It was a new week for the New Directions and they were all gathered in the choir room to have their meeting.Nellie was taking a nap on the chairs as the meeting became in session.

"Where's Rachel?" Kurt asked Finn."Shes not here yet" Finn answered."Perfect.Glee club stands on a delicate precipice.We have all felt the cold humiliation of a slushee in the face.But as of right now,our relative anonymity as a club shields us front more severe persecution:swirlies,patriotic wedgies."

"Whats a patriotic wedgie?" Mercedes asked."It's when they host you the flag pole by your undies." By this time Nellie woke up and was now paying attention to the conversation.

"Um,so what's your point Kurt?" Nellie asked."Based on my investigation,I am of the opinion that a yearbook photo would only fuel the flames of anti glee club terror.I've done a little library research" Nellie remembered drawing on the old glee club photo with Santana and Quinn before she joined the glee club.

Kurt opened the yearbook and flipped to the page where the glee club of 1998 was."Peter Gellar,Glee Club second tenor,1998.He can be seen here with a drawn on Hitler mustache and a rice paddy hat.Shortly after the yearbook came out,Mr.Gellar had a nervous breakdown.He's now the homeless man who sleeps in front of the public library " The teen stood up to look over Kurts shoulder.

"Yikes" She muttered."Wait,are we talking about patches?" She asked."Patches" Kurt confirmed."He barks at my mom"

"Exhibit B.Tawny Peterson,Glee Club class of 2000.Seen here in her photo with a cartoon knife stuck in her head,in a macabre tableau that in four years,would prove eerily prescient" Nellies eyes widened.He really did all of his research on this.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that not having to pose a yearbook photo might be a blessing in disguise" Nellie nodded."I don't really do photos anyway."

"Oh,hey guys.Ah,looking at old thunderclaps" Nellie quickly shut the book and flashed a smile to Mr.Shue."It's really unsettling" Artie commented."And totally unfair.Hey,can I borrow one of these?You know what? This years thunderclap is going to have a Glee Club photo with every one of your smiling faces.You have my word in it" Mr.Shue said.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Nellie hissed.

The next day
Nellie had just come back from her nap in the nurses office when she found out glee club was getting a photo in the thunderclap year book.And she was terrified.

"Nellie,nice of you to join us" She nodded and sat down next to puck."Anyways,like I was saying,it's going to show Glee Club is on its way up.When we win regionals,those claps are going to be collectors items.I mean,all of your classmates are going to be begging for your autographs" Nellie gave an unenthusiastic smile.This was the worst idea ever.She was going to be bullied until she graduated.

"But.I had to compromise to do it.Um,we only get a quarter page in the back.Which means we need to pick two team captains to appear in the photo.So,tomorrow we're going to put it to a vote.Exciting,huh?" Nellie shook her head.

"This is going to be a disaster"
A little while later Nellie was in sues office as they had their discussion.Nellie wanted back on the Cheerios.She missed it and she wanted to be back.Quinn wouldn't care,in fact she was upset when she found out Nellie quitted.

"Let me guess,you want back on the team" Nellie slowly nodded."Normally I don't do this but you're different Mini Puckerman.So I'm going to let you back on the team.Only because you're basically the only reason we got this far" Nellie grinned.

"Thanks coach"

Time Skip
"I see you got back on the team" Quinn commented once looking Nellie up and down."Listen-"

"Nel,I'm happy for you.It doesn't matter.All I'm worried about is getting me back on the team.You didn't even have to quit for me" Nellie nodded and embraced Quinn in a hug.

"Thanks for understanding" She muttered."Yeah,it's my job" She smirked and walked away.

Nellie was back on the Cheerios.

The next day
"When did you get back on the Cheerios?" Puck asked as he watched his sister walk in the choir room with her uniform on.

"Yeah,thank god Quinn was ok with me being back.Figured she would be mad about it" She sat down next to Finn."Well,I guess we should vote" Mercedes said breaking the awkward silence.

"With your permission I have prepared a few words.-"

"I nominate Rachel" Nellie spoke up."Second" Kurt said."All right,let's vote up on this piece.I gotta go hit the gym and load up the guns of Puckerone for the football practice"

"And I have to get on the field so I can practice my gymnastics.Haven't done that in weeks" Nellie added.Matt handed Nellie a piece of paper and she wrote the word 'RACHEL' in big letters.She just got back on the Cheerios,and she wasn't going to ruin it by being in the glee club photo.

Plus,Rachel was one of the only people who took this club super serious.Not that Nellie didn't care,she just didn't care for it as much as Rachel did.

After everyone voted Mr.Shue looked over the papers."Looks like everyone voted for Rachel.Including Rachel" Jesus how obsessed could she be?

"But we need two captains,guys" Mr.Shue said."Mr.Shue? Can I say something?" Nellie asked.Mr.Shue nodded and she stepped to the front of the room.

"Ok,raise your hand if you want Rachel to represent us" Everyone rose their hand,even Rachel."Ok,now raise your hand if you want Rachel and someone else to represent us" Nobody raised their hands except for Mr.Shue and Rachel.

"Why do we need two? We're fine with having Rachel represent us in the thunderclap" Quinn said."Look how happy Rachel is.You wouldn't want to wipe that smirk off her face,would you?"

"Of course not but-"

"Then it's settled! Rachel's gonna represent us!" The school bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom.

After everyone told Mr.Shue that they didn't wanna be in the picture,Mr.Shue told Rachel to go out and try and get people to take the picture with her.

Nellie was closet,as puck was handing her her meds and Nellie gladly took them."Hey Nel,can I talk to you?" Nellie nodded and swallowed her pills.

"Will you-"

"No." She stated."What? You didn't even let me finish my sentence" Rachel exclaimed."Rachel,no offense but I just got back with the cheer squad.You night as well send me a damn death wish"

"Nel,please Mercedes and Artie already shut me down" Rachel begged."Is that Brittany? I think that's Brittany! Plus,I have a doctors appointment,erm,getting my new meds.Bye!" Nellie ran off and took a deep breath.Now she would have to avoid Rachel in fear of her coming back for a second chance.

A little while later Nellie was walking out of the school when she was shoved against the wall by Azimo and the football gorillas."Your brother wasn't at football practice today,might as well do it to you to make him mad"

"What the hell? First you steal my meds now you pull some crap like this! I'm sick of it! And I'm sick of you!" Nellie screamed."Don't come around here with that girly girl nonsense.Take a joke,bitch"

Nellie was left in the parking lot,fuming out of anger.

The next day
So Rachel had called an emergency glee club meeting and Nellie was late,since she was still trying to clean the marker off her cheeks.Puck was furious when he found out what happened.So he was late as well.

"Whatever you have to say Rachel,save it.This!" Nellie pointed at her cheek."Is exactly why I refuse to take the yearbook photo with you."

"They got you too?" Finn yelled,ready to go kill somebody."It's fine Hudson River" Nellie sat down next to Brittany.

"Okay,I realize now that all of you think that Glee Club is just a joke-"

"Wait,who said that?" Nellie asked.Rachel ignored her."Okay,and you're convinced that we can't win and you're content to just sit idle by until Figgins cancels the club.Well,I'm about to present to you a rare opportunity.The opportunity to become stars" Nellie wanted to be a star.In fact,she wanted to be a movie star when she grew up.

"How?" Quinn asked."We've all been cast in a local commercial" Nellies jaw dropped.A commercial? How the hell did they get into a commercial."Wait,seriously?" Nellie asked.

"Yes Finn,and while all of you have been so concerned with your appearance in this school,I've landed glee club it's first big break.Simply put,making us all celebrities" This was the best day of nellies life.She always wanted this,and it was finally happening.

"What's the commercial?" Tina asked."Hold on to your hats and get ready to sell....mattresses!" Nellie grinned.She always skipped those commercials,but now she couldn't because Nellie was going to be on it.

"Let's do our camera face" Nellie said bringing in Kurt and Mercedes in.They all started posing,and the whole glee club was excited.

They were going to be on tv.

Time Skip
Nellie was fixing her hair in the mirror,ecstatic to be in the commercial."I can't believe we're finally breaking into the biz!" Tina excitedly said.

"You guys,I want us all to always remember this moment.Soon there may be agents and managers and movie deals,but right now I want us all to remember what it feels like to be here together as a team" Rachel grinned.

"Whatever.Soon as I get my record deal,I'm not speaking to any of you" Mercedes joked.Nellie snickered and added,"Harsh,but as soon as I get that movie deal I'm taking it and leaving.Don't hit me up" The glee club laughed along with her.

The director of the commercial walked over to the teens."Okay,guys,we're very excited to have you here.We here at mattress land believe that all mattresses aren't just for sleeping and fornicating anymore.We believe that buying an affordable mattress should be fun."

"All right let's go over the script.I think it's pretty brilliant"

"I wouldn't-" Puck quickly covered nellies mouth."Let's just read the lines" Rachel suggested.Nellie gave everyone a disgusted and confused look when they started reading their lines.It was bad,and they could all agree on that."I-I'm sorry.Mr.Cusperberg.This script is,brilliant but we're a glee club and we should preform."

"Preform the lines as I wrote them"

"Let's have some real talk here,Dennis.Your script sucks,and the only way people aren't gonna die from boredom is if we sing a song." Nellie snapped stepping forward before Finn and Puck pulled her back."Let the kids preform" The New Directions grinned and took their places on the mattresses.

[Jump-New Directions]

"COME ON DOWN TO MATTRESS LAND!" They yelled when the performance was over.

The next day
Nellie was walking down the hallway when Quinn grabbed her wrist dragging her to where coach was.

"Wait-"

"Coach Sylvester we need to talk" Quinn demanded,completely cutting Nellie off mid sentence."Oh,I got nothing to say to you prego" Sue insulted."The Cheerios photos tomorrow and I want back on that squad"

"Oh is that what you want? Well,what I wanted was a head cheerleader who wasn't going to hoist her legs behind her ears in the backseat of first station wagon she could shimmy open,throwing away any chance she had in life."

"Uh coach-"

"Don't push it Nellie you just got back on the team and I will not hesitate to kick you off again" That shut Nellie up good."It would be good for the school.Show everyone that appearances don't matter.That sometimes people have to deal with a little adversity.I learned that in glee club " Nellie nodded in agreement."Well,that little educational proverb must have slithered from Will Schuesters mouth right after his lesson on how to disqualify yourselves from sectionals"

"What are you talking about?" Nellie spoke up,concerned now."Saw your little commercial last night.Boy,did you glee kids step in it" Sue then walked off and Nellie shared a look with Quinn.

What the hell is going on?

Nellie felt her heart break when Mr.Shue told the club he was disqualified from competition.She also felt angry.This wasn't fair at all."But we don't wanna go to sectionals without you" Artie sadly said.

"It's without me or not at all.Look,I was the one who slept on the mattress,which means I excepted them,not you.Which means I'm disqualified from competition,not you guys." Mr.Shue explained."He's taking the bullet for us.Solid" Puck said."We have worked too hard for you guys to not get your shot."

"B-But we can't do this without you Mr.Shue" Nellie exclaimed."Hell,we can't even do it with you" Finn added."That's not true.You guys are good.You're really good.You did jump for that commercial without me right?" The kids smiled at the praise and the memories.

"Look,the best teacher don't give you the answers.They just point one way and let you make your own choices.Your own mistakes.That way you get all the glory.And you deserve it.Look,if....if you can't win without me there,then I haven't done my job."

"We're really sorry Mr.Shue" Rachel apologized."Yeah,we didn't know it would get you in trouble" Nellie added.

"I know.I want you guys to go get gussied up and take that glee club photo with pride.I want to see the smile in every one of your faces.

"Nellie,hang back a second?" Mr.Shue asked.Everyone looked to her before she shrugged.Once everyone was out of ear shot Mr.Shue started to speak.

"Hey did you know that-"

"Your wife's a psycho bitch who was going to use Quinn's baby as her own and then manipulate you into thinking it was hers.?" Nellie said.Mr.Shue nodded.

"Listen,I'm sorry I didn't tell you.But it didn't feel like my business" Mr.Shue nodded."You're a good kid Nel.Now go out there and take your picture!" Nellie grinned and ran out of the choir room.

She was happy.Everyone was getting along in the glee club,and she felt like nothing could change that.

Little did she know the day before sectionals would change everything.

Word count:2,450