Chapter 4
A.N. You must admit I'm improving – a much shorter waiting period for this chapter and I think the next will be even sooner. Now if you, like Jesse after kissing Rachel, "have some notes", please do not be shy to review.
"What are you doing here?"
Jesse gave her his I'm-the-most-charming-person-in-the-universe smile. "This is what I love about you, Rachel - your firm grasp of the social graces." He held out a Starbucks cup to her. "Soy Chai Latte sprinkled with cinnamon and ginger?"
Rachel eyed the cup suspiciously for a while before accepting it from him. "Whilst I am appreciative of this token gesture of peacemaking or whatever it is you are trying to accomplish here, I am afraid I do not have time to analyse your hidden agenda of the day as I do not wish to be late for my first day at Carmel. As you know, punctuality is very important to a star in the making as it gives others the illusion that you consider their time as valuable as your own."
Jesse kept his expression serious, although his mouth did twitch upwards. "Not that it is, of course."
Rachel huffed and tried to walk around him but he stepped in her way. "Good morning, Shelby," he called over her shoulder. His coach nodded her head in his direction as she locked her front door, juggling her shoulder bag and a large folder of sheet music.
"What brings you here, St James?" she asked.
Playing dumb, are we? I guess our little protection arrangement is the hidden agenda of the day. Aloud, all Jesse said was, "I have come to offer your daughter an escort to school."
"I've already got a ride," Rachel interrupted, dodging around Jesse towards Shelby's Range Rover. "I'm going with Shelby."
"I think walking into a strange school with your mother who also happens to be a teacher will create a more negative first impression than poor punctuality," Jesse pointed out. "Whereas if you walk in with me, the leader of the most powerful clique in the student body, no one will be able to touch you."
"Jesse is right, Rachel," Shelby said, forestalling Rachel's inevitable mutinous outburst. "If you recall, I mentioned last night that I would have one of my students take you under their wing while you settle in at Carmel."
Rachel did not recall, as she had been too excited to listen closely to Shelby's conditions last night, but she is sure she would have remembered Jesse's name coming up. Shelby ignored the exaggerated expression of betrayal on her drama queen daughter's face and calmly hopped into her car, throwing a little wave in Rachel's direction as she drove off.
"Your chariot awaits, ma cherie," Jesse drawled, offering his arm. Rachel reluctantly took it but then remembered she had left something behind.
"Oh, my trolley bag, I left it inside," Rachel cried, turning back to the house but Jesse tugged her towards his car. "Jesse, I have to go back for it – it has my spare change of clothes."
Jesse threw back his head and laughed. "Rachel, I promise you, you won't be needing a post-slushie outfit anymore."
GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE /
Rachel was half hoping nobody would take any notice of her arrival in Jesse's red sports car (which she recognised from when they shot the 'Run Joey Run' clip), if for no other reason than to wipe the overconfident smirk off her ex's face. But it was as he predicted; when he strode through the hallways, as close to her side as she would allow him, the students parted before them with expressions of awe and envy. The looks sent her way were mainly curious or, in the case of the girls, outright jealousy. Rachel noticed a couple of the Vocal Adrenaline kids that had egged her; they seemed shocked to find her haunting their home turf like some kind of Banquo's ghost. One look at their lead singer's face made them abandon any impulse to confront their funkification victim and they hurriedly turned tail, walking in the opposite direction.
"OK, here is your class schedule," Jesse said as he turned away from the administration counter, but not before shining his charming smile at the helpful faculty clerk. "They've matched it as closely as possible to your old schedule that was sent over from McKinley."
Mention of her former school made Rachel suddenly realise that in all the recent upheaval she had forgotten to alert her friends (or pseudo-friends, in most cases) of her transfer. As usual, Jesse took one look at her face and read her mind.
"You haven't told them about the transfer, I take it?"
"It may have slipped my mind," she admitted.
"So, what do you think their reactions will be to you jumping ship to the school that just kicked their asses at Regionals?"
"I'm sure they will trust that my reasons are valid and have nothing to do with them or my loyalty to the glee club," Rachel said firmly.
"Do you really believe that?" Jesse asked, steering her towards her first class.
"Of course." Rachel bit her lip as she thought this over. "But just in case they don't, if any of them calls you then as far as you know I've been recruited by a West End theatre company and am currently en route to London to star in a revival of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
Jesse laughed, a sound which seemed to startle the passing students, as though displaying ordinary human emotions was an unexpected trend for Jesse St James. "Your secret is safe with me, Milly. I'll see you at lunch."
As they stood at the door of her first period English class, Rachel murmured her thanks as she took her books back from him, stepped forward but then turned back and quickly leaned up and pecked his cheek, much to Jesse's surprise.
"What was that for?" he wondered as his fingers traced where her lips had brushed.
Rachel gave him an isn't-it-obvious smile. "For assuming I would be given the lead role." Then with a flick of her short skirt she was gone.
Jesse stood there bemused for a few seconds, until some impatient sophomore told him to quit blocking the doorway and move already. Only after he had reduced the impertinent lout to a babbling mess of apologies with a single raised eyebrow did Jesse walk away.
Meanwhile, Rachel looked nervously around the classroom for an empty seat and saw one next to a fresh faced girl with black hair that had one streak of pure white running through it. The girl looked up from whatever game she was playing on her Iphone and noticed Rachel. Then something happened that had never happened at McKinley. Instead of a look of contempt or derision, the girl gave her a welcoming smile and motioned to the seat next to her. After recovering from her moment of amazement, Rachel quickly took the seat before the offer could be withdrawn.
"Hi, I'm guessin' you must be new here," the girl said, her accent holding a southern lilt. "I'm Marcie Calhoun."
"Rachel Berry," Rachel replied with her blinding smile. "This is my first day, actually."
"The first day is always the worst," Marcie replied with a sympathetic smile. "I've only been here a few weeks myself. Moved here from Tennessee when my dad's firm transferred him to Akron."
"If you have not yet finalised all your social alliances I would be very happy to fill any friendship positions you have open," Rachel said hopefully.
"You talk a whole new kind of strange," Marcie said, eyeing Rachel speculatively. "I like it."
Rachel released the breath she had been holding with relief. "Thank Barbara," she sighed. "I was afraid my unwitting habit of distancing prospective friends had followed me here."
"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about being unpopular," Marcie replied with a little laugh. "Not so long as you have the great Jesse St James dripping off your arm. I haven't been here long but even I know that boy is a legend in this place."
"So he tells me," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "I was hoping it was an in-his-own-mind variety but from the reactions I've seen, I guess not."
"Sounds like you ain't part of his fan club," Marcie noted with amusement.
Rachel shrugged. "I cancelled my membership recently." At a curious look from her new friend, she reluctantly admitted, "He's my ex-boyfriend."
"Is that what you're calling it," a dark skinned girl sniped as she walked past the girls' desk. Rachel recognised her as the Vocal Adrenaline dancer that had been draped over Jesse during 'Another One Bites the Dust'. "Where I come from, he'd be known as the guy who made a fool of you."
"Lay off, dance hag," Marcie snarled.
"Gladly, Bride of Frankenstein," she returned, taking her seat.
"I swear, if she makes one more smartass comment about my hair, I'm going to rip her dreadlocks out." Rachel looked at her new friend with wide eyes. "And before you ask, I did not dye it like this, the white streak is genetic."
"I like it," Rachel said decidedly. "There was a girl at my old school who used to dye streaks of colour into her hair. I think, because she was too shy to speak out, she wanted to have some other way of expressing herself. But you don't have to bother with fake colours to make yourself unique – it's already a part of you."
"You're damn right I'm unique," Marcie agreed with a grin. "If I'm gonna bring Hollywood to its knees, then I better be the genuine article."
"You have acting ambitions?" Rachel asked eagerly.
"Sure thing. You're looking at the next Renee Zellweiger. Sure, she was a Texan but it's close enough."
"I am an actress as well, although my sights are set on Broadway rather than cinema. Singing, dancing and acting – I'm a triple threat."
"You know, our drama club – I'm a member – we're putting on a musical this term. Could be a good place for you to put your triple threat into action."
"Sounds promising," Rachel replied. "Fill me in on the details later?"
Marcie lowered her voice as their teacher rushed in, making a late entrance. "Meet us for lunch in the quad."
As the teacher called for silence, Rachel briefly wondered who "us" was.
GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE / GLEE /
"Rachel Berry, I give you… the Dramagiks!"
Rachel looked at the three boys and 2 girls with bemusement. Drama-whatsits?
The morning had passed quickly for Rachel, as she absorbed her new environment which included a style of teaching that was a step up from the mostly apathetic routine of McKinley High teachers. At Carmel, the teachers encouraged student involvement and Rachel found for once hers was not the most frequent hand in the air, ready with the answer.
Marcie had shared her fourth period history class and, after a quick pit stop to select a vegan friendly lunch (thankfully the Carmel High School was a convert to the Jamie Oliver food revolution and stocked their cafeteria with healthy and delicious food), had rushed her new friend to the student quad to introduce her to the motley selection of teens that formed Carmel's Drama Club.
"The name is a cross between drama-geeks and dramatics," A silver blonde girl explained proudly. "Clever, huh? My own invention – I'm creative that way. I'm Petra, by the way. This is Tim – " a boy with lanky brown hair and an aquiline nose raised a hand in greeting, "that's Donna – " a girl with curly red hair and freckles nodded, as though agreeing with her name, "over here is Scott – " a dramatically handsome boy in the starving poet manner waved a weary hand her way, "and lastly we have Ahmed." An Arab looking boy looked up from the guitar he was strumming and smiled and nodded enthusiastically at Rachel. "He doesn't speak much English and he may not even know what a drama club is but he is a treasure whenever we need a dark and mysterious stranger in the production. Or just to fetch us snacks. And of course you've met Marcie. So now, tell us about you – who is Rachel Berry?"
That was the ultimate leading question for a girl like Rachel. The next fifteen minutes was spent with Rachel giving the condensed version of her life including her extensive vocal, dance and acting training, the talent competitions and beauty pageants she had won, the community theatre productions she had starred in, finishing up by treating them to her most successful Myspace music videos on Marcie's Iphone. By the time she took a full breath again, she had achieved her objective to impress. Marcie looked around at her friends and shared a look of agreement.
"Well, Rachel Berry, looks like this little club of ours is interested in buyin' what you're sellin'. So what do you say; think you're Dramagik material?"
Before she could reply, an arm had slid around her waist and the owner of that arm was speaking for her.
"Nice try, Drama Geeks," Jesse said, more than a hint of steel in his usual soft speaking voice. "But you're poaching on Vocal Adrenaline territory." Rachel drew her brows together as she looked up at Jesse, fighting the distraction of his enchanting designer cologne.
"Jesse, I do not appreciate being likened to property," she said sternly. "These are my friends and you will speak to them with respect."
"I don't suppose your new friends happened to mention that drama club and glee club are arch enemies at Carmel," Jesse glowered at the six teenagers who returned his glare with interest. "I didn't pull you out of that Hellhole at McKinley to have you get caught in a whole new crossfire."
"How can your clubs be at odds?" Rachel asked, puzzled. "I mean, it's not like the jocks and the gleeks, who have such different mindsets. We're all performers here – aren't we?"
"If you can call what they do performing," Jesse scoffed. "They don't have a decent singer in their whole club. Their version of Mama Mia last spring – it was even worse singing than in the movie."
Rachel paled at the thought. "Jesse, surely you exaggerate? Is that even possible?"
"Somehow, they made it so," he assured her. "Show choir is where you belong, Rach, not with these wannabe players."
"Show choir! Entertainment for cruise ships and Vegas night clubs! If you're serious about Broadway, Rachel, you need to keep your acting skills sharp," Petra argued. "If you join us, your talents will get the full workout."
"Let them have her, Jesse," a new voice broke into the discussion; Rachel recognised the VA girl from first period. "It's not like there's any way she's getting into Vocal Adrenaline. These losers would be the perfect fit for her."
"Back off, Giselle," Jesse said warningly, pulling Rachel slightly closer to him. Rachel felt a little fearful as ten more Vocal Adrenalites circled her and the Dramagiks, prompting flashbacks to that scene in the carpark. Giselle picked up on her thoughts and smiled cruelly.
"What's the matter, Berry? Wondering where the eggs are? We weren't expecting you to have the nerve to show up at our school today but we'll give you a proper welcome tomorrow. Sunny side up."
"The hell you will!" Jesse flashed angry glances at his teammates, trying to cow them into submission; most of them were just interested spectators, waiting to see who won this battle of wills before choosing sides. But there were three girls in the ranks, victims of his old love-'em-and-leave-'em policy, who were more than happy to back their female lead vocal against this girl who had meant more to Jesse St James than they ever could. For the first time, he doubted his power to control this club and wondered if his promise that Rachel would not need spare clothing at Carmel was somewhat rash. But you would never guess he had misgivings as he threatened, "Any of you try anything, I guarantee you won't like the consequences."
"Oh, what is she going to do, run crying to Mommy?" said a sneering blonde beauty that Jesse had promised to call but never did. "Is that your style, little girl? You need someone strong to fight your battles for you?"
"This one could never be in Vocal Adrenaline," a Latino girl, who reminded Rachel of Santana, sneered. "No guts. And, as we all know from Regionals, can't even sing at our level. We don't need any last place losers here at Carmel."
"Face it, Berry, you were better off at McKinley," Giselle said. "You should run back to them while you still can."
"SHUT IT!" Rachel yelled, at her full powerhouse volume. The entire student quad went quiet, over 200 students turning towards this new spectacle. Rachel walked up to Giselle and looked her unflinchingly in the eye. In a deadly quiet voice that somehow everybody was still able to hear, she said 6 short words that prompted a collective gasp of shock.
"Sing off. In the quad. Now!"
DUN DUN DUN! How's that for a cliffhanger?