Glee - Falling Apart

Chapter 13

"Acceptance." Mr. Shue looked out at the group of teens after writing that word on the board. "How many of you feel accepted by others in this room?"

Every single one of them raised their hands.

"Now, how many of you accept yourselves one hundred percent?"

No one's hand went up. The teenagers all looked ashamed.

"That's the problem," Mr. Shue told them. "You all feel like your friends accept you, but you don't accept yourself. This weeks lesson is all about learning to accept the good and the bad parts of you. One at a time, each of you will write down five things that you don't like about yourselves. Than, five other people will go up, and tell you how your supposed weakness is actually a strength."

Rachel raised her hand. "Will we be singing?"

"If you would like, you are more than welcome to sing your feelings on top of doing this activity. But you don't need to. This week isn't about becoming better singers or dancers, it's about becoming a better team."

The kids all looked around. Who was going to volunteer to go first?

Mr. Shue saw their hesitation. "We'll be starting this tomorrow. Today we'll focus on some dance moves, ok?"

The teens all nodded, looking relieved, then followed their teacher to the auditorium.

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When Tuesday glee club came around, Sam hurried to the choir room. He figured Rachel would want to do this activity first, so he wasn't surprised that Rachel was the first one there, and looked as if she had been waiting for awhile.

"You going first?" Sam asked her.

"I'm going to ask as soon as Mr. Shue gets here," she told him.

But he was surprised later on when she finally asked, and the teacher's answer was that someone else had asked him first. He wondered who it was.

"All right guys! Today we're going to start with Quinn. Than Rachel will go, and we'll probably have time for one of two after that."

Sam looked at Quinn in surprise. "You're going first?"

"May as well get it over with," she said, walking over to Mr. Shue and grabbing the marker he handed to her. Than she walked up to the white board.

Sam could see her hands shaking as she started to write. Her body was blocking what the words said, so he didn't see them until she was done, and had stepped away from the board.

1. Beth
2. Bitch/bully
3. Fake
4. Just a pretty face
5. Bad girlfriend

Sam looked at his girlfriend. He had always thought of her as perfect, and he thought she had too. But he was now realizing that she didn't love herself completely, just like everyone else.

"Could you explain each of the things on your list?" Mr. Shue asked.

Quinn took a deep breath. "Well the Beth thing kind of explains itself. I've always hated that fact that I ended up in that situation, and than I'd hate myself for regretting it because she was so perfect. And I'd feel ashamed that I gave her up, even though she's better off with Shelby. I've always regretted everything about that situation, and than I'd feel guilty because she's so amazing."

Puck stood up. "Beth is in a better place right now, but that doesn't mean you are. It's ok to regret what happened. You just need to understand that you brought an amazing girl into the world, one that wasn't meant to be yours. One day, Shelby will forgive you for what happened earlier this year, and you can have a relationship with Beth. And it's ok to regret having her. That doesn't make you a monster."