Chapter 15
The weekend past by essentially uneventful, after the sleepover at Kurt's on the Friday, with both of her Dads working on the Saturday leaving Rachel to fend for herself for most of the day. She joined Blaine and Kurt for their shopping trip in the afternoon and after a few hours of heading round the shops, she had bought a couple of new summer dresses to wear for school. Blaine had announced as they sat in the Lima Bean, that his parents were going to Dalton on Monday to start the paperwork to get him transferred and hopefully it should have gone through Tuesday and he could officially start at McKinley. If she had said that Kurt was excited, it have would have been a huge understatement, the understatement of the century you could say. The boy had jumped up and hugged his boyfriend squealing happily about amazing it would be to have him in the New Directions. Rachel was happy that Kurt was, as well as the fact that she enjoyed Blaine's company as well, he really was a sweet young man and in many ways reminded her of her boyfriend. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help the selfish thoughts about how the New Directions would be better off with him joining.
To make up for having been working late that week, her Dads treated her to dinner out at restaurant in Columbus on the Saturday night and she enjoyed spending the time with them. She knew that in order to come with her to New York this summer they had would have to work later for a few months after their return, and the only real time she would get to spend with them as a family would be weekends. After their meal, they caught a show in the city and ended up returning home late at night. Knowing that James would definitely have plans with his friends that weekend, and due to her own tiredness; sent him a text goodnight instead of their nightly call.
Her Sunday passed by, as Rachel took the time to catch up on her reading that she had slipped behind on the past few weeks, lounging around in her back garden on the hammock her Dads had put up the previous summer. She got a phone call from James in the mid afternoon, and sat talking to him for a couple of hours as they shared stories of their weekends. When he told her he was lounging around outside by their pool; Rachel couldn't help but picture him in topless in a swimming costume and she was speechless for a few seconds before he snapped her out of her daydream asking how her sleepover went on Friday night. Nervously, she told him about how Finn had joined them; but she was soon thankful as he was understanding and even sounded happy when he said that he was glad they were starting to be friends again. He really was amazing with how he was dealing with that entire part of her life.
After sharing their normal goodbyes filled with "I miss you" and "I'll speak to you tomorrow" she ran inside to eat dinner with her dads. Heading up to her room after she had eaten, she sat on facebook chatting to her friends, and browsing through pictures posted on James, Matt and Lucy's profiles about their week back at school. She smiled as she saw the pictures from the Pep rally where the Scale Blazers had performed, remembering her phone call with him on Thursday where he told her how amazing it had been. The school auditorium had been filled, and there was a group picture of the Twenty odd members of their glee club with Matt and James stood right in the middle with huge smiles on their faces. Rachel spent a bit of time talking to Kelsie who was at Vocal Adrenaline, who told her about the troubles they were having finding a new director after Dustin Gulsby had been fired. She tried to be understanding of their plight, afterall she had made friends with a few of the members that had been in New York, but Rachel couldn't stop the smile that made its way onto her face as she attempted to assure her Kelsie it would all be alright.
….
When Monday came around, Kurt had offered to pick her up in the morning and the two of them were talking arm in arm through the entrance of McKinley high. They were talking about how excited they both were about the upcoming NYADA mixer towards the end of the week. They had both received a letter the previous week from the Head of the programme they had attended that summer, informing them that there would be a meet up of the applicants from the Ohio area. It would be their first chance to see some of the people who they had met that summer in New York.
As they turned down the hallway towards their lockers, and after retrieving their books they headed to their shared first period. It passed by quickly, and they had a free period next so they decided to head to the choir room and run through some vocal warm ups before the first glee club meeting later that day. As they practised, Rachel's face dropped at the sight of Jacob making his way into the room with a kid she didn't recognize carrying a hand held video camera.
"Hello Blogospehere, Jacob Ben Israel here at the McKinley High Choir room for big stake senior year" He said excitedly, as both she and Kurt looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "I'm here with Rachel Berry, humba humba, and Kurt Hummel; both of who spent the summer in New York"
"What do you want Jacob" Rachel asked with disgust on her face at the horrible way he looked at her; it made her so uncomfortable as he looked at her like a piece of meat, completely different than the way James made her feel. He saw her as more than a potentional love affair and as a beautiful girl who deserved to be treated right.
"I'm doing a feature on the Glee Club kids this week and what their plans are. Last week was the jocks and now I'm getting the latest news on you and Lady Hummels trip to New York and what your plans for the future are" Jacob replied, still eyeing her legs; and Rachel instantly regretted wearing a short summer dress for school that day. "Now, I've heard news that you two will be heading back to new York next summer?"
"I'm glad you asked, both of us will be applying to the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts…" Kurt filled in, placing a hand on her arm supportively.
"NYADA for short" Rachel added, smiling widely at the camera.
"Interesting, and can you confirm that's why you were gone from Lima this summer and you didn't return my multiple calls asking you out on a date?" Jacob spoke again looking at her with raised eyebrows. Rachel heard Kurt laugh next to her and she tried to hold the giggle in.
"Yes, we both attended a programme held by NYADA and Julliard where we rubbed shoulders with the best performers of our age and listened to workshops and talks held by nationally acclaimed teachers and experts." Rachel replied smiling widely.
"What about your plans for college and the future? Are you going to live together there?" Jacob asked, and she nodded quickly.
"Yes, we've got it all worked out….we'll get a necletic little apartment on the lower east side" Rachel spoke, and paused to allow Kurt to run over the decorating styles.
"I'll originate a role in a song time musical, win a Tony by 25" Rachel continued
"Married by 30…Legally!" Kurt said wiggling his fingers on his left hand.
"Broadway…Linkens centre west…and a tasteful HBO mini series, its all here in my planner" Rachel finished, holding up her pink notebook she had been carrying around with her since before summer had started. Her and Kurt had made the plans this summer, talking through the arrangements of them living together in New York since they both decided they would definitely apply to NYADA together. Lucy had been there with them and thought it was a good idea, while James and Matt had just laughed at the craziness of the two of them making so many big plans.
"Interesting, my blog followers will be glad to see the stars of McKinley are so forward thinking" Jacob replied, and turned to the cameraman; who Rachel saw must have been a freshmen judging by the nervous way he looked between them all. She frowned as Jacob turned back to her and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Now, what about your romantic relationships? Are you and Finn Hudson going to get back together or are the rumours of your summer fling with another man true?"
"Neither are true" Rachel supplied, smiling. She didn't want to give gossips any reason to talk about her and Finn and James definitely wasn't a summer fling.
"So the rumours you traded Finn for a more attractive man with a superior voice are incorrect?" Jacob asked, and She kept a straight face as Kurt answered.
"Goodbye Jacob, we have a rehearsal to finish" He said confidently, and watched as Jacob turned and walked out the room all the while talking into his microphone.
"That boy is so strange" She said, shuddering as he disappeared out of the choir room.
"Sure is….provides us with a bit of fame while we're in this tiny town though" Kurt replied, shrugging as the two of them returned to their vocal warmups.
….
The rest of the day passed by, and after Fifth period; Rachel and Kurt met up with Mercedes at her locker the three of them were walking through the corridor towards the choir room when Rachel heard a splash followed by a freezing cold mess on her face. The three of them stopped in their tracks, and she slowly brushed the familiar slushie facial out of her eyes and turned around to see Azimio and a few of the other football players walking away laughing and pointing at them.
"Oh my god…" Rachel squealed, as she saw that mercedes and Kurt were both covered in the same horrible mess that she was. Quickly the three of them headed into the girls bathroom where they stood at the sinks cleaning themselves off. A quarter of an hour later, after cleaning herself off as she tried to dry her hair with a towel; she was glad that her natural routine still included placing fresh clothes in her schoolbag ahead of the inevitable slush attacks she would endure. Even though they hadn't come yet that year, she knew Noah's reputation wouldn't keep them safe for long.
After cleaning themselves off they headed to the choir room, where Mr Schue had set their trophies for the last two years in the middle of the room. He was stood helping Artie get some pieces of slushie out of his hair. Sadly Rachel gazed at Finn who was scrubbing his head with a McKinley High Titans towel. It seemed that all the glee club had been targeted as they made their way to the choir room.
Settling down next to Noah and Kurt at the front of the seats, she saw that he had a surprised look on his face, his hair still wet from the slushie he had received.
"You okay Noah?" She asked, tentatively placing a hand on his arm. He looked at her and nodded.
"Yeah….sorry about the slushie facial, but Lauren broke up with me" He replied, and she wasn't particularly surprised, their relationship had always seemed a strange one. One seemily not built of any kind of affection but a mutual respect for the others badassery.
"I'm sorry Noah" She said, and he winked at her.
"Why are all of our trophies in the middle of the room?" Tina asked, and Rachel watched as put the towel down Artie had handed him and stepped forward to start their first meeting.
"I was sure that our nationals trophy would grow during the summer" Brittany remarked, and Rachel looked at her with a frown before turning to Kurt who was simply shaking his head.
"First of all, welcome back guys..." said smiling at them, before his face settled in a serious expression. "Secondly, I want this image burned into your mind. This is what the difference between 1st and 12th place looks like. Its all what it feels like"
"You planning on bumming us out all year?" Puck remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he slouched in the seat next to her.
"No, I'm planning pushing you harder than you've ever been pushed" Mr Schue's voice was determined, and it made her sit up in her seat. Rachel smiled, nodding as she gazed at him; this was exactly what the glee club needed to compete with the likes of Vocal Adrenaline, absolute focus on winning.
"We made it to nationals last year. This year we're not going to let anyone or anything stop us from winning it all. I let you down last year, I lost focus, let some broadway pipe dream get in the way" He said finishing with a sad expression.
"We're really sorry that the guy who replaced you in April Rhodes musical won the Tony…. I can only imagine your regret" Rachel said offering him a reassuring smile. They had gone to see that musical while they had been in New York that summer along with her Dads. It had been better than she had expected it to be, given the fact that April seemed to be a completely lost cause, but apparently that made excellent entertainment.
Mr Schue talked to them for a good half an hour about what his plans for the year were going to be; he wanted to improve their dance routines and include more difficult and complex moves, which Rachel thought was going to be interesting given some of the people that were in the group. While she had never had much problem with the choreography, since she had always practise three nights a week in her own home as well as taking Ballet at school, there were some that would definitely struggle. He also talked about how they would try to come up with setlists a few weeks in advance of the competiton instead of a week before. Rachel agreed with him that original songs, while a good counter to the teams they had faced at regionals and definitely given them the edge there, weren't good enough for the national competition and that had been obvious last year. The groups, including James' and Vocal Adrenaline, had used familiar songs and choregraphed amazing routines to them ensuring that they were incredible performances. While the songs New Directions had performed were good, they lacked a certain something that the other groups provided. That along with the "Superman" kiss as Finn was teased off by Santana, were the reason they lost. That led to an awkward few minutes for Finn and Rachel as they both looked at each other and then apologised to the group for that particular unscripted event.
"Now then, we're going to need some new members. We're men down, with Sam moving back home to Tennessee and Quinn's disappearance" Mr. Schue continued,
"And Zizies leaving now…she said its bad for her reputation" Puck added, and Rachel felt sorry him.
"No one will want to join, Mr. Schue" Mercedes said sadly.
"Actually, Blaine is transferring to McKinley and he will be more than interested in joining" Kurt announced happily, and Rachel was glad to see that the glee club applauded it; they had seen him perform at sectionals and regionals and they all knew that Blaine would be a brilliant addition to the glee club.
"Excellent, but we need to search inside the school; a little bit of inspiration will motivate people to join…and I happen to have some" Mr Schue said with a clap of his hands
Rachel watched eagerly as purple pianos were wheeled into the room and she couldn't help but agree with him that this was a plan that could work in their recruitment drive. The year before they had seen a few people who had been interested in their "New York" performance in the school quad. There had to be people at McKinley who couldn't help but be interested in joining New Directions once they saw how much fun it could be. Rachel was excited that they could recruit more members through this "Purple Piano Project".
…..
Over the next few days, things soon returned to normal with the jocks eager to prove that they were still above the glee club in terms of popularity. Infact, Rachel had to keep two sets of spare clothes in her lockers to try and ensure that she wouldn't have to walk around in dirty clothes.
The purple piano project had been enacted as well, and except for a few accidents that she was beginning to think were anything but, but unfortunately it didn't seem to be having much effect on things. Rachel had performed a few times around the school whenever she found a piano set aside, normally accompanied by either Kurt or Mercedes. The school seemed to be receptive to the plan, with a small crowd gathering every time to listen to them but by the Thursday no one had actually turned up to Glee Club rehearsal to audition to join.
Rachel was surprised by what had happened to Quinn, with the blonde former cheerleader apparently having gone completely insane. She had now been dressing in leather, and had dyed her hair red. It had was a completely different appearance than Rachel had been used to for the last three years of high school that she simply had to seek her out and try to convince her to come back to glee. It was obvious that something was wrong with Quinn, and despite the fact that they had never gotten along; especially with the Finn love triangle that had gone on for the best part of the time they had been in glee, Rachel felt a sense of friendship towards Quinn and her sense of the glee club has her friendly made her want to make things right.
That conversation hadn't gone exactly according to how she had hoped it would; but Rachel could see there was something in Quinn's eyes that had flashed when glee club had been brought up. There was a part of Quinn that wanted to return and go back to how she used to be but Rachel had left it after her plea; besides her new friends seemed incredibly volatile and she had been scared the would actually beat her up as they had offered.
…..
"You caused a riot?" James voice laughed down her phone.
"Shut up!" Rachel giggled as she listened to him. It was the Thursday evening of her second week back at McKinley and she was sat in her bed during her nightly call to James. Wrapped up in her quilt, she was watching the sound of music as she talked to him. She had just been telling him about their performance of "We got the beat" during lunch at school today. Rachel had convinced the glee club who had been reluctant to perform in front of the packed lunch room; thankfully Finn had backed her up and that had made her happy; over the past week they had been more friendly towards one another, spending more time talking and around each other outside of glee. There wasn't any awkwardness between them and she was settled knowing that he seemed to be content to be friends.
"How bad was it?" He asked concern in his voice. Rachel shuddered remembering the feel of spaghetti down her dress.
"It was horrible…my dress was ruined, my dads are performing an emergency cleaning operation on it as we speak" Rachel said.
"Which dress?" He asked, and she remembered the day she had worn that particular dress in New York. It had been the day that she had gone over to his Dads apartment in New York to meet his mom.
"The one I wore when I met your mom…" She replied sadly.
"Oh…I really liked that dress. You looked so beautiful that day" He replied, and she could hear the warmness in his voice; causing a smile to cross her face.
"Thank you" Rachel said her hand subconsciously rubbing her neck picturing where he would kiss her. "This whole week has been horrible, the Neanderthal jocks are starting throwing slushies again…and the purple piano project Mr Schue has us working on isn't getting any attention"
"I hate knowing you're getting slushied baby" James replied sadly
"It's not your fault, and I'm used to it" Rachel remarked followed by a sigh.
"I'm sorry, but I know how that makes you feel" He said, tenderly trying to convey comfort as best he could across the distance between them. "Whats the purple piano project?"
"Is this name of the idea Mr. Schue had for us to perform around school on these pianos" Rachel replied sighing. "Theres people staying to watch…but nobody is actually turning up to auditon for glee club."
"Blaine joined though right?" He asked, and she smiled at the sound of him trying to sound optimistic.
"He was doing that anyway, and it didn't help that that piano got set on fire…." Rachel replied, leaning back in bed.
"Things will turn around babe, don't worry about it. People will realise how amazing it will be to perform with you guys…especially you" He said softly, and she felt her cheeks blush. Even as far away as he was, he knew what to say to make her feel better.
"Thanks baby. You always know how to cheer me up"
"Don't worry about it, I just want you to be happy" He said, and she giggled. It was nice knowing that even after a difficult day at school she could come home and speak to him about her problems.
"So, how's your glee club doing? Have you had to struggle to recruit people?" She asked, letting out a breath.
"We've been lucky most of our guys were Juniors or Sophmores last year. We've only lost about three people who have graduated." He replied, and as he spoke again she heard annoyance in his voice "The only problem we have now is our Director has left"
"What? When did that happen? You haven't mentioned it" She asked, surprised that he would leave it out.
"Yeah, I've been disappointed to be honest, you'll never guess who he's been recruited by" He said with a heavy sigh.
"Vocal Adrenaline?" She offered, knowing who the team that would go after the reigning national champions club director.
"Yeah" He said "Apparently he got a big fat paycheck and a nice condo to move into"
"I'm sorry, that must be awful" She said trying to be as comforting as he had been for her. She smiled when she heard the tension fade from his voice as he replied.
"Its no your fault baby…I spoke to Jake and he insists he didn't have anything to do with it and Vocal Adrenaline didn't even know until Monday morning when he turned up at rehersal" James replied, his voice a littlemore softer than before.
"What are you guys going to do? Has the school recruited some one new?" Rachel asked
"Not yet…they're looking for the best person to replace him, the problem is he was the music teacher here so we're relying on substitutes" James said, "It's going to suck with sectionals in only a couple of weeks but we're running the Scale Blazers by committee at the moment."
"Try not to get too worked up over it, James. I know its going to be hard, but you guys are amazing and you'll do it brilliantly at sectionals" Rachel said, smirking as she knew how to cheer him up "Afterall, I'm coming to see you for sectionals so you better not lose"
She was happy when she heard him laugh, and when he spoke again she could hear the amusement in his voice; "In that case, I'd hate to disappoint you. I can't wait till you come"
"Me neither…" Rachel replied, as her smile faded. Thoughts of the separation were coming back and she didn't want to break down in tears on the phone to him. Changing the subject she forced herself to smile; "So, theres a NYADA mixer for the students that went to New York this summer; I'm looking forward to seeing some of them from the Midwest groups. Did you get one about it?"
They spoke on the phone for another hour about the NYADA mixer, and it turns out that James would be going to one as well. He asked about how her Dads were doing with work, and she was happy as he told her that his sister was coming to visit next week, and it would be the first time he'd seen her since July. A knock on her door as Leroy told her it was time for her to go to bed and she said goodnight to James before hanging up to go and run through her nightly pre-bed routine.
…...
Over the next couple of days, the glee club took an interesting change. Santana was banned from attending due to the fact she had helped in the destruction of the purple piano during Blaine's performance of its not unusual. Afterwards the rest of the new directions performed a version of the you can't stop the beat. Though she didn't see it, they had an audience with Quinn stood watching.
At the back of the auditorium, a person stood watching them with a smile on his face. As the performance comes to an end, the glee club hugging and congratulating everyone. Rachel turns around as she hears clapping, her face breaks into grin as she sees who it is.
"Who is that…?" She hears Mercedes ask
"That's Jake, he's taking me and Kurt to the NYADA mixer tonight" Rachel replied, hopping off the stage and walking over to Jake as he approached the stage.
"Hey there midget, miss me?" Jake teased as she hugged him
"You wish" She replied giggling, as Kurt walked over and shook Jake's hand.
"That's a vocal adrenaline jacket…what the hell" Finn says angrily, walking over to the edge of the stage and pointed his arm out angrily. "What's going on Rachel, he shouldn't even be here"
"Relax, I'm not here to spy on you guys" Jake smirked. "Not that's the much to spy on, you guys aren't a threat"
"That's not what you said this summer" Rachel smiled, nudging him.
"Please, I said no such thing. The only threat to us is your boyfriend" Jake teased, a sly look on his face. "You guys met him? Super cute, curly hair…"
"Alright punk" Kurt laughed. "Lets get going"
After a short while of talking to a couple of the glee club, the three of them headed to Jake's range rover that had been purchased for him by Vocal Adrenaline's boosters. Rachel had spoken on the phone to him a couple of days beforehand where he had offered to drive them to the booster considering he was in Lima to perform with Vocal Adrenaline at a charity event. They spent a while talking on the way to the centre where the mixer was being held, as they pulled into the carpark; Rachel turned the conversation to the charity event they had attended.
"How did the charity event go?" Rachel asked as she and Kurt sat in the back of his black range rover.
"It was alright" Jake smiled at them as his eyes were fixed forwards. "Our new director is a real slave driver, he's got us all working hard"
Rachel frowned, remembering her conversation with James. Kurt continued the conversation; "Dustin Goolsby quit?"
"Yeah…well he got fired" Jake replied.
"Who is your new coach?" Kurt asked
"James' old one" Rachel muttered. There was silence for a few seconds.
"Yeah…" Jake sighed, stopping the car, turning around to look at the two of them. "I'm guessing you talked to him?"
Rachel rolled her eyes at him, "I speak to him every day"
"Yeah, that was a stupid thing to say" Jake chuckled, and smiled apologetically "Is he mad?"
"At you?" Rachel asked, and giggled when he nodded. "No, hes not mad at you; he knows what Carmel are like."
"I'll call him an apologise" Jake said as they headed towards the building.
"Just don't go stealing any more people from his glee club and it'll be fine" Rachel said giggling at him as she linked arms with him and Kurt.
….