Yes or no - The prequel

Ballads

"Ballad." Mr. Schuester said, as he wrote the word on the white board to kick off the first lesson of the week. "From Middle English, balade. Who knows what this word means?"

"It's a male duck." Brittany spoke up, as everyone turned to her, confused.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt raised his hand, causing Mr. Schuester to nod at him to give him the word.

"Kurt."

"A ballad is a love song." Kurt said, as Mr. Schuester nodded a bit.

"Sometimes, but they don't always express love." He explained. "Ballads are stories set to music — which is why they're the perfect storm of self-expression. Stories and music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out any other way. Okay, now, Sectionals are in a few weeks and there's a new rule this year — we have to perform... A ballad."

"Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio Show Choir Committee finally paid off!" Rachel smiled as Emily turned to her with an raised eyebrow.

"Okay." Mr. Schuester said. "So here's our assignment for the week: I'm going to pair you off, and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner. Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express, and make them feel it."

"I pick Quinn." Finn said, as Quinn smiled a bit at her boyfriend.

"No, no, no. Too easy." Mr. Schuester shook his head as everyone frowned, confused. "Your partners will be chosen by fate. Oh, yeah. I put all your names in this hat. Whoever you choose is your partner."

Pulling out a hat from behind him, Mr. Schuester shook it in front of him to show all the folded pieces of paper inside.

"I bet the duck's in the hat." Brittany whispered to herself, still dead-set on the duck from before.

Smiling a bit from beside her, Emily nodded.

"I bet he is." She said.

"But we're thirteen." Santana spoke up, from Brittany's other side. "We can't just form pairs."

"Hum... I guess I'll just have to put my name in the hat for now." Mr. Schuester decided then, folding another piece of paper and throwing it inside the hat before turning back around to his students. "Who's up first?"

One by one, the kids went up to the hat over the piano and picked out a name from there. Puck had gotten Mercedes; Artie, had pulled out Quinn's name; Finn had gotten Kurt, Tina had gotten Matt; Santana had gotten Brittany and, for some weird fate thing, Mike had gotten Emily.

"Yeah, Mike!" Matt called out as everyone smirked and whistled at the pair, apparently all very aware of Mike's interest in the younger girl.

Emily blushed slightly, slumping in her seat as Quinn turned in her chair to smirk at her. Rolling her eyes at her best friend, Emily kicked her chair playfully to get her to stop staring, but when she lifted her eyes to see Mike walking back to his own seat next to Matt — also slightly embarrassed by the reaction they had gotten from the other kids — she smiled just barely as he did the same back to her.

That prompted yet another round of teasing from the other kids, but, rolling her eyes, Rachel stood up as she walked toward the hat.

"Looks like I get you, Mr. Schue." She said, as everyone turned to her then. Emily Marshall had never been more grateful for Rachel Berry's existence.

"Hum... You know what?" Mr. Schuester mumbled, suddenly a bit uncomfortable about singing with Rachel. "Maybe we should get someone to sing twice and partner up with you."

"The fates talked, Mr. Schue." Finn teased him, repeating the words the teacher had told him after he said he wasn't comfortable dueting with Kurt. Everyone laughed then.