Ch1- Setting the record straight…

Twenty-two days. It had been twenty-two days since he'd made that declaration. Correction: made that stupid declaration in the halls of McKinley High School. Twenty-two days since Mercedes' life had slowly begun to shift on its axis, unbeknownst to her. Today, she sat in one of her favorite classes—AP World History with Mrs. Thomas—yet she found she couldn't concentrate on the lesson at hand. The reason for her lack of focus sat two rows back and two seats to her left. She could practically feel his eyes on her, daring her to turn and face him, and really, why shouldn't she? Shane was her boyfriend and that gave him the right to look at her and vice versa. So exactly why couldn't she turn to face her significant other? Simple. Mercedes would rather stare mindlessly at the dry erase board as Mrs. Thomas prattled on than to turn and see the scowl that Shane would most definitely be wearing.

Know what? Forget this. Boyfriend or not, Mercedes Jones ain't no coward. Her mind made up, Mercedes threw a glance over left shoulder at her boyfriend. Yep, scowl city over there. Mercedes held his gaze, communicating silently to him that his scowl did not intimidate her nor would it be tolerated any further.

"Mercedes?"

Damn. Busted. She cringed before turning her head around and giving her beloved teacher her best "I'm innocent" face. "Yes, Mrs. Thomas?"

"Would you care to answer the question I posed to the class?"

Mercedes exhaled slowly and could have sworn she heard a soft chortle from one of her fellow classmates. Obviously, everyone assumed she would bomb the question. Brushing her hair off her shoulder, she looked Mrs. Thomas squarely in the eye.

"Yes, ma'am. The Age of Imperialism was a time period beginning around 1870 when modern, relatively developed nations were taking over less developed areas, colonizing them, or influencing them in order to expand their own power. Although imperialist practices have existed for thousands of years, the term "Age of Imperialism" generally refers to the activities of nations such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States in the mid 19th through the middle 20th centuries."

Mrs. Thomas did nothing to hide the pride she felt hearing the flawless answer. "Thank you, Mercedes."

"Anytime, Mrs. T." Mercedes smiled as she replied, thinking to herself: Hmmph, won't catch this diva slippin'.

"Brava, diva. Brava." Kurt's soft voice whispered from behind her. She threw a hand over her shoulder, palm up, and received a high five from one of her best friends without taking her eyes off the teacher.

Alright, Diva. Focus on class, talk to your man afterwards.

Some twenty minutes later, the bell rang and signaled the end of class and beginning of the first lunch period. Mercedes took her time gathering her things, knowing Shane would be fast approaching. Kurt saw the large teen headed their way and offered her an escape.

"Wanna vamoose before the big man gets here? I could tell him I'm in desperate need of your help to deal with my sudden bout of PMS."

Chuckling to herself, Mercedes gave her friend a quick glance. "Have I ever told you how much I love you, boy? No, I'm not running, 'cuz I haven't done anything wrong."

Kurt gave her forearm a brief pat of encouragement. "Text me and I will be here in seconds, you hear me?"

"Got it." She replied, watching him prance out of the classroom.

"'Sup, baby?" came Shane's baritone from behind her.

"So, it's baby, now?" She replied as she spun to face him. "Judging from the scowl you been sporting all class, I was pretty sure baby was the last thing you wanted to call me."

Raising his hands in mock defeat, Shane spoke. "Alright, you got me. I'm sorry, baby. It's just… I saw Evans talking to Kurt right before class, then Kurt ran straight to you. I assume he was passing whatever message Evans gave him for you."

Mercedes exhaled slowly, willing her infamous inner diva to calm. "Shane. How many times do I have to tell you that a) Kurt is not some covert liaison between me and Sam, and b) Sam was and is my friend and if he and I choose to speak as friends, we will do such and won't need someone serving as a go-between. If it really matters to you, Sam was only reminding Kurt that glee club rehearsal will begin thirty minutes later today and we'll be meeting in the auditorium today."

Thoroughly chastised, Shane chewed on that piece of information for a moment. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Look, boy, either you trust me or you don't. But whatever it is, let me know now, 'cuz I'm tired of you looking at me like I've done something wrong."

Shane softly grasped her hands, willing her to look him in the eye. "Of course I trust you, baby. It's him I don't trust. He did, after all, tell practically the whole school that he –and I quote: didn't care how big or bad your boyfriend is, and he's gonna fight for you."

"And— to quote myself: I told him that what we had was a summer fling and that I moved on and suggested he do the same."

Of course, she neglected to tell her boyfriend the exact sequence of that conversation, and that Sam still made his declaration even though she gave him that little speech.

"Shane, I am with you. You. I've been nothing but honest with you. I told you about my relationship with Sam, didn't I? I could've said nothing and allowed you to piece things together, but I wanted to be honest with you."

"Alright…then tell me this: do you you still care about him and should I just cut my losses and walk away now?"

This boy is really trying my patience today, isn't he? Looking him directly in the eye, she replied, "Yes, I care for him. Sam was my friend before we dated and my first real boyfriend. He will always have a special place in my heart for that reason. I'm not going to apologize for that. As far as cutting your losses, this is the now the third time in the last twenty-two days that I've had to answer the question. Honestly, I plan to make this the last time I answer this particular question. Yes, Sam made that crazy declaration in the halls, but he has done nothing since our talk. Nothing. Now, you can worry yourself to death about what Sam might or might not do, or you can enjoy this relationship with me."

Shane looked away briefly before looking into her eyes. "Of course I want to make this work, baby. It won't happen again." He followed that up with a chaste peck on her lips. "Now, let's get to the cafeteria. It is tater tot Tuesday, after all."

Two days later, Glee Club practice—Choir Room

"Alright, guys. Regionals is only a month away. Any ideas for possible songs? Themes?"

"Mr. Schuester, I thought you would never ask," Rachel began. "I have been anticipating this moment and have compiled a catalogue of potential song selections which I think will display our strengths as a group—primarily solos featuring me—while simultaneously masking our weaknesses, namely, Finn's dancing."

"Hey!" Finn lamented.

"Listen, Yentl, how many times do I gots ta tell ya we didn't come back from the TroubleTones to be your Pips?" Snarked the one and only Santana Lopez.

"Wh-what I think Santana is trying to say, Rachel, is that we have relied too heavily on one or two soloists in the past. We have an entire roster full of talented singers and should use that to our advantage." Will interjected before Rachel would respond—and inevitably lead to an argument. Although he knew Santana would do no real damage to Rachel, he was concerned that some damage would be inflicted.

"Point well taken, Mr. Schue." nodded Rachel.

"Nice save, Mr. Schue." sounded Puck from the back of the room.

"O-kay. Back to the original question. Anyone?" Mr. Schue tried to steer them back on track.

"Mr. Schue. I've been talking to Kurt and he and Mercedes have a few ideas that I think are pretty good." Sam's smooth voice carried across the room.

Mercedes glanced back at him from the corner of her eye, shocked that he knew of her and Kurt's brainstorming. He gave her a lazy smile in return, causing her heart rate to skip a beat. Turning her head away immediately, she cursed her foolish heart for its response to that smile. She then turned her gaze upon her best friend, glaring at him for sharing their business.

Shrugging his shoulders in response, "What? We were just talking and it…sorta came up."

"Yeah, that's what she said." Puckerman added, never one to miss up an opportunity to use that phrase.

"Real classy, Puckerman." Quinn stated as she shot him a bored look.

"Well, Mercedes? Kurt? What have you guys got?" Mr. Schue prompted.

Kurt was practically giddy with excitement, clapping his hands as he pulled Mercedes out of her chair to the center of the room. "Okay, okay…imagine if you will: two former rival glee clubs combine their strengths for the grandest cause of them all—winning Nationals. Now, imagine these clubs working together seamlessly then all of a sudden….BAM!...they decide to become competitors once again during a pivotal point of the Regionals competition!"

Kurt took a breath to allow his recent statement to be float across the room. He scanned the room: Finn—as usual—wore a slightly confused expression; Blaine gave him a knowing smirk; Quinn quirked an eyebrow in interest; Mike and Tina both appeared to be just as intrigued; Rachel seemed suspicious; Puckerman seemed nonplussed; Artie tapped his chin in silent reflection; Santana's lips quirked in a small smile of understanding while Brittany rested her head against her shoulder, oblivious to the current conversation. Mercedes scanned the room in the same fashion, although when her eyes rested on Sam, she found she could not tear her gaze away. The way he looked at her demanded her full attention, and she could feel the frantic staccato of her heartbeat as it pounded in her ears. Suddenly, the air grew heavy around her and her fingertips tingled due to the sudden loss of blood. Kurt felt the brief spasms of her fingers and gave her a sideways glance.

Uh-oh, diva down. "Anyway, the TroubleTones defect during the middle of a performance, seemingly fed up with working with New Directions. What happens, you say? The groups break out into an inter-choir battle, providing the audience with drama and the best mash-up they've ever been blessed to hear!"

He gave Mercedes' hand a squeeze, jolting her back to reality. She was finally able to tear her gaze away from Sam, although he made no effort to stop his staring. They stood patiently, awaiting a response—anything—from their fellow glee clubbers and Mr. Schue. Seconds stretched into minutes as Kurt's proclamation sank in.

Santana was the first to speak up. "Hmm. Glee club doing what we does best—drama. I likes it. I likes it a lot."

"I agree, it has a certain…flair that could work to our advantage." Rachel added. "Right, Finn?"

"Uh… yeah." It was the best he could do, he was still slightly confused.

Soon, all of the clubbers added their approval, standing to congratulate Mercedes and Kurt for such a wonderful idea.

Mr. Schue smiled brightly as he took in the scene before him. This could work. This could definitely work. "Alright, let's get busy then!"