CHAPTER 8
Finn and Chen raced to the back of the bus to grab the two seats at the very back. This was a very deserved vacation day. It was six o'clock in the morning and the boys were dressed in casual civilian clothes; each carried a small backpack with swim clothing, a towel, and toiletries. Finn hadn't been to a 6 Flags in Texas, but once the terms 'roller coasters' and 'water slides' were thrown about, he was in!
There was another reason why Finn and Chen grabbed the three seats at the back of the bus. With both of them occupied, Morrison would be forced to sit beside the next closest person he knew at the camp: Brooks.
"We have to try the big coasters, man." Chen said, pointing out the largest one on the map. "Shivering Timbers first. Then we can move onto the Wildcat."
Finn shook his head. "Corkscrew first; closer to the entrance." He pointed at the coaster on the left of the map with his finger. "Same with Zach's Zoomer."
"Whatever, dudes." Morrison looked at his watch. "It's only 6:10am and this place is three hours away." The bus had rolled out of Lackland Air Force Base and was on the road to the amusement park.
"Ugh, gross." Chen exclaimed, pointing in front of him and Finn. Finn looked forward. Morrison and Brooks were playing tonsil hockey in the Ferris wheel seat in front of them. They knew they shouldn't have agreed to go on after them, but it's just kind of how the seating ended up. They had gone around a couple of times now, and then the wheel stopped to allow the next group of customers on. It just so happened when it stopped, he was perched at the very top of the wheel.
He looked out towards the west to see the sun just starting to set across the landscape. It was a beautiful and peaceful image he was sure he wouldn't soon forget. The noise and hubbub of the amusement park was muffled by the height at which he sat. In addition, the bright colours of the various rides and booth awnings elicited happy memories from his childhood, times when his Mom had taken him to the fair. It had been such an easy time - no need to think about the future. At least now he had some kind of direction in his life.
He knew making it as a star might be beyond him, but he could learn all the ins and outs of succeeding behind the scenes, whether that be in sports or entertainment. He could be a cameraman, or perhaps an agent. Maybe he could learn enough about the technical side of music and television production to be a producer of some kind. Whichever way he decided to go, at least it was something to work towards. It was a goal. Something other than just finishing high school. Now he had his own future and he never had to face it alone.
After the ferris wheel, they walked around the theme park, and walked over to the main lawn of the park. There was a stage at the front of the lawn, with a karaoke machine, but nobody dared sing. There were about 200 people sitting on the grass, chatting with each other, and would all watch whoever was singing.
"Hey, guys! They have karaoke here at the park! That could be awesome!" Morrison exclaimed.
"Sure, if you want to hear some caterwauling American Idol rejects." Brooks scrunched up her nose at the idea, even while Morrison playfully slapped him across the arm as he held her hand.
"Hudson sings." Chen said, simply.
"Not really!" Finn corrected quickly. "And I'm not gonna sing now. Unless we put a little bet on it. Morrison, me and you. Whoever's better gets 50 bucks. Unless you're too chicken. You don't want to admit you have 'performance anxiety.' But it's okay, man. Lots of guys suffer from that."
Morrison's face and eyes flattened at his fellow recruit. "Oooh, alright, fine! Them's fighting words, my baby friend. Tell you what - I'll go sing and you do a song right after. We'll let the group decide who's best and the loser pays the 50. How's that?"
Finn grinned a bit at Morrison, who's eyes suddenly got very wide after he gulped. "Or are you not man enough for a real challenge?"
The group collectively gave a round of "ooohs" and "aaahhs" as the gauntlet was thrown down by Finn, but Marquez squared his shoulders and held out his hand. "Alright, dude. It's on."
The McKinley quarterback grinned and shook his friend's hand. Morrison mounted the stage first, and everyone on the lawn turned towards him. Morrison suddenly realised that he had 200 pairs of eyes on him, and he was tempted to step off the stage there. He saw Finn smirking at him from the audience, and forced himself to sing. How good could Hudson possibly be anyways?
Morrison picked a random song from the listen, and began to sing. He sang an absolutely god-awful rendition of Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran. He completely butchered the song - almost every note he sang was wrong. He was eventually booed off the stage after the second verse. He stepped off and walked towards Finn.
"Wow, tough crowd. Let's see how much they like you, Hudson." Morrison said as he passed Finn the mic.
"Dude, I don't even need to sing to beat you. You sounded like a donkey with fucking asthma."
Chen and Brooks laughed and Morrison glared at him playfully.
"OK, Elton John, let's see you do better."
Finn nodded. "You're about to."
Finn walked up onto the stage, and the chattering voices died down once more. Everyone was watching him, but Finn wasn't at all nervous. If anything, the Guard had taught him to be confident with who he was. The only opinions he cared about were the three recruits watching him, who would be voting. Finn typed in the name of the song the karaoke machine, and it started playing shortly after.
Sings Impossible by James Arthur
Finn's performance was out of this world. He had massively improved from his last Glee performance, as this time, he was trying to be a star rather than trying to hide in Rachel's shadow. He poured all of the emotion that he had felt in the past year into his song, and everyone could tell. The audience were all clapping and cheering during the song and at the end, he got a standing ovation. Finn smiled. He knew he had won.
"Fuck, Huddy, flash that pizza-eating grin some other fuckin' place, 'kay?" Morrison waved him away as he, Chen, Brooks and Finn sat at the park cafeteria, devouring their respective meals. Finn, of course, had completely blown Marquez out of the water in the karaoke contest.
Finn shrugged as he swallowed his bite of food. "Sorry, was I rubbing pizza- I mean salt –into the wound again?" He smiled at his friend before having another sip of his drink.
Marquez made a face at his friend. "Yeah, yeah. Fine, you beat me—soundly. Now shut the fuck up before I give you a knuckle sandwich to go with your pizza."
"Sore loser," Finn remarked, laughing. "And you couldn't take me if you wanted to."
"He's just bitter he didn't get hit on after." Chen pointed out, chuckling.
"Did you see the number of girls flocking to Hudson after his little show?" Morrison asked in amazement, saluting Finn with his drink. "If I wasn't dating Katie, and I was as good a singer as you, I would have been handing my number out left, right, and centre if I had a group of college girls offering me a place to stay for the night."
Finn could see the Brooks was a bit uncomfortable with Morrison's comment but didn't to ruin the brand-new relationship. Finn decided to help her out and change the subject.
"So, Brooks, your man bought me dinner. Are you feeling jealous?" Finn asked, smirking. They all laughed.
"Haha, no chance in hell I'd ever be with you, Hudson!" Morrison remarked. Finn laughed harder.
"That's right. I'm waaaaay out of your league!" Finn argued and they started laughing again. Suddenly, somebody walked up to their table. Finn looked up and his jaw dropped when he saw who it was…
"Good afternoon. May I please speak to the singer over there?" He asked, pointing at Finn. Finn was still speechless.
"Ummm, sure. What are you doing here? In a theme park?" Finn asked, as he got up and followed the man.
"You know who I am?" The man asked, smiling. Finn nodded.
"Of course I do. You're Simon Cowell. You're like one of the most powerful men in the music industry!" Finn exclaimed.
"I am, and I'd like to propose an offer for you. What's your name by the way?"
"Finn Hudson, sir."
"Sir? I prefer to go by Simon!" He said. Finn laughed.
"I would like to offer you an audition for my record label - Syco Records."
Finn's eyes widened. Was this seriously happening?
"Umm… sir, I'm flattered. But I'm actually under the employment of the army for this summer. And I'm only 17, so I still have senior year of high school left."
He nodded in understanding. "You know, more and more child singers are emerging nowadays," He commented. Finn shook his head.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm so flattered for offering me an audition. This has literally been like the highlight of my summer. But I wouldn't be able to sign a record deal while in school. I'm guessing I'd have to move to L.A, whereas I live in a small town in Ohio right now, and I'm really happy that way. So thank you so much for the offer, but I think I'll have to decline."
Simon Cowell was wearing shades so Finn couldn't see his disappointment. Simon was like a hound dog - he could smell musical talent from a mile away - and Finn reeked of potential. It was just unfortunate that he was so young.
"Well, I understand. But, please take my card. When you graduate, feel free to give me a call. Don't worry, I'll remember you. I never forget a good musical performance, and yours was a great one."
Simon handed Finn a business card and Finn looked at it and smiled.
"Thank you so much. You are literally one of my heroes." Finn said, and Simon smiled. They shook hands and Finn walked back to his table. Simon watched him leave. He knew it wouldn't be the last he saw of Finn Hudson. Because when Simon Cowell has his sights set on someone, chances are they sign for him. When Finn sat down, his friends looked at him, confused.
"Who was that?" Chen asked.
"Wasn't that some music producer guy I was reading about in the paper? Simon something?" Brooks asked. Finn nodded.
"Yeah, Simon Cowell. He's one of the most powerful music scouts in the business. He owns his own record company as well. He offered me an audition for his record company."
They all gasped and cheered for him.
"Dude, that's awesome!" Chen shouted.
"I rejected the offer." Finn said. They all raised an eyebrow.
"You… you what? I thought that it was your dream to work in the music industry?" Morrison said.
"It is, but I'd have to move to L.A, and I don't want to do that until I finish high school at least. It's fine though. These producers are like those girls who were flirting with me earlier: you reject one, and another comes 3 minutes later."
They all chuckled, and threw their meal trays in the bin. They started walking towards the bus, and Finn admired the breath-taking sunset. He was going on the mission in around 24 hours, so he wanted to savour the moment. After all, it could be one of his last sunsets ever.