𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 || glee

twenty three; it's not unusual

New year, new me. That's how the saying goes, isn't it?

Strutting down the hallway with her head held high, the crowd parted like the Red Sea when they saw the new and improved Vee. Lightened hair (à la Sam), sturdy combat boots, and a leather jacket caught the attention of the students standing by their lockers. And it wasn't even the most shocking transformation that year. Quinn Fabray had dyed her hair pink, gotten a tramp stamp of Ryan Seacrest, and had a nose ring. The once teenage dream had turned into Evie Zamora.

Sam Evans was gone. He had left her with nothing. Maybe he did give her a heads up of his departure, but he didn't respond to any of the hundreds of calls and messages she sent. So after true heartbreak, she made the decision to swear off boys. Or rather, swear off Sam Evans. There was another guy in her life.

"Venus Donahue! It's easy to say that you are the second most talked about person today," Jacob Ben Israel ran towards her. "What are your plans for college?"

She didn't even spare a look at him, she only kept walking. "Simple — I go to fashion school in Milan. Once I've graduated I'll go to New York to start my own line of clothing, not before getting an internship at Burberry or Chanel, of course."

"And what about the rumours that you're in a relationship with Noah Puckerman after both of you got your heart broken?"

Lauren had quit glee club along with Sam, and Puck was sulking for the better half of the summer. They were in a terrible position, with three members gone, they were doomed. No more nationals for them.

She faltered slightly, but kept her calm demeanour and didn't look at him. "I won't deny it," she simply said before speed walking to Mercedes and Tina.

"Look at you," Tina said with a grin before a nudge from Mercedes made her lips turn downwards. She was looking at her feet. Something was off.

"My mom agreed to let me dye my hair. She said lemon juice shouldn't be as bad as bleach," she smiled. No one even reacted, though Tina looked as if she wanted to.

Mercedes nudged Tina once more, her eyes darting between them. "We actually have to go to glee club now," Tina said dismissively, both of them speed walking towards the bathroom.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she gathered her thoughts before walking to nowhere in particular. She knew Kurt would probably be with Blaine — he'd secretly told her that he transferred, it took everything from her not to tell Kurt — seeing as they were at a great stage in their relationship. Santana was busy with Brittany, and Quinn was hanging out with her new friend group, The Skanks. If she wasn't with them, Vee would've jumped at the opportunity to hang out with Quinn. But they scared her. With no other option left, she walked towards the glee club with her arms crossed, her boots starting to hurt her feet.

The choir room walls looked exactly the same as last year, except the trophy case held a quaint twelfth place trophy, proof that they lost. Twelfth place wasn't the worst, especially with forty-nine other glee clubs competing against them. But it meant that they had one last shot at winning Nationals. A seemingly impossible task at this point.

She took a seat at the back as everyone subtly — or, at least they were trying to be — turning to look at her. She could hear their whispers but chose to ignore them. All she did was wear black. Was it that big of a deal? She was the exact same person, apart from the fact that she was trying to be more self-assured. This year was about her. What she needed. What she wanted. No one else mattered.

Kurt sat next to the newly transferred Blaine, both of them glancing at her and giving her small smiles. She smiled back, but they had already turned away. Spotting her alone, Mike decided to take a seat next to her as Tina and Mercedes seemed occupied with their wandering eyes and hushed gossip.