[CUT TO: INT. WILL'S OFFICE – DAY]
Will sat behind his desk, holding a small plastic bag containing the marijuana Sandy had given him. Across from him, Finn sat nervously.
Will raised an eyebrow, his tone grave; "You want to tell me how long you've had a drug problem?"?
Finn widened his eyes, his voice rising in confusion; "I don't even know who the Chronic Lady is."
Will narrowed his eyes, voice firm as he leaned forward. "If it were up to me, we wouldn't have mandatory bi-weekly afternoon locker checks."
Finn's voice pitched up in panic as he leaned forward, eyes wide with desperation. "But I've never seen that before, Mr. Schue, I swear. It's not mine. I'll pee in a cup. I'll pee—right now."
Will sighed, voice heavy. "It wouldn't make any difference. Possession is eight-tenths of the law. I'm pretty sure that much pot is a felony. You'll get kicked out of school. You'll lose your football scholarship."
Finn blinked. "Wait... I had a football scholarship? To... to where?"
Will's voice dropped to a quiet, serious tone as he met Finn's eyes; "You could land in prison, son."
Finn clutched the edge of his chair, his voice cracking in panic. "Oh my God. Please, don't tell my mom."
Will leaned forward. "I see a lot of myself in you, Finn. I know what it's like to struggle to make good life choices, and I don't want to see you throw away everything you have to offer the world. I just expected more out of you."
Finn (V.O.): That really got to me when Mr. Schuester said that, because every day of my life, I expect more out of myself. See, I might look confident and everything, but I really struggle with the same thing other kids do: peer pressure, bacne.
[CUT TO: INT. FINN'S HOUSE – DAY]
A younger Finn looked at a photograph of his father.
Finn (V.O.): I never knew my dad. He died in Iraq when we were fighting Osama bin Laden the first time.
Inside the house, Finn banged on the drums while his mother, Carole, tried to talk on the phone.
Carole sat on the couch, clutching the phone tightly between her shoulder and ear as she tried to reason with the person on the other end. Her voice was strained with exhaustion as she called over the clatter of Finn's drumming. "Hold on, hold on. Finn, Finn, Finn! Please, I'm on the phone! I just want to trade next Saturday's shift for this Saturday because Finn's got a parents night for Cub Scouts."
Finn (V.O.): My mom and me, we're real close, but being a single parent can be hard. The only good time for Mom was when we splurged a little bit and ordered Emerald Dreams.
[CUT TO: EXT. FINN'S HOUSE – DAY]
A lawn-care employee named Darren sprayed their front yard. Young Finn helped him, grinning up.

Finn (V.O.): Darren was good to her, and he was cool about letting me hang out.
The two sang Journey's "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" together while working.
Finn (V.O.): That was the first time I really heard music. Man, it set my soul on fire.
Darren chuckled. "You got a voice, buddy. Seriously, if I had that voice, my band would still be together. Stick with it."
[CUT TO: EXT. FINN'S HOUSE – DAY]
Darren drove past in a pickup with a new girlfriend. Carole stood in the driveway and hurled a half-empty milk jug at the truck.
Finn (V.O.): My mom took it real hard when Darren left her for that girl he met at Pick & Save. It was at that moment I decided to do whatever it took to make my mom proud of me. To make her feel all her sacrifice was worth it.
[CUT TO: INT. WILL'S OFFICE – DAY]
Will leaned forward, voice steady.
Will leaned forward, voice steady; "We've got two ways this can go. One, you do six weeks of after-school detention with me—that's gonna stick on your permanent record."
Finn furrowed his brow, his voice low with hope and uncertainty. "What's the other option, Mr. Schue?"?
[CUT TO: INT. AUDITORIUM – DAY]
The piano played the opening chords of "You're the One That I Want" from Grease. Finn, newly inducted and still a bit uncertain, stood at the front of the group. His voice rang out, strong and steady. Rachel's head snapped up mid-note, her eyes gleaming with interest. She jumped in, joining the duet with growing excitement.

Elena stood near the back, arms crossed, quietly observing with a slight smirk. She didn't sing, not yet. She was still feeling things out—but something about Finn's voice intrigued her.
Mercedes raised a hand, stopping the song cold.
Mercedes raised her hand. "Oh, hell to the no. Look, I'm not down with this background singing nonsense. I'm Beyoncé. I ain't no Kelly Rowland."
Will stepped forward. "Okay, look, Mercedes, it's just one song."
Kurt chimed in, pointing toward Finn. "And it's the first time we've been kind of good."
Mercedes crossed her arms but nodded toward Finn. "Okay, you're good, white boy. I'll give you that. But you better bring it."
Will clapped his hands. "Let's run it again. From the top."
Elena rolled her eyes but smirked faintly. Maybe this weird little club wasn't a total waste of her time after all.
[CUT TO: INT. TERRI'S CRAFT ROOM – NIGHT]
The soft hum of a ceiling fan whirred above as Terri and Will sat on the carpet, surrounded by puzzle pieces scattered across the floor. A half-finished jigsaw of a beach sunset lay between them.
Will glanced around. "You usually don't let me in your craft room."
Terri beamed, pressing a corner piece into place. "Isn't this fun? And challenging. Every Wednesday, we're gonna have puzzle night. Because I know how important it is for you to have a creative outlet."
Will leaned back, watching her. "You know, the kids have been working so hard. I was thinking about taking them on a field trip next Saturday. Carmel High's performing a showcase down in Akron. Now, Carmel's gonna be the team to beat at regionals. And I was wondering if you might want to come chaperone it with me."
Terri's expression stiffened. "On Saturday? Oh, I can't. I had to pick up an extra shift at work, Will. We're living paycheck to paycheck, you know."
Will frowned. "And how much of that paycheck goes to your Pottery Barn credit card?"
Terri's smile froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Will rose and walked toward the closet.
Terri scrambled up after him. "Don't go in the Christmas closet!"
He opened the door anyway, revealing bags of home décor and boxed goods. His face fell.
"I was looking for my jacket the other day. We cannot afford this stuff, Terri."
Terri stepped beside him, defensive. "Oh, we could, Will. Yes, I am a shoo-in to be promoted during the Christmas week at Sheets N' Things. You know, I reek of management potential. And they're hiring at H.W. Menken."
Will shook his head. "My passion is teaching, Terri. For the last time, I don't want to be an accountant."
Terri's jaw tightened. "Dr. Phil said that people could change. You know, it's not a bad thing to want a real life, Will, and to have a glue gun that works! You know, it's really hard for me not having the things that I need."
Will looked at her incredulously. "Oh! And you need three mahogany toilet brush holders?!"
"They're Balinese!" she snapped. "It is not a bad thing to want things, Will. You know, I understand your interest in these kids, Will. I really do. Yeah. It's your way of recapturing your glory days. But I'm not the high school cheerleader anymore, and you are not the golden boy. High school's over... for both of us. It's time that you move on."
[CUT TO: INT. TEACHERS LOUNGE – DAY]
Ken sat at the shredding machine, eyes locked longingly on Emma across the room. Emma, in turn, couldn't stop watching Will as he posted a sign-up sheet for chaperones on the bulletin board. Once Will exited, Emma walked up quietly and added her name to the list.
[CUT TO: EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – DAY]
Puck hurled footballs at another player's helmet with practiced precision, but his attention shifted when he saw Ken yelling at Finn.
"You're the quarterback!" Ken barked. "No. I don't want to hear it. You make your decision. You're a football player, or you're a singer."
Finn trudged past him, visibly conflicted. Puck caught up to him.
"Hey. What's going on?" Puck asked.

"Oh. I just... I have to miss practice Saturday afternoon," Finn muttered. "It's, uh... it's my mom. I got to help her... cook and, uh, do things."
Puck frowned. "Why?"
Finn said, "She just had, uh, surgery."
Puck raised a brow. "What kind of surgery?"
Finn paused for half a beat too long. "Uh, well, she, um, had to have her prostate out."
Puck nodded, impressed. "Man, that's a tough break."
"Yeah, it's, uh, engorged," Finn added awkwardly.
[CUT TO: EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – LATER THAT DAY]
Sue stood with her bullhorn, voice sharp as steel.
Sue barked, "You think this is hard? I'm living with hepatitis. That's hard."
[CUT TO: INT. TEACHERS LOUNGE – DAY]
Ken stormed into the lounge and slapped away the book Will was reading.
"You stole my quarterback," Ken snapped.
Will looked up, calm but firm. "Okay, look. Finn's got a great voice. He just wants to express himself."
Ken glared. "You're screwing up my life."
Will folded his arms. "Okay, Ken? You hate football. What's this really about?"
[CUT TO: EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY]

Emma stood by her car, meticulously disinfecting the door handle. Ken approached, awkward but determined.
"Hey, M&M," he said. "So, I got tickets to Monster Trucks this weekend. Luge tickets."
Emma blinked. "No thanks. Not really my thing."
"Truckzilla versus Truckasaurus," Ken added eagerly. "And get this: the trucks breathe fire."
Emma sighed. "Ken. Look, you know how every time you ask me out, I tell you that I'm on my period?"
"Which doesn't bother me," Ken interjected.
"Or I'm suffering from cluster headaches, or I'm allergic to nighttime? Those things–not really true. I'm just not interested in dating you."
Ken frowned, then tried, "How do I get you... into my hatchback?"
Just a few feet away, Elena happened to walk by. She paused, head tilting as she witnessed the scene, her face scrunching in visible confusion. "What the hell did I just walk into?" she muttered under her breath, before hurrying along, eyebrows still raised.
Emma looked away, exasperated. "Okay, Ken, fine, you know what, make me say it: I like somebody else. All right? Nothing I can do about it because they're unavailable, so I have to deal with that, but–"
Ken, clearly annoyed, licked his hand and rubbed it all over Emma's car door handle.
Emma recoiled, horrified.
Just a few steps away, Elena watched the whole thing unfold, her expression a mixture of disbelief and disgust. "Americans are so weird," she muttered under her breath before walking off, shaking her head.