"And five, six, seven, eight!" The dance teacher yelled and peered her eyes like a hawk at the small brunette in the front of the room. Rachel Berry. The whole NYADA crew knew that this girl had some pipes on her, she was going to make it big one day but she had some trouble with easy steps that Lisa Tribbani could do it better than Mrs. Doherty herself. "Class is dismissed! Rachel, can I see you for a minute?" All of the class's heads turned to the short brunette in her kitty cat unitard, who looked embarrassed and upset, but emerged to the tall blonde anyway. "Look I'm very sorry I can't get these steps right, I just have a lot on my mind and dancing isn't my best quality!" "Rachel, look, I graduated from NYADA at the top of my class. I danced at Carniage Hall and every place you can think of! You need to work much harder, Rachel. I know you can do it." Rachel Berry nodded, taking mental notes and walked out of the room.
Rachel looked at her roommate who was indulging herself into an organic chocolate chip muffin but then went back to her googling "Jane Doherty". I've been a dancer since I could walk; I won my first dance competition when I was six months old! She's telling me I can't dance; Rachel thought to herself and scoffed. She wasn't self-absorbed, she wasn't weird, and she was just another NYADA student. Everyone thought that they were better than everyone else when really they were in a school full of talented fishes. "So Mrs. Doherty, what did she have to say?" Meghan questioned her roommate; she had witness the embarrassing moment Rachel went through. At NYADA, you didn't want to be called on by a teacher. It scientifically meant that you were going to get either yelled at or you needed pointers which no NYADA student wants (they think they are the most talented students on the planet). "She yelled at me and told me I needed to work harder, I'm pretty sure Tad was watching through the window." Rachel rolled her eyes, closing up the Google tag and checking Finn's Facebook page. She had seen that Finn had moved on, he had met a girl named Andrea in the army and he was tagged in all of these pictures. She was taller than Rachel and blonde, she kind of looked like Quinn. But Rachel had sort-of moved on, at least a tad bit. "Oooh, Tad. You like 'em, huh?" Meghan winked at her roommate, fixing her framed Grease poster. "I little bit, he's not really my type though." Rachel blushed and changed her relationship status to it's complicated, playing hard to get with Finn. "Rachel, he has been performing since he was six years old. He has Patti Lupone on speed dial. It's fate."
Rachel was practicing ballet after hours when she heard a faint knock on the door, she motioned Tad to come in. Tad Chanler was one of Broadway's most youngest stars, he had won a Audience Choice Award when he was twelve but he chose college over a lead role. He wanted to start a life and get an education, hopefully meet a girl along the way. "Mrs. Dohery is wrong, you got some skills." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, watching the brunette girl pause the song. "She was a dance captain over at Wicked, Tad. She knows her stuff. And besides, Lisa and Chad already have auditions for Newsies. Me? I'm never going to make it as a star, being able to dance is an important thing on Broadway." Rachel grabbed her CD and her jacket, wanting to get out of the studio as soon as possible until something stopped her, someone who was blocking the doorway. "Rachel, listen to me. I have heard you sing, thousands of girls will want your voice. Girls and boys will have an area in their bedroom dedicated to you because you know why? You're going to be a star. Coming from someone who has been performing in the West End and here more times than he can count, I know you have talent. So you can't do a pirouette, who cares? Megan Hilty probably can't even do one and look how far she's come. I have faith in you, Rachel." Tad nodded and fixed his glasses before letting the small brunette go back to her room. "Thank you, Tad. I really needed a good boost of energy besides watching Funny Girl. My roommate is probably annoyed by now." Rachel scrounged up her nose and shrugged before pecking Tad on the cheek. Maybe it was fate.