CHAPTER ONE
( THE WORST WEEK )

       LUCKY ROSS COULD hear the whispers and feel the stares as she stood at her locker, shoving her stuff inside. She tried to keep her gracefulness and confident aura to not let the useless high school students surrounding her know just how bothered she was, but she really wanted to hit something.

"Lucky," JBI walked up to her, microphone extended. Lucky sucked in a breath, in no mood to take Jacob's shit. Still, she turned to face him. "How do you respond to rumors that Mike Chang dumped you for Tina Cohen-Chang?"

Correction: cheated and dumped.

Fake it 'til you make it, Lucky reminded herself before she responded. Truthfully, she was hurt. She'd spent three days locked in her hotel room while on vacation, but she wasn't going to let Jacob Ben Israel know that. She decided she'd do what she did best and pretend not to give a shit. "It doesn't bother me any. Mike wasn't that great in bed, so I truly wish Tina the best with that small problem."

She smiled at the camera and walked away, keeping her eyes set in front of her.

Lucky's status had taken massive hits before like joining Glee Club but had somehow upheld. Maybe it was because she was Hope Ross's little sister or maybe it was because she'd created her own name for herself. Regardless, she'd be damned if she let Mike Chang cheating on her be what ruined her.

The looks Lucky got as the first day wore on made it clear that she was no longer being viewed by people as the girl who could destroy them.

She'd spent hours after school simply scrolling through the comments, trying not to let them get to her. Eventually, loads of comments saying they understood why Mike cheated and that she was only good for a few hook-ups got to her.

"Are you okay?" a voice from beside her questioned, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Lucky was sitting on her new chair in the choir room (her old one had been beside Mike), waiting for Glee Club to start. She had zoned out while staring at the floor in front of her. "Yeah," she looked over at Lucas Oliver. "Why?"

Lucas was on the football team, which made him popular. At McKinley, if you were a Cheerio or a football player, you were automatically popular. The thing about Lucas was that he couldn't give less of a shit about popularity, he just liked football. He'd joined Glee with Mike, Matt, and Puck last year.

Lucky wouldn't consider her and Lucas friends. They never really talked outside of Glee.

The boy shrugged. "You just look kind of tired."

"Wow," the girl responded dryly. "Thank you so much, Lucas."

"Not in a bad way," he quickly corrected. "You just look kind of. . . out of it."

Lucky hummed but didn't answer him. Mr. Schue walked into the choir room, holding a stack of papers. "These are comments from Jacob Ben Israel's most recent Glee Club Blog. Glee is a giant ball of suck."

Lucky scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "And they call you guys the losers?"

"We get it, Mr. Schue," Kurt began. "Everyone still hates us. So what? So we're plankton on the high school food chain? Only difference now is that is that none of us really care."

Lucky tilted her head, making a small noise of protest. She wouldn't call herself plankton on the bottom of the food chain. Her reputation was only a bit damaged, nothing she couldn't fix.

"Kurt's right," Mercedes agreed. "We're a family. They can bring it all they want. None of it is gonna break us."

"I'm really happy that you guys have all bonded," Schuester stated. "The problem is that all of this negative stuff is keeping other students from auditioning."

"Good," Tina shrugged, and Lucky let out an annoyed breath. "Why do we need new members?"

"Since Matt transferred, we only have 13 members," the teacher answered. "And while that might sound like a lot, if we want to go to Nationals — if we want to beat Vocal Adrenaline, we have to go from a small rebel force to a giant wall of sound."

"Yeah, Mr. Schuester's right, you guys," Rachel Berry stood up from her chair and joined Mr. Schue's side. "You didn't see Vocal Adrenaline at regionals. They were epic. We're gonna need more voices in order to beat them."

"Yeah, I'm with Rachel on this one," Finn spoke up, walking to the front of the room. Lucky wrinkled her nose at the couple.

"Maybe we should let other people have the spotlight," Lucky suggested. "Same old Rachel Berry gets boring after a while, don't you think?"

"You're just gonna have to trust me on this, Lucky," Schuester dismissed. "Now here's the plan. Nationals are in New York this year. And we are going! Now let's go out there and show the school how cool it's gonna be — how cool we can be. If they're not gonna come to us, let's go to them. They say we only sing show tunes and 80s pop, let's show them how down we are. Let's give them the song of the year. New Directions' style."

☆ ★☆

        NEW DIRECTIONS' STYLE had meant singing Empire State Of Mind in the courtyard at lunch to try and get people to audition.

Lucky had been certain it was going to end with them covered in food but nobody paid any attention to them at all. She wasn't sure which outcome was more embarrassing.

Lucky had been minding her own business at her locker the day after when Finn and Artie came up to her. "We need your help," Finn announced.

Her eyes flickered between the two boys. "Listen, as much as I would love to help whatever dumbass plan you've concocted, I have better things to do."

She rolled her eyes and went to walk away, but Finn was quick to stop her. "Just listen to me, okay?" The girl huffed and crossed her arms, giving him the okay to continue. "You see that kid over there?"

Lucky looked back at the blond boy Finn was pointing to. "The one with the Justin Bieber haircut?"

"Yeah," Finn confirmed. "His name's Sam and we're going to get him to join Glee."

Lucky stared at him blankly. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm going to play the quarterback card, and if that fails, which it won't, you're going to play the hot cheerleader card!" Finn explained, beaming at her like he'd just came up with the most amazing plan to ever exist.

She blinked. "And why would I do that?"

"Well, I figured since you and Mike broke up, you'd want a rebound," Finn shrugged. "He could be your rebound!"

He wasn't someone she'd normally go for, but he wasn't horrible looking so he would work as a rebound. It was a win-win for both, she supposed. He'd get to talk to her, and she'd get to make Mike jealous. She sighed. "I'm so going to regret this," Lucky murmured, the regret already forming when Finn's smile grew. "I'll do it."

"Yes!" Finn cheered, taking her and Artie over to Sam.

"Don't do that," Lucky shook her head as they neared the boy. "I'll walk away right now—"

"Hey, Sam!" Finn greeted, reaching forward to take the boy's hand and shake it. "My name's Finn. This here is Artie, and this is—"

"Lucky Ross," Lucky interrupted, shooting Sam a sweet smile. "You've probably heard of me."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know who you guys are," Sam replied. "You're the cheerleader who got cheated on by her boyfriend this summer. And you're the quarterback."

Lucky's smile turned less sweet and more sour. Her name no longer held power. She was just Lucky Ross, just the girl who had gotten cheated on by her boyfriend of 9 months for a wannabe emo chick.

"Exactly," Finn went on. "Which makes me very cool. We'd like to talk to you about Glee Club."

Finn called the boys to the choir room for a meeting. Lucky refused to leave when they tried to kick her out, claiming it was a boys' meeting. She sat behind Lucas's chair, acting unbothered by Mike's presence.

"So, Sam, tell us about yourself," Finn instructed.

"My name's Sam Evans," Sam told them. "I like comic books, sports. I'm dyslexic, so my grades aren't that good but I'm working on it."

"Dude, you're mouth is huge," Puck commented, eyes wide in amazement. "How many tennis balls can you fit in there?"

Lucky rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't know," Sam answered. "I've never had any balls in my mouth. Have you?"

"He probably has," Lucky snorted. Lucas laughed from in front of her and cleared his throat when Puck shot him a look.

"So can you sing with that big mouth?" Puck bitterly moved the topic away from him.

"I've never really sung in front of anybody before," Sam shrugged."

Puck stood up and moved toward one of the guitars set out. "Dude, let me tell you, chick's dig singers. Right, Lucky?"

"Oh, yeah. I love myself a guy who can sing," Lucky's eyes narrowed at the back of Mike's head. She knew how insecure he was over his singing. The dig was subtle, but direct enough that she knew he would know she was talking about him.

"Give it a shot," Finn encouraged, handing Sam the other guitar. "We'll back you up, I promise. What song you got in your back pocket?"

"Um. . . Billionaire?" Sam answered. Finn headed to the drums and Sam started playing the song. "I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad. Buy all the things I never had. I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine, smiling next to Oprah and the Queen. Oh, every time I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights. Yeah. A different every night, oh. I. . . I swear, the world better prepare for when I'm a billionaire."

"Yeah, I would have a show like Oprah," Artie took over. "I would be the host of every day Christmas. Give Artie a wish list. I'll probably pull a Angelina and Brad Pitt and adopt a bunch of babies that ain't ever had it. Give away a few Mercedes like, here, lady, have this. And last but not least, grant somebody their last wish. It's been a couple months that I been single, so you can call me Artie Claus minus the ho-ho. Get it? I'll probably visit where Katrina hit. And darn sure do a lot more than FEMA did. Yeah, can't forget about me, stupid. Everywhere I go, Ima have my own theme music."

"Oh, every time I close my eyes. . ."

"What you see, what you see, bruh?" Artie asked.

"I see my name in shining lights," Sam continued. "Yeah. A different city every night. Oh, I. . . I swear. The world better prepare for when I'm a billionaire."

Seeing Lucky nod her head to the music, Lucas moved over to her and held his hand out. She shook her head but he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front. With each oh he sang, he leaned towards her, holding a pretend microphone to his mouth.

"For when I'm a billionaire."

Lucky found herself smiling as she gave in and joined the boys. She copied Lucas's actions, holding eye contact while they leaned in.

"When I'm a billionaire."

"Oh, oh," Lucky held up her fist to her mouth as she and Lucas pressed their backs to each other's, bopping their heads to the music. "Oh, oh."

"I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad. . ." Sam trailed off, finishing the song. "That was really cool."

"Nice," Finn praised. "So, you think you can come back and do that in front of everybody?"

Sam grinned. "Sure."

☆ ★☆

BEING CALLED TO Coach Sylvester's office usually wasn't a good thing. Lucky and Santana sat next to each other, confused as to why they were there.

"A little bird told me that someone spent her summer vacation getting a brand-new set of melons," Coach Sylvester started, eyes set on Santana. Of course she knew about Santana's boob job. Santana was her best friend. Lucky tensed when Sue's attention moved to her. "And the little bird also told me that someone else knew about it, even though the two of you know I have a very strict no plastics policy in Cheerios. Care to comment?"

"I just—"

"What would possess a person your age to get a boob job?" Coach Sylvester cut her off. "You don't even know what your body's gonna look like. It's an insult to nature and completely distracting. I can't take my eyes off them. I'm actually talking to them right now."

Lucky furrowed her eyebrows.

"I wanted people to notice me more," Santana admitted. "I don't get what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that a person who has to pump her nonnies full of gravy to feel good about herself clearly doesn't have the self-esteem to be my co-captain," Coach Sylvester explained. "Quinn will be replacing you."

Santana stammered over her words as Sylvester looked back down at her paperwork, leaving Lucky even more confused. Why was she there?

She looked back up at them. "Oh, and, Boobs McGee, you're demoted to the bottom of the pyramid, so when it collapses, your exploding sandbags will protect the squad from injury. Lucky, as punishment for not reporting this to me, you are no longer at the top of the pyramid. Quinn will also be replacing you."

Lucky's mouth fell open in shock. Being kicked from the top of the pyramid was the last thing she needed when her status was on the line. "Coach—"

"Get the hell out of my office," Sue demanded.

The two girls did as told and left the room, both knowing that there was only one person who would tattle on them. Someone who'd get exactly what she wanted from the outcome.

"I'm going to kill her," Santana seethed. "I can't believe she snitched."

They found Quinn strutting down the hallway in her new Cheerios uniform. Santana slammed Quinn into the lockers before Lucky even realized she'd left her side.

"You did this to us! You told Coach Sylvester about my summer surgery!" Santana yelled.

"You have a surgery when you get your appendix out," Quinn shot back. "You got a boob job!"

"Yep, sure did!" Santana's hand went flying, hitting Quinn's cheek with a loud smack that had the students surrounding them gasping.

"You can't hit me!"

"Sure, I can," Santana retorted. "Unless you got yourself knocked up again, slut!"

Quinn grabbed Santana's shoulders and pushed her into the lockers.

"Stop the violence!" Brittany voiced.

Lucky watched as Santana and Quinn scratched and pulled each other's hair in attempt to get an advantage. Quinn grabbed Santana's ponytail and smacked her head against the locker. Santana shoved Quinn off of her, sending the blonde to the floor.

Mr. Schue ran in between them, struggling to separate the two girls. "Hey, hey, hey! What is this? What happened to us being a family? Hey!"

"Oh, please," Santana scoffed, trying to get past the teacher to Quinn. "She has a family! She's a mother!"

"Walk away!" Quinn screamed. "And tighten up your pony before you get to class!"

Santana tightened her ponytail to taunt Quinn and flipped her off as she walked away with Lucky and Brittany following her.

☆ ★☆

LUCKY STOOD NEXT to Brittany and Lucas as the Glee members waited for people to show up for the auditions. Everyone was staring at the clock, watching time slowly tick by in anticipation.

"Well," Rachel stood up, bouncing over to the piano. "Hate to break it to you, but it doesn't look like anyone's gonna be joining us. So I think we should just call it a day."

"We said three to five," Mr. Schue argued. "It's only 4:58."

"Wow," Lucky remarked, her eyes widening mockingly. "A whole two minute difference."

"Just wait," Finn protested. "My buddy Sam's gonna try out. He totally idolizes me."

"Face it, Finn," Kurt said as he walked past the boy. "You're no longer the quarterback. You're not the pied piper anymore—"

"And because you have a brain the size of a literal pea," Lucky cut in. "That means that you're no longer popular so this Sam kid probably isn't going to show."

Lucky's status hadn't been the only one to take hits that week. Finn had been kicked off the football team. Lucas told her it was because he wanted Artie to try out and Coach Beiste lost her shit. Being the quarterback had been the only thing holding him up, now he was just another Glee Club loser.

"Yeah," Kurt agreed. "No one's gonna follow you around thinking everything you do is cool." With that, he walked out of the door.

"What about that Sunshine girl?" Mercedes wondered. "I thought you said she could sing?"

"I guess she didn't want to hang out with us losers," Rachel pushed Mercedes out the door.

"Speak for yourself," Lucky spat. "Even at my worst, I am still cooler than all of you."

Lucas looked down at her and laughed, making her shrug. Rachel rolled her eyes at the girl but didn't reply, knowing it was true.

Lucky waited the remaining two minutes. As soon as the clock hit five, she left, sure that she'd just had the worst week of her entire 16 years of living.

𝒎𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒍 !!
kind of a long first chapter omg??