Haunted

Chapter 4

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
- Dr. Seuss

“So, did you want to ride in with me, or drive yourself?” uncle Will asked looking over at me from the other end of the little table in the kitchen.

I looked up from my bowl of Fruit Loops, “I’ll go with you. I haven’t felt like driving since...” I let my sentence hang, I knew he knew what I meant by that.

It was the truth though, I really hadn’t wanted to drive my car sine their accident. It made me feel...very uneasy to drive. Uncle Will was very understanding.

He nodded, and then took a small sip of his coffee, “I have the Glee Club after school today, so you’re going to have to wait for me.”

I simply nodded and ate another small spoonful of the cereal. We sat in silence the rest of the time at the table. After I was finished with my bowl, I rinsed it out in the sink and put it back in the cupboard, I walked out of the kitchen and into my room to grab my messenger bag before taking another look in my full length mirror. My dress reached just above my knee and I had my new flats on. My mom had picked them out for me. It was all black, unsurprisingly. I had shoved all my colourful clothes far away from the front of my closet. I hadn’t been in a very colourful mood.

“Ready?” Uncle Will asked leaning on the doorframe to my room.

I looked at him and nodded, picking up my school bag from the floor near the door and closing it behind me.

The ride to the school was quiet, the only noise was very quiet music playing from the stereo, I looked at the passing scenery as we drove, taking in my new surroundings. It was something I would have to get used to, new town, new stores, new people, new everything. I was going to need to adapt.

Uncle Will and I got to the school in just under fifteen minutes, he pulled into a spot near the side doors, there were already quite a few cars parked and some people were mingling there.

“This is where we practice for Glee,” Uncle Will said as we passed an empty room with various instruments and chairs set up, “You can meet me here after school to watch, okay?”

“That’s fine,” I answered.

“The office is just down the hall, you can’t miss it. I have to get to my room and set up. You’ll be fine, I’ll see you after class, Ry,” he said putting a reassuring arm around me.

I simply nodded before walking towards where he said the office was, he was right, I couldn’t miss it. I opened the door and stepped up the desk where an older lady sat looking over some paper work.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“My name is Ryley Schuester, I’m a new student,” I answered.

She nodded and grabbed a piece of paper from the top of a pile and handed it to me kindly, “This is your timetable, the classes are very simple to find. Welcome to McKinley! And also, I’m so sorry about your loss, you and your uncle.”

I forced a little, tiny smile that lasted only a second, “Thank-you. Have a nice day,” I said before turning around and leaving the office.

I looked down at my paper seeing where my first class was, room 128 Math. I looked to my right to see what class number it was, 114. I walked straight then went right and straight a little further before I saw room 128 to my right. I looked inside to see it was empty; I opened the door and took a seat in the far left second row seat. I sat and looked over my timetable for a few minutes until a couple students began walking in.

Their talking stopped abruptly when they saw me; I quickly looked back down at my paper once again.

“You’re new, right?” one of the girls asked me. The girl that spoke was a bigger black girl she had a sparkly necklace on that had an ‘M’ pendant on it, the other girl was Asian and looked shyer than her friend.

I lifted my head up and looked in their direction, “Yeah.”

“I’m Mercedes, this is Tina,” she said inclining her head towards the pretty Asian girl standing just behind her.

“Ryley Schuester,” I replied.

Mercedes and Tina both looked at each other before looking back at me, “We’re really sorry about what happened,” Mercedes said.

I nodded politely, “Thank-you.”

“Does that mean Mr. Schuester is back?” Tina asked, taking a seat beside Mercedes.

“Yeah, he is. His leave was done today,” they both nodded in understanding. I went back to looking at my paper as more student filed in.

It was hard not to notice the whispers that were going around the classroom as they caught sight of me and started asking questions, I would then hear Mercedes fill them in on who the new girl, most people said, ‘Oh,’ quieter than the original whisper and go on with their day. I guess that news traveled fast down the halls of McKinley about why Mr. Schuester was gone and what he brought back to Lima with him.

“Alright,” the teacher said as he came into the room, “I hope you all had a good weekend, now it’s back to business. Fractions this week, kids,” he said as he took out his binder and flipped through it.

I got up and went up to him trying not to draw anymore unwanted attention to myself, “Um, Sir?”

He looked up from his notes at me, “I’m Ryley Schuester, new student,” I said quietly.

He flipped through a couple pages before nodding and looking back at me, “I have you down here,” he put the binder down and went to a cabinet in the class and got me a textbook, he walked back over and handed it to me, “We’re starting fractions today, have you met anyone from the class yet?” he asked.

“Mercedes,” I answered quickly.

He nodded, and looked at her, “Mercedes,” he said and inclined his head towards us. She got up and came up to us, “After class lend Ryley the notes we’ve done so far so she can make copies and be caught up,” she nodded and smiled at me. “Okay, go back to your seats and we’ll start our lesson.” We both nodded and went back to our seats.

Math, English, and Health class all went by without incident, then came lunch. I was walking to my locker after Health was done so that I could get my lunch when I noticed someone with a Mohawk walking quickly towards me with a full cup of something red in their hand, I stopped to see what was going on but he kept walking right towards me, until Mercedes called his name.

“Puck!”

He stopped and looked over at her just feet away from me, “What?” he asked impatiently.

She shook her head slowly, “That’s Mr. Schue’s niece,” she told him.

He went wide eyed before looking back to me, “Um, did you want a cherry slushie?” he asked slowly holding the cup out to me.

“No, thank-you,” I answered quickly.

He nodded, “Um, sorry about that. And...everything,” he said quietly before turning and going back the direction he came from.

I looked at Mercedes, confused. She took my arm and pulled me closer to her locker, “That was Noah Puckerman, or better known as Puck. Him and most of the football team slushie most of the new kids, but that wasn’t going to happen today. Hopefully he’ll pass the word along to the rest and they won’t bother you.”

“Oh,” I said. That would be pretty unnecessary on Pucks part to slushie people, seriously, what’s that going to accomplish? “Well, thank-you for that. I’ll see you later,” I said before she could get another word in.

I went to my locker, put my bag in there and took out the bag that had my lunch in it; I also took my phone and iPod with me. I locked my locker and found the cafeteria without much trouble. I sat down at one of the tables near the back so I wouldn’t have the unwanted attention that I had during my first three classes. I put my ear buds in and set my iPod on shuffle and listened to the music play as I ate my bagel and drank my water. By the time Killer Queen by Queen was done playing I had finished my lunch and successfully done it without people staring at me. I left the caf and went back to my locker to put the brown paper bag in the there, and grab my messenger bag and the two binder I’d need for science and law.

Again, my class went by the same as the first three did, with whispers going around once they found out who I was, and then realizing what happened. People weren’t trying to stare, but they couldn’t help it I guess. I catch them looking ever so slightly in my direction then looking away quickly. It was at that time that I just wanted the day to be over with and go back to Uncle Will’s apartment. When the final bell rang, I went to my locker and got my homework for the night, when I closed the door, I went to the Glee room to wait for Uncle Will. I waited further down the hall just so the Glee kids wouldn't see me right away.

“Hey, Ryley,” he said when he showed up.

I smiled slightly, “Hey, Uncle Will.”

“How was your first day?” he asked.

I shrugged, “Alright, nothing to brag about.”

He nodded, “Ready for Glee?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

Then he smiled his first real smile since the accident, a true happy smile, and I wondered when I’d ever smile like that again, “Awesome! Come on, I think you’re gonna really like the club, and if you wanna join, we’re always looking for more members.”

I shrugged without giving him a definite answer, I hadn’t sung since the accident. I don’t know, singing had always made me happy, and I had been singing for as long as I could remember. My family had always encouraged music in the house, so I had grown up around it and it was just a normal thing for me to do. That’s a big reason I joined the Glee Club back home, I just wanted to sing. Every Saturday morning me, my parents, and my brother would have music on in the kitchen and sing and dance. My dad was an international banker, and my mom was an accountant, so during the week they were always in an office behind a desk, but on the weekends with the music they’d let loose and have a great time with me and Blake.

I missed that.

“Everyone,” Uncle Will said when we walked into the music room, everyone that was there went silent, “This is my niece Ryley. She’s going to be sitting in today, and probably the rest of the year. Ryley, this is everyone.”

I gave a small smile, and everyone did the same, some waved, some said a small ‘hey.’
“Mr. Schue,” a girl spoke up from her seat in the front, she had long wavy brown hair, and was wearing a plaid skirt and white button up blouse, “on behalf of everyone in Glee Club, we want to give you our deepest condolences to you and your niece, Ryley about what happened. Truly, we’re very sorry, and also happy to have you back with us in the Glee Club. Also, welcome to McKinley High School, Ryley.” She sat down again after her impromptu speech.

As unexpected as it was, it was very nice of her to say.

Uncle Will smiled at them, as everyone in the room echoed her sentiments, “Thank-you guys, that means a lot, right, Ry?” he asked looking over to me.

“Yeah, thank-you guys,” I said a bit louder than I had been talking for the past week.

“Ryley, you can take a seat with the others,” Uncle Will said as he put his binder down on a desk.

I nodded and went towards the others, there was the boy with the Mohawk that had wanted to slushie me, everyone smiled at me as I went over there. I saw Mercedes and Tina sitting together so I took an open seat beside them. They both smiled at me as I sat, I returned it.

“Okay, everyone. This week I don’t really have an assignment prepared, I just want you to pick a song, any appropriate song, and share it with us. Sorry it’s not a theme but I didn’t have time to prepare,” Uncle Will told us.

“Don’t worry Mr. Schue, that’s an excellent assignment, and I think we all look forward to doing it,” the brunette with he plaid skirt said.

“That’s Rachel Berry,” Mercedes whispered to me. I nodded in acknowledgement.

“Thank-you, Rachel,” Uncle Will said, “But unless someone is ready right now, I guess that’s all for today. We can start presentations tomorrow.”

Everyone began talking amongst themselves as I made my way back to Uncle Will, who had picked up his binder and was waiting for me, “Ready to go?” he asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, I’m ready.”