New Directions

Regionals were that weekend, so New Directions was rehearsing like mad.

Puck thought they had a real chance of moving on to Nationals, even though they were going up against one team that had beat them last year and another that was the love child of a barbershop quartet and a boy band. Aural Intensity beat them only because New Directions had gotten screwed out of the W, and Dalton was going down because their mascot had died (and he, Noah Puckerman, had absolutely nothing to do with that). New Directions' songs were so awesome that if they didn't get the win that was rightfully theirs, he was going to take a flamethrower to the auditorium.

With that confidence, however, came a lot of nervous energy and Puck needed to blow off some steam. In a previous life, he might have done it by nailing one of the Cheerios under the bleachers or throwing a couple of kids into Dumpsters, but this time his only option, really, was to pump some iron.

There were a couple of hockey meatheads in the weight room when he got there, but with Karofsky gone and a bunch of halfway decent dudes from the basketball team present for backup, they didn't pick on Puck, not even when he "cordially" invited them to watch the Glee Club compete at Regionals.

((OOC: Of course, the mod post went up on Saturday, Philippine time, so I thought Regionals was this coming weekend. Thank you, International Date Line. Nevertheless, Puck refuses to think of any other activity for the week so you're all stuck with this :-p))

Blake had been very sad without his Eliza at school with him for the past few days. He'd been trying to be good and giving her time to rest and get better. Uninterrupted rest was better than interrupted rest and all that. Or so he'd heard.

He'd thought about bringing his guitar but he figured he'd rather just see her then mess about. It was a fairly cold night but nothing too bad, so he jogged his way over to her house and knocked lightly on the front door.

Sunshine had heard the others talking about "Ohio show choir blogs and chat rooms" and she was curious, so during her next free period, she went online to check them out.

Naturally, they were all buzzing over the upcoming Regionals competition and discussing the various contestants in-depth. She skimmed over the things people were saying about Vocal Adrenaline and zeroed in on the discussions about New Directions and their competition. Some of the posts seemed fair in analyzing their strengths and weaknesses (and Sunshine had to be flattered when she read some of the nice things they were saying about her), while others were clearly biased.

The worst, however, were the posts by people who clearly had nothing to do but trash-talk. By now, she knew that she was never going to become best friends with Rachel, but the other girl was talented and they were on the same team, and Sunshine didn't like the idea of people bashing her teammates.

She glared at the screen and wondered whether she should say anything to the people who were bad-mouthing New Directions.

Even though Brittany wasn't a Cheerio anymore, she still had to prepare for all the dancing in American Idiot, so she had to stay in tip-top (heeeee, wasn't that a cute word?) shape. That meant she still had to have her usual Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse for lunch.

She couldn't remember the recipe - she remembered the water and maple syrup, then tossed in random stuff that they had in the kitchen. She had also forgotten the teaspoon of sand, but there was plenty of sugar in the cafeteria and sugar felt just like sand, so that was just as good, wasn't it?

Eliza hadn't been feeling very well that day, but she figured that she was just coming down with some sort of bug, and, well...she had a test that day. She had to come in to school.

She felt tired and irritable now, though, and she hadn't been able to concentrate during her test. Maybe if she just came and lay down in the choir room while there was no one in it, maybe she'd feel okay enough to finish school, and then she could just sleep whatever it was off that night.

So she was heading over to the choir room to see if she could do that. She looked about as bad as she felt, though, so someone should probably stop her and tell her to just go to the nurse.

Sunshine hummed under her breath as she leafed through a book about Shakespeare. She was trying not to make too much noise (the librarian had already shushed her once) but besides researching for an English paper, she also had to prepare for Regionals and was listening to the music they would be singing on her iPod.

Midterms were coming around, which meant that she had only half a semester left in America. Sunshine was definitely not looking forward to it, because not only did it mean the end of her year-long adventure, but school in the Philippines was starting up in June and she was not going to have a vacation.

That sucked, but what could she do, really?

Quinn had said it was OK, and Brittany's dad could give her a ride (Britt herself didn't drive because driving was sooo confusing), so that afternoon Brittany turned up on the Fabrays' doorstep.

When they were little, Britt, Santana and Quinn used to come over to each other's houses to play with dolls and sleep over. Brittany missed that sometimes, but the stuff they did now was pretty cool, too: she and Santana still had sleepovers (which were way more fun than the ones they had as kids), and Quinn had a real live doll to play with. So there were some good things about growing up.

She walked up to the door and rang the bell.

Blake hadn't been doing much. Just sitting at home and trying to plan out everything that was going to happen when his friends came from New York. In fact, he'd been skyping with Aiden when he'd invited Eliza over. Aiden would understand his abrupt disappearance -- after all, Eliza was involved!

And it was very abrupt. He heard the knock on the door and barely took the time to close out of his computer before dashing down the stairs. "My Eliza!" he said cheerfully as he opened the door.

Lillian had to admit that she wasn't in her best of moods. Mom had been in the rehab facility a little over a week, and while she was recovering physically, her mind was taking a little longer to recover.

As a result, her Dad was being overbearing and incredibly nit-picky, and seemed to be doing everything in his power to shove her away. Lillian didn't understand it, but when he'd suggested that she stay with the Parsons for a while, she'd decided that it was quite a good idea to get out of his hair for a while.

Thus, she was sort of in a down mood, and without much energy, which was really unlike her...but she was very happy that Ethan was going to get her out of the house for a little while. If nothing else, she needed some serious cuddle time.

Sunshine had looked at performances of American Idiot on Youtube, so she knew that she wouldn't have to dress up so much, but she still thought it would be fun to get something interesting to wear onstage even if she didn't have a big part.

Rachel didn't seem like the type of person she could ask for advice about costumes for the show, so she had asked Mercedes for advice on what to wear for the show. In the middle of waving her finger in the air and wagging her head, Mercedes had talked about "bling" and "weave" and "attitude." That last part sounded logical, but Sunshine wasn't sure if the rest was right for American Idiot.

So after grabbing some food at Jollibee (how cool was it that there was a Jollibee in a mall in Ohio?), she was wandering around the mall, looking at clothes and feeling more confused than ever.

Football was over and they didn't have basketball practice that day, so Puck decided to hang out in the choir room and play some tunes, partly to psyche himself up for Regionals (Aural Intensity, and Blaine and the Boys Dalton were going DOWN) and also practice for American Idiot. (Thanks to the show, Psychic Cousin was adding a lot more Green Day to its repertoire.)

It was just one of those days when he didn't have anything better or more important to do, and if anyone else showed up to hang out, he guessed that was cool.

The dance studio was one of Brittany's favorite spots at school.

The locker rooms and under the bleachers were fun, and she loved the candy machines because of the candy (duh), but the dance studio was special in its own special way. That was where she got to dance however she liked, without Sue yelling at her (unless Sue was walking past the door, which was why Brittany always made sure it was closed when she was there).

And that day, she was really excited to be there because she had Very Important Stuff to do: the guy in charge of the new Glee musical, who wasn't Mr. Shue and looked kind of like a really smart potato with hair, had asked her to do the choreography for the whole show. Up until then, Brittany had just made up dances in her room or for people's Glee numbers and MySpace videos, but never a whole show. So it was a pretty huge deal.

Anyway, now that Nationals were over, Brittany had time to start thinking of the dances and that was why she was in the studio at school.

The music that was going to be used in the show made her want to jump around like she had cool epilepsy, so after doing her stretches, that was exactly what she did.

In the afternoon on Friday, Edie got into her car and headed over to the hospital after first stopping by the drugstore for some sort of gift. She had it on good authority from Lillian that Kurt adored Lady Gaga, so the current issue of Vogue magazine was probably a good bet. At least she was hoping so. She figured that him being here was sort of her fault, in a way.

While she was certain that he had plenty of visitors, one more couldn't hurt, surely?

She stood outside the room and knocked softly. "Hey...you decent?" One never did know, in a hospital.

It wasn’t the first time Santana had been in the boy’s locker room – not even close – and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. Usually she was going there for fun, but this time she was pissed. Beyond pissed. It wasn’t so much that she felt any love for Kurt, and especially not for Edie, but that didn’t mean she was fine with them getting knocked around. Edie had a black eye and Kurt had almost been killed. That was far from okay.
( He was going to leave them alone. She would make sure of it. )

( Thursdays sucked. )

Edie had lied like a rug to her father about the shiner that she'd gotten from her tussle with Karofsky the other night. He was calling her every day, trying to get her to forgive him. She just hung up on him and wouldn't even speak to him.

She didn't want to go to school. Valentine's Day was going to suck majorly with everyone being in love and sickening and the stares at her eye. It also didn't help that her right hand was still swollen. She wrote with that hand!

Oh, Cheerios practice is going to be wonderful today, Edie thought as she savagely slammed open her locker. She had sunglasses on to hide the worst of the black eye, but it was still very noticeable.

Oh, she hated her life. She hated this town, and she hated this school so damn much!

Apart from the time he spent with Santana (which Quinn totally knew about), Puck had been an attentive boyfriend all night. Dances, compliments, cups of probably-not-spiked punch, pigs-in-a-blanket... Quinn hadn't wanted for anything that evening. He knew he had messed up, not just with the way he had asked her to the dance, and he wanted to make up for it in a big way. He was pretty sure Quinn had welcomed the attention, and either he had done things just right or she was too polite to tell him to simmer down.

If Puck had overdone things, it was because he was nervous. Quinn once complained that he hadn't made a move on her since Sarah was born, so all night he had wrestled with the question of whether or not to invite her to park on Makeout Mountain.

If he suggested that they go, then there was the chance that she would say no. He decided to surprise her, and if she wanted to go home, then he would be a gentleman and do so. They didn't have to do anything she wasn't ready for (even though he, with the boxful of rubbers courtesy of Carmel stashed under the back seat, was ready for anything).

Puck willed himself to remain calm as they drove out of the McKinley parking lot. "Did you have a nice time at the dance?" he asked, hoping to distract her with some conversation.

Blake was a fan of Valentine's Day. Sure, it was a made up holiday, a conspiracy by the card companies and candy companies to make a killing, but he still couldn't help but love it. Any day that was there for the sole purpose of doing something special for the person he loved was a great day in his mind. Sure, he could use any day to do such things, but there was already this one set aside specifically. If he didn't bring down the house on Valentine's, of all days, he's sure there would be some disappointment. He was a bit of a romantic, after all.

He'd planned it all out and that's why he found himself walking up the sidewalk to Eliza's house, a dozen roses in hand, pure happiness unable to be wiped off his face. In love? Absolutely. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. He knocked on the door and then slipped his free hand into his pocket, waiting.

The McKinley High gym has been nicely decorated for the evening, the Valentine's Day committee having spent the intervening hours between school and the start of the dance wielding streamers and balloons and setting up tables. The very center of the gym has been cleared out for the dance floor, and circular tables surround that for people to sit at, eat and talk between dances. A long table at the back of the gym has been set up for the DJ, and one other table to the side is for the basketball team's fund raising table, selling roses and other Valentine's Day goodies. The usual gym concession stand is now stocked with punch and snacks.

The teachers who have been enlisted to serve as chaperons are keeping a watchful eye on the activities on the dance floor...though they're not really keeping a close eye on the doors leading into the rest of the school. They might want to keep an eye on that.

There is a red carpet leading from the outside into the dance...let's get this party started!

Benji was nervous. Very, very nervous. It had all been his idea, he knew that, but still...he was nervous. It felt a little like walking into a lion's den...where the lions made out with you before they ate you. It wasn't the lions' fault, they were just doing what came naturally, he wouldn't be able to blame them but...yeah. Nervous.

His dad glanced over at him from the driver's side of the car, head tilted and brow furrowed with concern. "You feeling okay, Benj?"

He nodded. "'M fine, Dad. Just not...used to, uhm, visiting, y'know?"

His dad nodded. It seemed a little bit more than that, but he wasn't going to push things. Sometimes it was just easier to go with what his son was saying than to delve. Most times, really.

"I'll call when 'm ready to go home, okay?" His dad nodded again and Benji got out of the car and shuffled up to the door of Santana's house, eyes down and hood pulled over his head. He rang the doorbell and then shoved his hands into his pockets to wait. Oh yeah. Nervous.