𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 | r. berry

Showmance

"You watch your tone, young lady," Sue spat. "Gay parents encourage rebellion," she said, turning to Figgins. "There are studies on this."

"Woah, woah, woah," said Mr. Schue. "Alright, tell me what happened, Rachel."

"Finn was worried about performing a solo at the pep assembly in front of his chromosomally challenged friends," said the diva. "I was concerned by his lack of self esteem and made a creative preemptive strike."

"Yeah, pretty much what she said," the quarterback mumbled.

"It was a two fold plan," Rachel continued. "We figured with the right marketing strategy we could pull the entire student body without having an assembly, thus creating the diverse Glee Club this school has been craving."

"That copy machine is for Cheerios use only, paid for by alumni donations," said Sue. "Autumn, care to explain yourself? You know better than to go behind my back like this. I'm putting you on probation for the rest of the semester."

"But-"

"No buts," Sue interrupted the cheerleader. "I can't begin to fathom the damage you'd have done to the program had you had broken it."

"Hold on a second, Sue," said Mr. Schue.

"I resent being told to hold on to anything, William. I will not be treated like a second class citizen because of my gender. There is a very clear bureaucracy when it comes to photocopies, and you seem to think these procedures don't apply to your students." Sue turned to Figgins. "It is my strong recommendation that all three of these students be hobbled."

"How many copies did you guys make?" Mr. Schue asked the trio.

"Seventeen," Autumn mumbled, hanging her head in shame to avoid her cheer coach's gaze.

"Okay, and how much does a photocopy cost?"

"Four and a half cents," said Figgins.

"How about they just pay for the copies," Mr. Schue suggested.

"I like this compromise. Children, pay Ms. Sylvester and we'll let you off with a warning."

****

Autumn stood in a room with Brittany, Santana, Quinn, Rachel, Finn, Puck, and a few other students at the Celibacy Club meeting.

"Let's pair up for the Immaculate Affection," said Quinn as she handed out balloons. "Now remember, if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry."

Autumn placed the balloon between her and Puck. He put his hands on her waist and she put her's on his shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, Autumn noticed a disgusted looking Rachel paired up with Jacob Ben Israel. She wasn't gonna lie, she felt sorry for her.

"Yeah," Puck groaned as he started grinding on the balloon between him and Autumn.

"Stop it!" the Cheerio scolded.

"Take it. Ah, yeah."

"Puck, quit it!"

Rachel looked over at Autumn and frowned. The cheerleader looked so disgusted that the boy was practically dry-humping her through the balloon.

A balloon popped and Puck halted his movements. For a moment, Autumn thought it was her and the football player's balloon that burst, but she looked down and saw it was still there.

"Finn!" Quinn cried.

"It must have hit my zipper," said the quarterback.

"You know what?" Rachel asked, stepping away from Jacob and getting everyone's attention. "This is a joke. Did you know that most studies have demonstrated that celibacy doesn't work in high schools? Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain. The second we start telling ourselves there's no room for compromise, we act out. The only way to deal with teen sexuality is to be prepared. That's what contraception is for."

"Don't you dare mention the C-word," Quinn spat.

"You wanna know a dirty little secret that none of them want you to know?" the diva asked. "Girls want sex just as much as guys do."

Rachel turned on her heels and left the room. Autumn's jaw dropped, but she quickly closed it. There was some truth to what she had said. Maybe it wasn't that Autumn didn't want to have sex. Maybe it was that she didn't want it with Puck.

****

"That was a total shit show," Quinn chuckled as she flopped down next to Autumn on her bed after the assembly that day. The brunette had her knees hugged to her chest, a million thoughts filling her head. Quinn nudged her shoulder against her friend's. "Auts, what's wrong?"

"Do you ever feel like maybe you're with someone for all the wrong reasons?" Autumn asked, looking up at her friend. "Because after the Celibacy Club and that assembly... I don't know... it's just..." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's complicated."

"You're talking about Puck?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah."

Quinn smiled softly and put an arm around her friend, placing a gentle kiss to her temple.

"There's no law that says you have to stay with him. Especially if you feel like it's not the right thing for you."

"My feelings are just really confusing right now," the brunette mumbled as she rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"That's normal," said Quinn, brushing Autumn's hair out of her face. "We're teenagers. Everything is confusing right now."

Indeed it is... Autumn thought. Way more than it needs to be.