After a week of grieving, I finally hit the last stage of grief. Acceptance. Finn was gone, and now I was going to be happy. I wanted to live my life to the fullest, and not hang on to the past. I know this is a giant cliche, but it's truly what Finn would of wanted. I sat in Blaine's lap at the piano as he was guiding my hands and trying to help me learn how to play the piano. He was playing the intro to Against All Odds, which was the song he sung to Sam and I. It all seemed so silly now, when then it felt like the end of the world. I doubted his love for me, when in reality he was planning a proposal.
"Come on, gather round. I have here in my hand, drum roll, please." Mr. Schue said, and Blaine used my hands to drum roll on the piano.
"A secret list of show choirs that we will be in competition with at Nationals in six weeks. Okay, let's see what we've got. We've got the Rust Belters, the Thunder Show Cats from Gainesville and finally, from Fort Wayne, Throat Explosion." He announced, and before anyone could react, Tina started screaming.
"No! Why god!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, and I started laughing with Artie.
"Throat Explosion, that's a joke, right?" Jake asked, completely ignoring Tina.
"Anything but. They're the supergroup the show choir underground's buzzing about. Their budgets for costume, makeup, hair alone, are astronomical. You guys have read that Malcolm Galdwell book Outliers, right?" Blaine said, and I was the only person who said yes, but I only read it because Blaine basically forced me too.
"So, Gladwell says you can't possibly master anything unless you've spent 10000 hours practicing it. So students can't even join Throat Explosion, without proving they've logged in 10000 hours of show choir rehearsal. They don't even go to class. They just perform every minute of every day. They live their art. They know no boundaries. They've pushing the envelope, living and performing on the edge. They're like mini Lady Gagas." Blaine explained, and I had to hold in my laughter at his dramatic description of the team.
"We're so screwed. They're not like Vocal Adrenaline who were borg robots. They're total outsides and misfits, which used to be our niche. We can't compete with Throat Explosion at that level because we lost our biggest Gaga when Kurt graduated. Look around, we're like a room full of like, Katy Perry's now." Tina yelled.
"You'd best check your spectrum, because orange is the new black, and Unique is the new Gaga." She shrugged and I leaned back to high five her, glad that Blaine had good core strength because I was sitting on his lap, and he had his arms around my waist, so he didn't have anything to hold on too.
"Not Marley, she's a Katy Perry. So is Sam, so is Blaine and Sami." Tina scoffed.
"I'm a Katy Perry and I'm proud of it." Blaine smiled, and I turned slightly to kiss him on the cheek.
"Preach." I laughed, and he squeezed me.
"The truth is Tina, we're a potent mix of Katy Perry's and Lady Gaga's in here. But it's not a liability. It's the way we're going to beat Throat Explosion. Now some of us in here are, you know, ambi-edge." Mr. Schue said, and Artie cut him off.
"Ambi-edge? You just make that up?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Some of us are more, you know, wholesome, innocent, romantic, all-American girl-and-boy-next-door types." He continued, motioning towards everyone on my side of the room, who were coincidentally all Katy's.
"Who here would describe themselves as a Gaga?" He asked, and everyone else raised their hands.
"And the rest of you are Katy's?" He pointed to my side, and we all nodded besides Ryder.
"Is their a third option?" He asked, clearly uncomfortable.
"We're gonna mix it up. We're turning our weaknesses into our strengths. This week, the Katy's will get their Gaga on, and the Gaga's will bring the Katy. Throat Explosion does their one thing, very, very well. But we need to be able to do both impeccably, or else we're not gonna have a chance of winning nationals this year." He sighed, and I sunk into Blaine. I didn't do the whole weird, individualistic thing Gaga could. I was a Katy, loud and proud.
"True Jackson, VP? Is that even on anymore?" Blaine laughed, after Sam filled us in on the awkward conversation he had with Nurse Penny.
"Hey, I loved that show." I gasped, and he wrapped his arm around my waist, rolling his eyes.
"No, it got canceled. Evidently, the people at Nickelodeon don't care about quality entertainment. Dude, don't judge me, okay? I'm badass. I play football and guitar and been handfisin'. I just happen to like sweet things too. They relax me, which is why I like her so much." Sam sighed, and this time, I had to put my hand over Blaine's mouth, to keep him from laughing and making Sam upset. But he was way stronger than I was, and he removed my hand with ease.
"You said that she's into Skrillex and nine inch nails, so clearly she isn't what she seems." Blaine shrugged, stopping in the hallway.
"Exactly. She seems like a Katy, but she's secretly a Gaga. She only dates Gaga's and I'm a Katy." Sam complained, and I was going to tell him to just be himself, but Blaine had other ideas.
"Okay, hold on. Mr. Schue's making all the Katy's sing a Gaga song, so we bring Penny in to see it, and she's gonna get all weak in her Skrillex-loving knees and forget all about her douche ex-boyfriend. And you my friend, will have a new love of your life." Blaine smiled, and Sam's jaw dropped as we turned the corner.
"I think Sam shouldn't change for her. Sam is a sweetheart, he doesn't need to act like he's a scary goth to win someone over. I mean, he got both of us at one point. I saw his very large lips and the Justin Bieber haircut, and instantly liked him." I shrugged, and felt Blaine's arm around me tense up.
"But I saw your hazel eyes and the gelled hair and instantly fell in love, so you know." I smiled, leaning my head on his shoulder.
"Nice recovery. But I just think Sam needs someone right now, and they obviously aren't going to end up together but I want him to have someone in his life. So I'm gonna try to help him, no matter what." He sighed, squeezing me.
"You are so sweet. I don't know how we're gonna pull off being Gaga's." I laughed, and we walked to class.
"All right, Gaga's. I'm taking over this monster ball. since I'm obviously the edgiest one in this group as a teen former stripper, I understand the power of theatricality and performativity." Sam said, walking into the auditorium where we were standing on a runway.
"Yeah, but what are they building?" Ryder asked, pointing to the large amount of props behind us.
"The future. Building the future. all right, we're going to get scary and weird and controversial." Sam shrugged.
"Hence the catwalk?" Blaine motioned to the catwalk we were standing on. He looked adorable today, wearing a light blue shirt and a white vest.
"We're taking it into the audience. Right into their faces then we drop-kick the fourth wall." Sam smiled, doing a kick.
"Are those strobe lights?" Artie asked, and I pulled a curl out of Blaine's hair, just to add to the cuteness, and he rolled his eyes, and tried to tuck it back in but I slapped his hand away.
"Is it a seizure or hard-core next level break dancing? I don't know." Sam said, and I pulled my eyes away from Blaine, who was still fighting me, to look at Sam.
"What did I miss?" I whispered to Artie, still trying to stop Blaine's hands and Artie just shrugged, looking as confused as I was.
"Come on, guys, I need sick ideas. If we're gonna impress Penny, this has to be so crazy that it's declared legally, clinically insane." Sam begged, and Marley stepped forward.
"What if we had like, sparklers, but we're inside. That's crazy!" She suggested and Blaine turned his head to look at her, making my hand go directly into his hair, messing it up.
"Or confetti, only shaped like human skulls?" Ryder said, and Blaine slowly turned his head back to look at me, my eyes widening.
"No! No, no, no, those ideas suck! You're not thinking safe and tired and boring. Okay, look. Here. Take this music for 'Applause,' okay? Learn it, own it, live it." Sam said, and I quickly tried to flatten Blaine's hair as he was extremely unimpressed.
"We're doing this in front of the entire school. And yes, Penny the school nurse will be in attendance. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go guarantee us a sold-out show." Sam smiled, and started to walk away.
"How are you going to do that?" Marley asked, and I managed to mostly return Blaine's hair to it's former glory, but leaving the singular curl out in the front.
"The same way Gaga would, by recruiting some little monsters." Sam quickly walked away before we could question him, then the bell rang and everyone else left to, including the people in the back who were building the props.
"I didn't mean to mess up your hair." I said, as soon as everybody else was out of earshot.
"Why do you keep messing with it?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"Because you look extremely cute today, and light blue is definitely your color, by the way, and you said you stop wearing gel as much, but guess what, you haven't." I pouted, and he rolled his eyes.
"I just don't like my hair, why does it matter to you?" He scoffed, and I got on top of him and started to straddle him.
"Because, you are extremely sexy, Blaine. Your curls are part of you, and I want you to be able to love yourself like I love you." I smiled, and his hands went on my back.
"You are the only person who likes them." He laughed.
"I'm the only person who's opinion should matter." I shrugged, then pulled him in for a kiss. We hadn't had a truly passionate kiss in a while, since neither of us had been in the mood because of Finn. But we had moved on with our lives, knowing that Finn would of thrown a fit if we stopped being happy because of him.
My hands grabbed back of his neck, and his ran down my back, and onto my ass as our tongues fought. I slowly started grinding against him, and he moved his lips to my neck.
"Someone could see us." I laughed, as he sucked on my sensitive skin.
"It's lunch, nobody's gonna come in here." I felt his smile against my neck as he spoke in between kisses.
"How far is your car?" I asked, and he pulled away instantly.
"Not far." He winked, picking me up slightly so he could get up, then he grabbed my hand, and we quickly ran out of the auditorium to the parking lot.
"Oh my god, did you just have sex?" Sam asked, as we walked into our next period which Sam was in aswell.
"Sam, be quiet." I whispered, sitting at the table across from him with Blaine.
"How do you know?" Blaine muttered and Sam rolled his eyes.
"There's no gel in your hair, I know you wouldn't of let her take it out willingly, I saw you guys fighting each other earlier. I understand heat of the moment, but that's just weird." Sam shook his head, turning away from us as Mr. Schue walked in to start teaching. I looked at Blaine, who was trying to hold in a laugh, and it made me start giggling too.
"Focus, please. Fun fact: The name 'Ohio' originates from an Iroquois word, 'Ohi-yo.' Meaning 'good river." Mr. Schue said, pointing at Blaine and I as we were quietly laughing in the back of the room.
"Attention, McKinley idiots. Here are your announcements that I didn't do earlier because I was busy publicly breastfeeding my baby at Starbucks. Once again, it's flea and tick season. Please be sure to throw only inspect your overly hormonal, acne-ridden bodies." Sue said over the PA system, and an organ started playing.
"I am one of Mother Monsters, devoted disciples, and I command you to open your laptops immediately." Becky said, her voice filled with no emotion and we all got out our laptops, and saw a video playing on all of them. Sam was doing some weird, and extremely creepy movements on the video, and real life Sam walked out, giving Blaine and I two thumbs up.
"What have you done?" I gasped, looking at Blaine, who's eyes were extremely wide.
Sam handed me my costume, which was extremely cool and slightly resembled the Corpse Bride.
I put it on and painted my face blue like in the music video then walked out of the dressing room and went backstage to see Blaine, who was looking extremely uncomfortable, in a wig, in silver shorts that were half pants that had a silver tail at the back and a green scaled shirt that showed off his chest.
"Oh. My. God." I gasped, walking up to him and he threw his arms in the air.
"Why do you get to be extremely hot, and I have to look like a drag queen in a strip mall?" He groaned, and I placed my hands on his shoulder pads.
"You look amazing." I giggled, running my hand down his exposed chest.
"Don't even." He playfully pushed my head away, and Sam came up to us.
"Places, monsters!" He yelled, and I waited back stagewhile Blaine got in a top hat.
The song went really well, besides Marley, who came out in a Katy Perry costume, and from there it got a little confusing.
"What happened to the seashell bikini?" Sam asked, and I got up from the floor where I had ended, and crossed my arms.
"I wasn't comfortable." Marley defended.
"Well get over yourself. You think I'm comfortable up here with no shirt on?" Sam snapped, any his argument would have been valid if it was literally anyone else.
"Yeah, you probably are." Marley shrugged, and I nodded.
"Well, I'm not exactly loving this giant white thing that keeps getting caught in my wheels." Artie said, and Blaine stepped up.
"Yeah. I look like Siegfried and Roy, and I still did it." He snapped, and I grabbed his shoulder.
"You could of just not worn the bikini and worn a different Gaga costume. You didn't have to be Katy." I shrugged and Sam pointed at me in agreement.
"I'm sorry, you guys. But I am who I am and I'm not going to change that for any number or any guy." Marley yelled and she could of gotten away with it until she revealed that it was truly about making a point to Jake, and not just how she was uncomfortable.
"Marley, we're all trying to win a championship here as a team. But you put your personal agenda above that. I'm sorry, but your suspended for the rest of the week." Mr. Schue said, and we all turned to look at Marley. Suspension seemed a little harsh, but it wasn't the assignment so I understood where he was coming from.
After the Gaga's Katy performance, which was beautiful and I wished I could sing that song, Mr. Schue announced that everyone had to come to school the next day, wearing their costumes. Blaine got very uncomfortable, but I got excited because I loved my costume.
"Hey. Just focus on me, and the amount of boob I'll be showing." I whispered in his ear, and his face immediately lit up, a small smirk on it.
"That's why math and music will be friends till the end." Mr. Schue smiled, and Tina ran into the room.
"Guys! Throat Explosion just tweeted out that they're doing 'Applause' as one of their nationals numbers!" She yelled, almost tripping on her heels.
"So? Big deal. We'll just do another Lady Gaga song." Ryder shrugged and Blaine stood up.
"They're mocking us. They're so confident they're gonna win, they're even gonna give us a Headstart by telling us what their setlist is." He snapped, and I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back in the chair. I put my hand on his bare knee as he slumped.
"Seriously, we should just forfeit now." Artie yelled, and Mr. Schue cut him off.
"Guys, guys, calm down. So our competition is good. So was Vocal Adrenaline, and the Warblers. Thank God for that. if there's anything we learn from this, it's about other peoples greatness makes our greatness even greater. Gaga and Katy, they push each other to try harder, get better, be bolder. At the end of the day, all the friendly competition between those two just means more really amazing music for all of us. I mean, I hope Throat Explosion is unstoppable. because then we know we have to be unstoppable, too." He said, and Blaine's mood lifted slightly at the mention of the Warblers.
"Think he had that in mind all week, or he just made it up?" Jake whispered to Ryder and he shook his head.
"What are you talking about? Mr. Schuester is a genius." Ryder muttered, and I held back a laugh.
"This week, we saw what it was like to face our weaknesses, and turn them in to strengths. We split up. But for last number, will come together as one unified group." Mr. Schue said, but he was cut off by principal Sue who walked in.
"Oh, please let it be another Journey song. There's gotta be one left. Hello, Glee Club. Hi, William. you know, I was sitting in my office, organizing my collection of custom-made bobble heads of my sworn enemies, and just to the right of Henry Kissinger and Drake, so I saw your hair helmet, bubbling up and down, and I realized, I haven't watched in here, and brought down the hammer and way too long. You're all suspended for a week." Sue laughed, and my jaw dropped.
"Sue, you can't-" Mr. Schue argued, but she cut him off again.
"I can't do that, but I just did it, William. There are rules about what kids can wear to school, and these rejects from the cutting room floor of a Todd browning movie, are in violation of every single one." She said, and I threw my head back in defeat, because she was right.
"Okay, what rules? The Glee Club has been walking around and costumes for four years." Mr. Schue scoffed.
"Well, that was B.S. Before Sue. one week suspension starting now." She tried to turn around and walk out, but Mr. Schue stopped her.
"Okay, wait, we have four weeks to prepare for nationals. We can't afford to lose one. You said yourself you wanted us to win." He signed, and she shook her head.
"No. I said you have to win to keep this club. I don't actually want you to win." She shrugged and they started talking quietly. Blaine looked like his world was about to end, but I got suspended so many times in boarding school, mainly for the dress code, but I didn't really care. I was just worried about my résumé.
Performing Roar was extremely fun, and I was losing my mind seeing Blaine almost entirely naked, but I made sure to stand in front of him when we weren't singing, because I kept noticing Tina sneaking glances over at him and I was not down for that.
"Keep this." Blaine whispered in my ear from behind. motioning to the leopard bra, and my face turned red as he winked and walked to the dressing room.
(I hate this episode with a burning passion. The way it jumped from Finn's funeral to this is atrocious.)