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ANOTHER WEEK MEANT ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT FOR THE GLEE CLUB. Standing at the front of the choir room, Mr Schue scribbled the assignment onto the board and spun back round with his usual enthusiasm, "ballad. From the Middle English word 'balade'. Who knows what this word means?"
Shooting her hand into the air, Brittany was quick to answer, "a male duck."
Giving her a discreet high five, Katy was in full support of her friend, "nearly there, Britt."
Ignoring them, Mr Schue turned to pick on Kurt, knowing he'd have the answer he was looking for, "a ballad is a love song."
"Sometimes, but they don't always express love." Mr Schue corrected him slightly, "ballads are stories set to music. Which is why they're the perfect form on self expression. Stories and music are the way we express our 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 perform a ballad."
Clapping her hand together, Rachel leaned in towards Puck with a beaming smile, "looks like my weekly letters to the Ohio Show Choir Committee finally paid off!"
"Okay so here's our assignment for the week: I'm gonna pair you off and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to each other. Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express and make them feel it."
"I pick Quinn." Finn called out, quickly, locking his hand in hers.
"Too easy." Mr Schue shot him down, and walking over and grabbing a hat to show them all, "your partners will be chosen by fate. I put all your names in that hat, whoever you pick will be your partner."
Looking round, Santana quickly found a flaw in his idea, "but there's an odd number of us."
"I guess I'll just have to put my name in the hat." Mr Schue shrugged the problem off, scribbling his name onto a piece of paper and dropping it into the hat.
Puck decided to go first, strutting up to the hat and taking the first slip of paper from it, "Mercedes." He read out, causing Mercedes to roll her eyes in response.
Reaching down, Katy took Mercedes's hand in hers, "good luck girlie." She whispered, widening her eyes quickly.
Artie rolled up next, picking a name out of the hat, "Quinn." He called out, with a genuine smile.
Picking his name from the hat, Finn's face instantly dropped as he mumbled out the name, "Kurt." He immediately turned to Mr Schue, "Mr Schue, I don't know if I could do this with another dude."
"The fates have spoken, Finn." Mr Schue shrugged, beckoning for Tina to come up next and pick her name.
"Other Asian." She read out in a questioning tone, glancing over to Mike who had a small smile on his face, despite just being called the other Asian.
