CHAPTER 27
It was finally the week of Nationals and despite everything, the New Directions were excited. Although Jessie was a huge dick, he was undeniably a good singer. He wasn't Finn's level, but he was still good. Rachel and Jessie's relationship was also going well.
Mercedes, Artie, Kurt and Tina were walking to Glee rehearsals together, chatting about the upcoming competition.
"Is it just me, or does it feel like we have a real shot at Nationals next week?" Mercedes asked, excitedly.
"The National show choir chat rooms are all buzzing about how Vocal Adrenaline have lost a step." Artie informed them.
"I agree," Kurt said. "The judges know all their trucks, and now that we have Jessie, they've lost their best performer."
Rachel suddenly ran up to them.
"You guys have to come to the auditorium. NOW!"
They all ran to the auditorium, where they were met along the way by Santana, Brittany, Puck, Quinn, Mike and Sam. Now that Quinn had given birth to her baby, she had been made Head cheerleader again, and was let back into the popular circles. The 11 of them entered the auditorium together, and saw Vocal Adrenaline on the stage. Suddenly, the lead singer turned his head and they saw who he was… it was Jessie!
"Jessie? What are you doing up there with them?" Rachel cried. Jessie smirked at her.
"I've transferred back to Carmel High, Rachel. I'm sorry that it's come to this, but you guys were awful to me. You never accepted me, you never listened to my clearly superior ideas."
"Why are you here, in our auditorium?" Puck demanded.
"The blogs and chat rooms say that we're finished, and that you guys are ripe to topple us. We just wanted to show you a little something we came up with a few days ago to see if you agree with that assessment."
Vocal Adrenaline then got into position for a number, and a backing track immediately started playing.
Oh! let's go!
Steve walks warily down the street
With his brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go
Are you ready hey are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat yeah
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust hey
Hey I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
How do you think I'm going to get along
Without you when you're gone
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own
Are you happy are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat look out
Another one bites the dust
At the end of the song, Rachel and Jessie made eye-contact. Rachel was heart-broken. She had been played. Everyone had warned her but she didn't listen. She put her own happiness first, and it was going to cost the team.
Meanwhile, Finn was having the time of his life. He had successfully moved into a massive suite in the luxurious Dreams Riviera resort. He had such a calm schedule as well. He would perform for 2 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 2 in the evening. The rest of the day could be spent doing whatever he wanted. As part of his contract, he was given 3 free meals a day in any of the resort's 7 restaurants, and, although he was underage, he was given special permission to be served alcoholic drinks, provided he didn't abuse that privilege. Finn had also gone into town a few times to buy clothes. He didn't bring much with him and, now that he was earning good money, he could afford luxuries like them. Finn constantly considered calling Santana and the Glee clubs to see how Nationals prep was going, but he always talked himself out of it. The last thing he wanted to do was piss them off and throw off their concentration right before the big competition. Finn was about to perform his final of the night, so he quickly tuned his guitar and played the soft acoustic song, matching the gentle rhythm of the ocean waves.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks
And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way, mm
I know you will still love me the same
'Cause honey your soul can never grow old, it's evergreen
Baby your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
But baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are, oh
So baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
Oh baby, we found love right where we are (maybe)
And we found love right where we are
"Thank you, everyone! And have a great evening!" Finn said into the mic and the people on the beach all cheered and applauded for him. Finn stepped off the stage and walked back towards his room. On his way, he admired the gorgeous sunset. He watched the horizon, spreading its largess into a grateful sky. Rich hues of red blended with oranges, purples, crimsons. Finn couldn't help but smile at the sight as he was transported into a timeless existence, ready for the protective blanket of night and new dreams. As he lay in his fluffy, vast, king-sized bed, he pondered about the life he was living. Sure he was earning good money, and was being provided with food, shelter and health insurance, but he wasn't happy. He missed high school: Glee club, football, his friends, and all of the drama. He was still only 17 after all! He shouldn't have had to grow up so fast.
"It's a Carmel High tradition. They psych out the competition before the big show. They call it a funkification. Meaning they show us what they've got, and we spiral into a deep black funk."
"Yeah. Yeah, we used to do the same thing to other football teams." Sam said. "You know, try and get inside their head before a big game, pull little pranks to intimidate them."
"Yeah, well, the difference is our football team sucks without Finn. Those guys are golden." Puck pointed out.
"Come on, keep your heads up, guys." Kurt exclaimed. "It's going to take more than that to get us into a funk."
They then walked into the choir room, only to see the whole room . Mr. Schue then walked into the room and his mouth dropped. He saw what happened in the auditorium - he was in the lighting booth at the top of the auditorium so nobody noticed him - but never expected this. He sighed.
"Come on, guys. Let's clean this up." He said. They all nodded and started throwing the copious amounts of toilet paper into large black bags.
"I feel so violated." Tina said. "It's like someone broke into our home."
"Look, it was just a lame little prank. And the fact that they're trying to get to us means maybe we got them spooked." Mr. Schue tried to encourage the Glee club, but none of them bought it.
"Uh-uh, Mr. Schue. They aren't afraid of anything." Mercedes murmured glumly. "That number they did was fantastic! You know, which doesn't make any sense. They had all that equipment. How did they even get in?"
"I gave 'em all keys." A voice from the doorway said. They sighed as they immediately recognised the person. Of course it was Coach Sue trying to mess with them. "Helped them a sound check over the weekend."
Coach Sue then left the room and everyone put their head in their hands. After Finn left, morale was already low, and this sudden change only made it lower. And they left for New York later that day!
"OK guys, I want to talk to you guys about regrets." Mr. Schue said after Coach Sue had left the room. "Who has some?"
"Giving my heart to Jessie, just to have it crushed like the stage floor at a performance of Stomp." Rachel said.
"Thinking 'trust me' was a sensible birth control option." Quinn added.
"We all have them." Mr. Schue pointed out. "I just finalised my divorce. I regret living in a relationship that wasn't working. Letting her put me in these deep funks and not fighting back."
"Besides lowering morale even further, why are you telling us this?" Santana asked.
"Because if we lose to Vocal Adrenaline at Nationals, none of us are going to regret it. We will have given it our best shot and we won't look back. But we will regret letting them get the best of us right before the competition."
They all nodded and nobody said anything else. Mr. Schue put his head in his hands. They were not going to win Nationals. They needed a miracle. And unfortunately, they weren't going to get one, and Mr. Schue knew it. They climbed onto the plane that evening, all of them dreading what was to come. Even Rachel wasn't excited about going to New York. They were too busy thinking about how Vocal Adrenaline were going to chew them up and spit them out.
George called Finn for what must have been the 15th time that night. He had just arrived back in Toronto, and his short trip to Lima had not helped at all. He now knew that Finn had run away, but he didn't know where to. Finally, a miracle occurred. Finn answered his phone.
"Whoever this is, please stop calling me!" Finn said into the line, clearly frustrated. He thought it was marketers.
"Finn! It's George, and I'm pissed! Where the hell are you?! I literally flew to Lima to look for you, and your Glee coach said that you ran away?! And you didn't answer any of my calls!"
"Sorry dude. My phone broke down around a month ago and I just got a new one so I didn't have your number saved. I thought you were some kind of marketer cause you spam called me so many times."
"Oh, that checks out." George said, relieved. "So where the hell are you?"
Finn sighed.
"Look, you can't tell ANYONE where I am." He started.
"Yeah, fine. By the way, I think Santana's pissed at you. I tried to call her to ask if she had heard from you, and she hung up on me."
Finn chuckled mirthlessly.
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." He murmured.
"What the hell happened between you two?" George asked. "I thought you two were really close."
Finn sighed.
"We were, until I ran away. I had to leave Lima immediately otherwise I would be put in foster care. She got really angry - understandably so - and started insulting the hell out of me. I haven't spoken to her since. It's been more than a month."
George felt really bad for Finn.
"So where are you? Are you homeless again?" he asked. Finn laughed.
"Actually, I'm not!" He said, happily. George was confused.
"Huh? Did you manage to get an apartment or something?" George asked. Finn shook his head.
"Nah, man. I got a job that provided accommodation for me."
George was confused. Suddenly, he thought of something. It explained why he had practically no contact with Finn. And why Santana was so angry at him.
"Finn… you… you didn't join the military, did you?" He asked, cautiously. Finn laughed and George relaxed a little.
"God, no! You couldn't pay me to do that."
"OK, good. So where are you?" George asked again. Finn was lying on one of the resort's deckchairs, and he panned the camera so George could see his surroundings. The sun was starting to set, and the blazing fireball was streaking through the dark sky, ripping a hole through it like paper. George gasped. It was one of the most beautiful views he had ever seen.
"I'm in Hawaii." Finn added, unnecessarily. George nodded.
"So, are you like living on the streets or something?" He asked. Finn shook his head.
"Nah, I'm in a suite of one of the biggest resorts in Hawaii. I've been hired as a performer for the hotel. All I have to do is perform 2 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening, and I can do whatever the hell I want for the rest of the time. Because I'm living in the resort, I have access to all the gyms, restaurants and bars free of charge. Not a bad life huh?" Finn said, taking a sip from his strawberry daiquiri. George wolf-whistled.
"Yeah I'll say." He remarked, jealously.
"Yup, music, booze and hot girls in bikinis. I kinda like this place. It's great. It's great. It's great. I mean I miss you guys, but it's great." Finn commented and George laughed.
"One more and I might actually believe you." He pointed out. Finn sighed. They caught up for a couple of minutes before Finn had to go perform his evening performance. George hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief, but then was a little bit sad. Despite the fact that Finn said that he was happy, George knew that deep-down, Finn wasn't happy. He clearly missed his old life, but George didn't know how he could help.