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Title: PreGlee
Subtitle: The Unofficial Prequel to Glee
Author: Western Sky
Summary: What was life like for the glee members before New Directions? Set six months prior to the events of Glee; visit William McKinley High School during late 2008 and into 2009, leading up to the moments before Glee's "Pilot" episode.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Glee" or any of it cast, crew or storylines. This is pure fandom and I am simply a fan (actually, a huge Gleek!) who enjoyed the beginning of season 1 so much that a new fan-fiction was in order! I thought the concept of a prequel to "Glee" was pretty cool, so here is my take on the characters before episode 1. Take note that this is set during November 2008 and will continue up until May of 2009, which is when I believe the first episode of "Glee" takes place. So, enjoy and please take the time to read and review!

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Chapter 1: On My Own

"Hi guys, it's me again!"

She paused.

"Obviously."

The girl bounced lightly, and smoothed the hem of her checked skirt before flashing a quick smile at the video camera. She had placed the recorder atop a tripod and positioned it about a metre away from her, sending her every move to into the nearby computer. "I hope you've liked my videos... if you're even watching them at all... and, uh, yeah! I really like reading your comments, so, um, keep letting me know what you think..."

She stopped to mumble, "...a positive comment couldn't hurt though." Her eyes met the camera lens again and into the dark eye of nothingness. She knew her attempts at uploading online videos of herself crooning to the tunes of musicals and pop classics were just landing upon ignorant ears, but she went on doing so in the hopes of one day fulfilling her dream of being a theatrical star.

"Um, so yeah," she continued, "today I'll be singing 'Good Morning Baltimore' from Hairspray," she paused, "which is actually closing on Broadway in two months, so, uh, go see it while you can! You might remember the video I uploaded in March. I sang 'The Big Dollhouse', which is from the same musical. I've kinda been a bit obsessed with it lately and, uh, so, yeah..."

An awkward silence filled the space between her and the video camera.

"Anyway! I hope you enjoy."

The girl laughed nervously before clearing her throat. "Oh, oh, oh! Woke up today, feeling the way I always do..."

[...]

An hour later she had 12 views within the first five minutes of the video being uploaded, plus two new comments to boot – both of which had come from fellow schoolmates and MySpace "friends". She had 128 "friends" on MySpace, none of whom were any actual friends.

Truth be told, she didn't exactly have proper friends. The majority of the people she had on MySpace only accepted the online friendship requests to view her videos and to continue to make a mockery of her online journal.

Somehow she'd kinda hoped that maybe they really did want to be her friend.

She glanced at the latest comments on her newest video – which was one of about two-hundred she'd managed to post once a day, every single day, since the start of the year – and her body slumped back into the chair as she read them.

One comment read: "hahaha more like good morning snooze town!!!!"

The other: "Move back to loser-ville, Rachel Berry!"

Rachel Berry sighed. Her eyes aimlessly wandered over her desk and belongings until she stopped to look at the photo frame on her dresser – it was taken in 1992 at her first dance competition. At 16 years-old, Rachel was an only child with same-sex parents. During childhood her two fathers provided her with every possible opportunity to become the star she was in the progress of achieving. But at school she was simply referred to as "overly ambitious and assertive" by her classmates and was constantly bullied by the Cheerios – the school's cheerleading squad – and football team.

Rachel stared mindlessly at the photograph for a moment.

"One day," she murmured to herself, "one day everything will fall into place." Rachel spun around and looked at her reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. She took a breath of confidence and straightened up. "Just don't stop believing, Rachel."

[...]

"Rachel!"

The cheery voice of Mr Ryerson echoed down the hall the next morning as Rachel made her way to Science class. Mr Ryerson was head of glee club, which Rachel participated in regularly.

"Mr Ryerson," Rachel said brightly as the flamboyant teacher rushed to her.

"Rachel, I have a fab new idea for next month's Christmas pageant!"

"Oh, cool."

"I was thinking, you plus Hank Saunders equals The First Noel!"

He enthusiastically flashed his arms with added jazz hands as if he could foresee it before his eyes. "Magical, isn't it?"

Rachel blinked. "Sure. That sounds fun."

Her words dripped with the type of sarcasm that Mr Ryerson just did not understand. Rachel knew the idea was boring but what else was new. Nobody cared for glee club or the people in it and no "magical" ideas was going to change that.

"Wonderful! I'll see you after school." The seedy teacher pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose and gave Rachel a quick wink before bustling off into the clearing crowd of students. Rachel stared after him as the students around her went to class with their friends.

It took a moment for her to realize that she was nearly all alone in the corridor now – and that she was late for class. She forced a smile at the irony.

The lyrics of a song from Les Misérables sprung to mind.

"And now I'm all alone again nowhere to go, no one to turn to." She quietly hummed the tune on her (hurried) way to Science. "The city goes to bed and I can live inside my head, on my own."

To be continued...