It was Nellies sophomore year which meant her older brother was now a junior. Her summer was amazing. First she learned how to draw, then her brother taught her how to play football, which consisted of puck having a dislocated shoulder from Nellie tackling him so hard, and talking with the one and only Finn Hudson over the phone.

"Nellie Puckerman! Is it true that you and Finn Hudson slept together over the summer?" JBI ran over, his camera in her face.

"Excuse me? He has a girlfriend, you loser." She snapped pushing him back. "Is it also true that your mom used to push you around and call you worthless?" Nellie slammed her locker shut.

"Leave me alone, JBI" She scoffed. "You're not the top cheerio anymore. Everyone just knows you as the glee club kid"  Nellie rolled her eyes. That part was true. No one bothered to acknowledge the fact she was a cheerio anymore and just looked at the fact she was in glee club.

"Nellie-"

"Dude, take a hint and back off" A boy behind her snapped. Wow he was gorgeous. His curly hair, and that scar on his cheek. Nellie felt she was drooling so she quickly looked away.

"Oooh, Nellie Puckerman has a boyfriend? Pucks not gonna like this one" JBI grinned shoving the camera in the mysterious boys face. He quickly slapped it away.

"Get that thing out of my face" He hissed. Clearly he had a temper on him. Nellie quickly reacted.

"Back off JBI, or I'll tell puck you were messing with me" Nellie snapped. That got JBI to run off real quick.

"Thanks for the save. Probably would've kept me there all day if you hadn't showed up" Nellie said turning towards the boy.

"Seems like it. I'm Matteo." He responded.

"Nellie. Which you probably already heard from JBI" Matteo let out a laugh and grinned. "Yeah, I'm new here, if you were wondering" Nellie chuckled. The bell rang and Nellie sighed.

"I gotta get to glee club. Nice meeting you though" She then ran off towards the choir room and sat down next to Rachel. The two of them were getting along. For real for real this time.

"Whats got you so happy?" She grinned. "Nothing. Just met this guy before I came here" Nellie answered. Mr.Shue walked in and took a seat on his stool.

"These are some comments from Jacob Ben Israel's most recent glee club blog. "Glee is a giant ball of suck.""

"We get it Mr.Shue. Everyone still hates us. So what? So we're plankton on the high school food chain. Only difference is now is that none of us really care" Kurt said. Nellie nodded in agreement.

"Kurts right. We're a family. They can bring it all they want. None of it is gonna break us." Mercedes agreed.

"JBI is obsessed with us. He can't bring us down anymore" Nellie commented.

"I'm happy you guys have bonded, the problem is that all this negative stuff....is keeping other students from auditioning."

"Good. Why do we need new members?" Tina asked. Yeah. They were fine without other people. Matteo looked like he could sing though. God he looked amazing.

"Well, since Matt transferred, we only have 12 members. And if we want to go to nationals-if we want to beat vocal adrenaline, we have to go from a small rebel force to a giant wall of sound."

"Yeah. Mr.Schuesters right you guys. You didn't see vocal adrenaline at regionals. They were epic. We're gonna need more voices in order to beat them" Nellie smirked. She could try and get Matteo to join.

"Yeah. I'm with Rachel on this one." Finn agreed.

"Gross" Brittany commented. "You're gonna have to trust me on this, guys. Now, here's the plan. Nationals are in New York this year. And we are going! Now let's go out there...so let's go out there and show the school how cool we can be. If they're not gonna come to us, let's go to them. They say we only sing show tunes and 80s pop. Let's show them how down we are. Let's give 'em the song of the year. New Directions style."

So they were basically going to dance outside with New York t-shirts on while singing. Nellie honestly wasn't nervous. Being in the glee club for a year basically got rid of her anxiety over preforming in front of people.

[Empire State Of Mind- Noah Puckerman, Finn Hudson, Mercedes Jones, Rachel Berry, Nellie Puckerman]

"Woah, I had no idea you can sing. You were amazing!" Matteo walked over grinning widely. Nellie blushed and grinned as well.

"You were there?"

"Yeah, I was just sitting next to this blonde kid. He looked really into the performance as well."

"That was the glee club. We do dances and we sing a lot and prepare for competition" Nellie explained. Matteo nodded.

"You think I can try out?" Nellie grinned even wider.

"Of course! We actually need some new members so this is a perfect time!"

"Great. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure Matteo"

                                🎤🎤🎤
Nellie couldn't stop thinking about her interaction with Matteo despite the fact it happened a day ago. The Puckerman girl was next to Finn as they were both talking to Artie. He wanted to join the football team.

"Artie, I love you but what're you supposed to do on the field?" Nellie wondered stuffing her hands into her cheerio jacket pocket.

"I figured that if Kurts gay and he can do it, why can't I?"

"What does Kurt being gay have to do with this?" Nellie quietly asked. She was still in a very homophobic environment, so she had to keep her voice down.

"Nel is right. Being gay isn't a handicap Artie. How can you play football in a wheelchair anyway?" Finn asked. "I have to get on that team, Finn" Finn then closed his locker.

"Whats this about Artie?" Nellie asked.

"Tina. She dumped me for Mike Chang. They fell in love over the summer at Asian camp."

"Ohhhh, yeah Mike told me about it. They were counselors, in charge of teaching all those tech-savvy Asian kids about the arts." Nellie explained.

"So what did Tina say when she broke up with you?" Finn asks as they're in class. Nellie leaned over so she could listen in.

"So what did Tina say when she broke up with you?" Finn asks.

"She said that I'm great, but I'm also a terrible boyfriend. Mostly because I ignored her for weeks, because I was playing halo. And when we were together, all I wanted to do was watch coming home. And Mike tries to be what she's into."

"Artie, that's not how a boyfriend is supposed to act." Nellie said now walking down the hallway with Finn and Artie.

"Dude,I'm sympathetic for you. I just don't see you on the football team." Finn reasoned.

"Imagine you were pushing me in this hunk of metal down the field at full speed. The centrifugal force would be too much to stop. I'd be like a medieval battering ram."

"You could me like some human cannonball. That would be awesome—oh god it's Matteo! Do I look good?"

"Who the hell is Matteo?" Finn asked.

"He's new. And he's so cute." Finn looked over at Matteo who was opening his locker.

"Oh, hey Nellie!" He greeted. Nellie waved back and quickly looked away.

"God that looked terrible! Is he still looking?" Nellie asked.

"I think you're good Nel"

"I'll help you Artie. But you two gotta help me first."

"Hey, Sam. My names Finn. This is Artie. And that's my best friend Nellie. We call her Nel though."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You're the...the quarterback. And you're head cheerleader right?"

"Not anymore. But we're still very cool" Nellie answered.

"We'd like to talk to you about glee club" Finn continued.

"Guys, I think we can get someone else to join glee" Nellie looked over at Matteo.

"Hey, Matteo. Glee club auditions are now!" Nellie grinned. Matteo looked towards her.

"Oh, ok!" The lair walked inside the choir room to see the boys already sitting down.

"Nel, who's this?" Mike asked referring to Matteo.

"Oh, this is Matteo! I convinced him to try out!"

"So, Sam. Tell us about yourself." Finn told Sam. Matteo decided to sit down next to puck who was glaring daggers at him.

"My names Sam Evans. I like comic books, sports. I'm dyslexic so my grades aren't that good. But I'm working on it"

"Dude, your mouth is huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?" Puck asked.

"I dont know. I've never had any balls in my mouth. Have you?" Nellie snickered at the comment and so did Matteo.

"I like him" Nellie laughed.

"So can you sing with that big mouth?"

"I've never really sung in front of anybody before."

"Dude, let me tell you-chicks dig singers."

"Give it a shot. We'll back you up. I promise. What song you got in your back pocket?"

"Um, billionaire?"

"You can sing with us if you want" Nellie offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Guys, Matteo is gonna sing with us" The boys nodded.

[Billionaire-Sam Evans, Finn Hudson, Artie Abrams, Matteo Gomez, Noah Puckerman, Nellie Puckerman]

"That was amazing!" Nellie cheered.

"Matteo, you're up next" The boys sat down and Matteo walked to the front.

"Uh, hi everyone. I'm Matteo. I'm from New York so that's why my voice sounds like this. I like movies, and reading. Um, ok I'm gonna sing my song now." He awkwardly said. Nellie nodded and gave her a thumbs up.

"I'll back you up. What song are you gonna sing?"

"Talking to the moon?"

"Perfect!"

[Talking To The Moon- Matteo Gomez and Nellie Puckerman]

"Woah. I liked that, like a lot" Matteo breathed. "Same!" Sam agreed happily.

"You think you two can come back and do that in front of everyone?"

🎤🎤🎤
"Hey? Nellie is it?" Sam Evans walked over to Nellie who just got back from her nap.

"Yeah. You're the other one who tried out for glee right?" Nellie asked. He nodded.

"Hey listen, from what Finn told me you seem really cool and I like cool people so I was wondering if we could be friends. I-It's ok if you don't want to, I never had many from before I moved so-"

"Yeah, Sam. We can be friends."

"Good! Because I had this nickname. You know how you have that N in your name right? I was thinking I can just call you Ellie instead of Nellie. What do you think?"

"Um, ok I guess!" Nellie happily said. Sam grinned.

"See you later then?"

The glee club was gathered in the choir room as they waited for people to audition.

"Matteo promised he would be here" Nellie mumbled cursing under her breath. She hit her nails nervously and peeked out of the choir room.

"Well, hate to break it to you but it doesn't look like anyone's gonna be joining us" Rachel walked over to Mr.Shue.

"No! Matteo said he was gonna join. So I think we should all just call it a day"

"We said 3:00 to 5:00. It's only 4:58." Mr.Shue said. Nellie shook her head. She was obsessing over Matteo at this point. It was bad, and she should probably stop.

"Just wait. My buddy Matteo and Sam's gonna try out. They totally idolize me" Nellie furrowed her brows.

"Hudson River, Matteo doesn't even know you're the quarterback"

"Face it Finn. You're no longer the quarterback. You're not the pied piper anymore. No ones gonna follow you around thinking everything you do is cook" Nellie held her head in her hands as Finn walked over and rubbed her back.

"I'll talk to Sam. You talk to Matteo ok?" Nellie nodded and sniffled.

🎤🎤🎤
So Rachel sent sunshine to a crack house. And now Nellie was going to talk to Matteo.

"What the hell Matteo? You said you were going to try out?" Nellie yelled. Matteo stopped in his tracks.

"I had a lot going on that day Nellie. You wouldn't understand" He argued. Nellie shook her head.

"I'm not even going to yell or scream. I-I mean I hardly know you right?" Nellie laughed.

"Listen Nel, you're an amazing girl. I didn't come for a lot of reasons. First there was football. I-I wanted to try out for the team. And I got in! Then it was because I had to help my papa at his restaurant. Then I just heard what people were saying about the glee club. And how they throw slushees at them. And I was just scared I was going to be one of the losers of the school."

"Matteo, I felt the exact same way when I first joined. I was a cheerleader, which meant I was like super popular. So when I joined, I thought 'this was it. My first year at high school and I ruined it by becoming a loser.' But then I met Mercedes, and Kurt and Tina and they showed me what true friends looked like. So you don't have to join if you don't want to, but just know how much you're missing out on" Nellie then walked off.

"Hey Nellie?" Matteo called. The girl turned around.

"See you at auditions. For real this time."

It was now time for auditions and a girl named Sunshine was going to audition first.

"Hi I'm Sunshine Corazon, and I'll be singing "Listen" from the movie Dreamgirls."

"Broadway show first" Rachel said.

"Shut up Rachel" Nellie snapped annoyed.

                    [Listen-Sunshine Corazon]

"Wow, uh, welcome to glee club! Next!" Mr.Shue called. Matteo walked on the stage and everyone gave him a confused look.

"Who's that?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, he's the guy Nel's totally crushing on" Finn explained. Finn hit his arm.

"Um, I was supposed to try out a few days ago but I had a lot going on. So I'm here today. A certain friend told me to try out because glee club was like this awesome club. So here I am. Anyways, uh, I'll be singing talking to the moon by Bruno Mars."

The song Matteo sung when he first wanted to join. Nellie smiled, her dimples showing as she did so.

          [Talking To The Moon- Matteo Gomez]

"That was amazing, Matteo. Welcome to glee club" Nellie cracked a grin and so did Matteo.

"You got in!"

"I got in!"

"Ok, I totally ship these too" Mercedes commented.

🎤🎤🎤
The end of the week was here and now sunshine wasn't gonna join the glee club. It was Matteo's first day and he was slowly starting to get to know everyone. He became close with Puck and Finn. Kurt thought he wasn't good enough for Nellie, but he slowly eased up after a while. Nellie was pissed. They lost a super powerful voice, all because Rachel was jealous.

"Seriously Mr.Shue? She should be kicked off!" Nellie exclaimed walking into his office.

"Trust me Nel, the other glee kids were expressing their anger. But Rachel has a really powerful voice, and we can't afford to loose her like we lost sunshine."

"You're acting like there aren't any other glee girls you can use as lead. Did Brittany ever get a solo? What about me?" Nellie snapped.

"Get it together Mr.Shue, or else"

Matteo walked up to Nellie covered in a slushee.

"I think I just found out why you guys hated the slushees so much" He joked wiping it out of his eyes.

"Damn it Matteo, I'll help clean you up, come on"

Little did Nellie Puckerman and Matteo Gomez know is that they would soon become soulmates.

Word count:2,629