Author's Note: Hey guys so in this chapter I use mostly scenes from 'A Night of Neglect' but I do go into the whole Prom Queen campaign of Lauren Zizes in 'Born This Way' in this episode. I hope you guys enjoy :)
After our win at Regionals you would think everyone would still be on a high and we were. Glee Club wasn't going anywhere. We still had to raise the money to get to New York. Besides that the Brainiacs, our school's Academic Decathlon team which Artie, Mike, Tina, and Brittany were a part of won their competition and advanced to the finals. They needed $250 to be able to go to their competition. That's where Mr. Schue's idea of a night of neglect came up. It was an interesting concept. Sing songs but artists who are often ignored but are brilliant just the same. I knew I had to come up with a song that suited me. Sometimes I did feel a little pushed to the back in Glee Club, especially with how much Rachel would take over Glee Club. After last week we weren't exactly close anymore. It felt strange how much I missed our friendship. I hadn't exactly let Rachel get close to me but being friends with her felt like a nice change from what I was used to.
Sam had been acting strange the last couple of days. It wasn't until I saw him at church that weekend that I had found out what was going on. "The Lima Church of Christ will be taking a collection for the Evans family who has just lost their home. We want to help them get through this tough time so please, give what you can," the priest announced as I looked horrified. Sam lost his home? Why didn't he tell me or anyone in Glee Club for that matter? "Sam..." I said as I walked up to him as he looked upset. "So now you know huh?" he sighed as I just hugged him. "I am so sorry. What happened?" I asked worriedly. "My dad lost his job a few weeks ago....both my parents have been looking for work to pay the bills but we just couldn't get it done in time," Sam sighed looking down at the ground "We're now living in a motel room." I felt awful for him. "Does Santana know?" I asked him. "What do you think?" he laughed a bit "Santana and I broke things off. I couldn't exactly pay for the dates anymore. She was fine with it so I mean I guess it could've gone worse," Sam said shaking his head. "Look, your secret's safe with me. I know what it's like to lose everything," I sighed "Last year after my parents found out I was pregnant, I got kicked out. I know what it's like to do without."
Sam just hugged me tightly. "I missed you," he told me seriously as I smiled a bit. "I missed you too," I said "I just want to be a friend to you, Sam. I'm sorry I hurt you." "It's okay," he said. "If you guys ever need a babysitter, you can call me," I smiled a bit. "You'd do that?" Sam said bewildered. "Of course I would," I smiled "I enjoyed spending time with your family and I know Stacey probably missed me." Sam chuckled "Yeah Santana wasn't exactly the most friendly person with my siblings," Sam said as I smiled a bit. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," I told him seriously as we hugged yet again before I left with my mom.
"What a horrible thing to happen to such a nice family," my mom complained as we headed home. "I know what you mean," I sighed. "I can't believe you broke up with him for that Puckerman kid," my mom said annoyed as she drove. "Mom, for the last time he broke up with me. Puck and I are happy together now. Shouldn't you be more concerned about my happiness?" I asked her pointedly. "Of course I'm worried about your happiness Quinnie," my mom said as she looked me in the eye "You're not sleeping with him again are you?" "No!" I shot back upset "He respects my wishes to stay celibate. After I got pregnant with Beth I know having sex isn't just something to throw around." "Good," my mom nodded seeming to accept my answer as we headed back to my house.
The next day at Glee Club practice Sunshine Corazon was at our practice which shocked all of us. "You are a terrible spy," Rachel said with her arms folded. "Seriously, with your size, you easily could have stayed in the air ducts for days," Artie said. "Right," Brittany agreed. "I'm not a spy," Sunshine frowned "I heard about your benefit concert on Facebook, and I wanted to perform. I know what it feels like to be in Academic Decathlon. No one pays attention to you. No one cares.It's not right. We study so hard," Sunshine frowned. "But you're in Vocal Adrenaline. How do we know we can trust you?" I asked simply "Because I have nothing against any of you. I have 600 Twitter followers. I can get all of them to come," Sunshine said.
"How many tickets have we sold so far?" Finn asked Puck "Four. No one's interested. It's just sad," Puck said. "Please, just let me show you what I can do.I would like to sing the perfect song about neglect- "All By Myself." I'm such a better singer than everyone else, so I know how it feels. I'm all alone at the top. Also I'm really short. So even when I'm in a group of people it feels like I'm wandering alone through a forest," Sunshine said. "There's no way that she's singing in our auditorium," Rachel shot as she glared at Sunshine "She's the enemy." "I say we give her a chance. You owe her, Rachel. You sent her to a frickin' crack house," Puck said as Rachel looked back at him annoyed. "I see what this is about. You want to take away my spotlight just to please your girlfriend. Fine," Rachel said as she folded her arms. I made a face as we sat down to hear Sunshine sing 'All By Myself'.
We all cheered for Sunshine except Rachel as she finished the song. She was just as amazing as we remembered her. "So, can I perform with you guys?" Sunshine asked us timidly "Absolutely not," Rachel snapped annoyed "She's just trying to get on our good side so she can spy on us." "You're one to talk. We told you the same thing about Jesse St. James last year," I snapped back at Rachel. "And you were right," Rachel said. "This whole thing isn't about us. It's about helping the Brainiacs," Finn said "We need Sunshine's Twitter followers to come and pay for tickets or there's no point in having a benefit at all," Puck agreed. "Fine," Rachel snapped as she turned to Mercedes "Mercedes, you're okay with being bumped to the decidedly less glamorous middle spot, right?" "Um, sure, I guess," Mercedes frowned a bit as she then looked to us then said "Absolutely." I couldn't help but feel bad for Mercedes who seemed bummed out, especially with how Rachel had treated her.
I walked up to Mercedes after Glee rehearsal since I had noticed how upset she was. "Mercedes, I am so sorry," I said as Mercedes shook her head. "What should I have expected?" Mercedes sighed "We all know how Rachel can be about her spotlight. Sunshine definitely deserves to close the show after everything she's doing for us." I nodded understandingly "Your day will come," I told her seriously. "When?" Mercedes frowned "It feels like I'm always just the last jaw dropping note at the end of the song when you guys need me. Thanks for talking with me Quinn, I appreciate it but there's nothing I can do about this." Mercedes then walked off into the library. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. If Rachel and I were still close I would've tried to talk to her about this but we weren't so I knew I had to let this go for now.
After school that day I headed to the Lima Bean to meet up with Kurt. If there was one person who could usually get through to Mercedes it was Kurt. The two of them had always been so close when Kurt was at McKinley after the Warblers loss at regionals I hadn't had much of a chance to see Kurt again so I invited him out for coffee.
I greeted Kurt as we waited in line to get our coffees. "So how is everything back at McKinley since you won Regionals?" Kurt asked me as we moved in line. "Honestly not too much has changed," I shrugged as Kurt didn't seem so surprised. "I know we thought things would change after we won Sectionals and they just didn't. I'm not surprised the same happened at Regionals," Kurt said. "You heard about our benefit concert this Saturday, right?" I asked as Kurt nodded. "Blaine and I are looking forward to supporting you all," Kurt grinned. I smiled a bit "We'll be glad to have you there." "But?" Kurt said noticing that there was something else in my eyes that was going on. "But Rachel's back to being the spotlight hogging girl we all knew from the beginning of Glee Club," I sighed as Kurt shook his head.
"Let me guess, her highness wants to close the show," Kurt chuckled. I nodded "It's not really a big deal to most of the Glee Club but it really seemed to hurt Mercedes," I sighed as Kurt thought about it. "Mercedes always felt pushed aside, especially over Rachel in Glee Club," Kurt said as I nodded agreeing with him. "Rachel and I have started getting along since I left McKinley...maybe I should try to talk to her," Kurt suggested. "You'd do that?" I asked surprised. "Of course I would," Kurt said "Truth be told I like being at Dalton but I kinda miss being at McKinley. You guys are like my family," Kurt said as I smiled. "We'll be glad to have you back if you decide to come back Kurt," I said. "With everything going on with Karofsky I still don't know if I can," he sighed a bit looking down. "We understand that," I smiled a bit as we got our drinks then took our seats.
After my chat with Kurt he did talk to Rachel and she seemed to be on our side. The bad news was that Mercedes all of a sudden was speaking through her 'manager' Lauren Zizes about what her demands were for the benefit concert. "I know what you're trying to pull and it's not going to work," I shot at Lauren as I pulled her aside to talk. "Well, well if it isn't the Queen Bee finally acknowledging my existence. How is losing Puckerman to me going anyway?" Lauren shot at me. "You have no idea what you're talking about," I said narrowing my eyes. "Oh I think I do. Especially since he decided to run for Prom King to my Prom Queen campaign," Lauren said as my eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Puck doesn't care about those things..." I said quickly. "He does now. Guess he cares more about me than he does about you," Lauren said as I couldn't help but be speechless. I originally was going to fight her about what she was doing to Mercedes but her stealing Puck from under me was a whole different story. I wasn't going to let her get away with this. Not a chance.
"We'll see about that," I smirked as I walked off preparing for my campaign as Prom Queen. It wasn't that being Prom Queen meant the world to me or anything like that. I didn't like to be challenged especially over a guy who I was in love with. Lauren Zizes, prepare to meet your worst nightmare.
I knew to run for Prom Queen I needed a Prom King who would create a lot of buzz. That's where Finn came in. It wasn't that I had feelings for Finn, I didn't. I just needed his popularity boost to send me into the lead for Prom Queen. Afterall nominations were due by the end of next week.
I approached Finn at his locker. "Can we talk?" I asked. "Sure," Finn smiled brightly "What's going on?" "I wanted to talk to you about Prom King and Queen nominations," I said. "I thought you didn't care about that?" Finn asked confused. "I didn't until Lauren Zizes decided to try and undermine me," I sighed. "Wait what?" "I need you Finn. You're the star quarterback of the championship team. Do you know how many votes we would get if we ran together?" I asked smiling. "So you want me to run for Prom court with you....I don't know Quinn...I was kind of hoping to go to Prom with Rachel," Finn said as I narrowed my eyes at him. "Rachel? Finn that girl gets more self-absorbed by the day. What you need is a way to be on top. You need to gain status that way every girl even Rachel would want you," I said as Finn seemed to nod. "Okay...I'll do it," Finn grinned as I hugged him. Look out McKinley High, Quinn Fabray was back and she wasn't going to let Prom Queen slip through her fingers.
That Saturday was the Night of Neglect concert. We were warming up backstage as Santana stormed in mad. "This just in. According to Sunshine's Twitter, she's not coming - and neither are any of her followers," Santana huffed. "I told you. She's evil," Rachel frowned. "I was just in the auditorium. There's, like, six people in there. I say we blow this whole thing off and hit the arcade," Puck said as he stormed into the choir room. "No. No. Screw that. These people paid to see us sing. What's that saying? "The show's gotta go all over the place" or something," Finn said. "You mean, "The show must go on."," Rachel said. "Yeah," Finn nodded. "Finn's right, you guys. Whether there's six or 6,000 people out there, we still have to give it our all. Okay, Tina, you're up first," Rachel grinned as Tina smiled as she went up to perform 'I Follow Rivers'. Unfortunately, she was heckled onstage by the audience other than Kurt and Blaine who were sitting there watching the show.
Tina came backstage in tears. "This is the worst I've ever felt in my entire life," Tina sniffled. "I didn't think it was possible for people to hate us even more. We're calling this off," Artie frowned. "Guys, I hate to say it, but I think we have to buck up.
Tina, I'm sorry you had to go through that but it's actually a really good lesson for us. That's a part of show business, guys. Sometimes people can be really mean. Think about what's gonna happen if we have an unfriendly crowd at nationals in New York. And I'm sure there's gonna be some Vocal Adrenaline hecklers there too. We need to find some strength and barrel through this. I think I may know a way to shut those hecklers up for a number or two," Mr. Schue grinned as he got the saltwater taffy we had originally to raise money.
It was my job to pass it out to the crowd. "Take as much as you want," I grinned handing out the free taffy. "Thanks babe. I'll take two," Jacob grinned. "And remember Vote Quinn Fabray for Prom Queen," I grinned feeling like I had accomplished exactly what I needed to to shut those hecklers up.
"I was all kinds of awesome," Mike grinned as he came backstage as we all cheered for him. "Terrific job, Mike," Mr. Schue grinned "Hey, sounds like the Heckling Club loved our refreshments." "Yeah, but we're almost out of that taffy," I frowned "How are we gonna keep them from going after us again after the intermission?" "By being so good that they can't heckle us. And I know just the person for the job. Where's Mercedes? She's up," Mr. Schue asked. "I'm sorry. Ms. Jones has not appreciated the way she's been treated and is refusing to go on," Lauren said folding her arms as we all looked stunned. "Let me talk to her," Mr. Schue said. "Don't bother. Mercedes has left the building," Lauren said. "Okay, you guys go find Mercedes. I'm gonna go deal with the haters," Miss Holiday said as she left the room.
"Did I hear correctly. You're running for Prom Queen?" Lauren said narrowing her eyes at me. "That's right. We all know who the school is going to vote for between you and me. You might as well give up now before you're humiliated," I snarled at Lauren. "No freaking way Fabray. You might be running for Prom Queen but that doesn't mean you'll win," Lauren said. "It does when you're running with the star quarterback," I shot back at her. "Wait...you and Finn are running for Prom King and Queen?" Rachel asked horrified. "Yes we are. And I'd appreciate it if all of you would support us in our campaign," I said folding my arms. "Okay," Finn said getting up and pulling me aside "Quinn don't you think you're making too much out of this?" "No. I don't," I said seriously. "Quinn, I agreed to do this with you to get Rachel...not chase her away," Finn reminded me. I sighed "Sorry Finn. I just don't want Lauren to win okay?" Finn nodded understandingly as Miss Holiday came back. "The haters are gone," she grinned as we all celebrated. "I'll go take the stage. Nothing is going to stop me from performing," Miss Holiday said as she then took the stage to sing 'Turning Tables'.
Rachel came back inside after talking to Mercedes "I tried, but I don't think she's coming. I need to start warming up," Rachel sighed as I shook my head annoyed. "Lauren, you're her manager. Why don't you do something?" I said expectantly to Lauren as I walked over to her. "My client, Ms. Jones, is not picking up her phone," Lauren said. "Oh," I said in mock surprise. "So..." Lauren began before she was cut off by Mercedes. "Ms. Jones is fine," Mercedes said walking in. "Wait. Shouldn't one of us be carrying you in?" Finn asked. "I have only one more demand. I demand that all of you get your butts out there and watch me sing," Mercedes smiled as we all cheered. We were glad to have the true Mercedes back.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Mercedes Jones," Sam grinned as he introduced Mercedes as she took the stage to perform 'Ain't No Way' by Aretha Franklin which she killed. "Oh, dear God, I love this song," Sandy muttered as Mercedes sang. I couldn't help but cheer for Mercedes she had such a killer voice and nailed that song. I felt transported back to when she sang 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' when we all gave her a standing ovation. Even Rachel became more selfless and told Mercedes that this was the closing number. It had truly felt like the benefit concert had been a success. We had raised enough money for the Brainiacs to go to their competition in Detroit. We were all ready to support them because that's who we are in Glee Club.