episode 1, season 1
— pilot
"don't stop
believing"
"valerie leticia lopez! get your ass up, we're gonna be late for practice !" santana lopez called out to her twin sister from outside her bedroom door.
valerie and santana are fraternal twins. val was born four minutes before santana, which she never stops talking about. the girls attended william mckinley highschool, the place sucked, but they were sophomores, only two more years to go. the way mckinley worked was very cliche, cheerleaders and jocks on top, junkies and skaters in the middle, and weird band or glee kids at the bottom. if you were at the bottom, life wasn't good for you. you'd be met with a slushy facial every time you stepped foot in the school.
luckily for valerie and santana, they were cheerleaders, better known as cheerios at mckinley. they were at the top of the school, they didn't get slushied because they were the ones throwing them. santana and val were especially at the top considering they were friends with the head cheerleader and quarterback. well technically, santana was friends with the head cheerleader, val not so much...
quinn fabray, queen bee and the most popular girl at school, and to think she's only a sophomore. to valerie, quinn was perfect, she has straight a's, she's the president of the celibacy club, she was dating the quarterback, and she was the top bitch. it's not that valerie was jealous of quinn or anything, she just believed that the "blonde little miss perfect" bitch didn't deserve it.
the unholy trinity were a trio that consisted of quinn, santana, and brittany pierce. you're probably wondering why one twin is apart of it and the other isn't? there's a simple answer to that, she didn't want to be apart of it.
all her life, valerie has had to share everything she owned with santana. yea they're sisters, twins at that, but sometimes it just gets kind of annoying. so valerie let santana have her two best friends, and she had her own.
that was a lie, she didn't have friends. sure she would talk to the girls on the team, and sure she would join the unholy trinity's sleepovers once in a while. but she never had someone to call her best friend. well there are maybe two people...
finn hudson and mike chang. football players. finn was the quarterback and mike was the wide receiver, whatever that meant. she met the two at freshman orientation, mike and finn had already known each other beforehand considering they went to elementary school together. finn had got lost and was looking for mike when valerie had found him sitting on a bench outside. mike had eventually found finn and valerie, and ever since that day the three had been close.
and as nice as it was to have them, she wanted girl friends. she wanted to have sleepovers and paint each other's nails. she wanted to talk about the things she couldn't talk to finn or mike about.
valerie had a boyfriend, his name was matt rutherford, he was also best friends with mike and finn. matt was a really sweet guy, and he's also super romantic. and as much as she likes dating him, something wasn't right. technically, they were forced into dating. the unholy trinity plus valerie were all dating football players, santana dated puck, brittany dated mike, quinn dated finn, and valerie dated matt. it was very cliche for the popular cheerleaders to date the popular football players, it was a stereotype that they just happen to follow.
"valerie, i swear if coach takes our tanning privileges away because of you im going to literally commit a crime!" santana yelled from downstairs. "i'm coming shut up! and you're already tan." valerie yelled back. she looks in her bedroom mirror tightening her ponytail and smoothing out her cheerios uniform. she lets out a deep breath before grabbing her things and heading downstairs.
"finalmente, nos vas a meter en problemas" santana mumbled with an eye roll. instead of replying val stuck up her middle finger at her. their mom, mirabel, walked out of her room and greeted the girls. "que tengan un buen dia mis amores" she says kissing each of their foreheads. "te amo mamá" they said in sync. mirabel replied with her "i love you's" and then the girls were off to school.
v.l
"you think this is hard? try being water boarded! that's hard!" coach sue sylvester spoke into her megaphone as the cheerios went through their routine. valerie hated coach sylvester. like with a burning passion. the woman was crazy !! what coach chops off a teens hair because they drank water? not to mention it was really hot that day.
"it feels like im dying." valerie said to santana in between breaths. being a base in a stunt group was never fun, but when you're kind of tall it's what you get. "don't let coach hear you complain, you'll have to do push ups." quinn spoke in her usual monotone. as they continued their practice out on the field, the football players came out. valerie never understood why they had to practice outside when they had the gym, most of the cheerleaders would start trying to "show out" for the boys. santana would do it, she didn't get why her sister was like that, so needy of male attention.
coach sue had went to talk to, well yell at, coach ken, so the cheerios were just stretching. "why is he coming over here?" santana spoke in a tone of disgust as she notices finn walking over. "probably for quinn." brittany said with a shrug. before either of the girls could reply finn had walked up to the group looking as awkward as ever. "um, hi. can i, talk to valerie. alone." he spoke. quinn turned to val with squinted eyes and poured lips before looking back at finn. "why do you wanna talk to her alone?" she asked. valerie rolled her eyes, got up, and dragged finn away before he could say something stupid.
"what do you want?" she asked with crossed arms. valerie and santana were pretty similar personality wise. they seem to always have an attitude, it doesn't matter how close they were to someone, they were feisty and were gonna bite back. "promise you won't tell quinn, because if she finds out she might kill me." he said in a quiet tone as if they weren't far from everyone outside. valerie's eyes go wide, "are you cheating on quinn? with who? you have to tell me!" she basically shouted in his face. "what? no, no. i'm not cheating on quinn. this is like way worse." he said before pausing. "i joined the glee club." valerie scoffs and rolls her eyes. "are you serious? that is not worse then cheating. but it is bad, why would you do that?" she said. "technically im doing it to keep my football scholarship and so they won't call my mom." he said with a shrug. valerie's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "what did you do?" she questioned.
"what do you think they're over there talking about?" quinn asked santana and brittany as she watched her boyfriend and valerie talk. "who knows, i'll probably find out when he shows up at my house at like nine pm again." santana said as she helped brittany tie her shoes. "what!?" quinn shouted snapping her head away from the pair and towards santana. "what?" santana asked. "what do you mean when he shows up again? he's been to your house?" quinn had fire in her eyes as she spoke. "um yea, they're like best friends. he's always at our house, gets kind of annoying but whatever." the three girls get up from the ground dusting themselves off. "tell that slut to back off finn." quinn said staring at finn and val still. santana pushes quinn's shoulder, "what the hell q!? that's my sister!" santana yelled at her best friend. yes, val and santana did fight a lot. and yes, they did act like they didn't know each other sometimes. but that doesn't change the love they have for each other, and how defensive they got for each other. it doesn't matter who you were, you don't come for one twin without expecting a fire back from the other.
"well then tell your sister to stay away from finn." quinn said before walking away. "why does quinn hate valerie?" brittany questioned. "i don't know britt, but come on." santana says before grabbing brittany's hand and walking away from their spot on the field.
"drugs! finn are you kidding me?" valerie said hitting finn's arm. "they weren't even mine! i don't know how they got in my locker." he said defensively. then his face lit up as if he had just got the best idea ever. "you should join! you like to sing! and you do it really well." he said with a big smile on his face. she lets out a laugh, "finn, never will i ever join glee club. it's lame." she said in her usual slightly bitchy tone. finn rolls his eyes, "come on v, it's kind of nice. i mean everyone there is cool in their own way. except for that one crazy chick with those weird sweaters, she scares me." he says shuddering and staring off at the end. "no finn, and those people are in a glee club for christs sake, nothing about them is cool. besides, i don't sing anymore and if i did i would be more talented then anyone in that room." she says as she begins to walk away, finn trailing along behind her. "don't let rachel hear you say that, she's kind of glee club crazy. not even kind of, she's very glee club crazy." he says emphasizing the 'very'. val turns around making them both stop walking. "rachel? like as in rachel berry?" she questioned which finn nods to. "you're in a club, a singing club, with rachel berry?" finn nods in response. "hmm." val hums before turning and walking away. "what was that for, do you know something i don't about her?" he asks with confusion at valeries response. "no, i just find that interesting." she says before turning towards him once again, "come by tonight, we're watching dirty dancing." she says before leaving him and going back to the cheerios.
"what were you and finn talking about?" quinn asked with her hands on her hips as she walked towards valerie with santana and brittany. "none of your business." val responded which had clearly upset quinn. "it is my business when you're talking alone and in secret with my boyfriend." quinn responded making sure to yell the 'my boyfriend'. if she was being honest, valerie has never looked at finn in that way, all he was to her was a best friend, a brother. "i'm gonna ignore you now." valerie says with a sarcastic smile before pushing pass quinn with an eye roll.
v.l
valerie leaned against the lockers in the empty hallway, she was waiting for finn as she usually did. ever since his mailman incident freshman year, valerie had been driving him to his house. usually she would have santana with her but she had decided to go to brittany's house to help the blonde with her homework.
"are you waiting for someone?" she heard a high pitch female voice ask. she turned towards the voice which stood not far down the hall. there stood rachel berry. mckinley's most hated girl. "yeah, im waiting for finn." she responds before turning back and facing the lockers in front of her. "he might be a while, mr. schuester is speaking with him about glee club." the brunette said. valerie only nodded in response hoping the opposing girl would walk away. when she noticed rachel wasn't leaving and was instead staring at her she turned to her. "is there something you need? your staring is weirding me out." rachel looked away as her face turned red of embarrassment, "sorry." she mumbled looking down. valerie rolled her eyes and looked back at the wall again. "may i ask you a question?" rachel asked causing valerie to let out a groan. "what do you want?" she replied as rachel made her way in front of vals view. "this is probably kind of personal, but it would be g-" rachel was cut off by valeries hand. "just ask." she said. "are you and finn... together?" rachel asked. the question almost made valerie laugh out loud, "not that it's any of your business, but no. he's dating my sisters oh so annoying best friend." she responded instead. "brittany pierce?" the brunette questioned. "no, quinn fabray. they've been dating for four months." rachels eyes widened, "the head cheerleader quinn fabray?" she questioned. "do you know any other quinn fabray?" valerie asked with annoyance obvious in her voice. rachel shakes her head, and before she could say anything they heard the choir room door open. both girls looked towards the sound to see mr.schue and finn walking out. "finally, my head was gonna explode if i was out here with her any longer." val says pushing herself up off the lockers ignoring the somewhat hurt expression on rachels face. mr.schue had turned to valerie, "are you thinking of joining the club?" the man asked to which valerie laughed at. "um absolutely not, i have some type of self respect." she says before looking at finn, "let's go." and with that she walked away with finn following behind her.
"i don't see why you won't just join." finn said as they drove away from the school. "because finn, not only would coach sylvester literally murder me. it's lame, and would mess with my status." she said, keeping her eyes on the road. "but doesn't it at least sound a little bit interesting? singing and dancing and going to competitions in places like new york and la." he says pushing the subject, "finn please let it go, im not joining and that's it." she says trying so hardly to avoid rolling her eyes. finn mumbled out a fine in response. she didn't know why he was pushing it so hard, but honestly she didn't care.
v.l
quinn, with valerie and santana following behind her, walked up to finn who was at his locker speaking to rachel. "hi finn." quinn says to him with a smile before looking at rachel, "rupual." she says to rachel which santana and valerie giggled at. "what are you doing talk to her?" quinn asked. valerie knew why, and she could tell finn was kind of panicking because he was doing that thing where he's stuttering but no words were coming out. "science project, we're partners." rachel spoke up also noticing the panicked look on finn's face. "christ crusaders tonight at five, my house." quinn says to him, "sounds great." he says in response to which valerie rolls her eyes too. quinn and santana walk away but val stays with finn and rachel. "why aren't you coming val?" santana asked once she turned around towards her sister. "i have to talk to finn about something, i'll see you next period." santana nods and walks away catching up with quinn. valerie looks at both finn and rachel, "not that i care or anything, but how's your club going?" she asked them, more so finn. "it was kind of cancelled since mr.schue is like quitting to be an accountant." finn responded with a shrug. "technically, it has not been canceled, i have taken over as interim director. it will become a full time position." rachel said causing valerie to roll her eyes. "wow, any chance i had of joining that club has gone down the drain if she's the one running it." she says looking at finn with a little chuckle. "you don't have to, i kind of quit. i only wanted you to join so i didn't have to do it alone." finn said, she didn't know why, but a feeling inside her was kind of disappointed. but it was a small feeling so it probably didn't mean anything. "yea, well i'm gonna go, so have fun with whatever this is." she says motioning her hand over rachel and finn before walking away, looking back at the brunette who was looking at her too.
"what's your deal with finn?" santana asked valerie as the duo walked the track together. "what do you mean?" val said keeping her eyes ahead. "you're like super close with him, it's almost like you're cheating on matt with him." valerie quickly looks up at santana. "are you serious? you think im cheating on my boyfriend?" val asks with furrowed eyebrows. "im just saying, he's over all the time, way more then matt is. and your door is always closed when he's there." valerie stops walking and pushes santanas shoulder. "you're one to talk, you cheat on puck like every other day." valerie says, if you didn't notice, her sisters accusations were upsetting her. "that's because puck and i aren't that serious, you and matt are. and he's my best friend, so if you're cheating on him, with finn of all people, we're gonna have a problem." santana says getting in valeries face. "you're so annoying. and you know what, you can walk home." she says pushing santana out of the way before walking away towards the bleachers.
as she was approaching the porta potty's by the bleachers she saw a group of boys and panting. "thank you, thank you, thank you so much. oh god the smell." she heard a unfamiliar male voice say. "what the hell dude, i can't believe you're helping out this loser." of course, it was puck torturing yet another innocent bystander. as she got closer she saw all the football players on one side and finn with a kid in a wheel chair on the other. they couldn't see her, but she got a good view of it all. "don't you get it man, we're all losers." finn said. "everyone in this school, hell everyone is this town. out of all the kids that graduate maybe half will go to college, and- and two will leave the state to do it." to val, he did make a good point. they lived in lima ohio, there were no opportunities for any of them. "im not afraid of being called a loser cause i can accept that that's what i am." if she was being honest, she couldn't believe that this was finn speaking, he wasn't very smart and he cared so much about popularity. so listening to him preach about this, was kind of shocking. but she was proud. "but i am afraid of turning my back on something that actually made me happy for the first time in my sorry life." he said looking at the boy in the wheel chair then back at the group of football players. 'was he talking about glee club?' val thought. "so what, are you quitting to join homo explosion?" puck asked causing the football players to laugh, val rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "no, im doing both. cause you can't win without me and neither can they." finn responded. damn.
"coach was looking for you." santana says walking up to valerie at her locker in the empty hall. valerie had sensed santana was still upset with her so she turned to her and decided to apologize. "i'm sorry for pushing you earlier." she says. "im sorry for yelling in your face." santana says. "why are we even arguing? you're my sister and you know i wouldn't care if you were cheating on matt." she goes on to say. "i know, and im not by the way. finn is just kind of my only friend really. you have quinn and brittany so, i had to go for someone else." valerie says with a laugh. santana grabs valeries hand, "come on, coach and q are waiting for us. we're spying on that weird loser club mr.schuster runs." the two girls make their way down the hall and up into the auditorium side stands.
"working hard to get my fill
everybody wants a thrill, payin'
anything to role the dice just one
more time."
the three cheerleaders and their coach watched as finn played the drums, rachel sang and danced around the stage, and the other group members sang on the mics.
"some will win, some will lose
some were born to sing the blues,
oh the movie never ends
it goes on and on and on.
strangers waiting, up and down the
boulevard. their shadows, searching
in the night. street light, people
living just to find emotion. hidin'
somewhere in the night. don't stop
believing. hold on to that feeling.
streetlight, people. don't stop
believing, hold on to that feeling,
streetlight, people.
don't stop!"
"let's go." coach sylvester said, quinn and santana immediately following after her. val stayed and looked down at the group, they all looked so happy and excited as they performed, and somehow their excitement grew once mr.schue said he was staying. maybe, just maybe, in the future she'll consider joining.