Summary: Set five months after Una Mentira, the Glee kids are back for another school year. Before New Directions can get started on their new set list for Sectionals, some changes are in store for the club. Once again, it is time to hold open auditions, and a certain new sophomore is sure to rock the boat. (Features an OC that was mentioned in Una Mentira.)

A familiar sign up sheet was plastered on the bulletin board on the first day of school. Not surprisingly, Rachel Berry was already putting her name on the top of the page and surrounding it by a dozen gold star stickers so that it took up the first three rows. She'd even written in her own gold sharpie this year. But as she finished her ostentatious display, she turned to roll her eyes at whoever happened to be nearby. Artie and Tina were the lucky ones to get the full force of Rachel's rant.

"It hardly seems neccessary for everyone to audition again," she whined. "After we took second at Regionals last year, no less. Second, mind you, is fairly impressive considering we finished behind Vocal Adrenaline and with only a few minor technicalities to blame for our point deductions."

"Haven't I apologized enough for tripping?" Tina wondered aloud, meeting the eyes of Artie, who twisted in his chair and glanced up at her, worriedly. Tina, who no longer hid behind the stutter she'd once worked so hard to fake, was much more confrontational this year. She glared angrily at Rachel and it was Rachel, not Tina, who looked away first.

"We didn't lose because Tina tripped," said Artie, who always secretly wondered if the sight of his wheelchair spinning around, mimicking the others' dance movements as closely as possible, could have been the actual reason for the deduction. The judges never would have said so, of course. But he distinctly remembered overhearing the judge at Sectionals who criticized the deaf kids for "honking."

Rachel sighed. "We can put last year behind us now, I suppose," she conceded. "Mind you, I am proud of last year. I just think we can do better. And it's important that Mr. Schuester remembers to set the bar even higher now. More people will want to join, what with all of our success. We'll have to start being more selective."

She nodded, tossing her hair over her shoulder, as if that were the final word on the matter and hurried off before Artie or Tina could say anything else. Artie looked at Tina, who shrugged as the bell rang. "Mr. Schuester isn't wasting any time," he said. "Auditions begin today after school, see?" Artie gestured to the sign up sheet.

Tina uncapped her purple pen, saying, "Guess we'd better sign up!"

"Tina C," she announced, several hours later. "I Kissed a Girl." No stutter this year, and that was just about the only difference in the performance. That and the fact that Tina beamed with complete confidence as she sang the same song she'd auditioned with last year. Mr. Schuester looked puzzled... and possibly slightly annoyed?

Mr. Schue was no dummy. He couldn't help but notice that the returning members of New Directions hadn't stressed themselves out over the audition. Naturally, they all saw it as nothing more than a formality. Even Rachel had recycled old material, singing a medley of her "greatest hits" to remind her friends and teachers of the many times she'd been featured during the previous year.

"Thank you, Tina," said Mr. Schuester, dryly. Looking pleased with herself, Tina hurried offstage to take her usual spot next to Artie. Sitting with them were the rest of the returning members of New Directions. On the other side of the auditorium was everyone else, the kids who would be auditioning for the first time. There was definitely an air of us versus them in the room.

"Next up," said Mr. Schue, clearing his throat. "Olivia Ortiz." The name caused Artie to look up from his homework, startled. The younger girl, a sophomore with spina bifida, stood with some difficulty. She balanced on a pair of forearm crutches, much like the ones that Artie used in therapy. With obvious effort, Olivia made her way up the stairs beside the stage.

Last spring, Artie had revealed a number of secrets about himself over the course of a few very eventful days. The most shocking revelation was the fact that Artie could, in fact, move his legs. Until that point, he hadn't wanted to explain incomplete paralysis to his friends in glee, for fear that they wouldn't understand this complicated concept. Artie had been wrong about that. Not only did they understand, they were excited when he "walked" for them, using the crutches that normally stayed in his basement. Artie couldn't use his crutches the way Olivia Ortiz used hers on a daily basis. They were for therapy only. He was still stuck with the chair as his primary means of mobility.

Artie shifted in his seat, realizing that he felt uncomfortable watching Olivia struggle to get onstage. He realized, with a nagging sense of irony, that people probably felt uncomfortable the first time he'd been carried onto the stage, before the school's auditorium had ramps. Olivia smiled, despite her struggle, and balanced expertly on one crutch as she lowered the microphone to be level with her lips. She waited as the music cued up, then opened her mouth to belt it.

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter!
Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter!
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on myyyyyy paraaaaade!
Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to!
If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you!
Who told you you're allowed to rain on myyyyyy paraaaaade!"

"Does she know whose song that is?" Quinn's lips were turned up as she whispered this so that only Artie and Brittany, who sat on either side of her, could hear. Quinn looked amused, however, and she made a point to catch Rachel's eye and grin broadly. Rachel sat primly on the edge of her seat, looking like she was waiting to be fired out of a cannon as she watched Olivia sing her solo, the Barbara Steisand hit that had helped the team take Sectionals.

Much like when Kurt had sung Defying Gravity, the emotional connection between the singer and the song was entirely different. Rachel Berry, although vocally flawless, couldn't bring either song new meaning. But Olivia Ortiz, leaning on her crutches while singing lines like "don't tell me not to fly" brought an entirely different emotional quality to the song.

"She's... really good," Tina muttered. "Look at Mr. Schuester, he loves her, you can tell. She might be the best girl to audition today, Rachel included. Wow, this is going to be an interesting year, that's for sure." She fell silent, watching as Olivia absolutely killed the rest of the song, even bringing tears to the eyes of the judges, Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury. When she finished, the teachers stood up and applauded for her, causing everyone else in the auditorium to follow their lead. Artie, of course, kept his seat, but so did Rachel Berry who remained absolutely motionless.

It was fortunate for everyone else in the room that Mr. Schuester followed up Olivia's audition by announcing that hers was the last one of the day and stating that auditions would continue the next day. Those who still hadn't sung looked relieved that they wouldn't be following Olivia.

Artie was silent as Tina pushed him out of the auditorium. They were two of the last people to leave the auditorium so that Artie didn't have to worry about rolling on toes in the sea of students. Tina broke his silence by leaning over him, saying, "What did you think of Olivia? Pretty awesome, huh?"

"She was awesome," Artie agreed. "It's just too bad we've already reached our cripple quota for the team."

He didn't know what prompted him to say it, but it was all he could think about. It already looked strange enough for Artie to dance around in his wheelchair, but as long as it was just one person onstage sticking out like a sore thumb, the oddity was tolerable. Two sore thumbs, however? The Artie-and-Olivia freak show was sure to take away from everything else happening in their set.

What followed then was worse than the reaction he got out of Tina, who scoffed and slugged him hard in the shoulder. Both friends turned around when someone else behind them made a small noise. They turned, in horror, to see Olivia standing right behind them. And behind Olivia, Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury stood, gaping, having also overheard Artie's comment.

Tears were swimming in Olivia's eyes. "I wish someone would've told me that before,"she sputtered, glaring angrily at Artie. Artie opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was already too late because Olivia hurried off in the opposite direction, moving remarkably fast for a girl on crutches. Artie cast his eyes upward and found himself under the harsh scrutiny Mr. Schuester, Ms. Pillsbury, and Tina.

Mr. Schue mouthed counting to three before speaking. "Artie," he said. "You're off the team."