Title: Power Play
Characters: Rachel, Sue, Quinn, Santana, Brittany
Disclaimer: Glee and all of it's characters are the brainchild of Ryan Murphy, and I don't own any of them.
Warnings/Spoilers: None, really. Prequel to the series that doesn't mention any canon events.
Authors Notes: No, it's not perfect, but it's a fic for a show with six episodes. It's much better, though, due to an awesome (quick!) beta by littledust . Any remaining mistakes are my own.
Summary: Cheerleader tryouts freshman year marked the first time Rachel Berry had ever been cut from anything she'd tried out for.
Cheerleader tryouts freshman year marked the first time Rachel Berry had ever been cut from anything she'd tried out for.
When she was six, her dads took her to see Bring It On in theatres, and the parts that they didn't cover her eyes and ears for made her decide then and there that when she was in high school, she would be a cheerleader.
On Rachel's first day at McKinnley High School she used the map at the front of her student handbook to find Ms Sylvester's office. Rachel had heard of the nationals-winning coach before, of course, and meeting her in person was like meeting Simon Cowell in person. Simon Cowell in a vibrantly coloured tracksuit, that is.
"Good afternoon, Ms Sylvester, my name is Rachel Berry. I noticed that on the school calender of upcoming events, cheerleader tryouts aren't listed. I was wondering when they'll be taking place."
"Last June."
Rachel blinked
"Why do you think God created summer vacation?"
Rachel was glad to see Ms. Sylvester didn't seem to actually expect an answer.
"Because he knew any cheerleading team that wants to win nationals needs at least two months of daily twelve hour practices without classes getting in the way, that's why. Now, shut the door on your way out, I can't stand the smell of the nervous children in the hallway."
So Rachel did just that.
***
The next day Quinn Fabray showed up in Rachel's English class wearing her cheerleader uniform.
Rachel's eyes narrowed as she took in the sight from the doorway to the classroom. Little Miss Sunday School who never so much as wore a tank top to school was sitting there in the short skirt as if she'd been reborn into it. Taking a deep breath, Rachel quickly walked over and sat in the empty seat next to her.
"I'm sorry, but that seat is reserved." Quinn was acting as if they'd never met.
Rachel remained in the reserved seat. "I thought that the cheerleader tryouts took place last June."
"They did. My mom's in a Bible Study with Mackenzie's mom - Mackenzie's the captain, you know - and she arranged for me to get an invitation."
"You missed Schwartz's this summer." When Quinn had failed to show up at the performing arts day camp put on by the local community theatre, Rachel had assumed she'd just gotten tired of never getting the lead. Every summer, whether the focus of the year was dance, music, or theatre, Rachel had gotten the lead, and Quinn was her understudy. Rachel had encouraged Quinn that at least she was still getting good experience, and it was better to back up a great ensemble than lead something mediocre, and that she'd be happy to rehearse together, if Quinn wanted. Quinn had usually demured away, but Rachel always assumed it was because of her homophobic upbringing. Which was the other reason Rachel assumed Quinn had stayed away from this year's production of Rent. Now, though, it appeared...
"Oh please. Like I was going to keep wasting my time with community theatre kids' camp. Now, move."
Rachel looked up to find two more girls in cheerleader uniforms. There was Brittany, who used to always cry when Rachel beat her at dance competitions, and Santana, who had never even bothered to show up for middle school talent night when she heard they'd both signed up to cover Kelly Clarkson. Both girls wore smug smiles with a tentative show of confidence that told Rachel all she needed to know. After all, she'd always been a better actress than both of them.
***
In the end, it was Brittany who passed on Rachel's ten page curriculum vitae (with head shots), but Santana who told her Ms. Sylvester could potentially be bribed with Jamba Juice smoothies. Rachel admired that in the woman - she had developed a strict morning smoothie regimen for herself when she was thirteen. Two weeks of daily Protein Berry Workouts later, and Rachel was granted fifteen minutes if she promised she would stop after that.
Rachel knew these were the most important fifteen minutes of her life to date, which was why she was disappointed when she was interrupted nine minutes into her routine.
"Get out of my sight, Berry."
Rachel opened her mouth to say something.
"No, scratch that. You'll just come back here in the spring if I don't make this clear to you. You, Rachel Berry, are something that I've rarely seen in all my years of teaching. My poor dear, you are the type of being that selective breeding needs to one day eliminate. For every bit of talent you have in you - and you have a significant amount, more's the pity - you have an equal amount of pathetic nature. The kind of pathetic nature that makes people uncomfortable when exposed to you for too long. You gave me the creeps standing in my office for five minutes when we first met."
The memory seemed to be enough to make Ms. Sylvester shudder, Rachel noted.
"Still, you might have been able to overcome that enough for me to work with you except for your other curse. You have the uncanny ability to make everyone around you fall under your influence. You're the kind of person who ends up leading a terrorist group. Or stars in an overrated reality tv series."
Rachel couldn't help but brighten momentarily at the thought.
"God, can you imagine if I let you loose amoung my Cheerios? You'd stage a coup, and then where would our chances at nationals go? So please, get out of my sight before you take my team and hijack it all the way to Sweet Valley, Robin Wilson."
Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but Ms. Sylvester only made a shushing motion with her fingers.
Rachel later brought up that derogatory gesture as justification when she explained to her dads' why she'd been given a week's worth of detention for her "outburst of disrespect" towards a teacher.
It was defeat unlike any she had ever known before, but just like every dark cloud has its silver lining, Rachel was able to find her spotlight in the middle of a lackluster performance. It was what kept her going when Brittany and Santana stopped talking to her and began giggling with Quinn. It was there in the back of her mind when, two weeks after that, she received her first slushie to the face in the hallways.
She had always suspected she was too good for the cheerleading squad. This just gave her more time to focus on her music.