"All right, guys, listen up." Mr. Schue said as he stood with Finn in front of all of the glee kids that afternoon. "I have an announcement to make."
"Adele is dead." Brittany said, as Winnie frowned a little.
"I have been asked to join a blue ribbon panel to rewrite the arts curriculum nationwide." Mr. Schue continued, choosing to ignore the girl's comment. Everyone cheered for him and Mr. Schue just smiled. "Thank you. I'll be taking a short sabbatical, which means I'm leaving McKinley at the end of the week."
"What?" Tina gasped. "This is crazy."
"But Glee Club is your life." Artie said.
"Which is why this is only temporary." Mr. Schue assured, noticing how all the kids started to grow a little worried. "I'll be back right after sectionals."
"Wait... After sectionals?" Tina stood up, looking almost offended. "Whoa!"
"Guys, guys, calm down." Mr. Schue said, as everyone started to talk over one another. "Look, I knew I needed to find a replacement, which is why I brought in Finn Hudson."
"Mr. Schue, Finn cannot take over Glee Club." Tina said. "He doesn't know what he's doing at all. Sorry, Finn."
"Guys, I know I can do this." Finn said, sounding way more confident than Winnie had expected him to be. "And I've got some really great ideas for sectionals."
"We'll all be dead by then!" Tina protested, as Winnie rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure why she was being so dramatic right now. Sure, Finn wouldn't be Winnie's first option to lead anything ever, but if he did have ideas for Sectionals, it was already more than what Mr. Schue had anyway. "Finn doesn't know how to direct a musical!"
"No, that's fine." Finn shook his head, choosing to ignore Tina's meltdown.
Even so, everyone had seemed to want yo put their two cents in because, once again, everyone was talking all over one another and Winnie groaned at the noise. Thankfully for her - probably, not as much for Finn and Mr. Schue though -, coach Sylvester appeared by the door of the choir room with a scowl on her face.
"Finn Hudson, Schuester." She called as the two men stopped for a second and turned to look at her. "Figgins' office, right now."
***
"Okay, hold on and suck in." Tina instructed, as she tried to button up Marley's skirt backstage.
"I am." Marley practically whined, causing Winnie to stop for a second and turn away from the mirror where she had been fixing her hair. "I don't understand. This fit yesterday."
"Maybe it's stress bloating." Tina offered. "I get it all the time."
"Hey." Sugar called as she walked up to Tina alongside Brittany to show off their costumes. "Tina."
"I love it so much." Brittany said, wiping her hands on her yellow skirt. "I promise I won't pee in it."
Tina smiled at her work, in spite of Brittany's weird comment, before turning to look at Winnie.
"What did you think?" She asked, smiling a little when Winnie did too, feeling quite well in her costume.
"It's beautiful, T." She nodded, causing Tina to beam at her. "Really great work."
"Thanks."
"I'm here for my fitting." A new voice sounded before Tina could even say anything else, causing everyone to stop and turn to look at Kitty, who was standing there with a weird smile on her face. "Where is Harajuku Girl?"
"I thought you quit because your part was too small." Sugar said.
"Well, Spraed Hawk Nose, to quote Shakespeare, There's no small parts, only fat actresses." Kitty said, gasping dramatically as she turned to look at Marley. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I just say fat? I was distracted by Marley's unfortunate and very noticeable weight gain."
"I swear, I'm not eating any differently." Marley complained, as Winnie frowned, worriedly. "How is this happening?"
"I usually don't believe in the lamestream media's definition of science, but it just makes sense that your metabolism is grinding to a halt." Kitty said, stepping closer to Marley, as Winnie rolled her eyes.
"Kitty." She said, but the blonde ignored her as she kept on pestering Marley.
"You're getting the body you were destined to have." She said, as Winnie scoffed. "I had to accept how I am. I spend almost every weekend alone because everyone just assumes that the popular girl's busy. I'm doing this play because I could use some friends. Real ones. So, in the spirit of Grease, I thought it would be good way for us to get to know each other, if we had a sleepover."
"Sleepover?" Sugar gasped, all excited, as Winnie watched Kitty with squinted eyes.
"Tomorrow night, my place." Kitty said. "Just us girls. What do you say?"
At her words, all the girls cheered.
"I can't go." Winnie shook her head, as Marley frowned.
"Why not?" She asked, as Kitty rolled her eyes.
"I have to look after my sisters." She said. "But you all go and have fun."
"Oh..." Marley mumbled sadly, but Kitty waved off Winnie.
"Well, Nanny McPhee can't go." She said, causing Winnie to scoff. "Can you?"
"Can I come?" Unique asked.
"I'm not going if Unique's not invited." Marley said, causing Kitty to groan. "Please?"
"Ladyboy can come." She said, causing Unique to cheer. "But if I catch you hiding your dinky between your legs and prancing around like Silence of the Lambs, you're out."
***
Winnie could still hear her sisters chatting in the dining room. They were supposed to be doing homework and when Winnie was in the room with them, they were doing it. As soon as the bell rang and Winnie stood up to see who was at the door, Winnie was sure they stopped.
When she looked through the peephole, though, Winnie frowned. She wasn't sure who she was expecting, but it certainly hadn't been Mercedes Jones herself.
"Hi." Winnie said, pulling open the door as Mercedes smiled a little at her.
"Hey." She said. "Can I... Come in?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, sorry." Winnie giggled quietly, stepping aside to let her friend in. "The house is yours. You can go sit in the living room, if you want. Do you want some water or something?"
"No, I'm good, thanks." Mercedes smiled, moving toward Winnie's huge couch and taking a seat, smiling a little when the younger girl sat too, beside her. "So... I have a question for you."
"Sure." Winnie nodded. "What is it?"
"I was sent to ask you if you'd still like to play Rizzo in the school's musical." Mercedes said, smiling a little when Winnie frowned confused.
"Rizzo?" She repeated. "But what about Unique?"
"Her parents decided not to let her play in the musical anymore."
"Oh..." Winnie pouted quietly. "That... That sucks."
"Yeah." Mercedes nodded. "But, at least, it means you get the play the part you wanted, huh?"
"I guess." Winnie shrugged.
"So... Will do it?" Mercedes smirked a little. "Are you ready?"
"To play Rizzo?" Winnie returned the older girl's playful cockiness. "I was born ready."
"Great!" Mercedes squealed, pulling Winnie in for a hug as the younger girl chuckled. "That's awesome. You're gonna be a great Rizzo."
"Thanks." Winnie smiled, pulling away from Mercedes to turn to look at her. "But you haven't come over to my house just to ask me to play Rizzo in the school's musical, have you?"
"I... What do you mean?"
"Come on, Mercedes..." Winnie rolled eyes. "You come over to my house on a Wednesday night to ask me one question that you could have very easily asked me at school? No... There's something else. Now, come on... Out with it. What else do you want to ask?"
Winnie watched in silence, as Mercedes fidgeted a little in her seat. She sighed, knowing full-well where this conversation was going and not liking it one bit. Still, she stayed quiet, waiting for Mercedes to gather some courage within her to finally ask her what she had come to ask her.
"Do you still hate Sam?" She asked, wincing a little when Winnie groaned. "Winnie, I'm sorry, I just... I just haven't really seen you two together at school and I just..."
"I never hated Sam." Winnie shook her head. "I... I mean, I don't think I did."
"Not even last year?" Mercedes asked. "I mean, when he... When he asked you to..."
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I'm not sure if it was hate. I didn't like him at all. But hate? I... I don't know."
"Right." Mercedes nodded. "But now... Do you hate him now?"
"No." Winnie shook her head. "I don't hate him, I just... I don't know."
"I just... I wanted to apologize." Mercedes said, causing Winnie to frown a little as she turned to look at her friend. "I mean, I... I still feel so bad."
"You shouldn't." Winnie shook her head again. "None of this was your fault. This whole mess... It was Sam and I."
"But it was because..."
"It was because he was in love with you, but that's not your fault, either." Winnie shrugged. "I mean, look at you. I totally get it."
"Shut up." She laughed, shoving Winnie lightly as she just giggled. "Fine, so maybe it wasn't my fault and maybe I shouldn't feel bad. But there's something else I needed to say."
"Mercedes, I love you, okay? But I swear, if you're about to tell me to give a chance, I..."
"He really likes you." Mercedes said, as Winnie groaned. "Winnie, he really does. And I know for a fact he's willing to do anything if you just give him one chance."
"I'm not gonna do that." Winnie shook her head. "I don't hate him, but that doesn't mean I like him either. He really hurt me last year and he showed me a side of him that I didn't think he had. He kept me hanging onto him when he was with you."
"We weren't really dating."
"Doesn't matter." Winnie shook her head. "The point is, I'm fine being his friend. But I am not gonna be his girlfriend."
"Never?" Mercedes asked, as Winnie scoffed.
"Never." She said. "Now... Is that all?"
"Yeah. Yeah, that's all."
"Okay." Winnie nodded, a small, forced smile on her lips as Mercedes back nodded at her. "Well, I kind of need to take a look at my sisters again, so..."
"Oh, sure." Mercedes said, standing up from Winnie's couch quickly. "I'll... I'll let Finn know you'll play Rizzo for us."
"Great." Winnie nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at school then."
"See you." Mercedes smiled. "And... I'm sorry again."
"No problem." Winnie winked at her. "We're good."
"Good." Mercedes said. "I'll go, then. Tell your sisters I said hi."
Winnie nodded then, closing the door after Mercedes when she left and leaning against it with a long sigh. He really likes you, Mercedes said. And Mike too. Sam really liked her, but Winnie couldn't give into him again, be so vulnerable with him again. She had tried once and it had gotten her nothing but heartbreak back then, so she wouldn't break in front of him. She wouldn't break in front of him again.
***
"So you talked to Tina?" Winnie asked, as she sat in front of the mirror, just before the curtains opened for the opening night for their school musical that year, fixing her bright red lipstick while Mike sat beside her.
"Yeah." Mike nodded. "Didn't go the way I wanted it to."
"She didn't want to get back with you?" Winnie raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Mike from the corner of her eye.
"No." Mike shook his head, clearly a little upset. "She said she's figuring out more about herself and she likes who she is without me."
"Hum." Winnie nodded, turning to look at Tina, where she fuzzed over Marley and her costume again.
"You're still mad at her?" Mike asked, recognizing the strange look in Winnie's face.
"I'm not mad at her." Winnie shrugged, twirling her lipstick in between her fingers. "I was never mad at her, I just... I thought she changed to something I didn't like and we kind of pulled apart from each other. But I think she's mad at me because Finn chose me to play Rizzo and not her."
"You think so?" Mike asked, as Winnie nodded, frowning a little when she noticed Kitty approaching Marley, showing her two fingers of one of her hands and smirking when Marley rushed away from her. "Maybe I can try and..."
"Yeah, talk to her, if you want but I... I kind of need to check on something." Winnie said, hastily standing up from her chair as Mike frowned.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, fine." Winnie nodded.
"I gotta go back to my seat, the show is about to start." Mike said. "You should go take your place."
"I will. I've got five minutes still, I just... I just have to go."
"Okay." Mike nodded. "Well, break a leg."
"Thanks." Winnie smiled, rushing over to her best friend and placing a kiss to his cheek. "Enjoy the show."
"Yeah, you kill it out there." Mike smiled at Winnie, who just smirked at him in response.
"You know I will." She said, before rushing toward where she thought she had seen Marley leave and walking into the bathroom quietly. For a second, she didn't hear anything and she was almost considering leaving, but then she heard it, the gagging sounds. She gasped as she bursted through the door. "Marley! Marley, stop. Why are you doing that?"
As she stood behind Marley, crouched down in front of the toilet with her fingers shoved down her throat as she cried.
"Why do you think?" She sobbed, as Winnie pouted quietly at her. "My mom's the town joke, and I'm going to end up just like her."
"That's not true." Winnie shook her head, helping Marley up and taking a step back when Marley pushed past her toward the sink. "And sticking your fingers down your throat is only gonna make things worse."
"Spare me the lecture." Marley scoffed. "I've seen the health films."
"Really?" Winnie asked. "Because I saw the real thing and it's not pretty, you know? I used to be a beauty pageant, you know? And the things I saw there... The things the girls used to do thinking it would make them prettier... I saw a girl end up in the hospital once because she was starving herself. She fainted in the middle of a runway and she had to endure bullying from a lot of people because of it. It was awful and it didn't help her at all, of course. She ended up in the hospital after that, did you know that?"
"Did she die?" Marley asked, sniffling a little as she tried to recompose herself.
"No. But just barely survived." She said. "Listen... I don't want you the same thing to happen to you, Marley."
"I'd never starve myself like that." Marley said, as Winnie shook her head.
"You say that now, but once you start... It's hard to stop."
"How do you know?" Marley asked, as Winnie just sighed, shaking her head before looking away from Marley when a buzz sounded, letting them know the show was about to start.
"Just... If you ever need any help, promise me you'll look for me." Winnie smiled a little, extending her pinky out to Marley, who just smiled and wrapped her own pinky around hers. Winnie winked at her friend then. "Good. Now, let's go out into the stage and kick some ass, huh?"
Marley laughed then, wiping her tears from her face one more time before nodding her head.
"Let's do it."
***
"Watching the skill, the nuance, this reviewer was forced to ask himself, Is this not how it felt? And might the directing team of.Mr. Hudson and Mr. Abrams be headed for careers at NASA?" Artie said, reading out the critic's review on the on play as everyone reunited in the choir room. "They should be, because last night they plucked stars from the firmament and named them Marley Rose and Ryder Lynn. Has ever an audience been so enraptured? Mayhap. But when the last breath of life crosses this reviewer's lips, Grease, McKinley, Bravo."
Everyone clapped and cheered, the excitement of the good review and the applause from their opening night exploding around the room in that exact moment.
"Guys, Fletcher Mantini's just a sophomore, but he's a notoriously tough critic." Mr. Schue smiled. "And that's what I call a rave review. Man, this week hasn't been easy, knowing it was the last time I was gonna see you guys for a while. But one thing that's helped is knowing that I'm leaving you in good hands. Here's one person who loves the Glee Club as much as I do, it's Finn. And I know in my heart that he has what it takes to get you guys a win at sectionals. I have so much to thank you guys for. But for giving me this chance to share that joy with others. I'm gonna see you guys in a few months, but hopefully, there'll he a brand-new sectionals trophy in that case over there. I love you guys. I'm really gonna miss you."