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FORREST GUMP 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐗 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒, you'll never know what you're going to get. It could take you in and spit you right back out without warning, chew you from every prideful and happy bone in your body to the very core. Everything seemed like it was going to get better, an upscale hill from the treacherous journey that Aerin had been forced to take.

But it didn't. It was dangled in front of the Cline girl like a carrot on stick, with a non metamorphic hand yanking it up and down, drawing it nearer, wealing her in until. Snap. It disappeared. There was no doubt in her mind that the pictures had spread throughout the school, jumping from site to site and had probably fallen into the laps of JBI considering his speed on picking up on gossip. She could hear their poisonous rumors already. No wonder she's a wreck or i knew she was cuck-oo for a reason.

It wasn't the first time something this drastic had happened, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But, that wasn't what laid deep in her worries, made her scared to open the doors of McKinley and walk down the halls. Gossip and Slander was sadly an unfortunate occurrence of adolescence, and even further than that.

No matter where you go, or what you do, there will be someone there to stick the nose down on who you are made make you small. What made Aerin uneasy was the fact that somebody close to her had leaked those photos. A friend, or foe in her circle. Nobody else would have known where they were hidden, nobody except for her brother.

But he wasn't that malicious. was he ?

And besides Atticus, nobody else had been past the threshold of her top drawer. She didn't even let her own mother dust up there at times out of the fear that she would've opened the tin lid and discovered what was inside.

Her murky secret. It seemed stupid to be so ashamed over pictures of her drinking and smoking. Almost half of the teen population drank alcohol (even if the legal drinking age was 21) during house parties and smoking, well, that was whole other story inteself. Aerin knew of kids from her old school back in Arizona who smoked 5 a days like it was nothing. All at the ripe young age of 11 years old. Hacking their lungs before they even hit Junior High.

But this was different. Because this time, evidence of her living a 'wild and reckless' life would catch the attention of the wrong sort people. Child services.

They'd already been on her coattails since the day Lennon was born, looking down at her and watching the girl every step of the way through motherhood. Make one mistake ? write-up, Slip-Up? write-up, Express how stressed you've been ? write up and given a surprise visit from a care worker. None of them trusted her, just like she didn't trust anyone else. They'd already given her a warning after their last visit, 2 years ago. 

If any liable sources of your indecency for childcare come to light, then we'll have no choice than to place your child into a reservoir of safety.

Loosing Lennon would mean losing a part of herself, forever. And Aerin was already on the brink of slipping. But for now, the only thing Aerin could do was hope. Hope that Fate would actually be on her side for once. And that everything would just go back to normal. Or, as normal as it got around here.

" Hey ? Are you up Yet ?" Finn's voice echoed from the hallway, a soft knocking following suit. Bunking with a male, especially one who was her friend had been odd to say the least.

It was fun when they both stayed up late and played Guess Who: Glee Club Edition with one another. But the awkwardness always dawned when Aerin's female essentials would spill ( no thanks to Lennon ) and Finn would accidentally step on them.

Or mistake one of them, specifically her tampon, as blockage for nosebleeds. And not the other type of special bleeding that blooms for young females during their pre-teen to teen years.  " My mom made waffles. Well, she bought them from the supermarket bargain bin...but they still look pretty good. You like Maple Syrup don't you?"

Aerin rubbed her eyes as the sunlight peaked through his bedroom curtains, sleep deprivation still working its way through her body. " Who doesn't ?" she replied, voice croaked and muffled.

She'd never tried waffles before, pancakes sure, but waffles were a special occasion type of delicacy. Astrid, ironically enough, had always used to be a person who liked to save money and crunch numbers.

It was part of the reason why they always got food hand me downs from other people who didn't have it in them to throw away full packets of Cheerios or Bread. Most of the money that she did earn from her sleuth of jobs at the market, or  as manager in the local Walgreens at west point usually always went into a 'secret' bank account. Which turned out to be her pockets and a rickety gambling table.

Pulling herself up from her sleeping bag the girl then gently moved towards Lennon, who was still asleep on the corner of Finn's bed, and bent to gently stroke her cheek, light rose canvasing them both like a beautiful array. There was a sweet innocence in it, the sort that brings champagne roses to the imagination . She looked angelic. That was her little girl.

Aerin found herself wondering what Lennon what be like as she grew. Would she be headstrong and will-powered ? an extroverted butterfly who didn't shy from social interaction ?. Or would she be reserved and observant, wrapped up in her own little cocoon of safety from life itself.

How tall would she be....what crowd would Lennon walk amongst at school. The airheaded and one-dimensional so called 'popular crowd', or the people who walked with their heads bowed down in fear of being taunted and harassed. Picked on for not following the agenda.

At the end of the day, only one thing mattered to her. That Lennon never grew up to follow in her footsteps. That she became greater than her, shine  to the utmost heights. Not let past mistake eat away at her insides and stop her from doing what she loves.

" I love you so much, more than you'll ever know," Aerin quietly whispered into her sleeping daughter's ear, hand traveling from her cheek to her hair. " I'm sorry if I've been a selfish mom to you, Len. Not taking the time out of my day to properly play Pretend Shop with you or watch Cilfford the Big Red Dog reruns with you whilst we both sit in fuzzy pajamas. Life's been difficult...hard ? No, it's definitely been difficult," the girl then let out a shaky breath. A sensation ran corset through her veins. Pity tears welling. " Never change, for anyone. And if you ever meet a boy, or girl, but mainly a dude who says that they want you to be something you're not for them. To appease their sense of gratitude. Then I will personally punch them right where it hurts in your honour. "

Just as she opened her mouth to whisper more sweet promises into her sleeping daughter's ear the door suddenly creaked open. Finn. He'd definitely been listening to everything she'd been saying. Aerin could tell by his linear lips and mellow gaze that he had on her. And the way his hands were buried deep into his jean pockets.

" Sorry, I should've knocked,"  he apologized as he shut the door behind him.

Aerin let out a chuckle and shook her head, " It's your bedroom, Finn, don't worry about it."

" Is everything alright ?" The chestnut brown brunette lowered his tone once he noticed Lennon still asleep at the foot of his bed, curled up with the stuffed princess plush she'd received from Quinn as a gift.

" Yeah, totally,"  her response was dry. That was a seething lie and she knew it too. " I was just tryna wake her up without making her cry. she's really fussy in the morning."

Finn leaned up against the doorframe of his bedroom, dark browns trained on the doubting mother who was right in front of him. " I...heard what you said,'' he admitted, hand traveling to the back of his neck as he scratched it. He'd never been one to eavesdrop on others' conversations, let alone a private and very sensitive one on one conversation between a mother and their child.

But it had pulled at his heart strings, brought back temperate old memories of his father. And the relationshing they could've had if he hadn't left before he was born, died serving his country.

Aerin rose from her kneeled position and turned to face the boy, brow raised and arms folded. " Oh really, which part ?" she queried.

There was no need for her to ask what exactly he'd heard, given his expression upon entering the room.

Another neck scratch. " Well, I heard the part where you apologised to her for being a bad mom," he began, moving closer to the girl. " And I also heard the part where you said you would defend her honour or something."

" So, basically everything then ?"

Finn took in a sharp intake of breath as he sucked in his bottom lip with his top teeth, brain scrawling with different words to reply with next.  Sure, he'd just admitted to outwardly listening in on a meaningfully conversation that had absolutely nothing to do with him, but she didn't seem that mad.

Infact, the girl seemed weirdly relieved. Like she was almost waiting for somebody to walk in and appease her heart and tell her that everything was going to be okay. And maybe, just maybe, a certain religious figure who had appeared on his grilled cheese once before was nudging him in that path. " You shouldn't beat yourself up like that," his tone fell into a softer, more solemn whisper as Aerin turned around towards the window.

Aerin continued to stare out of Finn's window, through it's cracks and down into the cool summer's day. It's rays pouring in and nipping at her olive grove skin.

Out of all the seasons, summer had always been her least favorite. Not because of the sun, or the symphonic humming of the ice cream truck jingle rining down her street. She disliked summer for the bad memories it brought with it, the crash and burn that always seemed to happen in her life once the 21st of June dawned.

For instance, in the summer of 03' was the first time she ever broke her leg. Nothing major, but getting pushed out of a tree by your drunk older cousin is still pretty jarring for an innocent 8 year old. The summer of 05' was when her father was first diagnosed with cancer, the spark that ignited the flames.

" I'm not beating myself up,"  she responded, in a stern yet shaky laced sigh, " I was...giving myself a reality check."

Finn shook his head in disagreement with her statement. " Yeah, but you being a bad mother isn't a reality at all,"  his brows furrowed as a puzzled expression canvassed his face from his own words. " Okay, that sounded alot better in my head. But, you get what I mean. You're a good parent, especially considering how young you are. Most people would've given their kid up for adoption."

" Like Quinn," Aerin deadpanned, eyes still permanently fixated on the large acer tree outside the Hudson's home.  A weird  shiver running down her spine soon after.

" Yeah, I mean no- not in a bad way, her situation was different. She wanted her kid to have a better life, be with someone who could give it the attention it deserved. Guess that person was supposed to be Rachel's real mom."

" she's not an it."

" What ?"

" You said that Beth was an it, she's a human being, Finnosense,"  Aerin's gaze trembled back to his, interlocking; a smile fighting to reappear on her upper lip.

She knew all about the Quinn-Finn-Puck dilemma thanks to mainly Santana but also Mercedes and Kurt. " It must've, uhm, hurt thinking that you were going to become a dad one minute, and then getting that ripped away from you the next."

Finn hadn't expected her to bring that up, dig a whole and reopen a wound that was still trying to heal. " That's one way of  putting it," he replied, taking a step back. " I had our whole future planned out.

What I was gonna do, how I was gonna financially support both Quinn and the baby. Granted, now that  I'm looking at it, working as a busy-boy at Olive Garden wouldn't really have helped to pay for all the stuff that comes with being a dad. Nappies, doctors appointments, food. But it still brought me hope that I could keep us afloat for a while."

Aerin brushed a hand through her hair. " Well, at least you had a plan. You wanna know what my ex's plan was ?"
Finn hestited a nod, but once he saw that Aerin was genuinely asking him if he wanted to know or not he lightly nodded in reply.

" To run, all the way to sunny California. Run from the responsibilities of having to raise another human, run from doing the noble thing and actually stepping up. Run from his own child. I haven't seen the loser in awhile, god knows what he's doing now."

" And you're okay with that ? him not being around ?" Finn asked. " I mean, that's gotta hurt knowing that he didn't love you enough to stay. And aren't you worried that your kid's gonna ask where he is in the future. Because she's definitely gonna ask where he is in the future."

A dry lump formed in the back of the blonde's throat. Lennon was going to ask questions, she knew that was inevitable. Infact, the little girl had already begun to string together small sentences that always had 'dad' or 'where is' in it's contexts. And Aerin hated that, deeply. " No, I'm not okay that he left Lennon.

I couldn't care less about if he loved me or not. We happened, and it didn't work, but our relationship came with a lifelong, and frankly sweet consequence,"  she replied, swallowing the lump. The topic was getting to intense for her, this week was Game Day and Aerin needed to keep her spirits high, "Look, I-I don't really wanna to talk about my ex boyfriend anymore, It's bumming me out."

Another silent beat passed, Finn rubbed his neck once more before he gave the girl a small head nod. " I didn't mean to bum you out," he said, sticking his hand out so she could shake it solidarity. Even though they weren't even fighting in the first place, "Sorry."

Aerin felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips, a new sense of serenity growing from within her. All because of Finn. He was, at times, one of the only people who could snap her out of falling down a downward spiral before she tripped over the threshold. The anchor that pulled her out of a violent current of waves. He was definitely going to be one of the people she missed when she left, living in a Finn Hudson-less world just didn't feel right.

Instead of shaking his hand, she pulled herself towards Finn and gave him a side hug, much to his surprise. " So, does this mean that you forgive me...or was that one of those mixed messages hugs that really mean that you hate me," his words came out in a distorted jumble but they still managed to make Aerin chuckle inwardly.

" Never change Finn Hudson," she whispered, glancing up at him. "Never change."

𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐘𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐘. Where every player, aka student, was trying their very best to goad out a specific target without actually revealing who it was. Until it was too late.

And the icy sting of Cherry doused your face and stained mainly all of your belongings. At least, that was the punishment for the Glee Club on good and bad days. But for Aerin, they had decided to go with a more harsher approach. A tactic that left a permanent stain on the way anyone could see you, forever. The classic Locker Vandalism trick. Someone had used cheap aerosol spray paint to write the word ' CHEAP' on the face of her locker.

The mystery assailant had also taped blown out pictures of her drug use with a couple complementary dead roses spread across the floor. Pools of people had gathered, all snickering and whispering as their beady eyes pointed towards Aerin.

She didn't know what to do, or how to react. Crying would only make her seem weak, and defeated, and she simply couldn't afford to be either one of those things. Punching a locker seemed tempting, but that would also rile people up to the extreme. Give them another thing to gossip about like an old woman at a saloon.

" Hey ! All of you, scram !" a familiar voice suddenly boomed amongst the crowd, thunderous in nature. " Nothing to see here, c'mon, move it or I'll literally take on each and every one of you with my bare hands. Lima Heights Style."

" Get out of here !" another voice softer, but sterner voice bellowed.

The crowd immensely began to disperse, each person either scoffing in the Cline's face or shuffling away out of fear of what Santana Lopez could do to them, physically and probably emotionally as well, she was a fiery force with a sharp tongue and a vocabulary full of nasty insults. It was good to know that at least two people in the school's perspective of her hadn't changed yet. "Cheap, out of all the words they could've called me...and they went with the least harshest word in the dictionary," she sighed, crossing her arms. " How smart"

" I've had my fair share of public humiliation before, but this...this one takes the cake," Quinn expressed as she tilted her head slightly to read out the words.

" Dead roses ? How pissed off is this loser," Santana commented, bending down to pick up one of the petals. " I mean sure, that photo of you coastin' nose candy was pretty embarrassing. Like, no offense, Aerin...you're beautiful and a clear 10/10. But you looked like Pamela Anderson after her peak."

"Not helping, San," Aerin grumbled, as she moved forward to yank one of the pictures of her locker. Her nose scrunched once she actually took the time to look at it up close, Santana was right. She did look off. Not like Pamela Anderson, but more like a beaten up Raggedy Ann doll who had just been dragged through the mud, and left to lick her wounds on her own.

Santana placed her free hand on the girl's shoulder. " Don't let it get to you, people's embarrassing pictures get out all the time," she reassured.

" This isn't embarrassing," Aerin replied, tone lowered but wary, " This picture's gonna destroy any chance of me having a future. And quite possibly affect the future of my kid. Who's knows how far it's spread by now, I bet it's already all over JBI's stupid blog. And it's probably even made it's way to the school's PTA Facebook wall."

" First of all, the school doesn't even have a PTA anymore, it disbanded after one of the parents threatened to throw a brick at  Principal Figgins for encouraging the arts instead of reading," Quinn corrected as she leaned up against the locker that was next to Aerin's wrecked one. " And second, you're overreacting. Santana's right, people in this school have had their very private photos leaked to the outer world. We've all made mistakes, done things that we're not proud of. But mostly everyone thinks you're still pretty normal."

Aerin opened her mouth to reply with gratitude for Quinn's attempts to appease her worries, but her words were soon stolen by a sudden wave of laughter, which was intertwined with hatefulness. " Could've fooled me," Dave Karofsky spoke, all his goons glancing down at the medium statured girl who was half their height. " Hey, I was just wondering...how much does it cost for a baggie ?"

She knew what he meant, but asking him to clarify the start of his punchline still felt reasonable to her.  " Excuse Me ?"

Another ugly, pot belly laugh erupted from Dave and the others. Azimio moved forward and pushed the boy back slightly. " Don't play dumb with us, Princess," he chortled as he turned to yank another one of the pictures off Aerin's locker, holding it up to her currently flushed face. " You've got a lot of knowledge in the fun party substances department, especially..hmm.." he flipped the picture and began to examine it. " Especially in Yayo and Laughing Grass !"

A bubbling fire of intolerance began to spur from Aerin's core. She wanted to retaliate, kick them and make them experience the pain that they cause to other people on a daily basis. She'd never had the urge to punch a person this bad since the beginning of the school term.

" Don't you scuzzballs have anything better to do with your miserable, high school peaking lives ?" Santana spat as she stepped in front of the Cline girl. She couldn't remember the last time someone had actively gone out of their way to protect her, properly. Catalina did talk people down whenever they tried to ask her out, which was usually all the time. " Seriously, this whole cliche bullying shtick is kinda getting sad."

Azimio raised a brow, and his smirk only grew wider. " No, not really, '' he retorted, with a tone that only made Aerin want to slap him round the face even more. " I find it quite amusing actually, gets my spirits soaring for the day ahead."

Quinn scoffed under her breath. " That's so pathetic," she snarled. However, her comment still managed to catch the attention of Karofsky who threw a glare in her direction.

He raised his chubby finger towards Quinn, eyes filled with a clear sense of insecurity that he was trying to hide. " Mind your business, Floozy," he sniped, lowering his finger soon after.

Floozy, the word to chop your chances of ever seeming intimidating.

" Hey, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Asshat," Aerin called to the pair as she tried to steer them both away from Santana and Quinn, " Your issue is with me, and not with them. So you can either choose to walk away with your dignity and self respect still intact or actually tell me what you want."

Silence swallowed the group whole for a moment, both boys glanced at each other and silently nodded their heads before Karofsky spoke up again for the whole group. Considering they all collectively shared one brain cell, it wasn't surprising to Aerin that they could only express their thoughts via one person at a time.

" Alright, here's the deal," Dave began, crossing his arms. " You're a liability, a deadbolt. Ever since Coach let you join the team our cred has been taking a nosedive. I was fine with it at first because, surprisingly, I'm actually a very understanding individual."

Aerin felt a snort upheave from her nose, small patens in laughter following suit. Dave Karofsky was a lot of things, but understanding and considerate wasn't one of them. He was the soul reason for many people's misery, the spark that lit the monstrous flame of copy-cat bullies.

Azimio raised a brow, misplaced offense glimmering in his black pooled eyes. " You seriously think this funny, Freak ?"

" Hilarious, actually," Aerin rebutted as she looked back at Santana and Quinn, who both had impressed smirks on their faces. Though Santana's was more hidden due to her puckering her lips inwards to probably contain a wider one flashing across her face.

" You know what, screw this ! I'm tired of taking the nice approach,"  Dave hissed suddenly, moving uncomfortably closer to the Cline. " You need to do the noble thing and back out of the game this week, and hey, maybe you could even go one step further and just leave the team entirely. You're a bad luck charm, and we don't need you dampening up our mojo."

Her eased anger suddenly flared up again. Aerin, a bad luck charm ? now that was BS. She'd worked her ass off more in the couple of months that she'd been on the team then he had in his whole 3 years stint on it. The wheat blonde hands balled into fists, furrow in between her brow deeping immensely.

"I hear there are a lot of support groups for people like you," Azimio suggested, tone laced with a clear intent to rile Aerin up. An attempt that was currently working very well. " The Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network, Co-Dependants Anonymous....the Child Welfare Gateway for that poor little angel of yours who's probably had a rough couple 2 years."

And there it was, the pin drop. The spike that made Aerin's vision turned to a dangerous tone of crimson red. She could handle people talking about her, it was a part of life. But when it came to her child, the only person she'd really ever fight till the death for. It was a line that nobody could ever cross.

Aerin would've lunged for him there and then. But, she didn't. Because Santana had already pushed her way past the four other non-talking jocks towards Azimio. The palm of her hand connected instantly with the bare skin of his cheek. Anger flaring more harshly in her molton brown flexes than Aerin's entire being.

" I will literally rip every ligament from your body if you ever talk about her and her kid like that again," She hissed. But that still didn't stop Azimio from nudging her back with his free hand. The move that would probably seal his fate.

" Woah ! Did you just see that ?" He questioned loudly, hand caressing his stinging cheek. " You need serious help, girl, way more than your druggie girlfriend over there," he then craned  his head in Aerin's direction. " Can you not fight your own battles too now ?"

Santana lowered her gaze to the floor and let out a silent pit of laughter before she drifted nearer to the boy. " See, I really thought that we could settle  our differences like the mature 17 year olds we are," she expressed, tone dropping. " But given that your mental age is like what...6 ? I guess I have no other choice but to introduce you to a very good friend of mine. She's deadly, and her bite is way freaking worse than her growl."

Azimio threw both of his brows up this time. " What the hell is she talking about ?"

Aerin couldn't help the tiny smirk that encapsulated her upper lip. All Hail Snixx.

Santana moved to charge him, fast. But before the girl could do any damage she was grabbed at the waist by none other than Coach Bieste herself, whilst Atticus tried to help as backup to restrain the girl.

" Is anybody gonna tell me what's going on here ?" Coach Beiste asked as she loosened her grip on Santana.

Azimio threw his hands up in the air. Innocent Bystander Mode Activated. " I didn't do nothing, Coach," he replied sheepishly. " Karofsky and I just thought that it would be appropriate to come over here and consul one of the members of our..team, cause we're a family."

Yes, they were most definitely a family. One big dysfunctional mess of a family with 12 siblings who were all equally trying to ring the neck of their youngest whilst their mother sat back oblivious to what was happening.

" Okay, Excuse me ? Can you get your man-hands off me, please," Santana snared, arms crossed over her chest, gaze soon moving to Atticus, "Both of you."

Complying with Santana's passive aggressive request, both Coach Bieste and Atticus soon let go of her with ease. Another silent beat passed, tension flared to an all new high. Aerin waited for it, the screaming. Followed by the grueling punishment the boys would have to do on the field for being nuisances.

Lunges down the field were always the worst one, followed by 10 laps after if you even dared to talk back.  A prolonged sigh parted from Coach Bieste's lips as her hand travelled to her chin. Any minute now.  Her dark browns traveled to Aerin's dubious gaze, " You're needed in Principal Figgins's office, Pumpkin."

Wrong answer

" Wait, I'm getting the Principal's Office ?? " Aerin hawked,  a small but still anguished temper flaring from within her. " What did I do ? They're the ones who deliberately came over here, out of the blue to antagonize me about an issue that was none of their business, as usual," her glance then shifted towards the boys, who's faces all had the same identical smirks plastered on them. Filled with the same smugness that seemed to just radiate from them naturally. Although, Dave seemed more withdrawn now, almost as if his pompous attitude had been wiped clean.

Quinn stepped forward. " I was a witness, I'll testify," her tone became sharper, almost as if she actually thought that standing up for people against faculty members could work at McKinley. Though Aerin did vastly appreciate the fact that her friend was practically ready to swear on the bible to defend her honour.

" There's no need for testimonials, or witness statements... this a private matter about something that dosen't concern any of you," Coach Bieste responded to the whole group. " Now, I won't tell you people again...get a move on !"

Doing as they were told, the group slowly began to disperse all around Aerin once the chiming of the school bell rung out.

But that still didn't stop Santana from trying to follow Coach Bieste and the blonde from behind to give her two cents on the whole ordeal, Quinn and Atticus tailing behind her in the pursuit. " You know, if you people actually gave a crap about our well-being, then maybe we wouldn't feel the need to lash out all the time ! oh and here's another tip..do your damn job and teach us something useful for once !"

"Just let it go," Aerin heard her brother say towards Santana, tone soft yet stern. Voices blending in an echoey hallway full of murky walls. After that everything went mute. And the Cline girl was only left with her thoughts and worries about what exactly was gonna happen next.

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓. It only got worse.

Aerin found herself surrounded by what felt like the entirety of the faculty. From Bieste, to Miss Pillsbury, to Mr Schuester and worst of all, Sue. They were all spread out in Figgins's small office space, with Will and Emma- Miss Pillsbury and Mr Schuester standing shoulder to shoulder at the back whilst Coach Bieste and Sue Sylvester took the chairs next to her.

This was the second most uncomfortable situation she'd ever been in. The first was already taken by that time Puckerman had tried to flirt with her right after she tackled him in a one-on-one.

" Is this an intervention?" Was the first question
Aerin could think of asking, she knew that they had seen the photos. Who hadn't at this point.

Figgins' razor sharp smile slightly softened. He shook his head. " Nonsense, why would you think such a thing Miss Cline ?"

Aerin's brows drew together. " Well, you're all just awkwardly staring at me," her head craned in the direction of both Miss Pillsbury and Mr Schuester, who seemed just as confused as her as to why they had been summoned to Figgins's office.

"And I don't mean to be rude, in any way, but..why are Miss Pillsbury and Schuester here," she commented, turning back around.

Miss Pillsbury cleared her throat. "Well as your guidance counsellor I'm here to seek what's best for you..uhm..guide you to take a better path in life," her eyes widened. "That's not to say that you're on the wrong track, Aerin. I've seen your results for this semester. They're exceptional, wonderful, much better than a lot of the kids who started this year."

Well that was nice. She might be in crucial danger of getting suspended or kicked out of school forever, and possibly stripped from any chance of a future . But at least her B+ Spanish Mid-Term paper on her Family's Irish Ancestry made Mr Schue smile. Great. Absolutely Splendid.

She hated when adults did that. Sugar Coat the truth. Slowly try to peel the bandaid off your blistering wound before the stinging sensation caved in. Aerin knew something was wrong, she could feel the tension practically suffocating her in the room. It was killing her. Metaphorically. And glancing to meet the fake smiles of almost every other person in the room, (minus Sue who couldn't fake a smile for England ) made it ten times worse.

Mr Schue moved to place his cold hand on her shoulder. " Look, we know how it feels to struggle..feel like we're crashing and burning with no one to save us."

Aerin could feel her back slowly sinking into Principal Figgins's lumpy office chair. Crash and Burn. She had never felt more stable and steady in all her life. Granted, moving away with your family due to your mother's gambling addiction and having a girlfriend you didn't fully trust wasn't really so steady,  but those things still didn't make her feel bad. She'd fought a lot more worse demons in her lifetime.

Sue, naturally, scoffed at his words. " Speak for yourself, William," she leered, crossing her arms over her chest. " I've never faltered in the face of adversary before. I'm a wild tomahawk, with eyes in the back of my head and a bite that can quite possibly kill a person's sheer smugness," her narrowed gaze flicked toward Aerin. "Do you wanna know how to survive amongst the ugly pubas and lionesses of the world, Juno ?"

Aerin wanted her non-whimsical monologue to end. So she just nodded, with a small eye roll soon after.

" Grow Up ! Put on your big girl pants and fight from the damn self-respect that you deserve , or you can take the easy way out and join your other fellow graze munchers in a new Season of 16 and Pregnan-"

" Sue, Please !" Principal Figgins finally stepped in, tone growing in size. " I won't have you addressing the students in that manner, it's absurd and wildly inappropriate."

" That's nothing compared to how I address my Cheerios, and they're some of the greatest high achievers in this whole school."

"Sure, high achievers, that's one way of putting it," Aerin commented under her breath, resting her chin on her free left hand.

Sue raised her finger to Aerin. " I wouldn't go there if I were you."

The two pointedly stared at each other, glares piercing daggers to the point of no return. Aerin never backed down from a good old fashion stare-off, even if the person on the other end was the toughest cheer coach in the County.

One final, tenuous beat passed. Tensions arising immensely before Coach Bieste suddenly rose from her chair. "C'mon, Figgins, you have to let me break it to her first. I can't take this anymore."

Both of Aerin's brows shot up. Breaking News to someone was never a good sign, unless it was to say that you just won a million big ones. "Wait, Break what to me ?"

" OOh, Let me do it," Sue smirked, hand partially raised. " I always love being the bearer of bad news."

"Tell me what ? Coach ?"

Still nothing.

" Sue, could you just do the noble thing for once in your life and keep your mouth shut."

" Do you seriously want me to carve a new sweater vest for you out of your own flubbery skin Schuester ? Because I can...I don't have a first place trophy from the 2001 Jack-o-Lantern off for no reason."

Aerin felt like an amoeba, floating aimlessly through a messy disarray. The only way she could get their attention was by doing the one thing adults were good at. Being loud for absolutely no reason. " Hey !" she snapped, hand banging on the table. The blonde successfully managed to grab every single person in the room's attention, gaze's all filled with the same slight shock of the sudden eruption of her voice.

" I don't know if you know this, but I have to still attend this thing called school, you know what that is right ?" she didn't mean to sound snarky, and rather snide at the same time. That was the fusing, boiling anger talking. But it still felt nice to let off steam. Even if it was directed at the wrong party. " So can you please tell me what's going on ? Please ?" the final please left a shaky twinge in the girl's voice, shoulders slacking from the pressure leaving her chest.

Principal Figgins sat up in his chair, fingers intertwining together on his desk as he kept his eyes dead centred on the girl. This was it, the moment she'd been begrudgingly waiting for.

" Miss Cline," he began, a prolonged sigh leaving his lips. " As a school, we believe in giving our students a second chance, no matter what they've done in the past. But, your situation is different."

A deep lump formed in Aerin's throat. Please be good, Please be good.

" After those pictures of you taking and ingesting illegal substances came out..a lot of the parents and senior board members were very unhappy. And though I specifically told them that they were taken before you transferred here, they still decided to do some digging. And their searches brought up a whole list of different things you did."

Aerin scoffed loudly. " But that was my freaking past, my life before McKinley," she then pulled her chair closer. " Okay, so what that I mixed with the wrong crowd ? Huh ? So what if I stole on occasion, broke a couple laws, did things that I wasn't proud of ?...That's the whole point of growing up ! You mess up, slip through the cracks. I wasn't the best behaved person, but I still don't see what that has to do with you ? or them, the past is the past for a reason Principal Figgins."

" I know that," Figgins replied, " But sometimes our past mistakes have a way of coming back to haunt us and making us pay for their consequences," now this felt like an intervention. Or one plain and simple sick joke.

"I'm sorry Miss Cline, but as of now you're officially off of the Football Team ———————for good."

◜ -ˋˏ 𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 !
hey..how y'all doin
as a present for not updating w/ a new chapter i decided to feed you guys with one LONG one..this honestly took me way to long. love that.

anyways, just wanted to let you guys know that i'm officially back to school next week (send help) I'll be starting senior sixith form (or grade 12 for all my american besties) so my next update might be late, once again, considering how stressful back 2 school can be as a kid about to leave high school foreva 😌

i hope you all have a good evening/ afternoon and know that i fucking love and adore you ✨✨🧚🏼