"Tina, you missed lunch just standing here waiting for Mike. I brought you a salad just in case you decide you want to eat." Santana said walking up to me handing me the salad while I was sitting on the bench just outside the administration office. "What could possibly be taking so long in there?" I asked here while I continued to stare at the door. It was crazy but I was afraid I would miss something if I looked away from the door. "I don't know. Maybe they are giving him a world winning prize because he so freakishly awesome. All I know is we are going to be late, so let's go." She told me and pulled me to my feet. "The class we are going to is his. What is the point of going if he is still in the office?" "We will find out."
We turned down the hallway that led to Mike's room only to find a large group of our classmates staring at the door. Santana pushed our way through to the front to read the note on the door.
Attention students: There will not be class today but class will start up again tomorrow. Please do not worry as we are just making some adjustments. Thank you Administration
"What the hell is going on here?" Santana yelled and then dragged me back away from the door. "Did Mike get some big break that caused him to want to leave Julliard?" "No, I mean this was the whole cause of our fight a few days ago." We were both quickly walking back down the way we came to the offices. Just as soon as we got a few feet away we saw Mike slowly walking out the door as if he was just told he couldn't dance anymore. "Mike! What is going on? We were just down by the classroom and there was a note on the door saying there wasn't class today." Mike just stood there with his shoulders hung looking into my eyes. "They forced me to resign."
The three of us just stood there in shock at his words. "Wha-How-Why did they do that?" I stuttered out. This couldn't be possible. Mike is the best of the best and is the greatest teacher. Just then Dean Figgins, the guy from the party who I now know as Mr. Motta, and Shoshandra came walking out of the office. "It is going to be great to have you on board Shoshandra. I expect great things from your classes." "Thank you very much Dean Figgins. I will see you first thing in the morning." The three of them noticed the three of us standing there now and quickly ended the conversation. "Thank you for your help Dean. Come on dear, let us head on out." Mr. Motta clasped Shoshandra on the back as they both walked out of the building and the Dean headed back into his office.
"So you are telling me that the Dean forced you to resign early and hired that bitch?" Mike nodded his head slowly causing Santana to freak out. "Oh, I'm gonna cut that bitch!" "Santana, please, Mike what exactly happened?" I asked him as we all sat down on the bench. "That incident yesterday with Sugar was enough that she went to her father and told him that I hit on her. Due to my history, Dean believed Sugar's father and told me it would be wise for me to resign early instead of going to the board only to have my case denied. They told me they wouldn't put this on my record, so I guess I should be grateful for that." "That isn't fair. You didn't do anything wrong, we should be fighting this Mike." I told him getting really upset now. "Tina, I love you for trying but it wouldn't work. When the school year started this year, Mr. Motta and Shoshandra's dad, Mr. Kline, are now both on the school board. So no matter what I would have tried, I would have lost. This was the only solution that seemed to work."
"Oh that bitch! Please let me hurt her somehow." Santana jumped up pacing back and forth smacking her fists together. "You can't Santana, she is you instructor now." Mike told her and hit really hit us then that we were going to have to deal with her for the rest of our Julliard career. "Well she won't be my instructor." I told them standing up. "Tina, what are you talking about?" Mike asked me grabbing my hand as I stood up. "I'm going to go and talk to Dean Figgins. I'm leaving Julliard and calling Shannon when I get home." I told them and headed to the door.
I was sitting in my first class of the day which was also a new one for me this year. The history of pop culture music was a class I couldn't wait to be a part of. We were going to be following the different paths pop music has gone since the '50s and the ways it changed music for everyone. Even though I was a sophomore now, I still was just as nervous as I was this time last year. I pulled my notebook and pen out ready to go as soon as the teacher walked in not wanting to miss a word of any lectures.
"I just heard that Jesse St. James is going to be in this class! I can't believe he decided to come back and finish school." I girl was squealing to another one as they were quickly walking into the classroom to take their seats. "How lucky are we to be sharing the same air as Jesse? I think I might faint!" I was completely bewildered by their emotions. I have heard of this St. James guy before but I never thought he was really that good. He had a look about him that made him look fake and emotionless. Being a performer was about reaching into your soul to find the passion that he just seemed to lack. I guess that meant he was soulless.
Another group of students were now walking in the door backwards with Jesse in the middle just loving the attention. "Guys, guys I would be more than happy to sit with all of you at lunch but sadly I will be off eating at a nearby place with my agent and good friend Bernadette Peters. Maybe some other time though." He said to all of them as if he was the prince of NYADA and the rest of us were his minions. I watched the spectacle while his back was to me but turned back down to my notebook once he headed over to the chairs.
Noah had told me that he was able to write all of his songs by just writing down words or phrases that come to your head at that moment. So I was writing down some hopeful lyrics when I saw someone sit down next to me out of the corner of my eye. "Hello there gorgeous, my name is Jesse but I'm sure you probably already know that. I just want you to know we are going to have a great time this year and may I say that you are absolutely breathtaking." He held his hand out towards me and I couldn't help but stare at it as if it was a snake. "Nice to meet you Jesse, my name is Rachel and that is all you need to know." I replied and went back to my notebook. "I like a challenge. I bet by the end of this year you will be falling all over me sweetheart. No girl can resist me." He said sitting back in his seat and tried to put his arm around me. I smacked it away immediately and stood up so he would get every bit of my wrath. "Listen, I think you are a sad excuse for a performer and you have a head the size of a balloon because of it. You wouldn't know real talent if it fell on top of you. I'm Rachel Berry and have a role in the theater already and don't need to kiss up to you to make it big in this world. So if you would please leave me alone or I will make sure my boyfriend Puck will help you." I took a deep breath after that and sat back down without him saying another word to me.
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." I said sitting down in Shannon's office. "Not a problem at all pumpkin. You said on the phone it was pretty urgent though. Is everything ok with Mike?" She asked as she sat back down in her chair a leaned back in it a little bit. "Well no actually. Mike was forced to resign yesterday. A freshman at Julliard kissed Mike in class and went and told her father about it. The father is on the school board though and they felt with Mike's history that this is the best decision. Obliviously, I just can't see myself going to a school that just threw my fiancé out on the street. I called with the hopes that the offer still stands for me to transfer here?" I finished and gave her my best puppy dog face to get my point across but not to have her calling security on me. "I can't believe they let Mike go that easy. He is the best out there and a great spokes model for the school. Well either way they are crazier than tuna made from chicken. We would love to have you come to school here. I can offer you a scholarship and we will try to help you get out of the on at Julliard but no promises there." I was ecstatic! "Thank you so much, you will not regret this." I jumped up and started shaking her hand to the point of falling off. "No problem. I will get you a class schedule tomorrow and we will see you here next week."
I left her office and started to head back to the apartment thinking as I was walking. Everything was working out except for the whole Mike being forced to resign. It made me sick to think how much was run by money in this world. People can't just be happy and let good things happen to everyone. The idea that you could get anything you want depends on your checkbook almost make me feel like I live on a Monopoly board game. I was taught growing up that the better you are in school, the more you will succeed in life but I now realized in the last 24 hours that my Kindergarten teacher lied to me. At least I had a backup plan available would be able to go to NYU to become successful in two careers at the same time and be able to help future generations of younger less privileged students.
Walking up the steps in the apartment building, I heard music coming from the other side of our door. Mike wasn't taking the resignation easy and figured he was either dancing around as a stress reliever or hitting his head on the table again. Even though I really didn't want to know either way, I went ahead and opened the door to see him lying on the couch with a blanket resting over his head. "Mike, are you ok?" I asked him as I set down my bag and taking my shoes off. He didn't say anything but I walked over to him anyway and pulled the blanket off of his head. He was fast asleep like a little kid on the couch. Neither of us got much sleep as he went through the normal stages a person goes through once they lose their job. When we first got home yesterday he was pissed and went storming around shouting about how screwed up our system is. Then he moved to upset and was a little emotional about how Julliard as been his home for years and now it felt like he was turning his back on it. The last stage he hit last night was acceptance and felt this was an opportunity for him to live out his dream without anything holding him back.
I covered him back up and turned the lamp next to his head down so he could stay zonked out for awhile. After placing a small kiss on his forehead, I turned to start cleaning off the coffee table and saw his computer opened with the power button flashing. Swiping my finger across the pad I brought it to life and started to look at the stuff on the front page. He had typed out a checklist of stuff he would have to do to open a dance studio.
Find a building that would be perfect.
Make sure I have enough in savings to cover the costs.
Find out about expenses and repairs to get place going.
Make sure Tina is ok with this. If not, it's not worth it.
My eyes stopped their and I couldn't go any farther. I just couldn't believe that he would just give up on his plan if I wasn't ok with it. Mike was the one who gave me support and hope all of last year and it would be selfish of me if I didn't give it back. I wanted nothing more than him to be as happy as he could and wanted to show him that I was behind him no matter what. Picking up the phone and carrying it into the bedroom so I wouldn't wake Mike up, I called Quinn. "This is Quinn, how can I help you?" "Hey Quinn, its Tina, I'm sure you have heard by now that Mike was forced to resign and is currently jobless. He has mentioned before about opening his own dance studio and I happen to think it will be a great idea. Would you be able to find a few places for us to look at on Saturday that could be used as a studio?" "We actually have a real estate agent that deals with the company here and I would be more than happy to give her a call for you. I will send you an email with times to meet her on Saturday." "Thanks Quinn", I hung the phone up with a smile on my face.
"So I talked to the studio, they want me to come in tonight to record an upbeat song that actually has nothing to do with you and everything to do with how great alcohol is. Monday they want to record this song that I wrote on the road that is actually supposed to be a duet between the two of us. I guess I am asking if you would like to record with me." He looked at me as if he lost his favorite toy and he wanted me to buy him a new one. "Are you kidding me? Yes, I would love to record a song with you." I tackled him with a hug while we were still sitting on the grass hill in front of the school. "How does the song go? I need to learn everything about it before we perform it at the studio. Even though I'm more than capable of learning a new song on the spot, I would prefer not to." I told him as I flattened my dress out and sat back on my legs as he pulled his notebook out and started to quietly sing the first few verses with me.
"If that is your actual voice, then it is clear that you are a rock in roll star because they can't carry a tune. They are only good for screaming and a good comedy relief to us real performers." Jesse said standing in front of us while we were going over the last part of the song. "Who the hell are you and why do you give a damn about us?" Noah asked as I started to see Puck come out of him. "Rachel is my new classmate and she kept going on and on about how much I am the fake performer when you don't even have any talent. No one in Broadway had to wear clown makeup and platform shoes to mask their talent; oh and my name is Jesse St. James. You might want to remember that because most people know that name and I am a prince to them." He said smugly before he walked down the hill with Noah and me glaring at him the entire time. "That guy is a major douche. I'm sorry that you have to even be in the same room as him." "Yeah, he is a tool but this song is simply amazing Noah. I'm so proud of it and can't wait record it with you on Monday."
It was the first Friday after the new school year started and we were having a girls' night at Rachel and Santana's apartment. So many things have happened in just the last few days that we thought this to be necessary to keep our sanity. We had turned the coffee table into the food table and started the first movie. The credits were rolling as we got settled against the couch. "So what is it like working with the devil?" I asked Santana who just rolled her eyes at me. "It is horrible. She assumes that we all dance exactly like her and she expects us to move and look the same way. If she sees something wrong through the mirror, she stops the entire class and calls you out on it. We already have a small petition going around trying to get her fired but I doubt that will happen with everything that went down with Mike." "I'm so glad I got out of there. I can't wait to start my new classes on Monday but I will miss you horribly." I told Santana just as the movie started to play. "She sounds just as stuck up as Jesse. I can't imagine actually having a teacher who is that ridiculous." "It isn't easy but I am a tough bitch and she won't be able to keep me down." Santana said as Rachel and I both laughed at her.
I don't own anything Glee just love the show! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! There are going to be 30 chapters to this story all together. The 29th chapter will be about the summer in between their Junior and Senior years of school and the 30th chapter will be about graduation and that last summer before they all go their different ways. We will see a lot more of the other characters in the last few chapters as well. Thank you for continuing to read and commenting! I love them all. Thanks