QUESTION
Like most days, New Directions unintentionally spread out their arrivals to the choir room. So far only Jesse, Artie, and Quinn were there. Jesse because he was instructor, Artie because he was in a wheelchair and got to leave every class five minute early, and Quinn because she just felt like leaving class early. The closer she got to graduation, the less pertinent high school seemed. So really, if her teachers didn't notice her missing portions of their classes, then that was their problem.
The three waited around silently until their missing members began to file in. Puck, Lauren, and Santana were the next ones to arrive followed by Sam and Mike. Quinn didn't find herself caring until Rachel came in with Kurt and Blaine. As she had been doing over the last week or so, Quinn went off on a mini reverie. Despite still wanting to avoid everything, she really didn't see the downfall in making an inquiry on her Rachel-opinions. The only conclusion she was coming to at the moment was that noticing Rachel arriving to glee wasn't exactly something all that different or new. Except unlike in previous years, she currently did not resent the girl.
Jesse shook his head at the look he noted on his blonde friend's face. He crossed the room before sitting down next to her. "You know, this would all be a lot easier for you if you would just talk to me." He informed quietly.
She sighed tiredly. "Jesse-"
"I know, I know. There's nothing to talk about. But when there finally is, you know where to find me."
The conclusion Jesse eventually came to on how to deal with Quinn's predicament was that Quinn was not going to be left alone to deal with this. Quinn was never someone who should be left to act alone. She'd screw everything up.
"Until then," he continued, "let's talk about me. I received another splendid message from our favorite Goolsby." With Regionals right around the corner, this was something that had begun happening recently. The taunts were positively amusing thus far. "I still find it regressive of them to attempt to use my own strategies against me. It was the Corcoran era that was innovative when provoking the competition into a state of blood-draining distraction. It's insulting that they'd even attempt it. It's done nothing but motivate me more into triumphing over them all while they undoubtedly distract themselves."
"Then you should be happy about their apparent stupidity."
"Oh I am." He grinned, delighted. "It all but ensures our victory."
The conversations going on amongst the choir room ceased when the rest of their teammates entered. Tina and Mercedes came in wearing sympathetic and concerned faces while Finn and Brittany were wearing that day's slushie flavor.
Santana was the first one out of her seat. "What the hell happened?"
Finn opened his mouth to answer for her but then closed it remembering a time very similar to this. "What do you think?" He returned.
Santana glared at Finn before turning back to Brittany. She'd deal with him later. "I want names."
Brittany just licked her lips. "My face tastes like a Jolly Rancher."
Santana snapped back to Finn. "Names."
"I don't know." He told her. "It was just a couple of hockey guys."
"Are you okay?" Santana readdressed Brittany, softly now.
She nodded. "It kinda felt like I was doing a belly flop, and it was really cold, but I don't get why all of you hate this so much. It's not that bad. And now I'm like my own lollipop favor."
Santana sighed before swallowing down her anger. Brittany's innocence, though at times maddening, was so not the problem right now. Since Karofsky's departure, the Bully Whips have basically been dismantled. After today, every one of them had officially been slushied in the last week or two. It was only a matter of time before the rest of glee was as well. This obviously had all been escalading for weeks now, and Karofsky quitting seemed to finally start an all-out war. Except it wasn't fair as one side wasn't even fighting. Jesse's continued detentions have solved nothing. Neither did Jesse going to Figgins. (But really, that never helped.) The only consolation in this whole thing seemed to be the fact that Karofsky didn't go back to being Karofsky of yesteryear. So far, all he's apparently done was try and make himself invisible to everyone. Santana still didn't entirely understand this new approach of his, but she was going to respect her friend's decision; even if it did make her life more difficult.
"This is getting bad." Mercedes pointed out the obvious.
"Yeah, without Karofsky, we're totally screwed." Puck agreed.
"No we're not." Finn argued. He liked being a Bully Whip. He was like a high school sheriff. Plus, it was nowhere near as lame as being a hall monitor. "We could still do this without him. Before it was just Santana and Karofsky, but now it's all of us. Or, well, it could be if everyone joined. That might help." No one seemed enthused by this theory.
"The Bully Whips are on the What's Hot and What's Not list in The Muckraker." Artie interjected and pulled the paper out of his pocket, unfolding it. "They're under what's not." Santana quickly snatched it out of his hand and began to read it over.
"I made Jacob put you under the hot one, though." Brittany leaned over Santana to point it out on the list.
Sam frowned. The Muckraker did nothing but make fun of glee. "Brittany, why do you still work on the school paper?"
"It's fun, and people respect me. They think I'm smart."
"Well you are smart. Clearly." Santana smirked with her girlfriend, holding up the paper. Rachel took advantage of Santana's vanity and stole the paper out of the other girl's hand.
She gasped, indignant. "Regionals are under what's not. This is absolutely appalling."
"Did you honestly expect otherwise?" Kurt asked her dully.
"No. Of course not. It's just the point. I mean just look at what's on the what's hot list." She passed the paper over to him.
"Thursday's baseball game." He read. "The new laminated school calendars. The cafeteria's jelly bean jar." Kurt rolled his eyes at this one. There was currently a jar in the cafeteria that students would sign up to guess how many beans it held. The winner received free lunches for a week. Collectively, it was thought to be dumb amongst most of the school.
"That's discouraging." Blaine supplied.
Mike shook his head slowly in agreement. "A jar full of jelly beans is better than us."
"Well both proms are also on here. So not all of it is offensive." Kurt offered before handing the paper back over to Artie.
"Let's face it." Tina jumped in solemnly. "We're still at the very bottom of our school. They'll always insult us."
"Okay, and that's enough of that." Jesse presided.
"Yeah, but it's not even just our school." Mercedes complained.
"True." Puck agreed. "That Goolsby dick keeps sending me messages over Facebook."
"Wait. He's not just sending them to me?" Jesse frowned. He turned to Quinn. "That's makes me feel considerably less special."
"I think we should try and get him arrested for being an instructor and socializing with students over the internet." Artie voiced with a shrug.
Jesse's attention snapped back to Quinn again. "That's illegal?" She offered an eye-roll as a response. He found this rude.
"Whatever." Mercedes shook her head. "At least they're not as nasty as the ones we'll get if –and probably when– we lose to them. Again."
"Excuse me," Jesse interrupted, "but we're not going to lose to them."
"They're doing an Annie Lennox medley." Lauren informed.
"And we're doing the Beatles. What's the problem?"
Jesse waited for the answer that never came. He, in a completely non-hypocritical manner, sat back in his chair while rolling his eyes. Only Finn seemed to be as appalled as he was. Finn really didn't understand this collective attitude. He was excited about being given another chance to try and beat Jesse's former team. He was just upset that they didn't get to beat Jesse too.
Finn frowned at all of his friends. "So wait, you're all just giving up? This is Vocal Adrenaline. They've been the pin in our side for the last two years."
"You mean thorn." Rachel corrected him out of habit.
"Right. That. Since glee started, we've had everyone call us losers. If it's not the jocks, then it's that stupid paper," he gestured to Artie, "or Miss Sylvester or Vocal Adrenaline, and we've finally got the opportunity to beat one of them and letting our confidence get shaken now, right when Regionals are coming up, is super dumb."
Santana grimaced. "Is Finnept seriously calling someone else stupid?"
"Yes, and perhaps for the only time in his life –unless these moments cycle out like locus– he's right." Jesse stood from his seat. "As far as your own school is concerned, you all graduate in what? Less than two months? It's time to move on from high school and everyone's irrelevant opinions of you. Based on how McKinley High seems to work, New Directions could have won Nationals the last two years, and they still wouldn't like you. I suggest getting over it." He advised. "As for Carmel, well I'm not even sure why you're thinking about them. At one time –my time– Vocal Adrenaline was leagues ahead of you. That being said, we still did view you as a threat two years ago. Sure we weren't worried, but we at least thought you were going to take second. And that's when Vocal Adrenaline was actually good."
"But they're still good." Rachel argued. "They did take third at Nationals last year."
"Right which is a significant drop off given that this is Vocal Adrenaline. Besides, we scare them." Jesse informed. "They're taunting us over the internet before the competition when they should wait until after for wallowing in our hypothetical loss. Clearly they're afraid they won't be given that opportunity as they should be. Regionals will not even be a contest. Now can we please get to rehearsals or are you two terminally injured?"
Finn and Brittany shook their heads in the negative, and the group headed out to the auditorium. Quinn was sure to pull Jesse behind and talk quietly to him before following after the rest of glee.
"You viewed us as a threat?" She asked.
"God no."
"Jesse St. James: Motivational speaker."
He smirked. "I just have so many future career paths."
After rehearsals that afternoon, the next two and a half weeks passed by quickly. Regionals were still everyone's top priority, but after Brittany was slushied, Santana's focus was elsewhere. Santana wasn't one to tolerate anything, but she also knew when to pick her battles. For instance, she never hesitated when going after someone in New Directions. Glee was full of morons who continued to back themselves into corners, and Santana was always there to take advantage when she wanted to. (The only one she would never challenge again was Lauren, but no one was to ever know that little fact.) However, unlike glee, Santana knew better than to attack the idiots of this school who had any status to their names. Well, at least after she quit the Cheerios and lost her own status. Going after the assholes in this school was a losing battle since they'd retaliate and can get away with anything. So even after the few times she had been slushied, she'd just return with a verbal smackdown. It made her feel better, and there was no need to actually wage war from her side. Unfortunately for them, they crossed a line by including her girlfriend in their bullying.
Santana spent the following school day after Brittany's slushie attack plotting. Then that night she grabbed her favorite delinquent and put forward her plan. Puckerman brought along his master and Finn because apparently this was something that could be defined as bro-time. Santana recorded every possible jock's locker earlier that day even if they never participated in the bullying. Frankly, she didn't care. All she cared about was getting those lockers open and leaving them all some friendly, morning surprises. Once Lauren pushed Santana aside and used her sleuth powers she claimed Santana did not have (that arrogant bitch), most of the locks were removed. Finn and Puck did their jobs filling half of them with shaving cream. Lauren and Santana who each had a more feminine delicacy (Santana couldn't see Lauren's) proceeded to go with the superglue option and made sure several of the lockers' books were stuck together. Santana also took the time to give Azimio a special treat and decorate his locker with some premium gay porn. (She was also very pleased at upstaging Lauren in the process.)
The repercussions weren't exactly what Santana was looking for. Sure, she got her morning cackle in, but Figgins also finally got involved. (Figures.) As of now the principal had no surefire suspects, but because of who the victims were, he was leaning towards the Bully Whips which really just meant New Directions. Though all true, they found none of this fair considering the amount of times they were tormented in the past. Every Whip was interrogated by Figgins, and threats of suspension and the Bully Whips program being disbanded were given out. Jesse praised his team's bad behavior before laying into all of them about timing. He feared that a suspension would keep them from competing at Regionals which would disqualify the team as a whole. Not to mention the lecture on providing themselves with extra distractions. But that was the extent of it because luckily for them, Figgins ran an investigation about as well as he ran a school.
Quinn, of course, was the only one who cared about none of this. Well, she cared very little about this. Unlike her glee teammates, she hadn't spent the last two weeks worrying about suspensions or even Regionals for that matter. She only thought about Regionals when Jesse was near, and that was only because he wouldn't stop talking about them but what else was new? Instead, Quinn continued her unwanted Rachel research. She had continued comparing her focus on Rachel in the past to her current focus on Rachel. Then she'd go on to question everything. This was also unwanted. She could only guess how much fun Jesse would have in her head recently. It was all very tiring, and Rachel was no help at all. Like right now. The girl had the nerve to have a friendly conversation with Quinn at her locker. As if that wouldn't continue the unwanted thought process.
"-which I think is still a slight problem he's having. But it's not exactly like I can talk to him about it. Blaine prides himself on his talents as a stage performer. He wouldn't want to hear about my theory on his possible two left feet. He's done a very good job at hiding his occasional problems in dance." Rachel babbled on until her friend's lack of attention was too much to talk over. This had been a common occurrence as of late. While trying to converse, Quinn's mind seemed to be elsewhere from the present conversation. It's gone from being a bother to being a concern. "Quinn?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay? You've been quiet lately."
"…Yeah." She drawled out. "I've just been tired."
"Oh." Rachel responded shortly. And now Quinn was obviously being less than truthful with her. Well there had to be a very good reason for doing so, right? Friends don't just lie to friends unless there was a purpose behind it. "I recommend drinking some chamomile tea and getting a good night's rest. Regionals are this weekend, and we need everyone to be at their best. This is very important, Quinn."
"I know." Quinn snapped, shutting her locker. "Sorry. Jesse's just been extra redundant of that fact."
"Well that's because it's true, but we should also try and have some fun." Rachel put an encouraging smile on her face. "Regionals are exciting."
"Yeah, I guess."
Personally, Quinn was still waiting for one that was emotionally uneventful. The first year she was busy going into labor and having a baby. Then she was attempting to keep Rachel away from Finn. (Or maybe it was the other way around. Who knows?) This of course only led to upsetting conversations. And now she was questioning her entire identity all because of an idea her faux therapist tried putting in her head. Yeah, not exactly what a girl wants.
When in a competing show choir, each competition is understandably more exciting than the last. Or at least they should be. Nationals are a trip to New York City while Sectionals are just a short bus ride. Regionals were a weekend at the nearest city with the largest population. Normally, it was a very long bus trip followed by checking into a hotel for the night and then driving home the next morning. However, because McKinley had no money and an even tighter principal, all New Directions's Regionals were, was just two excruciatingly long bus rides. They had the fortune of driving down to Dayton, spending the competition day down there, and then having to drive back that night. Thankfully, Jesse was confident that they will win so the ride home should be something of a celebration. He didn't want to think about the type of ride a potential loss could lead to.
After their headache inducing bus ride to Dayton (No really. New Directions should never be allowed to be contained in such a small space together for that long of a time.), Jesse checked in with the Regionals's show runners. While his glee club was busy finding bathrooms in order to change into their competition outfits, he was busy signing everyone in. New Directions was given the second spot in the competition. Personally, he always preferred the closing spot since going last generally proved that whatever team he happened to be a part of at the moment was best. But he supposed the middle spot will do.
"Jesse St. James."
Jesse paused in his walk and spun back around. Oh, yay. He had been waiting for this. "Dustin….Gooby was it?" He put on a nice, fake frown.
"Goolsby."
"Ah. You think with a name that ridiculous I'd remember."
Goolsby ignored him. "I've been looking forward to this moment."
"Really? This moment? Right now? Seems like an odd choice given all the moments you could possibly have."
"Yes. Always a pleasure to meet someone in the Carmel family." Goolsby mirrored Jesse's fake smile. "I just want to wish you luck. I'm greatly anticipating your set today."
"As am I. I'm sure Moonlight will be magnificent."
"Sunshine." He corrected.
Jesse just turned to look toward the nearest window. "Yes, we do seem to have a lot of it today, don't we?" He faced Goolsby again, smile still plastered onto his face. "How gracious of the Gods on such an important day like this."
"I hear you're doing the Beatles. We have a spy at your school." Goolsby quickly informed. "A little predictable, don't you think?"
"Not really. More like classic. By the way, next time tell who I presume is Jacob Ben Israel to just ask. We have nothing to hide."
"Neither do we. It's why we informed some of your members on what we're singing. We thought it'd be best to prepare them. Wouldn't want their expectations on their chances of winning to be set too high. That might disappoint."
"Mmm. Annie Lennox, correct? I imagine Shoeshine will be the main attraction. Doesn't that ever get old?"
"It got us third at Nationals last year didn't it?"
Jesse chuckled. "Yes, which by Carmel standards is still a complete failure. Because see when I left, I seem to remember it being a four-time consecutive national champion program. By golly, what happened?"
"Well maybe you should have stayed. That potentially would have garnered you more success. How is that scholarship going by the way?" Goolsby baited. Jesse, however, didn't miss a beat.
"About as well as that career of yours. Must be embarrassing to not even get roles at a local Ohio theatre. Especially when several members of the show choir you're instructing do."
"Tell me, because I'm actually confused about this, did you flunk out of college because you were simply lazy or just plain stupid?"
"I think ignorant is the word you're looking for, and it's really no concern of mine any longer. I'm young enough to try again unlike yourself. No one wants to give someone in their forties a second chance. At least not outside of a bowling league."
Goolsby tired really hard to ignore the insult on his age. He was nowhere near forty. Oh God, did he look it? "And yet look at your predecessor."
Jesse shrugged. "Last I checked critics weren't all that responsive to CROSSRHODES."
"No, it's a terrible story, but they do seem to like its stars."
"That's because Schuester and the drunk he's singing with can actually sing. Get them outside of a musical and they'll fail within a week. Not to mention, the public always likes a small town roads to riches story. Hmph, and there's the potential for yet another pun."
"If Schuester can get on a stage somewhere, then I have no doubt I'll be able to. And at least I'm good looking."
"I'm genuinely amused by the fact that someone's trying to following in Will Schuster's footsteps."
"Whatever." Goolsby changed the subject. "Regardless of what happens at a later date, we'll be winning here today. Then we can go back to Nationals and finish third, second, first. Who cares? The point is we'll be there and you won't."
"Unless we both go again." He frowned. "How did that happen exactly? Two show choirs from one state at Nationals? Sounds like cheating, and since we both know New Directions isn't smart enough to pull that off, that only leaves you."
Goolsby huffed. "Hardly. Given the pathetic tie New Directions fell into with that gaytopia school, our Regionals got moved over to another region. Indiana to be exact. We just soared right over those choirs. Disgustingly fat, they were." He shook his head at the memory. "Anyway, how about you just save us all some time and give me your club's preferred t-shirt sizes."
"Oh yes, the t-shirts." Jesse recalled. "Well some of them as you know are large. Now large is an adult size. I know by now you must be confused having to continuously shop in the children's department for some of your, heh, smaller singers."
Goolsby opened his mouth to respond before something caught his eye behind Jesse. "Oh how disappointing. It seems our conversation must come to a close. We have a third party." Jesse looked over his shoulder in the original direction he was heading. Nothing special. Just Quinn. He readdressed Goolsby who merely continued on. "Well at least it's one of your more attractive members. I can't see it being all that easy to socialize with the ugly ones."
"Still easier than having to sit down every time I want to maintain a similar eyelevel."
"I'll see you on stage." He warned and left to go do…well, something if Jesse had to guess.
He waited until Quinn finished her approach before speaking again. "I don't like him. I contribute it to the fact that we're quite relatable." He told her before pointing in the direction Goolsby left in. "Quinn, that's me in ten years if I don't achieve my goals and become nothing but a bitter man-child."
Quinn frowned, bemused. "Which if I remember correctly, is one of the reasons we're leaving after this year. Why wouldn't you achieve them?"
"I don't have a penchant for failing. Yet I've done so in three significant tries over the last year." He noticed her confusion so he went on to elaborate. "I lost my scholarship. I lost Rachel to Finn. I still couldn't get her back after she and Finn were over with."
"And you've also helped me. Every day. Whether I've wanted you to or not." She reminded him pointedly. It was a disturbing thought to question how this year would have gone without Jesse's inclusion into her life. She'd most likely be in a catatonic and detached state of mind or going through some teenaged cliché of a spiteful rebellious phase that required lots of hair dye. "If we lose tonight, we lose. It's just a high school show choir competition. That doesn't factor into next year or anything that comes afterward."
"I suppose." He agreed slowly. "However, it would mean the last eight months as far as glee is concerned was a complete waste of time."
"Well luckily there's more to a year than glee club."
Jesse observed her for a moment causing Quinn to shift slightly. "Quite the positive outlook. Especially for you. What's changed? Any life-changing epiphanies recently?"
"No, but the way I see it one of us needs to not be a pessimist otherwise we'll be in a lot of trouble."
"Hmm. And like that, our roles seemed to have been reversed. The notion is making me entirely nauseous. Wow, this is how you must feel every day."
"Yes, it's exactly like that." She joked dryly. He ignored her.
"Do you think we'll win? Honestly."
"I think that you're a much better instructor than Mr. Schue was; particularly who he was when he left us. You've been hard on us to the point where some of glee has plotted your murder, but you've also killed glee's unrealistic approach. We actually now believe in preparation and common sense. It's why things like Finn complaining about losing lead haven't happened in a while." She paused momentarily before continuing with the part he might not like. "But I also know that their show choir hasn't changed at all since last year when they finished third at Nationals while we finished twelfth. And yes, we've gotten better, but really, how good are we?" She shrugged. "If we beat them tonight, we'll know."
He thought this over before leading them back in the direction of the rest of their club. "You know a simple yes or no would have sufficed."
"Congratulations. You've all succeeded in dressing yourselves." He re-greeted his club. They didn't seem to appreciate his choice of words. "Look, we have about a half an hour before we need to be in the auditorium so, I don't know, go explore or something. Just don't eat anything. I will not have you being bloated stop us from taking first place." He glared and most of them scattered away to do...whatever. Jesse walked over to where Kurt was chatting with Rachel and dragged her away. "Excuse us." He told the boy.
"Did you need my help with something?" She asked once they came to a stop.
"No. Just wanted to talk." Jesse clarified before looking around to see how close the rest of his club was. The closest ones were Kurt and Mercedes in a conversation and Santana and Quinn listening to whatever Brittany was telling them. Quinn was also clearly paying attention to Jesse's own conversation. It was too easy sometimes. "So are you ready?" He looked back down to Rachel.
"Jesse, I'm always ready to be on stage."
"Of course. How foolish of me to even ask." He laughed momentarily. "Not to place any unnecessary pressures on you, but you do know that your performance is very crucial to whether we win or not, correct?"
She frowned. "Isn't it always?"
"Yes. I only felt like reminding you."
"Are you worried we won't win?"
"No. Not necessarily." He just wasn't a 100% sure that they'll win anymore either. More like 90%. Quinn was terrible at building confidence.
"Then why-"
"Quinn's in a good mood today." He interrupted as he continued to keep a watchful eye on the blonde.
Rachel looked on confused about his possible purpose for bringing this up. "So I've noticed."
"I imagine that won't be the case for much longer. Period of calm before the storm." He sighed, wistfully. "She's held out much longer than I originally gave her credit for, but it's clear her pretenses will drop soon and for once I don't really know how she'll react. Worst case scenario, she'll probably go on a warpath. So just a heads up."
"Jesse, what are you talking about?"
"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. But let's not worry about that today. Because today is about winning Regionals." He smiled. "We're counting on you to lead the charge in crushing Sunshine and her team of underachievers. Which incidentally is mostly her fault. Actually, I think we should thank her and Goolsby for our future success."
"I don't want to crush Sunshine. She's…nice."
"You only like her because she's the only person your age what has ever been shorter than you."
"Well I don't like her per se…I just, I feel sorry for her. And I did outwit her that one time which I still feel the need to make up for."
"Whatever, just don't try and make up for it by being less than your stellar self on stage. Honestly Rachel, that type of attitude will get you nowhere in show business."
"So I should just lose all of my morals and kindness?"
"When coming to the competition, I'm surprised you still have them."
"Well I'm sorry that not all of us enjoy throwing eggs at people."
Jesse winced. "Ouch."
"Deserved." She returned, playfully. "Now if we're finished here, I think I'll go take advantage of Quinn's apparent good mood."
"I'm sure she'll love that." He called after her. Well at least he'd have something to watch for the next twenty minutes or so. He was already bored with being here.
Aural Intensity went on first. Jesse had no real desire to watch their performance, but he noted that their medley was of the doo wop era so really, there was no reason to pay attention. No, this competition was going to come down to the only two show choirs he was ever attached to. Based on just what he saw last year at Nationals and his knowledge on how far New Directions has grown this year, he knew that they were currently better than Vocal Adrenaline. But at the end of the day, there was still a reputation attached to Carmel. They had actual fans that followed them to competitions. The judges knew who they were and that before last year they had won four years in a row. Even if New Directions were the better performers, he still wouldn't put it past the judges to pick national favorites over a team of relative nobodies.
Jesse was jarred into a standing applause by Quinn's elbow. He still had no idea what Aural Intensity did, but he'd clap for the fact that it was over with. New Directions was given their intermission, and Jesse opted out of giving them an actual pep talk. Instead, he used his verbal skills as a manipulator and flattered them by claiming they were too prepared for a pep talk. Because the majority of New Directions liked to have their tiny egos stroked, it worked. Jesse then returned to his seat in the audience moments before the curtain rose for "Yesterday."
On stage, Kurt sat in the middle while the rest of the boys sat in a row with him; Puck, Mike, and Artie on his left with Sam, Finn, and Blaine on his right. Kurt sang it beautifully with the boys backing him. Sam made no mistakes on his guitar, and the only real criticism Jesse observed was Kurt sharing a few tender looks with Blaine every once in a while which just no. New Directions had to learn how to ignore their significant others while performing. It was okay to share those types of moment with anyone you're on stage with. Why, Jesse used to do that with most of the girls on Vocal Adrenaline. And yes, while he had relations with a few of them, he didn't just single them out to be obvious. He shared in his eye sex.
When "Yesterday" finished, they were given a nice applause which left them extra time to reorganize the stage. The opening melody of their mash-up began as the girls came on stage and every pair who was meant to be at a stool became situated. Mike and Quinn shared the back row with Kurt and Lauren and Finn and Santana. The next row had Sam and Mercedes, Puck and Tina, and Brittany and Artie at a diagonal in front of each back row pair to ensure every stool would been seen by the audience. Blaine danced Rachel over to their opening positions in order to start singing.
"I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together." Blaine began as the choreography started up behind him and Rachel. Really, Jesse thought he'd outdone himself this time (provided Blaine pulls this off and putting him as Rachel's lead wasn't a giant mistake). He wished he had a clear view of Goolsby's face.
"See how they run like pigs from a gun. See how they fly, I'm crying." Blaine spun Rachel away before bring her back to him. "Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday. Man you've been a naughty boy. You let your face grow long." Blaine left Rachel where she was before going on to sing out to the audience. "I am the eggman. They are the eggmen. I am the walrus. Goo goo g' joob."
The song shifted, and Rachel came back up behind him. "Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been. Lives in a dream. Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?" She spun away from Blaine again and went into the chorus. "All the lonely people. Where do they all come from?"
"I'm crying." Blaine's voice reentered, and he sang with Rachel. "I'm cryyyyying."
"All the lonely people. Where do they all belong?"
The music changed again toward the end of Rachel's chorus and entered into the somber while eerie portion. The chorography of everyone else slowed, and the stools were subtly moved towards the sides of the stage where everything continued as practiced.
"I'm crying."
"What does he care?" Rachel's lyrics retorted.
"See how they snide, I'm crying." Blaine continued. "Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun."
"Nobody came." Rachel's voice overlapped his.
"If the sun don't come, you get a tan from standing in the English rain."
"No one was saved."
Rachel and Blaine continued to rotate through their mash-up. Toward the end of the song, the stools were forgotten and out of the way as the rest of the club joined in to sing the closing choruses. Instead of closing off the mash-up like a normal person would, Jesse chose to do something differently and end it by just stopping the music as one would in musical chairs. Everyone in New Directions froze mid-movement and stayed in that position for a couple of seconds before a very family piano tune began to be played. As "Let It Be" opened, everyone slowly walked to their assigned positions on the stage's risers forming a pyramid of sorts with Blaine, Artie, and Rachel in the bottom row. Artie sang the opening lines with Rachel later joining into the song. When their time on stage was finally over with, New Directions were given a strong applause before everyone entered into the next intermission and waited for the final set of the night.
Vocal Adrenaline did indeed go with Annie Lennox. They opened with "Love Song for a Vampire" before going into "Walking on Broken Glass" and finally closing it all out with "Cold." The littlest amount of Sunshine to ever be documented of course led all three numbers. She stood at a microphone while the rest of their show choir did all the hard work behind her. Jesse wished he had foreseen all of this. He would have brought a state of the art video recorder. All he had to use was his phone which left him with a recording of poor quality. Still, it was more than enough to email to Shelby. He needed to share his amusement of Vocal Adrenaline's downfall with someone, and no one in New Directions would understand why this was so very funny. The wretchedness was absolutely hysterical.
When Vocal Adrenaline was given their final round of applause, the host (or whatever that woman was) announced that the judges would be going into their back room for the final intermission to make a decision on who the winners should be. It was all very much like a bad game show. Anyway, like every year, the three competing show choirs were guided backstage so they could eventually go back out and receive their placements. While every performer always put on their best showfaces on stage, it was a completely different story behind the curtains. Also like every year, the hateful glances and surging tension rolled around between choirs. This was the part that was very much like a bad reality show which of course meant that it was a guilty pleasure everyone enjoyed being a part of.
Jesse wandered away from New Directions briefly as he saw an opening to spark some drama. He walked up to Sunshine and greeted her with his splendid, not at all condescending, smile. "I just wanted to tell you that as my successor, you were not at all embarrassing. No, really. Seriously. I'm not lying. Completely honest. 100%."
"Oh, um…thank you?" She frowned.
"Can I help you?" Goolsby stepped over to them. And here comes the drama.
Jesse kept up his faux innocent grin as he focused in on the other man. "Oh no, I was just congratulating your little, little star of her top notch performance tonight. It was truly lovely. Not at all infantile."
"Leave." Goolsby directed his singer, and Sunshine immediately followed orders and headed over to the rest of her team. He turned back to Jesse. "Cut the crap. You liked out performance about as much as we liked yours which says nothing."
"Perhaps, but really it's what the judges liked that actually matters. And they won't choose you over us. We were," he searched for the word to cause the most damage, "extraordinarily better. Good luck next year, though. Ciao." Jesse smacked him lightly on the shoulder in what would look like a friendly gesture before heading back to his club.
Goolsby followed after him. "It's actually quite adorable that you're so sure you've won."
"I don't see why. I only gloat if there's a reason to." Jesse frowned, thinking it over. "Of course, then again, there always does seem to be a reason to."
"If I felt like sparing even a small portion of my vast amounts of energy, I'd pity you and your naivety." They came to a stop in front of New Directions. "Your club will never be more than a one-time, Ohio winning show choir. And even that's arguable."
"I think we should all send them postcards when we get to New York, what do you think?" Jesse looked over his shoulder.
"I want mine to say: 'Having a nice time. Glad you're not here.'" Kurt mapped it out in front of him with his right hand.
"Or what about, 'I heart NY. Sorry you lost.'" Finn offered.
Rachel shook her head. "That's too polite."
Mike tilted his head in mock-thought. "I'm going with a nice 'Sucks to be you.' one."
"Or like, 'The amount of songs we're singing is directly proportional to the amount of sex we're having.'' Santana smirked.
"Except for the part where half of our club is filled with prudes." Puck reminded her.
She traded her smirk for a scowl. "Ugh. Why are they so lame?"
"Go one. Continue to laugh now. I'll be more than happy to give a postcard that says 'I told you so.' on it." Goolsby warned them, interrupting. "Oh that's right. I can have one made that fast. While we're on stage. I won't even have to send it from New York. I'm an expert with saving on postage." He cocked his head before strutting away. Horribly intimidating that one.
Soon after, all three choirs were back in front of the audience with the pretend host saying some words before opening the envelope and announcing the winner. In the end, Regionals was actually a rather anticlimactic event. Jesse found that it was neither outstanding nor dramatic. He predicted that upstaging his former team would have resulted with an inspirational score playing in his head; perhaps everything playing out in slow motion around him. Instead, it all just felt like one, big, pleasant sigh.
The Monday after Regionals, Jesse decided to do something nice for once and threw New Directions something of a party to celebrate their victory. Granted, none of this would have taken place had it not been Vocal Adrenaline that they beat, but that wasn't important. The point was he contacted all of them in the morning and told them to come to the choir room. He (well, his parents' credit card) had purchased a variety of snacks and treats (some vegan friendly) to complete the occasion. Since they were seniors and the year would soon be over, no one was all that concerned with missing most of their morning classes. They conversed freely while listening to music (some singing and dancing along) until one by one they began to leave as it was decided at least half of the school day needed to be attended. Only Quinn stayed after every other member left.
For a few periods it was just the two of them. Jesse had struck up several conversations with her; most of them pointless but enjoyable nonetheless. Nothing seemed to be all that out of the ordinary. Quinn talked less than he did and didn't appear to be listening to some of the things he was saying, but that wasn't all that different so he just continued on.
"I think for Nationals we shouldn't try and create extravagant choreography. We won't have enough time to learn it, so I think it'd be better if we just alter the steps I've already taught you this year."
"Jesse." Quinn stopped him. "We just finished Regionals. Don't you think we might want to take a break?"
"We don't have time for a break. We had more than enough time between Sectionals and Regionals, but we're not given that luxury for Nationals. We won't be having any breaks."
"So is that what today was all about? Giving us one, final break?"
"Partially. I also just wanted to celebrate our win. Don't pass this information on to anyone, but New Directions was actually, very good this weekend. I was quite surprised. Kurt was near perfect. As was Artie given his limited abilities. Blaine was great, but we must work on his facial expressions. I don't know what that was, but that was not a showface. And then, of course, there was Rachel. I honestly can't wait to see her on stage at Nationals. This time with Finn not pretending to be her equal." He smiled pleasantly and looked over at his friend. She was not smiling. One guess as to why.
"Oh don't feel bad, Quinn." He placed a friendly hand onto her shoulder. "Rachel's voice can cause anyone's panties to drop. Even those of us who don't wear them." She grimaced so he quickly continued. "Not that I don't wear underwear. I just wanted to make it clear that I do not in fact wear, well, panties." He informed and then moved on once again. "So would you like to discuss what type of effect Rachel has on your undergarments?"
Quinn took in the small smirk he was wearing and refrained from smacking his hand off her shoulder. She knew exactly where this was heading. "No." She finally said firmly. "We're not going to do this." She stood from her chair and walked over to the piano for some space. She had enough conversations for the day.
Jesse hadn't. "Well I disagree. I think we should." He also stood but didn't approach because he knew well enough that now was not the time to crowd her. "It's about time to. I've been more than patient with you an-"
"Patient?" She snapped around. Now she was angry. "You've been patient? It was your impatience that caused all of this. This is your fault."
Jesse took a deep breath. He was not going to allow her to place the blame on him. "There'd never be an explosion if the fuse wasn't already there to light." He said as calmly as possible.
Quinn bit back her anger and desperately tried not to burst at his casual tone. It came off as belittling. "No." She repeated just as sharp as the last one. "This isn't happening." She shook her head and aimed for the nearest exit.
"So what? You're just going to internalize this indefinitely?" He challenged and at least got her to stop walking. "Why are you so opposed to being happy?"
She turned back around. "I am happy."
"Really?" Jesse looked on incredulous as he took in her fury-tears. Those were the ones he was privy to several times over the last summer; never meant anything good. "This is you happy?"
"Yes." She nodded once. "I finally have friends. I'm getting out of here next year." She continued searching. "I have a pet."
"Well then, you certainly have me convinced." He joked. "What's your stance on the matter? Have yourself convinced? Do you honestly, without any possible doubt believe you're happy?" He asked seriously this time but didn't expect to receive an answer. "You want to know what I think? I think you're afraid to be happy. God knows why." He took a small step forward to test the waters. "It's not uncommon. Questioning your sexuality." He watched as she swallowed, looking away. Why she tried to keep composure in these situations was beyond him. She always lost it in some way. "It's the same as questioning your beliefs or decisions. Not everyone knows themselves through and through; particularly at our ages. I mean, I'm an exception, but that's not the point." He waved off. "It's okay to try and figure out how you really feel about Rachel. Just like it's okay if your feelings turn out to be a some new, passing perio-"
"They're not." She choked on her words as the tears would no longer stay at bay.
Jesse slowly approached her now as it was finally safe to do so. "What?"
"They're not new."
"Okay." He pulled her into one of his disease-curing embraces.
He wasn't sure how long they stood there, but it was as long as it took for Quinn to stop crying and get her breathing back to normal.
"How long?" Jesse finally broke the silence.
"I don't know." She reached up between them to swipe at her final tears. "And I don't want to talk about it."
"I think it's safe to say you have to."
Quinn pulled back slightly. "Why do you want to do this anyway? It's not like you don't feel anything for her."
"Precisely. I'm the perfect person to talk to about this as I completely understand what you're feeling." He paused. "At least in one facet."
She leaned back against him. "I hate this."
"I know."
Jesse had no idea if Quinn was going to say anything further at the moment, and he'd probably never find out considering they were interrupted. As it was the middle of a period, the hallways were quiet, and it was quite easy to hear giggling girls approaching the door. Quinn immediately moved away from him and began wiping at her face. He refrained from telling her that it was most likely useless.
"Hey, music man." Mercedes greeted, still laughing as she came through the door with Rachel. Rachel, on the other hand, lost her smile. "We were just wondering if any mini cupcakes were leftover."
"What's wrong?" Rachel walked past her companion and over to the room's occupants. It was then Mercedes took notice that it wasn't as happy of a room as it was that morning.
Quinn, meanwhile, just tried to make words come out in order to answer Rachel's question.
Jesse decided to cut her off before she could attempt a real response. "Quinn found out I stole a twenty from her purse. She's terribly upset over my abrupt betrayal of her trust."
Rachel frowned at his random explanation before choosing to just ignore Jesse all together. "Quinn-"
"I'm fine." She found her voice. Rachel, however, didn't like this answer and would have told Quinn as much had Jesse not interrupted her again.
"Yes, and I actually need to take Quinn home now so if you ladies can get word out that there will be no glee today, that would be great." He smiled like nothing was going on before he lost his grin and looked back to Quinn. He reached into his pocket and held out his keys. "Go wait in my car?"
Quinn stared at him, unblinking for a moment. She didn't enjoy being treated like a child. He could have just asked for a moment with Rachel. So she rolled her eyes and harshly snatched the keys out of his hand. Jesse only smirked. Leave it to Quinn to never lose the attitude.
After Quinn was out of the room, Rachel immediately turned to the one left with answers. "What happened?"
Jesse just held up a hand, slowly shaking his head. "Can you do me a favor?" He asked instead. She didn't appreciate the rejection but nodded anyway. "Just clean this up," he gestured to their morning party mess, "and I'm sure Quinn would appreciate you being discreet with the rest of the club." He gave a subtle tilt of the head in Mercedes' direction, and Rachel nodded again. "Thanks."
"Whoa." Mercedes mouthed once she and Rachel were alone. "So what do you think that was all about?" She walked over to the other girl.
Rachel shook her head. "I have no idea." But she was definitely going to find out. She was done with Jesse's vagueness.