lisa

I was walking into school with Rachel like every other morning when she spotted Mr Schue across the parking lot. She said goodbye to me and ran off excitedly to him saying something about sheet music and her talent. I huffed affectionately and walked over to Tina, pulling her away from Mercedes and Artie who were talking about vocal runs.

"Tina, Will you come with me to the football game this weekend?" I asked, my hands on her arms to ensure she wouldn't run off in horror.

"Why?" she giggled; this was an unusual ask, especially for a girl who hated football as a stance against patriarchal society.

"We should go to support Finn and whatnot" I sighed, trying to hold back the truth of the matter being I wanted to study the Cheerios to find a way to infiltrate them.

"I'll see if I can" she sighed “you can go alone though right? I have an english essay due and you know my parents” she said, a little upset at the likely fate of no football for us. 

"Yeah probably, I will meet you in Geography" I sighed with a similar sadness.

"Where are you off too?" she said, slightly suspicious.

"To see if Britt will come with me" I called walking off to meet Britt. She had been texting me all week about joining Cheerios, talking about my talent, how one of the Cheerios was going to be out for 9 months and whatnot.

She had been buttering Coach Sylvester up for days in preparation for my ask.

I walked over to Brittany, she was standing outside Sue’s office waiting for me. We walked into Sue's office. Brittany had told her that I wanted to be in the Cheerios. Coach Sylvester was obviously suspicious - Glee kids weren’t particularly known for athletic ability, except for Finn I guess.

"Coach Sylvester, I have an idea, probationary period - 9 months, that’s how long Beth is out right? A-and i’m in Glee, Mr Shue would definitely appreciate the publicity of a Cheerio being involved"

"You had me at spy, you're in.” she said.

“S-Spy?” I spluttered.

“Practice is at 4 don't be late, Now...get out of my office". She handed me a uniform and we left. 

When we got out of her office Britt hugged me, but I was in a state of shock - a spy?!. She dragged me to the bathroom so I could change and when I came out of the stall and looked in the mirror? No one said I had to tell the truth to coach Sylvester… maybe I could just be a really bad spy? Brittany wolf whistled and snapped me out of my daze - yeah, ill be a bad spy and reap all the rewards. I hugged her one more time again before pulling my hair into a ponytail and leaving the bathroom.

I went over to Rachel's locker to show her my new outfit and I caught her eavesdropping on Finn and Quinn's conversation - typical. I knew this was going to end badly so I went up to Quinn and asked to speak to her.

"Hey Quinn, Can I speak to you really fast?" I said, the pony really did give one a certain unshakeable confidence.

"Oh Hey Reb!" Finn said,catching me a little off guard - ‘reb’? You know what? Sure!

"Hello Finn" I said giggling, amused at the sheer uniqueness of his mind.

"Just wanted to let you know I'm filling in for Beth’s um… leave of absence for these 9 months" I said, testing the waters to see if there was any lingering animosity between us because of Rachel.

"Perfect!" She said - good! Seems like Quinn Fabray is just as shallow as every other teen; at least now I could be friends with popular people without the other popular people looking at me like the dirt on their shoes.

"Cool, ill see you at practice" I giggled, definitely feeling out of place in this new popular space.

"Yeah and by the way tell your dwarf sister to stop listening in on my private conversations". There it was, I'm still the sister of Rachel Berry.

"Mhm" I hummed, turning immediately to Rachel.

Quinn and Finn walk away together and Rachel turns around and looks at me. I raised a brow at her and she walked away. Promptly getting slushied by Puck and another football player. I grabbed her arm and dragged her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up.

In Glee that day we had to perform "Le Freak" . It was… fine but we all missed Don’t Stop Belevin’. Rachel almost knocked Mercedes out with a high kick and she freaked - understandably. 

Mr Shue tried to convince us we just needed to get "into" the song; naturally no one believed him.

"No, it's the song. It's really gay." Kurt remarked, making me laugh.

"We need modern music, Mr. Schue." Artie commented.

"I'm sorry, guys. We don't have time to discuss this. We're doing this song this Friday at the pep assembly."

"If we do we’re going to get murdered" I commented; knowing now I'm in the cheerios I have much more at stake.

"Yeah" Finn agrees with me, although he seems a little stuck in his head. "I'm a dead man."

"We need recruits. There are seven of you. We need twelve to qualify for regionals. We have no choice or the club is over. I know you guys don't like this song, but we took nationals back in '93 with "Freak Out." It's a crowd-pleaser. Trust me. From the top."

"We need to talk about this" I whisper to Finn who agrees by nodding his head as we move back to our starting places.

After everyone else leaves the choir room me and Finn began discussing other strategies for the assembly.

"What do a room of teens want in a performance?" I asked, sitting at the piano, maybe playing discordant notes would speak to me. 

"SEX!" Finn yells loudly and abruptly.

"What?" I asked, giggling stunned.

"Sorry - I meant we need to sell sexy and people will join Glee club" he continued - and I have to admit; he had a point.

"You are so smart when you need to be," I said to Finn, looking at him with reserved admiration.

"Thanks1" he said, the backhanded compliment taking a second to sink in.

"No problem, now let's pick a song and work on some choreo" I hummed, pulling out my phone.

"I can pick a song and then I should go, I'm meeting Quinn" he said, coming to look over my shoulder at my phone.

"It's cool, I'll just go to the dance studio and work it out later" I hummed, scrolling through my music.

Finn and I had settled on “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa. I quickly texted the Glee group chat on my way to the Dance Studio.

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Glee Club 🎶

Me came up with a solution 4 la freak we r doing push it

Singing Berry Was just thinking that

Gothic Gf <3

Mercedes Mr S is not gonna like this. I'm in

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I giggled at the responses and walked into the studio, putting down my bag before realizing there was a boy already in there dancing.

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry" I said, immediately apologetic at the knowledge I interrupted him.

"No, It's cool I was just finishing up" he said, extremely politely.

"You're good!" I giggled - wow the ponytail was magical, was I flirting??

"Thanks, you dance? I only ask because most people don't even know the studio exists" he said, coming over to me and leaning on the wall beside me.

"I do, i'm actually in Glee club" i said, unable to keep from being giddy - at the idea of Glee or talking to a cute boy the jury's still out.

"And a Cheerio, Impressive" He said, clearly eyeing me up.

"What can I say? I aim to impress" I joked, giggling again and swishing my ponytail.

"I should go," he said more gently.

"Hope to see you around" I said, watching him walk around me to the door.

"Me too" he said, a small smile on his face.

He left and I was left in shock - had I just openly flirted with a boy? And did he flirt back?! I began to do some warm up stretches, and, as much as I didn't want to, all I thought about was that boy.

I caught up with Rachel at lunch and she told me Finn and her  had been called into Principal Figgins office because they made copies with Coach Sylvester's copier - which was reserved specifically for the Cheerios, which she and Finn were decidedly not. They were making Glee posters so we wouldn't have to humiliate ourselves at tomorrow's assembly; a kind gesture.

"That was nice of you guys but, we are going to kick butt at this assembly" I giggled, sipping on my juice box.

"It's not like we can fall further down the popularity scale" Rachel joked a little miserably.

"Thats the spirit!" I giggled.

I went to my first Cheerios practice after school that evening and walked over to Brittany, who was standing with Santana and Quinn. Britt introduced me to the girls; a little bitchy but, a given with teenagers - especially ones with such power.

"Ok Sloppy Babies lets get going! Other Berry over here!" Sue yelled into her megaphone, the volume shockingly loud.

I jogged over to her; genuinely feeling intimidated. Sue told me I get to watch the show once then have to do it with them.

Turns out being a Cheerio wasn’t all rainbows and kittens, after practice I was exhausted. I had started to walk out off the field when Quinn came over and linked arms with me while telling me we had a celibacy club meeting - apparently being a Cheerio gave me duel membership.

We walked into the room and I was pulled over by Quinn to sit with all the other girls. When I sat down, I looked across the table to see Rach sitting on the other side - what the hell? Why was she here?!

"The Celibacy Club is now in session” Quinn said, banging her gavel. “Thanks to a school rule that says we have to let anyone join the club, we're welcoming a new member this week- Rachel What's-her-name." Quinn huffed.

"Where are all the boys?" Rachel said WAY too eagerly. I mentally face-palmed at her comment.

"Down the hall. First half hour we separate, then we come together to share our faith." Quinn said, completely over Rachel. We spent the majority of you half an hour alone twirling in our cheer skirts and ‘remembering the motto’ - “it’s all about the teasing and not about the pleasing”. When we went into the other classroom with the boys, I saw the boy from the dance studio - weird, and maybe a little ominous. I waved to him a little and he did the same.

"Let's pair up for the Immaculate Affection.” Quinn said, filling up a balloon. “Now, remember. If the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry." Quinn said, walking over to Finn, positioning the balloon between them.

I didn't have a partner on tap like most of the other girls, being new and all. I looked around the room and the dancing boy came over with a balloon.

"Partners?" he asked, somewhat awkwardly holding up the balloon.

"Sure" I said as we positioned the balloon between us - god this was awkward; and it's supposed to keep us from having sex?... right. "So now that we have a balloon between us are you going to tell me your name?"

"Mike, Chang. You?" he said, his hands on my waist very distracting.

"Rebecca, Berry - but nobody really calls me that, Becca usually" I said, trying not to focus on how close we were.

All of a sudden we hear a balloon pop and when we realize it's ours we immediately back away from each other turning bright red, creating that all important distance.

Fortunately Rachel is quick to my defence - or maybe her own protection from JBI, " You know what? This is a joke. Did you know that most studies have demonstrated that celibacy doesn't work in high schools? Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain. The second we start telling ourselves that there's no room for compromise, we act out. The only way to deal with teen sexuality is to be prepared. That's what contraception is for."

"Don't you dare mention the "C" word." Quinn exclaimed angrily.

"You want to know a dirty little secret that none of them want you to know? Girls want sex just as much as guys do." Rachel swiftly takes my arm and drags me out of the room, and I gotta give it to her - she could deliver a damn good monologue.

The next morning we were standing backstage getting ready to perform to the entire student body - yippee… 

"Silence, children. Silence. First, an announcement. The toilets are broken again. We are fixing the problem. But let me warn you. There will be zero tolerance for anyone soiling school grounds. We're not going to have a repeat of the last time. We have a treat for you guys today. Mr. Schuester." Principal Figgins announced, monotone as always through the mic.

Mr Schue came up to the mic to give us our introduction, "Uh, hi. Uh, when I went to school here, Glee Club ruled this place. And we're on our way back. But we need some recruits to join the party. Now, I can tell you all about how great Glee is, but, uh, I think I'm gonna let some friends of mine show you instead."

The crowd died down and the music started and we began our routine. We killed - good or bad I was unsure. When we finished JBI shouted and the crowd erupted in cheers. - so good I guess.

The next day in Glee club we had to deal with the repercussions of our; in my opinion - very justified actions. Mr Schuester was going off at us.

"Mr Schue, because of that performance Quinn, Santana and Britt want to join if we did Le Freak they wouldn't want to join" I complained.

"Wait, why would they want to join?" Kurt asked, rightfully confused.

"I don't know Britt told me after the assembly" I hummed - although I'm sure Rachel grinding against her boyfriend rubbed Quinn the wrong way.

"Well regardless if they want to join we now have a list of approved songs" Mr Schue said, way too pissed about this situation.

Mr Schue passed the list around and they were all about either Jesus or balloons.

The bell went and Rachel gently grabbed my arm - a silent ask for me to hang back.

"What did you do this time?" I asked half joking.

"I- I kissed Finn" she said, obviously rattled from it.

I was shocked she told me she was helping him with his singing. She had a picnic set up. They sat down and they kissed, like he kissed her back!

"Wow," I said, still shocked.

"Yeah" she said, a little less shaken now she talked about it.

"You like him" I said with a silly tone to my voice, bumping her shoulder playfully.

"Stop, I'm serious," She said, trying to fight a smile.

"My sister is the other woman, who would have thought" I joked.

"I am not it was a one time thing" she huffed - she didn’t mean it.

"Do you want it to be more than a one time thing?" I asked, wanting to actually take this seriously.

She just looked at me and I knew she did. "It's ok Rach, if you’re meant to be it'll be - but for now, he has a girlfriend - you’ve gotta back off" I said, raising a brow to see if it would hit her.

It seemed to. She smiled at me and we hugged before leaving for class.

I went to Sue's office later that day so we could have an update about the "spy" mission - not that I had intentionally gathered intel, again, I was playing both sides. I walked in and saw The Unholy Trinity sitting in the seats at her desk. I smiled at Quinn and Santana and waved to Britt.

"So Other Berry what's happening in the dreaded Glee Club" Coach Sylvester said with obvious disdain for glee.

"Well we don't have enough members for sectionals, we need 12 and we have 10..?” I said, trying to give information without really affecting the Glee Club - everyone knew we didn't have enough members so hopefully she’d accept it.

"Outstanding, now get out of my office, Berry hang back" she demanded - shit.

"What did you want, Coach?" I asked as sweetly as I could.

"You know, Berry, when I first met you I thought you were just another Glee loser but now you remind me of a young Sue Sylvester, though you don't have my bone structure. In this very moment I see how alike we really are. You are my eyes on the inside. We're going to bring this club down from within!" she said; strangely sentimental for a student she’d met a week ago.

"Thanks Coach" I said, nodding at her slightly.

I walked into school with my sister, like every other normal Tuesday. My sister - the one and only Rachel Berry, a future star of Broadway! 

Of course, we didn't have the same mom but we had the same dads - and likely shared some genes; turkey baster and all. 

Rachel could be annoying, frankly grating sometimes, but growing up together creates some kind of bond that can't be severed - or maybe that's just sisters. I supported her in everything, well most things, she was 16, it's not like she knew perfectly what was right and wrong. 

As a Berry, naturally I was brought up with an appreciation of the arts, being forced into every singing, dancing and acting class in the state will do that to you. Obviously I loved it; especially dancing.

I waved goodbye to Rachel before meeting up with my best friend Tina. Tina Cohen–Chang and I had been friends since 4th grade, so naturally I knew all her secrets, like how her stutter is fake and how unbelievably talented she is. 

Tina was my ride or die. My life. My platonic soulmate. 

She has started to hang around with this new guy Artie Abrams but I did not like him very much, and he clearly had something against me. 

Me and Tina set off to class - ever punctual - when we saw the infamous Unholy Trinity. One thing you could guarantee in high school was cliques; and the Unholy Trinity was the blueprint.

Beautiful, popular, evil - they were textbook.

Brittany S. Pierce was my only link to the top; 6th grade really forges friendships. She waved at me everyday; even if it got her flack from Santana or the all powerful Quinn Fabray. 

As we kept walking Tina started to speak; "Did you hear Mr Ryerson got fired?" …the Glee club coach?! 

Rachel was in it - naturally - and complained all morning about how she got passed up for the solo - obviously - she for sure had something to do with this.

"Who's taking over glee club?" I inquired, wondering if today might be the day Rachel Berry doesn't get what she wants.

"I heard it was Mr Schuester" she replied casually.

"Wait, Spanish Mr Schuester?” I asked confused, that guy could barely speak 3 words of spanish - what makes him think he could coach Glee??

"Yes! me and Artie were thinking of auditioning and so should you. You are so good Becca you would so get in" Tina was right I could get in - and it wouldn’t just be desperation for members, I was a Berry after all. 

But in McKinley - status was everything; Glee was practically negative status and I didn't want to be an even bigger loser than I already was.

"I'll think about it" I said with a small smile before sitting down beside her in history and distracting myself by getting out my books.

It was after history and Tina had math and I had a study hall; a class where I took to the library to do homework. While wondering if knowing intricate details of the Roman Empire was essential to get a job; I started thinking about Glee club.

"Being a part of something special makes you special" 

It was a stupid cheesy quote that Rachel said all the time, it was silly - it meant nothing and it was definitely the reason I needed to sign up.

I walked out to the hallway with the bulletin board and spotted the poster for Glee club.

New Directions Glee club

Sign up below!

I had noticed there was 3 names on the sheet,

Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones and of course Rachel Berry complete with a shiny gold star.

I signed my name just below Kurt.

Rebecca Berry

Auditions were always scary, I hadn't mastered my nerves yet - failing sucked, I didn't want to be second best anymore. I took a breath and walked onto the stage in the auditorium.

"Hi, i'm Rebecca Berry and i’ll be singing The Climb by Miley Cyrus"

Sure it was a little on the nose, but subtly doesn't belong in Glee - or something along those lines.

"Amazing Rebecca" I heard upon finishing, the vagueness doing little to nothing for my nerves.

I walked off stage into Tina’s loving arms, "Becca! That was so good, you’re amazing!"

"Go and kill it out there” I said to her as she walked on stage, cheering silently.

"Tina C. I Kissed A Girl." 

At the first rehearsal for Glee club - because, shock, all of us made it in - we all sang "Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat". 

We sucked. 

Rachel was the first to voice these thoughts, naturally. 

Mr Schuester told us to keep rehearsing and we would get there, a deluded take but whatever helped him sleep at night I suppose. Rachel thought it was ridiculous to give Artie the solo because he was in a wheelchair. Artie thought the irony was being used to enhance the performance. Me and Tina knew it was just the song sucked. The arguing this early in New Directions lifetime was for sure a bad sign.

Rachel stormed out, much to nobody's shock - I left after her to try and make her come back… maybe.

I wandered all over the school to find her, looking in classrooms and bathrooms until I eventually found her on the bleachers.

"Rach?" I asked, slowly approaching as to not disturb the subject.

"I'm tired of being laughed at," she huffed.

"Oh sweetie" I breathed out and sat beside her, "You're in Glee club" I giggled. "Rach - you’re the best singer in there" I hummed, gently hitting my knee against hers.

"I just don't want to be slushied, laughed at and bullied," she muttered.

"And again you're in Glee club" I snorted, looking at her with a raised brow.

"I need a male lead to keep up with me" she said, a new fire lit beneath her.

"Can’t help you there, i’m still waiting for balls to drop" I joked “ask Mr Schue” 

"You're right" she said, with that determined; almost evil glare in her eye.

"Always am" I giggled.

She stood up immediately and walked off to find Mr Schue. I stayed on the bleachers watching the Cheerios; admittedly with a little envy. I wanted to be part of the elite; popular, pretty, with boyfriends. I was about to go back to the choir room when Brittany came up to me.

"You should join the Cheerios" she said, way too giddy for right after an intensive cheerios practice.

"Coach Sylvester will never let me" I huffed, shaking my head affectionately at her excitement.

"Why?" she said; tilting her head like a curious puppy.

"You know how she feels about Rachel; and the arts in general I guess" I said, smiling at her gently.

"Oh right" she said, everything clicking.

"Yep" I said, popping the ‘p’ slightly.

"But you’re really good; I'm sure Coach Sylvester would let you in," she said, "especially if I asked her,” she said excitedly.

"Yeah, ill think about it Britt - I have to get home" I said, smiling at her before walking back into the school.

I walked into the auditorium the next day to find our esteemed quarterback Finn Hudson standing with the others, strange.

"What's the golden boy doing here?" I whispered to Tina, standing beside her while studying him - awkward; out of place.

"Joined the club" she hummed, picking at her ever chipped black nail polish.

"Why?" I asked, a little mystified. 

"I heard it was extra credit" she sighed, shrugging gently

"Oh no" I said, horrified as I saw my sister going frankly feral over Finn. 

I knew she thought he was cute, he was popular, it was practically a given, but I had no idea it was to this extent -  she was drooling over him. 

Mercedes butted in and so they stopped singing together, thankfully dissipating that awfully suspicious tension.

"Oh, hell to the no. Look, I'm not down with this background singing nonsense. I'm Beyonce. I ain't no Kelly Rowland" she said.

"Okay, look, Mercedes, it's just one song," Mr Shue said; clearly frustrated.

"To be fair, this is the only time we have sounded good," I said, looking at her sympathetically.

"Okay, you're good, white boy. I'll give you that. But you better bring it. Let's run it again." Mercedes responded, rolling her eyes slightly.

We took it from the top; and Rachel definitely didn't tone it down with Finn.

On Saturday we went to Caramel High to watch Vocal Adrenaline perform to ‘scope out the competition’. 

"I honestly don't think that they've got the talent that we've got. But let's be a good audience, all right? Give 'em some of that old McKinley High respect." Whatever helps him sleep at night? I guess…

Vocal Adrenaline - 3 time national championship winners - way better than we could ever be. Everyone was stunned by how good they were.

"We're d-d-doomed." Tina said her fake stutter, making me giggle softly.

I walked out of the school after everyone else as I headed to the bathroom before getting back on the bus, I took a couple steps and saw Finn covered in paint.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I asked, walking over in shock.

"I'm good. I'm good." he said, clearly annoyed.

"What the hell happened?" I wasn't close to the guy but we were a family in Glee. 

"It was nothing, don't worry about it" he muttered, shrugging off his denim jacket; now ruined with yellow paint.

"You sure?" i asked cautiously, eyeing the rest of his ensemble - also splattered with paint

"Yeah I'm good," he said, maybe a little more relaxed now.

"You getting the bus back?" i asked, raising a brow at him.

"No, no - my mom is driving me home" he said, looking over his shoulder.

"Just sit on your jacket" I said, sighing softly, leaving a slightly awkward lull in conversation.

"So you're Rachel's sister?" he asked, trying to redeem the awkward pause.

"Yeah" i said, crossing my arms in a weak attempt of seeming casual.

"She's.. Um" he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Intense? yeah she is" i giggled, finishing his sentence.

"She's nice though" he said, not in a way that seemed ingenuine.

"Yeah, there's a heart under all that star power" I joked gently, looking over to see the rest of the club waiting for me. “Shit, I gotta go,” I said, taking off towards them.

The next day we were in the auditorium, supposed to be practicing but Mr Shue dropped a bomb and told us he was leaving to become an accountant. 

We were all upset, we’d all joined a club only for the rug to be pulled out from under us. He was leaving in 2 weeks but all Finn cared about was that he didn't have to be in glee anymore. To be honest I didn't blame him, he just comited social suicide for nothing.

"This isn't about you guys. Being an adult is about having to make difficult choices. It's not like high school. Sometimes you have to give up the things that you love. One day you guys are going to grow up and understand that. I have loved being your teacher." Mr Shue had told us - a strong sentiment for a club that had lasted less than a week.

We had all accepted it for what it was, just another chance at being appreciated in this godforsaken town ripped away. 

With the news too came little commitment from Finn about attending the little practices we had left, Rachel wanted to go confront him about it, but knowing her I told her I would so she wouldn't blow up at him and lose him from Glee forever.

"So you weren't in glee club" I said, finding him at his locker later in the day.

"Is it still happening?" he asked, confused.

"Rachel took over" I hummed, leaning against the lockers a little.

"Right," he muttered, seemingly over the conversation. Just then Quinn, Santana walked over.

"Hey Finn" Quinn said, coming close to Finn and glaring at me.

“Auditorium at 3 ok?" I asked Finn with little hope he’d actually show, he gave me a subtle thumbs up as he explained we had a ‘science project’ to Quinn.

Rachel was holding a Glee meeting when Finn walked in with Artie. Kurt gave him attitude, not really undeserved, so I hit him only lightly on the shoulder. Finn apologized, admittedly it was a nice gesture - and Rachel lapped it up. A win is a win I suppose.

Finn started to order us around, wanting to create a performance that highlighted everyone's individual skills.

Artie:  Jazz band

Rachel: Choreography (which I was happy to let her take over)

Mercedes: Costumes

Finn: Music

Me and Tina were pretty pleased to have some time to talk while everyone worked, we liked glee but glee with minimal work was ideal.

We performed "Don't stop Belevin'" over and over and when we finished an almost perfect run - we heard a clap from the audience.

"Good, guys. It's a nine. We need a ten. Rachel, you need to hit the ones and the fives. Finn, I think if we worked on it, you could hit a high B." 

So maybe it needed more work to Mr Schue - the Spanish teacher…

"So does this mean you're staying?" Finn asked, holding back excitement.