porcelain

Currently my only plan for throwing off the other clubs involves a method of sabotage so evil it will blow your mind. 

It shouldn’t have been stressful to be directly behind Santana in a queue, The Lima Bean was a public space after all, and it was the weekend, so it wouldn’t be impolite to just pretend they hadn’t seen each other. As long as the other girl didn’t turn around they could both go about their Sundays like none of this had happened. And yet, Kit felt like the Glee club had really been managing to pull together recently, despite all the personal drama and disagreements. Wasn’t it her duty to continue that journey outside the choir room? God - she was starting to sound like Raph. 

She waited for Santana to order, and then when the cashier rung up her drink Kit took a big gulp of air and stepped in, waving her card. “I’ll get it,” she announced, sounding more confident than she was, “and I’ll have an oat milk mochaccino, thanks.” She sidled up next to Santana and tried to look nonchalant. “Maybe Quinn should swap to dairy-free milks,” she added, “I was thinking the other day that maybe the vomiting thing is some kind of lactose intolerance...” 

Lima mall on a Saturday was nothing less than a nightmare, especially on a wet, early fall afternoon, when it became the perfect shelter from the worst of the weather. The worst part of the whole arrangement was the groups of teenagers, playing music aloud from their phones (did the kids not use headphones anymore?) and filming TikToks in the food court. A girl with a buzzcut approached Kit. She smiled, aiming for friendly, but let out an exasperated huff of air as the girl smacked right into her left side, sending her shopping bags sliding across the ground. One of the bags slid to the feet of someone just in front of her, and when Kit looked up she was surprised to find she recognised the owner of the footwear she’d just been looking at. “Tina?”

“Dad, will you come and take those photos for my insta now please?” Kit called, emerging into the kitchen wearing an extravagant (but impressive) handmade version of a recent couture look, featuring some pretty extreme blue eyeshadow. “I think i have finally perfected the details on this ode to the Ronald van der Kemp couture runway, but the shoulder pieces are just stapled on so- oh my god Finn. What the hell are you doing here?” 

“Raph?” Kit shouted across the almost empty parking lot, walking as fast as she could in her heeled boots (which wasn’t that fast, but luckily Raph’s legs weren’t that long). “Raphael Berry - stop right there.” She finally reached out for his arm, expression a mixture of concern and mistrust. “What were you doing in that auditorium? I thought you were ill?” She’d  spotted him at the end of the last performance, just out of the corner of her eye. “You can’t sneak around in a wardrobe like that - come on, I’ve got eyes like the love-child of Anna Wintour and a trained bird of prey.”

Sugar: I was GOING to include Finn since there's like no one in glee club that doesn't like girls at least but I forgooot to cut Puck so!

Sugar: You don't have to LIKE them for real but in a world where you gooootta pick, who would you pick!

Sugar: You're taller than her so that makes sense. I think it's a lesbro? which is a lil ??? cuz thats WAY nicer than hag.

Sugar: Who would you Slushie tho?

Kit: Well if Finn is in the mix...

Kit: Then I guess marry Finn

Kit: But only because she's the only girl

Kit: And only if our parents aren't together anymore in this hypothetical game world

Sugar: After weeks of being in the Choir room for weeks it's the glee club moment of truth! Fuck, Marry, Kill, Slushie: Hotbois edition: Sam, Puck, Matt, Raph

Kit: Sugar I'm gay

Kit: But since you asked

Kit: Actually no I'm not having sex with any of them

Kit: Though it does seem inevitable that Raph will pivot to trying to marry me when his thing with Finn falls through. I don't know what the lesbian version of a hag is though

Good question. I don’t think so but I can ask my parents, maybe it was my first baby outfit. Are you sure I’d be able to even fit into your clothes? Like not in a bad way, just cause I’m taller. 

Tiny plaid rompers, tiny plaid blankets. I can see it now. A sea of plaid. You’re right, there might be a bit of a sizing issue but I am sure you could make it work! I’ve got a lot of sequins, velvets, fancy jackets with fringing... you want to add some drama into your life, Sam Evans, I am your girl. 

Coach Sylvester has a strict “No Gingers” policy so it’s never been an issue. But yes, if she allowed redheads to join I’m sure they’d be expected to follow our dress code same as anyone else. Minorities don’t get special treatment on our squad.

And as much as I’d like to say the red’s symbolic of us bathing in the blood of our enemies, it’s not that deep. We wear it because it’s one of our school colors. Didn’t you have something better to do with your summer than stare at photos of us analyzing our apparel? Do I need to get a restraining order?

I’m not obsessed with you Kent, but if you are interested in some feedback I do think your Cheerio’s pants could use some tailoring... maybe one turn up at the ankle. Those things are so ill-fitting. No, I’m just always thinking about clothes really. It isn’t a you thing - though I do find your acid wit very impressive though. Do you practice all those one liners in front of the mirror in a morning? 

Yeah! I don’t know a lot of clothes description words so I’ll just have to show you sometime instead, but if you ask me basically everything’s better when there’s a hood on it. Uh, yeah! Or you could buy some fabric and make it into a headband, or wear if around your waist like we did back in third grade. Man, I miss when it was cool to tie your sweatshirts around yourself, I feel like I lose them so much more now that I’m not supposed to do that. Those Titans? I thought it was something different, I didn’t realize we were named after like, Zeus’s dad that ate him. 

Now you’re talking Ryder... that is such a good idea about the fabric. Maybe I could make a plaid CAPE. Actually no, that might be too much - even for me. You could tie them around your shoulders, it would be very retro. All the kids did it in Grease and the clothes in that are great. Maybe between the two of us we could bring the style back. 

Maybe I’m getting them mixed up, but I can’t even think of any other Titans, can you? It kind of makes sense because the football team are kind of raised up to the standard of Greek gods... and twice as problematic. 

Mercedes wiggled her fingers against Kit’s and then brought them back to face to wipe her hair from her eyes; the action made her giggle, mostly because it was the closest to a best friend handshake she’d ever had and here they were, doing it before trying out for glee club together. It was so awesome. “I wouldn’t know, the only short convos I’ve had with him are ruined immediately by him hitting on me. How do you stop him from doing that?” But Kit was right, not about Puck, but about the younger kids. Some of them seemed to have an energy that might be hard to channel. “Hopefully the ones that can’t work well with others quit. We don’t need unworthy people clamoring for the spotlight when it’s going to be passed between you and me so much already.”

“Wish I knew, he even tried it with me and he knows full well I don’t swing that way,” she aimed for nonchalance, but was clearly flattered either way. She liked Puck, even if he was vulgar. She thought he had a good heart. “You’re so right,” she grinned, flicking her own hair behind her in an action that she hoped read fabulous. “I’m hoping the others will see us as mature and wise older sister types,” she mused, “I’ve always thought I would be a great role model - you too. Perhaps they’ll come to us for advice, clothing, song choices... romance. I do think this might all work out very well.” 

Tina hadn’t forgotten that the beginning of their group work had been a bit icy, but she had filed it away to dissect later, and it took her a moment to catch back up to speed when Kit mentioned it. “Oh! That’s totally okay. I’m used to the dumb kids expecting me to do all the work, and to the other smart kids like… not really talking to me very much, so I know group work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. You’re actually the best partner I’ve ever had, and we haven’t even finished yet,” she chuckled. She could get a good grade all on her own, but she’d never made a friend before; that meant this encounter had to be special in the grand scheme of things. “And ugh, the slushies are the worst! How are kids still allowed to throw them? I seriously don’t understand.”

Tina’s eyes went wide at the sight of Kit’s car. “I so didn’t peg you as a truck person,” Tina said, even as she happily clambered into the passenger seat. “It’s kind of amazing, though. How could anyone mess with someone who’s driving a truck?” She settled in, letting herself get comfortable – a rarity for Tina around her peers. It felt good, and it would almost make her sad about all that she’d missed  the past few years, if she weren’t so busy being elated instead. “Your dad gave you a hard time about doing just two parts? You should hear me try One Day More from Les Mis, I’ve got a different voice for everyone.”

Kit liked the version of herself that Tina seemed to be seeing in that moment, and couldn’t repress a wide smile. “I would have gone for something a little more chic,” she admitted, slipping into the the drivers seat, and dealing with her seatbelt and everything, “something with like a little fold-down roof that I could have driven while wearing a silk scarf around my hair, you know, blasting Lana Del Rey and feeling like a heiress or whatever. My dad picked the truck, said he had one when he was young and it was good on icy mornings, or whatever.” She shrugged, booting the engine up and pulling out of the lot. A CD (super retro, yes, but it had been her mom’s and there wasn’t an aux cable in the car) loaded with broadway hits continued playing where it had stopped off that morning. In an insane coincidence, it was the opening bars of a Les Mis song.