Adalynn fixed the collar of her red blazer. She smoothed out her plaid skirt before slipping on the matching knee-high socks and putting on her red heals. She fixed her hair before applying a layer of red lipstick.
"I look smoking hot," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder before leaving her bathroom, smiling when she saw Ava sitting on her bed in an outfit that matched hers. "Look at you, Little Ada," she smiled as she picked up the baby. "You look exactly like yours truly."
"Ada so pwetty," Ava said as she grabbed the sides of Adalynn's face.
"That's all you, sweetie," Adalynn smiled, kissing Ava's nose.
"Adalynn, you ready to go?" Burt called from downstairs.
"Coming, Daddy!" the brunette called back. She pulled her locket out from where it had gotten tucked under her shirt before grabbing her bag and slipping it on over her shoulders. She spotted the ring that Quinn had given her on her bedside table. She looked at it for a moment before turning and leaving her room, holding Ava close to her as they went downstairs.
"Adalynn, what are you wearing?" Julian asked.
"I'm getting into character for Heathers auditions," the younger girl said, smiling innocently at her cousin.
"I'm not letting my step-sister out of the house dressed like that," Finn mumbled, shaking his head.
"It's easier just to say 'sister,' Frankenteen," Adalynn said, patting her brother on the shoulder before walking out to the car.
****
Once arriving at McKinley, Adalynn met up with Tina, who was dressed as Heather Duke, and Bailey, who was dressed as Heather McNamara. Maya was dressed in a matching outfit to her mom's, and she clapped when she saw Ava.
"Awa pwetty!" the older twin smiled.
"Tants, May," Ava smiled. "Tu es pwetty too!"
"Tants!"
"You guys look so good," Marley smiled at the upperclassmen as she approached them. However, her smile faded as she gripped the straps of her backpack. "I wish I looked like you."
"Girl, don't worry," Tina said as she pulled out a blue outfit identical to Veronica Sawyer's. She exchanged a knowing look with Bailey and Adalynn before handing Marley the outfit. "We've got you covered."
"Are you serious?" Marley gasped as the twins smiled and clapped their hands together.
"And ya know, ya know, ya know? This could be beautiful," Adalynn sang, smiling at the sophomore. "Mascara, maybe some lip gloss, and we're on our way. Get this girl some blush, and Bailey, I need your brush. Let's make her beautiful."
"Let's make her beautiful," Tina sang as she grabbed her make-up bag.
"Let's make her beautiful," Bailey sang as she grabbed her hair brush from her locker.
"Make her beautiful," Adalynn sang as they led Marley to the bathroom. "Okay?"
"Okay," Marley grinned.
The three friend's got to work with Marley's makeover. They fixed her hair, did her make-up, and got her changed into the outfit Tina put together for her.
Cut to the auditorium, and the trio watched with smiles on their faces as they watched Marley's audition for Heathers.
And you know, you know, you know
Life can be beautiful
You hope, you dream, you pray
And you get your way!
Ask me how it feels
Lookin' like hell on wheels...
My God, it's beautiful!
I might be beautiful...
And when you're beautiful...
It's a beautiful frickin' day!
"Yeah, Marley!" Adalynn cheered, clapping with Bailey and Tina as the sophomore finished singing.
"That had more energy than the last three auditions combined," Mercedes gasped.
"Any preference in the role you want to play?" Artie asked Marley.
"Veronica Sawyer," Marley confidently answered, smiling when Bailey winked and gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright, we'll let you know," Artie smiled as he wrote down some notes. "Next up, Adalynn Hummel, Bailey Pierce, and Tina Cohen-Chang."
The Junior Unholy Trinity – as Santana had named them the previous year – stood up and made their way up to the stage. They each grabbed a microphone before lining up.
"Hi, I'm Bailey Pierce."
"I'm Adalynn Hummel."
"I'm Tina Cohen-Chang."
"And we will be singing, Miss Movin' On by Fifth Harmony," the three friends said in unison as the music started.
"I'm breaking down, gonna start from scratch," Bailey sang. "Shake it off like an etch-a-sketch. My lips are saying goodbye. My eyes are finally dry."
"I'm not the way that I used to be," Adalynn sang. "I took the record off repeat. It killed me, but I survived. And now I'm comin' alive."
"I'll never be that girl again, no-woah-oh," the trio sang. "I'll never be that girl again, no-woah-oh. My innocence is wearing thin, but my heart is growing strong. So, call me, call me, call me Miss Movin' On. Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Miss Movin' On. Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Yeah."
"I broke the glass that surrounded me," Adalynn sang, smiling as she made eye contact with Finn. "I ain't the way you remember me. I was such a good girl. So fragile, but no more."
"I jumped the fence to the other side," Tina sang, avoiding Mike's gaze. "My whole world was electrified. Now, I'm no longer afraid. It's Independence Day."
"I'll never be that girl again, no-woah-oh," the three friends sang together. "I'll never be that girl again, no-woah-oh. My innocence is wearing thin, but my heart is growing strong. So, call me, call me, call me Miss Movin' On."
"Everything is changing, and I never want to go back to the way it was," Adalynn sang, holding tightly to the microphone. "I'm finding out who I am, and who I am from here on out is gonna be enough. It's gonna be enough."
"I'll never be that girl again, no-woah-oh," Tina sang.
"I'll never be that girl again, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh," Bailey sang.
"My innocence is wearing thin, but my heart is growing strong," Adalynn sang, a smile spreading across her lips. "So, call me, call me, call me Miss Movin' On."
"Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Miss Movin' On," the trio sang. "Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Miss Movin' On. Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Miss Movin' On, oh-oh-oh."
"Yeah, I'm movin' on," Adalynn sang, breathing a sigh of relief as the song ended.
She was a mess after her break-up with Quinn, and even considered turning to cutting again to cope, but she knew she needed to break that habit. Instead, she surrounded herself with her two best friends, the twins, her family, and her dog.
As long as she had those things, she'd be okay.
"Ladies, that was amazing!" Mike praised.
"Y'all sounded great together," Mercedes beamed.
"I don't even know what to say," Finn smiled. "You're all so grown up now."
"What roles are you girls interested in?" Artie asked.
"Heather Duke," said Tina.
"Heather McNamara," said Bailey.
"Heather Chandler," Adalynn said with a slight smirk.
"Awesome," Artie grinned as he wrote down some notes. "We'll let you know."
****
Bailey, Adalynn, and Tina invited Marley and Unique to sit with them at lunch the following day. The trio was still dressed in Heathers inspired outfits due to the excitement for the musical, and the funny thing was, no one seemed to care anymore.
Four years ago they would've gotten bullied for dressing up as characters from a musical, but times were changing.
"How do you think you guys did with your audition?" Marley asked as she ate a bite of her pasta.
"Okay," Tina shrugged.
"God, I'm so nervous," Bailey said as she ate a potato chip.
"Me too," Marley nodded in agreement as she took another bite of pasta. "I want Veronica so bad."
"Well, that's never gonna happen," Kitty scoffed as she walked by their table, lunch tray in hand and a smirk on her face.
"What do you want, Kitty?" Unique asked, sending the Cheerio a glare.
"Yikes, Marley," Kitty grimaced, looking disgustedly at the food on the brunette's plate. "You look like you're putting on a few pounds. You might want to cut back on the carbs. It's crazy what a plate of pasta can do to a person's weight."
Adalynn furrowed her brows, frowning as she exchanged a look with Bailey and Tina. She looked across the table at Marley, who was biting her lip and looking down in discomfort.
"If you don't stop talking, I'm gonna shove my fork up your hairy little–"
"Adalynn!" Bailey scolded, taking the plastic fork out of her hands. "Stop the violence."
"You can leave now," Tina said, forcing a fake smile in Kitty's direction.
The cheerleader rolled her eyes as she turned on her heel and walked away. Unique put a comforting hand on Marley's back and rubbed gently.
"Don't listen to her," Unique said, giving her friend a small smile.
"You're beautiful, Marley," Bailey said, reaching across the table to take the younger girl's hand. "Kitty's just picking on you because of her own insecurities."
"Come on," Unique nudged Marley with her shoulder. "Your mom worked hard on the mac and cheese."
"I can't eat that," Marley said, looking at the plate of pasta with fear in her eyes.
"Yes, you can," Adalynn said as she stood up and sat down on the other side of the younger brunette. "We're gonna help you."
"You can do it, Marley," Tina smiled. "We believe in you."
Marley took a shaky breath before picking up her fork and taking a bite of her mac and cheese. She exhaled through her nose as she chewed, and with her friends' encouragement, she was able to finish all of it.
As they left the cafeteria to go to their next classes, Adalynn flipped off Kitty. She wasn't going to let her pick on someone as sweet as Marley.
****
Bailey gasped and grabbed onto Tina's arm as Artie rolled by with the cast list in his lap. The two friends exchanged a look before following him. He pinned the list up on the board and wheeled away as Adalynn walked up with Marley.
The four looked over the cast list with hopeful eyes, all of them smiling when they spotted their names.
Marley Rose -- Veronica Sawyer
Adalynn Hummel -- Heather Chandler
Tina Cohen-Chang -- Heather Duke
Bailey Pierce -- Heather McNamara
The excitement quickly turned sour, however, as Kitty approached and got upset over the small role she got.
"I don't understand," Kitty scoffed. "I prayed really hard for this."
"Maybe God didn't hear you because he was busy helping people with cancer," said Joe.
"Shut it, Avatar," the blonde spat as she turned to walk away, bumping into Marley as she did so. "Oh, one little thing, Honey Boo Boo. I know a good, hot meal is hard to resist, especially when you're on the free lunch program. But remember, the stage always adds at least ten pounds. In your case, closer to 90. So when you and your mom, Strawberry Hugecake, are dumpster diving for your costume, keep on picking till you find something slimming. Like a black Hefty bag."
Adalynn clenched her jaw as Kitty turned on her heel and walked off down the hall. She quickly stormed after her, grabbing her arm and turning her around to face her.
"Don't touch me, lezzie," Kitty spat, yanking her arm out of the older girl's grasp.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Adalynn scoffed. "What did Marley ever do to you?"
Kitty sucked in a breath through her nose, her jaw clenching.
"That's what I thought. Let me give you a reality check, Blondie Bitch," Adalynn said, stepping closer to the sophomore as she slowly backed away, her usually hard eyes traced with fear. "You know damn well that Marley isn't fat. You know what you're doing, and you need to back off."
"Or what?" Kitty scoffed. "You're gonna tattle-tale to your teen dad cousin and your fatty step-brother?"
"Finn is my brother, and he's not fat. Julian is an amazing dad. You're nothing but a Dollar Store Wannabe Quinn Fabray. And guess what, Copycat? I've had sex with the real Quinn Fabray, and you are nothing like her. So be warned, if you don't back off Marley, I'll show you a thing or two my friend Santana Lopez taught me about cutting a bitch."
And with that, Adalynn turned and walked away, leaving the entire Glee Club in shock as they exchanged looks with one another.
Marley looked in the direction that the older brunette stormed off in before looking back to Kitty, who shoved a kid out of anger as she passed him.
"Leave it to Adalynn to give a Santana Lopez style rant," Bailey said, snapping her fingers before looping her arm with Tina's and walking away.
a/n - i didn't let the chaos of my 17th birthday keep me from updating 💪🏻💪🏻