A New Beginning

The next day, I hurried to Glee Club to make sure that I was the first one. “Hi!” I greeted Mr. Schue, thankful that he was early. “Can I perform today?”

“Sure,” he smiled. “You can go after Rachel.”

I rolled my eyes. I should have known that Rachel was going to jump at the chance to perform first. “Thank you.”

After sitting down in my seat, it seemed like an eternity passed before the rest of the club started trickling in from the hallway. Puck plopped down next to me, throwing an arm around my shoulders. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Alright, gang. Rachel, you wanted to go first?” Mr. Schue stepped off to the side, allowing Rachel to bounce to the front, a huge grin engulfing her face.

She started giving a mini-speech, but I couldn’t concentrate. I was too busy wondering why on Earth a girl would wear knee socks with little toothbrushes and dancing teeth on it. It wasn’t like they would possibly go with anything, right?

Wrong. She was wearing a sweater with toothpaste on it. Did she get dressed in the dark or something? Seriously. I was pretty sure that even three-year-olds had better fashion sense than she did.

I didn’t realize that she had stopped her speech and started her song until halfway through it. She was doing Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which I thought was a good choice. It was upbeat and fun, not like the ballads she usually picked.

“That was great, Rachel,” Mr. Schue congratulated once she was done. “Now, Sydney? You ready?”

“Yup!” A small smile spread across my face as I hurried to the front of the room. “Okay, so I’m doing You’re My Best Friend.”

Turning slightly, I gestured to the guy sitting at the piano, and he immediately started to play.

Ooh, you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It’s you, you’re all I see
Ooh, you make me live now, honey
Ooh, you make me live

Ooh, you’re the best friend that I ever had
I’ve been with you such a long time
You’re my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
Oh, you’re my best friend

A few minutes later, I was done, and everyone clapped politely. “Good job, Sydney. Were you singing that to anyone in particular?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “It’s just a song that my old best friend and I used to rock out to when I was eleven or something.”

Mr. Schue nodded. “That’s interesting. Is anyone else ready to go today?” No one raised a hand. “Alright. Puck, Finn, and Artie, you guys going to be ready for tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Finn agreed, and Artie nodded along with him. Puck just sat in his seat, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest.

Mr. Schue took everyone’s responses (including Puck’s non-answer) as a yes. “Alright, see you all tomorrow!”

I went back to my seat and grabbed my bag. “You were really good,” Puck smiled at me.

“Thanks,” I granted. “What song are you going to do?”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder and led the way out of the room.

“I guess I’ll just have to find out tomorrow, then.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Oh, and I’m hanging out with Finn on Saturday. I don’t know if I told you.”

“Why are you clearing it with me?” An amused smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.

“Because I wanted to make sure you didn’t pay any unexpected visits early Saturday morning. I’m going to need all the sleep I can get.”

“Alright, I won’t.”

We reached the locker rooms. “See you after practice,” I told him before entering the girls’ locker room.

Inside, girls were putting last minute touches on their makeup (Cheerios had to look perfect, even for practices) and hair, talking amongst each other.

I stayed quiet as I made my way to my locker, feeling my ponytail hitting the back of my neck with every step I took. All I needed to do was put my bag into my locker, and I was ready for practice. I knew there was no way that my makeup was messed up, since I barely wore any.

The gym was empty when I walked in. Not even Coach Sylvester was there. I had a feeling that if I yelled, my voice would be echoed back to me.

“Someone’s a little too excited for practice,” someone observed from behind me.

I turned to find Santana standing under a basketball net, one hand on her hip.

“I just didn’t really need to get ready,” I replied. “And apparently, everyone else had a lot to do.”

Santana closed the distance between us. “Look, Puck really likes you. I can tell, since, you know, we used to have sex all the time. He never looked at me like he looks at you.”

“I know,” I smiled. “He already told me.”

“Wow. He has guts. Who knew?” Santana turned to see that no one was in the doorway. “Anyway, get into your formation before Coach Sylvester shows up. The last thing you need is her pointing out how bad you really are.”

Santana turned to walk away, but I called after her, “Hey, what’s with you being nice to me?”

“I’m just PMS-ing,” she responded, not turning to look at me. “You know, I’m emotional and stuff.”

I laughed and went to my spot in the formation, ready to start the dance number. Slowly, girls filed in, still talking and laughing.

But once we heard the sound of children being shoved into lockers, followed by Coach Sylvester screaming at them to, “Try washing your hair for a change!” or “Walk in a straight line! Or is it too hard for your small mind to comprehend?”, everyone ran to their positions and shut their mouths.

“Okay, Poker Face number, from the top!” Coach Sylvester demanded as she walked into the gym. Immediately, the poppy beat started, and practice began.