After the incident, Cataleya was determined not to give teachers a chance to think she was easy to manipulate. She wasn't going to be a teacher's pet, but someone who showed up on time, was quiet, and caused no disruption.
Before class was a different story.
At the moment, she had a chair pulled up to Santana's desk and they were playing MASH. Her future life was going terribly, to say the least. She would be living in a shack with Jacob Ben Israel. She was repulsed, while Santana and Quinn were laughing.
"You know, you two look cute together. The next time I see him, I'll give him your number." Santana laughed louder when she saw Cataleya's mortified expression.
"You're cruel; I can't wait until we do your life! Then we'll see who's laughing." However, they couldn't return to the game as they saw their teacher walk in.
Cataleya abruptly got up from her chair, grabbed the paper, tore it up, then threw it out. She was trying to be discrete but ended up being more obvious. The teacher was suspicious but was too tired to deal with her shenanigans.
She told Santana, "Ah, I guess we'll just have to start a brand-new game later then."
"Oh no no no. I remember which ones were crossed off and who we picked. We'll finish it later."
Cataleya gave Santana a deadpan look. "I hate you."
"I highly doubt it, but that's cute that you think you can. Now, shoo." Santana grabbed her nail filer and started to use it, while Cataleya dragged her chair back to her desk begrudgingly. She was able to sulk for just a few when Kurt came in, smelling like garbage.
"Did they throw you in? You said you'd be with your glee friends." She was frustrated, not at him but at the people who kept throwing him in. The one day she's not with him, they throw him in? Cowards, she thought.
As much as Kurt liked his new friends, they weren't confrontational like Cataleya. "Cataleya, they wouldn't be able to do anything; we're in glee club. But it's fine; they'll work for me one day."
"Okay! I'm liking this new attitude on you Kurt! And you're right; they'll be Lima losers while you conquer New York! But until then, do you need me to lend you one of my gym shirts? Because no offense, you smell like shit." She was getting a shirt out from her bag when Kurt stopped her.
"I have clothes; I'll go change after Mr. Ryan takes attendance. Unlike you, I don't like getting detention."
"Hey!" She chuckled before giving him a comforting smile. She went and grabbed his hand, giving him a squeeze. "I'm always here Kurt, you don't have to do this alone." Their teacher began to talk before he could thank her.
~~~~~~~~~~
"I hate her, I hate her, I hate her." Kurt muttered as he and Mercedes reached Cataleya's locker. She had an amused look on her face as she looked at the pair.
"Mercedes, who's the reason for Kurt losing it?"
When Kurt introduced Mercedes to Cataleya, he didn't expect that they already knew each other, but then he remembered that Cataleya knew more people than she led on.
"Rachel. She's making us do a sex number for our performance." Mercedes told her.
"What's the number?" Cataleya asked as she was putting her books away.
"Push it" Kurt answered. She gave them a wide-eyed look, with her jaw dropping a bit. "Oh god, we're dead aren't we?"
"I wouldn't say dead, but the exact opposite. You got all these horny ass teenagers desperate for some action. Who knows, you might start an orgy." They looked horrified, but Cataleya wasn't paying attention, so she continued.
"I'm more worried about how the teachers will react. This school doesn't have Sex Ed but they have a celibacy club. That just tells you how backwards they are." She told them, accidentally making them more nervous.
"But I'm sure it will be fine though! You guys will sound great and more people will join!" Cataleya was trying to sound reassuring after seeing how panicked they looked.
"Thanks, I mean we would need one less person to join if you did. We could really use you!" She knew this question was going to come up soon, but she didn't want to join if Mr. Schuester would be there.
"Kurt, you know I can't. I got too much on my plate." Kurt looked deflated. He knew she wouldn't join, but it couldn't hurt to ask.
"Fine. But you better be there at all of our performances then," which Cataleya gleefully nodded to. "Well, we'll see you later then. We have to go find good seats for lunch. But have fun at detention!"
"I'll have you know, I don't have detention today." Kurt was surprised, but then squealed when he realized what this meant: they could finally sit together during lunch.
"Then what are we waiting for!" Kurt linked his arms with Cataleya and Mercedes before heading to their destination.
Once they reached the cafeteria, they walked to a table that was occupied by the other glee members. "Tina, Artie, and Rachel, this is my friend Cataleya, she'll be sitting with us today."
Cataleya waved at them as she sat down. Artie and Tina waved nervously to her while Rachel gave her a look of disgust.
Seeing how scared Artie and Tina looked felt familiar to Cataleya. Then she remembered where she saw them. "You still hanging out with those pieces of shit goth kids?" She asked them bluntly.
There was one time when Cataleya didn't get detention. So, she went to the cafeteria late to surprise Kurt. But once she went to the cafeteria, she saw two people pouring their food on Kurt, which infuriated her. She got her revenge and when she did, she remembered that Tina and Artie had the same scared look.
"N-n-nope." Tina let out, not looking Cataleya in the eye.
"Good. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for not caring about what people think, but they were just being assholes. Like if you're going embarrass someone, why not the stupid ass football players? It's because they're fucking cowards who do care about what people think."
After Cataleya's rant, they all looked at her wide-eyed, all except two. The first person was Kurt, who was used to Cataleya's rants by now. The second person was Rachel, who still had a look of disgust.
"You got something to say Berry or you need to take a shit?" Cataleya asked as she was getting her lunch out.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"Damn, that's shitty." Cataleya interrupted cheekily, which caused Kurt to swat her arm, silently telling her to behave. However, Mercedes, Artie, and Tina smiled at Cataleya's comment. "Fine, what is it, Berry? What did you want to ask?"
"How come you're sitting with us?" Rachel questioned.
"Because Kurt's my friend. I'm usually in detention, which is why you guys haven't really seen me here."
"Right, and we're supposed to believe that you're sitting here because you want to?"
"Yeah, and I could care less if you don't believe me. I'm not here for you anyways."
Before Rachel could give a rebuttal, Casper—one of the football players—walked past their table with some of the other players.
"Cataleya, I see you're finally sitting with your kind, the losers." He snickered, gaining laughs from his teammates.
Cataleya rolled her eyes at his pathetic comment and decided not to retaliate. If she did, she knew it would end in detention for her, and she was trying to turn a new leaf.
But when she saw the glee club's crestfallen faces she knew she had to say something.
"Yo Casper, why are you such a dick? You overcompensating?" Cataleya yelled as Casper was walking away from her table. He stopped walking, then turned around so that she was in his line of sight.
"What?" he asked confusedly.
"Oh, I forgot how much of a dumbass you are. Let me break it down for you: are you a huge dick because of how small your dick actually is?"
Casper walked towards her, fuming, which made Cataleya stand up from her seat. They were at eye level once he reached her. "You want to see?" He threatened.
With this, Cataleya kneed him in the nuts, causing him to crouch over and whimper in pain. "Nah, I'm good." She said with a smirk.
"Escobar!" Coach Tanaka—who was supervising the cafeteria—yelled. "What the hell!? You can't keep kneeing my players! Go to the principal's!"
"Will do, Coach Tanaka. But just so you know, when my father hears about how YOUR players keep messing with me, this time with your player threatening to show me his genitals, hell will break loose."
After a certain incident regarding Cataleya with one of his other players, Coach Tanaka felt Charles Escobar's wrath. Not wanting to face it again, he compromised. "Fine, but you earned yourself lunch detention. Now head over to Mr. Ryan's!"
Cataleya sighed but did what she was told. So much for turning a new leaf.
As she was grabbing her stuff, she looked at the group. "Well, it looks like our time together has been cut short, but it was nice sitting with all of you. I guess I'll see you around."
With that she left for Mr. Ryan's, leaving the group stunned. "That was awesome!" Artie broke the silence. "Can she sit with us more?"
"Yeah, sh-sh-she's so goth." Tina added. After getting constantly picked on, the group was grateful that there was at least one person on their side.
As much as Kurt wanted to answer yes to Artie's question, he knew he couldn't.
"If she doesn't get detention." Kurt retorted. "That girl is always getting herself in trouble."
Kurt then turned to Rachel and said, "Listen, I get why you're skeptical about her, but she's not like them. You saw what she just did."
"But then why is she friends with people like Santana?" Rachel argued back.
It was a question that he himself wondered. As one would insult him, the other would protect him. Yet, the two of them were best friends. It was like they were from the same coin, but on different sides.
~~~~~~~~~~
This was the day. Their big performance. She wanted to see what they had planned. She knew about the song, but how would they execute it? The anticipation was killing her.
She was running to the gym when she accidentally knocked someone over. "Shit! I'm so sorry, here let me help" She crouched down to pick up the books of the person she bumped into, who turned out to be Mike.
"No, I'm sorry, I was in your way." Mike said as he was retrieving his books.
"Bullshit. I was the one not paying attention. You know, you can let me know if I'm wrong. I won't hurt you; I'm not that much of a bitch." Cataleya said jokingly but with some truth to her statement.
Cataleya knew that while she only fought against assholes, everyone else was still slightly intimidated by her. It didn't matter if she smiled at them or spoke nicely to them, she could tell they still feared her.
"I know." Mike responded, but then his eyes widened. "Not that I think you're a bitch, because you aren't. Do you fight and curse people out? Sure, but that doesn't make you a bitch for standing up for yourself and others. I just mean that—" He saw her smile amusedly. "What's so funny?"
"Never in my life did I think I would see the day that you would curse or even ramble."
"Then you don't know me well." Mike responded but regretted it immediately. He was trying to sound playful, but it wasn't working well. He was about to apologize when Cataleya spoke again.
"That's true. Then why don't you sit next to me at the assembly, so that I can get to know you better? You seem to know more about me than I know of you, and I'd like to even the playing field." Cataleya countered back with a hint of playfulness, something that he was trying to achieve but failed.
Mike, forgetting that he already made plans to sit with someone else, nodded softly. He didn't expect the turn of events, but he wasn't going to say no to it.
Once they found some seats, he asked her, "So do you have any idea what this assembly is about?"
Her eyes lit up. "Oh! It's about joining glee club. Let's just say that their performance will be unforgettable." She then turned to face him. "Is glee club a club you'd join?"
"No. They seem cool, but I don't sing and I only dance in my room. And with football and school, I'm not sure if I even have the time."
"Understandable, same reason for me except for soccer." She chimed in.
"I always wondered that too. Since you seem to be friends with some of them, and you can dance." With his last sentence, she looked at him confused.
How did he know she could dance? She rarely did ballet in public, only feeling safe doing so at her home.
He seemed to understand why she was confused. "I've gone to a couple of soccer games, and you're always dancing for the team, cheering them on if you're not on the field."
"Oh, that's nothing. That's just me being a cheerleader since the cheerios only support the football and basketball team, even though you guys suck." Mike snorted at the comment, which caused Cataleya to smile.
"But to your point, I do dance, specifically ballet. Well, I'm getting back into it." She revealed, a bit insecurely since she usually talked about dance with the unholy trinity or Kurt only.
"Really? I have to admit, that is something that I didn't expect from you." Before she could question why, someone called his name. They turned to see that it was Matt Rutherford.
"Dude, I've been looking everywhere for you! Couldn't give me a heads up? I almost had to sit with the team by myself Mike! BY MYSELF." Matt emphasized. Mike gave Matt a look that Cataleya couldn't decipher, but Matt seemed to understand.
Matt then looked at her. "Oh hey Cataleya! Didn't see you there. You know what? I'll go sit with the team. I'll leave you two alone." Matt began to turn around when Cataleya grabbed his arm.
"No I'll go, and you sit here! I can't have you suffering like that. I wouldn't even wish it upon my worst enemy." She then got up to let Matt take her seat.
She then faced Mike. "And your teammates probably wouldn't like it if they saw you sitting with me after what happened this week." She told him, referring to her kneeing Casper.
"I see a seat next to Ms. Pillsbury, so I'll go over there. But it was really nice getting to know you Mike; I'll see you around." She waved bye at them, then headed towards Ms. Pillsbury.
"Ms. Pillsbury? Is it okay if I sit here?" Ms. Pillsbury looked up to see Cataleya and nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course!" She then gestured to the spot next to her. "I'm so excited to see what the glee club has planned! I just know it's going to be great!"
"You might not be thinking that soon" She muttered. Then she heard the tapping on a microphone.
"Silence children" Principal Figgins began to give his announcements then he introduced the glee club. After, she heard the beat drop and she knew the moment was finally here.
As they were performing, she tried to focus on the positive: they can sing well.
Their movements though. If people didn't get that the song was sexual, then their moves certainly did. She wanted to hide her face so that she could laugh, but knew she couldn't.
It didn't help that Ms. Pillsbury was dancing to the song right next to her, a sight she never thought she would see. To stop herself from laughing, Cataleya looked toward the crowd to see everyone's reactions.
First, she saw Santana and Quinn. She saw the look of pure repugnance on both of their faces, which made her want to laugh even more. Then, looking away, her eyes met with Mike's.
She gestured for him to look at Miss Pillsbury, which he understood. After seeing Miss Pillsbury do her little dance, he looked back to Cataleya with a horrified look that broke her into laughter.
Miss Pillsbury turned to her, and Cataleya quickly covered it up with a cough. "Are you okay Cataleya?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I accidentally swallowed my saliva. I'm good now, sorry to interrupt!" she lied, not wanting to get caught.
It paid off as Miss Pillsbury went back to watching the performance.
Once they finished, it was eerily quiet until Jacob Ben Israel cheered, which led everyone else to do so as well. She also stood up and applauded them, hopeful that they would get more members.
Once everyone was sent to their class, Cataleya stayed back waiting for Kurt. When she saw him talking to Mercedes, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, scaring him.
"They loved you guys! Not going to lie, I was doubting your plan, but it seemed to work! You're going to have to kick people out because so many will want to join." she exclaimed excitedly.
"You think so?" Mercedes asked.
"Yeah, but your teachers might look at you differently. I took a look at Sue Sylvester's face, and it was priceless. So I can imagine how the other teachers' faces were. Now you," She faced Kurt, "What's this move?" She then proceeded to do the repetitive thrust that Kurt did on stage.
When Kurt saw it, he turned red and hid his face. "Was it that bad?" He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he didn't know how to be sexy.
"Well, it wasn't the worst thing ever. But maybe don't do that move again? Also, come to me next time, so I can approve of your dance." Kurt nodded, grateful for her offer.
"Wait you dance?" Mercedes asked her.
"Ehh, I dabble." She responded nonchalantly, which Kurt scoffed at.
"Please don't let her fool you. She's an amazing dancer, probably the best I've ever seen."
"Now he's being dramatic. But that doesn't matter. What does is the number of people wanting to join! So let me know how that goes, but right now I have to head out before I'm late and get myself more detention!"
~~~~~~~~~~
"I hate her. I hate her. I hate her." Cataleya felt a sense of déjà vu as she looked to the other side of her locker to see Santana.
"Who do we hate this time?"
"Quin wants to join glee club, and not by herself but as the unholy trinity. Now I have to join this stupid loser club and deal with Manhands more than I want to."
When those words came out of Santana's mouth, Cataleya laughed and she laughed hard. Though, she stopped once she saw the deadly stare Santana was giving her.
"Listen, give it a shot. Who knows? You might actually enjoy being in it. Maybe even become best friends with Rachel." She couldn't help but end it on a teasing note.
"Eww never. The fact that those words came out of your mouth is unforgivable. You could make it up to me by joining as well."
"Oh no. You see I'm not a part of the unholy trinity, so I don't have to join. And I have too much on my plate."
"Too much on your plate? Please, you spend most of your time hanging out with your dad like a weirdo. You have the time. Come on, let's go practice for your audition."
The bell rang at that moment, saving Cataleya from continuing this conversation.
"Can't! Got class to go to. But good luck with your audition! Let me know which song you choose. I'll see you after practice." Cataleya dodged a bullet for now but knew Santana wouldn't give this up.
She needed to come up with a foolproof excuse. She needed her dad's help.
~~~~~~~~~~
After Charles picked up Cataleya and Santana from school, they developed a nice evening routine. While he finished his work, Cataleya would cook. Once they finished eating, he would clean up as she did her homework.
Seeing as though she needed to ask her dad for a favor, she decided to make arroz con pollo, which was one of her dad's favorite meals.
As he was leaving his home office to go to the kitchen, he got a whiff of what she was cooking, and his mouth began to water. "Okay, even though I'm grateful you made this, I know you didn't make this just because. Spill." He knew his daughter well.
"What!?" She said in a high-pitched tone. Her dad just gave her a look.
"Fine, Santana wants me to join a club with her, but I don't want to. And you know she's not going to stop bothering me about it until she gets what she wants. So, can I use you as my excuse?" She pleaded with him.
"What is it and why don't you want to join?" He asked as he was setting up the table.
"It's glee club, and I don't want to join for a couple of reasons. One, I don't have the time for it. Two, I don't like the teacher who's running it at all. He's our Spanish teacher, who knows nothing about the Latino culture except the stereotypes. And he doesn't even know that much Spanish, just the basics."
"Those seem like valid reasons. I got your back. Tell her I said you can't." Cataleya felt relieved hearing that. She was going to say something, but her dad beat her to it.
"Honestly, it boggles my mind that they really hired anyone to become a Spanish teacher. There are people who actually go to school majoring in Spanish but instead they pick some guy. It's so stupid."
Even though he liked the calmness of the town, there were other aspects Charles hated, especially their lack of diversity. He didn't want this conversation to ruin their dinner though. "Okay, I'm going to stop now before I ruin the mood. Is the food ready? I'm starving."
Cataleya nodded happily. Once she made their plates and placed them on the dining room table, they began eating.
Throughout dinner, they talked about how school was, how soccer practice went, and anything exciting that happened at work for him.
She also told him all about the school assembly, and he was dying of laughter. Seeing as though she was home, she laughed along, something she couldn't do at school.
Santana might have been right. She spent too much time with her dad, but she wouldn't have it any other way. With her mother gone, it was just the two of them against the world.
~~~~~~~~~~
*extra scene* (back at the assembly)
As Matt took the newly vacated seat, Mike gave him a look. "Really?"
Matt gave an apologetic smile. "Listen, I didn't see it was her, and I didn't expect you two to sit together! How did that happen by the way? Don't you shut down whenever she talks to you?" Matt asked, surprised that he saw the two together.
"I don't shut down." Mike muttered, and Matt gave him a disbelieving look. "Fine, maybe I do, but not all the time. And to answer your question, she bumped into me and invited me to sit with her."
"Huh, so instead of finding one of her friends, she decided to sit with you? It seems like she wants to get to know you." Matt said with a suggestive tone.
"Stop. She was just being nice." Mike said, knowing where his friend was going with this.
"She literally said 'it was really nice getting to know you.'" Matt said, imitating Cataleya's voice. "And the way she said it, it was a bit flirty."
"That's just how she speaks. And it doesn't matter, she won't like me like that even if she did get to know me, and I'm okay with that."
"I think you're selling yourself short. You're a good dude. I think if you made more of an effort, something could happen there."
"Matt please, I don't want to talk about it anymore." Mike pleaded with him. He didn't want to get his hopes up, especially since he knew that she rejected every guy who asked her out last year.
As much as Matt wanted to continue, he didn't.
However, the thought that something could happen between them still stayed with him, especially after he saw Cataleya and Mike's little interaction during the performance.
Now what that something was, Matt wasn't sure. Cataleya was an easy, yet hard, person to read. The girl wore her feelings on her sleeves. If she saw something she didn't like, she made it known.
Yet, at the same time, she was a mystery. Everyone knew who she was, but at the same time, no one knew her, knew who she was before she moved to Lima last year.
_________________________________________________________
So some things you might not know:
Arroz con pollo - it's rice and chicken mixed together with vegetables and herbs/spices. In my family, you usually top it off with a fried egg.
MASH - It's a game predicting your future. My older sister—who's around the same age as the glee characters—taught me this game when I was a kid.
I should point out that a lot of the pop culture references that I'll mention in this book are what I remember my sister and her friends listening/watching/doing during the 2010 era.
Now about the writing:
The extra scene - when I wrote that scene I really liked it, but it didn't fit with how I was organizing the story. I didn't want to delete it because it was a Matt scene, and Matt deserved more attention than what he got on the show. Also, it shows that Mike has a crush on Cataleya. We'll explore more into it this season.
Tina's line about Cataleya being goth - Cataleya doesn't dress goth. It was more about her personality, not caring and not conforming. I based it on Tina's introduction to herself during the 2009 episode from season 6.
Cataleya's relationship with her father - this is an integral part of the entire series. There will be a lot of scenes between the two as they really do depend on each other.
So that's a wrap on episode 2, hope you enjoyed it! This was a really long one, so if you made it this far, thanks!
But, I do have a question for you: for certain episodes that are long (more than 3000 words), would you be fine with one long chapter or would you want me to break it into parts? I would still post all the parts on the same day.
Let me know what you think, especially if there are certain interactions you want to see! Have a good week and stay safe everyone!