Infuriated

•37•

,,What's going on? How bad is it?" Mr. Schue asks us, when he comes into our hotel room. We are already in Chicago for Nationals and so far, nothing has gone as planned. Mercedes is lying in her bed, extremely sick with the rest of us girls crowded around her.

,,Her temperature is 101 degrees. Given the fact that Weezy's complaining about an upset stomach, it's either Amazonian dengue fever or the H1N1 super virus." Sue, the cheerleaders coach who wanted to come with us, says dramatically.

,,Or I have food poisoning." Mercedes suggests weakly.

,,We all wanted burritos for lunch, so we went to Chipotle, but Mercedes tried some dive called 'Senora Salsation'." Santana explains. I sit down on the end of Mercedes bed.

,,Is it really bad?" I ask, smiling sympathetically.

,,I feel like I have a bunch of tiny little elves in my stomach, that are having a dance party and trying to get rid of all the food so they have more room, pushing it up and out through my mouth." She says, closing her eyes.

,,Okay, so here's what's going to happen," Mr. Schue says. ,,Mercedes, you're on bed rest. Quinn, you're stepping in."

,,No, no, no. I can't dance that number, I can't sing it either. Not without -"

,,The Trouble Tones need you." Mr Schue says, not wanting to hear what I have to say.

,,And you're better than you think you are." Tine says encouragingly.

,,Yeah, Q, you're fantastic." Rachel says.

,,Tina, you too. You're in the Trouble Tones."

,,Mr. Schue, this is my last competition. I don't want to miss it." Mercedes says, easing herself up with help from Sugar.

,,Amen to that, sister. That's why I'm putting you on a vitamin B-12 drip. We're flushing your system with Pedialyte and I'm going to fill that bathtub with ice and see if we can get your ambient body temperature back down to normal. That worked in Jacob's Ladder." Sue grabs a bucket and goes into the bathroom.

,,All right, we all have our marching orders. Let's do this." Mr. Schue leads us backstage. There we are getting ready to perform. These costumes are definitely my favorite so far. I'm wearing a lovely vibrant bright red dress with black lining and a black bow in the middle of the sweetheart neckline. The boys are wearing a black shirt with black pants and a red tie.

,,We look fabulous." I tell Santana and Brittany, smirking while I secure my hair with a pin.

,,All right, gather around everyone. I just want to say a few words before we go out there." Mr. Schue says, as we all group up into a circle.

,,Hold on, Mr. Schue. Hold on." Finn says. ,,You've given us a lot of pep talks over the years, but remember, you told us once that a teacher's job is done when his students don't need him anymore."

,,Okay Finn, the floor is yours." Mr Schue says and I'm surprised he agrees for once.

,,We have been talking and everyone said what they wanted to win this thing for. We all said the same thing, we want to win this for Beca. We all know she isn't here to watch us perform and we all hope she's alright wherever she might be. So, can we do this group circle for Beca?" Finn looks at Mr. Schue as the rest of the Glee club makes noises of agreement, while hugging each other closely. I just hope Beca calls Marley to watch our performance.

,,New Directions, line up!" Someone announced over the PA now.

,,All right, that's it. Show time. Hands in, everyone." Everyone cheers and leans in, extending out our hands.