REGIONAL

(Rachel)

Santana, Brittany and the cheerios won another national championship. If it didn't serve as relief in the choir, at least my home environment was much better. Santana was just irritated by Sue Sylvester's threat that she would end us in the Regionals. We all were. What hurt the most was the loss of a pleasurable moment and the end of unusual friendships we made throughout the year. My fellow Glee clubbers were the only friends I've made in years.

My sister once said that I was desperate to date Finn or Jesse because I didn't know how to win friends otherwise. This wasn't true. Santana and I have different views on the subject. To my sister, dating is laid on a regular basis. To me, dating is a deeper fellowship. Friendship always comes first, right? Otherwise, Finn wouldn't be the one to give me the biggest incentive even though we weren't together.

"Just because he wants get in your pants" – she said when we discussed about – "He isn't that nice, Rachel. Open your eyes."

"You're jealous."

"Far from this, sis."

To Santana, everything is about sex, money and power. It's annoying.

The choir brought me other important things besides exposing my enormous talent. Beyond all rivalry involving Kurt and Mercedes, there was genuine admiration between us. Quinn no longer tortured me. Noah stopped seeing me as an object of slushies or awkward creature he bumped whenever he came to my house to have sex with my sister.

And Finn was the one with me at the crucial moments. He opened my eyes and believed in the potential of our team. Together, we were powerful and could defeat Vocal Adrenaline. Mr. Schue also said that, but who raised my spirits was Finn. In the rehearsal, we did a second cover version of "Do not Stop Belivin", our particular classic. I began the duet with Finn, Santana and Noah had some lines, Artie reinforced the vocals and Mercedes made the final high notes. It was so good to watch my sister singing her first solo lines in an important competition. I hoped she sings more, since I continue to be the star.

Finn and I still needed to adjust "Faithfully", so I invited him to do an extra rehearsal in the pool house.

"Good evening, Mr. Berry." Finn was nervous to greet Daddy, that was reading in the living room. My boyfriend looked scared, as the first time he was here.

"Good evening Finn." Dad took his glasses off. "It's been a while. Welcome."

"Thank you, Mr. Berry."

"Hiram." Dad smirked, not caring much to my boyfriend's embarrassment. "Are you going rehearse in the pool house?"

"Yes." I answered quickly. "Regional is tomorrow and time is running."

"Wow!" Finn distracted a bit. "I didn't remember that giant TV over there. I bet it's amazing playing Call of Duty there."

"Call of Duty?" Dad asked.

"It's a game, Mr. Berry... Hiram."

"Oh, I don't know much about video games. But the girls play Wii Fit sometimes."

"And Mario Kart." Santana came from the kitchen munching bread with something and sat next to Daddy. In certain, they will watch some sci-fi TV show I hated. "So Finn… I didn't know you and my little sister are dating again."

"I... hum..."

"This is definitely not your business." I hastened to answer.

"Girls!" Daddy sighed a little louder. "Rachel, I think two hours of practice time would be enough for your two get perfection, right?"

"Of course. Finn and I will be in the pool house, in case you need us."

"With open doors." Daddy smirked one more time.

The practice was perfect, as always. It's been a while since I made a duet with Finn, but we not lose our tune. First, we rehearsal with playback. Then we improved on the piano, to achieve the notes perfectly. I had a little technical as instrumentalist and it was kind of useful. Daddy was the real pianist of the family. Bubbee was a pianist. She taught kids from wealthy families while Zaide worked as a laborer in New York. Before that, she played with her father in jazz bands. Bubbee forced daddy to practice at least three hours every day until he was 13.

Dad dropped the piano for a few years. He said he only make peace with the instrument when I was born. Coincidentally, that was when he made peace with Zaide since he came out. My and Santana's birth helped the Berries in many ways.

"Rachel?" Finn interrupted my thoughts. "You got far away. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes. I was just thinking about this entire situation. Sometimes my mind wanders."

"Don't worry. I believe in us and I know everything will work out."

Then, we kissed. Then he deepened the kiss. Then we started to making out.

"Rachel!" – We split up at Santana's presence - "Daddy said it's time to not-so-Finnocence say goodbye. We all have to wake up early tomorrow. Moreover, papa arrived."

My parents don't care if we bring friends at home. But boyfriends were another story. Daddy was more liberal, but papa could be very scary when he wanted. The first time he spent five minutes talking with Finn, my boyfriend almost ran away for his dear life. I walked Finn to his old truck and said goodbye with one more kiss. We were so ready for a relationship.

…

I got insomnia that night. Everything went through my mind at once: Regional, Jesse and my mother, Sue Sylvester. I woke up tired and didn't speak with anyone at breakfast.

Santana and I put the box with our costumes in the car and then we picket Brittany up. Finn and the New Directions went to Columbus by school bus with Mr. Schue and the team. We agreed to meet everyone at the door of the auditorium, where the competition happens.

I was so eager to finish everything, as also Santana. It was the first time she kissed Brittany in front of me and didn't threaten me after. These two exchanged occasional caresses along the way. I would have found adorable if I wasn't so lost in my thoughts. We arrived first at the auditorium and wait the rest of the team. As captain, I was able to book our dressing room with the organization. So I moved ahead.

To most of the audience, choir competition takes place at night with five or six teams. It's surreal to think that someone can be a national champion by defeating only a few teams each round.

First, there is the Invitational, where the team perform to an audience with the presence of a representative of the National School Choirs League. If the team reaches the minimum requirements, it will compete with others from the same city or the same state. That was the Sectional. A team only needs to do Invitational once. But if the group stop competing for a season, then it has to do another Invitational perform.

The number of competitors vary from year to year (choirs come and go, and not every school has a competitive group). Only the best team qualifies from Sectional to Regional. It's where the winners of the divisions of four states meet. In the case of our regional division there are teams from four states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

Generally, The Regional happens in two days. On the first day there is a technical round wherein the set is more important than soloists or choreography. The top five or six notes advances to the artistic round in the day after, which is the show that people pay for the ticket. It's the moment when the solist can shine and the choir needs to impress. Each team has a minimum of five and maximum of ten minutes to perform. The winner is qualified for the National.

The National gathers the 12 regional winner teams around the country, plus the current champion that has the right to defend its title, a choir from Hawaii and another from Alaska.

Our Regional only had ten teams: three from Ohio.

Vocal Adrenaline is the current national vice-champion, so it came to these Regional with fire in its eyes to regain the championship.

As a matter of logistics, the organization decided to make the competition in one single day. It means more foray, more fatigue, but the coaches agreed the rules on a prior technical meeting.

I took the program. We would be the second to perform the technical knockout.

"The dresses are beautiful! Why can't we use them for competition in the afternoon?" Brittany asked.

"They should be shown only in the big game, Britt." Santana explained.

"That would spoil our surprise." I said packing the blue shirts and ties we would wear for the first round.

"Girls!" Mercedes and Tina entered the dressing room, followed by Quinn, who looked exhausted because of advanced pregnancy. She could go into labor any time and I was worried. I made her sit down. "Glad you find a nice dressing room. Hey, the dresses arrived in one piece, thank God." Mercedes sought it in the box.

"It's a shame we didn't have time to make more adjustments." Tina looked at her dress.

"You brought the shirts and ties?" Quinn asked.

"They are in the backpacks."

Tina and Mercedes take the clothes and hang them, already helping to organize. Tina and Kurt were the most skilled in small seams so they made emergency adjustments, but, thank God, there was no need to do anything complex.

"Okay, guys." Mr. Schue gathered us in the corner of the room. "The competition starts in half hour. The second round begins promptly at 19h30. It's time to warm up the voices."

"And if we don't qualify, Mr. Schue?" Artie, where he raised his hand.

"That's not a possibility to us, Artie. We are going make the second round and face the other four teams with equal conditions."

At the exit of the auditorium, we crossed the way with Vocal Adrenaline. They had just parked. Everyone came in their private cars and two vans brought their equipment. My mother passed by Santana and I. She greeted us politely. My heart was pounding, but I kept my posture.

Our presentation of "One" and "Like a Prayer" was perfect. The other groups were mediocre, even Vocal Adrenaline made a bureaucratic performance of a Beatle's pout pourri. And we made it. We ranked second behind the Wayne Ford's team. The Vocal Adrenaline was third. We had a great number for the artistic round and we were confident. The boys of our band started a particular rush to install the instruments while we stay at the backstage doing hair, makeup and concentrating for the grand finale.

"Daddy is here, papa couldn't make it." Santana showed me the text message. They always tried to go in the major competitions. "Do you will want to talk to him?"

"Better not. I prefer to stay concentrated. And you?"

"I'm a little nervous…"

My hands were cold and sweaty at the same time when the big show began. The time passed quickly and I found myself with Finn in the entrance hall of the auditorium, listening to the presenter announce our group. I looked at my boyfriend and smiled nervously. He said he loved me and magic happened. That was our journey.

But we lost… and Quinn had her baby.

…

I awoke to the gentle sound of Santana swimming. Every time she wanted to clean her mind, she swam. My sister said there is no quieter place in the world than under water. Me? My head doesn't empty nor in the water nor anywhere. It is impossible to me to follow any oriental religion or philosophy. But I admire who can keep a quiet mind and a peaceful heart. I wore a tank top and shorts, them went straight to the pool. I sat on the edge and put my feet in the slightly warm water. Santana approached underwater and emerged beside me.

"It's a miracle you came to the pool about to get your feet in."

"If it works for you, why wouldn't work for me?"

"Because I'm a fish and you're a cat that runs away from the water."

"Watch out! Cats eat fishes."

"Not the sharks or dolphins..." Santana burst into laughter with the analogy that I didn't understand.

In a quick and precise movement, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the water. I hate polls. Hate! Plus, Noah was your cleaner and I didn't trust the efficiency of his services. Another complicating factor is our pool almost concealed me. And I can't swim.

"Damn, Santana!" I struggled to reach the ledge, but my sister held me.

"Relax, Ray. Don't fight the water, or me. I won't let you drown."

"You say this every time." I grabbed Santana as if my life depended on it. Before I knew it, my body was glued to her with my legs around her waist and my arms wrapped her neck. "That's weird!" I referred to the feeling of comfort and security I felt after I calmed down more.

"This is not the best part." She smiled devilishly. "Now cover the nose, we'll dive."

"No..." It's terrifying been underwater. I can't avoid this feeling and Santana knows. I hated her for that. Pool wasn't as comfortable as bath. It had the most intense sound, darkest light, all the waving... and the sensation of breathlessness. It was a relief when we emerged. "I swear I'll kill you!" I clung to her even stronger.

"God, you're trembling." She walked up the stairs to the pool, which I took a chance and left. I sat in the sunbed, letting the sun warmed me. I dried my hair out a bit as Santana left the pool. She took the towel on the floor. "All right." She put the towel around my back and sat beside me. "How do you feel?"

"Wet and cold!"

"That's obvious." She paused. "How do you feel?"

"Didn't I just say?"

"About yesterday."

"Sad. The Glee Club is over... life in school will return to the same hell with everyone throwing slushies in my face, talking lies about me, giving me names, and you never bother to defend or help me."

"The drama!"

"It's because you're popular, a huge mean bitch, and people are afraid of you. I'm afraid of you sometimes."

"Truth." We sat in silence for a while, until Santana broke it. "Corcoran talked to me after the result. She congratulated the team and my first solo lines."

"So what?"

"Well… She asked if you were okay and then said I should look after you more. Why she'd say that, Ray?"

"While you were in the hospital with Quinn and the others, I looked for her… again. Shelby said she don't want to coach choirs anymore because she needed a home and a family. And her plan doesn't include you and me."

"She told you that?" Her voice rose in revolt.

"The last part was implied."

"Oh, Rachel..."

"I had to make one last attempt. She is our mother and I couldn't let her go out of our lives so easily. Unfortunately she still doesn't want us... me."

"She loses." Santana put her arm on my shoulder and pulled me closer to her. "Not wanting the company of the amazing Berry-Lopez sis is a sign she doesn't deserve us and must be crazy." We fell silent for a minute. "But she was right on one thing: being the oldest, I have to take care better of you."

"How 29 minutes makes difference?" I rolled my eyes.

"It makes me wiser than you."

"You? Wise? Stop the world!"

She laughed and hit my arm. That's my sister.

…

Author's notes

End of "season one". Next week I will start posting a different season two.

Faberry is coming.