F5

A New Story –

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

"SAT Saturday, what a colossal waste of a perfectly good Saturday," Finn said out loud as he washed off the shaving cream in front of the bathroom mirror.

"What are you complaining about?" Kurt asked as he tried to check his perfectly coifed hair in front of the same bathroom mirror one more time. "Would you please move over so I can brush my hair before Blaine gets here to pick me up?"

"I don't understand why you are so cheerful about spending your entire Saturday sitting in an uncomfortable desk at McKinley when you took the SAT last year and have scores that anyone would kill for," Finn said pushing Kurt back out of the way as he searched for his toothbrush. "And why is Blaine taking the SAT at McKinley? Don't they give it over at Dalton Academy where they at least have comfortable chairs?"

"Blaine is taking it again at Dalton Academy later this month. The test is given on multiple Saturdays at multiple locations. Blaine just wants to improve his scores as much as possible as do I." Kurt said reaching for some of Finn's aftershave.

"Hey, you get to use my aftershave when you actually have something to shave," Finn teased his peach faced younger brother.

"I just wanted to smell nice for Blaine, but after smelling this stuff, I think I'll pass," Kurt complained putting the top back on the bottle.

"Rachel likes it," Finn smirked as he took his aftershave back from his step brother.

"Rachel would like it even if you rubbed turpentine behind your ears," Kurt scoffed as he took the opportunity to steal Finn's place in front of the mirror. "I'm so glad that the two of you are back together. I really thought that you needed your head examined when you got back together with Quinn, and Rachel's PMS was beginning to look terminal. I wasn't here for your stupidity and her melt down, but she certainly wore my ear out over the phone."

"I'm glad that she had you to talk to last winter," Finn conceded. "I just wish that I knew what was going on in Rachel's head right now. I used to know what she was thinking, but now it's different."

"All she has ever wanted was for us to be together. We're together now, but she keeps telling me that this is only temporary. That she's going to New York when we graduate no matter what, and I'll be like a fish out of water there. Why does she think I'm taking the SAT? I'm trying to get into a college in New York City so we can still be together."

"Have you told her that?" Kurt asked.

"I have, but I don't think she believes that I can actually do it with my grades and my money situation. She says that we're going to make the most of our last year together, and then she'll be gone. She's been rather pre-occupied any way with the news that her mother's coming to Lima."

"What did you just say?" Kurt asked with a shocked look on his face. "Why is Shelby Corcoran coming to Lima?"

"I thought you knew. Sandy Ryerson has been fired finally, and Shelby has been asked to fill in until someone can be hired. If Figgins likes her, she might get the job permanently," Finn said as he splashed some of the aftershave onto his neck.

"How does Rachel feel about this?" Kurt asked still dumbfounded.

"Rachel has mixed feelings. She wants to have a mother/daughter relationship with Shelby so bad, but what happened last year is holding her back."

"When did Rachel find this out?" Kurt asked.

"Yesterday, she told me about it after the football game last night. Shelby had called her after school and asked Rachel if she would feel comfortable if she took the job at McKinley. What was Rachel supposed to say? Drama teaching jobs are impossible to find, and Shelby has a kid to support."

"Oh no," Kurt said almost under his breath. "Do Quinn and Puck know that their child will be living in Lima too? They've got to run into each other. Lima isn't that big."

"Rachel wasn't worried about Quinn and Puck when she told me, and I'm not either. I've got to go if I'm going to pick up Rachel. We'll see you over at the high school later," Finn said heading out of their shared bathroom.

"Don't forget your calculator, extra batteries, and some No. 2 pencils," Kurt called after his brother as Finn took the steps two at a time.

Finn passed Blaine as Blaine was coming in the front door. "Kurt upstairs combing his hair again," Finn said passing Blaine.

"So I can mess it up for him?" Blaine laughed before he spoke to Finn again, "Finn, you might want to take a rain coat or an umbrella with you. The sky is getting dark in the west and it's windy. I drove through two down pours on my way over here to pick up Kurt."

"Man, the sun is shining, what are you talking about?" Finn asked from the front porch.

"Look to the west," Blaine instructed Finn.

Finn looked and then came back inside for his letterman's jacket and an umbrella. As he drove over to Rachel's house the rain started and the wind picked up. Fall leaves were whirling around the truck as he drove through the rain.

Rachel was waiting on her front porch in her raincoat and the hood up over her head. Finn ran up the porch steps with the umbrella to get her. Back safely in his truck, Rachel and Finn were sharing their good morning kiss when the truck radio interrupted the music with a weather announcement.

"We interrupt your Saturday Morning Top 40 with a weather watch announcement," the radio announcer said rapidly. "Category F2 tornadoes have touched down in Indiana and Illinois in the west and Category F1 tornadoes are forming over Kentucky and Tennessee to the south. These are two separate weather systems and have the potential to converge somewhere over Ohio later today if they continue on their current tracks. Please continue to monitor this radio station for the latest updates. Repeat, this is a weather watch at this time. We will let you know if the watch is upgraded to a weather warning if conditions develop."

"Rachel, what exactly does the F in F1 and F2 mean?" Finn asked as the truck radio returned to the music.

"It's the Fujita scale. It measures the intensity of storms based wind speed and the damage that they can potentially inflict. F1 is the lowest," Rachel said as she watched the large rain drops splash on the hood of Finn's truck.

"What's the highest?" Finn asked warily.

"A F5 is the highest. A F5 levels everything in its path and can toss cars and houses around like toys. It's total destruction. The tornado that we had in Lima in 2006 was an F2. The tornadoes in Ohio in 2010 reached F3."

"I remember that one. Mom and I huddled in the basement, but we only lost a few shingles and a tree out back. Do you think that we should still go over to the high school and take the SAT today?" Finn asked hoping for a reprieve.

"Let's go over and find out if they're going to cancel the test for today," Rachel answered. "Those two storms are hundreds of miles away, and they may blow themselves out before they ever reach Ohio."

Finn and Rachel pulled into the parking lot at McKinley with Blaine and Kurt right behind them. Huddled under raincoats and umbrellas they made their way into the high school lobby where other juniors and seniors were waiting to take the SAT with them.

Ms. Pillsbury hadn't come out of her office with the testing room assignments yet, and Coach Sylvester was monitoring the group in the lobby with her megaphone in hand.

"Coach Sylvester, have you heard the weather reports? Is it safe for us to be here today considering the tornadoes that are to the west and south of us?" Artie asked timidly.

"What tornadoes? I'll have you know that I eat F1 and F2 tornadoes for breakfast. I'm sure that you're all safer here than you would be hiding in your bathtubs and closets at home. This place is a brick fortress," Coach Sylvester scoffed at the worried crowd of teenagers.

Everyone was pacing the lobby not sure of whether to be more afraid of a possible tornado, the SAT, or Coach Sylvester. Quinn was also among the group checking her calculator one more time to make sure that it was fully charged and her pencils were sharp.

Watching the weather outside the front high school windows the group was tense and quiet. The silence was broken when they heard the familiar voice of Principal Figgins approaching from an adjoining hallway.

"And here, Mrs. Corcoran, you will find the teacher's lounge where you are welcome to enjoy your lunch time in peace," Principal Figgins said directing the attention of the tall, dark haired woman to the lounge.

All of the waiting students turned to see their principal giving a school tour to what appeared to be a new teacher. Quinn froze when she saw Shelby Corcoran. Immediately she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Puck's.

"What is she doing here?" Quinn whispered to Puck.

"I don't know, but Rachel may have some answers," Puck said looking for Finn. He knew that if he found Finn, he would find Rachel also. Standing six inches taller than everyone else, Puck soon spotted his childhood best friend. Puck guided Quinn in Finn's direction and left Lauren standing by herself in disbelief.

"Rachel, what's your mother doing here?" Quinn asked when she and Puck found Finn and Rachel in a corner of the lobby.

"She's going to be teaching here, she filling in for Mr. Ryerson who was fired. It's an interim position" Rachel told the taller blond.

"Why didn't someone tell me? She has my baby! She has my daughter! I should have been told," Quinn said becoming upset.

"I only found out yesterday," Rachel said more concern with her own worries than Quinn's.

"She can't be here, she can't! It's a small town; I'm going to run into my own daughter at the grocery store. I thought that I had put all of this all behind me! Did you have anything to do with this?" Quinn asked pointing her finger at Rachel's face.

"Back off Quinn," Finn said as he stepped between Quinn and Rachel. "Rachel is as shocked as you are over this."

Rachel looked at Quinn long enough to say, "As I remember, you gave your baby away. She's not your daughter anymore."

"Finn, Rachel, leave Quinn alone. We've all been taken off-guard." Puck said taking Quinn's defense.

The impending weather was quickly forgotten as Principal Figgins introduced their new drama teacher to the group of waiting teenagers in the lobby.

"Ms. Corcoran we have a group of juniors and seniors waiting here to take the SAT in a few minutes. You may find some candidates for the musical that you're planning in this group," Principal Figgins smiled broadly.

Rachel and Quinn were glad that they were in the back of the crowd as Shelby introduced herself to the group and hoped that some of them would audition for her upcoming musical. Rachel squeezed Finn's hand a little harder, and Quinn was glad that Puck was there.

When Shelby had finished speaking Ms. Pillsbury stepped up and spoke to the crowd.

"Everyone please be quiet and listen for your testing room assignments," Miss Pillsbury tried to speak louder.

"If your last name begins with A, B, C, or D you will be with Coach Sylvester in her classroom in the Athletic Wing."

Rachel was not pleased to be spending the rest of the day with Coach Sylvester monitoring, but at least she would be with Blaine, Artie, Tina, and Mike.

Ms. Pillsbury continued to read the assignments. Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, and Quinn would be with Mr. Schue in his Spanish classroom.

As the group broke up to go to their assigned classrooms, Rachel told Finn to break a leg as he told her that he loved her.

Puck asked Quinn if is she was going to be alright before he left with Santana and Brittany in the L, M, N, O, P group for their testing room with Coach Beiste. Lauren gave Puck a confused look before she headed off with Ms. Pillsbury and the W, X, Y, Z group for the library.

The SAT began and everyone was hard at work. Kurt had told Finn to skip the questions that he wasn't sure about, but to come back to them if he had time at the end.

They were two hours into the exam when tornado alarms could be heard going off in the distance. Within seconds, Principal Figgans was on the intercom telling everyone to hand their testing booklets to their monitors as orderly as possibly and to take their tornado drill positions in the nearest hallway.

Rachel shoved her testing booklet into Coach Sylvester's hands and told her that she had to find Finn.

"Get back in here Missy," Coach Sylvester barked at Rachel. "Your sweetie is on the other end of the campus in the Language Arts wing."

"We don't care," Blaine barked back at Sue before he grabbed Rachel's hand and ran out into the hallway making their way toward Finn and Kurt.

The rain was hitting the building in sideways sheets as the hail hammered the roof and the skylights. Rachel held on to Blaine's hand tightly as they ran toward the Language Arts wing as fast as they could run. Unknown to them, Finn and Kurt were heading in their direction when a power transformer exploded outside in a ball of fire and then the whole building went dark.

-/-

Until chapter two, please review. I appreciate your suggestions so much! Sincerely, Whistler Nights