Nemesism | GLEE

twelve | hell-o

After drawing a stick figure with a speech bubble and the word 'hello' written into the speech bubble, Mr. Schuester turned to the New Directions and said to them, "Hello." When no one responded, he said, "Hello?"

They all responded with a weak 'hello', while Christian only rolled his eyes in response.

As he started to walk towards them, Mr. Schuester asked, "What do you guys say when you answer the phone?"

With a raise of her hands, Mercedes said, "What up?"

Artie said, "Who this be?"

With a roll of his eyes, Christian said, "Go away."

The others only rolled their eyes at Christian's statement, while Kurt said, "No, she's dead. This is her son."

Mr. Schuester replied, "O-kay... Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, liked to say 'Ahoy, ahoy' when he answered the phone. It was Edison who decided that 'hello' was a more appropriate greeting. Look, I am really proud of what you guys did at Sectionals, but as most of you have realized by now, it hasn't made a bit of difference in your day-to-day at school."

Rachel told him, "I have a slushy-stained training bra to prove it."

While Christian scrunched his nose at Rachel's words, Mr. Schuester said to them, "The fact is, we're gonna have to be better, even more spectacular, at Regionals. It's time for some reinvention, some new New Directions. We need a new... hello. Here's your assignment for the week. Come up with a fresh number, but it has to have 'hello' in the song title, alright?"

* * *

After glancing up from his phone, Christian looked over at Mr. Schuester, who said as he entered the choir room, "Alright, guys, you got to get moving on those 'hello' numbers. Who has got something to show us? Volunteers?"

After a couple seconds of silence, Rachel raised her hand and said, "Mr. Schuester, I think I found a song that sums up my feelings perfectly."

Mr. Schuester replied, "Fantastic, Rachel. Show us what you got."

With a raised eyebrow, Christian watched as Rachel placed her hands on hips and sang while she stared directly at Finn, "I wake up every evening with a big smile on my face, and it never feels out of place." As she walked towards Finn with a mere shake of her head, she sang, "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. Now, where's your picket fence, love? And where's that shiny car? And did it ever get you far? You never seemed so tense, love. I've never seen you fall so hard. Do you know where you are?"

Christian chuckled as she slowly walked towards Artie, while she sang, "And truth be told, I miss you. And truth be told, I'm lying."

After she pulled Kurt off his chair, which resulted in Kurt scoffing to himself as he walked further away from the enraged teenager, she sat in his chair and sang with all but an incredibly amused Christian St. James and a most likely confused Finn Hudson, "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well, then he's a fool. You're just as well, hope it gives you hell."

As she pointed at Mike Chang, who came over to where she was and started to dance, she sang, "Now, you'll never see what you've done to me. You can take back your memories, they're no good to me. And here's all your lies. You can look me in the eyes with the sad, sad look that you wear so well."

Then all but Finn and Christian started to dance as they sang, "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell."

After she sat down in a chair that Mike was standing behind, Rachel sang, "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell." As Mike helped her to stand up onto the chair, she sang, "When you hear this song and sing along, well, you'll never tell. Then you're a fool, I'm just as well, hope it gives you hell. When you hear this song, I hope that it will give you hell. You can sing along. I hope that it will treat you well."

While Christian only chuckled to himself and Rachel looked over at Finn, Mr. Schuester told them, "Guys, guys, guys. I don't want to be a buzz-kill, but the assignment was 'hello'"

Rachel replied, "I'm sorry. I was just focusing on the first syllable."

Mr. Schuester said to them, "You know what? I don't think you guys understand the seriousness of what we're up against. While we were busy winning our Sectional, Vocal Adrenaline was busy winning theirs. They're last year's national champions. They haven't lost a competition in three years. This is the big leagues, guys. If we don't place at Regionals, Glee Club is over."

* * *

With his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face, Christian watched as Rachel quickly entered the choir room and said to them with a big smile on her face, "Hey, guys."

Kurt said to her, "Cut the butter, Benedict Arnold. We heard about your new boyfriend."

Mercedes said to her, "Look, Rachel, we're all happy that you're happy, but we've worked too hard in Glee Club to let you throw it all away on a relationship that might not even be real."

Rachel asked them, "Why, 'cause he's in Vocal Adrenaline?"

While Christian narrowed his eyes at Rachel, Kurt told her, "Their motto is 'Aut neca aut necatus eris'. Which loosely translates to 'Murder or be murdered'."

Tina said to Rachel, "They give their dancers human growth hormone."

Mercedes said to Rachel, "Look, we're not saying the dude is playing you."

With a nod of his head, Kurt said, "He's playing you."

Mercedes told her, "We just think that until Regionals are over, we can't risk the possibility he is."

Tina said with a shake of her head, "None of us want to go through what happened at Sectionals again."

After sighing to herself, Rachel said, "Okay, look, Jesse and I might not be true love, but what if we are? I know who I am. And how many chances at this am I going to get?"

After he shared a look with Mercedes, Kurt told Rachel, "If you don't break up with him, you're out."

Rachel yelled, "You can't kick me out!"

Artie replied, "But we can all quit if Mr. Shue doesn't."

Rachel said to them, "Well, good luck winning without me."

Kurt told her, "Everyone is replaceable, even you."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Rachel asked them, "How could you do this to me?"

Mercedes retorted as she took a step towards Rachel, "How could you do this to us? We're a team, and all you've ever wanted was for us to be great, and be a part of something special. Now is that still true or not?"

After staring at Mercedes for a couple seconds, Rachel turned to Christian and said, "Christian?"

After scoffing to himself, Christian told her, "The point still stands, Rachel. Either you break up with him, or I find him at either his school or his house and kick his ass myself. Again." After taking a step towards her, he said, "And I won't care if you hate me for it, because I will mess up his actual face this time by the time I'm through with him and I sure as hell won't let him ruin the one good thing I have going for me."