𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 | s. lopez + b. pierce

Hell-O

For reasons unknown, Jayden felt herself walking down the hallway with a bit more confidence as she entered the school with Rachel, who had a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, babes," Mercedes grinned as she walked up beside the two sisters. "Looking good."

"Feeling good, Mercedes," Rachel smiled.

"This is amazing," Jayden said as Kurt walked up next to her. "Ever since Glee Club won sectionals, everybody looks at us differently."

"I wanna be with you, Jayden," Jacob Ben Israel said as the group of teens walked by.

"Never in a million years, Jacob," Rachel scoffed as she protectively put an arm around her sister.

"We're glitterati," Kurt breathed. "I feel like Lady Gaga."

"Get used to it, guys," said Rachel. "We're stars now, on par with all the jocks and popular kids. It's the dawn of a new era here at McKinley, and we are gonna rule this school!"

On cue, three football players walked up to them and threw slushies in their faces.

"Welcome to Loser Town," Karofsky chuckled.

"Population you," Azimio said as he tossed a second slushie at Jayden, getting the attention of a certain blonde at the end of the hall.

The jocks walked away laughing, and the three older teens made their way to the nearest bathroom, leaving the petite freshman alone in the middle of the hallway, her body entirely numb from the double-slushie facial.

I hate this school.

****

"Hello," Mr. Schue said after drawing a stick person on the whiteboard. "Hello?"

The club mumbled back a 'hello.'

"What do you say when you answer the phone?" Mr. Schue asked.

"What up?"

"Who dis be?"

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

"Why didn't you text me?" Jayden mumbled. "I don't answer the phone unless you're really special. And by that I mean I don't answer the phone unless you're Rachel or my dads."

"She'll sometimes make an exception for me," Brittany said with a slight shrug.

"Is that why you didn't answer my call last night?" Tina asked as she turned around to face the younger freshman.

"I listened to my Set Fire to the Rain ringtone and watched it ring," Jayden shrugged. "Sorry."

"Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, liked to say 'ahoy, ahoy' when he answered the phone," Mr. Schue continued. "It was Edison who decided that 'hello' was a more appropriate greeting. 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 difference in your day-to-day at school."

"I have a slushie-stained training bra to prove it," Rachel stated.

"Jayden cried for thirty minutes," Brittany said as she comfortingly rubbed the freshman's back.

"The fact is, we're gonna have to be better, even more spectacular at regionals," said Mr. Schue. "It's time for some reinvention. Some new New Directions. We need a new...hello. Here's your assignment for the week. Come up with a fresh number, but it has to have 'hello' in the song title."

****

After looking around for a while, Artie and Tina found Jayden at a table by herself in the library, her head resting in her arms and a pout on her face.