Chapter 12: Listen with Your Heart
After regionals things have been going good for me. I have managed to stay out of the line of fire from the football team, things in with the New Directions are running smoothly, and I have been talking with Guest64 daily.
I am not sure how I managed it, but I think I have gotten to know where the spots the football team likes to be at. So now I know where to avoid. Rachel has taken a few more recently, but Finn has been there to help her. After the song she wrote, that was obviously directed at him, he has been doting on her constantly. She loves it, and the rest of us could really care less. They just better keep it together. Now we have Nationals to thing about!
And with Nationals only two months away, we took a week off, but now it is back to the grind stone. We need to figure out what we are going to do. Original songs seem like the obvious choice, but we haven't been able to come up with anything yet. But I am sure that we will figure something out.
Things with Guest64 have been great! We are texting each other every day. I feel like I know him so well, yet he still remains somewhat of a mystery to me. He won't tell me his name, and he keeps telling me that he isn't ready to meet just yet. I am trying to be patient, but this whole talking through typed out words is getting a little depressing. I like the connection you can make with a person while sitting over coffee or even just walking around. Over the phone or computer just seems so impersonal to me.
It is during one of our many discussions about our favorite cars, (And yes, I do know quite a bit on the subject. My father does run an auto repair shop after all.) that I hear that Mr. Schue wants us to sell taffy to raise money for Nationals. Now I am all for trying to raise money, but our bake sale last year didn't really go so well, so I don't know how he expects us to push taffy. There are many groans and complaints from around the room. Then Mike stands up and tells us all about the Brainiacs and how they can't even go to their finals. He then goes on to tell us that he thinks that we are selfish, which in reality it true. I do remember them telling us about their club, but I was too focused on myself and other things that I didn't even care.
So Mr. Schue adds the costs for their trip onto what we need to sell for Nationals. I am pretty sure that this won't work, but I guess that I am willing to give it a try.
The next day Mr. Schue comes back saying that he has a new idea of how we can raise money. That we can put on a concert of sorts, a Night of Neglect. We will choose artists who don't get the spotlight like they should. This actually sounds like a good idea. My head is already going over who I want to sing.
In the hallway later, Tina is telling us that she is going to sing a song by Lykke Li. Mike wants to do a big dance number, and Mercedes wants to do an Aretha Franklin song, because we haven't sung any of her songs in Glee yet. Then Rachel comes out of nowhere saying that she is going to sing My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. We all give her a really look. She goes on to say that she is honoring herself as the neglected artist. But that just makes me angry.
"Why are you a neglected artist?"
"You guys never take me seriously, and I am not given the respect that is truly deserve."
"Well maybe the reason you aren't taken seriously is because you are a complete joke." She gasps at my outburst, "Well, you act like you are better than the rest of us. I thought we had this conversation back at sectionals? You weren't given a solo then because there is a lot of talent within our small group. You had a solo at regionals not even two weeks ago. You never let us forget that it was your idea to do original songs. And I bet that with this whole concert thing, you thought that you could just come in a take the final performance."
"Well, it should go to the most talented of us all."
"At this moment I don't think that, that is you." She gasps even bigger this time, "That's right. You are too much of a diva, and not in the way a true diva should be. You expect everything to be given to you without earning it. If anyone should get the final performance, I think that it should be Mercedes."
Rachel is the reddest I have ever seen her at this point. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She grasps at words for a few moments, but still nothing comes. She composes herself as best she can, then turns and walks away with her head held as high as it possibly can be. After she turns the corner, the small group of us that were standing there all start to laugh.
"I cannot believe that you just said all of that to her face!"
"Well Tina, I would never say something behind someone's back that I wouldn't be willing to say to their face. And she needed to hear it, but judging from the way she walked away, none of what I said meant anything to her; which is really sad."
"Did you mean what you said about me deserving the last spot?"
"Yes I did. You may not have had chances to shine in the last few weeks, but you never act like her. I think that is one quality that is worthy of a true Diva. You have let others take the spotlight and not begrudged them. If anything, you are the neglected artist here."
"Thanks Kurt."
"Anytime"
Then Finn comes up to us and says that Sunshine is here and wants to talk to us. We all head to the Auditorium to see what she has to say.
…
In the end all she wants to do is help us. Rachel acts like it is a crime against Gaga, and tries to completely refuse her help, but we all know that we would never be able to fill all the seats like she could. And she does promise to fill them. We all remind Rachel of how she was the one at fault, yet again, because she is the one who sent Sunshine to a crack house. In the end we all agree that she should be there and welcome her help.
Then Rachel comes over to Mercedes and says that she hopes she is happy with the middle spot because that is where she will be moved to. I am about to start in on her for the second time that day when Mercedes holds a hand up to me and then turns to Rachel. "What Kurt said earlier is true Rachel. You think that you are the one who is neglected, but really, you are the one who gets the spotlight the most. So I am finally standing my ground this time. YOU are the one who is going to take the middle slot and I am going to go right before Sunshine. I don't mind going before her, because she is the one who is going to help our friends, and not you. You only care about yourself, so you can take care of you, and be happy that you are even getting a chance to sing at all." Rachel storms off with Finn right on her heels, and as they leave we all laugh and congratulate Mercedes for sticking up for herself. Hopefully she takes a hint this time.
After school is over I am venting about my day to 64.
To Guest64: The nerve she has to try and demand the things she does, well it just boils my blood.
Guest64: She doesn't seem like a very nice person
To Guest64: She isn't! I mean I can be selfish too, who can't? But she takes it to a whole new level! This isn't Rachel and the New Directions! We are a club as a whole.
Guest64: Well I think you just have to remember that this is how people are. People in the entertainment industry are like that a lot. She will fit in perfectly.
To Guest64: True but I don't have to like it.
Guest64: No you don't, just get used to it. You do want to go to Broadway right?
To Guest64: Yes I do! I know you are right. It is just so frustrating.
Guest64: So why did all of this come up anyway?
To Guest64: OH! Well our club is doing this concert that we are calling the Night of Neglect. We are all going to sing songs by artists that don't always get the praise that they deserve. That is the way we feel, well from our school anyway.
Guest64: Sounds like it will be interesting! You singing?
To Guest64: Yes I am, and I hope it will be. Would you like to come?
Guest64: Yeah I would! After the way you guys performed at your last competition I know it will be amazing!
To Guest64: Okay! I will get you the information! Thanks for all the support! I feel like I just go on and on about myself. How are you doing?
Guest64: It's okay. I am doin good. Just getting by. My grades are back up, I have been working out, and lost a bunch of weight too! But my friends don't really get what is going on with me. I haven't been hanging out with them, but I am not sure that I want to anymore. They are still acting the way I used to and I don't want to be that guy again.
To Guest64: Well, just be yourself. If they don't like you for you, then they weren't really your friends to begin with. Plus you still have me.
Guest64: Thanks. I know that I have been hesitant to meet up. I just want to make be 100% comfortable in my own skin before we do meet.
To Guest64: I can respect that. But is it selfish of me to hope that it does happen soon?
Guest64: Not at all. I would like that too.
Our conversation slowly winds down after that, and I feel good again. He always knows just what to say to make me feel better.
Before we know it, the concert night is upon us and we are all buzzing around trying to get ready. All of our parents and family are out there, and a few other faces. Some of which we know and others that we don't. But it doesn't look like Sunshine's 600 followers are here. Then Santana gets a Twitter update from Sunshine saying that she can't come because her Director won't let her. So with that our spirits are down somewhat but as they say in show business, the show must go on.
…
When Tina comes back in tears because of the 'heckling' club, we all get really mad, after Mike comes back though, he says that all of our families shut them up and that the rest of us should be able to perform in peace.
Before I know it, I am up. I really didn't care about my spot on the list because we did use my song for regionals, and this whole concert idea has just been too much fun. I step out on to the stage, knowing that 64 is there and my dad with Carol. I can't really see anyone because of the spotlight, but I thought I saw David sitting there. Maybe he was one of the hecklers? But I am not sure the only thing I do know is that everything is going to turn out just fine.
When you can't find your way through the night
When you've lost touch and nothings feeling right
You can't find that path that leads you on
And you don't know which road to choose
That's when you've got to
Listen with your heart
Listen to your soul
Inside you'll find the answer
The place you need to go
Listen with your heart
Your heart will let you know
No matter where you are
Just listen and your heart will lead you home
And when this world has got your mind confused
And when your faith has gone and run out on you
You can't find that faith in your soul
You don't know which road to choose
That's when you've got to
Listen with your heart
Listen to your soul
Inside you'll find the answer
The place you need to go
Listen with your heart
Your heart will let you know
No matter where you are
The truth is never far
Just listen and your heart will lead you home
We all lose our way sometimes
we all lose our faith sometimes
If you just believe and just be strong your heart will take you home
Listen with your heart
Listen to your soul
Inside you'll find the answer
The place you need to go
Listen with your heart
Your heart will let you know
No matter where you are
The truth is never far
Just listen and your heart will lead you home
The truth is never far
Just listen and your heart will lead you home
The applause is amazing. Something I think I could never get tired of. The rest of the show goes amazingly, and Mercedes finishes the night with one of her best performances. Sandy Ryerson was one of the people heckling, but after Mercedes performance came up to Mr. Schue and offered more money to us saying that he loves Aretha, and that it was his only weakness. So not only are the Brainiacs going to their finals, but we are completely funded to go to Nationals!
The song is Listen with your heart by Casey Donovan
A/n: Sorry for not updating in a while. As some of you might have seen, I am currently working on a new story. One that is made up entirely of OC's. The story is just starting and I can't wait to see where those characters take me. I haven't forgotten about this story, but my real life has become a war zone of sorts. I have so much going on that I don't really know which way is up anymore. I will try to update this more regularly though. Things are starting to pick up a little bit! Tell me what you think!