photograph || quinn fabray

6. dodgeball and mash-ups

Tensions were at an all time high between the New Directions and the Troubletones. Santana and Finn were willing to take things from a friendly competition to highlighting each other's insecurities, but I'm getting ahead of myself. No one would be safe from the wrath that we knew would come by the end of the week. I was even nervous standing on the same stage.

I waved at Quinn and she smiled back. "Hey, right now, she's the enemy." Santana reminded, making me sigh heavily.

"Wait, I thought that was where Nemo from Finding Nemo lives." Brittany said.

"Let me guess, he wants to combine choirs for Sectionals." Santana stated. "Well, it's not gonna happen. The Troubletones are here to stay." Mercedes shook her head, showing her disapproval of the idea. "So why don't you shuffle your busted choir off our stage."

"Look, you guys, we can compete without being enemies, all right? We don't have to get vicious." Finn said calmly.

"Oh, I think we do, Soft Serve. See, the Trouble Tones are 3F: fierce, femme, phenomenal." Santana said as she got closer to the other group.

"Who's gonna tell her phenomenal doesn't start with the letter F?" I mumbled. I knew she was trying to be clever, but I just wanted to ease the tension.

"Who's side are you on?" Sugar asked me, not liking my comment.

"Oh, and," Santana said, turning to face us quickly. "Guys, hurry up, go get some moist towels. We have to keep Finn wet before we can roll him back in the sea."

Rachel was the next one to speak up. "Okay, you know what, Santana, Finn is in great shape, and your meanness only highlights your own personal insecurities."

"And, Rachel, your mustache is thicker than a Middle Eastern dictator's." Santana retorted.

"Santana, no." I said, attempting to defend Rachel.

No one had the chance to say anything else due to the fact that Mr. Shue had entered the stage, playing his guitar. Then Shelby entered as she sang. As they continued to sing, the tension and competitive attitudes started to defuse. I caught Quinn looking at me from the other side of the stage as she smiled brightly.

Everyone clapped when the song ended. "Mr. Shue, Shelby, I think we can all admit that that was weirdly amazing. But what exactly was the point?" Rachel asked.

"That sometimes bringing together two conflicting things can create something totally unexpected." Mr. Shue answered.

"We're not combining glee clubs, Mr. Shue." Mercedes told him.

"That's not what I'm talking about. Shelby and I agree that with Sectionals coming up for both of us, it's time we all got serious with some friendly competition." Mr. Shue explained. A friendly competition wasn't what we needed right now. It would only make things worse and it was obvious Santana would ignore the word friendly.