The Rocque From Lima

Chapter 22: Journey to Regionals

     Silence filled Mr. Schue's apartment. We found out Coach Sue is one of the judges for regionals. Now we are drowning in sorrow about Glee being over.

     "No one wants any pizza?" Nobody answered. "All right, well, uh, let's get started. Thank you for coming to the first annual New Directions Regionals set list nominations party."

     "What's the point, Mr. Schue? Coach Sylvester's one of the judges. She's gonna crush us."

     "Artie, you don't know that." Mr. Schue told Artie and Santana finally spoke.

   "Yes, we do. She told us at Cheerios practice."

     "Yeah, she said, I'm going to crush Glee Club." I spoke after her, staring off into space.

     "A whole freaking year. All that hard work for nothing." Puck complained as Tina started crying.

     "I'm sorry. I just really love you guys. You know how many Facebook friends I had before I joined Glee Club?" I looked up at Tina with a small smile on my face. "Two, my parents. Rachel was right. Being a part of something special it made me special. I just can't believe it's going to be over in a week."

     "Wait. Who says it's going to be over?" Finn asked us.

     "Please. You think Puck and Santana are even going to acknowledge my existence once we're not in Glee Club together anymore?" Mercedes spoke and Puck agreeing.

     "Mr. Schuester?" Our teacher looked at a Crying Rachel. "Do you think instead of nominating songs, we can just all go around the room and talk about things that we loved about Glee Club this year?"

     Seeing Rachel cry about the Glee Club ending made me tear up a little. Glee feels like home to me and it feels like it's being taken away. I know how it feels and I don't want to experience it again.

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I knocked on Joshua's door, wanting to check in on him. I opened the door when I heard a small come in. He had homework spread all over his bed.

"Hey, how you doing, lil bro?" He sighed and looked up from his math homework.

     "I don't even know how to answer that." He moved most of the papers to make room for me to sit down, which I took. "When dad sent you to live down here with mom, I felt alone. Then dad decided to send the rest of his children across the country, and that feeling came back again. Sure, I was happy to see you again after 5 years, but I felt betrayed and like nobody understood me." He took a breath for a second and wiped away a tear that was threating to fall. "But you introduced me to Glee. From the moment I walked into the choir room, I felt safe, like it was home. To think of it being gone in just one week scares me." I hugged him and stayed like that for a while.

     "I waited for dad to reach out for years. He never did and to know he sent you guys down here because Julian made a mistake just makes me know that he probably shouldn't be a father in the first place. The only one that reached out was Arthur. He might of took a bit of a wrong turn with his daughter, but he cared. He even snuck up here to see me perform at sectionals. Sometimes I wish I was his actual daughter instead of his goddaughter. Too bad he can't make it up here for Regionals anymore, but it's okay." I took a breath and looked at my bother. He knew dad didn't really speak to me much anymore, but he thought he at least called here and there. "I feel pressure being a Cheerio. I got a reputation to keep up and always have to be perfect. During Glee, I feel like I can be myself and not have to live up to being a bitchy co-captain. So I know how it feels."

     We both sat in silence for a while before Josh spoke.

     "You know, I think there is a guy in dad's band you might like." I groaned.