METANOIA. glee.

10. "ballad"

mr. schue writes "ballad" on the whiteboard. "ballad. from middle english, "balde". who knows what this word means?" mr. schue asks us. "a male duck." brittany blurts out. we all look at her, confused. "kurt." mr. schue ignore brittany's comment. "you got the right spirit." i say encouragingly to brittany. "a ballad is a love song." kurt answers.

"sometimes, but they don't always express love. ballads are stories set to music- which is why they're a 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 preform a ballad." mr. schue points to the word on the board.

"so, here's the assignment for the week. i'm going to pair you off and i want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner. look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express and make them feel it." he says. i look around at the class and start thinking who i'd want to sing a ballad with. "i pick quinn." finn says. "no no no, too easy. your partners will be chosen by fate." mr. schue exclaims.

he walks over to the piano, where a hat sits. "i put all your names in the hat. whoever you choose will be your partner." i scowl. "wait, mr. schue. we have an odd amount of people." i say as mr. schue sighs. "right. i guess i'll just have to put my name in." i'm praying i don't get him. that would be so awkward.

puck goes up first and gets mercedes. "damn." mercedes says under her breath and i laugh quietly. tina and quinn are paired together, and artie is with matt. finn is up next and i hold my breath. "kurt." he reads out loud and the group chuckles. i sigh, a bit disappointed. it's my turn and it's between rachel and mike. please please please don't give me rachel! i pull a folded slip of paper out of the hat and open it. i smile. "mike." i read out happily. rachel then gets mr. schue, which is a pretty interesting combo. i'm so relived i got mike, i can't wait to sing with him.

"mr. schue, would you mind clarifying what kind of songs you'd like that us to sing?" artie asks. rachel and mr. schue then sing a cover of endless love, lead by rachel of course. it's actually pretty weird. mercedes and i share a look of confusion.

"hey, ivy! wait up!" i hear a voice echo out as i walk out of glee club. mike catches up to me as i turn around. "mike! what's up?" i say happily as we walk side by side. "i was wondering if you wanted to meet up at the dance studio tomorrow to work on our ballad?" he says meekly and i smile. "of course we can. i'll see you then!" i wave goodbye and slam into someone. "oh, i'm sorry!" finn looks past my head at mike walking away. "you two are pretty close, huh?" he says, smirking at me. "we barely had a conversation finn, chill out." i mumble annoyingly. i brush past him and start walking away. "you sure, marcus?" he yells out. "definitely!" i yell back, not even looking at him. what was that about?

i walk into school with kurt and mercedes and they join me at my locker. "ok i was texting mike last night and we couldn't think of any song to sing. what about you guys?" i grab my books as they stay silent. i close my locker. "...guys?" i say, furrowing my brows. "mike huh?" mercedes says and smiles. i roll my eyes. "oh my god, you too?" i start walking away and they follow behind. "you guys would be so cute together!" kurt adds on. we stop walking when we see finn and quinn arguing.

"i'm right, you're wrong. i'm smart, you're dumb." quinn points her finger into finn's chest. "all this baby drama is making my rosacea act up." tina mumbles. "i know, i just feel bad for them, having to go through this on their own." mercedes sighs. "let me see what i can do. i'll report back later." kurt leaves to talk to finn. when did finn and kurt become so close?

after school, i walk into our school's dance studio. i didn't even realize we had one of these. i see mike working on some choreography. leaning against the door, i let him continue working. he never lets anyone give him credit for how talented he is. he notices me watching him and stops.

"hey mike." i say, dropping my bag on the floor. he awkwardly waves, then motions me to come over. "ivy! i had some ideas for some moves we could do but i want to make sure you're cool with them." he says. "oh, i got this. show me!" he holds out his hand and i take it. "ok so you're going to wrap around my waist and then get onto my shoulders. next-" i interrupt him. "woah one step at a time please!" i say nervously as he laughs. "ok, let's start from the beginning." he goes through it, assisting me when i'm confused, which tends to be a lot.

i continue learning his choreography, becoming more and more comfortable. we still can't decide what song to do. i'm sure we'll figure it out.

"ok ivy, let's do the lift full out!" he says encouragingly. i gulp. "now? like right now?" "right now." he answers. i get ready and shake out my nerves. "just do it!" he says, "just do it ivy, go for it, you got this!" i whisper to myself.

i start doing to lift, but as i'm about to go onto mike's shoulders, i accidentally fling myself (and mike) back. we land on the matted floor with a slam. we lay in silence for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "holy crap!" i yell out between laughing. "that's never happened to me before." mike spurts out. "i thought i was a good dancer." i complain, turning to face him. "don't worry, you're not that bad." mike says, also facing me. "not that bad?!" i say back, covering my face with my hands.

"let's just call it a day, vee." he says, getting up. he helps me up, and we pack up our things. hanging out with mike really helped me take my mind off of finn and quinn's baby drama.

i throw a piece of popcorn into my mouth and settle into the cover of mercedes's bed. mercedes, tina and i are having an sleepover, as we do almost every week. kurt usually joins us but he couldn't join us today. we're watching some drama movie that tina requested. we sit in silence and watch, but i can tell we're all not paying attention. "ok i can't do this." i finally say, muting the movie. "mike and i couldn't decide on what song to do. all we did was learn choreography. i could barely focus." i ramble on, and tina and mercedes seem to relate. "i feel so bad for quinn every time we try to practice. the pregnancy has taken so much out of her." tina murmurs sadly. "maybe we could do something for quinn and finn? like a group number?" mercedes suggests. "yeah, let's do it!" i say. 

the next day, we call an emergency meeting to the rest of the club except for finn and quinn. we tell them our plan, and they love it. mr. schue, mike and brittany gives us some choreography, we learn the song and mercedes and i go get finn and quinn. i head to the auditorium to find finn and kurt together. "hey, you two. we need to go to the choir room." i say, standing beside kurt. "why?" finn asks nervously. "because there's something we want to give you and quinn." kurt says happily. finn stares at us blankly. "oh my god, come on!" i say, helping finn out of his chair. 

he smiles as we walk together, kurt in front of us. "what are you smiling at?" i ask, looking up at him. "oh nothing. you gonna tell me what's happening?" he asks, and i shake my head. "my lips are sealed, finn. no can do." i say playfully. "damn, i really thought you would tell me." he sighs dramatically. 

as we walk into the choir room, quinn is already there, sitting. "is there a cake?" he asks me. "no, there's no cake." i answer back. quinn shrugs at finn as i sit him down. mr. schue stands in front of them and i join the rest of the glee cub behind him. "your fellow glee club members want to sing for you guys. to let you know how they feel about you." mr. schue says as we get ready. "what are you going to sing?" finn asks, looking at quinn then to us. "just listen. the song says everything." rachel says.

"Lean On Me" preformed by the glee club

during the number we get to quinn and finn to get up and dance with us. they seem to be enjoying themselves. we end the number with our arms around each other, smiling.