𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 | s. lopez + b. pierce

Ballad

Jayden was at her locker putting her things away when Tina came up to her. She was fidgeting with the strap of her bag, and her eyes kept darting around the hallway.

"Hey, Tina," Jayden said, smiling at her friend as she closed her locker and turned to face her. "What's up?"

"I... I have to t-tell you s-something," the goth stuttered. "I a-already told A-Artie, and you deserve to kn-know."

"Is everything okay?" Jayden asked, looking worriedly up at the taller girl.

Tina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Would you h-hate me if I told you... I've been faking it," she said as she struggled to keep eye contact with the smaller girl. "I don't have a stutter."

"Wait, that's it?" Jayden asked. "Girl, you scared me. I thought something bad happened."

"You're not mad?"

"I have no reason to be mad," Jayden said, smiling softly as she hugged her friend. "Thanks for telling me, Tina."

****

"Ballad," Mr. Schue said as he wrote the word on the board. "From Middle English, balade. Who knows what this word means?"

"It's a male duck," Brittany confidently said.

Mr. Schue gave her a weird look before calling on Kurt.

"A ballad is a love song," the brunette boy said.

"Sometimes, but they don't always express love," said Mr. Schue. "Ballads are stories set to music, which is why they're the perfect storm of self-expression. Stories and music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out any other way. Okay, now, sectionals are in a few weeks and there's a new rule this year. We have to perform a ballad."

"Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio Show Choir Committee finally paid off!" Rachel beamed.

"Okay. So here's our assignment for the week. I'm going to pair you off, and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner," the teacher explained as he walked up to where Jayden was sitting next to Tina. He bent down so that he was at her level. "Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express, and make them feel it."

What does he know?

Who told him?

He's creeping me out.

Get away from me.

"I pick Quinn," said Finn.

"No, no, no," Mr. Schue said as he walked over to the piano. "Too easy. Your partners will be chosen by fate. I put all your names in this hat. Whoever you choose is your partner."

"I bet the duck's in the hat," Brittany whispered.

"But there's an uneven number of people in the room," Santana pointed out as Matt nodded.

"Um... I guess we'll just have to have a group of three," Mr. Schue shrugged. "Who's up first?"

One by one, the Glee Clubbers went up to pick their partners. Puck got Mercedes, Artie got Quinn, Finn got Kurt, Rachel got Matt, and Tina got Mike. As Santana went up to the front of the room to choose, she frowned when she saw the two remaining slips of paper in the hat, Mr. Schue's words echoing in her mind.

We'll just have to have a group of three.

She looked over at the two other remaining students without a partner.

Fuck.

"Go ahead, Santana," Mr. Schue said, nodding to the hat. "We're waiting."

She sighed and picked up one of the slips of paper, smiling when she saw the name. "Brittany."