AN: Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing and alerting! You guys are great :)
Well, this chapter is hot off the press, and I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 12 – Hips Don't Lie
On Monday Rachel headed to NYADA, hoping against hope that the details about the musical would be posted. She wanted a chance to prove herself, to Cassandra, to the means girls who looked down on her, and to Carmen. She would try for the lead in the musical, whatever it was, though she hoped it would be a part she particular loved, and she would show them that Rachel Berry could be sexy, could sing the lead, and that she was a big enough star. Maybe she'd even get to play opposite Brody, which would be a bonus, owing to their chemistry.
Rachel met up with Brody before her ballet class, and he greeted her with a kiss.
"So, how was your afternoon in the city with Santana?" Brody asked.
"We had fun, just walked around, looked at the sights, ate ice cream," Rachel answered. "The important thing was that we were out of the apartment."
"And you're alright?" Brody asked gently.
"I'm fine. I mean, I don't like being yelled at, but it's dealt with now, it's the past, and I'm in the present with you now, looking towards the future," Rachel explained with a smile.
"I'm glad. Well, you'd better run, or Cassandra might kill you if you're late," Brody teased.
"Don't say things like that Brody!" Rachel exclaimed. "She's terrifying as it is."
Brody laughed and said, "Whatever you say, Rachel. I'll meet you after and we can wait around for information on the musical."
Rachel reached her class with two minutes to spare, and started warming up.
"Schwimmer, where's your little girl outfit?" Cassandra asked, walking into the room and noticing Rachel's new dance clothing. It was a part of the Kurt and Santana makeover.
"I'm not wearing it today," Rachel replied.
"Yes, I can see that," Cassandra retorted. "It was a rhetorical question. Now let's see if you've been working on those pas de chats, Schwimmer. Maybe they're better than my five year old niece's by now."
Rachel set her face determinedly and being executing the requested dance steps.
After her class Rachel met up with Brody who suggested they head to the practice rooms to work on their duet, that way they'd been able to hear any announcements that came over the sound system.
Just as they were winding up, deciding that their duet was near to perfect, a voice crackled to life.
"This semester's musical is Evita. A wide range of students are needed for acting, singing, dancing and set design. The sign up sheets are down on the notice boards, please add your name to the appropriate list, and auditions will be held all day Wednesday. You will be emailed about what time to come in for your audition. Like wise, details for call backs will be emailed to you following the conclusion of auditions," the voice said, then the speaker faded out again.
Rachel turned to Brody with shining eyes and said, "Evita! I love Evita. Eva Perón is such an amazing character. I've always dreamed of playing her."
"So I guess you're excited to try for the role?" Brody asked.
"Try for it? I'll get it. I was born to play Eva," Rachel said, then she laughed. "I've been known to say that about a number of roles."
"Well, I look forward to hearing you audition," Brody said, smiling.
"You will?" Rachel asked hopefully. "What if we're not called at the same time."
"Oh, we will be. People who are trying for main roles are always done in the same block. Singers and dancers for the chorus are done separately, and in groups. The auditions here are a bit different to high school, and Broadway. First you'll dance, probably for Cassandra. If you're deemed good enough, you'll sing straight after that," Brody explained. "Then the teachers review everything, and you'll be told if they want you for a call back. If so, you'll sing again, then be asked to read for your role."
"I see. Will I get to see you audition for Perón?" Rachel asked.
"Or maybe Che," Brody said.
"You want to play Che?" Rachel asked, a little downcast.
"I'd rather play Perón to your Eva, but Che is a great part too, with more lines," Brody replied.
"So which one are you going audition for?" Rachel questioned.
"I don't know yet, Rachel, okay?" Brody said, making sure his voice conveyed amusement and not irritation.
"Sorry," Rachel said quietly. "I've gone into obsessive overdrive."
"Don't worry," Brody said, kissing her forehead. "I think we're finished here, though? We'll come in and record it tomorrow?"
Carmen had emailed the class to let them know that she wouldn't be coming around to listen anymore, and would instead check who had been in the practice rooms, for how long, and that they were to record their duets and give it to her to listen to instead.
"Yeah," Rachel agree softly. "I might stay in here though, run through a few songs from Evita. Then I guess I should put in some independent dance practice. I'll talk to you later?"
"Count on it," Brody replied, kissing her lips gently.
Rachel sighed happily as he left, then began to think intently over what song to sing.
She wouldn't sing anything from the musical, that wasn't usually done, even though she'd made an exception when she'd used Somewhere for West Side Story.
Of course she'd start working on the other songs. She knew she could already perform Don't Cry For Me Argentina flawlessly. She loved Buenos Aries, but it would require more work, compared to power ballads, which were her forte. Dance numbers always required more effort, but she'd still be able to out perform that silly little Harmony easily. Oh, there were so many amazing numbers for her to become immersed in, and her audition piece.
Her audition piece. It had to be something show stopping, something to show every aspect of her talent that demonstrated that she deserved to play Eva. A power ballad wouldn't do, she'd already done a couple for Carmen, and ballads were too easy for her. Maybe she should do something upbeat, something with all the elements of performance. But before her song, she'd have to dance well enough to impress Cassandra, who would be involved in casting for dancing. Rachel wasn't thrilled at that thought, but it was at least comforting to know that Madame Tibideaux would have the last say, as the director of NYADA. She wondered if they'd all be watching each element of the auditions anyway. However she looked at it, she needed to be amazing.
Rachel systemically mentally went through the songs in her wheelhouse, and nothing seemed to jump out at her that would suit. She gave it up as a bad job, and decided that she'd brain storm with Santana and Kurt when she got home, they'd have some great ideas for sure. For now, she'd head off to a practice room and work on her dancing. She was determined that there would be nothing for Cassandra to fault next class, and certainly not in her audition. In fact, she needed to worry more about dancing than singing, because Eva was a role involving a lot of dancing, which meant the combination of Rachel's voice and her dancing needed to stand out.
Rachel's heart sank a little. She'd been so excited about the idea of playing Eva, for a little while she'd been so confident in her own ability to secure the role, but now all she felt was the overwhelming weight of work and pressure to succeed. Well, she wouldn't be scared by it, she'd just use it to inspire her to work harder than ever before, because Rachel Berry was a star.
After a long afternoon of practicing her ballet and a routine for her audition, Rachel arrived home to the apartment to find Santana dancing around the kitchen to a loud Katy Perry song.
"I remember when dancing was just for fun," Rachel said a little dolefully. "Wait, it was never just for fun, but at least it use to be fun."
"Remember when Finn broke your schnoz? That wasn't fun," Santana pointed out roguishly.
"Oh my God, Santana, we so don't need to go there again," Rachel said in a tired tone.
"Hey, what's up with you? You seem practically morbid," Santana pointed out bluntly. "Did you fight with hunky Brody?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. They announced our musical for the semester today, it's Evita," Rachel told Santana.
"And you're upset about that? Shouldn't this be the highlight of your life or something? You love having a musical to work on. The normal Rachel Berry would be in the middle of singing her audition song to me, then telling me how she was perfect for the lead. So, what's up?" Santana asked astutely.
"Do you know Evita?" Rachel asked.
"Sure, it's South America, Argentina, the 50s, lots of hot dancing. Eva Peron, she's all sultry and sexy. My kind of musical. Oh, wait. That's the problem, isn't it? It's my kind of show, not yours. Not that you don't love it, or couldn't sing the hell out of it, you're still lacking a bit of sexy and natural dance skill," Santana rambled, having the conversation with herself.
"So, should I participate in this chat at all, or are you good with the whole one woman show thing?" Rachel asked snippily.
"Chill, Rachel. Once again, it's Aunty Tana to the rescue. Kurt and I, well, we're going to be your fairy godmother's. We're going to dance, and drink, and sing, until you could be Latino. Your bitch of a dance teacher won't know hit her. Rachel, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to teach you how to be sexy," Santana stated confidently, and looking decidedly gleeful at the prospect.
Rachel was looking rather hopeful, Santana's force was either irritating, or inspiring, and seeing as she aimed to help Rachel, in this instance, Rachel was inspired.
When Kurt arrived home later that night, around ten thirty, he found Rachel and Santana dancing wildly to loud music, Rihanna's Pon De Replay. He'd had a long day, enjoyable of course, but he was still tired, and he hadn't been expecting to come home to Club Santana and Rachel.
The girls were still very involved with their dancing, and as Kurt inspected them closely, he realised that their little dance session wasn't impromptu, why he didn't know, but he certainly was planned.
Rachel was dressed in one of her specific dancing outfits, one with a decided Latin flavour, which seemed to align with the style of music they were listening to. Santana wasn't in a specific dancing outfit, she merely was wearing a dress and a pair of heels. Upon closer scrutiny, Kurt even noticed that Rachel had been made up a bit.
Kurt walked over to the bench and set his things down, and then noticed that there were a couple of bottles of wine on the bench, along with wine glasses. Yes, the girls, or probably Santana, were up to something, and he was going to find out.
Kurt got another wine glass out of the cupboard and poured himself a drink, then walked across to the apartment to where Santana and Rachel were dancing, now to Enrique Iglesias' Tonight.
Rachel and Santana had of course noticed Kurt come in, but Santana had kept them focused on their dancing.
Kurt sat down on the couch and asked, "So, what are you two doing?"
"Dancing," Santana stated, her tone implying that it was obvious.
"Yes, of course," Kurt replied shortly. "I can see that. But why?"
"Because Berry needs to learn how to move her hips like a Latino. She wants the lead in Evita, so we're fixing her dancing," Santana explained, dancing all the while.
"Kurt! It's actually so much fun. Santana's actually been right all these years, she does know sexy," Rachel exclaimed, slightly tipsily. The wine was serving it's purpose of loosening Rachel up and helping her to just feel the music.
Just then Hips Don't Lie started to play, and Santana exclaimed, "Perfect! This is just the right song to finish my teachings."
She grabbed Rachel by the hand and they returned to focusing only on their dancing.
"Move your hips, Rachel. Shakira knows what she's talking about, your hips don't lie, it's all in the hips. They'll know if you're good enough by your hip movement. Sure, you can move your feet prettily to learnt steps, but you have to have natural movement," Santana told Rachel in her usual confident tone.
"That's right, Berry, you've pretty much got it. You know, you have natural ability, you just need to lose your inhibitions more often," Santana said, as though impressed.
The song finished, and Rachel flopped down onto the couch with a giggle.
"So I have to be drunk at my audition?" Rachel asked.
"No, you just need to remember how good it feels to dance with no restraint. You feel good now, right? Free and sexy? Yeah, come on. We'll run through your audition dance now," Santana said, pulling Rachel to her feet.
Kurt watched, thoroughly enjoying the two girls getting along. A week ago he never would've considered that Santana would've arrived and become such a natural fixture in their apartment, but looking at her now, it just made so much sense.
Santana and Rachel finished the routine, and the music stopped.
"Okay Kurt. Here's the important part. I can't decide what song to sing. You have to help me," Rachel said insistently. "None of my usual options seem right for this role. It's a whole new playing field."
Kurt grinned, here was something that was right up his alley.
AN: Thanks for reading! Love getting your reviews :)
Also, you all should totally check out The Collective on YouTube, they're hot. (If you want to, search 'The Collective Domino' and you'll get their best song/video)
Oh, I forgot, up next, a steamy Brochel makeout session, and more!