"You're kidding me, right?" Ryan stared at his mom, her most recent suggestion still hanging in the air. "You want me to have a co-captain?"
"That's what I said."
Ryan's jaw flapped up and down as he tried to formulate his response. He and Shelby were alone in the choir room after a Troubletones rehearsal in which they'd finalized a mash-up idea for their scrimmage with the New Directions. "What makes you think that I need, or even want, a co-captain? Do you think I can't do it?"
Shelby fixed him with a look. "Basketball tryouts are next week, right?"
"What?" Ryan blinked, confused. He shook his head. "Yes, they're on Monday. That works out fine, because they'll be starting just after our rehearsals. That means after the tryouts I'll be free to rehearse Monday night and all of Tuesday for the mash-up."
"I think there's a little too much on your plate this year," Shelby told him. "You have the Troubletones, obviously. You're the captain. But you also accepted captaincy of the basketball team, which you know is going to take a good portion of your time. You also have your part-time job at the garage, not to mention your schoolwork."
"What are you saying?" Ryan frowned.
"I'm saying you might not have enough time to devote to the Troubletones because you have a lot of other things going on."
What? Of course he would have enough time to devote to the Troubletones. All he had to do was manage his time well. "The other guys on the football team manage being on the team and being on the New Directions."
"And how many rehearsals did they miss because they had conflicting schedules?" Shelby challenged. Ryan looked down, frowning. The football guys sometimes did have to choose one or the other. "I'm sorry to say this, but I didn't allow anyone on VA to be involved in any other teams that could conflict with our rehearsals."
"So - so what? You want me to quit the basketball team?"
Shelby shook her head slowly. "No. I just need to know that if it comes right down to it, you're going to prioritize the Troubletones. I need to know that you're going to be able to juggle the schedules of three extracurriculars in addition to your regular schoolwork, because I'm not just your coach, I'm your mom as well. And I won't have your grades flagging because you're trying to do too much."
"They won't!"
She sighed. "Okay. I'll believe you for now. But if your grades drop this semester, or if I feel that you're not as committed to the Troubletones as I need you to be, I'm going to have to ask you to drop something. And you need someone to assist you with the Troubletones."
"I don't need another co-captain!" Ryan seethed. He'd had plenty of that with Finn in the New Directions, and all that had happened was he'd been practically pushed aside while Mr. Schue and the others took Finn's every suggestion as gospel. Theoretically Ryan supposed he could understand the advantages of having a co-leader, but he still balked at the thought of sharing the top position with someone else.
"Regardless, as coach of the Troubletones, I'm going to have to insist," Shelby said. "You can talk to the others, so you have a say, but if you don't choose, I'll choose for you. And no, I would highly recommend you don't choose Quinn," she said, cutting him off when he started to speak. "That would hardly be productive because you two would just end up making out instead of working on the music."
"Fine," he gritted out.
"Good." Shelby gathered her papers. "Are you going home?"
"No."
Shelby rolled her eyes when no explanation was forthcoming. "Back by ten-thirty, got it?" Ryan rolled his eyes right back.
"Yes ma'am."
..
"She's being completely unreasonable!"
"No, I think she's right, we probably would just end up making out," Quinn said absently from her spot on the bed. Ryan had followed her home that afternoon and had proceeded to rant about his conversation with Shelby. As far as Quinn could tell Ryan was upset with Shelby's lack of action against Puck, her comments on his extracurriculars, and her decision to appoint a co-captain.
"That's not the point!" Ryan railed. "The point is, I didn't get a say in it, she just decided!"
"Yes, she's a horrible, horrible person," Quinn deadpanned, typing in another paragraph in the piece she was writing. "It couldn't be that she actually knows what she's doing, right? I mean, it's not like she's won a bunch of other National titles before..."
"Whose side are you on?"
"You know, you're the one who wanted her to coach us," she pointed out. "Now that she's doing it you're complaining?"
"Yes, but she was supposed to listen to what I wanted!" Ryan whined. Quinn burst out laughing at the pout on her boyfriend's face. "It's not funny."
"Oh, I think it is," she chuckled. Ryan rolled his eyes before flopping down on the bed next to her. "Did you two talk about the Puck issue yet?"
"No, because according to her, there is no issue," Ryan grumbled. "I don't see why she's being so cavalier about this with Puck's reputation."
"I think Shelby can handle herself. Do you really think she's going to pay attention to Puck, of all people?"
"Well, no, but -"
"See? Now you just have to admit that you're being a moron, and problem solved."
"But he's flirting with my mom!"
"And that is all kinds of gross," Quinn agreed. "But you really should not be taking it out on Shelby. Because A, she's not stupid, B, Puck is way too immature to ever get someone like Shelby, and C, do you really think your mom would cheat on your dad?"
"No!" Ryan frowned. "Well, I guess I see your point..."
"Of course you see my point, I'm always right."
"Whatever." Ryan craned his neck to see what Quinn was working on on her laptop, only to have her hastily slam the lid shut. "What are you writing?"
"Nothing, it's nothing," she mumbled. Ryan tilted his head. "Fine, it's a first draft of one of my college application essays, okay? It's not done yet, so you can't see." Even if she'd received some validation on her writing skills from Shelby and the contests she'd won, she was still a bit shy about showing people her work. Especially works in progress.
"Say no more," Ryan grinned. "I wouldn't want anyone to hear one of my audition pieces before it's polished to perfection after all." He leaned up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure you're going to blow the application people out of the water."
Quinn smiled, amused. "Thanks." The room was quiet again for a minutes as she typed in a few more sentences before she put her laptop aside. It was time for a break anyways. She stretched, leaning back as she turned to look at Ryan. He was flipping through a random novel of hers, and she smiled softly, just watching him for a moment before reaching over to the bedside table for her camera. She quickly snapped a photo, the click of the shutter causing Ryan to look up.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Nothing."
"What did you take a picture of?"
"You, obviously," she answered. She loved looking at him. And the camera loved him. Or maybe that was just her personal bias. "You look really good today." She leaned over to kiss him, taking her time as she drank him in.
He simply hummed in response, his lips sliding over hers. Slowly she slipped her hand under his shirt, moving so she was hovering above him. She smiled as she slid her hand over the smooth skin of his torso, toned muscles jumping under her fingertips. "Wait," he caught her hand. "Your mom's downstairs," he nodded at the open door.
Quinn shrugged. "She's busy." She kissed him again, frowning when he moved away. "What?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to talk to you about the other day, after, you know, after the dodgeball game," Ryan said, words stumbling slightly over one another. "I mean, I liked it, I liked it a lot. It just took me off guard I guess," he continued to ramble. "I didn't know you were into rather risky things like that. I mean, anyone could have caught us, so I was just wondering if there was something that spurred that little episode on."
Slowly, Quinn backed away from him, moving to a sitting position beside him. "Oh." She ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "I don't know. I just thought it could be fun. And I think it was." She smirked at him.
"Oh, it most definitely was," Ryan assured her, sitting up as well. "I was just kind of worried that... maybe... you were getting bored."
"Bored?"
"You know, with me. Or more specifically, sex with me." He fidgeted awkwardly. "I've heard that sometimes when a couple is together for a long time, the spark goes away and intimate relations become routine. And I thought that since we've been together for over a year now, maybe things were getting too predictable and that you were getting bored."
Quinn stared at him. "You're an idiot." His face fell, and she sighed as she took his hand. "Sorry. But you are. Look, you're right. We've been together for over a year. But I'm not getting bored, okay? I love you, and I love what we have together." She paused. "Speaking as someone who's had sex with someone else -"
"- Is this supposed to be helping?"
"- I can say," Quinn ignored him, "that it's the person who makes it special. And you make it special for me."
A small smile spread across Ryan's face. "Really?"
"Really." She leaned over to kiss him, and he accepted it, his lips moving rhythmically with hers as she cupped his cheek with her hand. He pulled away a moment later, his smile more sincere now. Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Was there something else?"
"Well," he began. "I thought maybe now would be nice time to talk about... things."
"Things like..."
"I've also heard that it can be rather beneficial for couples to take some time to discuss their sex lives," he said matter-of-factly. "It can be healthy for the relationship as well as enjoyable for both parties later on. For example, we can discuss things such as fantasies, preferences -"
"Okay, okay, hold on," Quinn held out her hands. "So let me get this straight. You want to talk about how we have sex?"
"Exactly," Ryan said, pleased. "We can tell each other specific things that we enjoy, or things that we'd like to attempt in the near future, with the end goal being that we both have a better understanding of how to please our partner."
"Okay, wait," Quinn almost begged, her ears starting to flush. She was open to discussing sex in the abstract, and she was obviously open to having it, but it still rankled her rather puritanical upbringing to talk about it so blatantly in the cold light of day. "I'm not sure if I can do that."
"Well, we obviously don't have to do it if you don't want to," Ryan allowed. "But I think it would be helpful. For example, I have a rather vivid fantasy of us doing it in the auditorium against the piano."
Quinn practically choked on her spit at the blunt way he phrased it. She didn't understand how the conversation had just gone from whether they were getting predictable to piano sex. "I - really?"
"Yes," Ryan confirmed. "Do you have any particular fantasies that we might be able to work on?"
"I don't - not really -" She sputtered a little. Okay, maybe the piano sex sounded a little hot, but she couldn't really think of anything she'd fantasized about. She'd always been taught that it was wrong - and yeah, premarital sex was wrong too - and she'd always cut off her fantasies in the bud.
"Really?" Ryan looked at her a bit skeptically.
"Really."
"Oh." He tilted his head at her. "You know I won't judge or anything, right?"
"I know." She hesitated. "Well, there is one thing." Ryan nodded at her. "I sort of like the times when you take the lead. I mean, I've noticed that a lot of the time you let me set the pace, and that's great. But I also find it... hot... when you take control." She started blushing. "Stop staring at me."
"Sorry," he apologized, smiling slightly. "Okay, duly noted. I thought that maybe you preferred having control, seeing as how you're so in control of all other aspects of life. And I find it very sexy when you're in control. But I'll keep it in mind in the future." His smile widened. "See? Isn't this productive?"
"Well, I think I've had enough productivity for now," Quinn said, still blushing as she picked up her laptop. Honestly it didn't make sense to her how she could instigate shower sex one day and then blush like a rose just talking about hypothetical sex, but there it was.
Ryan smiled crookedly. "Okay." He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "For the record though, it doesn't matter to me. I don't think I could ever get bored with you."
"How was that, Miss C?" Sugar asked excitedly as she and Shelby finished running through a set of exercises that weekend. Ryan paused outside the music room, listening as his mom talked to Sugar. They'd been having weekly sessions ever since the Troubletones had started up, and there had been a drastic improvement in the Sugar's singing abilities. If Ryan had ever had doubts that Shelby was a great teacher, they were all gone. He no longer wanted to rip his own ears off whenever Sugar opened her mouth. Add that to the fact that Sugar was actually a decent dancer, and she was a pretty good asset to the team.
Of course, Sugar's voice still grated a bit, and Ryan winced as she squealed happily. "This is so awesome! Daddy's going to be so happy when he sees us win Sectionals!" She calmed down a bit. "If he can make it, I guess."
That gave Ryan a bit of a pause, but he shook his head, knocking lightly on the door. "Don't mind me, I just need some sheet music."
"That's okay, we're done for the day," Shelby said. "You two can keep each other company while Sugar waits for her driver." Ryan merely nodded as Shelby left the room. The two students were quiet for a moment.
"You're getting a lot better," Ryan offered. Sugar smiled widely.
"Oh, I know. I mean, I was awesome to start with, but I got loads better, didn't I? Miss Corcoran's a really good teacher, even if she's kind of bossy, and her voice still has that nasally quality." She tilted her head. "You're lucky."
"Hmm. I know." Even as annoyed as he was with Shelby over the Puck situation and over the suggestion of getting a co-captain, he knew he was incredibly lucky to have her in his life. He knew what it was like not to have her and he knew he'd never want to go back to that. "If you don't mind my asking, where's your mom?" he asked a moment later. Sugar talked about her dad a lot, but she'd never mentioned her mom.
"Oh, she left," Sugar said casually. "When I was really little. I don't really remember her."
"You don't see her?"
Sugar shook her head. "She has a new family now. Daddy didn't tell me, but I saw some of his emails a few years ago."
"Oh." Ryan nodded, his hand running through his hair as pieces fell into place. He'd seen Sugar watching him and Shelby sometimes in the choir room, a sad expression on her face before she smiled and made an innocently obnoxious comment. Suddenly the girl's phone rang.
"Ooh, it's my driver. I have to go. Bye Ryan," she said, impulsively giving him a hug before skipping out of the room. Ryan sat there in the music room for a few minutes before following her out. He slowly made his way to his mom's office, tapping on the door. Shelby looked at him questioningly as he entered.
"It's been brought to my attention that I've been a bit of a moron with this whole Puck situation," he said stiffly. "As such, I would like to apologize. I realize that you should make the decision to handle this however you see fit. And though watching Puck make googly eyes at you makes me want to barf, I will henceforth defer to your judgement."
Shelby observed him for a moment. "And what made you arrive at this epiphany?"
He shrugged self-consciously. "Quinn said a few things that made me think."
"Your girlfriend is a very smart young woman."
"You don't have to rub it in," Ryan grumbled. "And... I think this is probably very uncool of me to say, but... I don't really like fighting with you."
Shelby chuckled before relenting. "Apology accepted. I don't like fighting with you either. You're right, I suppose this situation is a bit... squicky... for you. While I've dealt with quite a few teenage crushes, I've never my kid watching from the sidelines." She smiled slightly. "Actually, I should probably be thanking you."
"What?" Ryan tilted his head, confused. "For what?"
"For being so offended on my behalf, and for wanting to try to keep the... what was it... 'sex shark' away. Even if I am perfectly capable of handling this myself."
"Okay, don't ever say 'sex shark' again," Ryan shuddered. "And you're welcome." He sat down on the sofa. "It just pisses me off because he's so cocky, he thinks he's God's gift to women and it makes me so mad that he thinks he can get anyone he wants just by flashing that stupid smirk."
"It's not just that though, is it?" Shelby asked, tilting her head curiously.
"I just don't like Noah, that's all," he scowled. "Not after what he did to Quinn. What he did was wrong and immoral. He hurt her, and it's like he doesn't even care. He's an ass and I don't want him anywhere near anyone I care about."
Shelby just smiled, running her hand through his hair before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Have you given any thought to your future co-captain yet?"
Ryan sighed. "No. I still maintain that I don't need one. But if you insist, who do you suggest?"
"Santana Lopez."
Ryan's eyebrows rose at that. "Santana? Really?"
Shelby nodded. "I heard her last year, she has an excellent voice, one that I think would complement yours quite nicely. We'll see just how well with this mash-up. I believe she also has a good sense for music, and quite frankly I think that she will do good job of keeping you in line. Besides, I believe she proved herself a pretty good leader during your dodgeball game. She's the one who instigated it, wasn't she?"
Ryan stared at her. "Wait, you knew about that?"
"I have my sources."
"Okay..." He shook his head. "Wait, how is instigating a potentially violent game between rivals a good thing? Not to mention she almost smashed a ball in Rory Flanagan's face without warning, after the game, mind you!"
"That's why you're going to be co-captains. I suspect you'll rein each other in as necessary."
Ryan shot her an unimpressed look. "If you say so."
"Okay, everyone, that was good," Shelby called out as the Troubletones finished their last run of their mash-up the day before the contest. "But I still think there are some points we need to go over." She smirked a little as quite a few sets of shoulders slumped. She decided to give them a bit of a break. "But we'll go through them tomorrow." The relief from her performers was palpable, they'd been in here for a few hours after all. "I do expect you to practice on your own though. So if there aren't any questions..."
"Wonderful," Santana grinned happily. "Time for me to focus on my one one-sided battle of wits with the knuckle dragon."
"Don't you think you should focus more on our mash-up rather than trying to make Finn Hudson cry?" Ryan questioned.
"Yeah, as much as I don't like Finn right now, you should probably lay off," Quinn interjected.
"Oh, I'm just getting started."
"All right, that's enough," Shelby cut in. "Santana, I really think you should find something more constructive to do rather than use your admittedly impressive vocabulary to make people cry." She glanced at Ryan, who nodded grudgingly. "Which is why I would like to offer you the position of co-captain."
Santana stared at Shelby. "Wait, what?"
Shelby nodded. "Unless anyone has any objections, of course." She looked around expectantly. When no one protested, she nodded. "Good. Congratulations, Santana."
Brittany squealed happily before engulfing her girlfriend in a hug. Santana meanwhile gaped in shock for a few more moments before a tentative smile broke out on her face. Shelby smiled slightly. "And as a co-captain of this club, you need to focus on the fact that we want to win because we're better, not meaner," she said sternly. "So I don't want any more trouble with Finn, okay?"
"Well..."
"Come on Santana," Brittany wheedled her girlfriend as everyone looked at Santana expectantly.
"Okay, okay," Santana relented with a small laugh. "I'll play nice. Even cotton candy won't melt in my mouth."
"Good," Shelby nodded. "If there aren't anymore questions, I'll see everyone tomorrow."
"I got this for you. They were out of apples at the cafeteria."
Shelby glanced up from her record sheet to the miniature pumpkin that had appeared on her desk. From there, her gaze rose to meet Noah Puckerman's smirking visage. She looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Thank you."
"You doing anything later? Maybe you could, you know, tutor me or something," the teenager said casually, shooting her a suggestive look. Shelby hid an amused smile. This was either an attempt to get help with academics or a rather poor attempt to flirt with her. "Maybe you could give me a hand over dinner."
The latter then. She stood up to her full height. "Noah, if you're serious about the tutoring, I would be more than happy to organize a session during one of your study hall periods. I could even find you a peer tutor, if that's what you need. But let's not play games. I'm your teacher, and your flirting is highly inappropriate."
"I'm not some kid, I'm eighteen," Puck defended, dropping all pretenses. "I've already been with a lot of older women."
Shelby sighed. Here we go. "I'll be blunt. You have absolutely no chance with me. I am your teacher. I would lose my job."
"Only if I told. And I never would."
"I am also engaged."
"I've been with tons of married chicks."
Shelby shut her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to try to ward off her building headache. This was going to be a lot harder than she'd thought. Did this child - and he was a child, she didn't care if he was of legal age - not have any sense of morality? "Look, Noah, I am over twice your age. And yes, I heard you when you said you've already been with older women," she cut him off when he started to say something. "But I am not going to be one of those older women. Do you understand?"
"Come on," Puck said cajolingly. "I'm hot, you're hot, it would be awesome. You know why I got to sleep with all those older ladies? Their husbands weren't getting the job done. I bet your fiancé isn't either."
"Okay, that is very much none of your business," Shelby shot him an icy glare. It would be rather immature to tell him that she and James had been up until two in the morning being rather loud. Fortunately her room was partially soundproofed and Ryan's room was about two rooms away. She folded her arms across her chest, looking at him seriously. "You're right, you're a legal adult now."
"Exactly -"
She silenced him with a glare. "Part of being an adult is learning to make good decisions. And pursuing women who are far older than you is not a good decision. Frankly, it's concerning that you've already been with older women. You may be legal now but anything that happened before could be considered as statutory rape."
Puck shrugged, giving her a wink. "Well, you only live once. I'm a badass, that's just how I roll."
She wasn't going to get anywhere here. She headed to the door before turning to face him again. "Look, you have a crush. Nothing will ever come of it. You will get over it." She gestured him out of her room.
"You know, this is probably gonna happen sooner or later," he said cockily, swaggering out of the room. "See you in English."
Shelby returned to her desk, fighting the urge to faceplant on top of it. She hated dealing with teenage crushes. Either they were so childishly shy that she felt sorry for busting them, like Joey Randolph three years ago, or they were so obnoxious like Puck that they wouldn't go away even if she tried fending them off with a baseball bat. She had a feeling this wasn't over yet. She heard her phone chime and she picked it up, smiling when she saw a text from James.
10:08 AM From: James Walker - Ryan said he'll be out with Quinn tonight. You up for an encore of last night? ;)
10:09 AM From: Shelby Corcoran - I don't know, last night was pretty good, think you can top it?
10:10 AM From: James Walker - Challenge accepted. I bet we can double last night before Ryan gets home.
10:11 AM From: Shelby Corcoran - And if not?
10:11AM From: James Walker - I'm sure we could think of an appropriate punishment...
Shelby shook her head, putting her phone away. Not getting the job done indeed.
..
"So, what did you think?" Ryan asked Shelby as everyone left the auditorium after the New Directions' performance that afternoon. Finn had won rock-paper-scissors, and the New Directions had been the ones to hit the stage first. They had sung a mash-up of Hall & Oates songs, with Finn and Rory singing lead. The only interesting thing to Ryan was that rather surprisingly, they had managed to rope Lauren back into the group. He'd thought she quit, but apparently he was wrong.
"What did you think?" Shelby countered.
"They were okay. Nothing spectacular. The costumes were okay, and the vocals were so-so. The songs suited Finn's voice, and I suppose Rory's. If they wanted something with more of a wow factor though they should have used Blaine as a soloist."
Shelby nodded. "You're right. Rory and Finn have decent voices but they don't have Blaine's training. Or his stage presence."
"There's a massive imbalance in the group. They only have two girls, and Lauren doesn't really sing all that well. So basically it's just Mercedes, and no matter how strong her voice is she's outnumbered by the guys. Though I suppose you could argue that Kurt's voice could be classified as a female register..."
"Very good assessment," Shelby said approvingly. She had thought it was a decent performance though there had been a mildly bizarre moment when she swore Puck had winked at her. "I made the same notes. Their song choice, while it suited them, isn't competitive enough. They didn't spend enough time on their choreography, and their vocal blending could have used some more polishing."
"They probably just came up with it last night," Ryan smirked. "Do you think they'll be hard to beat at Sectionals?"
Shelby tapped her pen against her notes thoughtfully. "Right now, I'd say no. They don't have enough members, and if Will continues his pattern of putting off preparations until the last minute, then they shouldn't be too hard to beat. Unfortunately, Will seems to have the Underdog Factor."
"The what?"
"It's a phenomenon where a team is the underdog, and you think they have absolutely no chance of winning. But then something happens, and through some bizarre set of circumstances, they win anyways. Will Schuester seems to have that in spades as evidenced last year. By all rights, you shouldn't have made it past Sectionals. You barely rehearsed, you sidelined your best soloist, and you were up against one of the best glee clubs in the state besides VA."
"Wow, thanks."
"Am I wrong?"
Ryan huffed. "Whatever."
"Look, I did call you the best soloist," Shelby pointed out. "The point is, we can't get complacent. Even if we think they will be easy to beat, we still have to give this everything we've got. Which is why after our mash-off tomorrow, we're going to really start preparations for Sectionals."
"Well, I think we're going to kill it tomorrow," Ryan said confidently.
Shelby smirked. "You better. I haven't lost a competition in five years, I'm not about to start now."
"Where's Santana?" Shelby asked the next day as the Troubletones were warming up for their performance. She'd just done a headcount, and the Latina Cheerio was missing. "Brittany?"
Brittany started to say something, only to be cut off by Santana's sudden entrance into the backstage area.
"There you are," Ryan said, his voice betraying his exasperation. "Where have you been? We're on in five minutes!"
Santana simply shrugged. Quinn frowned. "Is something wrong?"
Brittany started to say something again only to be brushed off by Santana. "It's fine. Nothing's wrong. We really need to start warming up now." She turned away abruptly, leaving Brittany looking rather lost and miserable. Shelby frowned.
"Ryan, start the warm-ups." She followed Santana, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulling her gently to a secluded corner. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I told you. I'm fine."
Shelby studied her uncertainly. She wasn't fine, that much was sure. She took care to observe her students during rehearsals, trying to get to know them and how to get them to reach their potential, and the Santana Lopez she'd been seeing in Troubletones rehearsals was happy, uninhibited in her joy for singing, with a quick wit and sharp humor. This one was closed off, troubled. Hiding. "Santana..."
"Look, we're on in five minutes," Santana told her flatly. "We should get started."
Shelby stared at her for a few more moments before nodding. She wasn't going to get any more out of the girl right now, and they needed to get up onstage. She would get to the bottom of this later. "All right. Go warm up." Santana nodded, mechanically heading back to the rest of the team. "All right everyone," Shelby called out. "Just like we did it in rehearsals, got it? Break a leg out there."
Ryan gave her an inquisitive look, and she shook her head slightly. He frowned, casting a concerned look at Santana before getting everyone into line. Shelby meanwhile stepped out into the auditorium, taking her seat next to Will. "Everything all right?" he asked.
Shelby nodded absently. Will started to say something else, but then he shook his head and fell silent just as the curtains rose.
She, she ain't real,
She ain't gonna be able to love you like I will
She is a stranger,
You and I have history,
Or don't you remember?
Sure, she's got it all,
But, baby, is that really what you want?
Shelby's brow creased as Ryan started them off. Something was wrong. Not with Ryan, he was spot on as usual, but there was something off. Soon Ryan reached the end of his solo, his voice fading and ready for Santana's to continue the song.
Except she didn't.
Her breath caught as Santana stayed silent, missing her cue completely. If she hadn't been sure that there was something wrong before, she was definitely sure now. The Latina stayed frozen on the stage, a blank expression on her face as the silence stretched.
Just when Shelby was about to call the performance off, someone else started to sing. Her eyebrows went up as Marley Rose moved forward, perfectly belting out the next stanza just in time to cover for Santana.
Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds
You made a fool out of you
And, boy, she's bringing you down
She made your heart melt
But you're cold to the core,
Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore
The coach in Shelby was pretty impressed at the freshman's voice. She'd heard Marley sing before, of course, but the girl was a bit hesitant in rehearsals, unsure of herself. Marley's voice was confident now though, clear and rich and, while different, a good substitute for Santana.
Speaking of, Santana finally seemed to snap out of her trance by the end of the stanza, her voice rising out over the chorus.
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said
I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.
Santana's voice was different than it had been in rehearsals. True, she had been nothing short of wonderful while they working on the song, but this performance was just raw, visceral emotion bleeding out of the girl's voice. Under any other circumstances this would be the type of performance Shelby would want, but she could hear the hurt in Santana's voice and she needed to get to the bottom of this.
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.
The song ended, and Shelby joined in with the applause offered by the New Directions. She had every intention of heading backstage to talk with her students, but all that was derailed by Santana striding off the stage and up to Finn, who was talking to Mercedes.
"What the hell did you just say to her?!" Santana burst out, getting up in Finn's face, which took on a bewildered expression.
"I was just saying you were really good -"
"No," Santana shook her head, her eyes sparking with rage. "You're lying!"
"Uh, calm down, Santana," Mercedes said uncertainly. "He really did just say you were great."
"Did you tell her too?!"
Shelby stood up just as Will did. "Santana -" he spoke, only to be overridden by the now-furious Latina.
"Everyone's going to know now, because of you," Santana continued, practically trembling now. Shelby frowned, utterly confused by what was going on. She glanced over at Ryan, who looked equally as bewildered by what was going on.
"The whole school already knows," Finn argued. "And you know what, they don't care!"
"Not just the school, you idiot! Everyone!"
"What are you talking about -"
SMACK!
The entire auditorium fell silent as Santana slapped Finn hard across the face. Shelby stared with the rest of them before finally reacting. This had to stop. She quickly moved over to the angry teen. "Santana, my office."
She took Santana's arm, pulling her towards her office and closing the door behind them. Santana shot her a glare before turning to leave. Shelby quickly grabbed her arm again, keeping her there. "Santana, stop."
"Just leave me the hell alone, okay?! I don't need your help!"
Shelby paused for a moment, bristling at the tone before shaking her head. She'd heard those same words from her own kid, and she knew Santana didn't mean them either. "Do you need me to call your parents?"
"NO!" Santana looked ashamed of her outburst for a split-second before her angry mask returned. "I don't need anyone, I just need -" She stopped short. "You know what, I don't know, okay? Just - just -"
The girl was slowly crumbling, and Shelby sighed. Santana was one of those people who were so incredibly tough on the outside, but her armor had been pierced and she didn't know what to do. "Look, I'm not sure what's going on," Shelby said without preamble. "But we both know you're in trouble for slapping Finn, and I need you to tell me what's going on so that I can help you."
"He outed me, okay?!" Santana finally yelled. Shelby stared at her, surprised as the dam broke and Santana spilled what had happened.
..
"Hey Tubs!" Santana called out to Finn. He and the Irish kid - seriously, did that kid follow Lumps around like a puppy? - stopped, turning to look at her suspiciously. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Hey listen here," Rory said indignantly. "You can't make fun of Finn anymore."
Santana rolled her eyes dismissively. "Shut your potato hole, I'm here to apologize, okay?" She turned to Finn, who stared at her in confusion. "I guess I haven't been fair to you. You're not fat. I should know, I slept with you." Finn nodded, about to say something. And Santana knew she should probably stop right there. But that stupid, constipated smile showed up on Finn's face again, and she thought of how he'd called Brittany stupid and how her girlfriend had been sad that night because of it, and she just couldn't help herself. "I mean, at one point I must have liked that you look like a taco addict who's had one too may back-alley liposuctions."
Rory's eyes widened. "Whoa."
"Please stick a sock in it, or ship yourself back to Scotland," Santana said nicely. Oh, she knew it was racist but right now she didn't particularly care. Her Snixx persona was coming out full force, and Santana just couldn't stop. "I'm trying to apologize to Lumps the Clown. I am sorry, Finn," she continued, turning to the tall quarterback again. "I'm sorry that the New Directions are gonna get crushed by the Troubletones. I'm also sorry that you have no talent. I'm sorry that you sing like you're having your prostate checked, and you dance like you've been asleep for years, and someone just woke you up. Have fun pumping gas at the station for the rest of your life, because you are going to be a Lima Loser forever."
She finally stopped, maliciously satisfied at the angry look on Finn' face. Maybe she'd been harsh, Snixx coming to the forefront, but she knew she was right. Finn Hudson was a selfish man-child who needed to grow up. She was done now though. Now that she'd gotten it out of her system, she'd be able to focus on kicking their asses at Sectionals. She moved forward, brushing past Finn. She was about six feet away when she heard it.
"Hey Santana, why don't you just come out of the closet?"
As soon as the words clicked, Santana stopped dead in her tracks. The bustle of the hallways faded to an indistinct buzz as icy fear slid up her spine and kept her frozen to the ground; unable to speak, unable to react, unable to stop Finn as he continued talking, continued spilling her deepest hidden secrets in the middle of that hallway. He said something about her tearing herself down (no she wasn't!), and that she was scared that Brittany might not love her back (which was stupid because she did, right?) and how she was a coward (maybe she was).
Finally he stopped, but Santana barely registered it through the ringing in her ears. "See you at the mash-off."
He left, she could hear him leave, but she still couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think.
Suddenly the bell rang, and time restarted. Santana chanced a look around, and everything was... fine. There wasn't anyone staring at her like she'd grown a third boob, there wasn't an angry mob chasing after her with pitchforks, there wasn't any sign an all that anyone had heard.
..
"But of course somebody heard," Santana said bitterly. "Some idiot heard and blabbed to her uncle or whatever, and now they're using the fact that I'm - that I like girls - against Coach Sylvester. So now all of Ohio is gonna know."
"Oh, Santana." Shelby sighed, not knowing what to say. This was huge. Santana obviously wasn't ready to come out, and Finn's words had just forced her out. "Do your parents know?"
"I haven't told them."
"I think you're going to have to," Shelby said gently. "They're going to find out eventually, and you're going to need them." Especially with the slapping issue, as Will was probably not going to let go of Santana slapping his prize student just like that. "What about Brittany?"
Santana's head snapped up, and Shelby couldn't help her smile. "I'm sorry, you two haven't exactly been discreet."
Santana looked like she was about to argue, but she deflated. "I told her what happened. And she said it was going to be okay, but she lives in a world where math doesn't exist and unicorns and rainbows do. She doesn't get that we're in fucking Ohio and I can't -" She started to work herself up again. "I can't. I can't. I'm not ready. And it's not fair!"
No, it wasn't. But there wasn't really anything anyone could do at this point. Just then someone tapped lightly on the door, and Shelby saw Brittany peek inside, her face sad. "Brittany, come in," Shelby instructed. The blonde entered the office, and Santana wiped her eyes furiously as Brittany sat down next to her. Brittany wrapped an arm around Santana, and Shelby watched the angry girl relax, leaning unconsciously into the other girl.
"Are you okay, San?"
Santana nodded shakily. "Yeah. Yeah, Britts, I'm fine."
The blonde shook her head. "No you're not. But we'll be okay. Finn and everyone else left already. Except Ryan and Quinn, they're still outside. Do you want to go back to my place?" Santana hesitated before nodding. "You should go ahead, I'll catch up, okay?" Brittany gave Santana a quick kiss on the cheek. Santana blushed before standing and looking uncertainly at Shelby. "Thanks," she muttered, before making a hasty exit from the office. Shelby sighed, not knowing exactly what to do about this situation.
"Thank you."
Shelby looked at Brittany in confusion. "I didn't really do anything."
"You went after her. You listened to her. Mr. Schue didn't do that, and he knew what's going on."
"Ah." So that's why Will was fidgety earlier. Looks like they were going to have words. She sighed again, standing up. "Come on, we should go." The two of them headed out, finding Santana with Quinn and Ryan in the hallway. Santana and Brittany left quietly.
"Okay, what happened?" Ryan asked as soon as the two girls were out of earshot. "Brittany told us some of it, but it wasn't really clear. She was really upset about Santana."
"Can't really blame her," Quinn added.
"It looks like Finn outed Santana," Shelby said quietly. "The information made it out, and it's being used in a campaign ad against Coach Sylvester."
"What?" Ryan's eyes widened. "But that means -"
"That means that she's going to be outed to all of Ohio," Quinn surmised. Shelby nodded.
"I have to talk to Sue," she said. "What happened after we left?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Well, after Mr. Schue made a big deal out of the handprint Santana left on Finn's cheek, but after that, nothing." She paused significantly. "Nothing yet."
Shelby nodded. The teenager was right. Nothing had happened yet, but things would get worse. "I have to talk to Coach Sylvester."
..
A short walk later found Shelby at Sue Sylvester's office, where she found the cheerleading coach staring out the window. "Barbra. You're late."
Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Let me see that video."
Sue nodded, picking up the TV remote. The video wasn't even two minutes long, but it unequivocally outed Santana to anyone who watched it. Shelby clenched her jaw as she pressed the eject button on the VCR and tossed the tape onto Sue's desk. "This is wrong."
"You think I'm not incredibly pissed about this too?" Sue's voice was calm. "Even under those gravy-filled boobs and the inane obsession with show choir, Santana Lopez is a good kid. She doesn't deserve this. Heck, no one deserves this, and I can't even begin to articulate how sorry I am that she was dragged into this. But there is literally nothing I can do."
"Isn't there some kind of ruling for dragging minors into public ads or something?"
"Santana's birthday was a month ago. She's eighteen, which makes her perfectly fair game. She can sue Salazar, but it won't matter because that ad will run regardless." Sue removed her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She leaned back in her seat, arms folded across her chest. "I know you know why I'm tough on my girls. Kids are lazy and annoying and they need a good kick in the rear to get them to produce. But at the end of the day, I care about my girls."
Shelby nodded. "I know that." It wasn't always obvious, what with the way Sue acted, but deep down she did care.
"Will Schuester isn't going to help either," Sue continued. "Not after McTits slapped his prize student."
"Fantastic." Shelby was not looking forward to the next day. She was sure Will would bring this up to Figgins, which was why she needed all sides of this story now.
"She's not going to let me help her. So you're going to have to," Sue informed Shelby. "I've known these girls for close to four years, and Santana's going to need all the help she can get. But she's not going to like it. She's going to fight everyone like a bull in a bullfight. But you need to help her regardless."
Shelby nodded. "I never intended anything else."