CHAPTER 8
"So… New Directions, I am happy to announce the very first assignment of Glee club this year. I think you guys are gonna love it!" Mr. Schue declared.
"Woah, woah, woah… we have assignments here? Like classwork?" Marcus stammered, sitting up in his chair slightly. He didn't realise this. He thought Glee club was just come to class, sing and dance, and leave. No more, no less.
"Oh yeah. Sorry, Marcus, we didn't really explain to you how the club works, did we?" Mr. Schue asked. Marcus shook his head. They really hadn't. Four people had tried to recruit him, and yet none had actually told him how it worked. They had just told him that he would meet some great people, and he'd get to sing. That was about it.
"Basically, Marcus, we compete in a Show Choir competition called the National Show Choir Championship." Rachel explained. "We start by competing against teams in our area during Sectionals. Then if we win, we proceed to compete against the best teams in the state during Regionals. And if we win that, we get to compete against the top 50 show choirs in the country during Nationals. We made it to Nationals last year so we got to travel to New York for it."
"You guys win?" Marcus asked her. Rachel's face morphed into a small scowl, and she didn't answer. Instead, she let out a dissatisfied "Hmmmph".
"That's Berry-speak for no we didn't, and it's all her and Frankenteen's fault." Santana commented. Marcus looked at her, confused.
"I'm sorry… Frankenteen?" He asked. Slightly embarrassed, Finn raised a hand and waved at him.
"Yeah, um… Rachel and I kind of…"
"Made out on stage in the middle of a number." Mercedes finished his sentence for him. Marcus couldn't help but let out a small gasp and laugh.
"No way! You jeopardised losing Nationals just so you could kiss your girlfriend on stage?!" Marcus laughed, causing both Rachel and Finn to blush furiously. "That's actually hilarious! Please do it again this year so I can see it!"
"I swear to God, Berry and Jugs the Clown, if you two pull that shit again this year…" Santana began, but both Rachel and Finn quickly raised their hands in surrender.
"We won't! We won't! We promise!" Rachel exclaimed. "Anyways… moving on…"
"Thank you, Rachel." Mr. Schue said, relieved that they could get on with the lesson, though it can't be said that he wasn't entertained by the constant friendly banter within the New Directions. After all, it was what made them the tightest knit group in the school.
"Mr. Schue, do we know where Nationals are taking place yet this year?" Rachel asked him. Mr. Schue broke out into a wide smile and he nodded.
"Rachel, I do indeed. Got the official letter last night." He responded, and a collective gasp ran around the room. "Finn, drumroll please!"
Finn, who wasn't sitting by the drums as he was sitting in his seat with the others, resorted to drumming a quick drumroll on his lap.
"This year, the Show Choir board decided to go to the place considered to be the polar opposite to Manhattan last year."
"Will there be polar bears there? Because if so, I demand that we dance with them during our performance." Brittany asked stupidly, vastly misinterpreting the definition of 'polar opposite.'
"Oh God! Nationals are in Lima this year, aren't they?" Puck grumbled.
"No. Worse. Kentucky." Kurt responded.
"Hey! I'm from Kentucky!" Sam snapped. Mr. Schuester chuckled.
"Guys! Do you want to settle down and find out where it actually is?" Mr. Schue asked them, and immediately they all silenced themselves. "So… last year it was the metropolitan, city centre Manhattan where Nationals were held, right? Well this year, they decided to switch it up. Provided we win our Regional, the New Directions are going to…"
Mr. Schue paused for a moment for dramatic effect and for a second, you could hear a pin drop in the choir room. Everyone was seated at the very edge of their seats, eager to find out where they could be travelling for their final Glee event with this group of students.
"The sunny beaches of Honolulu, Hawaii!" He declared. The room completely erupted with cheers, shouts, stomps and every other show of delight known to mankind. They were going to Hawaii! Provided they won Regionals of course. Many of them hadn't even left the state before they began the New Directions and travelled to New York, so they were certainly eager to get another experience out of state, and in the breathtaking Hawaii no less.
"Mr. Schue, we're telling you from now, don't worry about us. We're going to Hawaii for Nationals, whatever it takes." Mike said, and the entire group echoed in agreement. Mr. Schue smiled.
"That's great, you guys." He replied. "But we're not going to get even close to Nationals this year if we don't work our asses off. And that starts with us actually beginning the lesson at some point before Glee rehearsal ends."
He had a point. They only had a few minutes left of rehearsal, and yet they hadn't even started the lesson yet. That being said, Marcus would've been more than happy if they didn't have a lesson that day. He was having fun just listening and getting to know everyone and everything. Weirdly, he was actually enjoying himself in the Glee club. The people seemed nice, and singing in front of them - having not sung in so, so long - was weirdly cathartic.
"So the first assignment of the year…" Mr. Schue said, walking over the board and writing down a phrase, underlining it, and then reading it out loud. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, um… we've met, Mr. Schue." Artie remarked. Mr. Schue nodded.
"I know you guys have known each other for a few years already. But you can always learn more." Mr. Schue said.
"I'm confused. What's the point of this assignment?" Finn asked.
"You guys have seen Vocal Adrenaline, right? They're like a machine." Mr. Schue said. "Every single dance move is in sync. Not one person is even a second off, or even millimetres in the wrong spot. The way they work together in their dances… it's almost telepathic. And you know how they got there?"
"Well they train around 8 hours a day in the leadup to any competition." Rachel said. Mr. Schue snapped his fingers and pointed at her.
"Exactly, Rachel. They spend every waking moment together from dawn to dusk training." He said. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you guys have better things to do than train 8 hours a day. Which is why we need to make up for that lack of chemistry in some other way: by building a deep, genuine connection with one another. How do we do that? By getting to know each other at a deep, personal level."
"That sounds weirdly sexual." Santana commented. "And given the sexual history of this club, I feel like many of us already know each other at a deep, personal level already."
"The assignment is…" Mr. Schue continued, completely ignoring Puck's remarks. "I'm going to put you guys into pairs and in these pairs, you guys are going to sit down and just talk to one another, have an honest-to-god conversation."
"This sounds honest-to-god gay." Puck muttered under his breath, before having the back of his chair kicked by Kurt.
"After you guys get to know one another well enough, you are going to individually pick a song that you think captures the essence of the other person, and you're going to sing it for us in class and tell us why you chose it. Understand?"
There was a lot of nodding going around the room, but it was Rachel who raised her hand to ask a question.
"How are you deciding the pairs?" She asked. Mr. Schue smiled.
"Good question, Rach." He responded, before picking up a hat that was previously laying atop the piano. "In here is the name of every member of the New Directions. One by one, you're going to come to the front and pick a name. If that person is already in a group, then pick again until you get someone who isn't."
Mr. Schue then rifled his hand through the hat, shuffling it thoroughly, before walking over to the person sitting on the end of the row: Mercedes.
"Mercedes, you have the honours of picking first." He said, holding the hat out to her. Mercedes smiled and sank her hand into it, pulling out a small slip of paper, opening it and reading it aloud.
"Finn." She announced. That was decent. While she'd probably rather have one of her close friends as her partner, being with Finn was miles better than having to be with someone like Puck.
"Awesome. Next person… Puckerman." He said, holding the hat out the mohawked teenager. Puck picked out the first slip at the top of the hat, opening it and reading it aloud. He let out an audible groan before he read the name.
"Kurt." He mumbled, and Kurt's groan in reaction was very similar to Puck's. Neither were exactly best friends: two years of being in Glee together and Kurt having a stepbrother who was Puck's best friend hadn't exactly made Puckerman stop making constant jokes at the teenager's expense.
The rest of the Glee club were trying to hold back a chuckle at this, including Blaine, who Mr. Schue held the hat out to next.
"Okay, Blaine. It should be a bit easier for you and your partner to learn about one another given that you would be starting from 0 with them." Mr. Schue said. Blaine nodded and pulled out a name.
"Sam." He announced. The big-lipped blonde smiled kindly at Blaine, who gratefully reciprocated the gesture. The selection process was moving along thick and fast now.
"Tina." Mr. Schue said, handing her the hat. She pulled out a name and opened it to read…
"Brittany!" Tina said.
"Yeah?" Brittany asked, looking up from her lap. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, or why Tina had just said her name. Tina sighed. It was going to be a long few days.
"Artie." Mr. Schue handed the boy in the wheelchair the hat, and he pulled out his slip. There really weren't many people left unchosen: only around 5 of them. He originally drew Mercedes' name, however given that she was already with Finn, he had to pick again. On the second time of asking though, he drew…
"Santana." He mumbled. Santana smirked at him.
"Oh Stubbles McCripple-Pants. I already know what song I'm singing about you." She remarked. Artie put his head in his hands and groaned. He didn't know what song it was, but knowing Santana, he assumed it wouldn't be something he'd be adding to his playlist anytime soon.
There were only four people left: Rachel, Quinn, Mike and Marcus. Two boys; two girls. Three former students; one new boy. Secretly, Quinn was hoping that she'd be paired with the latter, as it would give her a chance to get to know him further and truly understand his pain so she could help him.
"Alright, Rachel, your turn." Mr. Schue said, handing her the now almost empty hat. Rachel took a deep breath and pulled out a slip. She was also hoping that she had drawn Marcus, but not for the same reason as Quinn. Rachel wanted to be paired with the best vocalist possible, and amongst the remaining three, that would probably be Marcus. Not only that, but maybe she'd even get the chance to smoothen some of his rougher notes that he hadn't yet fully tamed yet as a singer. Just like she had done for Finn and Puck.
However, as Rachel opened the slip of paper, her face fell ever-so-slightly, as she read out…
"Mike."
Mr. Schue nodded.
"Awesome. And I believe that leaves our other new member Marcus with…"
"Me." Quinn said. Marcus turned in his chair slightly so that he was facing her, and she smiled warmly at him. She was really looking forward to this actually. Not only because he was extremely attractive, but because she genuinely wanted to help him, something she had seldom felt towards anyone else before.
"Alright guys! I think that wraps up about everything I've got to say for today." Mr. Schue said. "Get to work on your assignments as soon as possible. We'll be hearing performances at the end of the week!"