"So..." murmured Cory as he, Julie and their dad sat together for dinner. "Dad, are we going to tell her or..?"
Their father sighed, putting down his fork. "Honey," he said to Julie. "We are going to hold a funeral service for Isabella this Friday and—"
"No," Julie said, composed. "No way in hell."
"Julie, it's the least—" Cory began.
"Don't say it!" she cut him off angrily. "You know what she should've done? She should've stuck around. She should've been here for us. Here. We needed our mother and she just left for no good reason." She stood up, leaving her untouched food behind, and ran up to her room, where she slammed the door. She was ready to pull out her book again, but once it was in her hands she instead tossed it across the room.
She grabbed her backpack and pulled out her AP US History notes, ready to start going over them. When she opened her notebook, a slip of paper fell out. She picked it up and unfolded it, only to find that it was a note from Ryder.
Just because you're beautiful when you do, I'm going to need you to keep smiling.
She rolled her eyes, placing the note aside and pulling out her phone, with which she called Ryder. When he answered, "Hey!" excitedly she grinned.
"You want to come over?" she asked. "I'm super bored?"
"Oh, man," he said with disappointment, "I wish I could but this English essay is kicking my butt. Seriously, I just made it for the last one and now another one. It's insane."
"I could help you," she offered.
"And be more bored?" he responded. "No, I wouldn't do that to you with everything going on right now. Besides, you have your own work to do, right?"
"You aren't going to tell me I should be taking a break?" she asked, rubbing her temples as a headache began to develop.
"Why would I recommend that?" he said. "You should be doing the things you love."
"I know, right?" she said, smiling. "Finally someone who gets it! I should be doing my regular things and Cory should be at school! And you won't believe what my dad and Cory want to do. It's—"
She stopped talking when Cory walked inside. "Can we talk?" he said.
"Don't you knock?" she snapped at him. To Ryder she said, "Hey, I guess I'll tell you more at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, no problem," he responded. "Just remember you're great and I love everything about you."
She smiled before saying, "Goodnight." Once she had ended the call, her smile faded as she looked up at her brother, who was closing the door.
"There's something we think you should know," he said, sitting down beside her. "About Isabella. And why she left."
"I don't want to hear it," Julie immediately responded, shaking her head.
"You have to," Cory sighed. "The truth is she didn't leave."
"What?" Julie said, confused. "But Dad said..."
"I know what he said," he replied. "She left us. But she didn't. Dad had her sent away."
"What?" Julie mumbled once again, not understanding anything. "Why would he..?"
"Because she was sick," their dad said from the doorway. "She was terrible sick and I feared she'd one day hurt you two."
"You mean she was bipolar?" Julie said coldly. "That was her illness so you had her shipped away? What? Were you going to do the same to me some day when things got out of hand?" She stood up and walked into her closet angrily.
"No, Julie," her father went on. "I didn't understand it well then. I just couldn't risk you getting hurt. She was in a bad place."
"What did you do?" asked Julie as she came out of the closet with her Cheerios duffle bag. "Ship her off to an asylum?"
"A medical center," he told her. "It was just supposed to be temporary, until she could get better and not be a risk to you guys. But when she was released, she just left. She didn't come back to us and as far as we know she stopped her treatment. That's why I kept her from you and—what are you doing?"
Julie had begun to stuff clothes into her gym bag. "Leaving," she said, closing the bag.
"Julie—" Cory began.
"You should, too," she told him. "Go back to school. Get on with your life. And don't let him keep you from your life like he did to mom." She grabbed her backpack and the duffle bag, trying to walk past them, but Cory put an arm out to stop her. She pushed him away and headed down the stairs.
"Let her go..." their father sighed.
"But she's—" Cory began.
"—probably going to end up with the Browns or some other friends," he said. "Let her go."
***
"So why didn't you come to me?" asked Kitty as Julie told her what had happened the next morning.
"I've had enough of insanity, you know," Julie explained. "I needed someone a little bit saner than me. Not the opposite."
Kitty made a dignified expression. "But Marley?" she asked. "Of all people?"
"Ryder's parents would've never taken me in," she said. "John's are super cool with my dad. I needed someone who was distanced enough from this mess but who I could trust."
"So Marley knows now," Kitty mumbled, obviously displeased.
Julie nodded. "Enough to help me out with room and board until I can figure out what I'm doing," she said.
"Maybe you shouldn't have left home," she suggested.
"And maybe you shouldn't have pushed John so far," Julie spat back angrily. "There's plenty of things we maybe shouldn't have done. But we do those things anyway, right?" She walked away, leaving Kitty speechless.
***
"Alright guys," said Will as he walked into the choir room during lunch. "I see the Cheerios aren't here. Let's get going anyway. We have a special announcement to make. Unique, if you will."
"I am leaving McKinley," she said, standing next to him.
"Oh my gosh, why?" Marley cried.
"Are you serious?" Ryder asked.
"She's lying!" Sugar exclaimed, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at her. "April Fool's everybody!" A few of the kids groaned as Unique grinned with satisfaction and took her seat.
Will chuckled. "I forgot it was even that day of the year," Ryder said, shaking his head at Unique. "Not cool, dude."
"Who are you calling a dude?" asked Unique, offended. "I'm a woman."
"Okay, yes," Ryder sighed. "Sure, sorry. You can be whatever you want to be."
"Whatever I want to be?" Unique responded, angry now. "I'm sorry, what? I am a girl and that's that."
"Okay," Ryder responded, putting his arms up. "Whatever."
"Whatever?" Unique exclaimed bewildered. "It's not whatever. It's important to me."
"Okay guys, let's not—" Will began.
"Guys?" Unique exclaimed.
"That's different," Shana told her. "Mr. Schue calls us 'guys' when he addresses us as a group."
"What's his excuse?" Unique said, turning to face Ryder. "Seriously, how would you feel if someone called you a girl?"
"Well, they wouldn't," said Ryder as he shrugged. "Because I'm obviously a dude. Unlike me, you just change up who you decide to be from one day to the next. It shouldn't surprise you if someone did get confused."
Unique scoffed. "So what?" she responded. "I can do what I want."
"Well, yeah sure," Ryder said. "But you can't blame people for not knowing what you are or what you're into half the time. Like Shana."
Shana's face flushed. "So this is about sexuality now?" asked Unique. "You are so homophobic."
"What?" exclaimed Ryder. "Am not."
"Okay enough," Will stopped them. "Let's just get on with today. "
"Do we even have an assignment this week?" Sugar asked.
"Yes," he told her. "Joe and I have decided that this week—"
"You and Joe?" asked Sugar, confused. "Well, why wasn't I included in this decision beforehand?"
"Sugar, we didn't think you—" Joe began.
Sugar shook her head and stopped him, "It's okay. It's not a big deal. Uh... April Fool's..."
"Umm..." Will mumbled as he continued. "Okay... Umm... We've decided to make this week about revisiting the past. So we're going to review the best and the worst performances the New Directions ever had, since before any of you guys joined and well after. This will help us find what it is we need to ensure we have at Nationals. Let's get started."
***
"Poor Sugar," Harmony told Shana as she walked with her after school. "I mean, she doesn't have any authority whatsoever and she's supposed to be a captain."
"I did sorta notice the way Schuester pushed her aside today," she replied.
"And he didn't even question the Cheerios being gone," Harmony added. "They've been gone a lot lately."
"Speaking of..." Shana murmured, watching as Julie, Kitty and Bree walked around the corner.
"Come on," said Harmony. "Let's go in already and try to get good seats in the front before they take them or Schuester gives them to them." She walked into the choir room, followed quickly by Shana, who shrugged and took a seat next to her.
When the three Cheerios walked in, they didn't head for the remainding front seats. Julie headed to the back, taking Jake's usual seat, and was joined by Kitty. Bree sat behind Harmony and Shana, only to be joined by Joe and Unique on each side of her a few moments later. When Jake walked in, he was left without any place to sit other than next to Ryder. He sighed, awkwardly taking Julie's usual seat, and faced the front.
"Okay," said Will as he got them started, "as we discussed earlier, we are going to try to do more group numbers."
"When was this discussed?" Bree asked, confused.
"At the group meeting you chose not to attend during lunch," Unique pointed out.
"We had a mandated Cheerios luncheon," Kitty told them. "Coach Sylvester is really drilling us and she's threatening to replace captains and—"
"It's alright, Kitty," Will said. "I appreciate the attempt you three are making to split your time. As long as you keep showing up after school, I'll be happy with your effort."
Harmony's mouth fell down in shock as she turned to Sugar and Shana, who both shook their heads disapprovingly. Seeing this, Ryder raised a hand weakly and said, "So what now?"
"I actually asked around a bit and it seems like there is one song you are all commonly hooked on," he said with a grin as he passed around sheet music.
"Yes!" exclaimed Shana when she got hers. "Paramore!"
John looked over at Julie, hoping the news of this song would make her happy, but she was sitting down perfectly still and looked unimpressed when Kitty handed her the sheet music. It wasn't until Will said her name that she reacted at all, and only to look up at him.
"Julie," he said, "I was hoping you could start us off."
Julie didn't bother looking around to know that some of the other kids were unhappy with that decision. "I don't really feel up for it," she said apathetically.
"Come on Julie," said Shana, a smile on her face. "We really don't mind."
"No thanks," Julie responded coldly.
"You love this song," Kitty murmured as Will passed the torch onto Jake.
"Uh, sure," Jake said, looking over at Julie briefly. The band started playing at Will's signal and the group, with the exception of Julie, was pumped. Jake stayed in his seat, reading from the sheet in his hands, as he sang.
["Ain't It Fun" by Paramore.]
Jake: I don't mind letting you down easy. But just give it time. If it don't hurt now then just wait, just wait a while. You're not the big fish in the pond no more. You are what they're feeding on.
He looked up as Will nodded excitedly, looking around for someone else to step up. Harmony jovially stood from her seat, turning to her teammates and singing to them as Jake sank back into his seat.
Harmony: So what are you gonna do when the world don't orbit around you?
She pulled up Ryder and Unique, who were still slightly at odds with each other, and forced them to sing along, for they would otherwise look ridiculous up there.
Harmony, Ryder and Unique: Ain't it fun living in the real world. Ain't it good being all alone.
They clapped along to the beat of the song, sitting down as John, in an attempt to get Julie's attention, stood from his seat and danced to the center of the room.
John: Where you're from you might be the one who's running things. Well, you can ring anybody's bell to get what you want.
Julie, who was distracted by the walls as she looked around, didn't seem affected by John's singing, so he sat back down. Bree instead stood up, singing and dancing from her spot.
Bree: You see, it's easy to ignore a trouble... When you're living in a bubble!
As soon as she stood up, Shana, Sugar and Alex exchanged looks of slight annoyance. Alex stood up, swiftly heading to the front of the room so that he could interrupt her.
Alex: So what are you gonna do when the world don't orbit around you?
He pointed at Amity and Shana, who smiled as they joined him up front.
Alex, Amity and Shana: So what are you gonna do when nobody wants to fool with you?
Amity, who had no clue that Alex and the others were unhappy with the favoritism Will allegedly showed, waved her arms wildly at everyone, urging them to stand up and joined in. With the exception of Julie, Kitty and Jake, everyone got up and danced. Kitty sang along from her seat, not wanting to leave Julie behind by herself. Jake, who was already sitting in the front, bobbed his head and sang lightly, more worried about Julie than standing out in the number.
All: Ain't it fun living in the real world. Ain't it good being all alone. Ain't it good to be on your own. Ain't it fun you can't count on no one. Ain't it good to be on your own. Ain't it fun you can't count on no one. Ain't it fun living in the real world.
Julie sat back, her arms crossed in front of her, and blocked out all the noise. She wasn't annoyed by her teammates and genuinely hoped they were having fun, but she found it hard to find the excitement in sitting around in a room and singing.
All: Don't go crying to your mama 'cause you're on your own in the real world
Ryder stopped in his place, having been dancing and singing with Harmony and Rory. He looked back at Julie and his concerned immediately grew as he realized that the song had potential to make her feel terrible. He smiled at his dance partners, casually going back to sit down and bob his head. While Jake and Kitty noticed his retreat from the dance floor, Julie didn't seem to care or even remark his move.
By the time the song ended and everyone had returned to their seats, the room was filled with energy that was a little too overwhelming for Julie. As Will talked about the performance, she suddenly stood, heading straight out the door. She went into the bathroom and sat on the sink until rehearsal was over, begging for time to be alone.