The First Meeting

"Good luck, today, Rachel," Ella said. Rachel looked over at her manager. "You're going to do great."

The butterflies in her stomach were just too much. She was so nervous for today that even the coffee in her hands couldn't calm her down. Rachel said, "Thanks, Ella. I just hope I can survive with very few battle scars."

"When are you meeting your partner?" her manager asked.

"Um... 8, I think." She looked at her phone. It was 7:15 a.m. and she had 45 minutes before she had to be to the studio to meet him. Rachel had no idea who she'd been partnered with for this but according to ABC, he was a new pro dancer this year. That didn't help her nerves at all. "I'm so nervous, though, El, I don't think I can do this."

Ella put her coffee cup down and took Rachel's hands. "Look at me. Right in the eyes. Okay? You're going to be fabulous...and you're going to win this thing. I guarantee it."

A small, unconvincing grin touched her lips. "I'm glad you're so sure." Rachel stood up. "I should get going. You never know how L.A. traffic is going to be."

Ella stood up as well. "Okay. But before you go...who are you again?" It was that time when Ella had to reenforce the confidence in Rachel that she knew was there.

"I'm Rachel Berry, a 21 year old Broadway superstar, and one of the newest contestants on Dancing with the Stars."

"There ya go, baby doll. Now knock 'em dead. Who knows, maybe your partner is cute." She winked at her and then turned to leave.

Rachel picked up her coffee and followed only a few moments later. She hoped her partner was good looking, but not necessarily cute. From what the people at ABC had told her, he was a 3 time ballroom dancing champion, having been competing since he was 7. That was impressive by many standards. For a girl like Rachel who had grown up on Broadway and never even been nominated for a Tony Award, it was grounds for complete envy. Here she was, a girl who'd been on Broadway since she was born and nothing. This guy had been competing since grade school and won three international titles.

Her cab made it through L.A. traffic easy which was odd for this time of morning, but in mid-August when kids weren't back to school yet, it really wasn't that surprising. She made it to the studio where she was meeting her partner with her gym bag thrown on her shoulder and her coffee in hand. The cameras were there waiting to follow her in for the show and she realized there was no backing down now.

The documentary cameras followed her up the stairs to the top of the studio where, when she opened the doors, she saw him. Oh my God, she thought. He was gorgeous. No older than 24 from the looks, piercing green eyes and gorgeous curly brown hair cut short but enough to make the curls pop. And he was standing there with a bouquet of roses, like she'd seen some of the other pros do for their partners during the first meeting.

"Hi," she said and put her gym bag down.

"Hello," he said as she took a few steps toward him. "I'm Blaine," he introduced himself, holding out a hand. "Blaine Anderson."

Rachel took it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rachel."

"These are for you," Blaine said holding out the roses to her.

"Thank you," she laughed as she took them and inhaled the scent.

"This is the only day I'm obligated to be nice to you," he joked. "The rest of the time I have to be a hard ass. Or so I'm told."

She laughed. "Fair enough."

"Are you ready for this?"

"Would this be a good time to lie?" she said with an awkward look on her face and it made him laugh. "I take it that's a "no"?"

"Well I'm not going to lie-this won't be an easy journey. I've been dancing for 15 years and it's taken a lot of hard work to get where I am now." Rachel did the math in her head. If he started when he was 7 and he'd been dancing for 15 years, that made him 22. "I'm going to get you that mirror ball trophy, Rachel. I promise."

Rachel nodded. "Good because I can't do this by myself." She laughed.

Blaine clapped his hands together. "Well go ahead and get your heels on and I'll show you some warm ups. Get familiar with these-you'll be doing them for the next 18 weeks." 18 weeks seemed like a lot. There were 6 weeks of rehearsal before the first show. 14 stars and their pro partners would take to the floor that week. This year they were allowing everyone to move onto week 2 before they did elimination and they would be doing doubles. Rachel, as much as she was scared to death of this, didn't want to be one of those two celebrities going home week 2. They were also doing double elimination around week 6 or 7, and then the final three would go to the finale. Only one could win that mirror ball trophy... and Rachel wanted it.

Downing the rest of her coffee, she threw the cup away in the small trash can by the door and changed out of her boots and into her heels. She knew she would be sore by the end of the day and the bruises and calluses would follow quickly thereafter.

As she got ready, Blaine sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of her. He was already ready. "So, for our first dance, we have the Cha-Cha-Cha. Our song is "Bang Bang Bang" by Selena Gomez and the Scene. Do you know it?"

Rachel smiled brightly. "Love it."

"Good," Blaine smiled back. "Well the Cha-Cha-Cha is Cuban, contrary to popular belief, and it was invented in 1953. You're a singer, so I assume you know how to read music?" When she nodded, he went on. "Well it's a dance in four fourths time. Same thing as music, only instead of using your vocal chords, you're using your feet. And it'll be one of the easiest dances you'll learn from me."

"What's your favorite dance?" she asked, curiously.

"The rumba," he answered honestly. "It's always been my favorite. I've only been performing it for 4 years because it's a very intimate dance and they don't take too kindly to children learning it." He laughed a little. "But it's a good dance."

She had no idea what the rumba was but she would take his word that it was an intimate dance. "Nice."

Blaine stood up and held out his hand once she was finished putting her heels on. Rachel took it and he helped her up. "So I'm just going to play the song so you can re-familiarize yourself with it and kind of get a feel for the style. Then I'm going to show you some basic Cha-Cha-Cha moves." She nodded. "Are you ready for this?"

"No," she laughed, shaking her head multiple times.

"Don't worry. I've got your back."