I'm standing at my locker with my headphones in when Mercedes, Sugar, Santana and Tina congregate around Mercedes' locker in between classes. Brittany comes out of some classroom, clutching her trapper keeper to her chest, "You guys, I just went to my first student council meeting, and I found out that we have another prom this year. So, as president, I need to come up with a theme. And I'm thinking, if we do alien abductions, we could set up cornfields and probing booths."
Coach Beiste walked by and smiling at me. I missed her and being on the teams but now I'm dealing with the consequences of my actions. She had a black eye, like someone got a good hit in. Apparently Santana noticed it too, nudging Sugar as Beiste passed them, "Aw, hell. Looks like Mr. Beiste went all Chris Brown on Mrs. Beiste."
I slam my locker door, turning to face Tana, "Dude, cut it out."
The girls stopped their giggling but Santana continued to joke, "What happened, Coach, Cooter put the smack-down on you 'cause you wouldn't let him be on top?"
"That isn't funny Santana," I basically growl before turning to Coach. "I'm so sorry Coach."
"What did you just say?" The synchronized swimming coach asked Santana gruffly, clearly on my side.
Santana rolled her eyes at the coach, "Nothing. It was a joke."
"So, men hitting women is funny to you?" She crossly asks the Latina, jutting her hip out and tapping her foot impatiently.
"Oh, please. We obviously don't think Beiste was hit by anybody. I mean, look at her, she's a wall," Santana gestures to Coach Beiste, who's oblivious to the conversation taking place 10 feet behind her as she talks to some of the Basketball team.
"Santana, that's still not something you joke about," I calmly state, reinforcing what the coach was trying to make a point of.
She smiled at me, liking that I wasn't like the other four in finding domestic violence jokes amusing, "Let me tell you something. I'm Coach Roz Washington. I'm an Olympic Champion, and I do not suffer fools! Especially fools who think domestic violence is funny. I want your names. Shannon!"
She yells to Beiste, getting her attention. "Write these names down as placeholders. Hatrack. Asian Horror Movie. Li'l Oprah. Rojo Caliente. Salsa Caliente. You're on my list now, girls. You just watch what happens next."
I walk to Glee alone today, I'm usually with someone but today no one appeared. By the time I reached the choir room door, a pair of hands hold an envelope in front of my face. It was addressed to Kaydon. When he moves the paper out from in front of my eyes, I cocked an eyebrow up at him as if to say explain yourself.
"I got my acceptance letter from Georgia State!" He announces, beaming as we sit down in the back row.
"Oh my goodness! That's amazing, I'm so proud of you!"
I pull him into a hug and he mumbles into my shoulder, "Thanks. Now we're both going to the school of our dreams."
Puck:
Well, we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin' all that noise
'Cause they found new toys
Well, we can't salute ya
Can't find a flag
If that don't suit ya
That's a drag
School's out for the summer
School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces
No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's
Dirty looks
Well, we got no class
And we got no principals
We ain't got no intelligence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes
School's out for the summer
School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces
No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's
Dirty looks
Out for summer
Out till fall
We might not come
Back at all
School's out for summer
School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces
School's out completely
Puck runs out. Finn looks after him, contemplating on whether he should chase after him. "I've got him," I announce, running out of the room, following him to his locker.
"Puck where are you going?" I ask as he starts stuffing his nunchucks into his bag, ignoring me. "Noah Puckerman, tell me what's going on?"
"I'm dropping out, Lia. I'm too stupid to graduate," he hisses at me, slamming his locker close and storming away before I could argue with him or even offer to help him.
I pull my phone out of my back pocket and dial Finn's number, "Finn. We need to help Puck. He's dropping out and I know he only needs one test to graduate. Talk the guys into helping please. He deserves to graduate with the rest of us."
Finn made a rough sketch of the game plan on how we were going to get Puck to come back to school. All the Glee guys sat in the chairs, staring at me and Finn, ready and willing to hear the very stupid plan that Finn concocted,"All right, everyone, listen carefully. Puck's scheduled to arrive at the Schneider's pool at 2:00 p. m. , which means he should be there at 3:30. Sam, you're the driver, so stay in the car."
"Well, can I play with the radio?" Sam asks me, knowing that my car is the one Finn accounted for.
I give Sam a stare that resembled cowboys before a showdown, "Touch my radio and you die, Sam."
Everyone chuckles at my threat, reminded that despite my change this year I'm still the Lia they know and sometimes love. Finn rolls his eyes at the exchange, chuckling and continuing divulging the plan, "Rory, you're on lookout here."
Rory looks at the spot on the board Finn's pointing to, confused, "Who am I looking out for? I mean, besides Puck?"
Finn ignores Rory, continuing, "Blaine, Mike and myself will triangulate a very carefully planned attack on Puck here, here and here."
"Is that a bear I'm hiding behind?" Blaine asks, drawing attention to the bush that Finn drew.
Finn looks at the board then Blaine, very confused as to why the question arose though it did look a lot like a bear. "No, no, it's a bush."
"Looks like a bear," Sam defends, though he's not wrong.
I snort, "It's not a bear."
"Maybe a shrub," Rory proposes.
"What's the difference between a shrub and a bush?" Sam asks.
Artie looks at his friends and decided to not play into their questions, "What do I do?"
"Oh, that's the best part. You're going to be the bait. So, when Puck comes in the gate, you just roll your wheelchair into the pool, and all of a sudden, we," Finn stops when he sees Puck walking into the room, looking as though he had seen a ghost.
"Are you all right, dude?" Mike questions as Puck continues to walk into the room, silently sitting on the stool next to me.
Finn sees the look etched onto his best friend's face, "Yeah, look like you saw a ghost, man. What's up?"
"Just saw my dad. I haven't seen him in five years. He asked to borrow some money," Puck informs us.
I feel my blood boiling, I knew how much his dad had an effect on Puck. He left him when he was ten and rarely showed up afterward and he had the audacity to show up again. "What did you do?"
Puck looks to me, seeing the anger burn in my green eyes, "I gave it to him. 500 buck. That's most of my seed money for L.A."
I got up off my chair, walking away for a second. Artie looks as confused as I am but less angry, "I don't get it. Why?"
"'Cause I knew if I gave it to him, I'd never have to see him again. You know he dropped out of high school, too? Just kept seeing myself sitting where he was sitting, across from Beth- no dignity, no future- begging her for rent money. I cannot let that happen to me. I have to graduate. And to do that, I have to pass this damn European Geography test. Will you help me? Please?" Puck explains.
Finn gives him a fist bump, "Never leave a man behind."
I walk back over to them, cooled off, "We were literally planning our way to get you to come to your senses."
We stayed in the choir room all night, quizzing Puck on his European Geography exam. Rory points to the biggest city in Ireland on the map we have hanging on an easel, "What's the biggest city in Ireland?"
"Blarneycock," Puck angrily hisses, not even looking at the map, the tiredness in his voice evident.
"Dude, he's pointing right at it. Come on," Sam points out, annoyed and tired as well.
Puck looks at his watch, "My brain is fried. It's freaking 3:00 in the morning."
"That's awesome," Artie chirps, trying to boost the mood. "We've still got nine hours to cram before your test.
Joe walks over to where Finn and I are sitting, waiting for our turn to quiz Puck on a subject, "How's Rachel?"
Finn sighs, looking up from the textbook, "Uh upset. Devastated. Wants to be alone. Her dads are doing something called sitting shivah. I mean I just don't get it. It was a total choke. Okay. So, let's hop on back to sunny Spain. Hey, look, here's a fun fact: Spain is considered a mostly mountainous country, interspersed with picturesque plateaus and arid valleys."
"That's fascinating," I coo, while I go and wrap an arm around Puck's shoulder.
Puck rolls his eyes at me, "No, it's not. Who the hell cares? Not even Einstein uses this crap."
"So wipe it from your memory tomorrow, after your test," Blaine provides as a solution.
Finn looks back down at the textbook to find something that may be used on the test, "Now, for the bonus round. Which region of Spain receives the most rainfall?"
"I don't know," Puck mumbles, crossing his arms.
"You do," I scold, looking down at him disapprovingly like my mom did when I did something bad.
Finn eggs him on, trying to spell out the answer for him, "Just think about it, dude. The rain in Spain falls mainly.."
Puck rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time, groaning, "Whatever. In the flatlands. The plains."
"What was that?" Finn excitedly asks him, hearing the correct answer.
"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain," Puck repeats.
"Again."
Puck:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
Finn:
I think he's got it! I think he's got it!
Puck:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
Blaine:
By George, he's got it!
By George, he's got it!
Finn:
Now, once again where does it rain?
Puck:
On the plain!
On the plain!
Finn:
And where's that soggy plain?
Puck:
In Spain! In Spain!
Puck with New Directions Boys:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! (Finn: Bravo!)
Finn & Puck with New Directions Boys:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
Puck with New Directions Boys:
The rain in Spain!
Mike:
In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire...?
Puck:
Hurricanes hardly happen.
How kind of you to let me come!
Finn:
Now once again, where does it rain?
Puck:
On the plain! On the plain!
Finn:
And where's that blasted plain?
Puck:
In Spain! In Spain!
Puck with New Directions Boys:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! (Puck: Hahahaha!)
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
Finn:
Now once again, where does it rain?
Puck:
On the plain! On the plain!
Finn:
And where's that blasted plain?
Puck:
In Spain! In Spain!
Puck with New Directions Boys:
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
The rain in Spain!
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
The rain in Spain!
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
We all clap and congratulate Puck for his correct answer. Artie claps, "All right. Ow! Okay. Moving on. What rhymes with "pre industrial European deforestation"? Anybody?"
After Puck's exam, the guys and I all stand expectantly outside Ms. Doosenberry's classroom, waiting for Puck to finish and tell us how he did. When Puck came out the door, we all swarmed him, "How do you think you did?"
"My best," Puck smiles, sounding almost sure of himself.
"Did you pass?" Blaine asks.
Sam was acting like an excited puppy, ready for an answer, "Does your head hurt? 'Cause sometimes after I take a test, my head hurts. It's usually a good sign."
"You know, it's weird, but I think I did. Thanks to you guys. So thank you. All of you. You know, it's hard growing up without a dad, because you don't have any dude role models, except NFL players and video game characters. But I lucked out because instead of one dad, I got a whole gang of them. You guys showed me what it means to be a man. Not just last night, but for four years. Even you, Blaine," Puck compliments.
"Thanks?" Blaine wryly takes the compliment, unsure of how Puck was intending it.
"Let's hug it out," Sam demands, pulling me and Kaydon into a hug and motioning for the rest to join us in a group hug. "Aw, yeah. Bring it in, guys."
Everyone left Puck and I alone so we could walk to Glee together. I snake my arm around Puck's waist, smiling up at him, "You're welcome..."
"Thank you," Puck laughs, kissing my temple.
I push into his side, making the both of us stumble to the side, "See if you'd just asked me earlier then you wouldn't have had to dropout for a few days."
He stops, looking down at me, "I know you were right."
"What was that I don't think I heard you the first time?" I taunt, cupping my hand around my left ear.
Puck cups my face with his hands and kisses me, "I said you were right, as always. Thank you for believing in me so much and dragging the guys into this."
"Oh shut up. Hey I've got something to tell you."
"What?"
"I've accepted Berkeley's offer, full ride. I'll be attending in the fall and here I have something for you."
I pull an envelope out of my bag and place it into his hands. He opens it and his jaw drops, shocked by the contents. He pulls out the cash and counts it, "$500?"
"You shouldn't be out money because of that bastard."