𝚃𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽 ➭ 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗇 𝗁𝗎𝖽𝗌𝗈𝗇

ten; ballad

— alright. i know mr. matt rutherford isn't supposed to be in this episode because of a spider in his ear. BUT !! for the sake of the plot, he has to be here, so bear with me.

Winona sat next to Artie, playing around with his hair as Mr. Schue scribbled down the word 'ballad' onto the whiteboard. She looked over at it with a cocked brow. She didn't really know many music terms, including, but not limited to: ballads.

"Ballad. From Middle English, balade. Who knows what this word means?" Mr. Schuester turned to them with a smile. Brittany raised her hand eagerly.

"It's a male duck," She answered fast, smiling proudly. Winona held back a chuckle, Brittany was always able to brighten everyone's days with her commentary. Mr. Schue turned to Kurt, who also had his hand up.

"Kurt."

"A ballad is a love song," He responded, one leg crossed over the other.

"Sometimes, but they don't always express love. Ballads are stories set to music, which is why they're the perfect storm of self-expression. Stories and music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out any other way. Okay, now, sectionals are in a few weeks and there's a new rule this year, we have to perform a ballad."

Winona wasn't opposed to the idea at all. Ballads seemed kinda cool, but she knew for a fact any ballad or duet would go to Rachel and Finn. Snoozefest.

"So here's our assignment for the week: I'm going to pair you off, and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner. Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express, and make them feel it."

Winona immediately put her hand on Artie's shoulder and him doing the same, practically claiming eachother as partners.

"I choose Quinn," Finn announced. Quinn was leaning on his shoulder and smiling. Mr. Schue shook his head.

"No, no, no. Too easy. Your partners will be chosen by fate."

He approached the piano, picking up a hat. Everyone 'oohed' in curiosity. Winona already assumed the worst, like fate pairing her up with Rachel or Santana, both of which she feared or disliked in someway.

"I put all your names in this hat. Whoever you choose is your partner."

"But theres an uneven number of us," Santana cut in, "Someone won't have a partner."

"Um... I guess I'll just have to put my name in the hat for now."

Mr Schue shrugged, urging his students to come up one by one and pick a name from the hat while drum-rolling against the piano. They did, everyone either feeling very happy with their partner, while others were the exact opposite. Before she knew it, it was Winona's turn. She crossed her fingers as it dawned on her that her partner would either be Matt or Rachel.

"Please be Matt, please be Matt, please be— It's Matt!" Winona concluded with a grin, turning to the club with a grin. Finn looked unhappy- which Winona just excused as being bummed out about not being paired up with Quinn.

Rachel was paired with Mr. Schue, and a sketchy one-sided romance broke out. It grossed out everyone, including the teacher himself. Artie and Winona had to stop themselves from laughing too hard as they watched Rachel sing to Schuester with heart eyes. It was truly a sight to see.

( — ✿ — )

"What song do you wanna sing, for our ballad?" Winona asked as she walked through Matt's door. He said his parents were off at work all night, so they could practice as much as they wanted. Matt lead them to his room where they could chat about it, but they got off track in less than twenty minutes.