Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thanks so, so much for reading this story. I'm really excited about It myself. I am going to try to post these few chapters up really close, so keep your eyes out for frequent updates in the next few days. The chapters will be short for this story, but the whole story will be quite lengthy. I hope you enjoy. Review and let me know!
Disclaimer: I really wish some of the writers here also wrote for Glee.
They had made it Nationals. New Directions had made it to Nationals!
It was a thrill unlike any of the other students had felt before. Mr. Schuester could not have been more proud.
Once walking off the plane and through LaGuardia airport; the Lot was dumbstruck as the passed the automatic doors and out to the driveway. The group could see the hustle and bustle of the Grand Central Expressway and realized they weren't in Ohio anymore.
Mr. Schuester checked everyone and the kids waited awkwardly in the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn near Herald Square with Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell, who was getting twitchier by the second. Walking up to them, and handing out their key cards, everyone groaned in disappointment when the rooms were announced to be same-gender only.
"Really Mr. Schue, I don't understand why that's necessary. It's well-assumed that most of us are going to exchange keys and wind up having sex anyway," Santana snarked as the other frowned in agreement.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that!" Will says sarcastically. "But I do have good news, since the room I reserved for rehearsals will not be ready till 4, so we have a little time to relax. So the afternoon is all your own." The elated teens cheered as they gathered their luggage and headed to the elevators. "Meet me at the Renaissance Room down the hall at 4pm sharp!" the teacher called out, the students pretending not to listen.
"Look Will, I didn't want to say anything in front of the kids, but we're really not supposed to let them out in the city alone. If something happens, it will be a major insurance liability. That's why I insisted to come on this trip…to the grossest place on the plant…" Feeling something brush by her, Emma screams, "OH, DEAR GOD what was that!" before Will can even respond to her apprehension.
"Emma, it's going to be fine. They're not little kids, they are all young adults and whatever mistakes they make, they'll make with or without me here. Plus, what Figgins doesn't know won't hurt him," Will replied with a wink, causing Emma to smirk.
"Fine. I guess you have a point," she conceded. "I'm going to go shower because I'm getting antsy with bacteria," the redhead remarks, quickly turning from side to side looking for germy grossness.
"Here's your room key," Will states, handing her the key card.
"Thanks," she says walking off, roller suitcase in tow.
Will waits for a moment before following her, looking out to the first floor view of a garage door and a convenience store. He couldn't be more excited that they made it here.
The whole City was jaw-dropping. All the kids came down to meet and talked about the views from their rooms. They had never seen anything like it. Well…except for Rachel.
"But it's different," she explains as she walks into the lobby. "Sharing this with you guys…being away from my dads…having this level of freedom…its different. And it's awesome." All the kids had gotten settled (meaning used the bathroom) and were meeting for some sightseeing.
"Speaking of awesome," Puck swaggers, grabbing Lauren's waist with his right arm, drawing him closer to her, "Who's ready to take this town down, Puckasaurus style?"
"Wow…" Quinn mummers sarcastically, turning her head to the side, rolling her gold cross in her fingers.
"Fine. Don't come. We're off," Puck grunts, walking out, his left hand on Lauren's back, Artie, Tina, Mike, and Brittany in tow.
Watching the group walk off, Quinn realizes that it probably wasn't the best idea to piss them off. They were her safety zone here. She looks over to Finn. Things between them have been weird since they tried dating again and they realized they didn't really feel what they should when starting a new relationship. Next Quinn looks over to Sam. Things between her and Sam were even weirder and they were hardly speaking anymore. Santana is bitching at him about something highly insignificant, anyway. Most likely leading to sloppy, drunken, hysterically crying make-out session.
That only left one person... Rachel.
"Hey, girlfriend," Quinn gushed to a confused Rachel. Quinn hooked her arm around Rachel's. "You ready to go see what Manhattan as to offer?"
"Uh…" Rachel hesitates as she looks over to Finn. He gives her a reassuring grin. "Okay. Let's go!"
"Fabulous!" Quinn beams as they head out the door, conquering the City.
Grimacing at Santana ranting at Sam – feeling bad for the poor bastard – Finn decides to head out on his own. Kurt gave him a pocket street map and subway map before he left, and Finn had a few bucks in his pocket. He figured he would try to have The Best Day Ever! Like Joey did when the Friends went to London.
And that's exactly what he had. With the little time allotted. After discovering Gray's Papaya and their amazing 2 hot dogs for $1 (he had four!) and the orange concoction drink they make, Finn headed downtown. He walked around Chelsea and got souvenirs for his mom and Burt. He found this amazing children's bookstore that he thought was the same store from that Tom Hanks movie. You know, the one with AIM? Anyway after listening to some hot college chick recite half of one of those Lemony Snicket books, Finn kept walking down and found "The Meatpacking District" and when he texted Kurt to ask why all the buildings looked like factories and had fancy expensive stores…Kurt just texted back with exclamation points. And the occasional number 1.
Looking at the time, Finn started to walk back uptown on 7th Ave., right past The Fashion Institute of Technology. Knowing that FIT was Kurt's dream school, Finn scoped out the small campus for a second and grabbed some brochures from the main lobby. The lobby was very sparse and empty and whole city block seemed to be quieter than most.
"Are you looking to transfer?" a pretty blond woman asked. Looking up and down at Finn's red zip up sweatshirt, jeans, and Converse.
"Oh, no I'm still in high school. My bother wants to go here," Finn politely explained.
"Is he in high school, too?" the lady sweetly questioned.
"Um, yeah, we're step brothers actually. We're the same age." Finn was apprehensive and sheepish as he spoke to the woman. Unsure why she cared.
"Oh, well he should take Saturday Live courses! Or well, Summer Live since the Spring semester is almost done. I'm Meghan Casey. I run the High School programs at FIT," Alison explained, calming several of Finn's nerves.
"Oh, hi," Finn replies; shaking Meghan's hand. "I'm Finn. Do you have any information on these programs? My bother would be really interested."
"Yes, here are some brochures, but registration has already begun, and the classes are on a first-come, first-serve basis," Meghan said matter-of-factly, hading Finn some literature.
"Okay. I will let him know. Thanks," Finn was grateful for meeting such a lovely woman.
"You're welcome," she cheerfully replied. Before turning to leave, she asked, "You're not from around here, are you?"
"No," Finn answered. "I'm from Ohio. I'm visiting with a school trip."
Megan smiled at Finn's innocent nature. "Okay. Well tell your brother that he needs to find room and board."
"Okay," Finn called out as Megan began to walk away. "Thanks again!"
She was already gone when Finn finished speaking, like a fictional Greek goddess advancing the plot.
When the group gathered later that evening in the Renaissance Room for rehearsal before dinner, everyone gushed about their day gallivanting around. Well, everyone except Sam and Santana who fucked inside Santana's room instead.
Hearing this news, Santana's roommate, Mercedes, felt the need to chime in. "Yeah, please keep anything you brought with you or purchase here on your side of the room, Santana. Thanks."
"Fine, but that means you can't touch my alcohol," Santana snaps back.
"I have my own."
"Speaking of which, are we drinking tonight?" Rachel questions, eyes gleaming until she sees's Mr. Schuester sauntering over to meeting room he reserved for New Directions.
"We'll talk later," Puck whispers, causing Rachel to smirk, as Will gets closer.
"But I thought we all signed pledges not to drink…" Brittany dimwitly muses. Mr. Schue mere feet away.
"Baby, shut up…" Artie says to Brit; grinding his teeth.
"Hey guys. You have fun this afternoon exploring New York City?" Mr. Schuester cheerfully asks with lots of energy!
"YES!" The Lot gladly replies back.
"Good. Because the next 24 hours of your life are going to be hell," Will cackles. His face turning sour. "Into position!" he commands a as glee club grudgingly walks into their places.
They rehearsed for hours. Sore and laggard, the students congregated in Puckerman's room with takeout from down the street. The food remained untouched as the group was too tired to eat.
"I think just the smell of alcohol may make me vomit," Tina comments, her body resting on Mike, who holding them up against the wall.
"Who said anything about alcohol?" Puck rhetorically asks. "I think we need something else to calm us down…"
Several eyebrows rose as Puck digs into his shopping bag and univalves the medium size bong he purchased this afternoon, placing it on the bed as the student's eyes start to sparkle; like kids in a candy store.
"Ah, ha! YES!" Mike cheers as he crawls over to the blue fiberglass tube.
"I now know why Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song about Bleaker Street," Puck says as he tosses a lighter and some envelops of 'Chronic Lady' marijuana on the bed as well. New Directions has formed a makeshift circle, students lounging on the two double beds or some extra chairs.
Seeing the small manila packages, Finn immediately grabs one to take a closer look. "Where did you get this?" he frantically questions Puck; finally trying to find the answers to the questions that have plagued his glee club existence since inception.
"Mr. Ryerson. He's the 'Chronic Lady'. Which explains a lot," Puck replies, filling up the pipe. "He deals to all the teachers."
"What?" Finn cries out his nostrils flaring. "Oh, he's so gonna pay for this," Finn mumbles to himself as the percolating, popping-sound of the smoking device fills the quiet.
The students all start taking hits as the bong gets passed around. It falls upon Rachel and she hesitates. "I don't think I should," Rachel shutters, terrified of the extra large pipe.
"It's not surprising that you don't have the balls to take a hit," Santana grips, getting under Rachel's skin.
Enraged by the Latina's snarky comment, Rachel firmly grasps the tube and flicks the lighter; inhaling.
A few moments later, a cloud of smoke has filled the small hotel room. Santana, Quinn, and Brittany are laughing loudly.
"No more for the Cheerleaders, okay?" Sam remarks before Rachel cackles loudly. "Or the Reindeer Sweater…" he finishes.
"Hey guys, did you know that there's a car that runs on water?" Puck slowly mutters before coughing.
"So it's a boat?" Finn questions.
"Nah man, it's got a fiberglass air-cooled engine and it runs on water, man!"
"So, it is a boat!" Finn repeats.
"Its like we never run out of stuff to talk about here…" Artie muses before all the students fall into another laughing fit; their thoughts clouded.
After the high left the kids of McKinley High well rested, they next 18 hours were nothing but rehearsal. In a very small hotel conference room with no windows. And very little air circulating. But they were going to be perfect. They had to be perfect. And they had to win. If they didn't…they might as well constantly squirt slushy into their own eyes with water pistols.
As the opening chords of the Broadway ballad strummed through the theater, Rachel listened for her cue and started to softly sing the first verse; entering from the far left of the stage. He voice booming with the acoustics of the hall.
Finn joined her in the second verse. He started to sing from his seat in the middle of the far right section. Then he rose and slowly started to walk down the aisle to the stage. Inching himself closer with every verse of the bittersweet song.
It was as though they were singing the song to each other - from two different worlds. The song ended with Finn standing in front of the stage, his head facing down, his face was turned away from Rachel. Rachel was back on the left side of the sage. Her back was turned to Finn; head down as well.
Finn and Rachel sang beautifully. Their duet, full of angst and emotion, was heartbreaking and gripping. It guaranteed them at least a top-3 finish and that was just the start of their performance.
New Directions were stunning through the rest of their songs. They had ambition and heart. They sang a fabulous and energetic mash-up and capped off their performance classic rock standard that received a standing ovation. Finn, Puck, Artie, and Sam even got to play the instruments they've studied while singing their hearts out.
It was at that moment when they realized that it didn't matter if they won or lost. They had accomplished their goal of getting to Nationals. They had accomplished something and got the hell out of Lima. They had futures. All of them. And no matter where those futures were going to take them – it was still a safe bet to say that now none of them were going to be "Lima Losers."
Rising up to humbly clap as Jesse St. James clapped slowly next to him, Duncan Stewart leaned over to his younger, wavy-haired companion and asked, "Do you know who that tall kid was playing the drums and singing at the same time was?"
Clenching his jaw, Jesse didn't want to lie to the man who was sealing his fate. "Finn," Jesse replied. "His name is Finn Hudson."
"Good to know," Duncan remarked before taking his seat for the next group to start.
New Directions stood in the green room; all of them nervously pacing around in their own little section of space. There was nothing else to worry about, but were still all on edge. They wanted this, damn it! They had worked hard for it and they deserved it. The excitement of performing faded off quickly as the possibility of coming home empty-handed settled in.
Thankfully...that was not the case. They came in third! It wasn't first or second, but the thrill of winning something was still a glorious feeling. Plus at Nationals, even the third-place trophy was still big and shiny. Mainly because there were several more than three teams. Completely worthy of being displayed in a glass case.
The thrill of even placing was unlike any of the students had ever felt. They were cheering as the lot ran down the sun-lit corridor out onto the street. Finn was the caboose, a few paces behind the others.
"Finn!" He hears a familiar voice call out from his left. When he turns and sees Jesse St. James of all people; Finn was surprised to say the least.
"Jesse?" Finn asks confused and suspicious. The others had all left the building.
"Hey, Finn - I would like for you to meet someone. Finn this is Duncan Stewart. He's a Broadway casting director. He currently casting a workshop that—"
"A workshop performance that you might be perfect for," Duncan interjects, cutting Jesse off. Knowing this may seem sketchy, although quite real. "The show is being directed by Ethan Hawke. You know who that is right?"
"Was that the sidekick in Training Day?"
"Yes." Jesse grumbles.
"Well, anyway, its coming of age tale about four friends, one of whom gets killed, and the other three are set to pick up the pieces. It's very modern and progressive in the vein of American Idiot, Spring Awakening, & Rent. But with more humor like Avenue Q."
"Um...okay..." Finn only slightly understood half of what Duncan explained; summoning back to every conversation he ever had with Rachel to comprehend the older man's description. But nonetheless it seemed cool and good. Too good.
"So, are you in? We're holding auditions tomorrow."
"Uh...I'm not sure..." Finn was rightfully skeptical. Things this great don't happen to him. There had to be some sort of a catch.
Seeing Finn's apprehension, and subsequently Duncan's displeased face, Jesse took Finn aside to talk some sense in him.
A few feet away, Jesse started to plead his and Duncan's case. "Look Finn, I know this seems strange, but this is the real deal. This guy is legit and so is opportunity. Finn this could be your chance. I know you wouldn't be so involved in glee and sports and such if you wanted to be destined for Lima forever. I know you don't want to end up like them. Or worse...Schuester."
Jesse was intense when he was speaking. Staring daggers into Finn's eyes. It was kinda freaking Finn out. What was worse was how exact Jesse was in his analysis of Finn. Finn sighed. Mildly defeated. Mildly excited.
To top off his point, Jesse added, "Look, I know our past history does give much reason to believe me, but this is genuine. I promise."
Looking over to Mr. Stewart, the older man looked annoyed, like he was wondering why he was even wasting his time with some kid who wouldn't even show up. Finn wanted to prove him wrong. He wanted to prove himself wrong.
Finn walked over to Duncan and extended his hand. The grip of the older mad was strong and confidant. "I'm in," Finn replied with his cocky grin, turning his head to Jesse on the other side of the hall. "What time do I need to be there?" Finn asked; his eye contact back on Duncan.
"Early. 7am sharp. I have a lot of auditions tomorrow." The casting director went into his pocket and gave Finn his card. "Here's the address of my office."
"Okay, thanks,"
"Call and ask for Margie. Tell her you want the sides for Charlie."
"Okay." Finn repeated. He had no idea what 'sides' were. Or who 'Charlie' was.
"Excited to see you tomorrow," were Duncan's last words as he exited with Jesse back down the hallway from where they entered.
As Finn walked towards the exit to the street, the sun still luminous against the windows, his phone vibrates in his pocket. Its Puck: Where the fuck where did you go? The girls already snagged some crappy wine coolers.
Noticing Finn was missing when the others passed through the turnstiles to wait for the R, Rachel walked up the stairs before swiping her Metro Card to make sure Finn wasn't lost in the quarter-block walk. That boy could get misplaced walking in a circle.
Rachel had been researching Broadway casting directors to prepare for her big break since she was 12. When she saw Duncan Stewart shaking Finn's hand, a knot formed in her stomach. She recognized him right away. He's the casting director famous for getting minorly-popular starlets, who were relevant 3-5 years prior, to have guest appearances in Chicago.
When she saw Jesse's satisfied smile, she immediately bolted back down the block to join the others. They didn't even notice she left. She was nervous. She was angry. She was envious. She was still excited from their moment in the sun. She had no idea how to feel. Did Rachel's big "discovered" moment just happen to Finn?
A/N: So, should I continue? Has the story sparked anyone interest? Can you guess what is going to happen next? Please review and let me know what you're thinking! Feedback is SO helpful! Thanks for reading!