𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 | r. berry

Born This Way

"Is that why you're wearing blue contacts today, Tina?" Mike asked. "Self-hating Asian."

"Not many Asian sex symbols, Mike," Tina sighed. "I'm just trying to be in fashion and mirror what I see in the magazines."

"That's an awful idea," Naomi scoffed. "Did you not pay attention to what happened to Autumn by doing that?"

"My dancing kind of bothers me," Finn spoke up. "Uh, it almost killed Rachel, but I like the way I look."

"Oh, please," Santana scoffed. "You have weird, puffy pyramid nipples. They look like they're filled with custard. You could dust them with powdered sugar and they could pass for some sort of dessert. Look, maybe Rachel's fine with having an enormous beak. Maybe she needs it to crack hard seeds. All I'm saying is that if you look in the mirror and you don't like what you see, you should change it."

"Woah, guys," Mr. Schue finally spoke up. "I'm really shocked at what I'm hearing here. It goes against everything the Glee Club stands for. I'm telling you, the thing you would most like to change about yourself is the most interesting part of you."

"Well, maybe," Mercedes frowned. "But at this school, the thing that makes you different is the thing people use to crush your spirit."

****

Naomi pouted, sighing as she checked her phone for the millionth time that day.

"You okay, Little Nomi?" Santana asked as she sat down next to the freshman at the start of the next day's Glee Club meeting.

"I haven't heard from Autumn all week," Naomi said, resting her head on the older girl's shoulder. "She's supposed to be getting discharged soon, but I don't know when. No one's told me anything."

"She'll be home soon," Santana said as she rubbed Naomi's back. "Try to take your mind off of it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Um, why is Ms. Pillsbury here?" Finn asked.

"She's helping us out with this week's assignment," Mr. Schue explained. "Now, this is the only club at school that is represented by just about every race, religion, sexual orientation and clique, but many of you are still having a hard time with acceptance."

"That's crazy, Mr. Schue," Mercedes shook her head. "We love each other."

"No, I won't deny that you accept each other, but you don't accept yourselves. This week's assignment has two parts. I want all of you to sing songs about accepting yourself for who you are. The best and the worst parts."

"What's the second part?" Naomi asked.

"Well, we're going to do a group number by the queen of self-love, Gaga," Mr. Schue said as everyone cheered. "We're going to perform her anthem to acceptance, Born This Way."

"Wait, wait, I still don't know why Ms. Pillsbury is here," Finn frowned.

"I'm here to help you with your costumes for the big number," Ms. Pillsbury smiled. "Each of you will be issued a beautifully fitted white t-shirt. We will then use this letter press..." She motioned to a machine beside her "...to write a word or a phrase that best describes the thing about you that you're the most ashamed of or you'd like to change but you can't because you were born that way, which is super terrific."

Naomi chewed the inside of her cheek. She knew exactly what she wanted to put on her shirt, but she didn't know if she had the courage to do so.

"I want you to love those parts of you," said Mr. Schue. "Embrace them, wear them on your chest with pride."