So, there's a reason I haven't told you the song. That, you will discover right...about...
"So West, Emily and Jenna, you will be performing for Ryan tonight. However, you won't be on your own." The bottom three glance at each other, their expressions perplexed but also intrigued. As an act of impulse, Jenna reached for Emily's sweaty hand and she took it, both feeling frightened about what was to come. West just tried to ignore how left out he felt, staring out into the sea of red chairs which were behind them. He took a second to himself, imagining that the auditorium seats were filled with his nearest and dearest, calming him, willing him on. And in the middle of all the madness, was Cindy. It had all become clear to him, that Cindy was 'the one'. They were both outsiders, outcast, who need to find some direction. In his mind, West was convinced that the direction they both needed to go, was towards eachother, not taking time to look back. He just needed to know whether she felt the same.
"Each of you" West was sucked back into reality, getting questioning looks from the people surrounding him. He looked down, cheeks turning pink. "Will get the option to choose a partner out of the contestants who have been put through, and you will also have the opportunity to choose your own song. So, get it right." And with that, the bottom three were ushered offstage, minds whirring with possibilities and Robert's intimidating words:
"Get it right"
"So, do you think this is it?" Penny asks, her arm wrapped around Cindy protectively as she cries softly into her shoulder. The young girl sniffles, looking up at her, puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Jack says, returning from a shower, his hair dripping with cold water. He slouches down next to Pierce and Ollie, who rest their arms around each other.
"Well, my female intuition tells me that it's not over yet. There has to be another twist, I mean, it is adaptability week." The ginger reasons, and Jack nods respectively. As if on cue, the bottom three enter the room, and everyone turns to face them expectedly.
"Well, basically, we're doing duets." West summarises, clapping his hands together. Jenna and Emily nod, scanning the room as they decide who to pick.
"We get to pick our partners and our songs, the only limitation is that it has to have been on glee. So... let's go!" Emily announces, almost completely back to her perky self.
"We talked about it and Jaia, you're with me babe,"
"I'm gonna go with Penny, ma bitch!" Emily jokes, throwing her arms around her friend and hoisting her up to her feet, holding her tightly. Cindy's gaze then falls to her lap, and she puts her hands together and crossing her legs.
"And, um..." West looks at Ace, then back at Cindy, and then at the floor. His mind jumps back and forth like a tennis ball, as he tries to decide whether to go with his head or his heart.
"Cindy?" He blurts, holding out his hand. She doesn't even hesitate. The girl takes puts her hand in his, trying to completely regain composure. West smiles to himself, glad he chose his heart.
Jaia and Jenna giggle and chat girlishly as they push open the door to their dressing room, Jenna's name written in big black letters on the paper attached to it. Inside they find an ipod placed on it's docking station alongside some water bottles. Hung up on the far wall are various outfits for them to try, and a container filled with make up. The two girls smile and perch on the stools, the situation finally sinking in.
"So, what sort of song do you wanna do?" Jaia asks, bent over as she flicks through the ipod playlist. Jenna perches on the desk, checking her nails.
"Um... something sexy, something flirty, something, well... us,"
"I have the perfect song" Jaia replies, clicking the play button with a smile.
"So, something like 'Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!'" West suggests, holding his bottle like a microphone, making the liquid slosh around lazily. Cindy nods, biting her lip slightly.
"Why did you choose me? I mean, Ace..." Cindy's voice trails off, and West's hand falls to his side. He kneels down to her level, and tilts her chin up so their eyes meet.
"Because." He says simply, his tone soft and inviting. Cindy resists the urge to kiss him and just leans back into her chair, his smell lingering around her.
"Because" she whispers, the sides of her mouth turned up into a smile.
"This, this one performance, is going to be...Epic." Penny squeals, jumping up and down with her friend as they stand in the wings. Emily feels her nerves slither away, replaced with excitement, and curiosity.
"I could not have chosen a better partner P, thank you so much for being this damn awesome!"
"Well, that's what I'm here for!" Penny jokes, faking arrogance very well. The two girls giggle, before being sent out on stage hand in hand, ready for whatever the futures about to hold.
Emily's POV
Just breathe. As long as you're breathing, everything will be fine. And smile, smiling's good to! I nervously glance over at Penny, who gives me a thumbs up. I look directly at Ryan Murphy, the creator of glee, my maybe future employer, the man, the one who will make me or break me-
And I smile. I beam at him, showing my teeth and everything. And he smiles back. I relax slightly, and clear my throat.
"Hey everybody, I'm Emily Verve"
"And I'm Penny Hinders, and we'll be singing for you today"
"Hit it!"
Emily:Clocks strikes upon the hour,
And the sun begins to fade.
Penny:Still enough time to figure out,
How to chase my blues away.
Emily:I've done alright up 'til now,
It's the light of day that shows me how,
Penny:And when the night falls
Emily:my lonely heart calls!
Both:Oh! I wanna dance with somebody.
I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody,
With somebody who loves me
Penny:Somebody who... Somebody who... somebody who loves me...
Emily:Somebody who... Somebody who... to hold me in his arms...
Penny: I need a woman who'll take a chance,
On a love that burns hot enough to last.
Emily:So when the night falls,
My lonely heart calls.
Both: Oh! I wanna dance with somebody.
I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody,
With somebody who loves me
Don't you wanna dance?
Say you wanna dance.
Don't you wanna dance? (dance!)
Don't you wanna dance?
Emily:Say you wanna dance. (uh huh)(dance!)
Both: With somebody who loves me.
The two girls finish, both sweating but still pumped. They high five and meet in the middle of the stage, laughing as they bow jokily. The mentors clap, amused by their enthusiasm.
"Okay, well done girls. That was really great, exceptional vocals. Now Penny, if you'd kindly leave the stage, Emily and I need to have a chat." Penny smiled politely before wrapping her arms around Emily and squeezing her in a tight hug, and whispering something in her ear. She caught the eye of Cindy who stood with West in the wings and winked, before leaving the stage and strutting right past them. Emily waved her friend goodbye and turned back to the mentors, ready to face whatever was coming next.
"Emily, let's begin by you telling me why you're here, shall we?" Emily looks at Ryan, and nods slightly, feeling slightly deflated, as if she'd just come down from her high.
"Well, I just messed up bigtime in the studio, Sir. I couldn't adapt fast enough, as hard as the mentors tried." Emily admitted, trying not to look Nikki straight in the eye, feeling kind of guilty.
"Nikki was telling me that you seemed as though you had something on your mind," Oh no, no, no, no! Emily's mind screamed, alarm bells ringing. "what was that exactly?" Damn.
Cindy's POV
I watch as Penny glides past us, walking with such great confidence. I smile at her slightly, my stomach churning. If I look at West, it'll only get worse. To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing, my feelings are just messed up right now. I came to win, but I also came to find myself, and be special, and West makes me feel special. I want to win so badly it hurts, but at what cost? What do I want to lose to get the prize? I just don't know anymore. I need time. But for now, I'll just see where this road takes me.
"Cind, let's do this!" West says, putting his hands on my shoulders, making my heart flutter. I make some sort of squeak as a response and nod. He chuckles softly, making it seem like I'm more nervous than he is! He kisses me softly on the cheek before leading me out, holding my hand loosely until we're in view of the cameras and judges, when he drops it to my side. But somehow, I feel like it's still there, reassuring me. And maybe it is. Love makes you do crazy things.
"Hi, I'm West and that's Cindy, and we'll be performing our own version of the amazing glee mash up of You and I and, well, you and I..." West once again chuckles, his nerves starting to show.
Cindy:It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
This time I'm not leaving without you
West:Just you and I
Sharing our love together
And I know in time
We'll build the dreams we treasure
We'll be all right, just you and I
Cindy:Something, something about this place
West:Just you and
Just you and I
Cindy:Something 'bout lonely nights and my lipstick on your face
West:Just you and I
Cindy:Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy
West: Yeah, something about, baby, you and I
Both:I love You
You, you and I
You and I
We made it
West:You and I
Cindy: It's been a long time since I came around
West: It's been a long time but I'm back in town
Cindy: But this time i'm not leaving without you!
We finish, hands held tightly together, his guitar slung on his back. He bends down slightly and kisses me on the forehead and my heart leaps. I see in the corner of my eye Zach's eyebrows raised suggestively. I shake my head and glance at West, who's grinning. I let go of his hand and look at Nikki, who's smiling.
"That was really great you two, you have a great connection and you're vocals were impeccable. Thank you for your time Cindy," I nod and leave the stage, looking back to see West waiting to be grilled by the mentors.
I hope the best for him.
"West, that was one of my favourite duets in the history of the glee project" West gawks at Ryan for a second, trying to take it in. Ryan nods, checking his sheet of paper with his headshot on it.
"Thank you Mr Murphy, I appreciate that."
"As I said before, you have a great chemistry. Is that something that effected your performance this week?" West feels his mouth go dry. He wipes it with the back of his hand, trying to think about what to say without giving it away.
"To be honest, I think Cindy's really helped me to come out of my shell this week. I think I'm here- and agree I deserve to be in this position- because I messed up, especially on the shoot."
"Okay," Ryan says, his lips pursed. "Thank you for performing, well done."
And with that, West left the stage, trying to convince himself that he'd done enough.
"Let's do this babe" Jaia whispers in Jenna's ear, as they get into positions in front of the judges. Jenna gives her a slight smile, pulls down her dress slightly, and begins.
"Jenna: Come on babe
Why don't we paint the town?
And all that Jazz
I'm gonna rouge my knees and roll my stockings down
And all that jazz
Start the car
I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold
But the piano's hot
It's just a noisy hall
Where there's a nightly brawl
And all That Jazz
And all that Jazz
Jaia: Slick your hair
And wear your buckle shoes
And all that Jazz
I hear that Father Dip
Is gonna blow the blues
And all that Jazz
Hold on, hon
We're gonna bunny hug
I bought some aspirin
Down at United Drug
In case you shake apart
And want a brand new start
To do that
... Jazz
Jenna:Start the car
I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold
But the piano's hot
Jaia:It's just a noisy hall
Where there's a nightly brawl
And all that Jazz
Jenna: No, I'm no one's wife
Jaia:But, Oh, I love my life
All that jazz
That Jazz!"
Jaia's POV
We finish, both panting heavily from all our hectic choreography. I help Jenna down from the piano, holding her by the waist. We make our way to the centre of the stage, whispering congratulations to each other.
"Brilliant job girls, you really went for it and that was amazing! No bad comments for that, thank you Jaia, you can go back to the house now." I kiss Jenna on the cheek, hugging her tightly, trying not to cry. She begins to try and shuffle me offstage, whispering a quick thank you. I just nod and leave, before bursting into tears. I just hope I've done enough for her, because losing her is something I don't want to do.