Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or its characters. I only own Mouse.

Summary: After being ignored or used for her entire life, Jane "Mouse" Franklin joins Glee Club, and is no longer the singer in the back. It's nothing like what you're thinking ... Puck/OC

(a/n: Unfortunately, we're two episodes behind here, so I really hope that Puck isn't too OOC.

I know that this isn't the first Puck/OC, and probably not the last. As always, I try to be different, and I hope that I've achieved that.

Read on, oh faithful ones!)

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Chapter One

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Mouse was standing outside of Mr. Schuester's office, biting her nails nervously. She blended into the wall, despite wearing black pants and a white shirt, and Mr. Schuester had to do a double-take before he saw her properly.

"Can I help you?" he asked, smiling brightly as he tried to search his brain for the young woman's name, and open his office door at the same time.

She was a student and a senior, judging by her age, but Will was sure that he'd never seen her before.

"I'm here to audition for New Directions," Mouse replied, still biting her thumbnail.

"Oh, yes. All right. Please, come in..." he trailed off, still unable to recognise her name.

He thought he knew everyone at this school!

"My name is Jane Franklin," she said, walking into his office.

"All right, Jane. What are you going to sing?" he asked with enthusiasm as he followed her inside.

Jane Franklin. Jane, Jane... He was sure he'd heard of a Jane before, and there was another Jane, but she was only an eighth grader. Definitely not her.

"Black Balloon by Goo Goo Dolls. It's the only reasonable song on that list. Well, besides Aretha Franklin, and possibly neun-und-neunzig luft balloons," she muttered.

"Well, why don't you sing 99 Luftballoons then?" Will asked with a grin.

"Because the English version sucks, and my German pronunciation still isn't the best for me to sing that," Mouse replied.

She could tell that Mr. Schue still had no idea who she was, and sighed slightly.

"Estoy en su clase española. I got ninety-eight percent on your last test, but you said the highest score was Teresa's ninety-five..." Mouse said. (I am in your Spanish class.)

"Umm... Sorry about that, Jane," Will said, now embarrassed and frustrated.

She was in his class, and he still couldn't recognise her!

"You probably know me as Mouse," she said mercifully.

"Mouse! Yes, I know you," Will said, his hand clenched in triumph. He coughed slightly, realising what he'd just done and said. "Yes. Black Balloon. Goo Goo Dolls. That's one of the songs I don't have, actually. Do you have the music?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I don't sing it the same way, so I'd just like to sing it without it," Mouse replied.

"Great! Excellent. Ummm... Did you fill in a form?" Will asked, looking around his desk for a blank form.

Mouse smiled briefly, opening her bag with one hand, and biting the skin from her finger on the other. She frowned at her finger as it bled from her teeth's most recent attack, sucked it quickly and handed the paper to Mr. Schuester.

"Okay, Mous...Jane," he quickly corrected himself.

"Mouse is fine," she replied, shrugging.

"Right, Mouse. Whenever you're ready," Will said with a bright smile.

She didn't notice his slight look of disbelief as he looked down at her sheet.

She volunteered in the library every single school day. No wonder he hadn't noticed her. He hadn't been into the library since his first day working here, and that was only because it was a requirement that he know the school's layout, which was ridiculous since he'd gone to this school, and the layout was the only thing that hadn't changed in his ten year absence.

Mouse coughed slightly, clearing the taste of blood from her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, and began.

"Comin' down the years turned over,

And angels fall without you there.

And I'll go on now to lead you home," she sang at the top of her lungs, the song bouncing off the office walls and down the school halls.

"All because I'm

All because I'm..." her voice softened, and she looked past Mr. Schuester to somewhere deep in her mind.

"I've become

What you became to me," she finished softly, a lilt in her voice.

Mouse stopped singing, looking to Mr. Schuester. His mouth was hanging open, his eyes filled with shock. Her face burned in embarrassment, and she ran from the room, bumping into someone as she fled.

"Mr. Schue? You 'kay?" Puck asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"What? Puck? Where'd she go?" Will asked, looking around.

"Who?"

"Jane. Mouse... Whatever she's called, that was brilliant. Where is she?"

Puck shook his head. Mr. Schue's words always got strung together when he was excited, like he couldn't keep them all in at once. Weird guy.

"Mouse just squeaked and ran," he said, shrugging.

"Oh, she did anything but squeak. Didn't you hear her sing?" Will asked, and his eyes did that light-up-from-the-inside thing that Puck could never quite understand.

"Thought you were playing the radio in here. Didn't know she sang," Puck replied, shrugging again.

Didn't Mr. Schue know what the shrug meant? It meant 'I don't know and I don't fucking care' ... Everyone else knew that, why not Schue?!

"I've got to go find her... Oh, shit. Tina's coming soon. Can you go find her, Puck?"

"Tina?"

"No, Mouse. Go find Mouse and bring her back," Will said, looking down at the sheets in his hands. "She's probably in the library."

Puck just stared at Mr. Schuester. "I can't go in there, Schue. No way," Puck said, shaking his head.

"Puck, you don't get it. She has to sing. We need her, just as much as we need you to sing. Do it for Ackafellas," Will pleaded. "Hey, Tina. Come in! Puck was just leaving," he said, pushing Puck out the door.

Tina looked at Puck quizzically as he passed her and he glared back at her. She rolled her eyes and sat in front of Mr. Schuester's desk.

Puck glared for a moment longer at Mr. Schue, but Will just shut the door, and turned back to Tina with a smile. Puck muttered under his breath, then looked at the papers in his hands. Mr. Schue had pushed them into his hands as he'd left, probably by mistake, but Puck wasn't going to give them back now.

Later, maybe. Now, after being dismissed and ignored? No fucking way.

Puck headed down the hall, reading the neat handwriting on the New Directions audition form.

What song are you singing, and why?

Black Balloon by Goo Goo Dolls, because nearly everything else on your pre-approved list sucks. But I guess the community church doesn't know the meaning of this song, since it was written about a drug addict. Oh, and Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode isn't actually a Christian song either. I'd love to see that blaring out at the next church fete!

Pequeño ratón sarcástico, he thought with a slight grin. (Sarcastic little mouse.)

Flipping to the front page, Puck looked at her details.

Name: Jane Franklin. AKA Mouse.

What you're good at: Reading, writing, working in the library, singing, kicking arse on Halo 3.

Why you want to sing: Because I get extra credit for college, and it looks good on my resume. And I like to sing. Why else?

To you, what does New Directions mean? Turning around and realising that there's another path, not just the one everyone else is on... I don't know, some sort of dumb name you thought of because 'The High School Singers' would get everyone killed?

Comments: Do you want to know if I'm a virgin too? Geez, what's with all the personal questions? You're never going to get into my head, so leave it alone already!

Puck was surprised to say the least. He didn't know girls knew how to play Halo 3! He headed to the library, humming a song softly.

...

Mouse muttered to herself, scanning and moving the books with more force than was necessary. She didn't care, she just wanted to throw something hard at someone, but since Principal Figgins was a cheapskate, there were no heavy and expensive books to throw at someone's head.

"Stupid little girl, see what you've done. Gone and broken my heart again. Stupid little girl," she sang under her breath, kicking the chair beside her.

"What'd the chair do?" a voice asked from behind her.

"This area is for staff only; get out, Noah," Mouse said, turning to glare at him.

He bristled at the use of his first name, glaring back at her. "Last I saw, you're not staff."

"I'm a volunteer, now get out," she said, glaring harder.

Ms. Lemay, the librarian, had a glare that could make even Sue Sylvester look tame. Why didn't she have that sort of glare too? Did you need the years of experience? Or just the cynicism of a 45-year-old divorcee?

"What was that song?" he asked, ignoring her glare.

"Nothing; it wasn't a song," Mouse said. "I said to get out, Puck. Students aren't allowed back here. If you don't leave, I will make you," she said, more force in her voice now.

He just laughed at her. "Sure you will. Kicking arse on Halo 3 isn't the same as actually kicking arse," he taunted, waving the papers in front of her.

"Give me that! You prick, that's personal information!" she said, reaching to grab it.

"So are you still a virgin? Last question, remember?" Puck asked, smirking again.

Mouse seethed and glared. She grabbed his ear, twisting it around until he yelped in pain. Holding his shoulder, she marched him out of the staff (and volunteer) office and to the library's front door.

"I said to get out. Now leave, or I will contact security," Mouse hissed, ripping the papers out of his hands.

Puck left the library, rubbing his ear and swearing under his breath in Spanish.

"Puedo entenderle," Mouse called after him. (I understand you.)

He held up his middle finger back at her, grinding his teeth as she laughed at him.

...

Puck muttered all the way to Mr. Schue's office, then when he saw the little post-it note on the door, continued to mutter all the way to the auditorium.

"Puck, how'd you go?" Mr. Schue asked, grinning at him.

"Well, she's got a mean grip, she's pissed off, but she should be here soon to rip into you."

"What? What on earth did you do to her?" Schue asked, looking alarmed.

"Hey, you just said to get her here, and that's what I did. You never said how to do it... Little mouse has claws," Puck muttered, rubbing his ear again.

Will sighed and rubbed his face.

More conflict was just what New Directions didn't need! If Puck was going to make things difficult for Mouse (Jane? What was he supposed to call her?), well he didn't know what to do.

"Mr. Schuester, can I talk to you?" Mouse asked, coming down to where he was sitting on the stage.

"Sure. Puck was just leaving," Will said, looking to Puck briefly.

Puck rolled his eyes and left, covering his ears protectively.

"Baka," Mouse hissed after him.

"What?" Will asked, frowning.

"Idiot in Japanese," she answered.

"So what's up, Jane?"

"Just call me Mouse. No one calls me Jane," she said. "Do you know you sound like a try-hard when you say 'what's up'? I mean, you're either trying to be Bugs Bunny, a stoner, or a really bad rapper."

"Umm... Thanks for that. You came here for something?" he asked, shocked at her bluntness.

"Wanted to know how Noah 'Puck' Puckerson, the idiot with the big mouth, got my personal information for New Directions," Mouse replied, throwing her paperwork at him.

"I didn't ... umm ... I don't ... How did..." Will stumbled over his thoughts and words, stopping and looking at Mouse with a slight smile. "Sorry. I have no recollection of giving them to him, but I must have when Tina came in earlier. I didn't know that your answers would be so personal," he said, looking down at her answers properly.

"Yeah, well I didn't know that Puck would be able to get hold of them," Mouse muttered.

"You were great earlier," Will said, smiling brightly now.

Mouse scoffed. "Right, that's why you were sitting there in shock."

"Of course I was shocked. I hadn't heard anything but a squeak from you, and then that ... It was brilliant! Still interested in being part of Glee?" Will asked, grinning.

"Yeah, I am," Mouse said hesitantly.

"But?"

"But do we really have to sing those songs on that list? There's really nothing good in there! I mean, can we at least have the option to write our own songs?"

"Of course that's an option! Have you written anything?" Will asked, excited now.

Mouse went bright red, nodding briefly.

She hadn't meant for him to know, because then he'd ask her to sing it, and ... damn, she'd just walked straight into that one!

"Well? Do you mind if I hear it? Just a bit is fine," he said, giving her an encouraging nod.

Mouse stood up on the stage, looking out at the rows of empty seats as she calmed herself down, convincing herself to get the courage to sing.

It's just a song. Words can't hurt you.

Whoever said that was an idiot.

Just sing already. Come on, he might like it...

And if he doesn't?

Well, you can just run away again. Now sing, little mouse.

Mouse took a deep breath, closed her eyes and started to sing.

"You're a hero, save the world,

You're a hero, save the girl.

Watch the world with all its praise

You save everyone but me.

"You close your eyes, and you can see,

Close your eyes, but you can't see me.

Watch as I disappear out of sight

You're out of your mind.

"Block your ears, and you still hear,

I scream your name through my fear.

You don't hear me calling to you

Save everyone but me.

"You're the hero, flying high

You're the hero, buying time.

Keep on running through

Your imaginary world.

"Where...

"You're the hero who saves the world.

You're the hero who saves the girl.

But you can't see me, you can't hear me.

You saved everyone but me.

"You're the hero in your mind,

You're the hero, out of time.

"Are you sorry now

That you couldn't save me?"

She opened her eyes to see that same stunned-shocked look on Mr. Schuester's face. Mouse hoped it was a good thing.

"I know it was a ballad, and not really the show-tune stuff that Glee Club's going to do, and it's not completely finished but ..." Mouse trailed off, shrugging.

It was then that she noticed that all of the Glee Club members were standing in the auditorium. She went bright red, let out a small squeak and dropped down to sit on the stage, burying her face in her hands.

"Who's she?" Quinn asked.

"No idea, but she's good," Rachel muttered.

"All right, everyone welcome our newest Glee member, Mouse," Schuester introduced, clapping loudly, a bright grin on his face.

Finn, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes and Artie all clapped loudly along with Mr. Schuester. Quinn and Rachel clapped politely, standing on either side of Finn, and Puck just watched the little mouse from his seat further back in the auditorium.

...

End of the first chapter. I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading!

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