when her high school career starts at william mckinley high school, eleanor madigan has no idea just how much her life is about to change over the next few years, for better and for worse. all she really knows is that getting slushied does not sound...
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the following monday at school, the trouble tones officially disbanded; it made no sense to continue seeing as how it's four lead vocalists were graduating and shelby had announced she was transferring.
and so they bid a fond farewell to their short lived choir room and watched as their second place trophy was placed into one of the trophy cabinets in the hallway.
"i can't believe it's all over," elle mused, following her friends into the bathroom.
"we were better," mercedes huffed, leaning against one of the sinks.
"i don't know," brittany sighed, redrawing her eyebrows. "i think it could've gone either way."
"it was that damn trouty mouth," santana huffed. "even i felt a little something in my lady loins when he did that magic sex dance."
"alright, ladies," quinn began, walking into the bathroom behind them. "girl talk."
"no. uh-uh, don't you dare try and give us a pep talk." santana denied, shaking her head.
"or ask us to come back to new directions- not interested." mercedes added.
"wait, is it even possible? do you think they would really take us back?" brittany asked.
"of course they would," elle nodded. "but, we can't go back. not after everything that's happened."
"do you know what growing up is about?" quinn suddenly asked the girls, who didn't respond. "losing things." she explained bluntly.
"in sixth months, we'll all be gone, scattered." she continued.
"we'll keep in touch," mercedes shrugged.
"yeah, but it won't be the same." quinn argued. "when we see each other, it'll be a special occasion. it'll be different. i don't wanna grow up yet."
elle looked at the four girls, who she considered to be her closest friends.
"i'm not ready to lose you girls." quinn continued.
"what're we supposed to do?" elle interrupted solemnly. "come back to glee club and sing background for blaine and berry until we graduate?"
"i'm not doing that again." mercedes argued, shaking her head. "we know what it feels like to be out front now."
quinn nodded understandably. "what if mr schue agreed to let the trouble tones sing at least one number per competition?" she reasoned.
"well, even if mr schue did agree, rachel would never." santana pointed out.
"what if i told you that they both already did?" quinn replied, quickly shutting the girls up.
"i'm listening," elle mumbled.
"look, i know i went a little crazy," quinn joked, earning a scoff from santana and mercedes. "but i'm here now. i'm seventeen, i have the rest of my life in front of me."
"i love glee club. i love you girls." she continued. "and when we're twenty-seven, or eighty-seven, i want us to be able to look back on these next couple of months and talk about how it was the best time of our lives."
quinn looked around at the four girls. "we can't do that if we're not all together." she told them. "we're doing a big number in the auditorium to celebrate our victory and to prepare for regionals. we could use a couple more girl voices."
elle shared a look with santana and mercedes. "let me know if you hear about anyone who might wanna join." quinn finished before walking out of the bathroom.
the four girls spent the rest of the day debating whether or not to show up, and so when they came to the decision to go through with it, they worried that they might be too late.
however, as the walked into the auditorium, they made it just in time for the chorus, which they joined in on, surprising their friends with their presence.
as the song reached the bridge, quinn jumped forward and rushed toward the girls, grabbing mercedes and leading her to the rest of the new directions.
rory followed soon after and greeted brittany with a hug, prompting artie to roll over to sugar, who jumped in his lap, while kurt approached santana with a warm hug, leaving elle, singing on her own.
as rachel began to sing the final chorus, mike approached elle and offered her his hand, making her grin as she took it and interlocked their fingers.
then, finally reunited, the new directions belted out the last chorus, all of them embracing in one way or another.
finn and rachel closed the song, walking to face the rest of the team who smiled fondly at them, all except eleanor, who had been beaming at mike for the past minute, happy tears welling in her eyes.
even while mr schue approached to gush over the number, elle's attention was focused solely on mike, who had been squeezing her hand for the past five minutes, only washing away her worries about going back to the new directions.
she, mercedes, brittany and santana were back, giving the new directions a new advantage over the competition... they weren't gonna know what hit them.
