New Directions

Quinn was taking a little time between classes to catch up on some work--the unexpected labor had really thrown off her schedule and she was still way behind in things.

Sure, she could go home, but Sarah was a distraction, albeit the best, and most lovable distraction ever, so she was taking a little time when she didn't have classes scheduled to catch up.

If people needed to sing, that was all right...she'd just be here in the back, doing her History essay...

Mr. Schuester was busily organizing music. Tina's group performing '21 Guns' was amazing and he thought he should expand it for the entire group. So now he was placing copies of music on everyone's chair.

And he thought that he was getting a little soft with these kids.

They needed a new assignment.

Usually, he had one picked out far before the actual rehearsal...but today, he wasn't quite sure what he'd do.

Well, life was uncertain...

And you never could predict, sometimes, what the best course of action would be.

He'd have to let it come to him.

A long red carpet leads from the parking lot to the lobby of the school gym, decorated for pictures of the happy couples and groups. From there, the carpet leads to the gym, which is decked out in red and black balloons and silver stars.

There's an actual DJ this time near the “bar” where drinks are being served...well, sodas and water. It's high school, what do you want? There's tables scattered about the edges of the dance floor, with red tablecloths and movie-themed centerpieces.

Have fun, kids. Try not to get into too much trouble.

How do other mothers stand it?

It took all of Quinn's willpower not to call her mother every five minutes to find out how Sarah was. She had to make an effort to concentrate on all her classes and meetings with teachers to make up work--she had a boatload of work to make up and she wasn't entirely sure how she was going to do it all, but she'd have to if she wanted to graduate the year.

She couldn't figure out how other parents did it, parents who had to work... And she was so not certain if she could do it anymore. She'd been so confident that she could do everything she had to do and still be a good mom...but the thought of giving up high school was becoming more attractive the more she had to close her phone after resisting the urge to call her mother.

But she still wanted to go to high school. She still wanted the experience, and her friends, and Glee...

How did they do it?

Quinn sighed and put her phone back in her pocket and got her books out for her next class. She'd have to find out some other time.

( Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? )

Quinn had been breastfeeding Sarah when Tanner had come back home. Even though she was sort of dozing off, she could tell that Tanner was upset. So after Sarah had finished feeding, Quinn gave her to Puck to take care of (she always got a lovely feeling when she put Sarah in his arms--she couldn't help feeling terribly lucky that he loved her so much), and ventured up to Tanner's room.

She could hear him crying, and her brow furrowed. "Tanner?" she asked, knocking on the door, then pushing it open slowly. Her brother was sitting on the bed, crying, and holding his cat. Very tightly.

"Tanner, what's happened?" She came in and sat down on the bed beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Quinn didn't know why she had to be in the hospital. She felt fine. She was tired, of course, but she was happy and even though she was aching all over, it wasn't anything worse than she'd felt after the first few cheerleading practices of the year. And after the visit from Mrs. Puckerman's hairdresser, she even felt pretty, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

About all she could do in the hospital was sleep, and eat, and take care of Sarah. She was sort of glad that she was here when she had to feed the baby, because the lactation consultants were very helpful. Still...she couldn't help feeling that she'd be way more comfortable at home.

She was very happy that Puck had kept his promise not to leave her alone in the hospital. She really didn't know what she'd do without him sometimes, and she hoped she never had to find out.

She'd been dragging all day long.

Quinn barely got through her first few periods, barely got through lunch, barely ate anything at all, and near the end of lunch, she nearly felt as if she was going to die. She was tired. But she couldn't go home, not when there were so many things yet to do, time was flying, and there was still a Spanish test to take.

But now it was becoming unbearable. After lunch, she'd had an extra-long bathroom break (she didn't think she'd drunk that much orange juice), and now she was running late. On her way to Spanish, she was dragging so much she could barely move. Her back hurt, her sides hurt, and she had to stop and lean against the wall for a moment.

Halfway through it, she realized that this wasn't a Braxton-Hicks contraction. This was real.

And she'd had the same feeling right before she'd left lunch, right before she'd gone to the bathroom.

Her eyes widened and she looked around, spotting Kurt a few feet away.

"Kurt! Kurt, wait up!" She hurried after him, once she could move away from the wall.

Will had to admit, he was feeling pretty down. He was getting divorced, he'd betrayed Emma by kissing the coach for Vocal Adrenaline, and now he and Emma were...well, not together.

And he was alone, for the first time since he was fifteen. He wasn't at all sure how to deal with it. The apartment was so quiet.

But right now, he had to concentrate on getting his Glee club in a good place for Regionals. The kids were working hard but there were a lot of distractions. Quinn was getting huge, the RENT production, and of course, various personal problems with the kids. Being a teenager, after all, was difficult, and there were still slushie facials to contend with...

Suffice it to say, Will was worried about the Glee club's chances. But he'd try his hardest...and the kids were working hard.

He clapped his hands to bring the kids to attention. "Okay! So, it's the last call for practice solos, duets, any sort of talent you want to show us...after today, we'll be working flat out on the pieces for Regionals and polished performances. So...let's have fun before we get to work. Show me what you've got!"

[ooc: I'll be in and out all day, just start posting away and I'll answer any tags to Will later! Have fun with this!]

Brooke was nervous.

Quinn was the first glee club girl she'd made plans with to hang out outside of school. In retrospect, that might not have been the best choice, since Quinn's "brother" was Kurt's boyfriend. But Quinn had invited her.

She had considered asking Melissa to tag along, but then her sister had to go and make her own plans. It was just as well. Brooke knew she needed to be more independent.

She stood on the front step and rang the doorbell.

Somehow, they'd found out that the kids were having a RENT rehearsal today. And so, they came out en masse, with signs in hand, and a rather poorly-thought up chant that fell apart every so often.

A group of about 20 protesters with signs are picketing the Gentlemen's Club, mostly women and men but some teens, as well. Most notably, the teens from the Chastity Club are there, yelling with as much venom as they could muster.

Which, for supposedly devoted Christians, is quite a bit.

The kids wanted to garner attention...they've got it.


[ooc: Feel free to use the gleeklub account to interact with the protesters. NO VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS! period, end of sentence. The protesters know the law. And no one wants to be arrested.]

To: cheery_oh
From: haver_brooke
Subject: Free Pedicure

Hi,

My sister's best friend works at a nail salon that offers free pedicures to women in their last trimester of pregnancy. Would you wanna get a free pedicure? I remember you saying how your feet are hurting and your ankles are swelling. Maybe this would help. Plus, you can get your feet looking pretty before you're in the delivery room. ;-) What do you think? I could use a nice polish for sandal weather myself.

- Brooke

To: high_roller
From: haver_brooke
Subject: Paralympics

Did you catch any of the paralympics on TV today? I saw some of it by a lucky accident. I watched blind and partially sighted skiiers... very cool. Then I saw sled hockey. OMG, Artie, if you can, one day you need to try sled hockey. I dunno how you feel about sports, but it looked so incredibly fun!

- B

To: mr_cellophane
From: haver_brooke
Subject: Apology #2

I'm sorry you're an ass about how I acted today.

- Brooke

( Making Up Is Hard to Do )

The Glee picnic was at noon that day, the old football field cleared for the day as the large grill that had been ordered was pushed into the enter of the white lines, picnic tables set up and a some coolers put out as Tanner made sure things were all in order. He'd gotten all the meat just an hour before, the cooler stinking of it as he turned the grill on and waited for someone, anyone who actually knew what they were doing to show up.

Quinn was currently in the baby section of the Macy's, looking to use a gift card her Grammie had sent her. Her mom was in another department. Quinn wasn't asking which one.

She very rarely was alone these days. She couldn't drive any more because her belly had grown to interfere with steering. Her mother was hovering.

Between that, the fact that Finn was still angry with her (not that she blamed him), and the fact that her pregnancy pants were getting tight, Quinn was not in the best of moods. She was tired of being pregnant, tired of being this big, and tired of not being able to move. She couldn't believe she still needed to wait another whole month before the baby came.

Quinn had...never been good at patience. And this was no different. But at least she was alone for a few minutes, and could clear her head. She was currently looking at cozy bedding for the baby's crib. She was starting to get sleepy already.

( Performing first was both good and bad. )

((OOC: If you'd like to tag in, feel free to do so wherever. THNM. I'll post each song as its own comment thread periodically throughout today and tomorrow. :) We'll see how this works!))

The past day or two since Puck told Finn the truth had been very...tense. People had sort of been avoiding her, even in Glee.

Quinn supposed they just didn't know what to say to her, and Quinn couldn't blame them. She wouldn't know what to say to them either, if the situations were reversed. Still, it was depressing.

And not to mention that she worried about Finn, too. She really had hated to hurt him, hated this whole situation. She wished everything were black and white again sometimes. But everything was difficult, and in varying shades of gray.

Still...she was glad everything was out in the open. At least there would be no more lying.

She wasn't sure what to say to him as she drove him back home. To tell the truth, she was a little overwhelmed with everything, and she wasn't sure what to do yet. So she figured that she'd help him with his face and stuff, and then maybe she'd know what to do.

But one way or another, some things had to be addressed. And some things had to be said, because they couldn't go on being unsaid anymore.

It had hurt for some reason when Puck said it was all him. And she wondered if he really thought that. If he did, he definitely couldn't go on thinking it.

Her brow furrowed worriedly as she drove, and she chewed nervously on the side of her cheek.

At least Sarah wasn't moving around too much. She seemed to know Mommy needed a little peace.

Okay, this is it, Quinn thought. She held Puck's hand until he pulled away to go and talk to Finn, and then she followed along behind him a little ways. She knew he'd be angry, and she was worried about...well, everything.

She put her hands over her belly. She was getting so big now. She sighed.

At least it would be over and the truth would be out after today. She just hoped it wouldn't make things worse.

Brad came into the choir room and set down his bag of music, the bag making an audible thunk as it hit the floor by the piano. It was early so the only one who was there at the moment was Will.

"Hey, Brad," Will greeted him, and Brad just nodded pleasantly.

The two of them had worked long enough to understand that Brad was a man of Very Few Words, and he didn't speak unless it was necessary, most of the time. And so Brad warmed up, while Will sometimes discussed the arrangement of the music with him, and in the back of his mind, Brad wondered if April would come to rehearsal today.