

A smirk grew on his face. “So it’ll take you, what, half an hour to walk there? I can get you there in less than ten.”

I sighed loudly, knowing that he was right. “Fine, fine.”

The look on his face made me kind of nervous, but that didn’t stop me from following him as we made our way to his car.

We were pretty quiet during the ride. I just stared at the window at all the houses with the small front yards.

“You’re weird,” he said suddenly, as if he was saying that the sky is blue.

“That’s not news,” I laughed.

“No, I mean…you’re not all over me, staring at me, like every other girl does.”

“You’re so full of yourself,” I informed him, chuckling again.

“That’s not news,” he repeated my words with a smile. “Which house is it?”

When I looked over at the dashboard, I realized that he been clocking how far we’d gone, so he concluded that we were around my house. That was surprisingly smart for him.

“Up here on the left. It’s sky blue,” I told him. He kept his eye out carefully before pulling into my driveway.

“Thanks for the ride,” I smiled.

“No problem. Do you ever have a ride after school?”

“Not anymore,” I said honestly. “I used to take a bus, but now, with Glee…”

“Then consider me your driver. Wait for me after football practice tomorrow, after Glee.”

I stared at him, waiting for some kind of catch, a ‘gotcha!’ “Really?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged to show that it was no big deal.

“I really appreciate that.”

“Will you make out with me?”

I couldn’t help but let out a really loud laugh. “Good-bye, Puck. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, alright,” he sighed, but he smiled. I shut the door behind me and I walked up to my house, actually feeling kind of happy.