The Wildebrams Saga 3:

NEW, New Directions

CHAPTER 7: Things Are Looking Up (Auditions - Pt 5)

Author's Notes: It's time for some of the other season 4 newbies to get some attention. Sorry about the delay in updating this guys, I wanted to make sure that I got it right. Hopefully it's worth the wait.

# # # # #

== WMHS Hallway, Thursday Morning

Marley Rose was walking down the hallway towards her next class when she heard a female voice singing.

"You wanna play, you wanna stay, you wanna have it all. You started messing with my head until I hit a wall."

Intrigued, Marley rushed up to find out who the beautiful voice belonged to. As she approached the sound she saw that it came from none other than Marissa Flores who was standing in front of her locker, earbuds in her ears, belting out the popular Demi Lovato song:

[ Marissa ]

Maybe I shoulda known, maybe I shoulda known

That you would walk, you would walk out the door

Marley walked up to the girl and joined her on the next stanza.

[ Marissa and Marley ]

Said we were done, you met someone and rubbed it in my face

Cut to the punch, she broke your heart, and then she ran away

I guess you shoulda known, I guess you shoulda known

That I would talk, I would talk

Marissa realized that someone was singing along with her and pulled out her earbuds.

"Wow," Marley said. "That was really amazing!"

"Um...thanks?" Marissa answered, skeptically.

"I had no idea you were such a good singer," Marley continued. "Why don't you audition for Glee Club?"

"I think you know why…" Marissa said.

"Ryder…." Marley said.

"And you," Marissa added.

"M-me?" Marley asked, clearly surprised.

"It's pretty obvious that you hate me," Marissa answered.

"I don't hate you!" Marley said, defensively.

"Yes you do," Marissa told her. "You could barely stand to be in the same room with me in Drama Club last year."

"I was just a little uncomfortable with how readily you expressed your obvious feelings for Ryder," Marley admitted.

"Why?" Marissa asked. "The boy is obviously head over heels for you. He has been ever since I met him, and despite my best efforts, he's rebuffed me at every turn. It's taken me a while, but I've accepted that he's never going to have those feelings for me.

"But I don't want to have to sit in Glee Club with you every day and watch the two of you moon over each other, and be reminded of the fact that the only guy I've ever liked at this school won't give me the time of day. Once a week, once Drama Club starts up again, will be more than enough!"

"But you're so good!" Marley said.

"I'm not interested," Marissa said flatly and continued gathering her books.

The two girls just stood there thinking about what the other had said as Marissa finished gathering her books and supplies, and finally Marley broke the silence. "Look Marissa, I really want you to join Glee Club. Would you at least think about it? I'll talk to Ryder and we will try to lay off the PDA when you're around out of respect to you."

"I don't know," Marissa answered, skeptically. Since being together officially almost a year before, Marley and Ryder had been pretty heavy on the PDA. She didn't know if she would've really be able to take it if that continued.

"Please," Maely plead. "Just think about it."

"Okay," Marissa relented. "I'll think about it."

"Good," Marley said, smiling. "I'll text you with the details of the next audition time."

"Auditions?" Marissa hadn't expected to have to audition.

"Yeah," Marley said. "Don't worry it's just a formality. The others just have to hear you sing. I'll sing with you if you want."

"Oh, Okay"

As Marley turned to walk away, Marissa asked, "You aren't going to send me to a crackhouse are you?"

"A crackhouse?" Marley asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Marissa answered, "I heard this story about how one of for original New Directions tricked this girl who intimidated her into going to a crack house instead of wherever auditions were really being held."

"No," Marley answered, "no crackhouse. It will be in the auditorium or choir room as usual."

"You know," Marly added, "If you're interested, I could maybe help you find a boyfriend to help you get your mind off of Ryder and I."

"You'd do that?" Marissa asked.

"Sure," Marley told the younger girl. "There are always cute boys in Glee Club."

As she continued down the hall, Marley marveled at what Marissa had told her. The story had Rachel Berry written all over it. The more she learned about the original New Directions, the more thankful she was that she wasn't a member at the time.

== WMHS Auditorium, Thursday Afternoon

Rachel led Jane out into the stage.

"Now that your transfer papers are filed," Rachel told Jane, "I want to make sure that you have the best opportunity to do well in your audition tomorrow, so let's get started."

"Okay," Jane answered, smiling. She couldn't believe she was being mentored by Rachel Berry!

"Center stage," Rachel instructed.

Jane complied, taking her place.

"All right," Rachel began. "It's a packed house. Show me your presence."

Jane complied, coming alive on to stage with her presence.

"Okay, keep your back straight." She adjusted the younger girl's posture. "You have to command the audience with your body language. Keep your head up.

And make eye contact. Even if there's a hundred people out there, you have to make a personal connection. You have to make each person feel like they have a one-on-one connection with you.

"And, most important," she finished, "your song."

"Well," Jane said, "my family has a tradition of singing "Up, Up and Away," which is bad because-"

"Let me see your phone," Rachel requested.

Jane handed it to her, and Rachel began going through it.

"Oh, well Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope" has the most plays," Rachel observed.

"Oh, my God," Jane gushed, "she's incredible."

"Well," Rachel told her, "I think you found your audition song."

"Oh," Jane said, surprised. "Okay, do you really think I can tackle that song?"

"You can if you think you can," Rachel answered. "Your attitude is half the battle!"

Jane smiled.

"From the top."

== WMHS Hallway, Thursday Afternoon

Marley and Mercedes walked down the hall talking.

"So how's the songwriting going?" Mercedes asked the younger girl.

"Okay I guess," Marley told her with a shrug.

"Just okay?" Mercedes probed, a concerned look on her face.

"Well I keep submitting my songs to these contests…"

"Why do you keep putting yourself through that?" Mercedes asked. "If they don't like your work, to hell with them!"

"Because I want to get them published so maybe an established artist will see them, and I might have a chance of hearing them on the radio one day," Marley answered.

"Girl," Mercedes told her. "A word of advice: the only way you're going to get your message out there is if you do it yourself."

"That's easy for you to say, Miss Number 89 on iTunes!" Marley told her playfully.

"That's right," Mercedes said, "I am number 89 on iTunes, because I never gave up. I was lucky I had friends, one friend in particular, Sam, who pushed me out of my comfort zone and got me noticed."

Mercedes pulled out her phone, open YouTube, and play the video of Disco Inferno that Sam had our online.

"Mercedes Inferno?" Marley read, skeptically.

"A few weeks before graduation," Mercedes chuckled and explained, "several of us seniors were having a hard time deciding what was next for us, so Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester crafted a Glee Club lesson based upon the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, because the main character was also at a crossroads in his life.-"

"-Coach Sylvester?" Marley asked, skeptically.

"Yeah," Mercedes told her, "She was going through a rare streak of being nice to the New Directions, and actually played a role in helping us win Nationals. I personally wouldn't have been on stage at all, after a case of food poisoning the day before we were scheduled to perform, if it weren't for her help."

"Well, as part of that week's lesson, I sang that song, and while it wasn't unusual for club members to record those performances, it was unheard of for someone to upload the video to YouTube and make it public without their consent."

Marley was shocked! "Sam actually did that to you?" She couldn't believe that Sam would do something like that!

"Yeah," Mercedes confirmed, "and when I found out, at first my reaction was a lot like yours. I was shocked and felt like my trust had been betrayed. But then he showed me the comments. There were thousands of likes and comments and the only negative one from some guy who thought that "Mercedes Inferno" was a car fail video."

Marley chuckled.

"I had convinced myself that only my friends and Mr. Schue thought that I was good," Mercedes continued. "I thought that I was a big fish in a tiny pond, and that outside McKinley no one else would think I was any good, but Sam showed me that a whole lot more people did too. And as it turned out, an assistant record producer also saw my video and showed it to his boss, signed me to a recording contract. Now that first deal didn't work out because as it turned out they wanted to market something that I wasn't selling, but it got me in the door and paved the way for where I am now."

Marley smiled.

"Now," Mercedes said, "about you. I have to get back to LA on Saturday. But I'll be back here for Sectionals. I want you to have some of your songs ready. Pick out some that have deep meaning for you personally, and we'll talk about them."

Marley gave Mercedes a big hug, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome girl," Mercedes told her young protege, "I've got your back."

== WMHS Choir Room, Friday Morning

Once again Will had gathered the Alumni for a status report.

"Okay, guys progress report," he said. "How's it going with the new recruits?"

"Horrible," Tina said.

"It ain't working," Puck added.

"It's not good, Mr. Schue," Mercedes said. "Glee Club has fallen so far at this school, we're not gonna be able to get anyone to join-."

"I'm singing out," the mysterious voice sang.

"There's the voice again," Rachel said.

"Oh! Dudes," Sam said, "he's in the showers in the locker room. They're always in the showers."

"Shh!" Everyone else hissed.

"We've already looked there," Rachel reminded him, rising to her feet.

Once again Rachel walked out of the classroom following the voice, except this time everyone else followed her.

== WMHS Hallways, Friday morning

Rachel and the Alumni followed the sound of the voice.

"Oh, can you hear me now, can you hear me now? I'm singing out O-Oh oh Oh, God."

== WMHS Library, Friday Morning

The Alumni fanned out and managed to track down the student in question in the library. It was Roderick, the loner, overweight student with the Beats headset perpetually attached to his ears that Rachel had talked to a few days before, but had managed to scare off.

"O-oh oh!" He sang. With his earphones on as they approached.

When he finally, noticed them approach him from three sides, he seemed scared of them. They were a pretty intimidating group and all has these crazy looking smiles on their faces.

"Oh, God," he said, taking his earphones off. "Are you guys gonna beat me up? 'Cause I just need a second to get in the fetal position."

He began to get down on his knees.

"No, no, we-we heard you singing," Rachel told him, gesturing for him to get back on his feet. But he continued to sit on the floor.

"Yeah, you're amazing," Mercedes added.

"Dude," Artie told him. "You've got to audition for the glee club."

"Why?" He scoffed. "So people can make fun of me more than they already do? Even the former principal calls me 'White Precious'."

Puck chuckled, physically helping him to his feet. "Come here, you are precious."

"Well," Mercedes responded, "all anybody cares about in Glee Club is the way you sing."

"Look," he told them, "I have designed my entire life around people not noticing me."

"Yeah," Tina told him, "I used to be the same way. I even invented a fake stutter, so that people would avoid me. But when I'm with these people, they remind me of the best parts of myself. And they would never make fun of me."

"Mmm, not to her face, no way," Brittney said, only half joking.

"You're the poster child for Glee Club," Rachel pleaded. "You're why Mr. Schue started the club in the first place. I-It's a place where misfits can fit in. Will you please try out? I'm really sorry that I came on so strong. But you can sing whatever you want."

"Yeah," Kurt added, smiling. "I guarantee you're gonna get in."

Artie chuckled.

"Look at all of us," Quinn added. "We're all so different, and yet there's nothing that we wouldn't do for each other. We're all just a phone call away. And that is because we took a chance on Glee Club. And that's something that you deserve as well." She and Artie shared an affectionate knowing look.

Several other Alumni nodded in agreement.

After a few more moments of consideration, he finally relented.

"Okay," he said.

Everyone cheered. Roderick smiled. Puck patted him on the back.

"Shh!" The elderly librarian said and walked off.

The second she was out of earshot, Roderick and the alumni all lost it.

# # # # #

Author's Endnote: Okay folks, with a lot of help from the alumni, we've almost got enough potential recruits for a full Glee Club. Will they show my for auditions this time? Will they be good enough to get in? Find out in the next chapter!