CHAPTER 7
"So Marcus… tell us about yourself?" Mr. Schue said, in a way not so much unlike a judge in a singing show like the X Factor.
"Um… I'm Marcus." He said, his amber eyes flickering over to Blaine, Tina, Artie and Sam, the four juniors who he didn't have any classes with so hadn't met yet. Having said that though, even those Marcus did have classes with, he had hardly said a few words to.
"Man of few words." Mr. Schue chuckled as Marcus shifted from foot to foot nervously. The entire Glee club looked at Marcus, eyebrows raised. So this kid was clearly not very talkative, but could he sing? "Where did you come from? Why'd you move?"
"Uh… I'm Canadian born and raised. I lived in Vancouver my whole life with my dad." Marcus told them. "My dad and I moved here because he got a good job opportunity here. He works construction in a company that has a branch out here."
"That's awesome." Mr. Schue smiled warmly, helping ease Marcus' social anxiety a little. "Any hobbies?"
"Rugby." Marcus replied. "I've been playing practically since I learned to walk."
"Is Rugby really popular in Canada?" Mr. Schue asked him. Marcus shook his head.
"Not particularly." He responded. "Hockey, Basketball, Football, Soccer, Baseball and Lacrosse are all more popular. My dad played Rugby in college though, nearly made it onto a pro team in Europe before he got injured, so he raised me on the sport. We actually had the option of moving to Mississippi but one of the reasons he chose Lima was because he wanted me to keep playing with a club and there's a pretty good one close to Lima."
Mr. Schue nodded.
"That's awesome man." He said. "So… any formal singing or dance training?"
"Dancing… none whatsoever. Singing… I mean, does singing in the shower count because that's about it?"
Immediately, the light in the room seemed to dim slightly. The glowing, hopeful looks of the New Directions fell like a stone. They thought they had found a singer, a performer in the new kid. Instead, they had found an amateur who had never performed a day in his life. Someone to just sway in the back, unfit to take centre stage, be just another member of the background crew as Finn carried the boys' vocals in yet another Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals. Not that Puck, Sam and the others were bad singers by any means. They just lacked that little bit of extra skill necessary to take centre stage in the most crucial of moments.
Mr. Schue was also slightly disappointed to hear the answer from Marcus, but unlike the teenagers, he hid it well and smiled at Marcus.
"Alright, Marcus, the floor is yours. Show us what you've got."
Marcus nodded and took a step back so he was facing the entire group. Just before the song began, he closed his eyes and let the pain rush in. In his mind, since his mother's death, he had built a dam to block his feelings from emerging. He hadn't in any way come to terms with her death and moved on, so rather than the pain disappearing, all Marcus had been able to do was push it down, trap it deep inside his mind and lock it tightly shut. However, as he opened the dam and let that tsunami of pain, misery, heartbreak and sorrow cascade through his brain, he felt it begin to trickle down from his head into his chest, his arms, his legs, his entire body. For a moment, it numbed him, so powerful that it prevented him from even being able to move from the spot. He was filled with past memories of his mom, transported back to his childhood, feeling the great times that he had shared with her and then that excruciating pain when she had been ripped away.
A couple of seconds later, that agonising pain inside him had loosened its hold on him, just by a fractional margin, but it was enough for him to open his eyes, take a deep breath and nod to the band to begin playing…
The following song is: "James Arthur Emeli Sande Hurts"
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
Wow, the kid can sing. That was the first thought every single one of the New Directions had, despite the fact that Marcus was less than 20 words into the song. He hadn't missed a single note yet, and his voice wasn't weak or thin like they had expected of someone without any training. It was the exact opposite. Each note came out loud, clear and dripping with passion.
Hold tight. It's a sing-a-long
I'm alright, I'm alright, but I could be wrong, baby
I know you remember me
5'3 in the back of the library, come on
You could at least try and look at me
Oh man, oh man, what a tragedy, ha ha
Bang, bang, there goes paradise
Ah, shit, why we always had to roll the dice, la la
Heart beating irregular,
Two seats in the back of the cinema, hazy
Ah yeah, you're forgettin' that
And all the mad shit we did after that, crazy
Your heart's a cold November
I swear you're giving me shivers, shivers
Pain clearly seeped through Marcus' voice, stabbing at the heart of every member of the New Directions. Their eyes were saucers as they stared at Marcus in a shocked silence. They had NOT expected this. There was such pain in his voice that while he was singing the song, it was like any negative feeling he had felt in his entire life had built up to just letting it all out at that moment. It was so moving, so filled with raw sorrow and power that they believed every single word he was saying.
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Hold on it's a marathon
Run fast, run fast like the rivers run, god damn
Never seen in the restaurant
I took a minute 'til the penny dropped, you know
My tears don't fall too often
But your knife is cuttin' me deep
Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
It hurts the way
That you pretend you don't remember
It hurts the way
That you forget our times together
Like the time
Laid in bed when you said,
"It's forever, baby."
I can't, I can't explain no more
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Oh, loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
At the end of the song, as the band trailed to silence, a shock silence rang through the room, and for Marcus, that silence felt louder than a gong. That was the first time he had sung in a formal environment, so he had absolutely no idea how he did. All those years ago, when he was a kid, his mom had always told him that he had a good voice, but was really being honest or was that just his mom being a mom?
Ever New Direction was thinking something different after hearing him finish the performance. Mr. Schue was absolutely ecstatic. Although he would never openly admit it to the group as he loved them all so much and didn't want to crush their confidence, Rachel was right. The level of vocals they had with the girls was very much lacking with their male counterparts. They were missing the absolute powerhouses - the Mercedes, the Rachel, the Santana - amongst the boys, and this guy, along with Blaine's arrival, could be the answers to their problems. He clearly wasn't perfect and that lack of training was obvious when it came to his breathing, his pacing and his annunciation of some of the words. However, that was an easy fix with training. What mattered was that he had the raw talent and the emotion in his voice to rival the very top singers in the Glee club.
While Mr. Schue was thinking about Marcus' singing ability, Quinn on the other hand was still shell shocked by his performance. After her conversation with him the other day, she had spent so much time thinking about where exactly Marcus' pain came from. And although his performance just now did not reveal that, it gave her an inkling about just how overwhelming his pain truly was. During the performance, it had not only taken over him, but had also trickled onto each and everyone of them. They didn't know what he was singing about, but they knew that whatever it was, it had created a massive jagged scar deep within him, one from which beautiful music emerged.
Eventually, the New Directions got over their surprise, and they began to clap and cheer for them as loudly as they could. Marcus didn't really notice the applause or anything though. He was too busy looking nervously at Mr. Schue, his hands fidgeting anxiously in the pockets of his jacket.
"So am I in?" He asked him, nervously. Mr. Schue laughed.
"I don't know. Guys, is Marcus in?"
"YES!" A collective exclamation rang around the choir room from every member of the Glee Club. Mr. Schue grinned widely at him and nodded.
"Alright. The people have spoken, Marcus. Congratulations." Mr. Schue said, shaking his hand. "Now, take a seat. We have a lot of work to do today…."