THESE DAYS, finn hudson

xiv. hell-o

Rachel would not leave Magnolia alone since Finn and Quinn broke up. She was nice and all but Magnolia couldn't deal with her, especially when she was so passive aggressive towards her.

She would talk about how she was dating Finn and then tell Magnolia to back off, as if Magnolia was a home wrecker. It was all very confusing and Magnolia hated it.

She had tried getting Magnolia to sit next to her in glee, but Magnolia decided against it and sat beside Gavin and Mike instead.

Mr. Schue drew a stick figure in the board that said "hello" in a bubble beside it. "Hello." He greeted them. Nobody responded and just stared at him. "Hello?" He tried again. All of them said hello's weakly back. "What do you guys say when you answer the phone?" He asked them.

"What up?"

"Who dis be?"

"No, she's dead. This is her son."

They all were a bit uncomfortable after Kurt's but Mr. Schue continued. "Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, liked to say ahoy ahoy when he answered the phone. It was Edison who decided that hello was a more appropriate greeting." He explained to them. They all just stared at him in silence. "Look, I am really proud of what you guys did at Sectionals, but as most of you have realized by now, it hasn't made a bit of difference in your day-to-day at school." He said.

"I have a slushee-stained training bra to prove it." Rachel spoke up.

"The fact is, we're gonna have to be better, even more spectacular, at Regionals." Mr. Schue told them. "It's time for some reinvention, some new New Directions. We need a new...hello." He pointed at the board. "Here's your assignment for the week. Come up with a fresh number, but it has to have hello in the song title, all right?" Still everyone was silent but clearly got what he was saying.

• • •

Magnolia was standing with Quinn at her locker. "Do you wanna sleepover tonight? My mom said you could." She suggested.

Quinn shrugged. "Maybe." She mumbled. Magnolia noticed that the Fabray girl had something on her mind, but she knew Quinn would tell her eventually. She just didn't expect it to be now. "Do you like Finn?" She asked her.

Magnolia gave her a bewildered look. "What?" She basically shouted. "Why would you even think that?" She asked.

Quinn gave Magnolia an annoyed face. "Maggie, you can tell me. Finn and I are over, I'm not gonna go all crazy Quinn on you." She assured her. "It's clear you do and I think he likes you too. When we were dating he always went on and on about you, sometimes even compared us." She told Magnolia, and she could hear how much it hurt Quinn that Finn used to compre the two.

Magnolia shook her head. "If I liked him, I would tell you." She lied, putting a hand on Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn smiled at her. "Alright." She mumbled as she shut her locker and the two went to their next class.

• • •

Finn sang Hello, I Love You by the Doors for this week's assignment. His confidence definitely made Magnolia like him even more than before.

It made her turn red at the thought and she hadn't spoken to him all week, and she thought the crush had ended.

"Maggie!" Finn's voice had called form behind the girl. Magnolia turned around as Finn raced to catch up with her. "We haven't hung out all week, how about tomorrow?" He suggested.

Magnolia shook her head. "Gavin and I are hanging out, maybe another time?" She tried brushing him off but Finn just wouldn't go away.

"Hey, you never told me about what was going on between you and Gavin." Finn brought up.

Magnolia shrugged. "We're friends." She stated plainly.

"But what about your kiss?" He pressed on.

Magnolia sighed in irritation. "It was a mistake, we agreed that we'd never do it again." She explained. "Don't you have a girlfriend to attend to or something?" She asked him.

Finn's posture suddenly became more awkward than it was naturally. "If you mean Rachel, she's not my girlfriend." He told her.

Magnolia gave him an odd look. "Why?" She asked.

Finn shrugged. "She's just not who I'm looking for. Someone who gets me and shares my interests, sort of like you." He gestured towards her.

Magnolia blushed a little. "And what do I have to do with your love life?" She asked him.

Finn cleared his throat. "Uh, I have to go. See you in glee?" He didn't even give her the chance to say anything before walking off.

• • •

After Rachel's performance, Magnolia and Gavin were digging through Magnolia's locker. She had a bunch of snacks and she knew that many of them were old.

"This is disgusting!" Gavin said pulling out an old sandwich. "You're disgusting!" He told her.

Magnolia rolled her eyes. "Ok! If you get hungry don't come to my locker for anything." She said.

As Gavin searched through her locker, Rachel walked up to the pair. "Maggie! Would you come looking for hello songs with me? I need a friend right now." She gave Gavin an awkward smile as he pulled out some jolly ranchers.

Magnolia sighed. "I really wish I could, but Gavin and I are hanging out after school." She gestures towards Gavin who had popped a red jolly rancher in his mouth.

"Look, Magnolia, if we're going to be best friends I need you to be there for me." Rachel insisted, making Gavin give Magnolia a wide eyed look. "I would push back my plans for you if you needed me." She told her, crossing her arms.

"You have other friends to make plans with?" Gavin asked her.

Magnolia gave Gavin an annoyed look before turning back to Rachel. "You can come with us." She suggested. "We're only getting froyo." She shrugged.

Rachel shook her head. "No offense, but I'd rather hangout with just you. Gavin wouldn't understand." Gavin looked as if he had taken offense, although he was only being dramatic.

Magnolia frowned. "Sorry." She mumbled.

Rachel huffed as she whipped around and stormed off. "That girl can get upset over anything." Gavin said to Magnolia who only glared at him.