CHAPTER 40
"Everyone on the bus!" Mr. Schue called. The New Directions clambered onto the bus. It was the day of Sectionals, and they were all nervous. It was their final chance for many of them to compete in Sectionals before graduation. Finn sat at the very back of the bus, and he was quickly joined by George, Liam and Harry. The bus rumbled away, and the bus was, surprisingly, dead silent. Not even Mr. Schue spoke. Finn walked up the aisle of the bus and slid in next to Santana, who was sitting alone.
"Hey, San." He said.
"Hey Finn! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" She exclaimed. Finn laughed.
"So are you excited for your solo?" Finn asked her. Santana had been picked to solo on one of the songs, and she was extremely nervous. She shook her head.
"No, not at all. I'm scared as hell. Why couldn't you have just done the solo?" She complained. Finn chuckled.
"Hey, you're gonna do great. I know you are."
"You'd better." Rachel said, listening into their conversation and turned around to face them from her seat in front of them. Finn sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Rachel. Pleasant as always." He remarked. Rachel smirked.
"And by the way, San, the reason you're performing in Sectionals and I'm not is that because it's so early in the competition that it doesn't matter if we showcase our… weaker voices."
Rachel's voice dripped with contempt. Finn could see Santana poised to strike at Rachel, so he held her back.
"Are you aware that when you talk, you sound like a total bitch?!" George called from the back of the bus. Everyone laughed and Rachel scowled.
"George, enough." Mr. Schue called, almost lazily.
"Thank you, Mr. Schue." Rachel said. "And thank you in advance for the solo I'm going to be getting in Nationals."
"OK, that's it." Finn shouted, slamming his hand on the armrest of the bus seat. "Rachel, you need to shut the hell up. You act like you're God's gift to humanity! Sure you might have a decent voice, but no Broadway director is going to want to work with you because of your bitchy atitude. And if you somehow manage to sneak your way into a role, I guarantee that you'll be first within the first month. If you showed a bit of humility and modesty, trust me, it would go a long way."
Finn paused for breath at the end of his outburst. During the spat, both him and Rachel had stood up and squared up to each other.
"You want to fight, Hudson?" Rachel challenged. Finn literally laughed in her face.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to fight you. You weigh less than half my weight."
"Well maybe you should lose some weight, you fucking elephant." Rachel snarled.
"OK, you want to fight me? LET'S GO!"
Finn started to lunge at Rachel, but Bella stood directly in front of Finn, and Mr. Schue stood directly in front of Rachel. If it was anyone else blocking him, Finn would have just shoved them aside, but he would never even think about doing that to Bella. Finn reluctantly took a step back. By this point, George had joined them at Finn's side.
"Look, Finn, Rachel, if you have issues with each other, could you please wait until after Sectionals to resolve them." Mr. Schue begged.
"But she…!" Finn started.
"Finn!" Mr. Schue shouted. Finn put his hands up in surrender.
"OK, fine. But could I ask for one thing, Mr. Schue?"
"What?" Mr. Schue asked tiredly. This was not how he had planned the day of Sectionals to go.
"If we do happen to make it to Nationals, don't blindly give the solos to me or Rachel. Could we have open auditions like we did for Regionals last year?"
Mr. Schue nodded.
"Deal."
Finn then trudged back to his seat at the back of the bus with George, Liam and Harry. Nobody spoke for the next half hour. The tension in the vehicle was palpable. They needed a morale booster. Desperately. Finn picked up his guitar from the overhead storage area and started to strum an upbeat melody.
Finn:
I hopped off the plane at LAX
With a dream and my cardigan
Welcome to the land of fame excess,
Whoa, am I gonna fit in?
George smiled and began to sing along with him.
Finn and George:
Jumped in the cab,
Here I am for the first time
Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign
This is all so crazy
Everybody seems so famous
The whole bus turned to Finn and George. They could see what the two boys were trying to do (build morale) and everyone but Rachel joined in.
Santana, Brittany, Quinn and Bella:
My tummy's turnin' and I'm feelin' kinda home sick
Too much pressure and I'm nervous,
That's when the taxi man turned on the radio
And the Jay-Z song was on
And the Jay-Z song was on
And the Jay-Z song was on
Everyone but Rachel:
So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah it's a party in the USA
Mercedes, Tina, Kurt:
Get to the club in a taxi cab
Everybody's looking at me now
Like "who's that chick, that's rockin' kicks?
She's gotta be from out of town"
Artie, Puck, Mike and Sam:
So hard with my girls not around me
Its definitely not a Nashville party
Cause' all I see are stilettos
I guess I never got the memo
Finn, Harry, Liam and George:
My tummy's turnin' and I'm feelin' kinda home sick
Too much pressure and I'm nervous
That's when the D.J. dropped my favorite tune
And a Britney song was on
And a Britney song was on
And a Britney song was on
Everyone but Rachel:
So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah it's a party in the USA
Feel like hoppin' on a flight (On a flight)
Back to my hometown tonight (Town tonight)
But something stops me every time (Every time)
The DJ plays my song and I feel alright
So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah it's a party in the USA
So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah it's a party in the USA
At the end of the song, everyone cheered, and the buzz of excited chatter started to fill the bus. Finn smiled to himself. Mission accomplished. Morale had officially been raised. Shortly after, the bus screeched to a halt and the doors hissed open.
"We're here!" Mr. Schue called. Excitedly, everyone piled off the bus and they were herded into the building. They had drawn the second spot, so they waited in the greenroom as the first group - the Dalton Academy Warblers - performed. There was still a lot of tension between Rachel and Finn, but they managed to put it aside until after the competition. As they waited in the greenroom, Mr. Schue walked in.
"OK, listen up everyone!" He announced. Everyone walked over to him. "I don't know what to tell you guys. We've been through this 4 times already. Just sing your hearts out and give it all you've got. Hands in."
Everyone put their hands in the circle.
"ONE… TWO… THREE… NEW DIRECTIONS!" Mr. Schue shouted.
"NEW DIRECTIONS!" They all cheered and got into position to perform.
An hour later, New Directions were announced as Sectionals champions. Their performance worked like a well-oiled machine. Santana started by soloing Back to Black - the same song she had sang in the Glee competition the year before. Then, the whole group joined her on stage and they sang We Are Young by Fun, and We Found Love by Rihanna. They all knew that their performance would have been stronger if Finn and Rachel had been the ones soloing, but it was a refreshing change to have others performing as the leads. After the performance, the New Directions climbed back onto the bus, worn out after the long, stressful day, but overall, satisfied with their performance. Finn sat next to Bella close to the back of the bus. On the way back to McKinley, the bus was pretty quiet. Some people whispered quietly to the person next to them, others went on their phones for the majority of the journey, and others just slept. Around 10 minutes into the journey, Bella put her head on Finn's shoulder, and she fell asleep. Finn put his arm around her and kissed her forehead gently. The truck softly rumbled down the expressway, and Finn was totally at peace.
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On Monday morning, Finn was early to Glee rehearsal. Him and George walked into the choir room together, and only Rachel and Tina were already there. When Finn walked in, Rachel scowled at him. Finn rolled his eyes and waited for everyone to arrive. When they all finally did, Rachel stood up.
"Listen up, everyone! I have an announcement. Finn, I'm calling you out." She shouted. Finn sighed and rolled his eyes.
"What a surprise." He mumbled and then stood up. Everyone was immediately on edge, weary but excited about what was about to happen.
"Finn, despite the fact that you somehow managed to win the solo competition last year, you are not the best singer in the Glee club. I AM!"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Finn remarked and everyone sniggered. Rachel blushed and glared at him.
"Finn, I challenge you to a sing off. Winner claims the title of best singer in the Glee club."
Everyone oohed and aahed. Finn smirked.
"Fine, and can we also add money on it? Winner also gets 100 bucks."
The New Directions gasped. This was getting interesting. Rachel thought for a moment. Was it really worth it?
"OK, deal." She finally agreed. "What are the terms."
"Um… we each sing one song. The Glee club + Mr. Schue will vote on their favourite." Finn suggested. Rachel shook her head.
"No, they're all just going to vote for you!" She exclaimed. Finn sighed and turned to the group.
"OK guys, I know that a lot of us have issues with Rachel, but you guys have to swear to be honest. Don't vote for the nicer person, vote for the better singer."
The New Directions murmured in agreement. Finn turned back towards Rachel, triumphantly.
"There you have it. They're going to be honest. Anything else I've missed?" He asked her. She nodded.
"Yeah, also, to prove who's truly more talented, the song we sing can't be one that we've practised countless times. It has to be something we put together in a short time. So the song choices will be random. We can use a random song generator from the internet."
Finn nodded, and the two shook hands.
"Rachel Berry, you've got yourself a deal."
The whole Glee club clapped their hands and cheered in excitement. This was going to be good. Luckily, Finn had the backing of practically the whole Glee club. At this point, Mr. Schue joined them on the stage.
"Well, well, well, I believe we have a huge sing-off coming up. And I'm going to stir the pot a bit. The winner of this sing-off also gets a solo in Regionals."
Rachel clapped her hands together.
"OK, time for the song selection. Mr. Schue, bring up the random song generator!" Rachel announced. Mr. Schue rolled his eyes at Rachel's overdramatic attitude, and he turned on the projector screen to display a website on the board. It contained a single button that when clicked, would choose a random song from iTunes and display it.
"OK Rachel, you click the button first." Mr. Schue said. Rachel nodded and strided over to the computer. She clicked the button and 4 words popped up.
Rolling in the Deep
Everyone started chattering excitedly when Rachel's song came up. Rachel was happy with it: it could have better, but could have been a lot worse.
"Finn, please come select your song." Mr. Schue said. Finn walked over and clicked the button himself. Another 4 words popped up on the screen.
Let's Get It On
Everyone laughed when they say when Finn had to sing. Rachel smirked to herself. She had a clear advantage in the song choice, and now she had to deliver with the actual performance.
Mr. Schue walked to the front of the room again.
"OK, Finn, you're singing Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye. Rachel, you're singing Rolling in the Deep by Adele. You have until next rehearsal to prepare. Good luck you two…"
A/N
I am planning to, after I finish this story, write a sequel, which is a five years later story. It will contain the same characters but with huge plot twists. My question to you guys is should I just tack the story onto the end of this one, or should I create a whole new one. P.M or review your recommendations.