𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 | s. lopez

Audition

Juniper walked through the double doors of McKinley high for her first day of sophomore year. She waved goodbye to Santana – who she became very close with over the summer, they do live together after all – and headed to her locker.

She could hear students whispering about her, but she didn't think anything of it until she reached her locker, her heart dropping at what was written on it.

"That's terrible."

"Such a shame."

"I feel so bad for her."

"Who would do such a thing?"

Across her locker, "orphan" was written in big, bold letters. Juniper quickly put her things away and hurried down the hall.

"Juniper, what the hell was that?" asked Finn as he walked up next to her.

"It's nothing," mumbled the brunette.

"Don't say it's nothing," said Finn, grabbing Juniper's arm.

"What do you want me to say, huh?" she asked, anger rising in her voice and her eyes filling with tears as she turned around to face the quarterback. "You saw what was written on that locker! Everyone at this damn school knows I'm nothing more than an orphan who will never be loved by anyone because nobody wants a teenager!"

"Yes, they do," said Finn, gently wiping a tear off of Juniper's face. "You have a family out there somewhere that can't wait to welcome you into their home."

"Yeah, well I don't think that's ever going to happen. I can pretend all I want, but I'm never going to get back what I had before my parents died."

And with that, Juniper walked away, hurrying to the girls bathroom and locking herself in a stall as she let the tears fall from her eyes. As much as she hates to admit it, she does care what people think. And they know that now. And now they know the best way to get to her.

****

"These are comments from Jacob Ben Israel's most recent Glee Club blog," said Mr. Schue at the beginning of the first Glee Club rehearsal of the year. "'Glee is a giant ball of suck.'"

"We get it Mr. Schue. Everyone still hates us," said Kurt. "The only difference now is that none of us really care."

"Kurt's right," agreed Mercedes. "We're a family. They can bring it all they want. None of it is gonna break us."

"I'm happy that you guys have bonded," said Mr. Schue. "The problem is that all of this negative stuff is keeping other students from auditioning."

"Good. Why do we need new members?" asked Tina.

"We need someone to replace Matt since he transferred. And if we wanna go to nationals, if we wanna beat Vocal Adrenaline, we have to go from a small rebel force to a giant wall of sound."

"Yeah, Mr. Schuester's right," said Rachel, standing up to go to the front of the class. "You didn't see Vocal Adrenaline at regionals. They were epic. We're gonna need more voices in order to beat them."

"Yeah," agreed Finn. "I'm with Rachel on this one." He stood up to go stand by her.

"You're gonna have to trust me on this, guys," said Mr. Schue. "Now, here's the plan. Nationals are in New York this year. And we. Are. Going!"

Everyone exchanged excited looks, except for Juniper who kept her head down and picked at her nails. Kurt noticed this and furrowed his brows, exchanging a worried look with Finn.

"Now let's go out there and show the school how cool it's gonna be, how cool we can be," continued Mr. Schue. "If they're not gonna come to us, let's go to them. They say we only sing show tunes and '80s pop. So let's give them the song of the year. New Directions style."

****

****

As Juniper headed towards the front doors of the school with Puck, she passed a boy with blonde hair that looked like a knock-off Justin Bieber. The first thing she noticed were his huge lips. They looked – what's the word – trouty?

"Nice mouth, fish face," she said to him.

"Isn't she a sweetheart?" smirked Puck. "Play nice, Juni."

"I'm keeping it real," shrugged the brunette as they walked outside to the parking lot.

"Guys, wait up!"

The two friends turned around to see Finn running up to them.

"Juniper, I need you to come with me," said the quarterback, out of breath.

"Puck is already giving me a ride," said the younger girl.

"Ain't that the truth," smirked the mohawk boy, raising his brows.

"Shut it, Fuckerman," said Juniper, glaring at Puck. "Quit making everything a sex thing."

"Juniper," said Finn, getting the brunette's attention. "My mom and Burt wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight. Can you please come with me? It's kind of important."

"Okay," said Juniper. "See you later, Puck the Fuck."

"See you around, Juni the Looney," he replied, high-fiving the younger girl before she left with Finn.

****

Juniper sat at a table with the Hudson and Hummel families. It was weird seeing Finn and Kurt outside of school. It was even weirder to be sitting right across the table from their parents.

"Juniper, we're so happy you could join us tonight," said Carole, smiling softly at the brunette.

"Thanks for having me, Ms. Hudson," replied Juniper, taking a small bite of the pasta Carole had made for dinner.

"So, Juniper, are you in Glee Club with Kurt and Finn?" asked Burt.

"Yes, Mr. Hummel," said the brunette, politely. "It's a lot of fun. They're both so talented."

"Please, you're too kind," Kurt smiled. "You're pretty talented yourself."

"You've never even heard me sing."

"I stood next to you when we sang You Can't Always Get What You Want at sectionals last year," said the brunette boy. "You have a very pretty voice."

"Thanks," Juniper smiled a little.

"So, uh, Finn tells us that you've been getting picked on at school," said Carole gently.

"Yeah, it's nothing," shrugged Juniper. "Just kids being mean to those who's home life isn't exactly like theirs."

"Juni, don't say it's nothing," said Finn. "I saw how bummed out you were the other day when those kids wrote that on your locker."

"Carole and I were wondering if you wanted to come live with us," said Burt. "Permanently."

"You mean, like, ad- adopt?" asked Juniper, shock filling her voice.

"If that would be okay with you," said Carole.

"I- I don't even know what to say," said the brunette. "That would be amazing, Ms. Hudson and Mr. Hummel."

"You can call us Carole and Burt," said Carole, smiling at the younger girl.

"So, is that a 'yes?'" asked Kurt, smiling widely at Juniper.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble?"

"No trouble at all, sweetie," said Carole.

"Then yeah," smiled Juniper. "It's a yes."