FIVE

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THE NEW DIRECTIONS were confident that they would win Sectionals, resulting in them slacking off. Mr Schuester was not happy, trying to come up with solutions to get them back on track. Listening to whatever Sue had to say, Will finally decided on a way to get his students motivated.

He was standing in front of the glee club, pictures on the pinboard that are seemingly in competition. He brushed off Kurt's comment about the above ground swimming pool and lightening, and instead decided to talk to his students.

"You guys have become complacent. You were great at the Invitationals." He assured them. "But, you gotta up your game if you wanna get through Sectionals. Okay, Split up. Guys on the left side, girls on the right side." He instructed.

Doing as they were told, Emery walked over to the right side with her arm hooked in Mercedes', giving Quinn a small smile in the process. Kurt, feeling much more comfortable around the girls, tried to join their side, but was forced back to the boys immediately.

Emery sent him a sorrowful, tight lipped smile. She genuinely felt bad for her friend. Glee club was about making people feel important, special. It was about giving people opportunities to be different—but Mr Schuester refused to let Kurt feel like he belonged in situations like this, leaving him to feel like an outsider in a place where he's supposed to stand out.

"Here's the deal. Two teams. Boys versus girls. One week from today, you will each perform a mash up of your choice." Their teacher explained.

Looking around in confusion, Puck had no idea what the older man was talking about. "What's a mash up?"

"A mash up is when you take two songs, and mash them together to make an even richer explosion of musical expression. Boys will perform on Tuesday, girls the next day. I want you to go all out, okay? Costumes, choreography. Whoever wins the competition gets to choose the number that we do for Sectionals."

Emery turned to to Mercedes with a wide eyed grin, genuine excitement over everything that was happening. They both began whispering ideas to each other, ignoring Rachel's query about the 'celebrity judge'.

"We got this in the bag." Mercedes blatantly told them. Emery nodded in agreement, grabbing the tips of her best friends fingers with her own, and walking out of the room.

"We are so gonna win this thing!" She beamed, punching the air in excitement.

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The boys had really went all out to show the girls up, and prove they were better performers. Rachel seemed to be the only one that took it to heart, berating her team for almost an hour.

Kurt, who's loyalties lay with the girls, informed them of the deplorable act that had taken place behind their backs, but oddly enough, it added up.

Emery was not very impressed with this, though, hunting down both Mike and Matt to scold them.

She found them standing at her locker, waiting for her, yet they were completely oblivious to the unhappy brunette walking in their direction.

"So, we're cheating now, are we?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest, and giving them both a monstrous glare.

"No idea what you're talking about." Mike breathed out, but there was a hint of amusement playing at his words, making it very obvious to Emery, that he did in fact know what she meant.

Smiling, Matt took a step closer to the brunette. "Yeah, I think you're just upset that we're gonna win." He mused, pinching her cheeks like she was a child.

Emery smacked his hands away, sending the two football players another glare.

She scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "It amuses me how much you really believe that. We're gonna end you."

With a cocky smirk, Mike slung his arm over the shorter girl. "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

His breathy voice fanned against her ear, and she let an involuntary blush coat her cheeks.

Matt quickly caught on to her heated state, and couldn't help but crack a small laugh. He was for sure going to have so much fun teasing her about it later.

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To even up the score, the glee girls went to Mrs Schuester for a vitamin d, and took it with a sip of water right before their award winning performance. In no time, they were dressed in their yellow dresses, and standing in their rehearsed formation in the choir room.

Emery and Tina were the most antsy, frantically looking from each other, to Rachel, to the boys. If you asked any of them, they'd bet that their heads were about to roll right off.

After Rachel had given a little speech—that she deemed necessary, she made her way beside Emery, flashing her a quick smile.

Artie sent the brunette a thumbs up, getting an enthusiastic wave in return. He laughed to himself, slightly shaking his head and fixing his glasses.

The better half of the New Directions finished their routine sitting in a line, with Rachel belting the last note behind them. Mr Schuester applauded them for putting in their full efforts, taking note of their wide grins.

Mercedes linked her arm in Emery's, giggling manically in her ear, whilst simultaneously trying to tell her something.

With both their current states, all she could catch onto were the words 'Mike'. Immediately feeling quite nauseas at the mere mention of the dancer, Emery slowly, and briefly looked at him.

He was watching her intently with a smile, half listening to whatever Matt was saying to him.

"Cedes, let's go take a nap." She rushed out of the room, dragging her best friend along. She was never one to get nervous around boys, mostly because they really were just little crushes that she knew would pass over time;

but this felt different.