Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 77th cycle. Now cycle 78!
"Let Us Entertain You"
((Older) Rachel, Sophie (OC),) Chloe (OC) & Workshop group
Red series
(no listings yet; sequel to Going Out With a Bang)
Everything they had done, consuming the better part of their time outside the workshop in the last couple of weeks, had been leading to this day, and what they were going to be doing. They'd all been sitting or standing around, and it would be Chloe's signal, once they knew the way was clear, that would kick off their performance, at which time they would stop pretending like they were going about their day like everyone else and do just as they'd been practicing.
They'd changed their location just about at the last minute, after it had been decided that their old location, while geographically enticing, was a supposed 'acoustic hell zone.' This had forced them to make some equally last minute choreography changes, and as they'd sat there, all of them, Chloe's primary concern was that it would all be a flop, that they would forget the new set up, after the old one had become so engrained in their minds.
But then Eva was tossing her looks, as though to say 'go for it,' and after one last deep breath, Chloe had looked around and been forced to admit there really might not be a better time. So she gave the signal.
For their music, they had decided there would be nothing better to choose than to pay homage to their mentor. They would be performing a mash up of some of the songs iconic to Rachel Berry's career, the musicals she had performed in, the ones best associated with her.
As they'd all started falling into place and the performance had begun, Chloe had been terrified for a moment that people would not care, that they would either keep on walking, or they would look at them and think this was stupid. She did her best to block those thoughts out, and she focused on what they'd come to do.
Still it only took half a minute for her to see that they had actually succeeded, that a sizable number of passersby were stopping, and watching. Some of them had taken out their phones and started filming them, while others smiled, and pointed out this one or that one to whoever they were standing with. In that moment, she knew they really would remember this day, no matter where they all ended up.
It all very nearly came to a screeching halt. Even as they continued with their song, Chloe knew she couldn't have been the only one of them to notice a pair of security guards looking in their direction and not at all in the same amused look as their audience, which was steadily continuing to grow. No, they were looking like they would break up the crowd, and the performance as a whole. They were nearly done, it couldn't end like this…
And then something happened. Someone across the way had gone and talked to the security guards. Chloe wasn't sure how she knew, but she understood this person was allowing them time to finish. They didn't let that be in vain. So they finished their song, and then when it was over, in the clamor of the applause and the cheers, the students of Rachel Berry's workshop dispersed, never to be confronted by the security guards.
Somehow they had all known where to meet up again, at the nearby coffee shop, the one they would often go to, before or after their time at the workshop. Every time another one of their group would jog through the door, the rest of the group would welcome them with their own cheers and a place at the tables they had blocked off in the back.
"What if someone posts the video?" one of the girls had said, sounding slightly alarmed at the thought. "They could find us and arrest us."
"No, they won't, it's not like we broke anything," Eva scoffed.
"Public disturbance, that's something," the girl countered.
"We weren't in the way, so what about… freedom of speech and all that? Freedom of song," Marcus declared.
"That could be a band," Chloe smirked.
She had no regrets. Yes, part of her was just as worried as the girl had been, but in that instant, she really didn't care. She'd never felt so alive, and the fact that she'd done this with her friends, and with George… Looking at him, he had that same smile she did. When the performance had ended, he'd grabbed her hand and they'd run off together, laughing. If she remembered nothing else of that entire summer, she'd remember that.
"I wish we could show it to Miss Berry," Tara pondered aloud, looking at the others, the ones from their small group, before it had become the entire group as it was now. They were sitting at the end of the table, the five of them, and when she said this, they all had a shared nod of agreement.
"Maybe we should wait though, make sure we don't get arrested or anything," Marcus said this, tossing a nod to the girl who'd brought that up; she looked scared all over again.
"Quit messing with her," Eva smacked his arm.
"Ouch, hey, don't you start," he gave her shoulder a bump, and they both laughed.
The afternoon had carried on like this, all of them sat around the tables, talking over one another. It felt almost like their workshop prom, their last hurrah, and if they wanted to make a memory on that day, Chloe knew they had succeeded. It wasn't just the performance, it was all of it, the song, and the coffee shop.
Eventually, the group dwindled away, until there were only eight left. Then two more went, leaving only Chloe, George, Tara, Eva, Marcus… and Thomas Walton. When those other two had gone, Chloe swore she saw realization hit him, that all that remained were Marcus' friends, and Marcus, and him. He didn't know that they knew he and Marcus had secretly been seeing each other, and he was now on the verge of making up an excuse to leave.
"Hey, Thomas, why don't you scoot over, stick around," Chloe called to him, as he sat a 'respectable' two empty chairs away from Marcus. He looked like he was going to argue against it.
"You heard the girl, get your butt over here," Tara agreed, and the others joined in, leaving only Marcus, who looked at them in quiet gratitude, and Thomas, who was just as silent in his deliberation. Finally, he tried to make his reply as casual as ever.
"I guess I have time," he nodded, moving to sit at Marcus' side.
THE END
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!