𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 | s. lopez

The Sue Sylvester Shuffle

"Oh my god, Artie," gasped Tina.

Juniper looked over to the front of the room, where Artie had just rolled in covered in slushie.

"Oh my god," said Juniper, getting up from her seat and going over to her friend. "Are you okay?" she asked as she used the sleeve of her sweater to gently wipe the boy's face.

"It was awful," he said.

"That's it! Screw rehearsal. This ends here and now," said Finn as he stood up and stormed to the door – Mike, Sam, and Puck following.

"We're gonna go all thunderdome on those guys," said Puck.

They stopped dead in their tracks as the entirety of the football team walked into the choir room.

"So, this is what the ladies' lounge looks like on the inside," one of them said.

"This is the choir room," scoffed Sam. "Now put up your fists cause you and I are gonna do some dancing."

"No, I got this Sam," said Finn.

"Coach Beiste told us to come," said Karofsky. "Where is she?"

Coach Beiste walked into the room and told everyone to have a seat.

"Alright, New Directions," said Mr. Schue. "Give a warm welcome to the newest members of Glee Club."

The whole room erupted into shouts and yells.

"Oh hell to the nah!" yelled Mercedes.

"Are you serious?!" scoffed Juniper.

"No! No! No!" protested Rachel.

"Mr. Schue, these are the guys that made Kurt transfer!" yelled Finn.

"And there is no way that I'm sharing the room with a known homophobe," added Rachel.

"I don't disagree with you guys," agreed Mr. Schue. "But I talked to Coach Beiste about it, and she and I both agreed that the kind of bullying David does is born out of ignorance. Having him in here, as difficult as it may be for us, is an opportunity to show him and the rest of the guys that being in Glee Club is kinda cool. Find some common ground."

"All of you are gonna be in this Glee Club for one week," said Coach Beiste to the football guys. "No exceptions."

"She's bluffing. Next week is the championship game. Without us, she has no team," said Karofsky.

"With you, I have no team!" she shouted. "You guys have gotta find a way to come together, or we're gonna get our asses kicked from here until Tuesday finds a saddlebag full of buckwheat."

"If I have to stay, I'm not singing no show tunes," said Azimio. "That is the music of my oppressors."

"Do you even have any idea of what we do in here?" asked Finn.

"No. None of them do. We have to show them," said Mr. Schue. "Rachel, Puck, haven't you two been working on something? Why don't you give it a whirl."

"Fine. As offended as I am by their presence here, I won't let anything get in the way of a performance," said Rachel, standing up and going to the front of the room. Puck grabbed his guitar and they started singing.

"The girl with the mohawk had a really nice voice," said Azimio when they were done singing.

"That's funny," said Puck sarcastically. He took his guitar off his shoulder and charged at Azimio as the room broke into chaos again.

****

Sue pulled the Cheerios from the halftime show, which meant that Quinn, Santana, and Brittany had to choose between Glee Club and the cheerleading competition – which Juniper thought was just plain stupid.

"Hey," said Santana as she sat down next to the brunette at a table with a bunch of special effects make-up.

"Hi," said Juniper coldly, not looking at the other girl.

"Juni, come on, don't be like that," said the Latina, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Don't fucking touch me." Juniper pushed Santana's hand off of her. "And don't act like you're not quitting Glee Club for Sue's stupid Cheerios competition."

"I have no choice, you know this," said Santana. "If I'm not on the Cheerios, I'm nothing."

"It's funny," scoffed Juniper. "Or it would be if you weren't one of the most popular girls in the whole school."

"You know what I mean," sighed Santana, furrowing her brows when she saw how the younger girl was struggling to do a smokey eye. "Here, let me help you with that," she chuckled lightly, taking the make-up brush out of the girl's hands.

Juniper turned to Santana and allowed her to do her make-up. They sat in silence for a while, the only sound being that of the eye shadow palettes opening and clicking shut.

"You can't do it," mumbled Juniper after a while. "You can't quit Glee Club. It wouldn't be the same without you. And if you did quit we both know you'd never talk to me again."

"That's not true, Juni," the Latina said gently, pushing a strand of hair out of the brunette's face. "You're the only reason I'm still in this silly little club."

"Then quit Cheerios," said Juniper. "Forget your reputation in this hell hole. Do it for me. Cause we both know which one you'd rather choose."

And with that, the brunette got up and left the auditorium.

****

Everyone was in the locker room getting ready for the halftime show – everyone except the Unholy Trinity. Juniper kept looking towards the door, willing them to come. Willing her to come. But she never did.

"I guess they're not coming," the brunette mumbled sadly as she finished her zombie make-up.

"I can't believe they'd pick Cheerios over their friends," sighed Sam, shaking his head.

"Think again."

Juniper turned in the direction of the voice and saw Santana, Quinn, and Brittany walk into the locker room. The brunette smiled and ran over to the Latina, throwing her arms around her shoulders and hugging her tightly.

"I'm so glad you're not quitting Glee Club," whispered Juniper.

"Me too." Santana smiled and placed her hands on the brunette's shoulders as they pulled out of the hug. "Now let's go kick-ass at that halftime show."