ACT 1, SCENE 1
INT. WILLIAM MCKINLEY HIGH, GYMNASIUM
THE SCHOOL GYM HAS BEEN CLEARED AND SET UP FOR A DANCE. A STAGE HAS BEEN ERECTED ALONG THE LEFT HAND WALL, WITH ROUND TABLES DOTTED AROUND A DANCEFLOOR IN THE CENTRE. IT'S ALL BALLOONS AND STREAMERS AND BAD PUNCH - LIKE EVERY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL DANCE. ABOVE THE STAGE A HUGE BANNER READS:
MCKINLEY HIGH GLEE CLUB - NATIONAL SHOW CHOIR CHAMPIONS 2012!
ON STAGE, THE GLEE CLUB PERFORMS. BUT NOT THE GLEE CLUB WE KNOW. THESE KIDS ARE DIFFERENT. THEY ALL LOOK LIKE PUNK ROCKERS, FOR ONE. OUR GLEE CLUB ARE IN THE AUDIENCE, DANCING TO:
GLEE CLUB
Four years, you think for sure,
That's all you've got to endure.
All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks,
So superficial, so immature.
PUCK IS DANCING WITH BECKY, DOING SOME TWISTING MOVE THAT HAS HER ROARING WITH LAUGHTER, AND UNABLE TO DANCE HERSELF.
ARTIE IS HOLDING COURT WITH SAM, RORY AND MIKE IN BACK, TELLING SOME STORY THAT HAS THEM COMPLETELY IGNORING THE NEW GLEE.
GLEE CLUB (cont'd)
Then when you graduate,
You take a look around and you say,
"Hey wait!"
This is the same as where I just
came from, I thought it was over,
Aw, that's just great!
SUE, EMMA AND WILL STAND SIDE BY SIDE NEAR THE PUNCH BOWL, WATCHING THE FRIVOLITY UNFOLD ON THE DANCEFLOOR. FOND SMILES ON THEIR FACES - ALL THREE.
SANTANA, BRITTANY AND SUGAR ARE DOING SOME DESTINY'S CHILD-STYLE DANCE MOVES THAT HAVE DRAWN A CROWD AROUND THEM.
GLEE CLUB (cont'd)
The whole damn world is just as obsessed,
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex.
Who's got the money? Who gets the honeys?
Who's kinda cute? And who's just a mess?
TINA AND MERCEDES HAVE PAIRED OFF WITH KURT AND BLAINE, EACH TRYING TO OUTDO EACH OTHER IN AN IMPROMPTU 'DANCE-LIKE-A-SPAZ' CONTEST.
GLEE CLUB (cont'd)
And you still don't have the right look,
And you don't have the right friends.
Nothing changes but the faces, the names and the trends...
High school never ends!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh... Oh-oh-oh-oh-
oh... Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh...
THE REST OF THE CROWD IS MADE UP OF STUDENTS, LOOKING FRESH AND YOUNG AND COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF THE TRUCKS THAT ARE GONNA HIT THEM OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
THE CLUB TRAIL THE SONG OFF WHEN FINN STEPS ONTO THE STAGE. HE GOES UP TO THE MICROPHONE, HIS EYES ON RACHEL, STANDING BY HERSELF AGAINST THE WALL, LOST IN THOUGHT.
FINN
Hi, everybody. Sorry to interrupt, I'll let the Glee Club get back to rocking in just a minute. Aren't they great?
HE LEADS A POLITE ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
FINN (cont'd)
I just wanted to take this chance while I have it to, er... to say something that's kinda... been on my mind lately.
THE STUDENTS DON'T SEEM ALL THAT INTERESTED, BUT FINN'S GLEE CLUB, AS WELL AS SUE, EMMA AND WILL, ALL START INCHING CLOSER TO THE STAGE, CURIOUS.
FINN (cont'd)
I don't know if this is the time, or the place, but I don't think I'm gonna get a better chance, so I'm just gonna come out and say it.
(BEAT)
Rachel... seven years ago, on another stage, I made a promise to love you forever. Hard as I fought it... much as I hated myself for it sometimes... I kept that promise. It's as true today as it was then, so... so I'm going to ask you the same question...
HE REACHES INTO THE INNER POCKET OF HIS JACKET AND PULLS OUT A RING. THE OVERHEAD LIGHTS CATCH THE DIAMOND SETTING AND IT SPARKLES. THE CROWD GOES:
CROWD
Oooh...
FINN
This is the same ring. I'm asking you to wear it again.
(BEAT)
Rachel Berry... will you marry me?
THE ENTIRE CROWD, LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF CHILDRENOFTHECORN, ALL TURN TO RACHEL AT ONCE TO GET HER REACTION.
SHE LOOKS SHOCKED. HER EYES DART BETWEEN AN EARNEST, ALMOST FEARFUL FINN, AND A STUNNED, PAINED QUINN. RACHEL OPENS HER MOUTH TO SPEAK, AND...
NARRATOR
Wait! Hold up! This isn't right! To figure out how we got here, we need to recap. So, here's what you missed on Glee...
CUE MONTAGE DESCRIBING WHAT THE NARRATOR SAYS.
NARRATOR (cont'd)
Finn and Rachel were gonna get married, but then at her bachelorette party Rachel and Quinn sang Something Stupid before they did something stupid...
SHOT OF THE KISS, THEN:
SUGAR
Uh... I guess you guys win.
NARRATOR
Or maybe it wasn't so stupid. Because once Finn found out and dumped Rachel...
FINN SCREAMING IN HER FACE:
FINN
You fell in love with someone else! You did this!
NARRATOR
...she started dating Quinn, and they looked really great together.
THE KISS BY THE LAKESIDE.
NARRATOR (cont'd)
It was all going swell, except Finn quit the Glee Club coz he couldn't be around them, and the group had to prepare for Nationals by themselves. Then this happened...
THE SPRAY-PAINTED LOCKER, WITH THE WORDS: 'FABERRY! FAGS! FREAKS!', AND:
KURT
Well, at least we know alliteration isn't dead.
BLAINE
Yeah, that's so portmanteau!
NARRATOR
Like what does the even mean? So Rachel was freaked out and ended things with Quinn - until Finn intervened, singing her a song about how she had to get up off the floor or something. So Rachel fixed it with Quinn...
RACHEL
This is it. It's over. The music's stopped. So...
(BEAT)
Do you want to pretend it never did?
NARRATOR
And that was supposed to be happily ever after, right? Right?
(BEAT)
Well, I guess not. Not on:
TITLE CARD: GLEE!
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