Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters, If I did it would be a lot different then what it is right now.
Thank you for reading and please review.
EllaMariee.
Notes; Just a few things you need to know. This is AU, well not complete there will be some elements from glee but they will be slightly changed. Rachel Berry goes to Carmel High and is in Vocal Adrenaline. Jesse goes to McKinley High, and is in New directions. Rachel knows her mum is Shelby. Also their personalities aren't exactly the same as they are in Glee. Enjoy.
Chapter one.
Quote of the day:-
"Where words fails, Music speaks." - Hans Christian Andersen.
Jesse, Puck and Finn walked silently into Carmel High's auditorium. Will Schuester, the coach of New Directions had requested that they went to check out the competition. Their biggest rival was Carmel High School's choir Vocal Adrenaline, the three-time national show choir champions. Vocal Adrenaline were currently stretching on stage getting ready for their rehearsal. A ringing erupted into the room.
"Guys, I need to take this, keep stretching!" Shelby got up from her seat and headed out of the auditorium, the three boys sunk down lower in their chairs at the back of the room as Shelby passed them.
"That was close" Finn whispered as they regained their posture.
"Shh, they can't know that we are here" Jesse whispered back to him to silence him. Rachel was kneeling down fastening the strap on her heels when she saw them. Huddle in the back of the room whispering to each other. She recognised them straight away as the three male leads of New directions. What on earth were they doing here?
"Can we help you boys? Come to see what a real Show choir looks like?" Rachel's voice boomed as she spotted the three familiar boys rising from there sunken position in the seats at the back. Her whole posture reeked confidence. Her Team mates standing behind her for support as soon as they realised what was going on. They were all in costume, the boys wearing all black with pink high tops and the girls wearing black dresses with a thin pink ribbon around their waist accompanied with black leggings and heels. Before either of the boys could reply everyone turned their backs on them getting into position. Placing their hands on the back of their heads as they waited for the music to begin. Rachel snapped her fingers and the guitarist started strumming on his guitar. Rachel turned abruptly as she started belting out the first set of words, a hand snaked from behind her back and ran up her body. The girls started moving their hips side to side in a fast beat in rhythm with the music.
"Living easy
Living free
Season ticket on a one way ride
Asking nothing
Leave me be
Taken everything in my stride
Don't need reason
Don't need rhyme
Ain't nothin' I would rather do
Going down
party town
My friends are gonna be there too"
Rachel pointed her fingers in two different directions and then everyone started singing to the next part of the song, Rachel began joining in on the dance moves, strutting around stage.
"I'm on a highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell"
"No stop signs
Speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel
Gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me 'round
Hey Satan
Paid my dues
Playin' in a rockin' band
Hey momma
Look at me
I'm on my way to the Promised Land, wooh"
Rachel belted out the last word.
"I'm on the highway to hell
(I'm on the highway)
Highway to hell
(I'm on the highway to hell)
I'm on the highway to hell
(I'm on it, I'm on it)
Highway to hell"
Girls were being thrown around all over the place in what assembled an amazing dance routine, thrusting and jerking their bodies at the right times. Rachel was pulled flush against her dance partner as she started belting out the next set of lyrics.
"Mmm, don't stop me
Eh,Eh,Eh"
"I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to
Hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
Highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell"
Rachel was quickly spun out to the centre where she could belt out the last sentence of the song.
"Don't stop me, ohh, yeahh"
Jesse, Puck and Finn were sitting there in utter shock. They knew that Vocal Adrenaline were good but they didn't know they were this good.
"Eat your heart out boys" Rachel grinned as the rest of her team mates left the stage and wondered backstage.
"Well so much for not getting noticed" Puck stated.
"Can I help you boys?" All three of them jumped as they looked to their right and saw a slightly older version of Rachel Berry, who was still standing on stage, looking at them. She looked at them expectantly, waiting for a reply.
"Sorry, we shouldn't be here" Finn fumbled as he stood up, he was clearly taller then Miss. Corcoran, but she was very intimidating.
"No you shouldn't, this is a closed rehearsal"
"We'll be on our way then" Puck interjected as both him and Jesse rose from their seats.
"Rachel, baby It's solo time!" She screamed with a clap of her hands from her position at the back of the auditorium.
/
"I'm so depressed now, they were amazing, we are never going to be able to beat that at regionals"
"We can and we will" Jesse said as he turned to be face to face with Finn. "It's not over yet, we are going to give it our best and win!" They both nodded at him and got into his black range rover.
"You do realise that if we even stand a chance of winning against them that we need to teach Finn how to dance"
"I can dance!"
"Dude my bowels have better moves then you" Jesse smirked at Puck's comment.
"He is right, we need to psych them out, we need to come up with our own amazing performance." They fell into silence for a few minutes.
"So, that Berry girl was kinda hot" Puck stated. Jesse Silently agreed to this but did not express his thoughts.
/
The atmosphere in the room was tense. Mr. Schuester was pacing backwards and forwards in front of his students in the choir room. He seemed deep in thought.
"I think we need to start working on our set list"
"We've been telling you that for the pass month" Quinn injected as she placed her hands on her slightly swollen stomach.
"We could have been ready to win right now, but instead you've been giving us assignment after assignment to work on" Kurt spoke up.
"We still have plenty of time to change this around in our favour." Mr Schuester tried to reassure them.
"First things first, we need to come up with a number that will show Vocal Adrenaline that we have what it takes to win, you know psych them out right before the competition."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? We'd be wasting more time. We need the time we have to practice" Jesse gave him a sceptical look.
"Sorry, But this is one thing that we have to do. If we want to stand a chance at winning then we need to show others that we can do it and that we need to be respected. Jesse I need you to somehow get in contact with Shelby or any one from Vocal Adrenaline and let them know that we will be putting on a performance. This Friday." Jesse nodded at the command. "Brittany I want you to work on choreography. Puck, Finn and Mercedes I want you to work on the song choice"
"Mr Schu what's choreography?" Brittany asked with a raise hand. Santana turned to her with a raised eyebrow, as did most of the others in the room.
"Dancing Britt. You are working on the dancing part of things" Brittany nodded in understanding.
"Kurt you can work on costumes" Kurt clapped his hands to show he was happy with the task that was given to him.
"What about the rest of us?" Artie asked.
"Just help out where you can" The others furrowed their eyebrows in disappointment. Everyone started sectioning off in groups discussing the new events that are to occur.
/
Rachel took in a ragged breath and straightened her black dress. She ran a hand through her locks and swept her bangs to the side self-conscientiously. She had just manage to escape from her gruesome rehearsal and was now making her way outside to get some fresh air. She stood against the backstage door examining the parking lot, making sure each car was in check, after her inspection was done she placed her hands on her knees and relaxed, controlling her breathing. She heard someone vomiting from her left side, she turned and was shocked at what she saw. Andrea Cohen, her close friend and team mate was violently vomiting just a mere foot from the dustbins.
"Andrea? Are you alright?" She tentatively stepped closer to her, not sure of what she should do to help the poor girl out. Andrea looked up and her eyes widen when she recognised that she had been caught.
"I'm fine, really, I just wasn't feeling so good." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before quickly passing Rachel and entering back through the backstage doors. A few minutes later the doors burst open again and out came Giselle.
"Rachel, Shelby wants you back in now, she wants us to start practising again." And back to hell I go. Rachel thought. After a few more gruelling hours of rehearsals they were dismissed.
"Rachel, Do you need a lift home?" Shelby asked as she started packing her notes into her handbag and putting on her sunglasses.
"No, I'm going to head down to the music store or something, pick out songs that we could perhaps use for regionals. " Shelby simply nodded at her before leaving the auditorium.
/
Rachel was not familiar with the music store that she had just entered, she normally went to the one down town, but she had wanted to get as far away from home as possible and as far away from her mother as possible. She had been feeling different in herself in the past few days, even though her life was exactly the same as it had been before, it was like something inside her clicked, she was seeing everything in a different light. She was having trouble explaining it, but it was like she suddenly understood what it was like to be in her team mates shoes. Looking at the music book she had lifted blindly flipping through the pages as she made her way over to a free table and placed herself and the book down.
"Just the person I was looking for." She looked up when she heard the voice and noticed him, she looked around to make sure it was her that he was talking to before she addressed him.
"Excuse me?" She recognised him as the Green-eyed-curly-brown-haired boy that had been spying on her earlier on in the day.
"Just came to give you a message"
"And how did you know I would be here?"
"I didn't, I just got out of my car to come in myself when I saw you walk in"
"So just a coincidence then. What was that message you had for me?"
"Oh it's not just for you, it's for your whole team. You need to be in McKinley's auditorium, Friday, 4pm sharp, you're in for a little treat"
"And if we don't turn up?"
"Your loss" He winked at her, leaving her with her thoughts as he made his way down another aisle to locate some of his favourite music books. Rachel pulled out her cell phone to text all of her team mates and Shelby to let them know of the news that she had just received. She flipped her phone shut quickly and scanned the room, trying to locate the boy that she just had little converse with. Deciding that he had left she quickly glanced back down to her book and turned the page. The title of the song catching her eye, she smiled before heading over to the cashier to check out. She was walking back to the bus stop when she was bombarded with replies from all her team mates. Her last one from her mother demanding that she return home immediately so that they could discuss the news. Best to ignore it.
/
Friday came around the corner quite quickly, New Directions were waiting in a small room backstage in the auditorium, waiting for Mr. Schuester to tell them that Vocal Adrenaline had arrived.
"Why are we even sitting here, if our so-called captain doesn't even bother showing up?" Chris whispered to Giselle as they sat in the front row of the auditorium with the rest of Vocal Adrenaline. She merely shrugged at him as she noticed the lights dim and someone walked to the centre of the stage, the spot light following his every move. The boys followed shortly after him standing in a line on the stage, on either side of their lead with their heads down. The girls then copied their steps and stood with their backs against their respected dance partner's front, their heads face forward. Their lead vocalist's eyes scanned the people that were seated in front of him in search of someone in particular. He was disappointed when he couldn't find the person he was looking for before bowing his head and waiting for the music behind him to start.
"Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
whoaaaa oooh"
"She loves to laugh, she loves to sing
she does everything
she loves to move, she loves to groove
she loves lovin' things"
"It won't be long yeah till you're alone
When your lover (looove)
Oh he hasn't come home
'Cause he's lovin (lovin) ooh he's touchin' (touchin)
he's squeezin' another (another)"
Their dancing was in sync, the girls touching the boys inappropriately when certain lyrics were sung.
"Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
(he said)
Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
ooooooh"
"na na-na na naaa"
"I was alone I never knew
What good love could do
then we touched then we sang
about the lovely things
'Cause he's lovin (lovin) ooh he's touchin' (touchin)
he's squeezin' another"
The song was at it's climax when the doors burst open and Rachel stormed down the aisle in a rush, evidently she had been crying because her eyes were puffy and a shade of red, she silently slummed down into a seat a few rows behind her team mates as she focused her eyes on the competition.
"Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
(he said)
Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
ooooooh"
"na na-na na naaa"
(Guitar solo)
"Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it
(he said)
Any way you want it
That's the way you need it
Anyway you want it"
"na na-na na naaa
na na-na na naaa"
Each member of New Directions had smiles plastered on their faces as the song ended, shocked faces were their answer to how good they was. One stood up clapping her hands, making her presence known.
"Congratulations, You have deemed yourself a worthy competition for regionals." Rachel picked up her discarded handbag and turned to make a exit.
"Rachel, Where have you been?" Giselle also rose from her seat, facing her captain.
"I haven't got time for this Giselle" Was her only reply as she carried on walking out of the auditorium, Jesse swore that he saw her raise her hand to wipe away tears that had formed in her eyes, he also caught her glancing momentarily at her phone that was in her hand before he saw her belt out of the double doors and out of his sight.
"See you punks at regionals!" Puck shouted at the rest of the team as they themselves followed their captain in suit.
/
Quinn drops her pen, letting it lie in the AP chemistry textbook in front of her, letting a sigh escape her lips. She looks to her left and notices that Jesse is furiously jotting down notes in his notebook, she then looked to her right and noticed Santana bobbing her head lightly to the beat of the music that is blaring from her ipod while at the same time twisting a piece of chewing gum between her teeth and fingers, clearly abandoning her time for studying.
"San, What are you even doing here if you're not going to bother studying" She removed one of her headphones as she noticed Quinn's lips moving but not catching what she said, she gave her a look that said 'what?' to which Quinn repeated her question.
"It's either this or Sue is going to make me run 25 laps around the football pitch" Quinn started making a noise that resembled a gagging sound, this caused both set of eyes to land on her.
"Morning sickness is starting to kick in" They both nodded their heads at her before resuming their activities.
"Why will Sue make you run 25 laps?" Jesse questioned without bothering to remove his eyes from his note book.
"Because she's Sue Sylvester and She said we need to be physically prepared for nationals or something. I envy you sometimes Quinn."
"Are you serious? How can you envy me, I'm pregnant"
"Oh, not that part, that part sucks. I envy the fact that you managed to escape Sue Sylvester's wrath"
"I actually can't wait to pop this thing out and get back into my uniform"
"Charming" Jesse said referring to Quinn's statement.
"So what about that performance on Friday then? It was something wasn't it?"
"Did you see their faces? It was priceless!" Both girls were now giggling with each other, becoming overly excited.
"We are so going to crush Vocal Adrenaline at regionals!"
"I wonder what was up with that Berry girl though." Trust Jesse to ruin the mood.
"Who cares, she was probably just being overly dramatic about something that wasn't even important to start with"
"Maybe" Jesse muttered before gathering his notes and rising from his chair.
"Where are you going?" Quinn frowned at him.
"I have a lesson in 10 minutes, so I'm going to get my books from my locker and head to class"
"I'll join you, I need to get something from my locker anyway"
"Guys, where you going?"
"Bye Santana" They both left her there listening to her music.
/
"And from the top again!" Shelby screamed from her position in the middle of the auditorium. A series of collective groans and eye-rolling was emitted from the group of teens on stage. Rachel pursed her lips and turned to look at the faces of her team mates, they all looked in pain and they all looked exhausted. A few people were holding onto each other as they started to catch their breath. Rachel started out hesitantly, which was a first for her because she never normally got nervous.
"Mama, We need a break, we've been rehearsing for four hours straight, cut us some slack, Don't you think we have regionals in the bag already?"
"What have I told you before Rachel, Call me Shelby!" Shelby didn't even throw Rachel a glance as she clapped her hands yet again to signal for everyone to get into position. Rachel threw her head back with an outward groan. Rachel looked around the room frantically watching as everyone started to do as they was told.
"I take that as a no" Rachel mumbled as she herself got into position. Rachel gave her mother one last pleading look, trying to convince her to let them off for at least a few minutes.
"Don't look at me like that Rachel, You of all people know that I'm a perfectionist"
"Yes I know that, But for once I think you're taking it a bit too far, If we carry on any more we're going to die!"
"Stop being so dramatic"
"I learn from only the best, right, you of all people should know that" Lucky enough Shelby's phone went off signalling that she had a call, so she could not throw a comment to resort in Rachel's direction. Everyone started to rush off stage knowing that this is possibly the only chance they would get at a break.
How was that for a first chapter? I wasn't sure if I should end it there or give you a bit more, But I decided that this would be good enough for now. Let me know what you think, Reviews are much appreciated. The next chapter will be up shortly.