Chapter 9
It doesn't take long for the animosity between Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions to hit an all-time high. The day of the slushie attack, Vocal Adrenaline threw stink bombs in the choir room at McKinley High. When Will cancelled practice because of the odor, New Directions returned to Carmel High for the second time that day. While Vocal Adrenaline rehearsed, New Directions bumper stickered their cars. When the members of Vocal Adrenaline left at midnight, they saw the McKinley High bumper stickers all over their cars. That night, Vocal Adrenaline TPed the houses of every member of New Directions except Finn, and that's only because Kurt would probably have to help clean it up. The personal attack on their houses is more than enough for New Directions. The next day, they go to Carmel High to settle it once and for all.
Dustin is still in his office, and the members of Vocal Adrenaline are doing vocal warm-ups when New Directions bursts into the auditorium.
"Why are you-"
Rachel doesn't even finish her sentence when Finn approaches Michael and punches him down onto the stage floor.
The other boys in Vocal Adrenaline run forward to help him, but are stopped by the boys in New Directions. New Directions might be outnumbered, but they're not going down without a fight.
When Santana and Quinn approach Rachel, Rachel holds her hands up to shield her face. Squinting as she waits for the blow, she doesn't even notice Haylee join her.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to punch you in the face," Quinn says.
Haylee kinks an eyebrow in silent challenge. "Then do it and stop talking about it," Haylee says.
Quinn glares at Haylee. Instead of responding, Quinn shrugs and punches Rachel.
As Rachel rubs the pain off her chin, Quinn prepares for a second punch. But, Haylee quickly pushes Quinn back a step. Forgetting all about Rachel, Quinn shoves Haylee. Santana steps in to take care of Rachel.
"When I'm done with you, you're going to go running back to Israel," Santana says.
This time it's Andrea and Lauren who try to save Rachel. They jump in between Rachel and Santana.
"Don't touch her," Andrea says.
Ignoring Andrea, Santana takes a step forward.
"Are you deaf?" Lauren asks. She waits until Santana's attention shifts from Andrea to her. "That would explain why you can't sing. Hands off our lead singer!" Lauren yells.
Smirking, Santana pushes past Lauren and Andrea. With them out of the way, she lunges at Rachel. Andrea and Lauren try to pull Santana off of Rachel.
"I'm from Lima Heights. I can take all three of you bitches," Santana says.
"If only you could sing as well as you fight," Rachel mutters.
As the fight escalates, Shelby is passing the auditorium on her way out to the parking lot. She stops when she hears the raised voices coming from the auditorium. When she opens the door, she sees the teenagers struggling with each other. Of course she knows about the slushie attack. She knows her students well enough to know they wouldn't take it lying down. But, she never imagined it would get to this point. She's shell-shocked. She tells herself she has to snap out of the initial shock. She has to do something before they kill each other.
Shelby was angry last year when Puck and Finn slashed her performers' tires. This time, the attack on her students infuriates her. But, worry overrides fury. Shelby's eyes search the stage for Rachel. An anxious Shelby finally spots Rachel lying on the stage floor when Andrea and Lauren yank Santana off of her. When she sees Rachel, she runs forward to check on her. What she sees is a young girl that looks incredibly small. Rachel brings her knees to her chest. She's in the fetal position. Her stance is defensive. Shelby kneels down beside her daughter. Her eyes scan Rachel's body for injuries.
When she sees Shelby, Rachel slowly relaxes. At any other time, it's not how she would react to her mother. In fact, she would probably have the opposite reaction. Conversations with her mother require energy. She cares too much. On some level, she knows Shelby cares. It's just that Shelby doesn't care enough to make it work. So, whenever they have a conversation, Rachel has to be careful. Protect herself from getting hurt. Again. But, Rachel knows that Shelby being here now will save her from her old team. No one would dare touch her when she's with her mother.
"Are you okay?" Shelby asks.
Rachel can hear the worry in Shelby's voice. She can see the others still fighting. But, instead of breaking the fight up, Shelby is checking on her. It's the first time Rachel has felt like her mother put her before Vocal Adrenaline. Smiling slightly, Rachel slowly sits up.
"Yes. Quinn may have broken my jaw, but at least she didn't break my talent," Rachel mutters. She raises her voice, so that Quinn will hear her.
Shelby focuses on Rachel's jaw. There's a red spot where Quinn punched her, but it's not swollen. Shelby breathes a sigh of relief.
"I don't think it's broken, but you're gonna have a bruise. Ice it," Shelby says.
As Shelby and Rachel stand up, Dustin walks into the auditorium. He stops dead when he sees the teenagers fighting.
"What's going on here?" Dustin demands.
Seeing two adults, most of the teenagers slowly back down, but Finn and Michael continue to struggle.
"We were just doing vocal warm-ups when they came in here and attacked us," Rachel replies. Her tone is accusatory.
Dustin gets in between Finn and Michael.
"Break it up!" Dustin barks.
When Finn turns around and walks toward the other members of New Directions, Michael gently puts his hand on his nose and feels blood.
Seeing that Dustin has it under control, Shelby steps out of the auditorium for a moment and calls Will. When she returns, no one is saying anything. She approaches Dustin and raises an eyebrow in question.
"I don't know what to do," Dustin admits. He lowers his voice so only Shelby can hear him.
Shelby takes a step towards New Directions.
"Your coach is coming. Don't even think about going anywhere until he gets here," Shelby warns.
Dustin scans his team, looking for injuries. He notices that his male lead probably has a broken nose and his female lead has a red spot on her chin. He turns back to New Directions and gestures at his own team.
"My students can't perform like this! Have you seen my male lead's nose? Their show faces won't matter when they look like this!" Dustin yells.
"I should have broken your female lead's nose. Then she could get the nose job she so desperately needs," Quinn says.
Rachel looks down. She doesn't see Shelby glaring frosty daggers at Quinn.
Giselle doesn't even like Rachel, but she hates New Directions. She's not going to let them get the last word. She takes a step forward. She surveys the opposing team. Her gaze stops on Santana.
"She could ask you where you got your boob job. It's a shame you didn't get a personality transplant instead," Giselle says.
"Please. Everybody loves me," Santana says.
When Will gets to the auditorium, the teenagers fall silent again. He joins Dustin and Shelby in the middle of the stage.
"Okay. What exactly happened?" Will wonders.
"Your Glee Club attacked my team," Dustin replies in an accusatory tone. His disdain for New Directions is clear.
Will looks around. Sam has a cut just above his lip. Mike already has the start of a bruise around his eye. Quinn's hair is messy from rolling around on the floor as she struggled with Haylee. Santana has some nasty scratches on her arms.
"My kids aren't the only ones to blame here," Will says.
"They're in our auditorium!" Giselle yells.
Shelby nods her head in agreement. "Your team started this when they threw slushies at all of my students," Shelby reminds him.
Will thinks New Directions always comes out worse when they go up against Vocal Adrenaline. Last year, Jesse spied on them. When Jesse went back to Vocal Adrenaline, they funkified New Directions and trashed McKinley High's choir room. Finn and Puck got back at them by slashing their tires. When they agreed to get jobs and pay Shelby back, he thought the feud was over. He couldn't believe Vocal Adrenaline egged Rachel. Vocal Adrenaline never faced any consequences for their actions. This year, the pattern is repeating itself. After the slushie attack, Will paid for everyone in Vocal Adrenaline's clothes to be dry cleaned, and Vocal Adrenaline still retaliated. From the way Dustin and Shelby are defending their students, Vocal Adrenaline is going to get off scot-free again.
"And we're paying for their clothes to be dry cleaned," Will points out. There's a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Why shouldn't you? We have purple and blue stains in our clothes!" Haylee yells.
Ignoring Haylee, Will continues. "And, let's be honest. That's not when this started. It started when Dustin stole Rachel," Will mutters.
"Why would she want you as a director when she could have me? You can't teach her anything," Dustin scoffs. "You should hear her sing. She's even better now that she has a real coach," Dustin says, smirking.
"Okay. Be in our auditorium at 3:30 on Friday. We'll have a competition and see who is the best," Will says.
"Why should I do that?" Dustin scoffs. "You haven't heard my team perform with Rachel. You don't know what to expect. I'm going to keep it that way until Regionals," Dustin says.
Dustin knows some of the members of New Directions saw their performance at Sectionals, but he didn't see their coach in the audience. From their voices, it doesn't sound like any of Will's students have vocal training. They probably didn't even notice that Rachel missed a note. Will has no idea what to expect. And, not knowing is almost worse than knowing.
"Then I guess we'll see you at Regionals," Will says. He turns to New Directions. "Let's go, guys," Will says.
Dustin's voice stops Will halfway out the door.
"Schuester, you won't have a team to compete if your students mess with my performers again. The only show choir your students will be on is juvie's show choir. The only reason I'm not pressing charges for trespass and assault is that I want to beat you at Regionals," Dustin calls out.
For the next month, Vocal Adrenaline practically lives in the auditorium. Not that anyone complains. It won't be enough to just win Regionals. No, they want to blow New Directions away. And, practice makes perfect.
Michael quickly agreed to do I Got You Babe for the duet. But, no one can agree on the anthem. It's between AC/DC's T-N-T and Jimmy Eats World's A Praise Chorus. After weeks of practice, they're performing both songs flawlessly. But, they need to finalize the set list before they bring Dakota Stanley in to choreograph the routine. So, Dustin asks Shelby what she thinks.
Standing a few feet away from the stage, she watches with a critical eye. If anyone makes a mistake, she'll catch it. But, they don't make any mistakes. Shelby thinks it's safe to say they'll win no matter which song they do.
As Dustin waits for an answer, she debates with herself. Classic rock is familiar territory for Vocal Adrenaline. It's their comfort zone. Their strong suit. But, Rachel is clearly the best singer, and A Praise Chorus suits her voice. Shelby figures it was Rachel's idea to do Jimmy Eat World. The veterans of Vocal Adrenaline tend to stick with what they know. Shelby decides to help her daughter get what she wants.
"They're both good, but I'd go with A Praise Chorus," Shelby says.
And, that's it. The final word. Shelby can tell Giselle and Michael aren't happy, but she knows they won't say anything about it.
"Thanks. You can go now," Dustin says.
Shelby had been waiting for Michael and Rachel to perform their duet. Michael has practiced it with Haylee in her class, but she has yet to see him sing it with Rachel. She can imagine how her daughter sounds, but she wants to hear it.
"I thought you guys were supposed to do an anthem and a duet," Shelby says.
"We are, but we already know what song we're doing for the duet," Rachel explains.
Shelby feels silly asking them to do it. She reluctantly turns to leave. She'll have to wait until Regionals. But, Dustin's voice stops her.
"Wait. If you have time to watch the duet, I'd like to know what you think," Dustin says.
Shelby pauses with her back to Dustin and the students. She allows herself to smile briefly. When she turns around, her face is a mask of indifference.
"Okay," Shelby agrees.
Rachel's pitch is perfect. She hits all the right notes. But, something is off, and Shelby can't quite put her finger on it. Maybe it lacks emotional depth. No, that's not it. It dawns on Shelby that Rachel and Michael don't have chemistry.
"Stop," Shelby barks.
Rachel frowns. She should have known her performance wouldn't be good enough for her mother. Shelby's the only person that had anything bad to say about her performance of You Shook Me All Night Long. And, Shelby didn't even say anything nice to Rachel when Vocal Adrenaline won Sectionals. Rachel crosses her arms in front of her chest protectively.
"I Got You Babe is a love song. You guys don't have chemistry," Shelby says.
You guys don't have chemistry? Rachel rolls her eyes. If Rachel had made a mistake, she would get upset that Shelby was pointing it out, but she wouldn't get angry. But, Rachel didn't make any mistakes. It feels like Shelby is just looking for something to be wrong.
"You can't find anything wrong with our performance, and you just don't want to admit it! This lack of chemistry is in your mind," Rachel says.
Staring at Rachel, Shelby narrows her eyes. Her expression quickly hardens. No one's ever spoken to her like that. Her students wouldn't dare. It's even more frustrating because she's just trying to help. She takes a few steps towards the stage, towards Rachel. It takes all of her self-control not to yell. If she yelled at her students, they would just sit there and take it. But, she has a feeling that if she yells at Rachel, Rachel will yell right back. Getting into a screaming match won't help anyone. So, she starts calmly explaining.
"You either have chemistry or you don't. You can't make yourself feel it. It's not about your facial expressions, or emotion. The audience can see chemistry. That's how powerful it is," Shelby explains.
She surveys the students, looking for a boy to replace Michael. Now that Jesse's gone, there isn't a clear male lead. Her gaze stops on Kurt. He and Rachel were on the same team for a year. Shelby doesn't even know who her daughter's friends are, but Kurt and Rachel seem friendly.
"Kurt, take Michael's place," Shelby says.
Kurt takes Michael's spot on stage.
"Take it from the top," Shelby says.
After a glare at Shelby, Rachel begrudgingly sings the opening lines. Kurt's not any better than Michael. He doesn't have the stage presence of a male lead. Instead of looking lovingly at Rachel, he looks constipated. They're not even halfway through the song when Shelby cuts them off.
"Stop! This is all wrong," Shelby says.
Kurt takes a step forward.
"If I may, I think Rachel and Puck should do the duet," Kurt suggests.
"Who is Puck?" A confused Dustin asks.
"Rachel's boyfriend," Andrea replies.
"He can't do my duet! He's not even on Vocal Adrenaline!" Michael protests. He wouldn't dare argue with Shelby, but that doesn't mean he didn't want to. He doesn't appreciate having his duet taken away.
"Can he even sing?" Giselle scoffs.
"Of course. He was in Glee at McKinley," Rachel replies.
"That doesn't mean anything," Giselle says.
"He wasn't even the male lead of New Directions," Haylee points out.
Dustin holds up a hand. The simple motion silences his team. He looks at Rachel. He trusts her opinion.
"Rachel, do you think Puck can do it?" Dustin asks.
"Yes, Mr. Goolsby," Rachel replies.
Dustin nods his head. "Call him. I want to see you sing it with him here, now," Dustin says.
Shelby frowns as she watches Rachel on the phone, heavily engaged in a conversation with Puck. If she'd known what would end up happening, she would have kept her mouth shut. Having Puck as a duet partner will only bring her daughter closer to him.
It takes about ten minutes for Puck to get there. He was on his way home when Rachel called, but he wasn't even halfway there.
He's never been so angry as when he saw Rachel after the fight. He was ready to go over there and kill someone, but Rachel wouldn't let him. Now, he just wants to get back at them. And, if helping Vocal Adrenaline win Regionals is the only way he can do that, that's exactly what he's going to do.
Smiling wide, Rachel hands him a copy of the sheet music. He takes a moment to look at it, and tells her when he's ready.
Rachel sings the opening lines for the third time that day. It frustrates her that she has yet to get through the song without Shelby stopping her.
Puck didn't realize how much he missed Glee until this moment. It reminds him how much he likes singing. Every time he's sung, he's found a song that expresses his emotions. He may not have found this song, but it's perfect nonetheless. He doesn't take his eyes off Rachel as he sings Sonny's lines.
When their voices join together, it's perfect harmony. They lock eyes for a few seconds. The long stare would be uncomfortable if they weren't completely at ease with each other. Both smile wide.
Shelby is silently cursing herself for opening her big mouth. What she said was true. Rachel and Michael didn't have chemistry. The same thing can't be said for Rachel and Puck. Everyone can see the chemistry, can feel it. It's volatile. Dustin smiles in approval. Michael's shoulders slump in defeat. Shelby feels like joining him.
When the song ends, Dustin stands up.
"That was good, guys," Dustin says.
Rachel's smile widens.
Dustin turns to Shelby. "Thanks. I can see why you won all those National titles," Dustin says.
With the set list finalized, Dustin brings Dakota in to do the choreography. The man is just as terrible as they remembered. He's over-critical. Verbally abusive. Impossible to please. But, even the members of Vocal Adrenaline that have worked with him for the past three years are startled by how severe he is to Rachel. The day after Rachel runs out of rehearsal crying, they're talking about it as they walk into Shelby's class. Shelby always tunes out her students' conversations. But, the mention of her daughter gets her attention.
"I don't get it. Why is he so awful to Rachel? She's a good dancer," Haylee says.
"Not as good as she thinks she is," Giselle mutters.
"And I thought he didn't like me. He's actually nice to me compared to how he is with Rachel," Andrea says.
Kurt and Puck walk into the classroom just in time to hear what Andrea's saying.
"Are you talking about Dakota?" Kurt asks.
"Asshole," Puck mutters.
Shelby wants to tell him to watch his language, but then she realizes that if she does, the conversation will be over. And, she wants to hear the rest of the conversation.
"Yeah. We were trying to figure out why he's got a serious hate-on for Rachel," Andrea replies.
"It's because she fired him," Kurt says.
"She fired him? And she's still alive?" Andrea gasps.
Even Giselle looks impressed.
"Yes. We hired him to choreograph a routine for New Directions. He's insane. He attempted to kick all of us off the team, and Rachel fired him," Kurt explains.
"Why didn't your coach fire him?" Haylee asks.
"Mr. Schue was busy with The Acafellas, his acapella group," Kurt replies.
When she hears that, Shelby blames Will. A fifteen year old student should never have had to fire Dakota on her own. Still, Shelby can't help but feel a little proud that her daughter stood up to Dakota. Maybe Rachel is even more like her than she thought. She knows none of her students would have been able to do that, and she can't say she blames them.
Dakota Stanley knows exactly how to tear others down. He doesn't just critique them. He throws vicious insults at them. He's even too much for Shelby. No, she doesn't like the man. The only reason she hired him is because he's the best choreographer in the Midwest, and she wanted her team to be the best. There were a few times she almost fired him. Now, she wishes she had. If she had, Rachel wouldn't have to deal with him. Rachel shouldn't have to deal with him, and Shelby wants to help her. So, she sneaks into Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsal that afternoon and watches in the wings. She doesn't want anyone to know she's there. Dakota would be on his best behavior if he saw her. She wants to see him at his worst.
As the members of Vocal Adrenaline stretch out, Dakota walks across the stage, stopping to taunt each of them. When he stops in front of Rachel, she meets his gaze.
"As far as I can see, you're not eating what I told you to. I didn't spend an hour making your personalized menu for fun. I thought you actually wanted to have a dancer's body. Guess what? Dancers are skinny! What size are you?" Dakota yells.
"I'm only a size two," Rachel replies incredulously.
"A size two? More like two sizes too big! You know what? Your personalized menu is out. You want to know why? The only thing I want to see you stuffing into your big mouth is coffee!" Dakota yells.
"Fine," Rachel mutters.
"What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings? You're not going to cry again, are you?" Dakota asks. His tone is mocking. "Don't be a baby!" Dakota screams. His face is right next to Rachel's.
"No. I'm not going to cry. I was just going to point out that I'm skinnier than you," Rachel says.
"When you make it as the best choreographer in the Midwest, you can eat what you want. But, you're never going to make it! You and the other freaks of nature at McKinley didn't even place at Regionals last year. I don't know why I'm even trying to help you. Once a loser, always a loser," Dakota snaps.
Trying to hold back tears, Rachel looks down.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Dustin asks. He looks around. "Your teammates can thank me for shutting you up," Dakota says.
After an hour, Dakota tells them to take a five minute break. When the teenagers hurry off, Shelby steps onto the stage.
"Dakota," Shelby says. Her voice is cold.
"Shelby. I thought you quit," Dakota says.
"I did. I'm not coaching Glee anymore," Shelby says.
"Why are you here?" Dakota asks.
"You know the female lead? The girl you just called Yentil? She's my daughter," Shelby says. Her tone is deadly.
Dakota stares at her wide-eyed. "I'm sorry. I think I heard wrong," Dakota mumbles.
Shelby smirks. "Oh, you heard right. And, you haven't even begun to be sorry yet. I don't want to hear about you saying one more word to her. Teach them the choreography and get out, or I promise you that you will really be sorry," Shelby says.
"You're not the coach anymore. What are you going to do? Fire me?" Dakota asks. His tone is mocking.
Shelby tilts her head slightly and looks straight at him. Her stare is brutal. "I coached Glee for years. I took my team to Nationals every year. I know a few coaches," Shelby says. There's a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Enough to get the word out not to hire you," Shelby continues.
Shelby turns on her heel and leaves.
And, for the next week, Dakota doesn't say one word directly to Rachel. She's unaware that Shelby is the reason for the change. She has a sneaking suspicion that Puck threatened the choreographer, but Puck isn't admitting to anything. Whatever the reason, she's grateful for the change.
Between Dustin and Dakota, Vocal Adrenaline is ready for Regionals. New Directions has no chance of winning. This isn't the Vocal Adrenaline they competed against last year. Maybe Rachel isn't as experienced as Jesse. But, that won't stop Vocal Adrenaline. Practice makes perfect. And, Vocal Adrenaline practiced their routine for Regionals until midnight every day for months.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I originally planned to cover everything that happened in this chapter in two chapters, but I'm trying to get to Regionals in the next chapter. After Regionals, Shelby will play a bigger role. She might become co-director of Vocal Adrenaline…