He was only a Freshman when he want to Nationals for the first time. He was doing a duet with a junior, Alexis, for part of Without You. Its was crazy for him. He was the first freshman in Vocal Adrenaline to get a small solo at Nationals.
He remembers the day very well.
It started out with him being shaken awake by Shelby at 6:00 on a warm July morning. "Up, Jesse! We have Nationals today!" He barely remembers Shelby doing the same to his roommates, Dylan and Paul.
After a brief breakfast at the hotel, Nationals started.
He wasn't nervous until the glee club from New York performed. They were an amazing group called Lovin', Touchin', Shakin'. They decided to be a cliche and perform Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'. They freaked Jesse out some much, he literally went to the boys bathroom and puked his guts out.
When he finished one of the seniors, Adam, came up to him. "Jesse, just relax. If your nervous like that you won't do well. And if you don't do well, Coach will kill you; and I will have to give you a swirly to get your head straight so you can replace me."
That defiantly got his head straight. As he feared for his life, he sang, "Without you, the eyes gaze, the legs walk, the lungs breathe,"; "The mind churns,"; and "The heart yearns," perfectly.
Jesse next Nationals experience was much worse than his first.
Instead of waking up to Shelby shaking him, he found a thermometer in his mouth. "Dammit, one-hundred and three point one. St. James, you had to get sick on the day of Nationals, didn't you?"
"Coach, what's going on?" he asked, his voice nasal from a stuffy nose.
"You're feverish, St. James. Go back to sleep and I'm coming back to get you when the group from Michigan finishes. So be in your costume by about 1:30 and; then, we're leaving for Nationals. Take these decongestants every two hours and this fever reliever every three. Go to sleep. Any thing else hurt?"
"My stomach keeps turning," He manages until his voice cracks.
"Okay, be ready by 1:30 ;and I'll be up here."
Jesse slept until one, only waking up to take his medicine and to vomit. When he's all set in his costume, Shelby comes up into his hotel room. His nose is clear again and, his voice is has stopped craking every word. He still has a fever of 102, but it isn't really affecting him.
But after each number he still has to run off stage and drink some Sierra Mist to keep himself from throwing up again.
Jesse's third Nationals was his favorite. It was the first year he had a true solo, Santa Fe from Rent. The performance was flawless with the help of his friends TJ and Carson.
That performance was won with the help of a full group number and and solo from a sophomore, Andrea Cohen.
Jesse's most heartfelt was definatly his final Nationals. As a new rule they were required to redo a song they had done at either Sectionals or Regionals. Shelby had decied to redo Bohemian Rhapsody. Her main reason was so that her baby could hear the song she was born to 2 months earlier.
Jesse gave it all. He would remember this perfomance the rest of his life, and not just because it was his last. He always remebered it because all six of his brothers and sisters (Roger, Aaron, Vanessa, Chelsea, Holly, and Lily) saw him perform for the first time.
At only five, Holly and Lily don't know they shouldn't go on stage after the performance. In their t-shirts and skirts, they walk up and hug him. Various aww's come from the audience when he picks Holly and Lily up to better hug the, while groans of embrassment come from Roger, Aaron, Vanessa, and Chelsea.
Four years of sucess and now he's off to UCLA. He looks back at the videos; and he remembers why he's here, to bring more honor to Vocal Adrenaline's name. One day he'll write about these days in his auto-biography. But until them he just enjoys his Nationals wins.