Back-Up Plan - Book 2 - S.E.

The first time

A/N: A bit on the shorter side, but I hope you enjoy it, anyway! Let me know!

"So that means some of the football guys are actually good?" Winnie asked, as she leaned against the locker beside Mike's, talking to her best friend about the dancing lessons he had been giving his teammates in preparation for the musical.

"Some of them, surprisingly yes." Mike nodded. "So, honestly, I think you can raise the bar a little when it comes to choreography."

"Oh, well, I will." Winnie nodded, a plan already forming in her head as she thought out some new routines for the numbers the Jets were in, considering Mr. Schue and Artie had asked her to aid them in the choreos. "But what about the ones that aren't that good?"

"Put them in the back." Mike shrugged, as Winnie snorted a laugh.

"I could come over during one of your lessons and help out if you want to."

"And have all of the boys drooling over you instead of actually paying attention to me?" Mike scoffed, as Winnie rolled her eyes. "No way."

"Fine, but I just think..."

Before she could finish her sentence, however, Winnie jumped, startled when no one other than Mr. Chang himself appeared beside his son with a scowl on his face.

"When were you gonna tell me?" The man demanded, as Mike frowned a bit, confused and surprised by his father's presence in the school.

"Tell you what?" He asked, as he turned away from Winnie and toward his dad instead.

"That you're doing the school musical?" Mr. Chang said and Mike's face fell. For a second, Winnie contemplated slipping away - this was something between Mike and his father, after all - but considering she could sense how tense Mike was and feeling slightly guilty over having convinced Mike to audition for the musical in the first place, she decided against it and, instead, placed a hand on Mike's upper back to let him know she was around. "I overheard your mother talk about it on the phone. You lied to me. And you made a liar out of your mother. You will quit. Immediately."

For a moment, Winnie worried Mike would concede, but, surprisingly enough, the boy decided to stand his ground.

"No." He said. "I love being a dancer."

At that, Mr. Chang's face fell for a second, but upon noticing Winnie standing there, behind his son with a proud smile on his face, his rage turned to her instead.

"You're involved in this, aren't you, Winnifred?"

And Winnie sighed. Because yes, she was. And, sure, Mr. and Mrs. Chang had always been very nice to her and ever since she started hanging out with their son a few years before - strict, of course, but nice. And that might just be because she was a rather smart girl and from a good family and with big dreams that involved Stanford of all places - she was pretty sure Mrs. Chang had planned her wedding with her son once, in secret - but what they didn't know was that she loved to sing and dance too. Of course, not as much as their son, who wanted to do it professionally, but she was an artist too. And before that, she was a friend. A fierce friend. And if Mr. Chang wanted to get all up in her face for helping her best friend be happy, then so be it.

"Yes, I am." Winnie nodded, as Mike turned to her with eyes blown wide in surprise. "I did convince your son to audition for the musical."

"Winnie!" Mike scowled, only to be ignored by the girl who just continued to glare at Mr. Chang.

"And I'd do it again." She continued as the man huffed, clearly disappointed. "Because that's what Mike loves and if that's what he wants to do, I don't see why he can't."