𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐀𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃, and dodged around the several stand-in dummies that Coach Bieste had placed to throw her team off. Twin flame, that wasn't a phrase that most used lightly. And it hurt more knowing that she never responded, poured her own heart out till it bled the feelings the girl had been withholding for some time. That panging twinge that had encapsulated Cline's heart when she first kissed Santana had suddenly remerged, lust. Lust for a girl who she had dumped like hot garbage, lust for a person who was already taken, Catalina was the one who should be the source of her sudden lust.

As the honey blonde got swept up in her thoughts she suddenly got into a head collision with a blue, stiff dummy, which seemed to have been made out of vibranium considering the ratchet pain she got after falling. " Crap," Aerin muttered to herself as she rubbed the incending bump that was forming on her forehead. Mike Chang, who had been running a few meters behind the blonde quickly jogged to where she laid to offer her a hand.

" Woah Aerin, are you okay ?" Mike asked persistently as he lowed his hand to crouch down towards her leaned position, whilst everyone else watched from a distance to snicker at the struggling girl. Noticing the growing head bump on the Cline's head he reached for the nearest chilled water bottle and gently pressed it up against the middle of her forehead.

" Yeah, I'm just a clutz...I swear I was born with two left feet," Aerin lightly laughed which made Mike let out a small chuckle. Ever since she had gotten on the football team he (and Sam, of course ) had been the only two to ever give the girl their ultimate support and companionship. They were also there when she needed them the most, and were the first to stick up for the girl when Dave and his barbanciute goons tried to tear her apart by jeering homophobic obscenities or making the same tired old 'slut who got knocked up' jokes. It seemed like everyone had placed this invisible target on her back, ominously waiting until she fell to the point of no return.

" It seems like the princess has fallen on her flat behind, again !" Azimio shouted through an abrasive chortle as he took off his helmet in a poorly exaggerated British accent. " Oh look, and she's got Chang attending to her aid - right on time! I hope you're paying the boy a good amount of dough, it's morally wrong to treat your male lapdogs like scum by not giving them any money."

Mike sprung from his position in annoyance. " Shut it, Adams," the boy snapped in defense of his new friend and teammate.

Azimio, taking pleasure in the situation that he had just stirred up, threw his hands up sarcastically as another pot belly laugh sprung from within his chest. " Easy there boy, no need to get all triggered over a complete misunderstanding. It seems like I've brought up a sensitive subject, and I'm well and truly sorry. maybe Princess can calm you down with a quickie behind the dumpsters before the 2nd period. Oh but make sure to bring contraception Chang, you don't want to be swimming in alimony and diapers before you even graduate."

Mike, who barely had a tempered bone in his body lunged towards Azimio out of sheer annoyance. But before he could throw out a punch both Sam and Puck sprung into action by holding him back and dragging him away from the boy to cool down.

" Woah, see now what you're not gonna do is try and swing for me, Chang," Azimio taunted as he inched closer towards Mike and the other guys. A look of great bitterness swept across the boy's face, anger curled hot and unstoppable in his gut, like a blazing inferno that wanted to burn him from the inside out. "I've been nothing but kind to you ladyboys, and this is really how you're going to repay me? I might have to whoop your ass to teach you a lesson on respecting people who are higher up the social food chain than you."

Sam let go of Mike's shoulder to push Azimio back, "I'd like to see you try, sunshine," the boy interrogated, eyes narrowing deeply.

Atticus fist began to slightly ball from the annoyance that was coursing through his veins, for weeks he had tried to blend into the crowd, ignore the constant jabs that were hurled at his twin, even though it pained him ever so dearly. But recently they had started to grow in cruelty and harshness, words that nobody should ever have to take. " Hey man, you need to quit ripping on my sister," Atticus snared as he lowered his helmet. " She earned her place on the team, fair and square just like the rest of us, so show her some respect."

Everyone's attention collectively drew to the dirty blonde boy, a tiny glare canvased across Azimio's face as his narrowed eyes connected with the other Cline. Letting out a bashful scoff he moved closer, with Dave and the other in toe to most likely teach Atticus a lesson on not 'backstabbing the boys. "Fair and Square, are you for real bro ?" Azimio began, arms folded over his football uniform. " She wasn't the one who had to go through months of intense training, and she never had to try and prove herself as worthy just to own the jacket, the uniform, our glory. Coach only let princess on the team because she felt sorry for her, you know single mother living on the child benefits of her baby daddy. And I could take that because as much as I tell it how it is I also have a very high moral code. But when she started to steal the people who matter shine...that's when I had to abandoned Mr. Nice Guy and let my tougher alter-ego soar free."

Aerin felt her face scrunch up as she stood, attempting to steal Azimio Adam's non-existent shine had never been on her agenda, to begin with. Maybe it was a forsaken rule that the girl had missed on the school's unofficial handbook, no girls on boys' dominated teams. Mostly every person who she had come into contact with ( besides Santana ) seemed to have this unnerved, weird itch about her being part of the team. For example, Quinn had tried on several occasions to persuade the Cline out of signing up from the first day they met, citing it as 'Social Suicide' with joining Glee Club on top of that to be the ultimate 'Social Kamakazei', and that she would get eaten alive. Though being accepting of her decision afterward, Finn was initially worrisome about her joining without explanation as to why.

And Sue was practically out for the blonde's blood at this point, the middle-aged cheer coach had somehow managed to co-create and make up a mass amount of smear campaigns to either A, get Aerin permanently ejected from the school (via catapult as to her request ) B, slowly worm the Cline into a flyer position on her cheerios team by her master manipulation techniques or C, play subliminal messages through the school's intercom system to brainwash the teen into hating football altogether.

" Why are you so threatened by me, Adams? Karofsky? What did I ever do to you two nimrods that make you guys so unnecessarily aggravated ?" Aerin began to question as she moved to stand in between the two boys. A stifled silence fell amongst the pair, both glanced at one another with the same semi-stunted expressions and deepened brows.

Dave shrugged his shoulders in response first whilst Azimio tried to maintain the same mean mug expression that had laid dormant on his face for the last 10 minutes. Raising a brow, the Cline girl moved to stand slightly back so that she was closer to Mike again. "Exactly, Nothing. Look...I know it must've annoyed you that I didn't put in the effect, the dedication, and I'm honestly sorry about that. But, I've seen this team's stats and I gotta say they're pretty terrible. You people lost every single game last season, even the ones against each other. We need to win this homecoming game to put our school back in the league tables again, you want that right ?" Aerin asked.

The two guys nodded in response, but Dave still wasn't satisfied. "And how are you going to do that for us, Princess ?" the stocky brunette asked with a cocked-up brow. " What are you going to sing a lame song about uniting together as one with your spongy gay club friends, and then magically, somehow, we'll win the homecoming game, not because of the hard that we've put in for months now, but because we decided to work together and put our differences aside."

" Of course not," Aerin promptly shook her head, hands firm on both of her hips."Continue putting in the hard work, but amp up the ante to like 100. We're in this to win, all or nothing, and if we slack now then we might as well kiss our victory goodbye. Calling me names isn't going to do anything, I'm here to stay, so deal with it and let's move forward," the girl concluded as Sam and Puck sent her an impressed smile.

"Fine, you've got a point Princess," Azimio replied with a twinge of uncertainty. "But you still have to prove yourself worthy so that we know you're truly loyal to us, let's call it an official initiation into our small band of brothers."

Aerin rolled her dark brown eyes as she turned over her shoulder to look at Mike just to make sure they were being serious before she turned her attention back to Azimio's hiked-up brows. " If I do whatever weird crap that you have in store for me, then will you and Dave agree to leave me alone, for good ?" the girl asked as a compromise, sticking out her hand to solidify the deal.

Azimio hesitated for a moment, stroking the base of his chin. The large statured boy made a continuous 'hmm' sound with his mouth before he finally shook Aerin's lingering hand tightly. The Cline slightly winced from the pain plus the fact that the boy had spat in the base of his palm before he shook on it. " Agreed, Princess," Azimio said as the Cline girl swiftly let go in discomfort.

" And will you guys stop locking Artie in the port-a-potties and tipping him over ?" Aerin added, just for good measure.

Karofsky let out a disappointed groan as he tossed his helmet to the side," Yeah, fine we're willing to do that. but we're still gonna slushie him and his gay club friends, especially Hummel, he's been getting on my nerves recently and i'd really like to teach the loser a lesson."

Aerin felt a breathy sigh slip from her lips. Sometimes, deep down, the blonde wondered how people like Dave Karofsky became such vile, rude and homophobic human beings to begin with. It was obvious that they weren't born like that, nobody is, as a parent the Cline girl knew that most all children's bad behavior stemmed from their parents being irresponsible in raising them properly. She also knew that bullies usually tended to target certain people, or in their case prey, because that person had something that they didn't...could be something that they couldn't.

Just as Aerin was about to reply to Karofsky's demeaning response, Coach Bieste blew the whistle as she walked towards the small circle that had gathered in the middle of the pitch. Her upper lip curled in disappointment, and her eyes scanned every one of her players.

" That was poor, really stinkin' poor,'' Coach Bieste huffed, her tone implementing the seething distress that was boiling within. "30 laps, 10 lunges, weave around the damn dummies. What is so hard to comprehend about those orders? 9 minutes in and one of you are already knocked out cold on the floor, and two of you are tryna rip each other's faces off."

Azimio cleared his throat," Sorry Coach, P-I mean Aerin got us all confused," the boy lied, terribly.

Dave joined in on his horrendous chorus, "Yeah, she called herself a godsend, said that we're going to lose without her...I don't think she's good for us Coach, her sportsmanship is appalling."

Coach Bieste could tell from the off that they had been lying through their teeth, and noticing their unshielded smirks further pulled together her theory. But for now, she decided to let the situation slide for the sake of her temperate annoyance, " Puckerman, I want you to up the middle with Evans right in front of you. Cline, you go in the back, just behind the scrimmage. When Sam runs up and the rest are defending you get ready to catch the ball, by the side."

Atticus and Aerin both glanced at one another before the oldest raised his hand for confirmation as to which Cline she was referring to. "Uh, Coach," the dirty-haired blonde asked in a low-toned voice. " Which one are you-"

"Aerin, I'm talking about Aerin," Coach Beiste said passive-aggressively, cutting off Atticus mid-sentence. "Now, get out there and practice some offensive plays, and please, for the love of God, would you guys refrain from trying to scratch each other's eyeballs out. We're a team, and y'all need to start acting like it....this feud is getting super tiresome. the backchat, the constant unnecessary name-calling. Quit being a bunch of holy terrors and get out there !"

" And remember, practice after school at 4 PM, don't be late !"

Upon hearing this, Aerin momentarily halted in her position. The blonde's face slightly dropped from the realization that she couldn't make it at 4 PM, she was moving to the Motel today and the movers had requested they leave by 3 sharp. Turning on her heel, the girl walked back to Coach Bieste who had just started scribbling plays on her clipboard. " I can't make 4 PM, I'll be busy," she stated through a slight quiver.

" Doing what ?" Coach Bieste asked in an inquisitive tone, "You bailing on us already, Peach?"

Aerin took in a harsh swallow, for some reason, telling her football coach that she was about to become homeless in a matter of hours felt weirdly daunting. It wasn't like the brown-eyed girl's situation wasn't public knowledge, thanks to JBI and his sticky fingers practically everybody was aware of what was going on by now. She had even been christened with a new nickname already, Motel Motor Head. the Cline had no idea where the motor part originated from, considering that it had nothing to do with motels or homelessness; but being called a motorhead would always be miles better than branded as 'slutty slut bag' for the rest of the school year.

"I'm moving houses," Aerin responded, grip tightening on her helmet. "My mom, she got..uhm..she got a really fancy job as a head chef at Breadstix. Yeah, she's racking in a lot of cash so we're selling our condo and moving to the Upper West."

"Sounds nice, but I don't see why you'd need to miss practice for that," Coach Bieste replied, she could sense that something was off by Aerin's stammorous reply alone. The football coach set her clipboard down and pressed a hand gently on the Cline's shoulder, eyes turning soft as they connected to Aerin's. "Look pumpkin, If you ever need to talk about anything at all, good or bad, please don't hesitate to come over and express your feelings."

Aerin flashed a small smile towards Coach Bieste, signaling her appreciation. She didn't reply, but instead, the girl raised her first to give her teacher a tiny fist bump before she ran back onto a field, with a wind of happiness running through her veins.

𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐓, who had practically seemed to be joined at the hip since the gel-haired boy's arrival at McKinley. For the most part, they seemed to be really close with one another, they had great chemistry and the pair could practically finish each other's sentences. The Cline girl had urged her companion to just push his luck and ask him out for homecoming before someone else beat him to the punch. She could see it in Kurt's eyes and body language, the longing wait, eye contact fixated on Blaine's every single move.

" You need to tell us which song you're singing," Blaine began as he placed a hand atop Aerin's free left hand, making Kurt slightly furrowed his brows. "Anything Adele or Lady Gaga will definitely work, 100%, though I do see you singing a Carrie Underwood song," the dark brunette began in an unintentional ramble. Aerin lifted her head in confusion as she took a bite out of her curly shaped chicken stripper, trying her best to process half the words that had just escaped from Blaine's lips.

" Thank you for the suggestions, Blaine Warbler, but I don't think singing Jesus Take the Wheel would be very appropriate for a week that is dedicated to strong female leads," Aerin responded with an appreciative smile. As much as the girl appreciated Carrie's vast discography, Christian country music just wasn't really her thing.

Noticing Kurt's faltering smile, Aerin sat up slightly in her chair to try and change the topic to a more important one, homecoming. "So Blaine, Homecomings coming up in a few days and I-"

"Uhm, I don't want to go to the homecoming dance with you, Aerin," Blaine responded swiftly with widened eyes, cutting off Aerin immediately.

Aerin took in a sharp intake of breath as she turned to Kurt to give him a 'is he being serious right now look' before she turned back to Blaine. " And I don't want to go with you either," the Cline retorted, eyebrow partially raised." I was going to ask if you've asked anyone out at school yet, or more specifically anyone in the Glee club."

Her gaze stiffly shifted towards Kurt who slightly perched up in his chair as he lowered his sandwich. Blaine shook his head, homecoming hadn't been on his mind as of late, he was still trying to get used to being back into the public school system and being out of his comfy Warblers blazer. And though he missed the warm atmosphere of the all-boys school common areas, the dark brunette could still somewhat manage the chaotic hallways of Willam McKinley High School.

"Not at the moment, though I am thinking about asking someone," Blaine replied softly. Aerin's face lit up as she lightly kicked Kurt under the table, alerting him to his obvious attempts to drop subtle hints. Unfortunately, the light brunette hadn't caught on yet and instead of sharing the same excitement, he shot a mild glare back at his good friend before he went back to eating his sandwich.

"Is that someone in this area right now, is he sitting in this courtyard," Aerin hinted with raised brows.

Blaine hesitated a response, he didn't want to seem too headstrong, but at the same time, the boy also wanted to play it smoothly. Looking for a way out, he spotted Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson entering from the cafeteria doors to sit at a private table, " I-I've gotta go, I promised Rachel that I'd talk duets with her during lunch...she wants to do a Barbra number for Mr. Schue's Leading Ladies week."

Kurt rolled his hazel eyes as a sigh escaped from his lips, " Of course she does, that girl lives and breaths Barbra on a daily basis. You know, she showed me her Streisand Shrien once last year over the summer...best to say that behind my dad's dancing, that was the scariest thing I'd ever seen."

"Sounds about Berry", the girl replied blankly with an unintentional pout, eyes still glued to Blaine. "Hey Warbler, don't you have anything to ask Kurt before you depart, something special perhaps ?" she suggested as both her brows hiked up and a small smirk wriggled onto her face.

Blaine mouthed a sarcastic 'I hate you' towards the Cline in slight embarrassment, the apples of his cheeks were suddenly kissed with a semi-transparent splash of rose. " No, Aerin, I've got nothing to say," the boy responded rather sternly, catching the attention of Kurt who felt like piggy in the middle with the way their conversation was bouncing back and forth.

' Blaine !' Rachel shouted from the other side of the courtyard with a tofu wrap in her grasp and a hand gently resting on Finn's. ' We're over here !'

the former Warbler sent Rachel a small wave before he began to fix his satchel to his side. "Duty Calls, I guess," the gel-haired boy responded with a lack of excitement as he departed. "I'll see you guys later, maybe we can meet at the Bean after school?"

Aerin's somber smile quickly fell once more, another promise she couldn't keep. "Affirmative," the girl hummed under her breath as she stuck her two fork prongs deep into the chicken on her plate which had managed to curdle.

" What's got you in the dumps, Tami Maida, and why are you trying to murder your chicken ?" Kurt asked once he noticed the Cline girl repeatedly stabbing the chicken strip that sat on her plate.

" Nothing," Aerin replied huskily as she continued to push the sharp edges of her fork into her food without a thought, "Absolutely Nothing at all."

Kurt raised a brow. "You sure? Because I think that your lunch would say otherwise," he watched as the girl threw her fork down, which confirmed his suspicions.

"Hormones..." Aerin responded whilst she poked a hole in the opening of her juice box. She wriggled its tiny straw gently into the hole until the end successfully slipped the end inside, once she had done that the girl picked it up and began to take minimal sips from the sugary-filled apple juice. " I've been up and down for weeks, it's kind of frustrating really...I don't really know when I'm going to burst into a fiery rage of pent-up anger."

Kurt nodded his head in agreement as he took one last bite of his sandwich whilst tiny crumb particles rested on his chin without the brunette's knowledge. "Oh I totally get that, I've felt so uptight recently," the boy responded, making Aerin furrow her brows. "But I guess mine is just..special male hormones, boys can get hormones too right ?"

A silent chuckle escaped from Aerin's lips, refilling her with the joy that had escaped from within her. "Yeah, testosterone, dummy," the girl replied, as she took another sip of her apple juice.

Wanting to swiftly move along from the topic of puberty, the blonde decided to bring up something that was more important, Kurt's obliviousness to Blaine attempting to ask him out as his date for the Homecoming dance. Reaching over their shared table, Aerin whacked Kurt over the shoulder which ultimately made the hazel-eyed boy let out a small gasp.

" Ouch," Kurt whined, "What was that for, psycho !" he pulled away to calmly rub the sore spot that was forming on his upper shoulder, which made Aerin invertedly roll her eyes in response.

" For missing the clear signs that Blaine was throwing out when he was talking about asking you out to the Homecoming dance, dude," the girl echoed back as she took one final sip of her juice carton before turning to a nearby trashcan to throw it away.

Kurt's breath slightly hitched once the realization hit that Blaine had in fact been trying to subtly hint at the fact that he wanted to ask the boy. It all made sense, his flustered responses, constant denial, references to an identified 'someone'. A brightly lit smile tugged at the edge of Kurt's lips as he bit the skin around his nail, gaze lifting in Blaine's direction. For some time, the Hummel boy had been meaning to truly express his desire for them to be more than friends and go all-in by becoming an official couple. When he had transferred to Dalton right in the middle of the second semester, the pair had shared a passionate kiss in the school common areas...it was one of the most magical moments of his life.  " What should I do, What should I say, you saw how nonchalant I was being earlier. What if Blaine asks some other cute, attractive bachelor with perfectly parted hair because I was giving the wrong signals."

" Oh, honey have you seen some of the guys in this school? Yikes," Aerin responded through a chortle, "Trust me...he's not going to be asking anybody else, besides you. You two are practically made for each other, I bet that in a couple of years you'll get married under a canopy in the Bahamas with soft ukulele music playing the background as the soundtrack to your memorizing love story."

Kurt shook his head in disagreement. "Okay, no, now you're taking it too far....I would never get married in the Bahamas. It just seems too tacky, too upper rich suburban for me," the boy responded as he rose from his chair and Aerin in toe just behind him,  "I'd probably want my wedding ceremony to be something unique, with a small guest list and colour oriented place holders."

" Wow, very specific," Aerin remarked as she dumped the rest of her lunch into the wastebasket, " I think weddings are overrated, a person could spend over half their savings on decor, a wedding venue, a white dress, and a cake which has more layers then the leaning tower of Pisa and still end up getting a divorce just a couple of years later."

" I'm guessing you're the child of a serial divorcee ?" Kurt asked, arms linked with Aerin's as they weaved around the different groups of people scattered across the courtyard soaking up the unusually bright day that Lima was providing.  Aerin paused before she eventually lightly nodded, a mild sigh breaking free from her lips.

"Love is complicated, it's this icky dysphoria which can bring mega highs and plummeting lows," Kurt began, "But I learned something, thanks to my time away from this hellish establishment and my own father and his own unique love story with Finn's mom. When you find someone, or a certain group of people who you truly care about, hang onto them for dear life.  Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can definitely feel it," the boy concluded, unlatching himself from Aerin's grasp.

Deciding to switch the topic once he saw Santana walk by, Kurt moved towards the staircase area of the courtyard and leaned up against a guard rail, " You should ask Santana to the homecoming dance, according to my sources she and Britt are on a break from their budding relationship."

Butterflies whirled in the pit of the Cline girl's stomach at the mention of her name and the idea alone that they could get a chance to walk hand in hand at the school's homecoming dance. Her brown orbs moved along with Santana from the moment she caught the Latina insight, from the way her pony bopped in the mist that blew in mixture with the sun, to the way she'd laugh whenever someone told a joke, that was one of Aerin's favorite things about Santana.  But she knew deep down that her emerging feelings were inappropriate, the Cline was with Bianca, probably one of the prettiest girls in the school, and Santana had just 'spilt' from Brittany according to Kurt. Macking on your best friend's girl was the number one no-no to girl code and boy code in Aerin's books.

" I'm with Catalina," Aerin reminded Kurt as she rummaged through her back pocket from her hand-me-down iPod. Once she was able to retrieve it the girl scrolled until she found the iTunes app, " We've been with each other for...for 4 weeks ? 5 ?" she paused in between breaths to try and remember it had been a long time since spring break, and Aerin had forgotten to count the dates. "No it's definitely 5 by now," the blonde remarked, swiftly correcting the mistake she made earlier.

Kurt rolled his hazed eyes, "Wow, you can't even remember the day you two started freaking dating ! Aerin, just let the relationship die already, you both have nothing in common with each other," the boy began as he shuffled his Chemistry book to his right hand. "You're like Saturn and the Sun, and Santana is the Earth which is trying to tell you that you're not meant to be with each other."

Aerin put her iPod down on an adjacent bench, ignoring Kurt's remarks, and sat on the steps next to him. " But we're also the same too, she makes me feel...whole," a slight lump formed in the back of her throat when she made eye contact with Santana who was sitting at the other side. "She's lifted me up when nobody else is willing to, She's like that eternal angel who keeps reappearing in my dreams...because no matter how much I deny I will always love her, always and forever."

◜ -ˋˏ 𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙀'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀𝙎 ! ˎˊ- ◝

happy pansexuality visibility day to all my fab pans !  y'all are valid and i love you guys <3

hey besties, new chapter ! purr what do you guys think ?

as of june 1st, i will officially be taken a break from this book to not only focus on my other two novels but also write out the last 7 chapters <3 and also finish off the remainder of my school year since my grades are d r o p p i n g

anywho, i hope you guys have a good evening/afternoon or mid-morning

I LOVE YOU BESTIES! MWAH