This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: Tender Love & Care, chapter 1.

"Showcased"

2. Those Who Don't

They would become the villains of the piece to the rest of them, for not having shown up to rehearsal that day. In the long run they would all see it as a momentary error in judgment, but on that day and those right after it would be… betrayal, abandonment…

Then the day after, whether or not they would miss again or would actually show up would never be seen because Rachel and Puck were absent and rehearsal automatically fell apart. They hadn't realized this would turn them into pariahs until that next morning. What they had and hadn't done, would and wouldn't do, was mostly their own business, until somewhere else Puck would activate the phone tree. They could imagine everyone else saw them as road blocks.

The first two, for alphabetical order, were the Beckett twins. Alicia and Reid were never the closest of siblings. They could have their moments, but it never lasted. By all means, they both had an affinity and an appreciation for the arts, song and dance, but they frequented opposite circles. Alicia had been drafted to the Cheerio life, while Reid was a constant presence in the landscape of McKinley stage productions.

But then Rent had come, and more than anything they had started to co-exist, and it had given them something that brought them together, started to open the way for them to rediscover one another.

The message had gone from 'Rachel' to Artie, to Blaine, until it reached Alicia. She was just coming out of Cheerios practice and when she retrieved her phone, there it was. It caught her off guard and she looked around for the others… Miranda, Greg, Quinn, Brittany, Santana… They had already gone, and maybe it was just as well. It left her the chance to consider things.

She wouldn't join Glee Club, like the others, the three of them that had done it. That wasn't what she wanted, and she was well-satisfied with what she had, the Cheerios… She still wasn't sure why she'd done the musical, maybe because they'd sought her out, chosen her, and it made her go 'why not.' That her brother had also ended up getting chosen… that was pure coincidence, annoying coincidence at first, and then les so…

She left the locker room and hurried down the hall. If she was quick she could catch her brother at his locker.

"Reid!" she called as she neared, seeing that he was about to leave. "Reid! Hey, Corky!" That stopped him.

"I told you not to call me that."

"Then find another way for you to hear me because I sure don't know."

"What do you want?" he frowned.

"See for yourself," she took her phone and sent the message to him. He read it with the same surprise she had.

"When'd you get this?"

"I don't know, I saw it when I got out of practice."

"So… you're going to go then?"

"Only if you are," she declared, and he paused. "Why didn't you go yesterday?"

"You know why." He'd gotten the letter about the scholarship a week ago. This was a unique opportunity for him, she knew. Without it, he'd never get to go to the school he needed to go to. "I can't get in trouble. I shouldn't have done this in the first place…"

"You can't quit now, they need us…"

"Well how come you didn't go?"

"Something we call 'Sylvester panic,'" she shrugged. "But it was stupid, I should have gone. Don't tell anyone this, but… I'd miss it… And I'd miss you."

"We live together," he pointed out.

"You know what I mean," she sighed. He looked to his phone, and he forwarded the text to the next in line, which was Mike. "Thanks," she smiled.

So the message went on, uninterrupted through Chang, Cohen-Chang, Evans, and Fabray. The next possible break was with Frey… Annie, from the Cabaret troupe. She tended to speak for that group, and that was part of her.

She would probably be the kind of person to follow a friend on an audition and end up being the one to catch people's eyes. She had a presence, and this constant compliment, along with the love of a challenge, had led her to audition for Cabaret… She was the first one surprised by the fact she didn't hate it. So when Rachel and Puck had recruited her for Rent, she'd figured why not. Everything had been going fine and then this showcase business had happened. Suddenly it was like she'd been walking in the dark all this time and someone had finally turned the lights on, let her see the dangers in her path.

The doubt had only lasted shortly, but it had been long enough that she'd missed the practice. She'd been trying to figure out an excuse for today, but the rehearsal had never happened. She wasn't sure what it would mean, but then she'd gotten the text from Quinn and she'd thought. Maybe walking in the dark wasn't always such a bad thing. So she'd passed it on, to another one from the old Cabaret group.

Ben Gibson had only ended up on stage in Cabaret after one of their performers had been suspended. They needed a stand-in, he'd been there, as a stagehand, and they'd put him in. When they'd seen what he could do, they'd offered him the part proper. To him it was a chance to surpass his lifelong stage fright. By opening night he was 'a changed man.' With Rent he figured there was more chance for him to do that… Also he had his eye on Annie Frey…

But then the day before, with the madness of the showcase and everything, when he'd seen Annie turn away, he'd done the same. Today though, not only did he receive the phone tree message but, as always, he got it from her… She was still in this… He wasn't about to quit now… So he passed it on to Craig Holmes. After him, and Finn, and Kurt, the message reached the last of the Cabaret contingent.

Taylor Johnson, like many before her, dreamed of becoming a movie star. She would have gladly dropped everything and headed to Hollywood now, but her parents would never let her. So until then the McKinley stage was her outlet. She had gone in for Rent because despite everything she saw a common passion in Rachel Berry; she understood her dreams. But with the showcase her concerns weren't unlike Reid and his scholarship… She didn't want her record tarnished. After a moment though she'd remembered her father's strongest belief: don't give up. So she had passed it to Mercedes Jones: she would stay with them.

After that, the message had only one step to reach Miranda Kramer. Of the seven who hadn't gone to rehearsals the day before, all that remained were her and her boyfriend, Greg. They had been of one mind since this whole thing had started. If either of them said yes or no, the other had to be on board for the same choice, and between them there were never clashing opinions. Maybe it was the freshness of the romance, maybe it was the length of the friendship which had preceded it. They had joined Rent together – why not. And the day before they had declined to attend practice, also together. It was probably a lot of that same 'Sylvester panic' which had hit Alicia, but also there were thoughts of times ahead, more precisely the summer holidays, when they were planning a trip together, for graduation. Their parents had offered to pay, but if this showcase and other factors came and challenged that… So they hadn't gone.

When Miranda got the message, in science class, she'd kept an eye on the teacher and slid her phone across the table, over to Greg. He saw the message and looked at her. There was a silent look: what do we do? Class was ending in five minutes, so they waited. In the hall, they walked hand in hand.

"I can get a job," Greg spoke.

"You already have one," Miranda pointed out.

"I'll get another one."

"What about school? Why would y…"

"No matter what happens with the musical, we can still have our trip, even if we have to pay ourselves."

"Yeah, that's fine but not with two jobs and school… I can get a job," she decided. "No argument."

"Okay," he nodded. "So, send." She smiled, sending the text to Santana. Now they had to wait for it to get to him.

"What if someone doesn't send?"

"Who's left?" he asked, and they both thought.

"Santana, Ellie, Brittany, then you."

"So don't worry, it'll get to me," he was confident. And just minutes later, he received it, sent it on to Elliott. Now all of them were in… It was left to see if the others would have them.

TO BE CONCLUDED (NEXT WEEK)