It was the start of a new school year at McKinley High School. Only this time, there was something different, something wrong. It wasn't that Sue Sylvester and finally returned from her suspension, or that Will Schuester and Emma Pillsbury were starting to move in together.
Glee Club was wrong. Very wrong and it was all Rachel Berry's fault.
Six months ago, Rachel would have thought that at the start of a new term, Glee would have been at the top of the social ladder and her and Finn would be catapulted to school stardom. But she now knew that that was never going to happen. Not after Regional's.
***
It was Regional's that began it all, Rachel thought to herself.
The night had started full of hope but something's are meant to be, Rachel told herself.
Why was it, she thought, that Quinn was actually allowed to perform at nearly 9 months pregnant?
But somehow, Mr. Schuester had found a way and they had watched the other competition and they got ready to sing their first set; Don't Stop Believing', Proud Mary and Defying Gravity to finish.
As they all prepared to go on, Quinn had complained of pains but everyone blamed it on nerves, after all they all had them, even Rachel.
"Mr. Schuester! She can't go on! Not like THIS!" Rachel said sternly to Mr. Schuester. "We've worked so hard for this...and Quinn being in the state she's in...We should sacrifice her for the good of the club!"
However, Will Schuester looked sternly at her. Rachel was quite surprised; surely Mr. Schuester could see Quinn was in no state to perform.
"I'm sorry, Rachel," her teacher replied. "But we are a team. We've been a team since the beginning and we're going to be a team now. No- one is not going to go on! Alright, everyone, go get 'em!"
As Rachel and the rest of the Glee Club; Finn, Mercedes, Kurt, Puck, Brittany, Matt, Tina and Artie got up on stage, she threw a glance to Quinn, who was clutching her stomach as she hobbled onto the stage. Rachel stood next to her.
"Come on, you can do it." She whispered in Quinn's ear, you've got to do it!"
Quinn smiled at Rachel and nodded.
The lights went up on the stage, Rachel found that her heart was in her mouth. She had waited her whole life for this! The music had started.
A week earlier, Mr. Schuester had talked them through the plan for the first song.
"Finn will start, then Rachel will come in." He explained. "Throughout the second verse and chorus, Quinn and Puck will sing. And then and the last chorus, the one where the 'Don't Stop Believing' comes in, we'll all sing it together."
They were through to the end of the second chorus, and Rachel took a glance at Quinn and her eyes widened. In just a few seconds, she was up but she could see water dripping through Quinn's dress. An icy feeling crept through her body. It was over. Quinn was about to give birth in Regionals all their hard work had come to this.
She prodded Finn, he was too focused to look and until she prodded him harder, he looked across and his eyes widened too. And then, almost as if it was meant to be, Quinn screamed as the last chorus came in. Rachel knew that the competition was over, she looked across at the crowd, she had to save their chances! But she was so nervous...for once she knew everyone was looking at her. Mr. Schuester had rushed onto the stage, she took a step forward and she sang.
***
Rachel knew that was where they had lost Regional's. She had been so nervous, knowing that everyone wanted her to do well, to save the performance, but she couldn't do it. For the first time in her life, Rachel Berry had sung out of tune.
As she walked up to the school building once again, she suddenly felt like turning back. Today was going to be bad, she knew that. Regional's had been at the very end of the school year and after the disaster Glee had had, there had been a series of teacher training days all bulking up, so she hadn't gone to school for the last week, and she hadn't wanted to. She knew that once again, Glee Club was going to be at the bottom of the social ladder and she felt like it was all her fault. But the Glee kids were her friends...weren't they? Finn cared about her...didn't he?
Rachel walked through the school doors and suddenly, everyone turned to face her. She held her head down and tried to zone out, but she was sure she had heard things like 'take singing lessons' and 'reject' before she headed straight for the Glee rehearsal room, she knew Mr. Schuester would already be there.
She burst through the doors, relieved that she had made it this far. She was just going to speak when she realised that everyone in Glee, apart from Quinn, was there and they were glaring at her. She turned to Mr. Schuester.
"Welcome back, Rachel." He said, sternly. "How was your summer?"
