𝚃𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽 ➭ 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗇 𝗁𝗎𝖽𝗌𝗈𝗇

twenty-nine; the substitute

Mr. Schue being off sick wasn't ideal for the club. With sectionals not so far away, every day their teacher was sick was a day wasted by not rehearsing. Still, Winona wasn't that upset about it— maybe glee club now had a chance to relax without thinking about what Journey song to sing next.

Winona walked into the choir room, hands stuffed in her leather jacket's pockets. Puck stood up from the floor with a suspicious smirk as she walked past him— or at least, tried to. She slipped, not all the way, just a lot of stumbling in an attempt to stay upright. Instinctively, Finn put a hand on her back and gently pushed her forwards until she was off of the tiles covered in butter. Grateful, she offered him a smile, before turning to Puckerman and flicking his head.

"Dude, what was that for?"

"We have a substitute, so I'm buttering the floor," He acknowledged, Winona nodding. That was kinds genius, but she pitied the poor substitute that had to deal with the glee club all day. She trotted over to Tina, Artie and Mercedes, who were all giggling at her.

"So. . sup?"

"We're all gonna swap names, yo!" Artie exclaimed, Winona perking up.

"I'll be Brittany!"

"I knew I always had a clone," Brittany mumbled, looking over at her. Winona gave her a thumbs up, before giggling with her friends.

"Um, did I hear something about a substitute?" Rachel announced as she stormed through the door. She trotted much faster than Winona had, leading her to fully slip and land on her back. Finn didn't even make an effort to catch her.

"Yes! It works!" Noah beamed, everyone laughing as Rachel carefully stood up and smoothed out her skirt, scoffing.

"At least I didn't fall and break my talent."

After Rachel took her seat, the substitute, Ms. Holiday headed towards the room. Everyone tensed as she neared the buttered spot, but she slid over it gracefully.

"Oh, what the hell?" Artie muttered.

"Hola, class," She greeted with a knowing grin as Kurt approached the buttered floor and slipped, "Nothing says bienvenidos quite like a buttered floor. Let's start with some introductions. My name is Holly Holliday. What's yours? Go." She pointed to Puck first, prompting him to start the shenanigans.

"I'm Finn Hudson. I'm quarterback of the football team," He said, pulling a dumb face. Finn narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm Rachel Berry, his loud, loud girlfriend," Continued Santana.

"I'm Brittany. Brittany Spears," Winona chimed in. She looked to Brittany, gesturing for her to pretend she was Winona.

"I'm Mike Chang."

Close enough. Winona clasped her hands together as Ms. Holiday shook her head.

"Those aren't your names. You know why I know that? Because I recently watched a video of you guys performing at regionals, where you came in last. Maybe it's because the songs were about 30 years old, but—"

"Those songs are classics!" Finn piped up.

"Those songs are amazing. But they sounded like somebody else's favorite songs, not yours. . Just sayin'."

"She has a point."

"Yeah, she speaks the truth," Brittany added.

"I'm not your average, run-of-the-mill substitute teacher. I want you guys to do things that you want to do. I want you to have fun in our fabulous but fleeting time together. What do you say we have class outside today?" Ms. Holiday suggested, Mercedes cocking a brow.