Synopsis: AU. When Finn Hudson, a gifted pianist, meets Rachel Berry for the first time, he is entranced by her beauty and her enticing yet chilling music. Love story
Author's Note: This story is based on the 2007 Taiwanese film "Secret". I will incorporate a soundtrack for the story (not in this first chapter though) since it will involve listening to music and you can play it while reading the story. It is a somewhat AU fic since Finn will be taking the role of a talented pianist and McKinley is a prestigious art high school, but I guarantee that this is a great love story. Please do enjoy the first chapter! R&R
Secret I Can't Tell
The clouds in the sky exhibited signs that it was due to rain very soon, yet some of the students of McKinley School of the Arts enjoyed the pleasant, yet cool autumn day outside. The students outside mostly specialized in the arts, whether it was painting or sculpting. They took the opportunity of the overcast weather to create a work of art while the music majors, those who specialized in a musical instrument, and the sport majors opted for the indoors.
McKinley School of the Arts was a very prestigious school, only accepting the best and brightest in not only the United States, but also the world into the school. When a person attends McKinley School of the Arts, they pick a major to concentrate their studies on. This is by no means a college of any kind, but rather an elite high school for people wanting to pursue a future in the music, the arts, or even apparently, sports as the school also specialized in football and basketball. Students are still required to take the core classes, but the concentration of their studies is based on a student's major.
McKinley could be found basically in the middle of Lima, Ohio, a small town of less than 20,000 citizens living in it. Although the town was little compared to the other Ohioan cities and towns, its art school brought much reputation and fame to it and it attracted citizens from all over the world.
Finn Hudson, a young seventeen year old boy, had just transferred schools. He went to the neighboring Carmel High before his mother urged him to switch schools because he wasn't challenged by the music program there. Finn specialized in playing the piano. He had won numerous awards in competitions. His family consisted of his single mother; his father died during the first Iraq war. Finn was a piano virtuoso, trained by his mother, a pianist virtuoso herself who used to teach at McKinley, allowing both him and his stepbrother Kurt to enroll in the school. Finn's mother was the only one providing the income for the family and her current job could not afford much luxury for the family. The only mode of transportation for Finn was his trusty bicycle with a seat big enough to fit two people. He had a driver's license and had the choice to use the only car his family owned, but he wanted his mother to use that car to get to her job, which was about an hour away. She had actually offer to give him the car while she takes the bus, but he decided that it wasn't all that important to be driving to school since it was only ten minutes away on a bike. Plus, biking to the new school was a means of exercise anyway.
As Finn Hudson parked his bicycle to the side of the school, he wondered what life at McKinley School of the Arts was going to be like. Carmel High, a public school, only specialized in the general. Finn found his passion in music, succeeding greatly in the arts program at Carmel, but somewhat failing in his core subjects. He preferred Carmel in the sense that he could wear whatever he wanted, but at McKinley, all the students were strictly required to wear a uniform. For guys, it was a black dress jacket, pants, and shirt with a red and orange tie. For girls, it was either a black or gray dress jacket and knee high skirts with matching heels. Finn was sure that this uniform was used ever since the school first started in the early 1900's, but it wasn't much of a bother to him. He hoped that McKinley would be a fresh start. Finn checked his watch and discovered that he was half an hour early before class started.
The first thing Finn noticed when he approached the front of the school was the humongous courtyard it had. It was interesting to see people being casual outside, painting and having a fun with one another.
"I could get used to this," Finn thought as an attractive blond girl approached him.
"Hi," the girl greeted, "My name is Quinn Fabray. I'm part of the welcome committee at McKinley here to welcome you to the new school." Quinn extended her hand.
Finn shook her hand and responded, "Hi. I'm Finn Hudson."
"I know who you are," Quinn said with a very pretty smile, "I've heard of you before. Shall we take a stroll while I fill you in on McKinley?"
"Sure. After you, of course," Finn replied, allowing Quinn to guide him.
This was going to be an interesting school, Finn thought. His first steps into a new school and already a gorgeous girl already approached him. Finn couldn't help but chuckle on the inside.
"So, you major in piano, correct?" Quinn asked casually.
"Yeah," Finn replied, nodding his head.
"So why'd you transfer to McKinley? You only had a year left at Carmel. Didn't you want to graduate there?"
"I heard your school had a lovely campus and of course, very lovely ladies," Finn complimented, taking note of the blush forming on Quinn's cheeks.
"Oh, really?" Quinn asked, face still red.
"Well, also my mom made me. So what are you majoring in?"
"Piano as well, but I'm not nearly as good as you though."
"Thank you, but I highly doubt that. I'm not the best pianist in the state or anything."
"You were the youngest pianist to win the Chopin Award in Ohio and you always place first at your competitions," Quinn complimented.
"You seem to know a lot about me," Finn pointed out, causing Quinn to blush even more.
They turned to the right of the courtyard and approached a very ancient looking building.
"This is the piano hall," Quinn informed, "Since you study the piano, this is where you will be most of the time."
Finn's mouth dropped before asking, "You're not serious, are you? This building looks like it's going to collapse anytime soon."
Quinn giggled and replied, "It is over a hundred years old. They're actually going to tear this building down and build a new one for the newer students after our graduation day. It's too bad we won't get the opportunity to enjoy it. Younger students are really lucky. You should definitely check the building before class begins, especially the Old Piano room. The piano there is as old as the building itself"
"Sure," Finn answered, turning into the old building.
"Do you want me to show you the inside?" Quinn asked hopefully. There were also other new students she had to show around the school campus, but if Finn wanted a guide to show him the piano hall, she would've gladly done so.
Finn shook his head and said, "No thanks, Quinn. I think I will be fine on my own."
He ran up the steps of the two story building and hollered to Quinn, "I'll yell if I get lost or something."
Finn's first impression of the building: it was extremely old. There were apparent cracks on the wall from the aging and the paint was already peeling away. The wooden floors looked unpolished and not the slightest refurbished. McKinley looked like it gave up on this building and it was too bad Finn could not enjoy the new building they were constructing after graduation day.
As Finn wandered the hallways of the piano building, he figured this hall to be the most uninteresting place he had ever hoped to go through. He was about to leave the building when he heard a very haunting melody playing on an old piano in the distance. It was so enchanting and it seemed to beckon Finn forward. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Finn pressed forward to try to discover the source of the beautiful, yet chilling music. His head peered into every room, looking for the source of the sound.
Quinn was right, Finn noted. Every room had a piano in it.
The beautiful music began to crescendo as it approached its climax. Finn felt his skin having goosebumps from hearing the song as he approached the end of the hallway. Seeing as there was only one room left on the floor, he knew this must be where the music was coming from, but as he approached the doorway of that room, the music stopped on a silent "E" note. From the outside looking in, Finn saw an old piano, even older than the other pianos he saw in the other room. This must've been the old piano room Quinn was talking about. He also noticed that there wasn't anybody sitting on the chair, playing the piano, which he thought was strange. He poked his head through the door and looked to the right first.
The room had antique furniture all over the place. Everything was covered with a white cloth besides the old baby grand piano sitting in the middle of the room. Finn took one extra step into the room and looked around before turning his attention to the left side. There were bookshelves, he noticed, as his eyes fell upon a brunette with a pair of brown eyes staring right back at him.
Finn was caught by surprise when he saw the girl, jumping back accidently into a lamp behind him. Luckily, he did not knock it down. The girl also seemed to be surprised by Finn's entrance, but she was not as startled as he was.
"Sorry, you scared me," Finn quickly apologized, "I didn't mean to intrude, but was that you who was playing earlier?"
The brunette smiled as she climbed down the steps of the ladder. She hesitated for a moment before telling Finn, "No."
Finn's face showed signs of confusion as he said, "But there's no one else here."
The girl stared at Finn blankly as if to say "really?" before she started to laugh rather uncontrollably. She then said, "Yes, it was me. I was being sarcastic."
"It sounded really beautiful," Finn complimented, eyeing the girl even more.
The short brunette smiled nervously and answered, "Thanks" as the school bell rang signaling the first class period. Finn bowed his head and left the room.
Finn hurried out of the piano building and into his first class. This school year was certainly looking far more interesting. He didn't know why, but this girl was very mysterious. Something seemed a bit off about her, but Finn couldn't deny it. She was very pretty, even more so than Quinn Fabray. Hopefully he would get the chance to see her again and talk to her some more.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"In the 19th century, there lived a musical genius who was born in Poland yet this composer created wonderful music in France," Mr. Schuester lectured, "Does anyone know who this person is?"
Will Schuester, "Schue" for short, was the music director at McKinley School of the Arts and also the head professor of the entire Music department. When Finn met Will for the first time, he found Will to be a bit strict, but as the class progressed, Will seemed more laid back. It must've been the first day of school that probably caused Will to be a bit nervous. And also, it was the last class of the day. Who doesn't want school to let out?
Finn raised his hands and answered, "Was it Frederic Chopin?"
"You are correct, Mr. Hudson," Mr. Schuester congratulated before continuing, "Yes, Chopin was that musical genius because he not only forwarded the Romantic Movement, but also infused poetry into his music. His early pieces such as the Etudes…"
Finn began to drown out Will's lecture as he found the lesson to be quite boring. Finn was really a practical person. He would rather play a Chopin Etude instead of listening to a boring lecture about it. It was at this moment when Finn heard a familiar voice in the back say, "Sorry I'm late."
Apparently, Mr. Schuester did not pay attention as he continued on with his lecture. Finn, however, spun around and discovered it to be the same brunette girl in that old piano room. She bowed her head to Mr. Schuester before taking a sit in the empty desk at the back behind Quinn Fabray. The girl looked up and noticed that Finn was looking at her and she smiled back at him. Finn smiled back at her and waved before he heard a loud yell in the front.
"Mr. Hudson! Will you please pay attention to the class instead of ogling that girl?" Mr. Schuester said.
Finn, embarrassed, turned forward and looked straight down at his desk, trying to ignore the snickering from the other students in the classroom.
As Mr. Schuester continued his lecture on Chopin, Finn stole a couple more glances at the girl. He looked at the professor and then the girl and then back to the professor and back to the girl, which definitely caught her attention. She kept a normal face whenever he turned around to look at her, but he didn't notice her flattered smirk every time his head turned back to Mr. Schuester.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As the bell rang dismissing the class, the students got up and began to leave the room. Finn immediately spun around, but discovered that the girl had already left. Finn rushed out into the hallway looking for her when he noticed the hem of her scarf disappearing around a corner. Finn ran after her, turning around the corner, but she wasn't there.
"Huh?" Finn thought, "Where was she?" He felt a bit disappointed that he didn't get to see her.
Finn felt a tap on his shoulder as he turned around. He felt a finger applying pressure onto his face. It was the girl.
She smiled flirtatiously at him and asked, "Why are you following me?"
As a quick response, Finn denied it and said, "I'm not."
"Oh," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders, "Well, bye then." She walked away from Finn.
Finn smiled as he ran up to catch up with her.
"I wanted to ask you something," he said.
"I thought you weren't following me," the girl replied.
"I am now, but I wanted to know what the name of the song you were playing earlier."
The girl stopped walking, causing Finn to pause as well. She stood on her toes since she was so much shorter than Finn. It looked as if she was going to kiss him, but her mouth quickly ascended to his ears as she whispered in his ears, "It's a secret I can't tell."
Finn turned his head to face her, but her face was close enough for Finn to see the sparkle in her eyes and the rosiness of her cheeks and lips. She smiled quickly as she walked away from him before he could admire her features even more.
"Wait," he called out, "Why is it a secret?" but the girl responded by placing a finger on her lips and telling him to shush.
Finn smirked at her gesture and didn't even bother to follow her, but then suddenly he realized he should probably ask her a more important question.
"Hey," he called out again, "What's your name?"
At that moment, Quinn spun around because the girl ran in front of Quinn.
"It's Quinn," Quinn replied, "I thought I told you that already."
Finn shook his head and was going to say something, but the girl gave him a wink and disappeared around another corner.
Why was this girl so mysterious, Finn thought?
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sky had turned for the worse as it began to rain. Finn grabbed his bicycle and used his bag to shield his head from the onslaught of the tiny drizzle. He began to bike around, looking for that girl. There was no way she could've gotten that far. Sure enough, he saw her standing underneath a tall tree. He pulled his bicycle up and approached her.
"Want me to give you a ride home on the way?" Finn asked coolly.
The girl asked, "How do you know it's on the way?"
"I don't know actually," Finn replied, "but I do know that it's raining and a girl in distress needs a ride home. Come on. This seat is big enough for the both of us."
She smiled at his chivalrous gesture and nodded her head. She climbed on the back of the bicycle, her feet on the outside and her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
"Hold on tight," Finn informed as he pedaled slowly, "You make sure you point the way all right."
As Finn began to bike a bit faster, he noticed that the girl would grip onto his shoulders even tighter. It made him feel very happy on the inside.
"Why are you so quiet?" the girl asked. It caught Finn by a surprise since it is always Finn that initiated the conversation.
"It's a secret I can't tell," Finn joked. The girl immediately became quiet afterwards, causing her to relax her grip on Finn's shoulders.
"So what kinds of music do you like to hear? Classical, rock, Broadway, or maybe something else?" Finn asked.
"I like listening to all of them," the girl responded.
Dead end.
The rain stopped immediately and Finn could see the sun emerging a tiny bit among the darken clouds.
"Do you prefer the sun or the rain?" Finn asked to try and elicit a conversation from the girl.
"Both," she replied with a nonchalant smile.
Another dead end.
"You play the piano very well," Finn complimented.
"Very well," the girl emphasized, pulling herself closer to Finn's ear and tightening her grip on Finn's shoulders.
"Very well," Finn said, mocking the tone of her voice. She laughed at his impression of her.
"Will you play it for me someday?" Finn continued.
"I don't think so."
"You will. Sooner or later, you will."
"We'll see," the girl laughed.
Finn never took the opportunity to see the beautiful sight of Lima before, but biking this girl home, Finn received the time to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the town. And he was lucky to be taking her home since her house was in the countryside.
"You can stop right here," the girl informed Finn, patting him on the shoulders and climbing off the bike.
"I don't mind. I can take you to your door if you want," Finn offered, but the girl shook her head.
"It's okay. You've done enough. Thank you for the ride," the girl said, before walking through a fence of a quaint little house, "I don't want my dad to see you."
Finn gazed down and smirked. Never has he ever seen a girl this fascinating before. It definitely caused him to like her even more.
"Hey," Finn called out, hopping off his bike and pushing it towards the fence where she was still standing.
"Yes," the girl responded.
"Can I at least get your name?" Finn begged.
She smiled and replied, "Just call me Rachel Berry"
"Rachel, huh?" Finn said, "That's a beautiful name. I'm Finn Hudson."
She nodded her head and said, "Nice to meet you," before waving goodbye to Finn. Finn reciprocated and turned his bicycle around.
Rachel Berry. You have definitely caught the attention of Finn Hudson, he thought, as he biked home, grinning like a fool at what he considers to be a temporary victory.
Likes/Dislikes/Concerns/Theories
Please review this story. I would like some feedbacks to see if people are really interested in this kind of story. I already wrote the next update, but I'm waiting on the response from the Gleeks Universe. If you are interested, the new chapter will have more background on Kurt, Finn, Carol (Finn's mother), and the mysterious Rachel Berry. There will be more interaction between Finn and Rachel and I have introduced Jesse St. James (in a minor role) in the next chapter. So please, tell me what you think of the story. Thanks!
Also, check out my other stories. If you liked this one, hopefully the others will be to your liking as well.