Drabblicious!
Woot! 12 drabbles/double drabbles! Wow! All of these, with the exception of one, were all prompted by Becca_radcgg, using the previous Overused Cliche theme.
The first drabble was prompted from the wmhs100 Drabble Challenge community (all you writers should go join!). For the rest, Becca and I worked our way through the alphabet trading off prompts. These, obvs are my half! Go stalk her for her half!
One does mention J Groff's character but I don't think it's spoilerish. Still, tread with caution if you're particularly wary.
Prompt: Spring Break - Any Character
Words: 100
Spring break was her favorite time of year. Of course, Summer and Winter Break were longer, but...
There was still something to be said for the cool breeze and warm air; the open windows and bright sunny days. She loved waking up at 9 a.m. with him still wrapped around her and the alarm blessedly silent.
Seven days.
Seven whole days without mention of school or Spanish or those kids, those intruders, those other loves of his life.
He wakes slowly and she runs a hand through his curls.
"Any plans today, Will?"
"Just spending the day with you, Ter."
-----
Back at Square One - Quinn
Words: 100
The first time she is shunned away from the "popular" table, it's much like a slap in the face: sharp and painful.
"Sorry," some freshman Cheerio snarls at her, fixing her gaze at Quinn's expanding middle. "I don't think you can even fit in the seat if we wanted you to."
There is laughter, loud, hard and hateful, and it makes her stomach drop; it's infectious, spreading through the crowd of teenagers like wildfire.
Quinn lifts her chin and squares her shoulders, fixing the freshman with a glare. "I made my way to the top once, I'll do it again."
-----
Don't Do the Crime if You Can't Do the Time - Puck
Words: 200
In the car on the way home from the police station, he expects his mother to yell. Scream, hit, anything, because this silence--this sad, disappointed silence--feels far more punitive than anything else she could say to him.
He wants her to tell him how stupid he is, what a horrible influence he is on Sarah; wants her to take away his truck, his Xbox, his Friday nights. Anything.
Instead, she is quiet the entire ride home, and when she finally pulls into the driveway, she kills the engine and they sit in silence for a long time, her gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white.
"This mean you want the keys to my truck?" He ventures, wading through the sticky silence.
She doesn't reply at first and he's about to ask again when she lets out a long, shuddering breath. "Please tell me what to do with you Noah. Because I haven't the slightest."
He wants to answer her, but he can't. The words are trapped in his throat, tasting of vodka and Santana's weed. "I don't know either." He finally admits.
He'd never admit it, but the way his mother sags against the dashboard breaks his heart.
-----
Fifteen Minutes of Fame - Rachel
Words: 200
Rachel knows this song. She is this song, it's her.
She's fully confident that she is the only one--the only one--who can hit the notes the way they beg to be hit, who can captivate the audience the way this song deserves. Nobody can fill the auditorium the way that she does, and everybody in this club knows it. She belongs in the spotlight, was born for it.
But that doesn't change the way she feels when Mike claps her on the back or Artie tells her she sounded fantastic today; it doesn't even compare to the way Finn gives her a proud smile at the end of every rehearsal, the way Puck admits that he's impressed that she's not throwing a shit fit. It can't touch the way Mr. Schuester pulls her aside and thanks her.
Spotlight, she's finding, is not nearly as illustrious as having real friends.
Everybody deserves their fifteen minutes, she figures. So she sways in the back, just barely out of the limelight that she so passionately loves, and she sings back-up to Tina's solo.
When it's all said and done, she'll reclaim her rightful billing as the star.
But for now, it's Tina's turn.
-----
How Goes The Battle? - Mercedes/Kurt friendship
Words: 100
"Oh my God, this is divine," Kurt gushes, shoving his Styrofoam cup at her, "Taste this."
Mercedes eyes it warily before pushing it back towards him gently. "I'm trying to stay away from the milkshakes. I've gained three pounds since Christmas."
He shrugs before bringing the straw to his lips delicately, "Whatever," he says airily, "The world needs more Mercedes Jones."
"I appreciate it, Kurt, but I need an interested man to be telling me that."
He waves her words away flippantly before clasping her arm in his. "Any man who doesn't find you smashing is either blind or moronic."
-----
Jack of All Trades, Master of None - Jacob, Puck/Rachel
Words: 100
He's almost perfected the art of tree-climbing--particularly the oak right outside Rachel's house--and his ninja-like ability to stay just three steps behind her in the hallways without her ever noticing brings him a heavy happiness that sits in his stomach. He's become proficient at staying just outside her radius at all times, close enough to touch her but always unable to.
Despite this, it's Puck who finally masters Rachel Berry.
Sitting in the giant oak tree just yards from her bedroom window with his hand wrapped around himself, he watches Puck touch her in all the ways he never will.
-----
Life Imitates Art - Will/Rachel
Words: 200
Rachel Berry measures her worth in plays and shows. She compares herself to Maria and Elphaba, calls herself the next Idina or Barbara or Bette. She plans her life with stories and happily-ever-afters, casts the important people based on where they fit on the playbill.
Will's not so sure his life could be so easily categorized into stories already told. He certainly doesn't think that there's a story for this, for this rock-bottom that has become his life; a loveless marriage with a baby on the way. For this hopeless feeling that settles over him every time she walks into his office with a plate of cookies and a luminous smile.
Oh, there is, some nasty voice tells him from the back of his mind, but he pushes the thought away when she brushes the back of his hand with her fingertips and asks if he can help her with her solo--he can't even remember what song.
When they're in his car later, in the parking lot of Safeway with her lips attached to his neck and one of his hands working beneath her skirt, he thinks he knows exactly how those tragic figures in the old plays must feel.
-----
No Time Like The Present - Jesse, One-sided Jesse/Rachel
Words: 100
The first time he hears Rachel sing, she takes his breath away.
(He's not usually fond of such trite expressions.)
She blows her cast mates away effortlessly, overpowering her male counterpart with ease, though he does try his hardest to keep up. Jesse scowls momentarily at the waste of space; such an amazing stage presence held down by lesser peers.
After the show, Audra pulls his hand, reminding him they're not supposed to be here, spies at McKinley's recital. He mumbles, "I need to congratulate her," and she huffs.
"You'll see her at Regionals."
He doesn't think he can wait.
-----
Pitter-Patter of Little Feet - Sarah Puckerman
Words: 200
They say it'll take some getting used to, and if she's completely honest with herself, she doesn't want to.
Sarah's not sure why they had to offer their own home to Quinn and the baby, and she's asked her mother as such. She just traced Sarah's cheek gently and said, "Sometimes baby, you gotta give up some things for for the people you love."
The baby cries. A lot. And though Quinn is always quick to tend to her, sometimes when it's Puck's turn, he takes much longer to get the crib. Often times, it's their mother that goes to wake him, shaking him until he finally rolls out of bed and then down the hall to the nursery.
She's not sure why the nursery had to be right next to her room and it takes one tantrum of epic proportions before her mother drags her into the bedroom by the arm. She's crying when she says she's sorry things turned out like this but Quinn is their family now.
Sarah resents the blonde until the next night when she creeps into her room with the baby cradled in her arms, and asks if she wants to hold her niece.
-----
Silence is Golden - Tina
Words: 100
Her favorite time of day is after Glee practice, when the rest of the kids have left and Mr. Schue heads to his office to pack up for the day.
It's not that she dislikes the others, but after eight hours of bells, lecturing teachers, and the dull roar of conversation in the hallways, Tina is just ready for some peace and quiet.
She takes her time packing her bag, ensuring every sheet of music is in its place before zipping it up and heading to the parking lot, where her brother waits in his car with his music blaring.
-----
Unexpected Twist - Mrs. Puckerman
Words: 100
She tells herself that she didn't expect this, not in her wildest dreams.
But that's a lie.
When he fails to come home from the corner store (she gave him twenty dollars and very explicit instructions on what baby formula Sarah needed) it hurts--a deep hurt that saturates her all the way through--but it doesn't shock.
She gives herself exactly ten minutes to sob on the edge of the bathtub, hands pressed to her face, muffling the sound so Noah won't hear.
When her ten minutes is up, she cooks dinner (pork chops, Noah's favorite) before she changes the bedsheets.
-----
You Can Run But You Can't Hide
Words: 200
After graduation, she heads to New York.
She doesn't tell anybody, just collects her diploma and boards the next bus, her favorite possessions tucked away in a single bag alongside a picture of a quarterback she used to love. She considers ripping it in two, discarding the shiny, bubbly girl posed beside him, but she can't quite bring herself to. Instead, she folds it perfectly in half, tucking away the red and white of a cheerleaders uniform. There, and almost forgotten.
For a brief moment, stepping off the bus, she considers changing her name; she could be anyone. Some naive dream-chaser, some no-name girl from the mid-west, just some pretty face in the crowd.
She does.
Five years later she goes by Abigail, she doesn't know why. She just likes the sound of it. She works hard to forget that other life--that shiny, bubbly cheerleader with some of the shine worn off and that quarterback with too much heart than what's good for him.
A baby that was never really hers to begin with.
It works until a not-so-special Tuesday when he walks into her cafe and her heart stops. Despite everything, he smiles when he says her name.
"Quinn?"
-----
The first drabble was prompted from the wmhs100 Drabble Challenge community (all you writers should go join!). For the rest, Becca and I worked our way through the alphabet trading off prompts. These, obvs are my half! Go stalk her for her half!
One does mention J Groff's character but I don't think it's spoilerish. Still, tread with caution if you're particularly wary.
Prompt: Spring Break - Any Character
Words: 100
Spring break was her favorite time of year. Of course, Summer and Winter Break were longer, but...
There was still something to be said for the cool breeze and warm air; the open windows and bright sunny days. She loved waking up at 9 a.m. with him still wrapped around her and the alarm blessedly silent.
Seven days.
Seven whole days without mention of school or Spanish or those kids, those intruders, those other loves of his life.
He wakes slowly and she runs a hand through his curls.
"Any plans today, Will?"
"Just spending the day with you, Ter."
-----
Back at Square One - Quinn
Words: 100
The first time she is shunned away from the "popular" table, it's much like a slap in the face: sharp and painful.
"Sorry," some freshman Cheerio snarls at her, fixing her gaze at Quinn's expanding middle. "I don't think you can even fit in the seat if we wanted you to."
There is laughter, loud, hard and hateful, and it makes her stomach drop; it's infectious, spreading through the crowd of teenagers like wildfire.
Quinn lifts her chin and squares her shoulders, fixing the freshman with a glare. "I made my way to the top once, I'll do it again."
-----
Don't Do the Crime if You Can't Do the Time - Puck
Words: 200
In the car on the way home from the police station, he expects his mother to yell. Scream, hit, anything, because this silence--this sad, disappointed silence--feels far more punitive than anything else she could say to him.
He wants her to tell him how stupid he is, what a horrible influence he is on Sarah; wants her to take away his truck, his Xbox, his Friday nights. Anything.
Instead, she is quiet the entire ride home, and when she finally pulls into the driveway, she kills the engine and they sit in silence for a long time, her gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white.
"This mean you want the keys to my truck?" He ventures, wading through the sticky silence.
She doesn't reply at first and he's about to ask again when she lets out a long, shuddering breath. "Please tell me what to do with you Noah. Because I haven't the slightest."
He wants to answer her, but he can't. The words are trapped in his throat, tasting of vodka and Santana's weed. "I don't know either." He finally admits.
He'd never admit it, but the way his mother sags against the dashboard breaks his heart.
-----
Fifteen Minutes of Fame - Rachel
Words: 200
Rachel knows this song. She is this song, it's her.
She's fully confident that she is the only one--the only one--who can hit the notes the way they beg to be hit, who can captivate the audience the way this song deserves. Nobody can fill the auditorium the way that she does, and everybody in this club knows it. She belongs in the spotlight, was born for it.
But that doesn't change the way she feels when Mike claps her on the back or Artie tells her she sounded fantastic today; it doesn't even compare to the way Finn gives her a proud smile at the end of every rehearsal, the way Puck admits that he's impressed that she's not throwing a shit fit. It can't touch the way Mr. Schuester pulls her aside and thanks her.
Spotlight, she's finding, is not nearly as illustrious as having real friends.
Everybody deserves their fifteen minutes, she figures. So she sways in the back, just barely out of the limelight that she so passionately loves, and she sings back-up to Tina's solo.
When it's all said and done, she'll reclaim her rightful billing as the star.
But for now, it's Tina's turn.
-----
How Goes The Battle? - Mercedes/Kurt friendship
Words: 100
"Oh my God, this is divine," Kurt gushes, shoving his Styrofoam cup at her, "Taste this."
Mercedes eyes it warily before pushing it back towards him gently. "I'm trying to stay away from the milkshakes. I've gained three pounds since Christmas."
He shrugs before bringing the straw to his lips delicately, "Whatever," he says airily, "The world needs more Mercedes Jones."
"I appreciate it, Kurt, but I need an interested man to be telling me that."
He waves her words away flippantly before clasping her arm in his. "Any man who doesn't find you smashing is either blind or moronic."
-----
Jack of All Trades, Master of None - Jacob, Puck/Rachel
Words: 100
He's almost perfected the art of tree-climbing--particularly the oak right outside Rachel's house--and his ninja-like ability to stay just three steps behind her in the hallways without her ever noticing brings him a heavy happiness that sits in his stomach. He's become proficient at staying just outside her radius at all times, close enough to touch her but always unable to.
Despite this, it's Puck who finally masters Rachel Berry.
Sitting in the giant oak tree just yards from her bedroom window with his hand wrapped around himself, he watches Puck touch her in all the ways he never will.
-----
Life Imitates Art - Will/Rachel
Words: 200
Rachel Berry measures her worth in plays and shows. She compares herself to Maria and Elphaba, calls herself the next Idina or Barbara or Bette. She plans her life with stories and happily-ever-afters, casts the important people based on where they fit on the playbill.
Will's not so sure his life could be so easily categorized into stories already told. He certainly doesn't think that there's a story for this, for this rock-bottom that has become his life; a loveless marriage with a baby on the way. For this hopeless feeling that settles over him every time she walks into his office with a plate of cookies and a luminous smile.
Oh, there is, some nasty voice tells him from the back of his mind, but he pushes the thought away when she brushes the back of his hand with her fingertips and asks if he can help her with her solo--he can't even remember what song.
When they're in his car later, in the parking lot of Safeway with her lips attached to his neck and one of his hands working beneath her skirt, he thinks he knows exactly how those tragic figures in the old plays must feel.
-----
No Time Like The Present - Jesse, One-sided Jesse/Rachel
Words: 100
The first time he hears Rachel sing, she takes his breath away.
(He's not usually fond of such trite expressions.)
She blows her cast mates away effortlessly, overpowering her male counterpart with ease, though he does try his hardest to keep up. Jesse scowls momentarily at the waste of space; such an amazing stage presence held down by lesser peers.
After the show, Audra pulls his hand, reminding him they're not supposed to be here, spies at McKinley's recital. He mumbles, "I need to congratulate her," and she huffs.
"You'll see her at Regionals."
He doesn't think he can wait.
-----
Pitter-Patter of Little Feet - Sarah Puckerman
Words: 200
They say it'll take some getting used to, and if she's completely honest with herself, she doesn't want to.
Sarah's not sure why they had to offer their own home to Quinn and the baby, and she's asked her mother as such. She just traced Sarah's cheek gently and said, "Sometimes baby, you gotta give up some things for for the people you love."
The baby cries. A lot. And though Quinn is always quick to tend to her, sometimes when it's Puck's turn, he takes much longer to get the crib. Often times, it's their mother that goes to wake him, shaking him until he finally rolls out of bed and then down the hall to the nursery.
She's not sure why the nursery had to be right next to her room and it takes one tantrum of epic proportions before her mother drags her into the bedroom by the arm. She's crying when she says she's sorry things turned out like this but Quinn is their family now.
Sarah resents the blonde until the next night when she creeps into her room with the baby cradled in her arms, and asks if she wants to hold her niece.
-----
Silence is Golden - Tina
Words: 100
Her favorite time of day is after Glee practice, when the rest of the kids have left and Mr. Schue heads to his office to pack up for the day.
It's not that she dislikes the others, but after eight hours of bells, lecturing teachers, and the dull roar of conversation in the hallways, Tina is just ready for some peace and quiet.
She takes her time packing her bag, ensuring every sheet of music is in its place before zipping it up and heading to the parking lot, where her brother waits in his car with his music blaring.
-----
Unexpected Twist - Mrs. Puckerman
Words: 100
She tells herself that she didn't expect this, not in her wildest dreams.
But that's a lie.
When he fails to come home from the corner store (she gave him twenty dollars and very explicit instructions on what baby formula Sarah needed) it hurts--a deep hurt that saturates her all the way through--but it doesn't shock.
She gives herself exactly ten minutes to sob on the edge of the bathtub, hands pressed to her face, muffling the sound so Noah won't hear.
When her ten minutes is up, she cooks dinner (pork chops, Noah's favorite) before she changes the bedsheets.
-----
You Can Run But You Can't Hide
Words: 200
After graduation, she heads to New York.
She doesn't tell anybody, just collects her diploma and boards the next bus, her favorite possessions tucked away in a single bag alongside a picture of a quarterback she used to love. She considers ripping it in two, discarding the shiny, bubbly girl posed beside him, but she can't quite bring herself to. Instead, she folds it perfectly in half, tucking away the red and white of a cheerleaders uniform. There, and almost forgotten.
For a brief moment, stepping off the bus, she considers changing her name; she could be anyone. Some naive dream-chaser, some no-name girl from the mid-west, just some pretty face in the crowd.
She does.
Five years later she goes by Abigail, she doesn't know why. She just likes the sound of it. She works hard to forget that other life--that shiny, bubbly cheerleader with some of the shine worn off and that quarterback with too much heart than what's good for him.
A baby that was never really hers to begin with.
It works until a not-so-special Tuesday when he walks into her cafe and her heart stops. Despite everything, he smiles when he says her name.
"Quinn?"
-----