"Hi, Ava," Mercedes smiled as she walked up to the blonde at her locker. "Do you have a sec?"
"No, I do not have a sec," Ava scoffed as she closed her locker.
"What?" the older girl frowned.
"I'm not stupid. You only want to be friends with me because of my mom. I don't have time for fake bitches."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about your mom," Mercedes said as she followed Ava down the hall.
"If you want an autograph, ask her yourself," Ava grumbled, rolling her eyes when she saw that Mercedes was still trailing behind her. "Jesus Christ, can't you take a hint? Fuck off and leave me alone."
"I wanted to talk to you about joining your mom's group."
Ava stopped walking and turned around to face Mercedes with a raised brow. "And why would I want to do that?"
"Why wouldn't you want to do it?" Mercedes shrugged. "You'd get to hang out with your mom, who is so awesome. Maya's in the group, too. And, let's face it, Mr. Schue isn't gonna pay any attention to you."
"Can I think about it?" Ava asked, sighing. "I don't want them to hate me for leaving the group."
"Yeah, just think about it," Mercedes smiled. "I hope to see you soon."
Ava forced a small smile as Mercedes walked away. She thought about it for a moment before running a hand through her short blonde hair and making her way to class.
She'd worry about this after her biology test.
****
"You know what, Girl Chang?" Santana scoffed as Tina used a tissue to dry her tears. "If you cry every time someone gets a hangnail, it kind of starts to lose its effect."
"It's not a hangnail," Tina sniffled. "Mercedes was one of Glee's original members. I feel naked in here without her."
"Yeah, well, get used to it, cause without her singing for us, we're gonna have to perform naked for the judges to vote for us at sectionals," Puck grumbled.
"Gross," Ava scrunched her nose. "I don't even let my twin see me naked. Why would I let a room full of people I've never seen before see that? And I'm pretty sure that's a little thing the FBI calls child pornography."
"You tell him, Little A," Juniper said, high-fiving the freshman.
"No," Mr. Schue said. "I will not let this setback crush our spirits. We have handled worse."
"Than losing one of our best singers?" Mike frowned.
"Kind of hard not to blame you, Mr. Schue," Naomi said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah," Quinn agreed. "I think you were too hard on her at booty camp."
"I blame Artie and Autumn," Tina scoffed, narrowing her eyes at the two student directions. "Why couldn't you have just given Maria to Mercedes?"
"We double-casted the role so they both could play her, but Mercedes threw it away," Autumn defended herself. "Don't blame us for her divaness."
"Sorry I'm late," Rachel said as she walked into the choir room, clapping her hands together. "I was putting up posters for my– my campaign."
"You didn't talk her out of running for student body president?" Puck frowned at Autumn.
"Don't blame me for anything she does, either," Autumn said, holding her hands up.
"Did you airbrush out your jowls?" Kurt taunted Rachel.
"No," the diva scoffed, sending Kurt a glare as she sat down next to Autumn.
"I mean, we might as well all just give up now, cause this whole thing is pointless," Juniper shrugged.
"Ava, tell your mom to quit stealing our members," Puck said, sending the petite blonde a glare.
"You leave my mom alone!" Ava snapped.
"Guys, enough!" Autumn raised her voice.
"Uh oh...that's her big sister voice," Naomi whispered, eyes wide.
"Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere," Autumn said as she stood up and looked over the club. "We can't be turning on each other like this. We're a family in here, and the only way we're gonna get anywhere is if we work together. I know losing Mercedes is hard, but now, more than ever, we need to be united."
"I agree," Blane spoke up. "I can only speak from my experience with the Warblers, but no show choir is just one person. It's a team. When we lost a Warbler, we just replaced him with another one."
"Which is easy when your waiting list has a waiting list," Finn scoffed. "Dude, I know you're a big deal at Dalton or whatever, but we don't wear blazers here. So, have a seat."
"Didn't Autumn just say something about us not turning on each other?" Blaine asked with a raised brow.
"Does anyone have any popcorn?" Juniper asked as she pulled out her phone to record the stare-down between Blaine and Finn.
****
Naomi was wandering the halls during 4th period. Her head was hurting from all the math involved in what they were studying in chemistry, and she needed a moment to catch her breath.
She didn't know who it was that decided it would be a good idea to add mathematics to science, and she wanted to send a big fuck you to them for making her life harder. She already struggled in math, and now she had to face the subject two times a day instead of just once.
She walked past an empty classroom, deciding to go in when she noticed a familiar face inside.
"Hi, Sugar," she greeted as she walked in.
"Huh?" Sugar frowned as she took her earbud out, sitting up on the desk she was previously laying on. "Oh, it's you. Uh..."
"Naomi."
"Naomi," Sugar repeated, brown eyes looking the Cuban up and down. "So...uh, what do you want? I'm trying to catch up on The Kardashians."
"I just noticed you in here and thought I'd come say hi," Naomi said. "Is it okay if I sit?"
"Sure," Sugar shrugged, scooting over to make room on the desk for the smaller girl.
"So, how's Glee Club?" Naomi asked as she sat down next to Sugar. "Is Bailey as chill as she seems in interviews, or is she strict?"
"She's amazing," Sugar smiled. "She always has snacks, and she lets us call her by her first name. Well, except Maya, of course. She has to call her 'mom.' Were you thinking about joining?"
"My friend, Santana, wants me to," Naomi nodded.
"But you don't want to?"
"I do, but at the same time, I don't want my sister to be disappointed in me. I'm afraid I'll hurt her feelings if I join Bailey's group."
"Who's your sister?" Sugar asked.
"Autumn Graham."
"Autumn Graham?!" Sugar gasped. "As in head cheerleader Autumn Graham? That Autumn?"
"Yup," Naomi chuckled. "It's a funny story, actually. You see, we have the same dad, but different moms, and her family is totally different from mine. I'm Cuban-American, and I'm pretty sure she's part English. Maybe Irish. Her brother's are redheads."
"Gross," Sugar frowned.
"What's wrong with redheads?" Naomi pouted. "I like Stevie. He's so sweet. Shiloah and Simon are little demons, though."
"Redheads are freaky. Their, like, their own species. Their aliens from outer space or something...Sorry. Asperger's."
****
"Okay, everyone, I have some very exciting news," Mr. Schue said after he finished writing The Magic's Back on the board. "Due to the collective spirit of this club, particularly the hard ad sales work of Kurt, and the generosity of the entire Hummel-Hudson household...it's my pleasure to announce that we have raised the money to do West Side Story this year!" he exclaimed as everyone clapped and cheered. "Now, Blaine, you actually had something you wanted to say, right?"
"Yes, I did," Blaine said as he stood up and went to the front of the room. "I just wanted to acknowledge that we've all had a really rough week with Mercedes leaving, so I prepared a little something to show what Mr. Schue just said. That the magic is still here. So, this is to remind us of what Glee is all about, which is just fun."
He pointed to the band, signaling them to start the song. He began to sing Katy Perry's Last Friday Night, and the whole club got up to sing and dance along, except for Naomi, who stayed with Santana when she noticed that the older Latina wasn't having it.
Autumn laughed as Rachel twirled her around while they danced, and Naomi couldn't help but smile at how happy she looked.
Part of her wondered when she'd find someone that would make her as happy as them.
"You guys, that song is amazing!" Rachel gushed as the number ended. "I think we should do it for sectionals!"
"So...no concerns about showcasing any other voices this year at the competition?" Santana asked as she stood up.
"Oh, come on, Santana," Mr. Schue said. "You were featured last year at sectionals."
"Yeah, I know, and we won," Santana scoffed. "Oh. No, you know what? I get it. Since Mercedes is gone this year, it's going to be the Blaine and Rachel show. Yay! You all know it's true." She paused for a moment, and when no one replied, she nodded. "Noted. Good to know."
Santana turned on her heel and left the room as the bell rang loudly overhead.
****
"Is it true?" Finn asked as he rushed up to Quinn, Juniper, Ava, Naomi, and Brittany in the hallway.
"No, of course not," Juniper chuckled. "It's just petty gossip, Frankenteen."
"I don't know, this article looks pretty convincing," Naomi shrugged as she looked down at her phone.
"That's what they want you to think," Ava said. "I've been in the spotlight since I was three. I've gotten used to all the lies that are made up. Don't trust anything unless it's confirmed by a source that's close to the person it's about."
"So, you guys aren't leaving New Directions?" Finn asked.
"Oh," Juniper gasped. "I thought you were talking about the Selena Gomez pregnancy rumors."
"Why do you care if we are?" Quinn frowned.
"Uh, yes," Brittany confirmed. "We're quitting Glee Club."
"We need you guys," Finn said. "We're like a big family, and this is our year to win it all."
"That's right, double-stuffed fatty-gassy-McGravy-pants," Santana said as she walked up to the group. "We are just one, big, happy, happy family."
"Santana, stay out of this."
"Well, someone's gotta get this on video," Juniper shrugged as she started recording.
"You are such a bacon-wrapped, bug-eyed hypocrite," Santana scoffed. "It's freaking hilarious how jealous of Blaine you are. Every time he opens his dreamboat acapella mouth, you're just itching to kick him right in the Warblers."
"And let's not forget your jealousy of Autumn," Naomi said, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at Finn. "You can deny it all you want, but we all know you're mad that Rachel chose her over you. Get over it. Rachel's been in love with her from the beginning, and you were never an option."
"Guys, we can't survive any more defections," Finn sighed. "And I know you guys don't want to leave."
"Quit trying to manipulate us," Ava scoffed. "We're grown women who are mature enough to make our own decisions."
"Aw," Juniper chuckled, pointing the camera to Ava. "You're cute when you try to act all grown up."
"Don't make me take you to the floor," Ava threatened.
"No, it's just that Santana made a wish on Rory, my leprechaun–"
"Brittany, there's no such thing as leprechauns!" Finn snapped. "And all that stuff about Santa being real last year was cute, but this leprechaun crap? At some point, you just gotta grow up and stop being such an idiot."
Everyone's jaw dropped, and Ava made a move to kick Finn in his tiny dick, only for Naomi to hold her back.
"What did you just call me?" Brittany asked.
"Brittany, I-I didn't mean it like that," Finn tried to apologize.
"Yeah, all the guys in Glee Club call me that. And you're their leader, so that makes you the worst of them all. You cannot call your future president an idiot. It's mean, it's bullying, and I won't accept it."
Brittany turned and walked away. Quinn nudged Juniper, motioning for them to follow. Santana took Naomi's hand, and they followed them, leaving Ava alone with Finn.
She walked up to him, her arms crossed over her chest and ocean eyes narrowed. "That's my aunt in another life, and you just got on my bad side. No one messes with my family."
She turned on her heel, jogging to catch up with the other girls as they made their way down the hall, leaving Finn alone with his confusion as he tried to process what the tiny blonde had just said.
****
"Motta mia," Sugar chanted, dancing around with Maya while they waited for Glee Club to start. "Tomato. To-Motta. Loca-Motta."
Maya giggled as Sugar took her hand and spun her around. Chatter was heard from the hallway, and a few moments later, a group of girls walked in.
"May-May!" Ava gasped, running up to hug her twin. "Ugh, I haven't seen you all day! How have you been?"
"Pretty good," Maya smiled.
"Awesome!" Sugar gasped. "More back-up for me."
"Oh, okay. You know what?" Santana scoffed. "I did not just leave one diva driven glee club to join another, so let me write you a reality check, Richie Bitch. I've seen what you can do, and what you can do is stand in the back, sway, and sing very, very quietly."
"I...um..." Sugar stuttered, nervousness washing over her as she made eye contact with Naomi. "...just wanted to be on the winning team for once?"
"Then turn down the 'tude, and you will be," Mercedes said.
"Ladies," Bailey smiled as she greeted the group. "Welcome. We were just brainstorming names for our new group."
"Perfect. Hot Bitches," Santana smiled.
"Or Hot Messes," Naomi shrugged as Sugar walked up beside her.
"Free Bear," Brittany said.
"Yes!" Juniper gasped.
"Juniper Willow, don't you dare even think about it," Quinn scolded, elbowing the girl and sending her a pointed look.
"Double Trouble," Ava suggested.
"Ava and I are a force to be reckoned with," Maya said as she put an arm around her younger sister.
"We'll crush the competition," Ava said.
"Uh, okay," Bailey said, chuckling with a shake of her head as her daughters grinned up at her. "I was thinking something that more captures our essence and sums up who we want to be. Who we really are."
"The twins are onto something," Mercedes said. "What we are is trouble for the other groups."
"We were helpful!" Ava gasped, smiling as she and Maya hugged each other tightly.
"The Troubletones," Bailey said.
"I like that," Maya smiled.
"That's good," Santana agreed.
"I like that, too," Sugar said.
****
****
a/n
the troubletones have been formed! they're so much better than the new directions, argue with the wall
sugar and naomi 👀
thoughts?