THESE DAYS, finn hudson

ix. wheels

Watching Heather and Gavin laugh and talk together, Magnolia felt left out. Her best friend wouldn't talk to her and obviously her other best friend chose him over her.

It hurt to see them talking without her but she decided to try and take her mind off of it. She had tried befriending Rachel, but she couldn't stand the girl. So, she decided to befriend literally anyone else.

Walking into Glee Club, she noticed Artie struggling to tie his shoes and nobody paying attention to him. She walked over and tied it for him.

Artie smiled at her. "Thanks." Magnolia nodded.

"Of course." She smiled at him and took a chair next to him. "I'm sure it must be hard." She said to him.

Artie nodded. "Very." He let out a breathy laugh.

"All right, guys." Mr. Schue walked in. "We're doing a new number for Sectionals." He tells them. "I know that pop songs have sort of been our signature pieces, but I did a little research on past winners, and it turns out that the judges like songs that are more accessible. Stuff they know. Uh, standards, Broadway." He begins passing out sheet music.

" 'Defying Gravity'? I have an iPod shuffle dedicated exclusively to selections from Wicked. This is amazing." Kurt says excitedly after he looked at the sheet music.

Mr. Schue smiles at him before looking at Rachel. "Think you can handle it, Rachel?" He asked her.

Rachel was still looking at the sheet music. "It's my go-to shower song. It's also my ring tone." She informs him.

"Why do we have to go all vanilla on this song?" Mercedes asked. "See, what we need is my chocolate thunder." She says and smiles.

Mr. Schue doesn't seem to like Mercedes trying to change what he had already put down. "Okay, we don't have time to rearrange a song for you, Mercedes. Rachel is singing it." He says to her. Rachel and Mercedes look at each other. "Don't worry, we'll find something for you to dip in chocolate." He makes everyone laugh, except Finn who just looks confused.

"On to item two." Mr. Schue continues. "The school won't pay for the special bus we need to take Artie and his wheelchair with us to Sectionals." He informs them.

"W-w-what?" Tina asked, she clearly was outraged.

"That's completely unfair." Rachel adds.

"So, we're going to have to raise money to pay for it ourselves." Mr. Schue tells them. "See, when I was in glee club, and we needed new silk cummerbunds for regionals, we held a bake sale." His plan didn't seem to land well with them. They all laughed a little at the idea, but he seemed serious.

"You're joking, right? I mean, bake sales are kind of bougie." Santana says.

"So hip people stopped eating delicious sugary treats?" Mr. Schue asked her.

"It's not that. It's most of us don't know how to bake. I find recipes confusing." Brittany tells him.

They all give her a confused look but carry on. "My family is fully committed to takeout." Rachel states.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue, kids are busier than when you went here." Finn says. "We've got homework and football and teen pregnancy, lunch."

"Can't Artie's dad just take him?" Mercedes asked.

"I can't believe how insensitive you're all being." Mr. Schue says. "Are you a team?" He asked.

"Of course. But Artie understands, don't you, Artie?" Quinn turned to him.

"Oh... of course." He tries to make it seem like he doesn't care. "It's cool. Anything that takes away our time from rehearsing doesn't serve the team." Artie tells Mr. Schue.