Old Habits Die Hard

13

"In the 58 year history of the William McKinley High School glee club, there has never been such a debacle!"

It was needless to say, Mr. Shue was pissed. And rightfully so. They had a performance in front of the school, and they had attempted to lip sync. It was a very horrible attempt, at that.

"We do not lip sync ever!"

"We're sorry, Mr. Shue," Blaine said. "We were just trying to help Brittany out..."

"Lip syncing is the equivalent of blood doping in professional sports," Mr. Shue yelled. "Every gain we have made in the last three years has been wiped out. And I'm not just talking about our reputation here at McKinley. If the National Show Choir Board of Review gets wind of this, we could be barred from competing. What do you have to say for yourself, Brittany?"

"To quote the legend herself, If I met me, I would say a quick hello, and then think I was a really nice girl," Brittany said. "And I resign from glee club, effective immediately."

The bell rang a few moments later, and nobody wasted time in gathering their things and leaving after that disaster. "I can't believe that just happened," Marley said to Barry as they entered the hallway. "It was so bad."

"Yeah," Barry sighed. "Embarrassingly so. I hope no one mentions it at track."

"Those guys seem cool," Marley said. "Have you tried talking to them, maybe making some friends?"

"Not yet," Barry replied. "I'm either out of breath from running, or half naked in the locker room. Neither of which is a great time to make friends."

Marley let out a laugh. "Yeah, definitely not." She said, "But you should find one of them during the day. Maybe you could have a conversation with them?" She suggested with a small shrug.

"Maybe," Barry replied. "Let Aunt Millie know I'm going to walk home after track, a decision I'm sure I'll regret later."

"I'm sure you will," Marley replied. "I'll let her know."

"Thanks," Barry said. "See you at home?"

Marley nodded. "Have fun in your torture club."

Barry just stuck his tongue out at her.

~~~~

In the locker room following practice, some of the guys started talking. Barry listened to it for a bit, but didn't really join in, until a new topic came up.

"Hey, Relish, did your parents hate you or something?" one of the guys, Nicholas, Barry believed, asked. "Why else would they name you after a condiment?"

Relish shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "My mom is a little crazy sometimes, if she forgets her pill. A lot of my friends just call me Lish."

"Barry is short for Bartholomew," Barry piped up. "It's not quite as bad, but it's not even near the list of good names to give your baby."

"First names are escapable with nicknames," James added. "My last name is Breadstick."

"Am I seriously one of the only ones here with a normal name?" Nicholas asked.

Relish looked over at him, "It sounds like a British Prep School Guy's name." He pointed out.

Nicholas paused. "Damn it." He said after a moment.

"You can always just escape your full name by legally getting it changed." Barry said. He had done this before, of course. He moved to Ridgewood and started a whole new life.

"Well, yeah." James nodded. "But how many people have actually done that?" He asked.

Barry felt inclined to answer, "I have." He said.

The small group of boys turned to him making Barry pretty uncomfortable.

"I know you did not pick Bartholomew by choice." Relish told him.

Barry let out a laugh, "No. I changed it a few years back. But I changed it back after some stuff happened." He said.

"What could possibly be that bad?" James asked.

"Psychotic ex girlfriend," Barry said, shrugging like it was no big deal. It was, but he didn't want it to seem that way.

"How psychotic?" Relish asked.

"They admitted her to a mental institute," Barry said. "I moved and changed my name because if I never see her again, it'll be too soon."

"Dude took ghosting to a whole other level," Nicholas said. Barry laughed a little.

"I guess you could say that," he said.

"You said you changed it back." James pointed out before continuing. "So why did you change it in the first place?"

Barry paused, thinking of how exactly to answer this. "Bullying." He answered shortly, going into detail after a moment. "There was this guy at my old school- Tony Woodward. Total ass. He'd throw me into lockers and beat me up."

Relish winced, "Oof." He said.

"And you went back there?" Nicholas asked. "Damn, I'd never go back to my hometown if that shit happened to me."

Barry nodded, "That's where my dad is. And since I was young I swore I'd never leave him."

"But you left because of...bullying?" James asked for confirmation.

"Yeah," Barry nodded. "It led to another hospital visit." He shrugged. "It resumed when I went back so I moved here."

"Well, you're in track so it's not likely you'll get the brunt of the bullying," Relish said. "It's not like football and at the top of the food chain here, but it's better than nothing."

Barry nodded, as a phone went off somewhere in the locker room. "My mom is here," Nicholas stated. "I gotta go, do you guys wanna trade numbers and we can plan something this weekend?"

~~~~

Barry took off his shoes before he walked into the living room where Marley was.

"Hey, Barry," she said. "How was track?"

"It was good," Barry replied. "I talked with some of the guys today, they're super cool."

"I told you!" Marley grinned.

"We're going to get pizza this weekend," Barry said.

"That sounds like fun," Marley said. "I'm glad."

"Thanks," Barry said. "I'm going to head upstairs and get my homework done."

"Okay, I'll let you know when dinner's ready," Marley said.

"Thanks, Marls."