Chapter 9 Original Song
Rachel walked up to Finn a few weeks later at his locker.
"Hey," said Finn, giving Rachel a kiss.
"Hi," said Rachel.
"What's wrong?" asked Finn.
"Were you ever going to tell me about you and Santana?" asked Rachel.
"What are you talking about?" asked Finn.
"Santana told me you gave her your virginity," said Rachel. Finn sighed.
"It was when you and I were broken up during the Jesse fiasco," said Finn. Rachel took a deep sigh of relief. "Oh god, you thought I cheated on you? No Rach, never."
Finn took Rachel in his arms and looked her in the eyes.
"Rachel Barbra Berry, I love you, and will always love you until the day I die," said Finn. "I want to make you Mrs. Finn Hudson."
"Really?" asked Rachel, tears falling down her face.
"Really," said Finn. Rachel smiled and their lips gently met.
"Then my answer is yes, even when you do officially ask me," said Rachel.
"You will?" asked Finn with a grin. Rachel nodded with a smile and Finn grinned back, kissing her again.
"Come on," said Rachel, taking Finn's hand.
"Where are we going?" asked Finn, closing his locker as the final bell rang.
"Glee club silly," said Rachel. "We have Regionals in two weeks."
"Right," said Finn. The two of them walked into the choir room to see their friends standing around.
"Hey," said Quinn. "You guys okay?"
"Yup, we're good," said Rachel. "Guys, Finn and I have something we want to tell you all."
"What's that?" asked Noelle.
"It's not official yet or anything, but we wanted you guys to be the first to know," said Finn. "Rachel and I are going to get married."
"What!" shrieked Mercedes and Noelle as the others gasped.
"This is a big step, you two," said Will.
"Like we said, it's not official yet, but Finn and I agreed that we can't see ourselves spending the rest of our lives without the other," said Rachel.
"Aww, she's your lobster, Finn," joked Noelle, making the Friends reference. Everyone laughed and congratulated the couple.
"When it is official, you guys will be the first to know again," said Finn as he hugged Puck.
"Happy for ya bro," said Puck.
"Thanks dude," said Finn. Will clapped his hands together.
"Okay everyone, regionals are two weeks away, and I've decided that we are going to do original songs," said Will as he wrote on the dry erase board. The group excitedly chattered.
"Everyone is going to have a chance to showcase their songwriting skills," said Will. "We will perform two songs at regionals, and the winner or winners will get free dinner at Breadstix!" Cheers and applause came from the group. "Good luck everyone."
Finn, Rachel, Puck and Quinn sat at the kitchen island in the Hudson-Hummel household an hour later doing their homework. Beth was upstairs taking a nap, and Noelle was at track tryouts with Josh.
"So what are you guys planning for Beth's first birthday?" Rachel asked Quinn.
"Mom said we could have it at her house," said Quinn. "I was thinking like a mini-carnival, and we could invite the other babies from Beth's daycare and their parents. It's a good way for us to get to know them Mom said."
"Have any of them given you problems cause you're teenage parents?" Finn asked.
"A couple ladies who know my parents did when I first took Beth to daycare, but I went up to them and told them off. The daycare director heard what they said and told them that they were not welcome there with their children," said Quinn.
"Are you serious?" asked Rachel. "What did they say to you?"
"One called me a slut under her breath and another said to the other, 'That's Judy and Russell Fabray's youngest daughter. I heard some biker dude knocked her up and that baby is an abomination to society.' Oh I was ready to smack this bitch. She goes to my church."
"When were you going to tell me this?" asked Puck, looking offended.
"Eventually," said Quinn. "Mom ran into the one lady at church yesterday and bitched her out. The lady was banned from the church when the pastor found out what she had said about Beth and me."
"Wow," said Rachel.
"Anyways, Mom ordered the cake, and we're going to hire a clown and a magician and have a couple bouncing inflatables for the older kids," said Quinn.
"Older kids as in us?" teased Puck.
"Funny," said Quinn, playfully smacking him in the ribs. A cry came from the baby monitor.
"I'll get her," said Puck, standing up and heading upstairs to Beth's nursery. With Kurt boarding at Dalton, Carole had turned his room into a nursery for Beth, and Kurt slept on the couch when he came home for the holidays and weekends. Quinn and Puck had decided that should Kurt decide to come back to McKinley that they and Beth would move in with Judy.
As Puck wandered out of sight, Finn turned to Rachel and Quinn.
"You guys got any ideas for original songs?" Finn asked. Quinn shook her head "No" in response.
"I'm not really a songwriter," said Quinn. Rachel pulled a notebook out of her backpack.
"I have a few songs in here from awhile ago," said Rachel. "One of them I actually wrote when we broke up."
"Which one's that?" asked Finn. Rachel turned to the page and Finn read the lyrics.
"Rach, this is, I love this," said Finn, kissing her cheek. "You should submit this to Mr. Schue."
"Will you help me write the music for it?" asked Rachel.
"Sure," said Finn. Just then, Noelle and Josh came in the kitchen door.
"Hi guys, how were track tryouts?" asked Quinn as they sat down at the kitchen island. Puck had returned with Beth.
"Noelle smoked everyone!" said Josh excitedly. "Coach Bieste was so gobsmacked that Noelle not only broke five school records during tryouts, but also the fact that only four girls tried out."
"So of course I made the team," said Noelle to cheers and claps. "Bieste also made me captain of the girls team."
"So what events are you going to do?" asked Finn.
"Everything since there's only four of us," said Noelle.
"Who else is on the girls team?" asked Rachel.
"It's me, Heather Conroy, Melissa Baker, and a freshman named Harmony Ryker," said Noelle. "And Harmony can sing pretty well too, I invited her to Glee Club tomorrow."
"Cool," said Finn. "Speaking of Glee Club, Rachel has the perfect song for regionals. I'm going to help her write the sheet music for it."
"I have a couple songs too," said Noelle, pulling a notebook out of her backpack. "Actually, Josh and I co-wrote this one about Glee Club." Noelle handed the notebook to the others and as they read the lyrics, Finn grinned and nodded.
"Yes, this is perfect!" said Puck. "It's all about us!"
"Our family," smiled Noelle. "You guys are all our family."
The response over Rachel and Noelle's songs had been unanimous among the members of the New Directions. Harmony had been welcomed with open arms as well. Rachel, Finn, Josh and Noelle took their dinner prize and made it a double date. Beth's first birthday party had been a success that following weekend. Everyone enjoyed the clown, who just happened to be the infamous Tickles the Clown. Santana referred to him as the "Pervy Clown Judge who was high as a kite". Beth had also shocked everyone by not only smashing a piece of her smash cake into Puck's face, but also said her first words.
"Dada, cake!" Beth had said. Everyone laughed and applauded as Quinn and Puck stood in shock and looked at Beth.
"She said her first words!" said Puck to Quinn. "She said Dada! That's right Monkey Face, now say Mama!" Beth had then blown a raspberry at Puck, something Quinn often did to Puck and everyone laughed.
"Well at least she takes after her mother," said Puck, licking the cake off his face as Quinn picked Beth out of her high chair to clean her up so they could enjoy the magic act next.
And now it was time for Regionals. The New Directions were up against Aural Intensity again, along with The Warblers. To the groups' dismays, Coach Sylvester had become Aural Intensity's new vocal coach in attempt to bring the Glee Club down again. It was obvious that Aural Intensity was trying to repeat their "buttering up the judges" method as one of the judges was a nun, and the other was a member of the Tea Party. And of course, as usual, Rod Remington from the TV station. Aural Intensity's performance of "Jesus is My Friend" was an eye roller.
Kurt, Blaine and the Warblers got the crowd roaring with their performances of "Candles" and "Raise Your Glass" and Noelle congratulated her brother on his performance.
"Break a leg, Sis," Kurt said to Noelle as the Warblers headed to their seats and the New Directions got ready to go on.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our final competitors of the evening, the other winners of the 2010 Western Ohio Sectional Championship, please welcome from Lima Ohio, McKinley High's New Directions!"
The crowd applauded as Rachel and the girls took the stage to sing Rachel's song first.
Rachel:
What have I done
I wish I could run
Away from this ship going under
Just trying to help
Hurt everyone else
Now I feel the weight of the world
Is on my shoulders
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch, tumbles down
'Cause my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take
Oh, how many times will it take for me
To get it right
To get it right
"Oh my god, they're doing original songs," Kurt said to Blaine and the other Warblers.
Rachel: Can I start again
With my faith shaken
Rachel with Tina and Brittany:
'Cause I can't go back and undo this
Rachel:
I just have to stay
And face my mistakes
Rachel with Tina and Brittany:
But if I get stronger and wiser
I'll get through this
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch, tumbles down
'Cause my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me?
Rachel:
To get it right
So I throw up my fist
Throw a punch in the air
And accept the truth
That sometimes life isn't fair
Rachel with Tina and Brittany:
Yeah, I'll send out a wish
Yeah, I'll send up a prayer
Rachel:
And finally someone will see
How much I care
As Rachel held on to the high note, the crowd went nuts and rose to their feet.
New Directions Girls:
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
Rachel with New Directions Girls:
All that you touch, tumbles down
Oh, my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take?
Rachel with Tina and Brittany:
Oh, how many times will it take?
Rachel:
To get it right
To get it right
As the song ended, the crowd roared with applause. A stagehand came to take away the mic and stand and handed Rachel a mic headset.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're the New Directions!" said Rachel as the guys made their way on stage to the beat of the music to Noelle and Josh's song.
Rachel:
Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero
(Santana: Huh) But hey!
Rachel with New Directions:
Everyone you wanna be,
Probably started off like me
Noelle:
You may say that I'm a freak show,
(Santana: I don't care) But, hey!
Noelle with New Directions:
Give it just a little time,
I bet you're gonna change your mind
Rachel:
All of the dirt you've been throwing my way
It ain't so hard to take
Rachel and Noelle:
That's right
Noelle with New Directions:
'Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name
Rachel:
And I'll just look away
Rachel and Noelle:
That's right
Noelle with New Directions (Finn and Rachel):
Just go ahead and hate on me
And run your mouth (So everyone can hear)
Hit me with the worst you've got,
And knock me down (Baby, I don't care)
Keep it up, and, soon enough, you'll figure out,
New Directions:
You wanna be,
You wanna be
A loser like me,
A loser like me.
Finn:
Push me up against the locker
Finn with New Directions:
And, hey, all I do is shake it off
I'll get you back when I'm your boss
Finn:
I'm not thinking 'bout you haters
Finn with New Directions:
'Cause, hey, I could be a superstar.
I'll see you when you wash my car.
Noelle with New Directions:
All of the dirt you've been throwing my way,
Noelle:
It ain't so hard to take.
Rachel and Finn:
That's right.
Rachel with New Directions:
Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name.
Rachel:
And I'll just look away.
Rachel and Finn:
That's right.
Noelle with New Directions (Finn and Rachel):
Just go ahead and hate on me
And run your mouth (So everyone can hear)
Hit me with the worst you've got,
And knock me down (Baby, I don't care)
Keep it up, and, soon enough, you'll figure out,
New Directions:
You wanna be,
You wanna be
A loser like me,
A loser like me.
Rachel:
A loser like me.
Noelle and Quinn with New Directions:
Hey, you, over there,
Keep the "L" up up in the air
Hey, you, over there,
Keep the "L" up 'cause I don't care
You can throw your sticks,
And you can throw your stones
Like a rocket just watch me go, yeah
L-O-S-E-R,
I can only be who I are!
Rachel (New Directions):
(Yeah!) Just go ahead and hate on me
And run your mouth
Finn and Rachel:
So everyone can hear
Noelle with New Directions (Finn and Rachel):
Hit me with the worst you've got,
and knock me down (Baby, I don't care)
Keep it up, and, soon enough, you'll figure out,
New Directions:
You wanna be,
You wanna be
A loser like me,
Rachel with New Directions (Mercedes with Rachel and Finn):
Just (Mercedes: Yeah!) go ahead, and hate on me
And run your mouth (So everyone can hear)
Hit me with the worst you've got,
And knock me down (Rachel and Finn: Baby, I don't care)
Keep it up, and, soon enough, you'll figure out, (Mercedes: Oh!)
You wanna be (Mercedes: Be!)
Mike came out with a Slushie machine on a cart and all of the New Directions took a cup as he walked by.
Rachel and Finn with New Directions:
You wanna be
A loser like me,
Rachel:
A loser like me,
Rachel with New Directions:
A loser like me,
Rachel:
A loser like me,
Rachel with New Directions:
A loser like me.
As the song ended, the New Directions flung their cups towards the audience and confetti flew out of the cups to cheers and applause.
The three groups stood on stage an hour later as the results were announced.
"And now to announce our winner, Lt. Gov. Steven's wife, Carla Turlington-Stevens!" said the announcer to applause as Mrs. Stevens came out on the stage. She stood center stage and started to speak.
"My husband is verbally abusive and I have been drinking since noon," said Mrs. Stevens. Everyone looked at each other as a hush fell over the crowd. Noelle and Josh looked at her in horror.
"I'm bored, let's just see who won, huh?" continued Mrs. Stevens as she opened the envelope. She read the results. "THE NEW DIRECTIONS! You're going to Nationals in New York!" The New Directions jumped up and down for joy, screaming as they celebrated. As the green trophy was passed around, Coach Sylvester shocked the entire theatre as she sucker-punched Mrs. Stevens and stormed off stage, leaving everyone looking at her and Mrs. Stevens in horror.