TWO

☽☾

EMERY WAS MOPING DOWN THE CORRIDOR AFTER HEARING ABOUT THE PEP ASSEMBLY. They were already a joke to the whole school, and there was no doubt that Mr Schuester would pick a terrible song for them to sing. Emery was completely fine with singing those horrible songs in practice, away from a crowd—but it was not the kind of music that you sing in front of your entire school.

Turning the corner near her locker, she was met with a guilty looking Finn Hudson holding a slushee. She sent him a small smile which went unreturned. Once the realisation of the situation had settled on her, she threw her arms up to cover her face, waiting for the icy impact.

"I really don't wanna do this." Finn admitted. Emery peaked through the gap in her arms with a questionable look. "The guys are giving me a hard time, you know?" Both their heads snapped towards Noah Puckerman who was impatiently waiting for Finn to ruin her day. "And I think you're pretty cool."

"It's okay, I get it." She dropped her hands to her side and scrunched up her face, once again, waiting for the impact of the cold drink. But it never came. Finn gulped and looked back to where Puck was previously standing. Noticing that he was no longer there, he offered Emery the slushee.

"It's blueberry." She cautiously took the cup out of his hand, still not fully trusting anyone from the football team, even if that someone was a big hearted softie. A smile crept it's way onto her face and she took the cup from his grasp. "Do you wanna walk with me?" She asked—she hoped. Finns usual dopey looked returned, nodding his head.

"Did you hear about the pep assembly?" She wondered, taking a long sip of the icy drink and giving herself a brain freeze. Finn Hudson stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. He froze for a moment, thinking over her words, while Emery tried to smack the brain freeze away.

"What are you talking about? Don't tell me we're singing." He held the same look of terror in his eyes as Emery when she first found out. Doing this assembly would just put a bigger target on their backs, and none of them were thrilled about it. After Tina had spilled the news, they found Artie ramming himself into a wall, terrified of what was to come.

"Unfortunately." She confirmed, with a small nod. Finns attention seemed to be drawn elsewhere. Emery's curiosity got the better of her, and she followed his gaze. Her grip tightened on her bag when she spotted Noah Puckerman making his way towards her with a smirk on his face, and a slushee in his hand. Beside him was another football player, she wasn't sure of his name, but he didn't look exactly happy with what was coming.

Without hesitation, Puck threw the red slushee directly in her face, and she winced. It was colder than she could've prepared herself for. The ice dripped down her chest, leaving a red stain on her shirt. She instinctively pulled her hands up to her eyes and wiped the flavoured ice away. Emery wanted nothing more than for the floor to swallow her up, right there and then.

Finn let out a loud gasp, and quickly scrambled to take off his jacket. He placed it over her shoulders and directed her towards the boys locker room. "I'll help clean you up." He assured her. "I'll also throw Puck on a barbecue." He planned out loud. "That would hurt, right?" Emery just laughed, almost forgetting about the icy goodness all over her.

☽☾

BUILDING UP THE COURAGE TO TALK TO RACHEL BERRY, ARTIE GAVE EMERY A PEP TALK. They had come up with a solution to get the glee club out of doing the pep assembly, but neither of them were brave enough to pull it off. They needed someone fearless. They needed Rachel Berry. Emery inhaled a deep breath and jumped in her spot, prepping herself to face the devil. Artie gave her a reassuring thumbs up, followed by an unsure smile. "You got this."

The brunette made her way towards Rachel Berry, who was stood at her locker in her knee high socks and plaid skirt. She seemed to be talking to herself. Reassuring herself that she was the star, no doubt. Sensing the freshman's presence, the shorter girl turned around with a glare. "What do you want, Emery." She spat, emphasis on her name.

"Oh, hey, Emery, it's so good to see you. How are you on this fine morning? I'm doing great, Rachel, thank you for asking." She mocked, but Rachel was not one bit amused.

"I have an idea." She rushed out. "I'm not sure if it's good." The wheels in Rachel's brain started turning, she didn't like Emery, but she hated being bullied more. And if Emery had an idea to prevent that, how could she turn her away? Sucking in a breath, Rachel cringed before giving the younger girl her full attention.

Emery reached her hand into her back pocket, pulling out a flyer for the upcoming football game. She opened it up and handed it to Rachel. Rachel's eyebrows furrowed as she took the paper. "You...want us to go to the game?"

"Yes, Rachel Berry, will you please go on a very romantic date with me to our high school football game, to cheer on the very people who made it their life goal to make our lives a living hell." She sarcastically remarked. Rachel's lips tugged into a tight lipped smile, a genuine one, before letting her usual scowl take ownership of her face once again. "Just get on with it, Hale."

"I saw the cheerios putting these up, and it got me thinking—if we could get people to join on their own, maybe we won't have to do the assembly." Emery explained. "I figured you could come up with the posters, print them out on Coach Sylvesters printer—I would do it, but..I don't have the courage."

Rachel, for the second time ever, smiled at Emery. She was quite pleased with Emery's plan, and even more pleased that Rachel was the one she came to. The only one capable of completing the task.

"I know, it sucks." She sighed, frowning and shoving the flyer back into her pocket. Closing her locker, Rachel threw herself at the taller brunette. "Stop doubting yourself, Emery. You're surprisingly really great." With all that said and done, Rachel skipped down the hallway, seeking out Finn Hudson to help with Emery's devious plan.

"Surprisingly?" Emery repeated to herself.

☽☾

IT WAS THE DREADED DAY OF THE ASSEMBLY, AND EMERYS NERVES WERE GETTING THE BETTER OF HER. She was stood in the bathroom, her reflection staring back at her in the mirror, just staring, and nothing more. Rachel had been convinced that her plan was fool proof, but Emery knew better. Even if the students didn't hate them entirely afterwards, Mr Schuester would be beyond disappointed.

Emery closed her eyes, taking in a much needed breath of air. Tina came out of the stall she was in, and began washing her hands. "How are we supposed to pull this off, if no one wants to have sex with us?" Emery asked her gothic friend. Tina shrugged, not really sure how to answer. "I'd t-totally have s-sex with you i-if I were a guy." She assured.

Emery let out a small laugh, pushing herself away from the bathroom sinks. "We should get going. Don't want to make Rachel mad." She muttered. Tina took her hand and dragged her out of the bathroom and to the gym, where the rest of the school impatiently sat.

Emery was sat on the floor, staring into oblivion. Constant thoughts of what the aftermath would be like. A bunch of losers trying to be sexy definitely wasn't going to strike anyone's interest. If anything, it would prompt them to torture them just that little bit more. Artie wheeled himself over to brunette and smiled. "What's up, buttercup?"

Emery, without looking away from the spot of the curtain she was looking at, spoke up. "I'm pretty sure this is the part where we die." Artie shared a confused look with Tina who had overheard her, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Just try stay optimistic, we got this."

"I just don't think that's true, but alright." Emery stood up, wiping away any dirt that got on her skirt from the floor. She looked to Artie, and let out a loud sigh. "Okay, let's do this."

The New Directions performed 'Push it' and to their surprise, majority of the crowd jumped up cheering them on. It didn't make them any less of a target to the students at McKinley, however, it made them less nervous knowing that they weren't completely hated.