New Directions

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.

The stage was bare but for a few chairs , a couple of microphones, and some instruments (a piano, some drums, electric guitars, that sort of thing) and Fenton was perched on the edge. As the kids filtered in, he gave them a little wave and waited until everyone was settled into the auditorium seats.
( Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and spoke. )

The day of Sectionals had finally come. Three show choirs from mid-state Ohio were gathered to compete for the honor to compete some more! Regionals loomed in their futures, and after that, Nationals. In New York. It was a very big deal, and anyone who doubted that fact had never competed for anything in their lives.

Sam had never actually planned on their confrontation with Karofsky becoming physical, but when it had, it had sent a huge rush of adrenaline through him. That's exactly why he'd been brave enough (or dumb enough, depending on which way you wanted to look at it) to take on someone who was about twice his size. It was mostly for Kurt's sake. Sam could see how upset he was, and he wanted to do something to try and help change that. Whether or not Karofsky would actually leave Kurt alone, though, remained to be seen. At least the big oaf knew he'd have people to answer to now, though. That was a step in the right direction, at least.

He couldn't deny that use of the words 'fag' and 'homo' also pissed him off on a personal level, which definitely helped spark that anger that had led to the fight in the first place. As far as Sam was concerned, the last week or so had been by far the crappiest week of his life. Quinn was back with Puck, and now as if Sam wasn't internally humilated enough, he had to walk around school was a massive black eye. Great.

After a trip to the principal's office to explain the whole fight, which had gone a whole lot better than Sam had anticipated considering who the principal was now, he was sitting in one of the chairs outside of the office. He held a makeshift icepack to his eye, hoping that the right side of his face wouldn't balloon up too much. That was all he needed.

"Okay, kids, the challenge this week is 'Your Favorite Childhood Song'," Will said, once all the kids were gathered in the room. The band and Brad were there, ready to back people up.

"Let's see what you've got."

After the debacle that had been the failed Rocky Horror Show project, Will felt that he and all the kids needed a new challenge, a new thing to work on. Something that would hopefully re-charge their batteries.

And Will needed to get his focus back on Glee and off of Emma. She was dating and happy...he shouldn't interfere with that. And Carl was a nice guy, and he was good for her.

As much as he hated to admit that.

So as he and Brad set up for the new rehearsal, Will had quite a bit on his mind, only a few of those things Glee-related.

Things were weird lately. Ricky was gone and it was hard to adjust to. And now the whole thing with Kurt's dad...things were weird. And Benji didn't care for it. Not one bit.
When things were weird, he became uncomfortable. When he became uncomfortable, he became avoidant. It was inevitable.

And so, when other kids were seeking out their friends at lunch time, he was seeking out a quiet spot to sit and play his guitar, finally finding it in an empty corner of the practice room. He sat down on the floor and soon was quietly strumming away.

He wasn't thinking that anyone would show up...though the thought probably should have occurred to him. There was always somebody around, wasn't there?

Will was excited. He was going to let some people perform first, if anyone had anything they really wanted to share, but he was very excited to hand out their first song of the new school year.

When everyone had gathered, Will called the meeting to order. "Welcome back, everyone, and to our new members, welcome to New Directions. We're going to work very hard this year, but we'll have fun doing so as well."

He sat down on the stool near the piano. "So...first off, does anyone have anything to share with us?"

Lillian's 'Moulin Rouge' birthday party was on Saturday, and she really needed help finishing off the huge elephant she'd been working on for months, so she'd called Benji in to help.

She was excited, and she hoped it would be an awesome party. She'd invited everyone in Glee and some of the mathletes she knew, and she'd been working for weeks on the music mix. And, of course, the karaoke was set up. With a bunch of singers around, of course there must be karaoke.

But in the meantime, the garage was open and Lillian was standing on a ladder to put a coat of paint on the elephant. It was difficult, sometimes, being short...

Benji was kind of annoyed with Ricky; going away for the Summer, to stay with Grandmother, a woman who didn't even bother to call Benji by his name? What was up with that? It was stupid. Annoying and stupid.

And so he'd set out to the park, guitar strapped to his back, stopping to buy a coke on the way. He missed his guitar; he'd been working so much with the banjo that he hadn't really touched the thing in a couple of weeks.

At the park, he chose a shady tree and sprawled under it, and began to play Buddy Holly...admittedly, there were probably better, more difficult songs to play, but it was a fun song and he liked it.

Soon, there was a young woman watching him, a small appreciative smile on her face. As the song ended, she clapped and dropped a five into his soda cup before she walked off. He murmured a 'thank you' and watched her leave, expression bewildered...and then fished the bill from his soda. Huh. Well at least now he had money to buy a new one...

Sighing, he shook his head slightly and went back to playing,Smells Like Teen Spirit this time.

It was best to have company when one is walking, Lillian has found. It felt safer. Even if it wasn't safer, it felt that way.

Besides, when once again, you've found something annoying and/or infuriating in your locker, it helped to have someone just to be there.

"I don't know what they want, Benji," she whispered. "I mean, at this point, it's stopped being upsetting and it's just pissing me off now."

( No Day, But Today )

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.

Blake had been planning this day for weeks. It was a good thing his parents were laid back enough that they weren't going to kill him when they got home, or at least he hoped not, because this treehouse was happening, dammit! Sure, they'd woken him up before they left, but he'd managed to fall back asleep. It was the weekend, after all. That's why he hadn't found himself moving the treehouse materials outside until around eleven thirty.

They had a fairly big backyard, or at least he thought so. It wouldn't take much for him to think that, seeing as how they hadn't had a yard in Astoria. But the tree in question was right there in the middle of it, and begging to have real estate put up in it. He'd opened the windows to his room on the second floor and aimed the speakers out, blasting music out into the yard.

Once he got all the materials outside, he texted Lillian and Benji. He figured he'd have enough time to sketch out a general plan and maybe even get started before they got there. So he sat down on the porch and flipped open his sketchbook, starting to draw.

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.]

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.

Benji stood on the stage in the auditorium, alone but for his guitar. He took a deep breath, carefully positioning his fingers on the frets and then began to strum.

Soon, his voice joined with the strumming, soft and very nearly sweet.

( ...'Oh man, look what the cat drug in...' )

<< You look like you might throw up, >> her sister signed, staring at Brooke with concern in her eyes as they walked down the halls of McKinley High together for the first time. Brooke replied with a weak attempt at a smile. At least the school hiring her older sister to be her interpreter gave her a familiar face throughout the day.

( Relax... )

It's a sign of just how much sleep Lillian has lost that she's gotten lost twice on the way to Benji's house, and it's a relief when she finally comes up to the Parson's door.

She looks much the worse for wear--her hair is pulled back into a ponytail that is falling apart, and her face is pale, her eyes red from lack of sleep.

And she's all in black because she read somewhere that it "adds to the devestation". No, don't ask her where. Or why she would want to add to it.

Chances are, she won't get the question, anyway.

Lillian knocks on the door, bouncing a little on her feet because she is just that hyper.

"OK, everyone! Sit down and listen up, because we've got a new number to learn!"

Mr. Schuester had been working on the arrangement to this song for a while now--it's definitely much different than any other rock song.

Once everyone is seated, he starts handing out the music to "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"Many thanks to Benjamin Parsons for the idea...I think this could definitely be a memorable song for us."