CHAPTER 2
Shuffle, hop, tap spring, tap step, step.
Shuffle, hop, tap spring, tap step, step.
Shuffle, hop, tap spring, shuffle, step, shuffle, step, shuffle, ball-change.
"Alright ladies," Sue Sylvester shouted into her megaphone over the sound of heaving breaths, "That's all for today. Primas, start warming up for after-school practice."
Kurt wiped the sweat from his forehead as the rest of his class rushed to grab a drink of water. Their Wednesday Tap lesson was one of his favourite classes, but damn it was hard. He was a Prima, not a tapper. His body was a temple made for pointe and pirouettes, not for time steps.
Kurt made his way to the bench to grab his water bottle, ready to retire his tap shoes for the day, when the sound of the studio door opening echoed through the room. Everyone's heads snapped to the door (because no one ever dared to disturb Sue's lessons), and Kurt instantly recognised the man walking into their sacred space as Will Schuester, a Music Programme teacher.
"Is that allowed?" Brittany whispered to Kurt as the quiet whispers of the class carried through the studio.
"To what do I owe the displeasure?" Sue asked, her arms crossed in anticipation.
Will smiled amicably at Sue, before turning to face the whole class, "Could I have everyone's attention please?"
Instantly, the murmuring died down, save for a couple of still-out-of-breath dancers. Kurt eyed the teacher warily, sitting down on the bench in anticipation.
"As I'm sure you all know, there isn't much funding for the Arts in America right now, despite us being very fortunate with being able to do what we do here," Will began, repeating the speech he'd prepared for every single class he'd spoken to this week, "Unfortunately, the school is no longer receiving the same amount of funding as it used to. And so, we're turning to different options... Such as the annual National Show Choir Competition."
Instantly, everyone began talking and gossiping. Santana raised her hand, effectively silencing her classmates.
"Hold up," Santana announced, lowering her hand, "Please don't tell me you just waltzed in here to recruit people for a Glee club."
"We're better than than," Quinn added, standing next to Santana, "Plus, we have college auditions coming up-"
"Rehearsals wouldn't interfere with that," Mr Schue interrupted, a friendly smile on his face, "In fact, I'm sure it would give you an edge in your applications. Something that makes you stand out."
If they did win another National title, Kurt was sure it would give him an extra push for his Juilliard application.
"I don't know why you're trying Will," Sue sighed, almost mockingly, "My kids are dancers. You know what that means? That means they're mass-murder machines ready to destroy anything in their way. They're not fit for Show Choir."
Brittany nodded seriously alongside Sue.
"I'm leaving the decision up to you guys," Will continued, ignoring Sue, "I've attached a sign-up sheet to every Programme bulletin board. We want to have as many people on board as possible. It doesn't matter if you're an actor, singer, artist or dancer. I'd love to have as many of you at the auditions as possible. Auditions will take place this Friday for those of you interested, and-"
"Alright, that's enough," Sue interrupted him, waving him off, "Get going before the stench of your hair gel pollutes the room."
Will smiled at the class once more before making his way to the door, "Three-thirty in the auditorium on Friday, guys!"
With that, Will Schuester left the studio, murmurs instantly erupting in the class.
"Enough!" Sue shouted in the megaphone, silencing everyone, "If you're not a Prima, get out. Primas, I want you at the bar. I want to see the best tendus from all of you."
Everyone rushed to the ballet bar, apart from-
"Sandbags, Porcelain, Little Miss Peroxide and Tweedle Dumb; not you," Sue beckoned, waving them over, "I need to have a chat with you."
The quartet looked at each other fearfully before obediently making their way to Sue.
"I'm scared," Brittany whispered to Kurt.
"So am I," Kurt whispered back as they approached Sue.
"So," she began, "You four are my star dancers. Literally, you four are the single best dancers in this whole school. Which is why, I want you to sign up for the Glee Club."
"What?!" Santana and Kurt exclaimed.
"Not to join it but to sabotage it," Sue rolled her eyes, "I've never liked Will Schuester, and the fact that he tried to get my dancers to feed in whatever perverted fantasy he's got going on is unacceptable. Thats why I want you four to infiltrate the Glee Club and make sure they don't win Nationals."
"But Coach," Quinn tried to argue, "We have auditions coming up and-"
"I will write each of you an indisputable, irrefutable, glowing recommendation letter for any school of your choosing."
Kurt's heart could've stopped. Sue Sylvester never wrote recommendations. Seriously. He'd heard that the last time she wrote one, it was for Obama's presidential campaign. Needless to say, a recommendation letter from Sue Sylvester would get him into any school he wanted.
"I'm in," Kurt nodded, already designing his dorm for Juilliard in his mind.
"You've always been my favourite Porcelain," Sue grinned, "Any others of you want to be winners? Or will Ballet-boy Hummel be the only one of you ever to get anywhere in life?"
"We're in," Santana shrugged, crossing her arms as Quinn and Brittany nodded.
"Excellent," Sue nodded, "You will report back to me following your audition. Now, go make yourselves useful and get stretching. I want to see you leap ten feet into the air with those jetes."
"Can you believe it?" Rachel beamed excitedly to Blaine that Thursday lunchtime, taking a seat at their now-usual table, "I can't believe Mr. Schue is organising yet another opportunity to showcase my talent in, and we could go to Nationals! Can you believe it?!"
"I-Uh," Blaine coughed awkwardly, "I was actually, uh, kind-of-in-a-show-choir."
Rachel paused, "What?"
"In my old school," Blaine explained, "I, um... Was kind of their lead singer. I'm surprised McKinley didn't already have one, actually."
"Blaine, this is perfect!" Rachel shrieked, grabbing her arm in excitement, "You can help me prepare for my audition! We could meet after school and note each-others solos!"
When Blaine didn't reply, Rachel pushed, "You are auditioning, right?"
"I don't know," Blaine shrugged, looking down at his shoes, "If I had to compete against my old group... I don't know how I'd feel, you know? Those guys are my best friends-"
"If they're your friends, they'll understand," Rachel explained, "We could even do a duet for the audition if you want. I can already see it actually; we'd make the perfect Tony and Maria! 'One Hand, One Heart' was written for our voices, and we could get props and-"
"Rachel," Blaine coughed, "I think I should probably tell you now that's I'm, uh... Gay."
"I know silly," Rachel sighed, "I've got two gay dads, so my gaydar is perfect. That doesn't mean we wouldn't have the perfect Tony and Maria chemistry."
Blaine sighed in relief. He wasn't afraid of coming out to Rachel, but Rachel was so intense sometimes that he didn't know if it was just her personality or her atrocious attempt at flirting.
"So," Rachel continued excitedly, "Will you audition?"
Blaine sighed, considering his options. Performing was what he loved, so why shouldn't he take this opportunity?
"Fine," Blaine sighed, bracing himself as Rachel flung herself to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders.
"We're going to kill this audition!"
Will Schuester stood nervously on the stage of the auditorium, watching nervously as few-and-far-between students filtered in to fill the rows of chairs. He hadn't had many sign-ups for the auditions, but when the clock hit three-fourty-five, he knew he had to start even if he barely had a dozen students in front of him.
"Welcome everyone!" Will smiled cheerily, "And thank you all for coming today. For the next few hours, all I truly want to hear is your voices. It doesn't matter if you're a Dancer, Musician, Actor or an Artist. If you can hold a tune, you're more than welcome into the New Directions."
"Lousy name," Kurt whispered to Quinn, who had to stifle her laughter.
"My co-judge, Miss Pillsbury, will be helping me today," Will explained, gesturing to the red-headed councillor at the table amongst the audience, "You'll be accompanied by Brad at the piano today, unless you have your own accompaniment or you'd like to play yourselves."
"Dude, did you bring a guitar?" Finn Hudson, athlete and Actor, asked his best friend, Sam Evans.
Sam shrugged, "I like playing."
"Without further ado, lets begin," Will clapped his hands, "Miss Pillsbury?"
"Yes," Emma Pillsbury smiled, reading from her list, "First up; Mercedes Jones."
For the first hour, Kurt sat surrounded by his fellow Primas as he watched the auditions. Mercedes had sung a fantastic rendition of 'Try A Little Tenderness', followed by a big-lipped boy who sang 'Billionaire', and an awkward-looking Asian goth girl who sung 'I Kissed A Girl'. She was then followed by Mike, a fellow dance-programme classmate, who simply decided to dance a ten-minute contemporary dance solo (even though Mr. Schuester had repeatedly asked him to sing), and was then followed by a boy with a mohawk who sang 'Sweet Caroline' (Kurt pretended not to notice Quinn swoon at that one).
"Next is; oh, this is a group audition!" Miss Pillsbury called excitedly, "Quinn, Santana and Brittany?"
"You guys are auditioning together?" Kurt hissed, glaring at his friends as they stood up.
"Sue picked the song," Santana shrugged, pinching Kurt's cheek, "Get ready to laugh, Lady-Lips."
Sure enough, Kurt had to contain his laughter for the whole song. Sue had picked none other than 'Say A Little Prayer' for the three girls, which he knew was hardly the right song for any of them to sing. However, they executed it perfectly, even with the cheesy choreography they'd produced.
"Thank you girls," Will Schuester beamed, ticking them off his list, "Next is; Artie Abrams."
"That was the single best performance of your lives," Kurt teased as the girls sat down, earning him a playful nudge from Quinn.
"Anything for that recommendation letter," Quinn smiled, turning to watch as a boy in a wheelchair began singing 'Dancing With Myself' whilst simultaneously playing it on his guitar.
Kurt had to admit that he was good. Actually, everyone had been good. Even Tina, the awkward goth-girl, had a good voice. Sure, not many of them blew him away, but he was Kurt Hummel. It was hard to impress him.
"Thank you Artie," Miss Pillsbury smiled, looking down at her list, "Next is... Oh, another group audition. Blaine and Rachel?"
Kurt's attention suddenly perked up. Not only was the pretty-no, gorgeous boy from Monday preparing himself to get on stage, but he was also flanked by none other than Rachel Berry, self-proclaimed diva.
"We'll be singing 'Broadway Baby' from the timeless classic Follies," Rachel beamed as Blaine handed Brad the sheet music.
And okay, they were brilliant. Phenomenal even, with their choreography and mannerisms, even down to the synchronised movement. However, Kurt wished Blaine (he'd remembered his name, thank god) had auditioned on his own so that Kurt could've heard more of that voice.
Because quite frankly, his voice was nearly as gorgeous as he was.
When the song ended, the two were out of breath and sweaty (but still gorgeous as always), and Kurt secretly found himself wishing Blaine was gay.
"Stop staring, it's bad for your eyes," Brittany whispered, Kurt deciding to ignore the snickers coming from Santana's seat.
"Thank you guys, that was incredible," Mr Schuester smiled widely, looking down at his own list, "And next we have... Kurt Hummel?"
Kurt froze. He kind of forgot he'd also have to sing.
Quinn nudged him out of his seat, and he steadily made his way to the stage, giving Brad the sheet music on his way.
"I'm Kurt Hummel," Kurt began nervously, opting to use a standing microphone, "And I'll be singing 'I Have Nothing' by Whitney Houston."
Miss Pillsbury frowned before speaking into her own microphone, "Kurt, are you aware that it's traditionally sung by a girl?"
'Yes I just said her name out loud,' Kurt wanted to hiss. Instead, he awkwardly smiled, "Yes, I'm aware."
And before he knew it, Brad had started playing.
"Share my life
Take me for what I am
'Cause I'll never change
All my colors for you..."
Kurt wasn't stupid. He knew he was a good singer, but dance had always been his priority. Besides he knew he had a ridiculously high voice, and was unsuitable for about 99.9% of all male leads in musicals. Regardless, he sang his heart out until the very last note, smiling politely as the other students clapped.
"That was... Wow," Miss Pillsbury smiled as he stepped off the stage, "Thank you Kurt. Our final audition... Finn Hudson?"
Kurt rushed to his seat ignoring the whispers of 'A countertenor?' and 'Damn, that girl was good'. He sat himself back down in his seat quickly, ignoring his friends stares.
"Hummel, I swear to God if you don't sing my future children to sleep every night for the rest of their lives, I will kick your ass," Santana hissed, and that was enough for Kurt to know he'd done well.
After the final boy had sung an okay rendition of 'I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore', Mr Schuester dismissed everyone, announcing that the first rehearsal would take place the following Tuesday after school, and that it would also include a dance round to see everyones abilities. Kurt and the rest of the Primas were the first to leave the auditorium, eager to get home after a rigorous day of training with Sue.
"See you guys on Sunday for Prima practice?" Quinn asked, because of course Sue would have the Primas train on weekends as well.
"Of course," Kurt smiled, twirling his car keys between his fingers, "See you guys!"
Silently, Kurt was hoping that Tuesday would just hurry up and get here, because he couldn't wait to hear Blaine sing again.