Mornings were always kind of hectic, but with three hyper younger brothers, mornings for Autumn was like working in a circus. She had yet to pull her hair into a high pony as her time was being occupied by chasing Shiloah, Simon, and Stevie around the house, trying to get them ready for the school day.
"Stevie, what happened to you being the good child?" Autumn sighed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the cookie jar. "Go brush your teeth."
"No," Stevie said, yanking his arm away from his sister and stealing a cookie before running back upstairs, Autumn following close behind.
"Stevie– Shiloah, no!" Autumn ran into the bathroom, where her brother was sitting on the counter playing with her curling iron, which was plugged in. She quickly took it away from him and unplugged it. "Shiloah, are you crazy? You could've burned yourself."
"I wanna curl my hair and be like you, though," the redhead pouted as Autumn sighed.
"You have to have hair to curl, silly," the brunette teased, ruffling her brother's short hair. "Where's Simon?"
"Attack!"
Autumn felt cold water spray the back of her Cheerios uniform, and she instantly knew it was her third brother. She turned around and the boy smiled devilishly. He pulled the trigger on the water gun and sprayed her again.
"Simon!" Autumn scolded, reaching for the toy. "You know what Mom said about using that in the house. Give it to me."
"No!" Simon protested, pulling the trigger again.
"Alright, that's it!" Autumn yelled. She yanked the toy out of Simon's hands and pulled Shiloah off the counter. "I'm done playing nice. Go get ready for school!"
"Serious voice," Shiloah whispered to his brother, who's eyes were wide as he nodded in agreement.
"Now," Autumn said through gritted teeth, glaring at the younger boys, who ran out of the bathroom and back to their bedroom. "Stevie! That means you too!"
Autumn sighed and ran a hand through her hair, sweaty from chasing her brothers around all morning. She hated when she had to raise her voice at them, but lately it seemed like the only way they'd listen.
Autumn grabbed her hair brush and brushed through her brunette locks before pulling it into a high ponytail. She plugged her curling iron back in and curled the ends. She then used some hairspray to hold the look and tightened the ponytail.
She left the bathroom and went back to her room to collect her things. She put her pom-poms in her bag and headed downstairs. She went into the kitchen and took a granola bar from the pantry to eat after that morning's Cheerios practice. Autumn then went to the front door, where the Terror Trio was standing in a straight line with innocent smiles, their schoolbags in hand.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Autumn asked.
"Yes," they said in unison, making the older girl chuckle softly.
Autumn took her car keys out of her backpack pocket and they left the house. She had to admit, even if they drove her absolutely insane, she did love her brothers. They got into the car and she turned on the radio, knowing that her brothers loved their sing-along car rides to school just as much as she did.
****
"All right, guys," Mr. Schue said as he came into the choir room and started to pass out sheet music. "We're doing a new number for sectionals. I know that pop songs have sort of been our signature pieces, but I did a little research on past winners, and it turns out that the judges like songs that are more accessible. Stuff they know. Uh, standards, Broadway."
"Defying Gravity?" Kurt asked excitedly. "I have an iPod shuffle dedicated exclusively to selections from Wicked. This is amazing."
"Think you can handle it, Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked the diva.
"It's my go-to shower song," Rachel beamed. "It's also my ringtone."
"Why do we have to go all vanilla on this song?" Mercedes asked. "See, what we need is my chocolate thunder."
"Okay, we don't have time to rearrange a song for you, Mercedes," said Mr. Schue. "Rachel is singing it. Don't worry, we'll find something for you to dip in chocolate. On to item two. The school won't pay for the special bus we need to take Artie and his wheelchair with us to sectionals."
"W-w-what?" Tina asked, shocked.
"That's completely unfair," Rachel said, crossing her arms.
"So we're going to have to raise money to pay for it ourselves," the teacher continued. "See, when I was in glee club, and we needed new silk cummerbunds for regionals, we held a bake sale."
"You're joking, right?" Santana scoffed. "I mean, bake sales are kind of bougie."
"So hip people stopped eating delicious sugary treats?"
"It's not that," Brittany spoke up. "It's most of us don't know how to bake. I find... recipes confusing."
"My family is fully committed to takeout," said Rachel.
"Yeah, Mr. Schue, kids are busier than when you went here," said Finn. "We've got homework and football and teen pregnancy... lunch."
"Can't Artie's dad just take him?" Autumn asked.
"I can't believe how insensitive you're all being," Mr. Schue said, sending his niece a disappointed look. "Are you a team?"
"Of course," said Quinn. "But Artie understands, don't you, Artie?"
"Oh... Of course," Artie hesitantly said. "I-It's cool. Anything that takes away our time from rehearsing doesn't serve the team."
The bell rang and everyone stood up to leave. Autumn looked over at Artie, who was struggling to tie his shoe. She felt bad about her insensitivity to his situation, so she went over to help him.
"I'm sorry, Artie," Autumn said as she bent down to help him tie his shoe. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and I'm sure those other guys didn't mean to, either."
"It's okay," Artie shrugged. "I'm used to it. They just don't get it."
"Hang in there," the older girl said, gently rubbing the freshman's shoulder before standing up to leave. She sent her uncle a small smile, and left the choir room.
****
"I have something I'd like to say," Kurt announced the next day. "I want to audition for the wicked solo."
As you should, Kurt, Autumn thought. Fuck the patriarchy, you know?
"Kurt, there's a high F in it," said Mr. Schue.
"That's well within my range."
"Well, I think Rachel's going to be fine for the female lead, but I'm happy to have you try out something else, Kurt," the teacher said. "And we'll make sure it's got a killer high note."
"You tried," Autumn mumbled from her spot next to Puck.
"Anyway, I wanted to say something to you guys. I was a little disappointed at how you were all so willing to take the bus to get to sectionals and make Artie drive by himself with his dad. We're a team, guys. We're in this glee club together."
"Artie doesn't care," said Mercedes. "His dad drives him everywhere."
"I do care," Artie spoke up. "It kind of hurt my feelings."
"We didn't think you would take it personally," said Rachel.
"Well, you're irritating most of the time, but don't take that personally," the younger boy countered.
"I don't know if you guys really understand how much harder Artie has to work just to keep up," said Mr. Schue.
"Preach."
"We're riding to sectionals together, or we're not going at all," the curly haired man continued. "And to pay for the bus, we're having a bake sale."
The Glee kids groaned as Mr. Schue went to the door to let in several people pushing empty wheelchairs.
"St. Ignatius nursing home was having a tag sale, and my AV club friends here agreed to help out. For the next week, each of you is going to spend three hours a day in a wheelchair."
"But, I'm tiny," Autumn mumbled. "I'm already trying not to get crushed in the hallway. If you put me in that wheelchair, I'll get trampled."
"Now you know how I feel," said Artie.
"Oh, and we're doing a wheelchair number," said Mr. Schue.
****
Autumn's arms began to hurt as she wheeled down the crowded hallway, desperately trying to avoid swinging bags and couples holding hands. An orchestra kid lifted their viola case up, and Autumn ducked to avoid getting hit.
She sighed in relief as she finally got in the clear, making it easy for her to get to her next class. As she wheeled down the hall, she saw Puck covered in what looked like baking ingredients.
"What the hell?" Autumn asked, furrowing her brows.
"Don't ask," Puck said, leaning down to give his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek before continuing down the hall.
Autumn used the rest of her energy to wheel herself to her next class, which she has with Rachel. She's grown to enjoy the company of the diva, and actually really liked her when they weren't in Glee Club. That seemed to be the only time when she wasn't being self centered.
"Hello, Autumn," Rachel said, sending the cheerleader a smile as she wheeled up to their shared table. "Artie makes it look so easy, right?"
"I definitely have more appreciation for him now," Autumn admitted. "I had no idea how hard this was. Um, Rachel, what happened to your hair?"
"Lunch," the diva sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm suing. I bet that guy did it on purpose."
Autumn chuckled and reached into her bag to get a pen to take notes with as the teacher began the lesson.
****
Autumn sat on one side of Sue with her uncle on the other side. As captain of the Cheerios, she was in charge of helping the cheer coach out with try outs. She sat with a pen in hand, doodling little harts on the paper in front of her.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing here," said Sue.
"You just call a name, they come in and try out," Mr. Schue explained. "Just give them a chance to express themselves."
"I'm about to projectile express myself all over your hush puppies," Sue said as Autumn chuckled.
Mercedes and Kurt both tried out, and Sue rejected them. The girl from the wrestling team, Lauren Zizes, came in to try out, and Sue watched her confusedly.
"You're not serious, are you?" Sue asked. "Tell me you're not serious."
Jacob Ben Israel ran in, and Autumn narrowed her eyes at him. On the paper she wrote 'not in a million years' and showed it to Sue.
"No friggin' way, Jacob," the cheer coach said and the gossip blogger ran out.
A really tall guy came in to try out. Autumn watched in amazement, tilting her head to the side as the boy twisted his body in unusual ways.
"Freak!" Sue scoffed, and the guy walked out looking hurt. "Okay, I've been at this for an hour. That's all I promised."
"Sue, there's just one more person on the list," Mr. Schue sighed. "Give her a shot."
"Becky Johnson!" Sue called.
"Jackson," Autumn corrected as she looked at the list.
"Jackson."
A girl with Down Syndrome from Autumn's math class walked in.
"Be nice, Sue," Mr. Schue whispered.
"I heard that you're doing a routine with jump ropes," Becky said, smiling at Autumn, who smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. "I wanted to show you what I can do."
Becky began to jump rope, and Sue watched with an unresponsive look on her face. The blonde made a few mistakes, and Mr. Schue warily watched for the cheer coach's reaction. On her paper, Autumn wrote, 'sweet girl!' and put a smiley face.
"Becky, I'm going to stop you right there," said Sue. "What do you say, A?"
"You're in," Autumn smiled. "Be at practice tomorrow at 4:00pm."
"Congratulations," said Sue.
Becky smiled widely and skipped off.
"What are you up to, Sue?" Mr. Schue asked.
"I'm just following orders, Will. I'm doing what I was told. And I found myself a brand-new Cheerio."
"You're up to something," the curly haired man said as Sue got up to leave. "I don't like this, Sue!"
"Uncle Will, relax," Autumn said as she stood up and hoisted her cheer bag up on her shoulders before bending down to grab her pom-poms. "Coach Sylvester isn't up to anything. She has a soft spot for people with Down Syndrome. There's nothing wrong with that, and I think everyone should treat them with the kindness that she does."
Autumn sent her uncle a small smile before turning to leave the gym. She passed Becky in the hallway and high-fived her before heading to the parking lot to go home.
****
"All right, welcome to the glee club's first official diva-off," Mr. Schue said as everyone cheered. "Let's get this party started."
****
"Twelve hundred bucks," Puck said as he placed a wad of cash in Mr. Schue's hands. "That's enough for the show bus and two cases of Natty Light for the ride home."
"Oh, dream on, buddy," the teacher chuckled as everyone clapped, proud that they were able to raise the money for their friend. " I'm very proud of you guys. Artie, why don't you bring this to Principal Figgins yourself?"
The Glee Club clapped again as Artie looked disappointed.
What's wrong, dude?" Finn asked.
"I really appreciate what you guys did for me, but I'm not the only kid in a wheelchair at this school," said Artie. "And I'm sure there will be others after I graduate. And I know how important it is for all of us to go to sectionals together, but I think I'd rather just get a ride from my dad and use this for a handicapped ramp in the auditorium."
"Any objections?" Mr. Schue asked.
"Well, sure beats having to carry him in every day," Finn said and everyone laughed.