"All right, guys!" Mr. Schue said, as he walked into the choir room that afternoon. "Let me ask you something. Where do you think you'll be in the year 2030?"
"Broadway." Rachel and Kurt said together, before smiling at one another. "Twinsies!"
"Walking." Artie said.
"In jail, or dead." Puck said. "Or both."
"Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you're going to need to be able to speak Spanish." Mr. Schue said, deciding to ignore the way the whole thing turned a bit too dark out of the sudden as Piper frowned, confused as to where this whole thing was going. "The reality is, by 2030, more people on this planet will be speaking Spanish than any other language. The world is changing. Our culture is changing. And that needs to be reflected in here. So for our next assignment, we're only doing songs written or performed by someone Latin, or of Latin descent. Or English songs performed bilingually."
"Oh, I'm bilingual." Brittany said, as Piper shook her head fondly with a smile.
"Hum, Mr. Shue, though I love that we're finally getting all Lima Sound Machine in here, why now?" Santana asked, as Mr. Schue turned to her with a smile too big to be considered normal.
"Oh, Santana, because it's long overdue." He said. "The truth is, I love all things Latin. I mean, I love Latin food, Latin art, Latin people..."
"You don't know any Latin people." Santana said, but before anyone could comment any further, a man entered the room.
"Guys, this is David Martinez." Mr. Schue introduced his friend as the two of them stood in the middle of the room. "David Martinez, this is the Glee Club."
"Oh, my God." Piper could hear Rachel gasping. "Cutest..."
"Smile..." Sugar continued, also a bit entranced by the man.
"Ever." Artie smiled dooply, as Piper turned to look at him with an raised eyebrow and he looked away from her quickly.
"Hello, everyone." David spoke up then, causing Piper to turn back around and look at him again. "It's a pleasure."
"David here is one of my many Latin friends." Mr. Schue continued, still acting a bit weird in Piper's opinion. "And, hum, he's interested in starting his own night school Glee Club, after hours. So I invited him to come watch us get our duende on."
"Duende?" Finn frowned.
"Ugh, it means dwarf, you ass." Santana rolled her eyes.
"Now I'm completely confused." Puck frowned and, for the first time in a long time, Piper agreed with him. "So what's the assignment?"
"To sing, in Spanish, with duende." Mr. Schue said. "Which, yes, literally means dwarf, but metaphorically, it means to have Spanish soul. To be filled with Spanish passion."
"Does it, though?" Piper mumbled quietly exchanging a look with Santana, who just shrugged back at her.
"Will, can I... Hablar con ellos?" David asked, as Mr. Schue stood there, clearly confused as to what he had just said. Still, he nodded.
"That's... Right."
"A performance with duende transforms you." David said. "Makes you sing, makes you cry, makes you laugh. Makes you want to kiss a person you love. A song sung in Spanish must have duende, or else..."
"Would you mind showing us?" Santana smirked, as Rachel perked up in her seat.
"Oh dear God, please, yes." She said, as David turned to look at Mr. Schue.
"Be my guest."
"Okay." David relented then as pretty much every girl in the room smiled. "Well, I'm-I'm not a professional like you guys, but I'll give it a go."
"All right." Mr. Schue whispered to some of the kids as David talked to the band. "Now, guys, hum... Remember, Mr. Martinez is here as our guest, okay? Let's create a safe and supportive environment."
Piper nodded at that, but, as soon as the first notes of Sexy and I know it started to play and Mr. Martinez pulled out his jacket to dance properly, she knew they wouldn't really be having to worry with that.
"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"
***
"Hey! I didn't see you in glee club today." Piper smiled as she walked up to Mercedes who was standing alone by her locker later that day. "You totally missed out. Mr. Schue brought a super hot Latin friend in, and I mean, if even I thought he was hot..."
Piper trailed off, half-expecting Mercedes to laugh. When the girl just sent her a small smile, she frowned, though.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you." Mercedes whispered, closing her locker as she turned to look at Piper with a frown on her face. "In private. You have a free period now, right?"
"Yeah. I have like 45 minutes until my arts class." She said. "Do you want to go to my car?"
And when Mercedes nodded, Piper smiled a bit, grabbing Mercedes' hand in hers and walking with her to the parking lot. Guiding her best friend to her car, the two of them climbed into the backseat and, as soon as they were alone, Mercedes fell into Piper's arms, crying and sobbing as Piper gasped a bit in surprise.
"Oh, my God, Cedes... What's wrong?" Piper cooed gently, wrapping her best friend in an embrace as she rocked the two of them gently. "Talk to me, Cedes... What's bothering you?"
"I... I... Oh, P..."
"It's okay, take your time." Piper said. "Do you want some water or something?"
"No, it's fine, thanks." Mercedes sniffled, breathing in and out a few times to try and stop sobbing so much. When she finally did, she leaned back further into Piper. "P, I... Oh, I cheated on Shane."
At that, Piper widened her eyes, expecting pretty much anything to come out of Mercedes' mouth, except for this.
"W-Wait, what?" She frowned, as Mercedes nodded, clearly embarrassed. "When? How? Wait... With who?"
"Sam, P... Who else?" Mercedes admitted and that was all it took for Piper to finally understand the situation. "We kissed. I mean, it was just a little kiss but... Oh, he invited me over to the auditorium last week and we sang together and... I tried not to sing with him, but it was... It was stronger than me. And he was just there looking... Looking fine as hell and his voice... I just... I couldn't help it. When I finally came to my senses, we were standing in front of each other and we just... We just kissed."
"Oh, Mercedes..."
"That's not me, though. You know that's not me, P, you know it!" Mercedes said, pulling away from Piper so the two of them could stare at each other in the eye as they sat side by side in the backseat of Piper's car. "I don't sleep around, I don't... I don't do that, I... I never thought I would do something like that, I... We went to talk to Ms. Pillsbury, you know? Sam and I."
"Yeah?" Piper asked, as Mercedes nodded. "And?"
"She said we should stop talking to each other for a week so we could listen to ourselves instead."
"That's actually a pretty good idea." Piper shrugged a bit with a small smile. "Did you stop talking already?"
"Yeah. Since noon." Mercedes said.
"And since then, what has your heart told you?" Piper asked, smiling gently when Mercedes pouted and fell into her arms again as she cried.
"I don't know..." She admitted, as Piper ran her hands over her hair to try and calm her down a bit. "I can't seem to listen to it at all."
***
Piper had spent the whole day with Mercedes, just to make sure she would be okay after her breakdown in her car. Which was how she found herself like this now: in Rachel's bed with Kurt and Mercedes as the four of them watched a movie together and shared lots of junk food after Kurt had noticed how upset Mercedes had seemed during the day.
Piper had thought a movie night with friends was just what Mercedes needed to get her mind off of Shane and Sam for a while, but when they decided to watch Twilight in spite of Piper's protests — for what felt like the hundredth time —, she realized that, maybe, that hadn't been the best option for Mercedes.
"How is the girl with no ass supposed to choose between the juiced-up wolf and the depressed vampire?" Mercedes asked, clearly relating to the movie a bit too personally.
"The wolf is clearly the superior choice." Piper tried to joke to lighten up the mood only to have Mercedes nudge her a bit, annoyed.
"She's into both of them." She said, as Rachel shook her head.
"Oh, come on, Mercedes." She said, with her eyes still glued to the screen. "She just knows."
"But what if they both make her feel amazing in different ways?"
"Well, you don't get to choose when it comes to true love." Piper shrugged. "True love chooses you."
"That's true." Rachel nodded in agreement. "And you better be certain when it comes to marriage because marriage is promise, and it lasts for forever."
"Ladies, I appreciate you spending time with me while Blaine recovers, but why are you being so weird and serious?" Kurt asked suddenly, feeling a weird vibe from two of the girls around him. "Our periods don't come until the end of the month."
Piper just shrugged, even though she did know why Mercedes was acting the way she was. Surprisingly enough, however, she wasn't the one who spoke up first. Instead, Rachel jumped from her place by the headboard and grabbed the remote to the TV before pausing the movie and turning to look at her three friends who were already looking back at her.
"Can you guys keep a secret?" She asked quietly and, when no one said anything, she pulled out a ring in a chain around her neck to show it to them.
"Rachel, what the hell is that?" Piper gasped, having been the first one to recover from her shock.
"It's an engagement ring." She said.
"Shut up!" Mercedes choked a bit in her popcorn.
"Finn proposed." Rachel smiled a bit as Piper frowned.
"And what did you say?" Kurt demanded.
"I said yes."
"Rachel, have you lost your damn mind?" Mercedes scoffed.
"But I love Finn." Rachel argued.
"You're in high school." Piper shook her head.
"I really, really love him."
"But what about NYADA?" Kurt practically yelled in outrage as Rachel sighed.
"It's still going to happen." She assured, as the three other kids sent her a look. "I have dreams for a huge life for myself, okay, some of which include, you know, a little bit of struggle until I can make all of my dreams come true. They'll be great anecdotes for the Jimmy Kimmel show. I'll call them my Top Ramen weeks. But in every single one of my dreams... Struggling or not... There he is. Finn. Look, I know that I am going to be with Finn for the rest of my life, just as much as I know that I am going to be a huge star one day. So you promise not to tell anyone?"
After that, Piper did get a bit speechless, unsure on how to react. Thankfully for her, however, she didn't have to since Kurt took care of the job.
"Okay, I'm going home right now to yell at Finn, because this is insane." He said, as Rachel jumped over him to stop him.
"That is not fair, Kurt." She protested. "I mean, what would you do if Blaine proposed to you today?"
At that, Kurt grew quiet and, at that, Piper scoffed.
"You're all out of your mind." She said, as everyone turned to look at her.
"Come on, if Quinn asked you to marry her, would you say no?" Rachel asked, trying to use the same tactic she did with Kurt with Piper only to have it shot down when the girl nodded.
"I'd say not right now." She said, as the three other kids turned to look at her, rather surprised. "We're eighteen. We don't even know how our lives are going to be next year and you said it yourself, Rachel... Marriage is a promise. How am I supposed to promise Quinn anything if I don't know what I'm going to do with myself in six months?"
"But I love Finn..." Rachel mumbled, as Piper sighed.
"I know. And that's great. I love Quinn. More than anything. But I don't need marriage or a ring for me to know that I'll love her no matter what." Piper explained further. "You never even lived together. How are you going to get married to him like this, Rachel? You don't even know if he folds his socks properly before putting them in his drawers. If he puts his socks in his drawers at all."
"He doesn't." Kurt spoke up, as Piper rolled her eyes.
"Men..." She scoffed. "Honestly, I don't know how you do it."
"Look, P... I thank you for your advice but I love Finn and I want to marry him." Rachel insisted, causing Piper to shrug her shoulders a bit as she exchanged a look with Kurt. "So will you please keep my secret?"
There was a moment of hesitance among the group, but before anyone could say anything, Mercedes spoke up.
"Aren't you scared you're making the wrong choice?" She asked, clearly still very much hung up on the whole Shane/Sam drama.
"Look, I know that I have the right person." Rachel said, as Piper placed a hand over Mercedes thigh in hopes of offering her some much needed comfort. "Scary part was just... Choosing to know it."
***
Everyone clapped for Santana and David after their beautiful performance of La isla bonita.
"Ladies and gentlemen, David Martinez." Santana announced, after bowing a bit on stage.
"Santana, fantastico." Mr. Schue smiled at her before turning to look at David next. "David, I'm just a little... I don't know... Confused about your participation here."
"Well, el es caliente, yo soy caliente..." Santana said, clearly enjoying knowing more Spanish than their supposed Spanish teacher. "And, hey, wasn't that number fantastic and truly authentic?"
At that, everyone clapped again and David smiled.
"Thank you very much, everyone." He said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a stack of night school exams on my desk that won't grade themselves, so buenas noches. Muchas gracias."
"Bye-bye." Santana waved him off, before turning to Mr. Schue with one of her usual smirks. "Well, Mr. Shue, the floor is all yours."
And, in all honesty, Piper really wished Mr. Schue had just really not performed. Cringing though the whole number as the teacher made a Spanish and English version of A little less conversation, she only clapped at the end of it in respect to Britt and Mike who had been wrapped up by the teacher into taking part in such a number. Santana, however, didn't seem pleased at all and, as she shook her head at the whole situation, realization dawned on Mr. Schue.
"It was you." He said, looking straight at Santana who, simply, returned his glare. "You're the one who complained to Principal Figgins about me."
"Yeah, and I'd do it all over again after that performance." Santana admitted, bold as ever.
"You're messing with adult things here, Santana. This is my job. This is my life."
"And this is my education, and it's not a joke to me, although it seems to be one to you."
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Schue asked. "They all loved my performance."
"Because they don't know any better." Santana shrugged. "It's your fault. You're their teacher. You went from La Cucaracha to a bullfighting mariachi. Why don't you just dress up as the Taco Bell Chihuahua and bark the theme song to Dora the Explorer? You don't even know enough to be embarrassed about these stereotypes that you're perpetuating."
"That's not fair." Mr. Schue said, as Santana sighed, standing up from her seat.
"Isn't it?" She challenged. "What did you want to be when you grew up? Why did you become a Spanish teacher, Mr. Shue?"
"Because... it was the only teaching position open at the time." He admitted, as Santana nodded.
"I want to remind you of something that an amazing teacher once taught me." She said. "Without passion, you can't succeed."
"Who taught you that?"
"You did." Santana said, as Mr. Schue smiled at her, even if just a little bit. "And you do. When you teach Glee."
***
"Hey."
"Hey." Piper mumbled, not even bothering looking up from her sketch in her lap when she recognized Sam's voice. "Take a seat."
"Thanks." Sam whispered then, taking a look at her drawing and smiling a bit. "This looks incredible."
"Thank you." She smiled, before finishing up a small detail in her drawing before lifting her eyes up to meet Sam's. "So... How can I help?"
"I... I just..."
"It's fine, Sam." Piper shrugged with a smile as Sam sighed, running a hand over his hair. "I know everything, okay? About the whole week not talking to each other and all."
"How did you know it was that?" Sam asked, as Piper rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Why else would you be looking for me for at 12:45 this Friday?"
"Fair enough." He smiled back at her as she giggled. "So?"
"So, what?" Piper asked, confused. "Did you two talk? I mean, you kind of did anyway when you decided to sing to each other in the choir room the other day, but... Did you like... Talk, talk?"
"No." Sam sighed. "We were going to, but then Shane came up and took her away."
"She went with Shane, then?" Piper asked, as Sam nodded.
"She loves me, though. I know it."
"Oh, easy there, tiger... No one said anything about love." Piper shook her head then. "She really likes you, but I never said anything about love."
"Well, does she love Shane?" Sam asked, as Piper shrugged.
"You should ask her that."
"When?" Sam asked, defeated. "I was going to, but Shane got in the way."
"Look, man, I don't know what to say to you, okay? Because... Because all I know is that Mercedes is just confused." Piper admitted. "But she's thinking about it and, right now, I just... I just feel like you need to back off a bit."
"Why?" Sam frowned then. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Look, she told me about the duet last week. And about what happened after." Piper said, her eyes harsh as she stared at Sam. "And she's feeling really guilty about it. Because she does cares for Shane too."
"I felt it, though." Sam protested. "When we kissed... I swear I felt it."
"I'm not saying you didn't." Piper shrugged. "I'm just saying... Back off a bit more, Sam. You're being too forceful and it's hurting her, so just... Just step down a little bit, okay?"
"Look, I'll make you a deal." Sam said, as Piper sighed. "Next week is Valentine's. Let me try one more time. Just once. If she tells me to stop or if you feel like I should, I promise I will. Just give me one more chance, P. Just one more."
And, at that, Piper sighed, because as much as she liked Shane, she could tell Mercedes was still in love with Sam and, as much as it broke her heart to see her best friend suffering so much for the conflict between the two boys, she couldn't help but secretly hope for her and Sam to actually work out their problems eventually. So, she relented, turning to Sam with a sigh and a nod of her head.
"Deal." She said, giggling a bit at the excited smile that appeared in Sam's face. "One more chance, Evans. And that's all you're gonna get."