CHAPTER 11
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The following day, the Glee club were interrupted by the distinct sound of knocking on the door. The New Directions heard it immediately. There was no mistaking it. Confused looks flickered on all of their faces. Someone was here? Who? Normally, when the Glee club was rehearsing, the rest of the school avoided going near the choir room like the plague, making sure that nobody dared mistake them for Glee club members. And on the few occasions where somebody did come in, more often than not, it was for a less than good reason. Needless to say, as the door slowly swung open, most of the Glee club expected to see the football team bursting in, armed with slushies, ready to unleash an onslaught in their direction.
Thankfully, it wasn't. It was just one teenager. A student who was new to the school that semester. One who was indeed there during the performance that had preceded the food fight in the cafeteria, his eyes having been fixated on a certain blonde cheerleader within the Glee club.
"Who is that?" Finn whispered to Rachel, who was sitting beside him. Most of the Glee club hadn't officially met Theo yet.
"He's the new boy." Rachel quietly whispered back.
"I think I'm in love." Kurt murmured to Mercedes, staring Theo up and down, unable to contain his awe and lust. Mercedes snickered at him.
"You might want to wipe up that drool. Your boyfriend is sitting right there." Mercedes joked back in reply.
"Hi, Theo. How can we help you?" Mr. Schue asked him, recognizing him immediately from the day before, but still surprised to see him. He had hoped that Theo would find his way to the New Directions at some point but knew, especially after the conversation they had had in the auditorium, that it needed to be Theo who sought them out rather than them recruiting him.
"I, um… I saw you guys in the cafeteria the other day and I heard you guys were looking for recruits for your choir and I was wondering if I could join." Theo said. Mr. Schue smiled widely at him, before turning to the rest of the New Directions.
"See, you guys! You did manage to entice someone with your performance!" Mr. Schue exclaimed. Theo nodded.
"Yeah, I saw what happened in the cafeteria today. I figured any group that can stick together after having had hundreds of people pelting food at them must be a pretty damn fun group to be in." Theo replied.
This wasn't wholly a lie, but it wasn't the total truth either. Truth be told, it was a combination of what Santana had said, what Quinn had said, and most recently, what Mr. Schue had said that had led to him being there that day. Their words had truly gotten through to him in a way that few had in the past 8 months, and had managed to finally get him out of his shell after his wife's death. And the reason he had chosen the New Directions… seeing Quinn performing in the cafeteria, seeing her up there singing with the rest of the club… he just couldn't stop looking at her. There was just something about her, and he needed to get to know her better, even if that meant joining the Glee club to do it…
"So Theo… tell us about yourself?" Mr. Schue said, in a way not so much unlike a judge in a singing show like the X Factor or American Idol or something.
"Um… I'm Theo." He said, his amber eyes flickering over to Blaine, Tina, Artie and Sam, the four juniors who he didn't have any classes with so hadn't met yet. Having said that though, even those Theo did have classes with, he had hardly said a few words to.
"Man of few words." Mr. Schue chuckled as Theo shifted from foot to foot nervously. The entire Glee club looked at Theo, eyebrows raised. So this kid was clearly not very talkative, but could he sing? "Where did you come from? Why'd you move?"
Mr. Schue was as eager to learn more about Theo as anyone. Although they had shared a deep, personal conversation in the auditorium, it occurred to Mr. Schue that he still didn't know almost anything about the boy.
"Uh… I'm Lebanese. My mom and I lived in Lebanon for the first 10 years of my life. We moved to the States when I was 10; my mom got a great work opportunity out here. We moved to Tampa, Florida. Then when I was like 13, 14 or something, I moved closer to Miami and lived there for the past 4 years. Then I came here."
It was interesting when Theo referred to the latest chapter in his life, his adventures since age 14, he used the word "I", but whenever he spoke about time before that, he used "we". However, it wasn't something anyone in the Glee club picked up on. After all, none of them really knew much about him. Santana knew by far the most, but even she knew very little of his tumultuous life journey.
"That's awesome." Mr. Schue smiled warmly, helping ease Theo's social anxiety a little. "Any hobbies?"
"Not really." Theo replied, shaking his head. "I used to play a bit of football. I like music too."
Mr. Schue nodded.
"That's awesome man." He said. "So… any formal singing or dance training?"
"Dancing… none whatsoever. Singing… I mean, does singing in the shower count, because that's about it?"
Immediately, the light in the room seemed to dim slightly. The glowing, hopeful looks of the New Directions fell like a stone. They thought they had found a singer, a performer in the new kid. Instead, they had found an amateur who had never performed a day in his life. Someone to just sway in the back, unfit to take center stage, be just another member of the background crew as Finn was forced to carry the boys' vocals in yet another Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals. Not that Puck, Sam and the others were bad singers by any means. They just lacked that little bit of extra skill necessary to take center stage in the most crucial of moments.
The only person whose hope hadn't been dashed in the slightest was Mr. Schue. The man had already heard Theo sing before, so knew that despite his little experience, there was a lot to work with.
"Alright, Theo, the floor is yours. Show us what you've got."
Theo nodded and took a step back so he was facing the entire group. Just before the song began, he closed his eyes and let the pain rush in. In his mind, since his wife's death, he had built a dam to block his feelings from emerging. He hadn't in any way come to terms with her death and moved on, so rather than the pain disappearing, all Theo had been able to do was push it down, trap it deep inside his mind and lock it tightly shut. However, as he opened the dam and let that tsunami of pain, misery, heartbreak and sorrow cascade through his brain, he felt it begin to trickle down from his head into his chest, his arms, his legs, his entire body. For a moment, it numbed him, so powerful that it prevented him from even being able to move from the spot. He was filled with past memories of his wife, feeling the great times that he had shared with her and then that excruciating pain when she had been ripped away.
A couple of seconds later, that agonizing pain inside him had loosened its hold on him, just by a fractional margin, but it was enough for him to open his eyes, take a deep breath and nod to the band to begin playing…
The following song is: "James Arthur cover Emeli Sande Hurts"
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
Wow, the kid can sing. That was the first thought every single one of the New Directions had, despite the fact that Theo was less than 20 words into the song. He hadn't missed a single note yet, and his voice wasn't weak or thin like they had expected of someone without any training. It was the exact opposite. Each note came out loud, clear and dripping with power and passion.
Hold tight. It's a sing-a-long
I'm alright, I'm alright, but I could be wrong, baby
I know you remember me
5'3 in the back of the library, come on
You could at least try and look at me
Oh man, oh man, what a tragedy, ha ha
Bang, bang, there goes paradise
Ah, shit, why we always had to roll the dice, la la
Heart beating irregular,
Two seats in the back of the cinema, hazy
Ah yeah, you're forgettin' that
And all the mad shit we did after that, crazy
Your heart's a cold November
I swear you're giving me shivers, shivers
Pain clearly seeped through Theo's voice, stabbing at the heart of every member of the New Directions. Their eyes were saucers as they stared at Theo in a shocked silence. They had NOT expected this. There was such pain in his voice that while he was singing the song, it was like any negative feeling he had felt in his entire life had built up to just letting it all out at that moment. It was so moving, so filled with raw sorrow and power that they believed every single word he was saying.
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Hold on it's a marathon
Run fast, run fast like the rivers run, god damn
Never seen in the restaurant
I took a minute 'til the penny dropped, you know
My tears don't fall too often
But your knife is cuttin' me deep
Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
It hurts the way
That you pretend you don't remember
It hurts the way
That you forget our times together
Like the time
Laid in bed when you said,
"It's forever, baby."
I can't, I can't explain no more
Baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Oh, loving you the way I do
It hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Oh, baby, I'm not made of stone
It hurts
Loving you the way I do
It hurts
At the end of the song, as the band trailed to silence, a shock silence rang through the room, and for Theo, that silence felt louder than a gong. That was the first time he had sung in a formal environment, so he had absolutely no idea how he did. All those months ago, his wife had always told him that he had a good voice, but was really being honest or was that just Marley being nice?
Ever New Direction was thinking something different after hearing him finish the performance. Mr. Schue was absolutely ecstatic. Although he would never openly admit it to the group as he loved them all so much and didn't want to crush their confidence, Rachel was right. The level of vocals they had with the girls was very much lacking with their male counterparts. They were missing the absolute powerhouses - the Mercedes, the Rachel, the Santana - amongst the boys, and this guy, along with Blaine's arrival, could be the answers to their problems. He clearly wasn't perfect and that lack of training was obvious when it came to his breathing, his pacing and his annunciation of some of the words. However, that was an easy fix with training. What mattered was that he had the raw talent and the emotion in his voice to rival the very top singers in the Glee club.
While Mr. Schue was thinking about Theo's singing ability, Quinn on the other hand was still shell shocked by his performance. After her conversation with him the other day, she had spent so much time thinking about where exactly Theo's pain came from. And although his performance just now did not reveal that, it gave her an inkling about just how overwhelming his pain truly was. During the performance, it had not only taken over him, but had also trickled onto each and everyone of them. They didn't know what he was singing about, but they knew that whatever it was, it had created a massive jagged scar deep within him, one from which beautiful music emerged.
Eventually, the New Directions got over their surprise, and they began to clap and cheer for them as loudly as they could. Theo didn't really notice the applause or anything though. He was too busy looking nervously at Mr. Schue, his hands fidgeting anxiously in the pockets of his jacket.
"So am I in?" He asked him, nervously. Mr. Schue laughed.
"I don't know. Guys, is Theo in?"
"YES!" A collective exclamation rang around the choir room from every member of the Glee Club. Mr. Schue grinned widely at him and nodded.
"Alright. The people have spoken, Theo. Congratulations." Mr. Schue said, shaking his hand. "Now, take a seat. We have a lot of work to do today…."
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"So… New Directions, I am happy to announce the very first assignment of Glee club this year. I think you guys are gonna love it!" Mr. Schue declared.
"Woah, woah, woah… we have assignments here? Like classwork?" Theo stammered, sitting up in his chair slightly. He didn't realize this. He thought Glee club was just come to class, sing and dance, and leave. No more, no less.
"Oh yeah. Sorry, Theo, we didn't really explain to you how the club works, did we?" Mr. Schue asked. Theo shook his head. They really hadn't. A few people had tried to recruit him, and yet none had actually told him how it worked. They had just told him that he would meet some great people, and he'd get to sing. That was about it.
"Basically, Theo, we compete in a Show Choir competition called the National Show Choir Championship." Rachel explained. "We start by competing against teams in our area during Sectionals. Then if we win, we proceed to compete against the best teams in the state during Regionals. And if we win that, we get to compete against the top 50 show choirs in the country during Nationals. We made it to Nationals last year so we got to travel to New York for it."
"But we lost. And it was all Berry and Frankenteen's fault." Santana grumbled.
"I'm sorry… Frankenteen?" He asked. Slightly embarrassed, Finn raised a hand and waved at him.
"Yeah, um… Rachel and I kind of…"
"Made out on stage in the middle of a number." Theo finished his sentence for him. Finn raised an eyebrow and Theo looked between him and Santana. "Yeah, um… Santana kinda already showed me a video of it."
"Of course she did." Rachel muttered, blushing crimson.
"I did. And I swear to God, Berry and Jugs the Clown, if you two pull that shit again this year…" Santana began, but both Rachel and Finn quickly raised their hands in surrender.
"We won't! We won't! We promise!" Rachel exclaimed. "Anyways… moving on…"
"Thank you, Rachel." Mr. Schue said, relieved that they could get on with the lesson, though it can't be said that he wasn't entertained by the constant friendly banter within the New Directions. After all, it was what made them the tightest knit group in the school.
"Mr. Schue, do we know where Nationals are taking place yet this year?" Rachel asked him. Mr. Schue broke out into a wide smile and he nodded.
"Rachel, I do indeed. Got the official letter last night." He responded, and a collective gasp ran around the room. "Finn, drumroll please!"
Finn, who wasn't sitting by the drums as he was sitting in his seat with the others, resorted to drumming a quick drumroll on his lap.
"This year, the Show Choir board decided to go to the place considered to be the polar opposite to Manhattan last year."
"Will there be polar bears there? Because if so, I demand that we dance with them during our performance." Brittany asked stupidly, vastly misinterpreting the definition of 'polar opposite.'
"Oh God! Nationals are in Lima this year, aren't they?" Puck grumbled.
"No. Worse. Kentucky." Kurt responded.
"I'm from Kentucky!" Sam snapped. Mr. Schuester chuckled.
"Guys! Do you want to settle down and find out where it actually is?" Mr. Schue asked them, and immediately they all silenced themselves. "So… last year it was the cold, metropolitan, city centre Manhattan where Nationals were held, right? Well this year, they decided to switch it up. Provided we win our Regional, we're going to be seeing sunny skies, warm weathers, beaches…"
"LA?" Mercedes asked.
Mr. Schue paused for a moment for dramatic effect and for a second, you could hear a pin drop in the choir room. Everyone was seated at the very edge of their seats, eager to find out where they could be traveling for their final Glee event with this group of students.
"The New Directions are going to Miami!" He declared. The room completely erupted with cheers, shouts, stomps and every other show of delight known to mankind. They were going to Miami! Provided they won Regionals of course. Many of them hadn't even left the state before they began the New Directions and traveled to New York, so they were certainly eager to get another experience out of state, and in the unique city of Miami no less.
Only one member of the New Directions was less than thrilled about this: their newest member. Miami was a city with which he had an incredibly complicated relationship. It was where he had fallen in love. It was where he had gotten married. But it was also where his entire life had been ripped apart, and was a city that he never wanted to go to again. A problem for another day, he told himself.
"Mr. Schue, we're telling you from now, don't worry about us. We're going to Miami for Nationals, whatever it takes." Mike said, and the entire group echoed in agreement. Mr. Schue smiled.
"That's great, you guys." He replied. "But we're not going to get even close to Nationals this year if we don't work our asses off. And that starts with us actually beginning the lesson at some point before Glee rehearsal ends."
He had a point. They only had a few minutes left of rehearsal, and yet they hadn't even started the lesson yet. That being said, Theo would've been more than happy if they didn't have a lesson that day. He was having fun just listening and getting to know everyone and everything. Weirdly, he was actually enjoying himself in the Glee club. The people seemed nice, and singing in front of them - having not sung in so, so long - was weirdly cathartic.
"So the first assignment of the year…" Mr. Schue said, walking over the board and writing down a phrase, underlining it, and then reading it out loud. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, um… we've met, Mr. Schue." Artie remarked. Mr. Schue nodded.
"I know you guys have known each other for a few years already. But you can always learn more." Mr. Schue said.
"I'm confused. What's the point of this assignment?" Finn asked.
"You guys have seen Vocal Adrenaline, right? They're like a machine." Mr. Schue said. "Every single dance move is in sync. Not one person is even a second off, or even a millimeter in the wrong spot. The way they work together in their dances… it's almost telepathic. And you know how they got there?"
"Well they train around 8 hours a day in the leadup to any competition." Rachel said. Mr. Schue snapped his fingers and pointed at her.
"Exactly, Rachel. They spend every waking moment together from dawn to dusk training." He said. Noticing the looks on his students' faces, Mr. Schue chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm not asking you to do that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure you guys have better things to do than train 8 hours a day. Which is why we need to make up for that lack of chemistry in some other way: by building a deep, genuine connection with one another. How do we do that? By getting to know each other at a deep, personal level."
"That sounds really sexual." Santana commented. "And given the sexual history of this club, I feel like many of us already know each other at a deep, personal level already."
"The assignment is…" Mr. Schue continued, completely ignoring Santana's remarks. "I'm going to put you guys into pairs and in these pairs, you guys are going to sit down and just talk to one another, have an honest-to-god conversation."
"This sounds honest-to-god gay." Puck muttered under his breath, before having the back of his chair kicked by Kurt.
"After you guys get to know one another well enough, you are going to individually pick a song that you think captures the essence of the other person, and you're going to sing it for us in class and tell us why you chose it. Understand?"
There was a lot of nodding going around the room, but it was Rachel who raised her hand to ask a question.
"How are you deciding the pairs?" She asked. Mr. Schue smiled.
"Good question, Rach." He responded, before picking up a hat that was previously laying atop the piano. "In here is the name of every member of the New Directions. One by one, you're going to come to the front and pick a name. If that person is already in a group, then pick again until you get someone who isn't."
Mr. Schue then rifled his hand through the hat, shuffling it thoroughly, before walking over to the person sitting on the end of the row: Mercedes.
"Mercedes, you have the honours of picking first." He said, holding the hat out to her. Mercedes smiled and sank her hand into it, pulling out a small slip of paper, opening it and reading it aloud.
"Finn." She announced. That was decent. While she'd probably rather have one of her close friends as her partner, being with Finn was miles better than having to be with someone like Puck.
"Awesome. Next person… Puckerman." He said, holding the hat out the mohawked teenager. Puck picked out the first slip at the top of the hat, opening it and reading it aloud. He let out an audible groan before he read the name.
"Kurt." He mumbled, and Kurt's groan in reaction was very similar to Puck's. Neither were exactly best friends: two years of being in Glee together and Kurt having a stepbrother who was Puck's best friend hadn't exactly made Puckerman stop making constant jokes at the teenager's expense.
The rest of the Glee club were trying to hold back a chuckle at this, including Blaine, who Mr. Schue held the hat out to next.
"Okay, Blaine. It should be a bit easier for you and your partner to learn about one another given that you would be starting from 0 with them." Mr. Schue said. Blaine nodded and pulled out a name.
"Sam." He announced. The big-lipped blonde smiled kindly at Blaine, who gratefully reciprocated the gesture. The selection process was moving along thick and fast now.
"Tina." Mr. Schue said, handing her the hat. She pulled out a name and opened it to read…
"Brittany!" Tina said.
"Yeah?" Brittany asked, looking up from her lap. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, or why Tina had just said her name. Tina sighed. It was going to be a long few days.
"Artie." Mr. Schue handed the boy in the wheelchair the hat, and he pulled out his slip. There really weren't many people left unchosen: only around 5 of them. He originally drew Mercedes' name, however given that she was already with Finn, he had to pick again. On the second time of asking though, he drew…
"Santana." He mumbled. Santana smirked at him.
"Oh Stubbles McCripple-Pants. I already know what song I'm singing about you." She remarked. Artie put his head in his hands and groaned. He didn't know what song it was, but knowing Santana, he assumed it wouldn't be something he'd be adding to his playlist anytime soon.
There were only four people left: Rachel, Quinn, Mike and Theo. Two boys; two girls. Three former students; one new boy. Secretly, Quinn was hoping that she'd be paired with the latter, as it would give her a chance to get to know him further and truly understand his pain so she could help him.
"Alright, Rachel, your turn." Mr. Schue said, handing her the now almost empty hat. Rachel took a deep breath and pulled out a slip. She was also hoping that she had drawn Theo, but not for the same reason as Quinn. Rachel wanted to be paired with the best vocalist possible, and amongst the remaining three, that would probably be Theo. Not only that, but maybe she'd even get the chance to smoothen some of his rougher notes that he hadn't yet fully tamed yet as a singer. Just like she had done for Finn and Puck.
However, as Rachel opened the slip of paper, her face fell ever-so-slightly, as she read out…
"Mike."
Mr. Schue nodded.
"Awesome. And I believe that leaves our other new member Theo with…"
"Me." Quinn said. Theo turned in his chair slightly so that he was facing her, and she smiled warmly at him. She was really looking forward to this actually. Not only because he was extremely attractive, but because she genuinely wanted to help him, something she had seldom felt towards anyone else before.
"Alright guys! I think that wraps up everything I've got to say for today." Mr. Schue said. "Get to work on your assignments as soon as possible. We'll be hearing performances at the end of the week!"