CHAPTER 14

It was Bella's first day at McKinley High School, and she was nervous. She had not been to a school in the States since she was 7. After that point, she went wherever her dad's job took them. She walked into the principal's office, and a south-east asian man was sitting there, waiting for her. Deep down, Bella was uneasy about being alone in a room with a man from that region of the world - not for any racist reasons - but because the men who had captured her, and shot at her and Hudson, were all from that area of the world. She knocked on the door and he looked up and smiled.

"Ah, Ms. Dawson. Please come in!"

She nervously walked into the room and sat down opposite the man.

"So here's your timetable. I have one of my more responsible seniors taking you around today. He should be here at any moment."

Bella nodded. The working story about her reason for transferring was that her dad's work transferred them here. Nobody suspected anything. She didn't want to be cast out and considered a freak, just because of what happened to her over the summer. A couple of minutes later, a short boy wearing a Marc Jacobs sweater walked into the room.

"Ahh.. Ms. Dawson. This is Kurt Hummel. He'll be taking you around today."

Kurt and Bella shook hands. Kurt smiled at her comfortingly and she felt a little less nervous. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad. Kurt and Bella left the room moments later.

"So where did you transfer from?" Kurt asked.

"Ummm… New York." She replied. She knew enough about NY to be able to get through a conversation as she was born there and lived in Brooklyn for the first 7 years of her life. Kurt's expression changed to a wistful one.

"I've always wanted to live in New York." Kurt explained. "I want to be on Broadway in the future, so I want to go to college there."

Bella nodded. "Well there are some great colleges there. But I want to get into colleges on the west coast. As much as I might love singing, I want to be a journalist."

Kurt nodded, and they arrived at Bella's locker a few moments later.

"So this is your locker," Kurt said. "This used to be my brother's locker."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Oh my god, did he…" She trailed off and Kurt realised what she meant.

"No! He just transferred, that's all."

She laughed. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. Kurt laughed too.

"It's fine. Wait, you said you love singing?"

Bella nodded.

"Well, you should join our Glee club! We desperately need members, and trust me, you'll love it!"

Bella thought for a moment and then nodded. "Sure, do I audition or something?" She asked.

"Well, technically yeah. But we need members badly so you'll probably make it. Just come to the auditorium at 3pm today."

Bella smiled. "I'll be there."

Meanwhile, Finn was walking into Dalton Academy for the first time as a student. He had visited a couple of times when Kurt was a student there. It was definitely a lot more formal than McKinley. He was immediately greeted by Blaine - Kurt's boyfriend.

"Finn! How's it going, man?" He asked. Finn smiled at the boy.

"Pretty good. Excited to be here."

Blaine nodded. "Well, come and audition for the Warblers right now. But I should tell you, because the old leadership graduated, we decided to change the choir from acapella to just a regular show choir. Acapella was too difficult and it took too long for us to complete a piece."

Finn nodded.

"Yeah, so we have rehearsals now. Come try out." He said. Finn nodded and followed the shorter boy through the school. Finn was amazed at how big the campus was. The chandeliers, marble staircases. He could easily be in a palace right now, he thought. Finally, they made it to the auditorium, and they stepped inside.

Finn was blown away. The auditorium was incredible, complete with state-of-the-art technology, 500 seats, and impressive lighting and sound systems. The Warblers were already there, and looked up as Finn and Blaine entered.

"Guys," Blaine said. "This is…"

"Finn Hudson." A brunette guy, Finn's height but not nearly as built, said. "You were the New Directions' male lead, right?"

Finn nodded.

"Are you here to spy or something?" He asked. Finn shook his head.

"No, I swear I'm not. I had a really rough junior year in McKinley, and a pretty bad summer break too, and when I got a full scholarship to Dalton Academy, I couldn't refuse."

He nodded.

"I'm Sebastian by the way. Blaine, Hunter and I are the leaders of the Warblers. So you want to audition, right?"

Finn nodded once again.

"OK, Finn, take it away." Another guy - Hunter - said, pointing to the stage. Finn walked onto the stage and stepped up to the microphone.

Sings Listen by Beyonce - Dalton Harris X Factor Cover

At the end of the song, everyone was on their feet, cheering and clapping. Finn stepped off stage and was immediately embraced by the Warblers.

"Finn, that was incredible! You're definitely in the group!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Yeah, I feel like the 4 of us can become the next boy band." Hunter shouted. Sebastian, Blaine, Finn and Hunter high fived each other.

Finn smiled and modestly accepted their praise. He let out a sigh. He had escaped the drama of McKinley, but he knew he was going to miss them. However, the person he missed most was that girl he met in Bangladesh. He didn't even know where in the world she was. But she was safe, and that was all that mattered.

"Hey guys," Kurt said as he entered the auditorium in the afternoon. Everyone waved at him.

"Hey, Kurt! How was your summer?" Mr. Schue asked.

"Pretty good." Kurt replied.

"Where's Finn?" Rachel demanded. Kurt sighed.

"Did he die?" Puck asked.

"Did he get shot?" Mercedes asked. Mr. Schue looked very confused now.

"I'm sorry? Getting shot? What?" He asked. The Glee club then realised that Mr. Schue had no idea about Finn's crazy summer.

"Umm… Mr. Schue, Finn didn't tell you?" Mike asked.

"Tell me what?"

"Finn, he… he joined the Air Force National Guard for the summer. He was deployed about a month ago." Kurt explained. Mr. Schue's face paled and his jaw dropped.

"Well, is he…" Mr. Schue asked, gesturing to Puck. Kurt shook his head.

"No, he's not dead. He came close. He got shot twice and stabbed twice. He was in a coma for the past 3 weeks. But that's not the reason he's not here. After everything that happened last year, Finn decided to transfer to Dalton Academy. He got a full scholarship so he's gonna be in the Warblers for senior year."

Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor. Finn was gone. The heart of the male vocals - hell, he was the heart of the whole Glee club - had left to one of their rival Glee clubs.

"Well, that's just great," Quinn remarked, annoyed. "Kurt, your brother and your boyfriend are literally gonna be the downfall of the New Directions."

"Yeah, damn it, Kurt!" Puck joked, laughing.

"How is that my fault?" Kurt cried, indignantly.

"Yeah, it's not Kurt's fault." Sam said. Everyone turned to him. "It was Rachel's."

It was Rachel's turn to be offended.

"The hell did I do?" She demanded.

"Well, if you hadn't cheated on him, you two might still be dating, and he never would have left." Sam pointed out. Rachel looked close to tears, as she knew that Sam was right.

"Guys, ENOUGH!" Mr. Schue shouted. They all turned to him. "Look, all we can do is focus on the future, not dwell on the past. Trust me, I want Finn back in McKinley as much as you do. But he isn't here anymore. We need to find a new member if we want to compete in Sectionals."

Kurt looked up. "Umm… Mr. Schue I might have someone."

"Who?" Mercedes asked, astonished. "Who would be so stupid that they join the Glee club?"

"A new kid." Kurt laughed. "Her name is Bella something. She came from New York. I told her to come to the auditorium at 3, so she should be here any minute now."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Bella walked into the auditorium. Mr. Schue smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Bella." She said, and shook his hand.

"William Schuester. So are you interested in trying out for the Glee club?"

She nodded.

"Great, just sing anything you want so we can gauge your musical abilities."

Bella smiled and stepped onto the stage. She briefly spoke to one of the band accompanists and he nodded. He took out a guitar and Bella walked up to the microphone.

Sings Written in the Stars - Ella Henderson X Factor version

At the end of the song, everyone clapped loudly. Bella was undoubtedly a good singer, but she didn't quite fit the Finn sized hole in their Glee club.

"So what do you think? Am I in?" She asked, nervously.

"Girl, you were awesome!" Mercedes exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're so in!" Brittany said.

"Well, don't get me wrong, you were great, and you're definitely in." Puck said. "But we have so many chicks in the Glee club."

"Women, Puck. Not chicks." Tina reminded him. Puck rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," He continued. "With Finn gone, we have no good male singers. We need a dude!"

Mr. Schue sighed. "You're not wrong. We do need guys. But we also need 12 people if we want to compete in Sectionals. Kurt, keep trying to convince Finn to come back. But Bella, welcome to New Directions!"

She nodded and sat down in the seat that used to be taken up by Finn. Mr. Schue sighed to himself. They needed to get Finn back if they wanted to even stand a chance at Nationals. Right now, they had absolutely no male vocals. Puck and Sam didn't have what it takes. Only Finn did.