New Directions

Viv sits in her living room, knitting...something. It had started out as a scarf and then turned into a hat and then turned into a mitten.

It wasn't that she was bad at knitting...just indecisive.

She had sent out an invite a while back about New Years Eve and spending it with her new friends, but honestly, she wouldn't have been surprised if no one showed. She felt sometimes that she had been trying too hard to make friends. Her old New York demeanor of ignoring everyone else had started to rub off and when loneliness had set in, she had become...

...well, desperate.

Still, she sits and waits, knitting quietly as Cat sits beside her and claws at her ball of lime green yarn.

Viv walks briskly up to Benji's front door and sighs before knocking.

So she was a little late with her gift. She had promised it a week ago and never showed. But it wasn't her fault that it had taken longer than she had expected-

-And when an angry kitten attacks and destroys the first attempt at a gift, it makes more sense to re-do the entire thing instead of, you know, giving a friend a piece of crap.

So she knocks and waits, holding onto a brightly colored package.

Viv watches as Kurt rifles through her clothing. She jumps every time a blouse or skirt or dress flies across the room, landing in a messy pile behind her bed. He mutters to himself every so often, things like, "Oh, this won't do," or "What is this?"

Viv reaches out a hand to help, but snaps it back.

"Do...do you want any help?"

She's almost afraid for a response.

Viv stands in the hallways, staring at the scrap of paper with Darcy's number scribbled on it.

...he...had said to call him, right? It wouldn't look desperate? After all, he didn't have her number. It was up to her.

Still, calling even just a friend was new to Viv. This was a boy. It was worlds different.

Sighing, she decides a casual, less-stressful text would be best.

Hey. Want 2 hang out?

Viv sits in the auditorium, eyes closed, waiting for something to hit her. She's in a cheerful mood today, and so she picks a song with a happy beat.

Placing her fingers on the keys, she begins playing this, pretending for a moment that she is her idol, Ella Fitzgerald.

She forgets that she is awaiting the company of an Irish guitarist and completely loses herself in the music.

Viv pulls up at Benji's house and parks in front of his lawn. She prepares to honk the horn, but figures it's more polite to actually run up the steps and get the kid instead.

She was nervous. She shouldn't have been nervous, but what Ricky said really got to her. A date? It's not a date. At all. It's just a fun time at the movies between a guy and a gir-

Holy crap, it's a date.

Reaching the front door, she cautiously rings the doorbell and stands back, hands folded nervously, eyes glued to her feet.

Meeting Number Two.

Viv didn't know how to feel. Their movie night was fun and all, but she was still unaccustomed to having friends. And then when she asked about girls that Benji was interested in? What was that? Why didn't she stop while she was ahead?

She shook her head, plugged in her iPod, and placed her fingers on the keys. She had heard this song on the radio and the melody intrigued her, and so she nailed down the basic chords. It wasn't typically a song that she would've been interested in, but for some reason, she was drawn to it.

With a sigh, she began to play.

( I've been keeping my eyes wide open...oh, your love is a symphony. )

Viv parks her car at the corner of the house. Ricky had given her directions, but she still wasn't sure whether Benji knew about this or not.

Is this creepy? It feels creepy.

She walks slowly up the front stairs and takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

When was the last time she even went to a friend's house?

...

...

Viv couldn't tell you.

( I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque... )

Vivienne wakes up every morning at six. And no, not for the same reason that she's heard Rachel Berry wakes up at six (waking up to exercise? Sounds like torture). She quickly gets dressed, brushes her teeth, puts on her makeup, grabs her bags and runs to school. She's made friends with the janitors, and so they always let her into the auditorium before it's taken over by someone else.

She brushes her hand over the piano gently, smiling wide. She once had a piano like this...her father had given it to her, but-

That's a story for another day.

She sits down and begins to play. If you ask her, her fingers aren't moving as quickly as they usually do, but anyone passing the auditorium will tell you different.

Closing her eyes, she begins to sing a familiar tune that sounds like this:

( Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars... )