The sun was shining through the golden curtains kissing Rachel's skin as her eyes fluttered open slowly, taking a moment to react to her surroundings before a smile crossed her face as she realised that she was in New York.
Sitting up suddenly in bed, Rachel looked around the hotel room taking in the beauty of the room. A room in New York, Rachel was actually back in New York and a massive grin covered her face as she hopped out of bed and ran around to kurt's shaking his shoulders to wake him up.
"Kurt!" Rachel said "Kurt! Wake up!"
Kurt groaned in response. "what? what is this hotel room on fire?"
"No!" Rachel exclaimed laughing, pulling back the sheets on his bed "No we're in New York come on get up!"
"Thats all?" Kurt replied, "We were in New York last night...and we will be tomorrow. Right now, I want to sleep!" And with the final part Kurt pulled the sheets back to cover himself, pulling them over his head.
"Come on Kurt!" Rachel sighed. As Kurt grumbled a response, her dads opened the door joining the two rooms they were staying in. Kurt simply groaned again
"Good Morning Future Broadway stars!" Hiram sung loudly, causing Rachel to jump up and hug her dads.
"Good morning Dad." Rachel replied, kissing Leroy on the cheek "And you too Daddy"
"Morning Mr Berry's" Kurt moaned from the bed, sitting up and wiping his eyes
"Hello Kurt" Hiram replied, "Come on you two, get dressed and we'll go to breakfast. Then we'll drop you two off at Julliard for the introductory meeting"
"Okay Dads, we'll be down in a little bit"
...
Around an hour later, Rachel and Kurt were walking towards the Julliard academy auditorium where the receptionist had informed them that the meeting was occurring. Rachel had a large grin on her face as she looked around the courtyard they were walking in, buildings that bled history and tradition. This only grew as the auditorium came into view. Julliard's Auditorium was a large imposing building, Rachel and Kurt grinned as they saw a crowd of students heading towards the doors.
"Wow...it's beautiful" Rachel gasped
"Yep" Kurt said, nudging her "Come on Lets go"
Rachel grinned back at him, and nodded eagerly. The two of them walked towards the building, arm in arm. As they entered through the glass doors, the two of them were greeted by a large number of students stood grouped around, lining up as they waited to be allowed entrance to the auditorium itself. Rachel and Kurt weaved their way through the students towards a table where they would sign in and be handed a welcome pack along with name badges.
Rachel and Kurt stood patiently next to each other in the two lines as they waited for the person in front to be done. Rachel found herself stood behind a guy with short curly black hair, and she could hear the end of the conversation that was going on in front of her;
"Welcome to Julliard " The female admissions spoke softly,
"Thanks, I'm sure I will" A deep but smooth voice that Rachel found calming to her ears came from in front as the boy with curly hair responded. After that he spun around, and paused in front of her and she could feel him taking in her appearance as she did the same with him.
Rachel smiled back at the handsome young guy who was smiling at her; He was a few inches taller than her, and he had tanned skin that she connected with his surname came from an Italian descent. Her eyes travelled down his body and she took in his appearance. He wore red short-sleeved shirt and cream pants. Much in the same way she saw on Puck and Sam at home, his sleeves were tight around his arms in a way that allowed to her to notice he obviously worked out and was athletic. His obvious athletiscim and beautiful smile made her find him incredibly attractive.
Rachel breathed out slowly as her eyes returned to his face and met his brown eyes again. He was gazing back at her with an intensity that made her heart beat. She opened her mouth to say "hello" when she heard a voice to her right,
"Yo James, you coming bud?" she followed the voice and a guy was waving a hand over to a group of three girls and four other guys.
"Nice to meet you" James whispered to her, before picking up his bag; slinging it over her shoulder and heading off to his friends. Rachel watched him walked away and she found herself wishing that she'd introduced herself.
"Miss?" The voice of the female admin snapped her out of her daydream and turned forwards taking a breath before replying
"Berry, Rachel Berry"
...
"So who was that cute guy you were talking to"
"What?" Rachel said blushing "I dont know what you're talking to"
"Oh come on" Kurt said rolling his eyes as the two of them took their seats in the auditorium. "You were checking him out"
"No I wasn't" Rachel replied embarrassed. Kurt gave her a look that silenced her protesting. "Okay...he was called James..."
"And he was cute" Kurt responded, raising an eyebrow at her. Rachel was about to reply when the lights dimmed and a woman with long blonde hair walked out onto the stage in the auditorium.
"Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, Performers. Dancer, Musicians, Singers. Welcome to the NYADA and Julliard Academy Programme, My Name is Janet Williams and I am the Director of the Julliard theatre department." The Woman paused as there was a round of applause
"You are here this summer, because each and every one of you has the ambition to come to New York when you graduate and enrol at one of the two most prestigious academies for the Performing Arts. Over the next month, you will be involved with a number of our tutors who will work with you give you an idea of not only the challenges you will face but the first of many enjoyable lessons. I will now hand you over to the head of the programme, one of NYADA's finest who will be responsible for you over the next month, Arnold Stanson."
The woman on walked off the stage to applause. The man walked, and introduced himself
"Hello everyone" Rachel saw him take a breath, "You are all here because you are the finest performers that our country has to offer and you have chosen us to be the institution to help you hone this talent so that you can live your incredible ambitions." He then launched into a talk that lasted a further hour about what the summer programme would involve, and as he reached the final parts; Rachel turned to Kurt.
"This sounds amazing" Rachel whispered, Kurt nodded eagerly and pointed back to the stage.
"Now that is out of the way" He cleared his throat. "For the last five years, I have served as the Head of National Show choir competition's executive committee. I am aware that there are a number of students in the audience who participated in our National Championships right here in New York a couple of months ago"
As he finished the were a number of murmurings amongst the students and he raised a couple of hands to silence them
"In the spirit of NYADA; of recognizing the talent within our community. I'd like the chance for the representatives of their respective show choirs to stand so that we can introduce ourselves to one another"
He said, pulling out a piece of paper and began reading a number of names. He ran through three of the top ten teams including Singaz Wit Attitude, Vocal Extreme and Vocal Chords. Two more teams from outside the top ten were read before Rachel and Kurt turn came.
"From William McKinley High School, Ohio; this years 12th place finalists; The New Directions." Both of them stood up nervously when it was announced; waiting to see what the reaction would be considering the events that took place during Rachel and Finns duet; but there was a simple applause as that had come from the teams who had been announced before.
"We also have four students from this year's runners up. From Carmel High School, Ohio; Vocal Adrenaline." Three girls that Rachel and Kurt recognised from this year and the year before stood as well as a guy that they didn't; and there was a gentle applause as with the other students.
As they sat down again, there was a smile on the face of the as he reads the next name. "And last but not least, I'm glad to say that we have three representatives of this year's National Champions from Oregon: The Portland Scale Blazers"
Rachel and Kurt watched eagerly as five rows in front of them two guys and a girl stood and waved to the crowd. There was a whistle, and Rachel saw that it was from the guy from Vocal Adrenaline who then punched the arm of one of The Portland Scale Blazers playfully. Rachel followed his gaze and found that it landed on the curly haired guy who she had come face to face with earlier, shaking his head with a smirk on his face that made her heart beat just that little bit faster. After a few seconds they sat back down. Rachel felt Kurt touch her shoulder gently.
"Looks like your hunky friend is talented" Kurt teased. Rachel sighed exasperated.
"Kurt..."
"Thank you" The gentlemen on the stage announced
"A part of this programme is to teach you to embrace your fellow performers and to appreciate the talent that is on offer. As you can see we have some incredibly talented people here this summer. Now, You have all been split into groups for the first couple of weeks. There is a list in the foyer; and you should find the
Tutor that your group has been assigned. They will be wearing a name tag like yours. Thank you"
...
After they had sorted into their groups, they were left to get to know the people they'd be spending time with. Rachel found herself seperated from Kurt and she was glancing around the room she found herself in anxiously. A few of the students were chatting and getting to know one another. Rachel was in her own thoughts as she pondered about how great this summer was supposed to be, her thoughts however kept drifting to the fact that her friends were back in Ohio, and now Kurt wasn't here with her. She was the only one in the room who was silent; despite the talk of recognizing and mingling with the other talented people here at the programme, her mind couldn't help but dwell on the fact that many of these people would be competing against her for entrance to NYADA.
"Hi...is that seat taken?" Rachel heard an oddly familiar voice, and she looked up from glancing at her hands to the smiling face of the curly haired guy from earlier. Oh god…what are the chances.
"Hey..." Rachel said nodding as he smiled back at her. She breathed out deeply, trying to focus on her dreams of New York instead to this incredibly handsome guy who was sat next to her. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before she noticed him turning in his seat to face her.
"So...I guess we're supposed to get to know each other" He said in his calm voice, eyes glinting at her as he smiled. She stared into his eyes and found herself bite her lip and nod
"So...I'm Rachel" she replied, smiling at him breathing out "Rachel Berry"
"You have a beautiful smile Rachel" James said truth in his eyes, and she blushed smiling at him. "And for the record, since we were never really officially introduced...I'm James, James Agrisino"
"Nice to meet you..." Rachel replied, before smiling and shrugging her shoulders softly "officially"
James grinned back at her, and then leaned forward in his chair "So...where are you from?"
"Lima, Ohio" Rachel said leaning forward herself, supporting her head on her hand as she placed her elbow on the table. "You?"
"Portland, Oregon" James replied, "What are you? NYADA or Julliard? Acting or Dancing?"
"NYADA. Musical Theatre" Rachel replied, smiling "It might sound stupid considering all these people here have the same dream, but I'm going to be on Broadway one day"
"Its not stupid" He responded, smiling "It's your dream. It doesn't matter what other people want or think. Its yours"
"Thats nice...I like that" Rachel grinned back at him, "What about you?"
"Julliard, Dramatic Arts. My dream is to be an actor" James replied, then licked his lips. "So...if you're a singer. You must be in a glee club?"
Rachel nodded, pursing her lips. She found herself for some reason wanting for him to work hard to find out about her, she liked that there a mystery between them. He seemed to sense she was toying with him because he smirked. "And you're from Ohio…so that means you could be from Carmel and Vocal Adrenaline but, since I know you're not from there"
"How do you know that?" Rachel said playfully, before mentally wondering to herself why are you acting like this?
"You're too nice to be from Carmel" He said, and Rachel felt herself blush then she laughed at him "And the fact I know the people who are from Carmel and you definitely don't go there."
"I'm not one of them" Rachel said, "How do you know them?"
"We finished second behind them last year…and third the year before. I was friendly with a couple of them"
"This year you managed to beat them, and you're friendly with them?" Rachel asked.
"I guess you could say the major problem has been...removed. While Jesse was there it was hard to actually beat them" James replied, and shrugged. "He's talented but an incredible douche, who along with his friends seemed to decide that Showchoir was a thing where you couldn't interact with the others"
"I agree with you on the Jesse St. James matter." Rachel replied, frowning slightly "And I didn't know vocal adrenaline could be friendly. I'm part of the New Directions and they've terrorised us for the last couple of years."
"I'm sorry about that" James said sadly, and Rachel heart warmed
"Why do you say that"
"You seem like a really nice person" James replied,
"I'll have you know, I have been known to have a mean streak" Rachel said playfully, grinning at him
"I find it hard to think that you could be anything but that" James replied, his eyes showing the truth behind his words as she gazed into them. he really does have beautiful eyes
Rachel blushed, and there was a silence between them as both looked away from each other slightly embarrassed. After a couple of moments Rachel spoke "That's nice of you to say...but no, I'm not from Carmel, as I said I'm part of New Directions"
"Was this your first time at Nationals? I don't remember you from a couple of years ago"
"It was our first nationals and we finished Twelfth" Rachel replied a little disheartened.
"That's great for your first performance at Nationals" He said and nudged her shoulder softly. "I go to Portland and we won this year, but its taken us a few years to do that"
"Thanks…it's not like you guys though. Winning Nationals is incredible. Congratulations" Rachel smiled widely and he looked down.
"Thanks"
The two of them talked for around another forty minutes, and the conversation turned to more personal matters as they were both eager to get to know the other. As they did, the more they talked Rachel found that they had a lot in common. While he wasn't a vegan, James' mother was and she owned a Vegan restaurant back home in Oregon, revealing that he split his eating between the two depending on when his father was at home or not. Like her father Leroy, his father was a businessmen and was on the board of a major firm that worked in a number of states across the country.
It turned out that both of them had a love of Broadway shows, him being a fan of West Side Story but also sharing her love for Funny Girl. Talent shows were another area where they found a common interest, Rachel laughing as he revealed he wanted to apply to go onto American X-factor to meet Simon Cowell.
"Hey come on. Its not that funny" He said laughing as well
"It really is, why would you want to meet him?"
"He's amazing. Do you know how many people he's responsible for making famous." James added, smirking at her "Plus, He's British and I love everything British. I'd love to live there some day"
Rachel giggled and sighed. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead" He said smiling at her
"Why do you want to be a performer?" Rachel said, "Most guys our age want to be sportstars or something manly like that"
"Are you implying singing isn't manly?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow before laughing and she couldn't help but join him. "Most of comes down to not wanting to be like my dad I guess"
Rachel looked at him, and could tell that he didn't have the easiest relationship with him, asking softly "Why?
"He's some hotshot businessman." He said, frowning "He works away a lot and was never really around when I was growing up. You know, He doesn't even enjoy his job, he does it because of the money and because its what he was told to do by his father. If I am going to be doing something in my life, I want it to be because I enjoy it and its what I want"
Rachel nodded, smiling at him.
"What about you?" James asked, "Aside from the fact you're an obvious Barbara Streisand in waiting."
She smiled at the compliment. "I've just always felt I didn't belong in Ohio. That my true life was to belong in Broadway and be a star. I've never really considered anything else as being even remotely possible"
"I have no doubt that you will be" He said staring into her eyes. Rachel tilted her head and stared back at him, and for some reason; despite the fact that she had only just met this guy, she believed him completely; there was truth in his words and in his eyes.
"Alright guys…that's it for today" The tutors voice came, snapping her out of staring at James. "We've only got a short amount of time today, but I hope you've had the chance to get to know some people in the group. Tomorrow, we'll be back at we'll start the work on a couple of workshop activities. So, thank you for coming and You're free to leave now"
Rachel collected her bag and made her way out walking side by side with James as they followed the rest of the group out of the room and back towards the auditorium. There was silence between them as they walked but as they headed towards the glass doors, he touched her arm gently.
"It was nice to meet and get to you know, Rachel" He said softly, smiling at her
"It was nice to meet you two" She replied, grinning at him. Watching him reach into his pocket, he pulled his phone out.
"I was wondering…if I" he paused for a moment. "Could I get your number? It'd be nice to talk to you some more"
Rachel smirked, and bit her lip to stop herself from grinning again. "Sure, I'd like that"
They swapped phones, and after putting their numbers into the others phones; handed them back. His hand lingered on hers for a split moment before he pulled away and smiled at her again.
"I'll see you tomorrow Rachel"
"Bye James" She replied and turned to walk away from him, seeing Kurt watching them covering his mouth with a hand.
…
"Looks like you had fun" Kurt added as they walked away from the auditorium where her dads would pick them up.
"What do you mean?"
"With your new friend" Kurt said, emphasising the last word and Rachel rolled her eyes at him
"I don't know what you mean. He's called James and all we were doing was getting to know one another"
"I'm sure" Kurt replied smirking
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He was definitely into you, Rachel. And I think you like him to"
"Kurt…I've only been officially done with Finn for a couple of weeks. I told him, and you that I am focusing on my dream of coming to New York. He's someone who I have to work with for our group, and possibly a friend. I definitely don't want a relationship, and I'm definitely not interested in anything with a guy I'm only going to see for a month this summer" Rachel said, and frowned at him.
"Alright, Alright. I understand, and I was only having a bit of fun with you" Kurt said, smiling and linking arms with her "But just for the record, he was watching you leave with a silly smile on his face after you gave him your number"
A/N ; So Rachel and Kurt are at this summer programme. James is going to play a role in Rachel's life for the story, as a friend and possible love interest. There's chemistry and they have a lot in common; More of which will come up as we progress.
Next Chapter is going to be a time skip of a week or so and will be out at the weekend. We're going to meet some of James' glee club. As well as Kurt's friends in his group.
