yellow sam evans

01 auditions

There were very few moments of peace at McKinley High, and Beatrice knew this better than anyone. Today, she found herself cornered by none other than Jacob Ben Israel, the notorious gossip hound of the school. Bee could feel the sweat starting to bead at the nape of her neck, her fingers clutching the straps of her backpack with a growing sense of dread.

"Is it true you went to New York this summer and had lunch with Stephen Sondheim?" JBI's nasally voice grated in her ears as he thrust a clunky microphone an inch from her face, the ancient camcorder balanced on his other shoulder.

Bee pressed her lips into a thin smile, trying not to let her frustration show. She'd rehearsed a polite response for moments like this, ones that wouldn't come back to haunt her on Jacob's insufferable blog. "Who told you that?" she replied, her voice dripping with faux patience. Her eyes darted around the bustling hallway, searching for an escape route. All around them, students were rushing to their classes, slamming locker doors, and calling out to friends, but nobody seemed interested in rescuing her.

Until, mercifully, a flash of movement caught her eye. Kurt Hummel appeared down the hall, striding toward her with a look of purpose. He zeroed in on JBI with an arched brow and a perfectly timed eyeroll. "Jacob, don't you have better things to do than harass our resident ingénue?" Kurt's voice was saccharine with a touch of menace, and Bee nearly melted with relief as he stepped between her and Jacob.

"Can you confirm or deny, Kurt, that Bee is secretly auditioning for an official Broadway production next summer?" Jacob fired back, undeterred. His eyes gleamed behind his thick glasses, clearly thrilled at the possibility of another scoop.

Kurt scoffed dramatically, pretending to toss his hair over one shoulder. "As if someone with actual talent would confide in you," he quipped before grabbing Bee's wrist and pulling her away from the nosy journalist.

"Thanks," Bee murmured, falling into step beside him. The two of them walked briskly down the crowded corridor, their footsteps echoing off the worn linoleum. Bee's shoulders finally began to relax, her grip on her bag loosening.

"Honestly, I don't know how you handle that without punching him," Kurt said, casting her a sympathetic smile. He waved at a group of Cheerios they passed, receiving a few hesitant waves in return.

"I think I deserve a medal for not strangling him," Bee joked, shaking her head. They walking into the familiar choir room, where their fellow Glee Club members were scattered around—Tina chatting animatedly with Mike, Artie moping about the new couple, and Brittany perched on a bench, braiding Santana's hair.

"Hey, you two! Over here!" Mercedes called, waving them over.

Bee and Kurt exchanged a look, both grateful to escape into the familiar comfort of their Glee Club family. They both sat down on either side of Mercedes, who wrapped them into a hug. "Ugh I missed you two!" The trios moment was quickly interrupted with Mr.Schuesters "warm" welcome.

"Glee is a giant ball of suck.' These are comments from Jacob Ben-Israel's most recent Glee Club blog."

Beatrice sighed and rested her head on Mercedes shoulder. Most of Mr.Schues peptalks were depressing and made them feel even worse.

"We get it, Mr. Shue. Everyone still hates us. So what? So we're plankton on the high school food chain? Only difference now is that none of us really care." Kurt butt in before their teacher could get anymore pessimistic.

"Kurt's right. We're a family. They can bring it all they want. None of it is going to break us." Mercedes agreed with her friend, Bee also snapping in agreement.

Unfortunately this didn't deter Mr.Schue from continuing to discuss how great it is that the group had bonded over the trauma but they still needed 13 members after Matt had left, blah, Vocal Adrenaline, blah.