Disclaimer: I don't own Glee nor do I own the characters.
Author's notes: Written as part of Inside the Gleek (.com). R&R.
He still can't believe he's being forced to do this. Shit.
Seriously, he's heard of punishment and whatever, but joining Glee club? That sounds like torture and social suicide mixed into one seriously lame package. He doesn't even understand why he has to serve this weird alternative to detention anyways. Sure, he's Finn Hudson, so everyone knows that he's kind of stupid but come on. He's not that stupid to leave pot in his locker. Sure, he's smoked up a few times with Puck when they're both bored and don't feel like watching porn or playing football, but he's not dumb enough to do something like that. Besides, he usually doesn't get the pot himself. Puck is the delinquent – that's the right word, right? - and he's the good one. Puck probably stashed it in his locker for safe keeping. Asshole.
But, it could be worse, that's what he keeps reminding himself. Mr. Schuester says that he's not going to tell his mom, nor is he going to tell Quinn. Thank God he's not going to tell Quinn. She would totally flip a shit if he knew, and that would put a wrench in his plans to get into her pants. Seriously, they've been dating for four months, and she won't even let him feel her up over her clothes. Lame. He even joined the celibacy club for her, and he doesn't even know what celibacy means. He thinks it's some kind of party because celib is the beginning of celibrate. Celibrate, celibacy – see, close enough.
Anyways, he has to join this stupid Glee club now. New Directions, which, by the way, he thinks sounds like Nude Erections. How does anyone want him to be serious when the club is named something like that? It's like...impossible. Finn knows he wanted to join for like, two seconds, until Puck reminded him how lame it was, but now that he's being forced to join, he doesn't want to anymore. It was cool when it was just an idea, but now that it's a reality, he sees the gay rumors starting and his reputation being flushed down the tubes. By Puck.
But whatever, he shows up because he doesn't really have a choice. He needs the extra credit in Spanish and he really doesn't want to lose the football scholarship he didn't even know that he had. Finn Hudson is an honest guy, most of the time, and he's going to at least give this thing a try. He can't fail another class or he'll get kicked off the football team and then he'll just be a loser again and Quinn will break up with him and he doesn't want any of those things to happen.
When Mr. Schuester hands him the sheet music, he instantly regrets it. He knows how to read music because he plays the drums, but seriously – Mr. Schue wants them to do a Grease song. Olivia Newton-John is awesome and everything but that movie is like, a thousand years old. And he doesn't even know if he can really sing, you know? Like, what if he sucks? Okay, so the people in this club are all losers and stuff so no one will believe them if they say that he can't sing, but still. Freaking John Travolta played this part. He's watched this movie with his mom. He knows how important this song is to the movie and stuff.
Whatever. He's just going to do it, hopefully practice it once or twice and like, be done with it, you know? Get the heck out of the auditorium and that's it. He's the tallest one so he's standing at the opposite end of the line from his singing partner – what was her name again? Rochelle? He remembers that his last name has something to do with food. Like, it's a type of gum flavor. Rochelle Peppermint? No, that's wrong... whatever. He doesn't need to know her name. He thinks it's weird that she's like at the opposite end of the line but hey, he's not the teacher. Maybe there's like rules against this kind of thing. He really doesn't know. He's never performed in anything like this – he's never performed before, period.
He zones back in from his blissful bubble of thought as the music starts playing. He looks down at his sheet music and sings his lines. He totally knows them all by heart, but he's not gonna look like a freaking fruit and show that he knows them. When Rochelle starts singing, he's kind of glad that she's at the other end of the line. He's only half paying attention to her movements, but she's like throwing down her sheet music and pushing that wheelchair kid off the stage almost and...shit, she's pulling him and dancing with him and oh yeah, he has to remember to sing but she just looks crazy and what if she like stalks him or something now because they had to sing together?
Her voice is really good. It's the kind of voice he wouldn't mind listening to a lot. Like, one of those voices that he's pretty sure he could hear all day, just singing boring things like telephone numbers and stuff. Mercedes cuts in – thank God – and stops the mayhem before he passes out or Rochelle rips his arm off with her dancing. He remembers Mercedes' name because she looks like she could kill him if he doesn't. Maybe now he realizes he should have payed more attention to Rochelle's last name. Like, what if he has to file a restraining order against her or something? She just has this look in her eyes that reads crazy stalker to him. He doesn't know why.
But he also knows that he likes her eyes. They're really big and honest and they're so dark. Like the kind of eyes you could get lost in.
Wait, shit, no. That's not right. She's just put some kind of crazy stalker spell on him. He will resist.
They run the number again and he forgets about the stalker thoughts when she starts singing again. Instead, he focuses on her voice and how nice it is. She's really talented, he has to admit. She's the best one in that whole club, that's for sure... The others are good but Rochelle is amazing. When she opens her mouth, it couches something in him. He feels his heart beating really fast in his chest and his palms get all sweaty and he swallows a lot and he feels his temperature rising. He thinks it might be what people feel like before they have a heart attack, actually, but luckily for him, he doesn't have to worry. They go through the number twice more and then Mr. Schue tells them it's a good start.
Finn knows that that really means 'You guys are crap. Congratulations on sucking,' but everyone else seems to be really excited so he doesn't say anything. As soon as Mr. Schue tells them they can leave, he is running out of the auditorium so he's a good distance ahead of the other Glee club kids and no one will think about the fact that he was obviously hanging out with them.
He kind of liked being in Glee though. It fell good to sing like that. It made him happy. It's weird.
That night, as he's going to sleep, he realizes that her name is Rachel. Rachel Berry.
When he realizes that, he already knows that he's screwed.
He was working hard to remember her name.
That's the only reason he remembered.
And Finn Hudson doesn't work hard at anything.