Second Chance Chapter 9, a glee fanfic

This is a time jump chapter for Sectionals, since it was originally planned for chapter 12. Oh well, at least it's here. It's short, but it's something. (I have got to stop saying that.) Also, I do have something set for Jude at Regionals, so that spot has already been taken.

-Second Chance-

Chapter 9

-Anna-

"Alright ladies, and gentleman, it's the big day. We're up against Carlton Memorial, and Jackson for the top three spots, and I know we can do this," Ms. Smith tells us, as she calls us into the auditorium. We were all nervous. I mean, why wouldn't we be? If we came in second, there was no other chance for us.

"Isn't this Brycen's last week with us?" I asked confused. He was supposed to have moved to Florida already. Not that I cared any, because, him and I didn't get a long. In all honesty, I was really happy that I didn't get the duet with him.

"Five minutes to curtain," we hear someone from the AV tell us. I wasn't sure as to who he was, but he sounded familiar. I would find out later as to who he was. Then my mind goes to Jay being out in the audience, as he had promised he would be. I knew I wouldn't be able to find him with the lights being all down, but it would be my key to success.

"Any advice?" I hear Atticus ask Ms. Smith, as a couple of the other schools starting piling in, and it was obvious, we were all nervous still.

"Yeah, I have some. One. You're just covering songs. Two. The judges will be judging you no matter what. If you miss the line, this isn't American Idol try to recover quickly without making it obvious. The words don't really matter, as long as you show the judges what you have. Three. Ignore the judges, they don't exist, and it's another rehearsal. Four. Go out there and kick some ass," Someone he hadn't recognized the voice of, but somehow Ms. Smith seemed to recognize him. He had spiky dyed hair, and stood about six feet tall. He also had blue green eyes. His WMHS hoodie stood out, and the run down jeans didn't seem to match him justice.

"Everyone this is Cory McGuire, an old high school friend of mine," she introduces us, though, it seemed no one seemed to know what to think.

-Second Chance-

-Mackenzie -

"Ladies, and Gentleman, good afternoon and welcome to Manhattan Regional High School for the Seabrooke Sectionals," the announcer announces on the loudspeaker, and we all watch in the backroom on TV's that the AV team set up for everyone backstage. On stage right now was Carlton Memorial Beat-boxers. I had no idea what they sounded like, but they must have been good to be competing against us. I wasn't even sure I wanted to be here now, and oddly enough, I wanted to go hang out with that Cory guy that Ms. Smith introduced, though, I was sure that he was older than I was. So I turned my attention back to the little screen.

Just one more time before I go

I'll let you know

That all this time I've been afraid

Wouldn't let it show

Nobody can save me now, no

Nobody can save me now

Stars are only visible in darkness

Fear is ever-changing and evolving

And I, I can poison the skies

And I, I feel so alive

Nobody can save you now

King is crown, it's do or die

Nobody can save you now

The only sound

It's the battle cry

Nobody can save you now

It's do or die

"They're good, aren't they?" Atticus comes out of nowhere, and asks me. Though, he seemed to scare the crap out of me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he tells me in what seemed like an honest voice. I liked him, as it appeared everyone did, but I knew he was with Amy. Everyone knew that. I look around the sound room again, and take note that we were up after the Beat-boxers. Soon it had turned into the group number, which was another recognizable song. We were doomed.

"We still stand a chance, you know," Atticus points out happily.

"Are you listening to this group? We're doomed. Finished. End of story," I protest to him. I wasn't sure, but it seemed that way.

"Another group thought that a couple of years ago when they did their Sectionals. They went out in uniform, except one girl, she wore pants, and an X-Men t-shirt, and they thought that they wouldn't move on, because someone else had told they wouldn't," Atticus tells me happily. I had no clue who he was talking about, but she sounded awesome.

"Did they win?" I ask curiously, as Hero steps into the sound room to let us know that we would be up any second. How could Atticus remain so calm?

"That's for you to figure out," he tells me, and leaves the sound room, and I soon follow, because shortly, we would be in that same position, except none of us had any X-Men t-shirts. We had something else. I just didn't know what yet.

-Second Chance-

-Noah-

"Hold up. Last minute wardrobe change," I hear someone announce. "Thirty seconds. No more," I hear one of the AV directors announce. No other team had been told this, so I had wondered what had been going on. I didn't hesitate though when they handed us black t-shirts. I unfolded it, and it stated Fear isn't Real. I remembered hearing about this, and wondered how this was still going on. Quickly our thirty seconds are up, and we have to head to the stage. I was sure we were breaking dress code right now, but they didn't kick us off stage for it, so I don't know.

"Ladies, and gentleman, from this very own school, Impulse," the announcer announces. Sure, that didn't add any pressure to Sectionals at all. Honestly, I just wanted this over with. I take a deep breath, and begin to sing the song I had planned out from two weeks ago.

Put your make up on

Get your nails done

Curl your hair

Run the extra mile

Keep it slim

So they like you. Do they like you?

Get your sexy on

Don't be shy, girl

Take it off

This is what you want, to belong

So they like you. Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try

Yoooou don't have to try

Ooooo, oooooo, oooooo...

Then the audience had applauded for it. We even heard cheering, and I was sure that Brady was one of them. Luckily enough for me, he hadn't known about the "treatment" I had received this morning. If I had my way, he wasn't going to.

"You ready for this duet?" I whisper to Miley. I knew she wasn't, but what was I going to about it? I look over at her, and she's looking like she had wanted to kill me.

"What the hell do you think? Lets get this done with," she tells me. I knew she had wanted the solo, but I had nothing to do with the choice. I knew she would probably make a fuss about it for Regionals if we advanced.

-Second Chance-

-Miley-

I still hated Noah for having the solo. Oh well. We had one last song and then we were done, and it would be the other teams game. Who knew? Maybe they would win, and besides, I had a hot date with Katy after this.

Then Noah started the first verse of the song, and I sang in my head where I had to come in.

You got a fast car

I want a ticket to anywhere

Maybe we can make a deal

Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better

Starting from zero, got nothing to lose

Maybe we'll make something

And me, myself, I got nothing to prove

Now it was my turn, and I had nothing to lose. Well, I did, but that was aside the point. If Katy wasn't here now, I would totally screw it up just because and for Noah.

You got a fast car

I got a plan to get us out of here

been working at the convenience store

Managed to save just a little bit of money

We won't have to drive too far

Just 'cross the border and into the city

You and I can both get jobs

And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem

He live with the bottle, that's the way it is

He says his body's too old for working

his body's too young to look like his

My mama went off and left him

She wanted more from life than he could give

I said somebody's got to take care of him

So I quit school and that's what I did

I was glad that we had kept it Tracy's version, because, honestly guys who do a cover of this song change the words. In the chorus, it really didn't matter, but other than that, it really did, because it was told in her point of view.

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough that we can fly away?

We gotta make a decision

Leave tonight or live and die this way

Finally we had finished, and the applause, and cheering continued. I was glad we had one more song to do, because, I couldn't stand being beside Noah any longer. In my head, I wanted to push him off stage, and see him break his neck, but I wouldn't be able to do that with DQ'ing us, and there was no way in hell I was going to do that. Then Jude had stood front in center.

Ladies and gentlemen

I'd like top introduce myself

Then Spoiled Prince Charming came into view, and showed off his shirt, and tie off to the audience. Was there anything that he couldn't do without showing off? Atticus, he was another person I couldn't stand. He always had to be perfect.

Can't take that 9 to 5

But I still look good in a suit and tie

I feel so alive

Couldn't kill my vibe even if you tried whip!

These boys and girls

Tryna chance the whole wide world with

Keep breaking rules

Me and my friends, these crazy fools

Then the rest of the group chimed in, as we were supposed to. After rehearsing for what seemed like forever, I still hated this song. It was almost as bad as All About that Bass, even though she had turned into a two hit wonder.

Say heeey, we're just trying to paint the town tonight

Hey, we ain't' coloring inside the lines

Hey, we're just tying to live our lives

Oooh, I'm so alive

Oooh, oh I'm so alive, so alive

Finally we had finished up our set, and left the stage. I was doing fine until Noah ran into me at the end of the performance.

"Watch where your going!" I state to him angrily.

"I said I was sorry, besides, what crawled up your ass, and died today?" he inquired, and just walked into the males dressing room as though nothing had happened. So typical of Noah. Honestly, I wish I was able to tell him that my parents were killed in a plane crash, but no, of all people, I wasn't going to tell him that.

-Second Chance-

-Brycen-

"So which cutie has your eye?" Amy asks me, as I was standing the wing, so I could see better. Damn. How was she so good at noticing that, especially, since I wasn't moving to Florida, and I hadn't told anyone that yet. I told Devan, but that was while I was still crushing on him.

"Left back row," I confess to her, as I look her in the eye. I was I knew how to get her and Atticus back together, but I had a feeling that wouldn't happen for a while.

"You should talk to him later," she mentions, before I decide to change the subject, and they turn the song to Turn the Page. I was impressed people still remembered the song. Then again, how could they not? It was one of the biggest song of Seger's song in the seventies, and since then someone always covered it.

"What happened between you and AF anyways?" I finally asked curiously. I hoped she would ask me, because, after all Atticus had been my best friend since I moved here. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," I add, and then turn my attention back to the back row cutie.

"He said he was gay," she tells me, as though, she was sad about it.

"Amy dear, if there is one thing I know about AF, it is that he isn't gay, I should know that because, I kissed him once, and trust me, there was no gay involvement," I tell her honestly.

"Then why did he say he was?" she asks me curiously, and I regret to myself I had told her. It wasn't any of my business. Then Musical Street had turned onto their last song, and I knew it would be time to see who had won this soon.

"I'm not the one who you should be asking. Matter of fact, I shouldn't have said anything," I tell her. "If you want to know, you should go ask him," I add, and then it had gone silent between us.

That was when my phone had gone off. It had been from Devan, and what I saw was something I didn't expect. Him, and another boy practically making out in a selfie, and a message that had stated "I screwed up. You can't tell Livvy". I didn't answer back, and instead ignored it, because, I didn't want any part of this.

"Everything okay?" Amy asks, as I come back, and see Musical Street finishing up.

"Yeah, it's fine, anyways, here comes Backrow Cutie," I tell her happily, and then she gives me the thumbs up, and leaves towards the rest of Impulse.

"Hi, I'm Brycen, and I must say, you were amazing," I tell him, as he comes down beside me, and I get a good look of his hazel eyes. His hair was spiked, as though he had tried to be Jasper Cullen at some point, and I imagined what else he looked good in besides that robe he was wearing.

"Well thank you. You weren't so bad yourself. I'm Ethan," he tells me happily, as though, he had seen me earlier, and I hadn't known it. I wanted to ask him more questions.

"If you don't have to leave so fast after this, do you want to go get out of here for a bit?" I ask him without thinking, and hoping that he would say yes, I was also hoping he wasn't thinking that I was asking for a hookup. I never saw the point to those.

"You're not trying to hook up with me are you?" he asks curiously. It was then I had recognized the British accent, and wonder why I hadn't noticed it before. If only I could do something besides stare at him.

"Nope. Just coffee. Even if it is from our cafeteria," I tell him honestly, and then smile at him.

"That sounds interesting. I guess I'll have to come find you then," he tells me, and then heads in the direction of his group. I couldn't believe I was about to have a coffee date with this boy. Then I snapped back into reality.

As we took our places on stage with our groups, the AV team had decided to do a montage of all the songs that we had performed this afternoon, and then had stopped the music when the announcer had come back on stage. I look over, and see Katy, and Miley holding hands. Amy, and Atticus were on separate sides of each other, and noted that they hadn't talked yet. Noah looked happy, but maybe that was because his boyfriend was there in the audience. Then the announcer had pulled us back in.

"For results that we've all been waiting for. In second place, by one point is Musical Street, and moving on to Seabrook Regionals are...Impulse," he tells us, and everyone else, then the auditorium erupted into applause, and cheering. I join the rest of the group, as we hug, and then I head to find Ethan.

"So you're not celebrating with your group?" he asks, as I meet up with him, and he looks shocked, though deep down, he really wasn't.

"Nope. Coffee sounds more fun, besides, they probably don't even notice I'm gone," I tell him honestly as we head for the cafeteria, and he mentions something about the TV show Breaking Bad, and I wonder why a fictional show about making Meth had been so popular. I didn't want to tell him that though.

"I should probably head back, since I think we're going to leave soon. Anyways, here's my number," he tells me, as he takes my phone, and adds his number. "It was nice meeting you," he adds, and then meets up with his group. I smile, because, I knew what the number had meant. Tomorrow would be the hard part.

"You're not sleeping with him are you?" Atticus asks, as he sees me walking back. How had Atticus even seen us? Was he watching us or something?

"No. Besides, you're not my older brother, so why should it matter?" I ask him. It was Atticus, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to know what he was going to say afterwords. Then I try to get into the dressing room, but he doesn't let me.

"Good because, I've got a bad vibe about him," Atticus tells me again, as he holds me from getting into the dressing room, which was now pissing me off.

"Neither do you," he points out, as he finally shows he's giving up, about holding me back from the dressing room. "Besides, your girlfriend is wanting to talk to you," I add before I storm into the dressing room, and grab my stuff, and make way for the exit. Maybe, I had just lost a best friend, but honestly, I didn't care.

We found out what happened to Miley's parents. Devan cheated on Livvy. We also met Brycen's love interest, and is portrayed by Matt Kane. Atticus doesn't approve, and there was a showdown (sort of.)

Song credits: Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons, Try - Colbie Callait, Fast Car - Boyce Avenue cover, Alive - Jinx.

Reviews would be rad.