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 33rd cycle. Now cycle 34!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

"Audience Testing"
Day One
Puck/Rachel, New Directions, Will, & rest of the troupe
Project No Day But Today #8 (sequel to 'Audition the Rest')

A/N: This seven day/chapter story is dedicated to the awesomeness of
the Wondertwins, Daisy and Nancy! Happy (early) Birthday!

It was easy to forget after a while, to get comfortable about things, when you weren't getting caught. It was one thing when it was a secret for two people, and then four, six, eight… When they got to thirteen, it was a bit more juggling, a bit more keeping track of movements as they tried to get together. But now there were twenty-five of them. There were the twelve of them from Glee Club, plus Blaine, and then there were their recruits, the minor roles and the understudies… The names on Rachel's list were not nearly as familiar as the others, but she was starting to know them.

From Rachel's failed Cabaret troupe, there were four: two girls, Annie Frey and Taylor Johnson, and two guys, Reid Beckett and Ben Gibson. Then from the Cheerios, there were three: there was Alicia Beckett, Reid's sister, and then Miranda Kramer and her boyfriend, Greg Ruiz. There was Elliott Thorne, from Rachel's history class, and then from Puck's former dumpster fodder, Gus Wiley and Craig Holmes. The last two, the only freshmen in the group, were 'the two Elizabeths', which for the purposes of being told apart were referred to as Lizzie Wyatt and Ellie Michaelson.

It was rocky at the beginning, with half the group knowing each other very well, and the other half not really knowing about them, or about some of each other. Inevitably the Cabaret people stayed together, so did the Cheerios, and the two Elizabeths, and the dumpster guys… and then Elliott. But time went by and it got easier… which only lead to trouble in the end. They got careless; Rachel inevitably blamed herself.

This started one afternoon, when Rachel called for a rehearsal the next day. The routine was something like a phone tree. Rachel called one, who called the next, who called the next… The last one would always be Puck, who would then take it back to Rachel. That day, heading into Glee Club, there had been a moment, when Brittany got her text – from Ellie – and she sent hers – to Gus. He had been just nearby, and when he got the message, he still startled… It was not in August Wiley's habit to get text messages from popular girls… It wasn't in his habit to get text messages from girls, period. He almost dropped his phone, and he looked right at her. She held a finger to her lips – quiet – and then went into the room, missing when Will saw the whole exchange.

There had been other slip-ups in the last few days, slip-ups that he saw… On their own, to the casual observer, maybe no one would understand that something was odd, but he did. And in the last few days, he'd seen some phones. In Spanish class, he'd confiscated Taylor Johnson's phone, and he saw the text:

Out Tonight. Tmr. 5. Audit.

It happened again, same message… but on Craig Holmes' phone. Then in the middle of Glee Club that day, he saw Puck take out his phone, check what Will assumed was a text message, and then he looked across the room to Rachel and gave her a nod, which made her smile. Will couldn't see Puck's phone, but he had a strong feeling that if he did get to look, he would see that same message he'd seen twice before. It had taken him a while to decipher it, but it had fallen into place as soon as he got that 'tmr' was 'tomorrow'… Tomorrow, at 5… auditorium… That was today now. Something was happening, and as much as he wanted to trust that it was nothing, he had to check it out.

After Glee Club, the twelve of them had spread out, some going one way, some going the other, but they were all going to the same place – the auditorium. Their recruits – and Blaine – would already be there, waiting. Blaine had been put in charge of getting the others warmed up as they waited for Glee Club to let out. The Cheerios were good for dance, but needed vocal help, meanwhile it was the other way around for the Cabaret kids. Elliott could get by with both, though he needed polishing. The dumpster guys… Gus was surprisingly light on his feet for a guy who couldn't get away from being tossed with the trash, while Craig had a voice deep in him that had knocked them off their feet. It was only the two Elizabeths who were well rounded on both sides, which got them recruited as Blaine's assistants.

With New Directions' arrival, Rachel was back in charge, with Puck as her second in command. She was in the middle of 'briefing' them on their next number when she started to hear a hush going her group. "Guys, come on, we have a lot of work to do, so we can't…" she started, but then she felt Puck's hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he nodded back. She turned, and there he was… Mr. Schuester, standing up the aisle, staring back at the crowd on the stage.

"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" he asked, not mean, not anything except… surprised… blindsided. Rachel looked back to the others… She'd brought them all here, this was her responsibility… she'd own up.

"You guys keep practicing," she looked to Blaine and the Elizabeths. "I'll speak to him."

"I'll go with you," Puck whispered to her, but she shook her head, looking back to him.

"I've got this," she insisted. But he was still looking at her. She smiled. "We'll be right back," she told the rest, and she and Puck walked off the stage, going with Will out into the hall. They could already hear everyone talking as they passed the doors. They were gone ten minutes, and when they returned the talk was still going – no one had been practicing. Most of them weren't sure exactly why they weren't telling anyone, but they knew it was important. They had agreed to trust their intrepid directors, but now it was starting to dawn on people that they could get in trouble… When Puck and Rachel returned, alone, the room fell quiet.

"What did he say? Is he going to tell Coach Sylvester?" Miranda asked.

"When would Schuester ever tell her anything?" Santana frowned. She shrugged.

"H-he's not shutting us down," Rachel declared.

"Yet," Puck added.

"He's giving us a week, seven days, including today. He wants us to show him what we've got, give him reason to back us up."

"Isn't he supposed to be all about putting on shows like this?" Greg shrugged.

"Well, he's… upset," Rachel explained, and Puck nodded along in silence. They could see doubt going from face to face. "Okay, we need to get to work," she clapped her hands together.

The practice had taken some time to kick into gear, but eventually they'd gotten things done. Still as they started leaving, no one seemed sure of themselves. Puck helped Rachel pick up props and everything else left behind. She was quiet, and he waited. "He'll say yes."

"What if he doesn't?" she looked back to him. He put his arms around her.

"Well at least something good still came out of it," he pointed out, and she smiled. "But I'm not lying. We'll do this right," he pulled back, offering his hand. She put her hand in his, and it was settled… Game on.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)