SpanGLEEish

I couldn’t bear to wake up the next morning. Yes, I had about a whole week off from school, but the thought of going to McKinley High made my skin crawl. Not because it’s a public school, I could care less about that. The fact that I’d be walking around, knowing Santana was just around the corner admittedly frightened me.

I took my time getting dressed, dragging my legs from my bedroom to the bathroom and back and finally made my way to the kitchen where the clan was seated to eat breakfast.
Santana purposely walked by me, biting into an apple with a loud crunch. I didn’t meet her eyes.

“Will you girls be riding to school together?” Dr. Lopez asked, barely looking up from his newspaper.

Santana scoffed, I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t see why, I have my own car.” I stated, glancing towards Santana. She nodded towards our dad in agreement.

“Besides, Brit is picking me up.” Santana took one last bite of her apple before tossing it swiftly into the trash bin.

“Brittany?” Santana’s mother gasped, “Your ‘silly’ friend is allowed to drive?”

I snickered and Santana just glared at her mom. At that moment, there was a knock at the door before it was opened by none other than Brittany herself. She seemed to think she lived here.

“Hola family!” The blonde greeted with a horribly fake accent while grinning to her self.

Santana’s grumpy mood seemed to vanish and she automatically smiled at her friend and strode towards her.

Once Santana was arms length to Brit, Brittany leaned over to her and pointed towards me, “Is that the orphan, Guadalupe?”

Santana just smirked at the menacing look I gave her. I stood up and slid my way in front of Santana. I stuck out my hand to Brittany, “Actually, I’m Reina. And I’m not an orphan, I’m Satan’s – I mean Santana’s sister.”

“Half-sister.” Santana said with a hard shove in my direction, I yelped and Santana smiled in satisfaction. “We’ll be going.” Santana pulled a confused Brittany towards the door, “Hasta luego mommy! Dad! Orphan.”

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I couldn’t help but scrunch up my nose as I walked through the halls of William McKinley High. I had high hopes for this school, but walking through the entrance doors and seeing the odd things ‘normal’ teenagers of Ohio here do bothered me to the core.

Jocks bullying people half their size. Cheerleaders walking around in packs, prancing around in the familiar Cheerio uniform Santana wore nearly everyday. I swear I caught a glimpse of some guy in a hockey uniform throw a slushy but was pushed forward to take much note of it. Then there were class election posters everywhere and notably one of a guy with a unicorn sticking out of his forehead.

I finally made it to my locker with much work and a process of snaking through crowds and shouting “Excuse me!” I grabbed at my handbag and shoved it into the locker, frustrated.

“Are you okay?”

My eyes lit up in wonder at the foreign accent and I looked away from my locker and my eyes slowly wandered into a pair of crystal blue ones that seriously made me catch my breath.

“Wow.”

He smiled sweetly, “What?”

“Tus ojos,” I shook my head, trying to fix my words, “Your eyes are very pretty.” His smile grew.

“Thank you! I suppose there are a few more nice people in America.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I turned back to my locker, “There are loads of nice people in America.”

“Not at this school.”

At that moment I felt something fly at my face and hit my cheek softly. I caught sight of green and realized it was the hat that was on top of this kids head. “Irish!” Some teasing voice said before fading away.

I sighed, picking up the hat and handing it back to its owner, “Sorry, I guess some ‘Americans’ aren’t very nice here. Pero, I haven’t been at this school long enough to know.” I shut my locker and turned to this first person I had so far met at McKinley, “I’m Reina Lopez,” I held out my hand politely.

He shook it, even though he quickly glanced around to see if anyone were watching, “Rory Flanagan.”

“Ah, so the two noobs have met. Lucky Charms and Miss Guadalajara.”

I grimaced as I turned over my shoulder to see Santana walking towards us, her hands crossed in front of her and she was sporting her usual cheerleading uniform.

“Very funny Satan, how long did that take you?” I snapped at her, Rory just glanced from one to the other.

Santana smirked devilishly, “A lot less time than it took you to stop crying for the past few nights.”

That stung. “Why are you such a shady iniquitous jerk?” I choked out.

She shrugged, “Why are you such a pathetic narcissistic prude? The world will never know.” With that she descended into the crowded halls.

I felt my throat become dry. No one saw that embarrassing moment, right?

“Why does she hate you so much?” Oh right, there was a witness.

I hesitantly looked into the marvelously blue eyes belonging to Rory, “She’s my sister. I suppose that’s reason enough.”

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My next class was French, no not Spanish. I was obviously good at that language. I met the infamous unicorn boy I had seen posted all around school. We had a nice French chat.

“Donc vous êtes nouveaux ici?” He asked, we just so happened to be paired for a speaking assignment. He was kind and obviously had a good fashion sense. His name was Kurt.

I nodded, “Oui, cette école se distingue de celui auquel j'étais. C'était l'Académie d'Arts scéniques juste à l'extérieur de Lima, Ohio.”

His eyes seem to light up, “Donc vous êtes un artiste?”

I shrugged modestly, “Je chante et danse. Aucune grande affaire.”

“You should join the glee club.” He said excitedly in English. “We’re in need of more members and we could definitely use your talent.”

He caught me off guard, “I don’t know. I’m new to this school. I think I should ‘learn the ropes’ before I jump into a commitment like that.”

He scoffed, “The only ropes around here are the ones the apes of the football team use. In this school all that matters is if you’re popular. In glee club, we can be ourselves, we’re like a family, and we accept one another because our other peers don’t.”

“Well I don’t want to intrude on your ‘family’.”

Kurt looked at her with pleading eyes, “Please. We’ve lost some of our best members, we could really use you.”

I sighed, how could you say no to those puppy dog eyes, “Bien! Je le ferai!”

Kurt grinned happily and pulled me into an unexpected hug, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

I patted his back awkwardly before he pulled away and said, “I’ll let Mr. Schue know and your audition will be later on this week, maybe tomorrow.”

“Wow.” I said, taking it all in, “It’s like the Nutcracker all over again.”

He leaned in closer, “You were in the Nutcracker?!” I laughed; this guy was definitely into the arts.

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“How was your first day, hija?” My father asked as I finally descended from my room. I was on my laptop searching for songs that I could sing for my audition. Was it odd that I was excited? I hadn’t performed since my last day at the Academy.

“Interesting to say the least.” I said as I joined my family in the living room. Santana wasn’t there yet, she stayed after school, probably for Cheerios or something. Though in her place my grandmother was there, she wasn’t a very kind woman, but I suppose aging does that to you. She was fond of me though, at least when she was in a good mood. Today she seemed in a good mood. “Someone I met told me I should consider joining the glee club.”

“Glee club? Que es esto?” My abuela asked, looking at my father questioningly.

“It’s show choir amah,” I quickly informed her, she gave me a look of confusion.

“That sounds familiar, I think Santana is in that.” Santana’s mom said. My eyes went wide in surprise.

“What?” I blurted out, “Santana is in glee club?”

My father smiled, “So you’re trying to bond with your sister, how nice.”

“What nonsense are you people talking about?” Santana barged in. Her brows were pulled together; she didn’t look the least bit happy.

Dr. Lopez spoke first, “Reina here just told us that she’s joining your schools glee club. Isn’t that nice?”

Santana turned to me, her arms crossed, “You’re really going to join those losers?”

I stifled a laugh, “Aren’t you one of those losers? You’re in glee club, your mom said –”

“Not” Santana cut me off, “anymore.”

“Why not sweetheart?” Her mother asked her.

Santana shrugged, “I got tired of them. They don’t appreciate my talent, so jodalos.”

“Santana.” Abuela warned her with a glance.

Santana just turned her attention back to me, “You have fun singing back up.”

“I never sing back up.” I retorted.

She shrugged, “We’ll see.”

I nodded, “We will.”

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“Wait, Santana is your sister?” Kurt asked, stunned. We were walking out of French class. I had explained to him the events last night that occurred at my home.

I nodded, “Yeah, didn’t I tell you?”

He shook his head, “I would have remembered. But this is great, you can convince her to join New Directions again.”

I laughed, “Santana may be my sister, but she doesn’t like me and definitely won’t listen to me. It’s sibling rivalry.”

“Well, you’re still joining right?”

“Of course, I have the perfect song.”

I noticed his shoulders relaxed, “Good.”

“Kurt.” Someone said, walking towards us. He had dark hair, a bowtie around his neck and a cute smile. Kurt’s boyfriend perhaps?

“Blaine, hi. This is Reina Lopez, the girl I told you about.” Kurt introduced fondly.

Blaine took my hand into his and shook it delicately, “Reina, that’s a very pretty name. Kurt has told me you’ll be joining New Directions.”

I nodded and smiled shyly, “Thank you and yes, I am.”

Kurt didn’t seem at all uncomfortable, when Blaine had his hand back Kurt held it in his, “Blaine here is my boyfriend.”

I smiled, I knew it! “Ya’ll are too cute.”

“We should get going, see you soon Reina!” Kurt said before pulling Blaine away.

I smiled all the way back to my locker, the smile only grew when I saw Rory. “Hey Rory!”

He smiled when I came into view, “Hello Reina.” He said in his accent.

“Buille faoi thuairim a?” I said slowly, trying to pronounce the words in an accent similar to his.

His blue eyes lit up, “You know Irish?”

I giggled, “I looked up a few words last night. Not the best but…”

“It was good for an American.” Rory continued to wear his happy smile.

“Rory!” I turned over my shoulder to see a very tall someone walking towards us, he caught sight of me and smiled. “You made a new friend? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” He said to me.

“I’m new.” I shrugged and held out my hand, “Reina Lopez.”

He took my hand and opened his mouth but another voice took over.

“This is Finn Hudson. He’s in glee club, I saw him on YouTube tongue kissing his girlfriend for 10 minutes at Nationals.” Rory finished.

I let go of Finn’s hand instinctively crept out for a second. Finn let out a small embarrassed laugh.

“I just wanted to know if you were still going to audition for glee club.” Finn spoke after a second of an awkward silence.

My eyebrows furrowed and I looked up at him only to see his attention towards Rory, “Oh, so you’re joining too?” I asked Rory.

He nodded, “I’m hoping it will make me more friends.”

“I’m auditioning too.” I noted, Rory’s eyes lit up once more.

“You are?” Finn asked, I nodded.

“Kurt told me about it, and I figured since my sister quit you might need someone to fill her spot.”

“Your sister?” Finn said slowly, giving me a once over before realization obviously hit him, “Santana. Santana’s your sister?”

I nodded and Rory chimed in, “Yeah, and she is not a nice sister either.”

I laughed embarrassed, remembering the scenario that took place awhile back, “Great times.”

“So I guess I’ll be seeing the both of you later?” Finn asked, Rory and I nodded. Finn nodded and said his goodbye before stalking into the crowded halls.

I leaned against my locker looking up at Rory, he may have been a freshmen but he was taller than me, “I all of a sudden feel nervous.”

He smiled, “I’m sure you’ll do fine. You’ll have luck with you.”

I laughed, “Luck?”

He nodded and seriously said, “Yeah, me.”

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I stood before the glee clubbers. Rory had already did an amazing job performing, I wasn’t sure if I could top that. Kurt had been very kind as to introduce me as Finn did for Rory.

I never get nervous when performing in front of big crowds, but small crowds made me nervous, especially when I didn’t know them.

One of the musicians began to softly play the harp, I took deep soft breaths, awaiting for my cue to sing.

I looked down as I found my voice to sing, “She was lost in so many different ways Out in the darkness with no guide I know the cost of a losing hand Never thought the grace of God go high I found heaven on earth You were my last, my first And then I hear this voice inside” I glanced up and looked into the eyes of my peers.

“Ave Maria”

I closed my eyes, letting myself slip into the song, “I’ve been alone when I’m surrounded by friends How could the silence be so loud But I still go home knowing that I’ve got you There’s only us when the lights go down You are my heaven on earth You are my hunger, my thirst I always hear this voice inside

“Singing Ave Maria”

My passed over to Kurt, he smiled and gave me a thumbs up. “Sometimes love can come and pass you by While your busy making plans Suddenly hit you and then you realize It’s out of your hands, baby you got to understand.” I glanced to Rory and locked eyes with his baby blues.

“You are my heaven on earth You are my last, my first And then I hear this voice inside Ave Maria Ave Maria” I mustered all I had to hold the final high note.

“Ave Maria”