Chapter 9: Ten Duel Commandments*
Rachel's POV
"Jackie! Just the person I needed to see," Rachel called in a singing voice.
She caught up with Jackie and took the book out of her friend's hands. Jackie watched Rachel with a bit of uncertainty – it was totally unlike Rachel Berry to carry someone else's books for them, right? – when the girl just continued their walk through the halls of Carmel.
Rachel smiled and nodded her head in response to the greetings she received on the way. Jackie was probably still waiting for Rachel to explain her odd behaviour so Rachel politely obliged:
"By any chance, are you free today afternoon?" she asked.
For the past few days, Shelby was driving them all crazy with her unreasonably late rehearsals that left not only Rachel but the whole team breathless by the end of the day. It wasn't even only about the Invitationals these few days: as soon as Shelby decided that everyone was doing fine with the number, she announced that they were going to work on the Sectionals performance already, and Rachel was faced with a completely new set of possible choreographies and songs she was going to sing.
It left Rachel in a slight predicament; she had barely time to catch a breath during the week. By the time they were done with rehearsals, it was too late for visits at anyone's houses and she finally needed to get back her Rover which she still didn't pick up from Jesse's family house. She thought that if she called Jesse's mother and told her that her friend would come to take the car, Rachel wouldn't have to go there herself.
"Well, I'll be probably shopping for the dress for the Homecoming dance," Jackie complained.
Pushing her earlier inquiry aside, Rachel focused on the new piece of information.
"Homecoming?" she questioned Jackie.
She realised that, having been too focused on rehearsals, she completely failed to acknowledge the small events and celebrations that have been taking place in Carmel since the beginning of the week.
"Yeah," Jackie nodded her head. "The dance is on Saturday. Vocal Adrenaline's performance is a part of this year's homecoming schedule. I thought you knew."
"Shelby cares about the show, not the purpose," Rachel explained matter-of-factly. "I didn't even know there was a dance."
She looked around and, as if for the first time, saw many colorful posters plastered on the walls. Of course, it was the homecoming week. But she never realised that it would include a school dance. Due to Figgins' ever-present deficits of funding and coach Sylvester's overboard spending on Cheerios, such events in McKinley were limited to the "necessary evils": proms. Carmel, clearly, had no problems with celebrating other events with dances as well.
They entered Mr Towell's classroom. The teacher threw them short glance and returned to his newspaper. Since Rachel's eventful first algebra class, Rachel retained a neutral relationship with the man but tried to stay as prepared as she could in case he suddenly decided to push her through his trials again. And her cell was safely tucked in the back of her bag.
They sat on their seats just in time for the teacher to start. Turning away from Rachel, Jackie opened her textbook and focused on the pages in front of her. Looking to her right, Rachel sighed when she saw a lock of blonde hair covering Casey's face.
Considering Rachel's luck and ability to attract drama, Casey Cransen was a junior, too. She was attending almost every class with her – just what she needed right now. One thing was strange, though. The girl had made it clear that she wanted a payback but didn't make a direct move yet. Rachel could often feel Casey's eyes on her back during rehearsals and afterwards. In truth, after their unfortunate meeting after the auditions, Rachel expected something more from Casey, but all she got was a cold shoulder. Casey refused to as much as acknowledge Rachel's presence in the same room. Like in the algebra class, when she mockingly cocked her eyebrow at Rachel when she caught the girl watching her from her spot next to Jackie. Despite the uncertainty, Rachel was the last to complain.
It could have something to do with the amount of time spent in the auditorium, as well.
The girl obviously never attempted anything with the team around – their enthusiasm about Rachel being their star was clear and anyone trying to undermine her position would be met with a wall of support for Rachel. As far as the team itself was concerned, Briana and Justin were the only ones who noticed that something was off with the two girls. Rachel had no problem sharing the general outline of the situation to them, just to make sure that they kept an eye on Casey as well; she didn't feel like facing another Santana-Quinn-hybrid all by herself. So, having a group of people behind her, Rachel remained relatively calm and was sure that she was off the radar for the time being.
Rachel's attention was caught by Mr Towell who stood up and started his lecture. Deciding that it was easier to just concentrate on numbers, Rachel's hand sprang into the air without hesitation to answer the question. Towell nodded his head and no one but Rachel heard the mocking 'show-off' coming from somewhere to her right.
Blushing angrily, Rachel sank in her seat.
"So, are you coming?" Jackie's voice betrayed that she hoped for Rachel to be there. "It would be awesome. My boyfriend cannot go because of his stupid family trip."
Rachel grimaced. She felt sorry for Jackie. As a reporter for the school newspaper, she was required to attend every major school event and, having been told to go to the Homecoming dance, she probably didn't want to spend the whole evening alone, since her date bailed on her.
"Um, I don't have a date?" she replied, grimacing when she realised that she made it sound more like a question. "My boyfriend lives in New York, remember?"
"I've heard Oliver wondering if he could invite you..." Jackie fired with a shrug.
Forgetting for a minute about her earlier predicament, Rachel froze in her spot, staring at Jackie with slight consternation.
"But, then," Jackie continued, ignoring the semi-shocked look Rachel was giving her. "I've also heard Justin telling him that Jesse would sooner fly all the way from New York to threaten his manly parts than let him go anywhere near you."
Oliver was one of the dancers that got into the team this year – Rachel has already suspected that he might have had a crush on her since he was unusually nice to her during and after rehearsals. But, having this piece of information confirmed in a way, it made Rachel feel uneasy. She shouldn't over-think this too much – it wasn't like she was cheating on Jesse if some guy liked her – but having another unwanted admirer was not something she wished for. Plus, Justin was right – Jesse would definitely put on an overprotective boyfriend act, even if she straightforward rejected the invitation.
"Or we could go solo together," Jackie suggested, still bound on somehow making Rachel go to the dance for some reason. "Free snacks and dancing."
If it was up to her alone, Rachel would agree but, fortunately, she had other plans.
"I can't go," Rachel apologised truthfully, speaking for the first time since Jackie broke the news about Oliver. "Kurt and Blaine are coming to Akron."
Rachel finally managed to get Kurt come to Akron for the weekend. Seeing how stressed out Kurt still was, she talked with Shelby and called Finn's mother to ask for a favour and help with convincing Kurt to come. She wanted to make sure he unwinds at least somewhat after the stressful week and his dad's heart attack. Mr Hummel woke up and was released three days earlier and Kurt has been taking care of him since then. Although, the doctors assured them that his dad was going to be fine, Kurt took it upon himself to keep him in the best health. Kurt and Blaine planned on coming to her Invitationals and spending some friendly time together before Blaine would go back home, leaving his boyfriend in Rachel's hands.
Contrary to Rachel's expectations, however, Jackie didn't show her utter disappointment. Instead, she looked at Rachel with a frown.
"You're bringing two Warblers to Invitationals?"
"Two Warblers?" Rachel repeated mildly surprised at Jackie's discontent tone. "Kurt and Blaine are before all my friends. It's natural I want them to be there."
She sounded slightly unnerved, too. Rachel knew that but her grimace didn't fade even after Jackie made a sorry face. Rachel wasn't stupid, the parallels between this and last year were too bright to ignore: last year's catastrophe with Jesse started off after he, the lead vocalist of the opposing team and at the same time her best friend, came to see her sing during Sectionals.
"Rachel, I love you and all the good things you do to me and my blog," Jackie stopped Rachel mid-step. "And to return the favour, let me be the person to... enlighten you about the consequences and just spell it out to you."
She took a deep breath, planting her two hands on Rachel's shoulders in, apparently, reassuring manner before looking straight into Rachel's eyes and saying slowly:
"Having friends in different show choirs is mildly forgivable. Letting that friendship enter the sacred soil of show choir competition never ends good."
"It's not going to be repetition of the Jesse-gate," Rachel assured Jackie, stopping her tirade before it turned into something longer. Rachel could swear that sometimes Jackie's feelings towards show choirs were even more intense that Rachel's. "But I'm not going to give up my two best gays for the team, just like I wasn't going to give up Jesse. Not that Vocal Adrenaline would ever ask for it," she added, recalling a bitter memory of her former team who tried to push her into accepting their stupid ultimatum about choosing between them and Jesse. Thanks Barbra for Vocal Adrenaline's trust in her.
"Just don't tell me that I didn't warn you," Jackie shrugged and looked onwards towards the Vocal Adrenaline table in the cafeteria. Rachel noticed the frown forming on Jackie's forehead before the girl gaped and asked: "Why is she sitting there?"
Rachel, still buried in her thoughts, blinked at the abrupt change of topic. She glanced sideways at Jackie, followed her frowning gaze only to end up looking straight at the back of Casey's blonde hair and her butt resting on Rachel's seat.
Fine, so she used to make fun of Jesse who went into his diva-mode once when Finn unknowingly took Jesse's usual seat in Rachel's house in Lima. She hadn't been able to understand what Jesse was so fussy over back then; she still believed that a chair was a chair (even though it was a deliberately chosen chair, situated so that she was in the centre of everyone's view and attention). It was definitely not a reason for starting a war over. Remembering Jesse's outburst, Rachel had no idea a chair might've caused such a reaction...
... until she saw a girl – a girl that Rachel didn't particularly like, it must be emphasised – sitting in her spot.
She was totally right about laughing at Jesse for his obsession about a chair. But only now did she realise that it wasn't about the chair, after all. It was about who took it.
Rachel was ready to chase Casey away when something stopped her. She's done it only to get a rise out of Rachel and if Rachel demanded that Casey sat somewhere else, she would most probably just receive another snarky comment and be ignored. It was a dead-end situation.
Not saying a word, she pulled Jackie to the other side of the table, closer to where Meg and Patrick were sitting. They were discussing something with people next to them, mostly the newest additions to the team: Oliver, the twins: Alec and Joel, and Mike Chang's audition dancing partner, Miley. In the corner of her eye, Rachel noticed that Oliver sent her a shy smile and she suppressed a sigh; Jackie's words resurfaced and she was really happy to use Kurt as an excuse for her busy weekend.
Rachel put down her lunch, sat down and simply picked up where she left off with Jackie:
"You don't mind me inviting some friends from Dalton to the Invitationals, do you?" she asked Meg and Patrick.
They turned to look at her in response to her question and the way they exchanged short looks caused Rachel's strong stance crumble a bit – and even the reassuring words that fell from Meg's lips a second later, didn't manage to chase away the hesitation:
"No, why would we?" Meg answered slowly. "It's an open show. A lot of competition comes to see what we're up to every year."
"See?" Rachel shook her head and turned to Jackie. "Besides," she shrugged. "With Jesse, the New Directions were just scared that we were friends because Vocal Adrenaline is simply so good. No offence to the Warblers – they are a great team that has many great singers, and I adore at least two of them – but, well, there is a reason why they are the second best glee club in Ohio."
The people, who were sitting close enough to hear Rachel's remark, chuckled or smiled slightly to her words. Rachel looked around to see that her teammates were now looking at her with amused curiosity and she understood that they were listening to her words. Justin was the first to open his mouth:
"That's the spirit, Berry," he called out from the opposite end of the table, lifting a box of juice in a silent toast. Then, he turned to look at everyone in general: "Keep up this attitude for the rest of the year and we'll all be fine."
Jesse's POV
His phone rang twice before he managed to find it under the stack of sheet music and books scattered over the covers of his large bed. He cursed when his eyes fell on the alarm clock on the nightstand showing that it was four a.m.
There was only one person in the world that would dare to call him at such an hour.
"Hi, babe," he murmured into the phone, trying to sound only half as unconscious as he felt. He went to bed at two in the morning and planned on sleeping in; being woken up at the crack of dawn was not how he wanted to begin the new day. "What's up?"
Unlike his, her voice didn't sound tired at all when she asked:
"What do you feel about getting Shelby a human-size cartoon figure of Nicky Arnstein for her birthday?"
"That is a terrible idea, Rach," Jesse blinked, overcoming the tiredness.
Jesse rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn, while throwing his legs over the edge of the bed to clumsily step in the direction of the kitchen.
"So can I get one for myself?" she didn't give up.
"Over my dead body."
"You are no fun, St. James," Rachel declared gravely. "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? At four a.m.?" he repeated with a shake of his head. "I'm making sure I stay conscious since you decided to wake me up after less than three hours of sleep. Which, by the way, is your new personal best. Well done, Berry."
It wasn't the first time Rach would call him in the middle of the night or so early in the morning. After two or three times they started comparing the amount of sleep he managed to get before her, usually frantic or angry, call.
"Don't mock me, this is serious," Rachel huffed in irritation clear in her voice. "You are the least empathetic boyfriend ever."
Not taking her words seriously, Jesse opened the fridge to get himself a redbull. Opening the can, he leaned against the counter murmuring a short "uh-uh" and nodding his head, even though she couldn't see him. Knowing Rachel, she didn't call him just to ask about the silly birthday idea, but he also knew Rachel well enough to be aware that she would reveal her true motives sooner rather than later if he gave her time – and that was precisely something he was going to do.
"And yet you still worship the ground I walk on," Jesse teased.
"Well, that's rich coming from a guy who lets me steal away his precious hours of sleep without a word of protest," Rachel fired back, adapting his joking tone.
Jesse let out a chuckle – Rachel followed him seconds after. For a moment, he silently considered her question but the only possible answers he could come up with were either involving objectifying her (which he definitely was not) or making him look and sound whipped (which he privately acknowledged that he was, but there was no power in the universe that would make him admit it out loud to her – he had a reputation to uphold).
She was reading his mind again, apparently, as her next words proved just how well she actually could see through him:
"Don't worry," Rachel spoke up. "Your secret is safe with me, Jesse."
Jesse's laughter turned into a sigh when he heard her melodic voice. Despite their bickering, he still needed to learn what prompted her to call him. He suspected it having something to do with the Invitationals; through her texts and Skype calls, she gave away some small signs which told Jesse that Shelby's gruelling rehearsals and the general pressure was seriously getting into her head more and more.
But even besides that, he knew that Rach had several things on her shoulders that required her attention – Kurt, for example, as well as the fallout after her former teammate trying out for Vocal Adrenaline that, according to Shelby, caused more negative attention than anyone could imagine. With all the fuss about him and Rachel from last year, Jesse learned the hard way that New Directions were almost too easily-offended and stupidly vindictive for their own good. For some incomprehensible for Jesse reason, Rachel still hated the thought of deteriorating their bad opinion about her even more. There was something in that group of teenagers that stopped them from simply losing their grip on Rachel's conscience.
Luckily, Jesse knew something that was sure to improve her mood or at least take her head off the problematic issues she was dealing with. He couldn't tell her just yet but she was in for a major surprise that weekend.
Jesse realised that Rachel was still waiting for him to break the prolonged pause in their conversation. He cleared his throat.
"Babe, are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" he asked straightforwardly. "Because as much as I love having those nightly conversations with you, I don't think my voice instructor will appreciate if I come to his private session unprepared with my only excuse being my unconditional love and patience for you, diva."
"Right, you have this first meeting with the scary professor," Rachel remembered.
Jesse ran his hand through his hair.
"Rach, don't stall," he reprimanded her half-heartedly.
"I'm not stalling," she protested, sounding exaggeratedly offended by his insinuation. "I'm interested in your life, like a good girlfriend is supposed to."
"It's half past four in the morning, Rach," Jesse reminded her with a roll of his eyes. "Tell me what's bothering you or I'll call your mother."
On the other end of the line, Rachel groaned with frustration.
"Do you realise that, technically, you've known my mother longer than I have? That's weird."
"Rachel."
This time, he knew that he was successful. Jesse went back to his bedroom and started gathering the papers from his bed, while Rachel voiced her thoughts, forming them into a one simple question:
"Should I be worried that keeping my friendship with Kurt is going to end up like with the two of us?"
And there it was; the cat was out of the bag. Fortunately, Jesse was prepared to face it.
He was actually expecting the question to be voiced sooner or later; he first-handedly knew that VA was too competitive to risk their performers (especially their stars) keeping up any possibly threatening friendships across opposite teams, so each such occurrence was treated with suspicion. Jesse's feelings for Rachel were not an exception; whether he was thinking about his former teammates or Shelby even – the team's wellbeing was supposed to be the priority. Sure they never considered Rachel a stranger – she knew the team from the very beginning – and thought it was "sweet", "adorable" and "totally ironical" (Andy's words) that he would fall for Rach after all these years. But when push came to the shove, they didn't hesitate to agree to attack her when she joined the competition. No amount of feelings on Jesse's side would stop them.
Team before all.
Jesse sat down on the edge of his bed. He closed his eyes, thinking how to assure Rach that she had nothing to worry about as long as she was playing by the book.
"Babe, everything's going to be fine," he spoke up, picking up every word deliberately slowly. "As long as you don't give Shelby any reasons to be concerned. And in order not to give her those reasons, don't try to hide Kurt from her. Believe me when I say it, love," Jesse chuckled. "She has better resources than CIA and NSA, so she would know about anything suspicious. The rest will listen to Shelby."
"Jackie says that I shouldn't..." Rachel started but Jesse didn't let her finish.
"And she's not in Vocal Adrenaline," Jesse reminded Rachel pointedly. "Talk to Justin, if you want to know the team's thoughts on the matter. If there's anyone upset, Shelby will take care of that."
"I don't want Shelby to take care of everything all the time," Rach protested. "It's like hiding under her skirt because I'm too incompetent."
"Then make sure that Justin is in your corner," Jesse advised her truthfully. "He's not only your lead but before all one of the most reasonable guys out there. Everyone will listen to the two of you."
Rachel was silent for a few seconds but Jesse was sure that she was feeling better. She most probably knew what he told her already, but, sometimes, people just needed to hear some truths from someone else.
"So," she sounded a bit more relaxed after hearing him out. Jesse smiled; he loved being the one to make her feel better. "Your scary professor?"
"Jesse's scary professor" has merely opened the door to the studio before a small figure of one of Jesse's classmates stormed out, clenching several rustled sheets of paper. She threw Jesse a quick glance and he noticed that the girl's face was covered in tears.
Jesse's only reaction was following her with his eyes, before he realised that Harrison was standing right behind him. Jesse threw him a questioning look to which the man responded with a shrug.
"Actresses," he said as if it was the only explanation he needed. And he was probably right.
Harrison retreated into the studio, silently telling Jesse to follow him inside. The room was covered in a bright light; it was almost empty and the only object there was a piano, behind which there was a man who Jesse briefly recognised as Harrison's assistant.
Jesse dropped his bag onto the floor and waited for the older man to start the session. Harrison has obviously earned his reputation not thanks to his successful career but primarily because of his effective ways of intimidating students. In this way, he was a lot like Shelby and his father; choosing to terrorize their inferiors and play mind games on them to maintain upper hand. Having been through his father and Shelby, Jesse wasn't going to let his confidence be shattered by this one man, so whatever Harrison was about to throw at him, he decided he wouldn't cave.
In fact, Jesse – remembering Nat's words about Harrison being able to either destroy or boost someone's a career – made it his goal to earn himself Harrison's favours. Those private sessions were his opportunity to accomplish that.
"So, Mr. St. James," Harrison broke the silence. "I've went through your files over the week."
Jesse waited for the inevitable 'and', but it never came. Cocking one eyebrow, he watched how Harrison stepped towards the large window to look outside. His assistant grabbed Jesse's attention by shaking his head in a silent warning, as soon as the older man was sure not to see him. Jesse wondered if the younger man was usually giving the students such tips.
"I also talked with some of my colleagues about you," Harrison continued, keeping his matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Unfortunately, it seems that I can not kick you out on a whim..."
He turned back to look at Jesse whose expression immediately turned from hesitant to neutral. He was obviously being provoked and he didn't mean to give the man the satisfaction.
"I'm clearly joking," Harrison smiled but the smile never reached his eyes. "Of course, I can."
Jesse let out a breath, suppressing the need to roll his eyes. If the man thought he was being amusing, Jesse clearly had a completely different sense of humour He saw that the man behind the piano threw Harrison short glance and looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Harrison looked at him, telling him without words that his service wouldn't be needed today. Quickly, the assistant gathered his stuff and left the studio.
"Any remarks on your home assignment?" Harrison spoke up suddenly, as soon as the other man was outside.
Jesse's pose – standing next to the piano, straightened and without the possibility to sit down – started to get uncomfortable. Mildly relieved that he had an excuse to move, Jesse reached to his bag to pull out the page that he'd gotten from Harrison.
According to Nat, there were possible directions in which this conversation could move; Jesse could either accept everything without a word to show that he was willing to learn, or look at the list critically. The first direction could possibly entail that Jesse was unable to recognise his own good or bad features. The second option, however, had its drawbacks, as well. In case Jesse was wrong with his assessment, he would come across as unable to accurately asses his own abilities and blind to critique.
It was a no brainer to guess which option Jesse chose.
"I was not having problems with high notes," he spoke up, passing the list back to the professor. "And my breathing was correct, despite what it says there."
"Oh, was it?" Harrison repeated with a tinge of doubt in his tone. "The last but one verse, when you lost two seconds – it was precisely because you didn't measure your breathing in-between verses."
Hiding his mild surprise at the fact that Harrison remembered that much after a week, Jesse suppressed the snort that was begging to escape his lips. One verse in the face of the entire song, don't make him laugh. Jesse opened his mouth but Harrison's eyes were already glued to the list, that Jesse edited by adding his own thoughts or simply crossing out certain items.
"The rest of the remarks was mostly concerned with the interpretation and that is something up to discussion, not to be put dryly on a piece of paper."
Jesse's words brought Harrison's attention back to him. The man nodded his head and, for the first time, told Jesse to sit down. Looking around, Jesse noticed that there was no stools nor chairs, but Harrison didn't seem to care. Much to Jesse's surprise, the man airily sat down on the floor, gesturing for his student to join him. Throwing an uncertain glance at Harrison's assistant, Jesse followed his professor to the floor.
"Let's discuss your interpretation, then," Harrison announced tiredly.
Unlike Jesse, he didn't care, apparently, that he was sitting on a sweaty and slightly dusted floor, probably ruining his clothes. His attitude towards Jesse, however, changed a bit since the beginning of the session; while Jesse was still guarded and determined, Harrison looked like he was slightly more interested in having Jesse there.
"So you want me to tell you how I understand this song?" Jesse asked.
Harrison grimaced.
"No, the lyrics were simplistic, and the history behind it – trivial. I want to talk about you interpreting it in any way."
This time, Jesse didn't even try to hide his lack of understanding as of where Harrison's thoughts were heading.
"You see, Jesse... I'm going to call you Jesse, because your last name is horrible to pronounce every five seconds..."
He trailed off, looking outside the window as in if waiting for something to fly through it. Unable to find any answer to this odd remark, Jesse just nodded his head. In meantime, Harrison turned back to look at Jesse and said:
"You have a good voice and you know it. It still needs improvements in certain areas, but generally it is a voice that could send you off to the stage in a few years. You don't socialise much with the rest of your class, do you?"
"We talk in-between classes, but no, I don't meet them otherwise," Jesse shrugged, still unsure what the man was hinting at. "What does it have with my interpretation of the number?"
Harrison ignored Jesse's question choosing to continue his monologue:
"You see, Jesse, I asked around about you. While my colleagues seem to consider you one of the most promising students, your classmates refer to you as stuck up and... What was the word...?" He pretended to think before firing away: "An asshole."
Jesse was sure that his eyebrows literally touched his hairline by the time Harrison was done talking. Not only was Jesse displeased with his classmates' opinions about him, but the whole idea of his professor asking other people about Jesse in the first place was completely absurd.
"Is there a point in this conversation?" Jesse gritted through his teeth. If he wanted to sit around to be insulted, he would invite Finn Hudson for a coffee.
Harrison chuckled. He freaking laughed in response to Jesse's apparent irritation; yeah, his nerves failed him after his heroic fight to keep calm and collected in the face of whatever the man had prepared for him. His next words, however, assured Jesse that the man was not done and, clearly, had a reason for telling him all that:
"Finally, I see something more than a studied expression," Harrison called out with satisfaction. "Now, it would be perfect to see any of those emotions on your face during an actual performance."
"What?" Jesse was sure he didn't hear the man correctly. "I put everything I had into that song emotionally."
"That's the problem," the teacher clapped his hands, standing up. "It looked forced. Like you weren't used to showing that side of you. What I've seen today, and even what you showed me the first time I talked to you, was simply confirmed by other students who spend the days with you: you are reluctant to share anything but your confidence and border-like arrogance – for a reason that I don't care about. Whenever you try to open up, you fail to do it convincingly."
Oh.
Jesse blinked, studying the older man's expression, considering his words in silence, and – failing to find anything that wasn't actually true about that statement. Jesse just never thought it would be much of a problem to find that ability at the right moment. Apparently, even when he thought he had succeeded, someone was telling him in less than polite way that he was an emotional cripple. Not the first, nor the last time he was going to hear that, it would seem.
"That's primarily what I'm going to work on with you during those sessions," Harrison lifted himself from the floor, breaking the picnic-like atmosphere. "Just to make it clear: it's not going to be a therapeutic session of any sort. You will be singing the songs I give you, either alone or with a duet partner that I find for you, and I will not only look for the technical perfection but expect you to feel them. If you want to graduate from this department as one of my students, I will not accept anything less than excellence in every aspect."
Jesse stood up from the floor as well. He closed his eyes for the briefest moment before opening them and shrugging his arms nonchalantly:
"Perfection is my middle name."
"I will see you next week, then. Have an emotional afternoon, Jesse."
This time, Jesse rolled his eyes openly. He grabbed his bag, threw it over his shoulder and headed back towards the exit. His hand was on the handle, ready to push the door open when Harrison's voice stopped him for the last time:
"Just one last thing, out of pure curiosity..." the man called after Jesse. "That girl you were singing about: is she Norma Jeane or already a Marilyn?"
Jesse opened the door and stepped forward. Before he disappeared in the corridor, however, he stopped moving. Smirking, he turned his head slightly to the left and threw over his shoulder:
"A Marilyn. Sine she was eleven."
Rachel's POV
It was stupid. Rachel was not supposed to be nervous – there was seriously no reason for her to be anxious about the performance. She knew the song, she has spent the last two weeks rehearsing and singing so long that she was able to do the number in her sleep. Shelby told her more than once that she sounded great and that her dancing was on spot as well.
So it wasn't that she was scared of making a fool of herself.
But, still, there was something that simply didn't want to leave her for some reason. Something that came down to a figure of her own traitorously talented boyfriend standing on that stage almost exactly a year ago and singing his heart out, much to the audience's enthusiasm.
Rachel moved a few steps forward to peek behind the curtain at the auditorium that was slowly filling with people. She saw a few familiar faces: Shelby was standing in her usual spot, orchestrating her temporary stage assistants who looked like he was going to drop his pen every time Shelby pointed to something else. Next to her was Jackie with a video recorder and camera ready.
Rachel's eyes moved up, over her mother's head and she saw Kurt and Blaine who, as promised, came to send their love and good energy. After the night talk with Jesse, she took up his advice and ambushed Justin after the rehearsal. Justin confirmed what Jesse has told her that night: she could keep Kurt and Blaine as close as she wanted, given that she remembered where her loyalties lay.
Apart from that, the audience appeared to be a buzzing mass of strangers who expected to see the best of Vocal Adrenaline and feel the same awe that Jesse St. James made them feel for the past four years.
These people came in tonight, demanding to see more of that spectacle.
What if Rachel Berry couldn't deliver it?
"Berry? Where are you?"
Rachel turned on her heel. She saw Justin looking around the wings, clearly in search of her. Rachel brushed a strand of hair off her face and stepped towards him. She hesitated, though, when she noticed a single red rose in his hands.
"Here," Justin handed Rachel the flower.
"Thank you?" she accepted the flower but not without question in her voice.
Rachel's lead rolled his eyes but chuckled.
"Jesse says good luck," he corrected her dryly and sighed in fake annoyance. "Seriously, this guy makes us all look like wimps around the rest of the girls."
Immediately feeling slightly better, she buried her nose in the flowed. She was unable to stop the grin that crept onto her lips. Of course Jesse sent her flowers before her performance. Originally, he planned to be there but they both agreed that coming to Ohio so soon again was not reasonable right now. She loved, though, how he seemed to constantly think about her (even if it meant putting up with her late calls).
Rachel shrugged in response to Justin's remark.
"Watch and learn, then," she patted his shoulder half-mockingly.
She didn't have time to say anything more because another one of her teammates, Meg, appeared as well and announced that they were going out in five.
And, simply as that, Rachel's nerves went back to square one. She glanced down at the rose in her hand and tried to magically forget about her nerves for another couple of minutes but to no avail.
"Are you going to kill me if I screw this up?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
"You're not going to screw this up," Justin's reply was instantaneous.
Rachel's head snapped to look at him.
"What if they just don't like me? Or what if people are going to compare me to Jesse and say that..."
The next thing Rachel heard was Justin's laughter. She glared at his insensitivity but he simply shrugged her off.
"Stop freaking out. You're going to blow their minds, Berry," Justin spoke up, leading her to the rest of Vocal Adrenaline who were already waiting for them. "And if not, I'm sure to find you a worthy replacement."
It was only half the answer she expected to hear a couple of minutes before their curtain call.
"How is that supposed to calm me down?" Rachel mocked him.
"It's not supposed to calm you down. It's not how we work around here. If you want cheerful and relaxed sing alongs, you are free to go back to McKinley," Justin noticed, purposefully rising his voice to be loud enough for the rest of the team to hear him. "Vocal Adrenaline's reputation is going to get into your head every time before a show, and it's high time you learned how to deal with this. We're not in Kansas anymore. You are either good, or you are out of here."
Everyone in the team nodded their heads in agreement almost immediately. Rachel bit her lip. The comment was made neutrally, merely as a statement of facts but Rachel's heart stopped for the shortest moment. The looks she received weren't hostile, though; the girls were even smiling at her reassuringly – or nervously, in case of those for whom it was the first time performing with Vocal Adrenaline. Justin's words applied as much to them as to her.
Justin stopped so that he was standing right behind Rachel and she looked back up at him when she felt his hands on her shoulders and saw him lean in closer.
"You are good, Berry," he declared straight into her ear. "And that's all you need to remember for another twenty minutes."
"So you're not planning on sending me back to Lima?" she half-joked, looking at everyone.
They shook their heads.
"You are the best voice in American show choir circles right now," Briana confirmed, ending the discussion. "Unless you pull the last-year Regionals stunt on us, we're not letting you go, Rachel."
"End of talking!" Shelby's voice cut their pep talk short. "Get into positions. Rachel, head up and don't you dare drop that showface."
She looked at everyone in general and nodded her head.
"We're Vocal Adrenaline, people," she called finally. "Let's show them what a real show looks like."
Rachel moved past Shelby but stopped when she felt her coach's hand on her shoulder. The rest of the team was already entering the stage, making Rachel the last one to leave the wings.
"You are going to be amazing, honey," Shelby kissed the top of Rachel's head. "Just go there and do what you do best."
Kurt's POV
It was the second time Kurt entered the halls of Carmel High's auditorium. The first time was last year when Mr Schue took them to check out their competition, which ended in a sense of spectacular humiliation and terror that hasn't left them for weeks. At that time, the New Directions had been a mess and they all had been too preoccupied with putting together a single good number, to find themselves in a position to compare the two teams. This time, however, Kurt was supposed to use the Carmel's Invitationals as an opportunity to at least try find something useful or possibly helpful in Vocal Adrenaline's performance.
Or at least that was what his reason was telling him to do. In reality, though, he was too focused on checking his phone to even look up when Blaine led them to their seats.
"Put your phone away, Kurt," Blaine's voice reached him over the overall noise made by the crowd of people around them. "Your dad is going to be fine and Mrs Hudson will call you if there is something wrong."
Sighing, Kurt let Blaine take the device from his hands and hide it away in the pocket of his jacket. His hands felt empty without the cell in them – Kurt got used to checking his phone every few seconds, to be sure that there was nothing bad going on with his dad. Blaine was beginning to show his slight discontent with Kurt's almost obsessive behaviour so Kurt gave up without a word.
"We're here for our friend," Blaine reminded him, kissing his cheek.
Kurt nodded, looking about the place.
"Look around at all these people," Blaine murmured under his breath. "I remember last year when Shelby Corcoran extended an invitation to the Warblers to sing with them... The crowds back then were incredible but I think that this year the turnout is even greater."
"You know," Kurt leaned closer to Blaine. "I've been sitting three rows from here the first time I ever saw you."
"Really?" Blaine enquired with interest; Kurt never told him about it until now. "You were there?"
Kurt smiled and nodded his head.
"Mr Schue took the budding New Directions to see the competition. I can only imagine Rachel's thoughts when he announced that the day before."
Blaine burst into laughter, probably thinking about the same thing.
Kurt remembered little from that afternoon, but there were two things that had got stuck in his memory... although, it was much later that he realised their significance. One of them was Rachel's odd behaviour that day – sneaking around with her eyes glued to the screen of her cell, talking to (as it turned out months later) the VA coach as if it was not a big deal, and, finally, her unusual enthusiasm for the hosts' show. Back then, Kurt was simply suspicious of Berry's weird act, but when they finally learned about her years-long relationship with Jesse St. James and the whole rival team, it only made huge sense.
"You know," Blaine spoke up, interrupting Kurt's thoughts. "I think it was fate that brought the two of you to Carmel that day. Two most talented members of the New Directions falling for the leads of two best show choirs in Ohio."
Kurt snorted and shook his head with resignation at his boyfriend's romantic ideals. Fate? More like a huge, fat irony.
"Speaking of which," Blaine changed the topic. "Is Jesse going to be here today?"
Kurt shook his head. Rachel told him that Jesse avoided his parents for the time being, which included staying in New York probably until the Thanksgiving. To put it mildly, Rachel was not happy to hear that, but her long-term solution to that problem involved her flying over to see Jesse before that.
"But I'm sure he surprised her with some romantic gesture to make up for his absence," Kurt's voice showed his mixed feelings about that. "Don't get me wrong, Jesse is the best thing that Rachel could dream about with her high standards but even I got nauseous whenever I see them together; all smiling and sickeningly cute."
"Oh come on," Blaine nudged Kurt's side. "You are just jealous."
Kurt wasn't jealous. He just thought that being in love didn't necessarily entail showing off their love regardless of the onlooker's taste or mental health. To celebrate their first month of being a couple, Jesse put together a CD with ideas for their future romantic duets. For his graduation, he organised a date night with movies, private karaoke and a dinner that he cooked himself. And she wasn't far behind him; just over a month ago, she forced Kurt to sit through a series of her monologues concerning the perfect "goodbye-for-now-but-we'll-see-each-other-soon" gift for Jesse before he moved to New York.
Anyone who would spend these five and a half hour with Rachel on that day would agree with Kurt's opinion.
"What is she singing anyway?" Kurt asked briskly, snatching the program from Blaine's hands and opening it. "If it's another Queen number, I'm leaving."
Though he highly doubted it, Kurt wouldn't put it past Vocal Adrenaline to make Rachel sing what they found most appealing to the crowds, including another epic number from Freddie Mercury's repertoire.
His mouth opened when he saw the title of the song written underneath Rachel's name. That was definitely not Queen.
"It's only Rachel," Blaine noticed, glancing over Kurt's arm. "No other lead?"
According to Rachel, her mother planned on showing Rachel off to the booster club and any competition that would turn up that day in the audience. Even though Kurt would never tell her that, he heard that this sort of event was what they needed at the moment; the show choir blogs were full of rumours that the famous Vocal Adrenaline, after the graduation of Jesse St. James, have lost its star factor. Despite Rachel's incredible voice and her successful VA debut during Nationals, she was still remembered mostly for her intentional choke from last Regionals.
Kurt knew she was going to be fine. As much as his pride hated to admit it out loud, she was Rachel Berry and she was able to make anything happen.
"Can you imagine something like this happening in McKinley?" Blaine murmured with amusement. "Your coach giving Rachel the only solo of the day and your former teammates not killing her on the spot?"
Kurt chuckled dryly because – indeed – Rachel wouldn't survive a minute before Santana, Mercedes or he would try to get her head on the place, demanding to get a solo for themselves. It was just the same with Blaine and the Warblers – it was like they made up the team just so that Blaine would be allowed to compete in the competition.
The lights in the auditorium dimmed, except for the spotlights over the stage which was directed at the curtain that finally started going up. Kurt straightened in his chair, immediately forgetting the Warblers and the New Directions.
"Shh, it's time," he pressed his hand to Blaine's mouth, silencing another question that was forming on his lips.
Every person in the audience got instantly quiet. They were with their eyes glued to the stage before them. The curtain was all the way up and Kurt heard Blaine take a short breath in response to the view before them; Vocal Adrenaline were standing unmoving on the stage, with their heads down and looking at the wooden desks underneath them. They were not facing the audience, though. For the first five or so seconds all Kurt saw was their backs.
"Where's Rachel?" Blaine murmured straight into Kurt's ear. So Kurt was not the only one not to see his friends among the group of teenagers.
"I bet ten dollars that she'll be wheeled onto the stage in some crazy machine," Kurt snickered half-genuinely. Who knew what Rachel's overachieving mother could be up to?
Blaine smiled in response but before Kurt lost his ten bucks, the first beats of the music started and two of the VA members moved a little, revealing the short figure of their friend.
Kurt noticed how she exchanged short glances with a tall blonde to her right and smiled fleetingly before abandoning the smile in favour of a focused, determined expression. She started singing but the team didn't move, remaining still while she was the only one to slowly make her way down the stage:
"There's only two types of people in the world," Rachel lifted the corner of her lips. "The ones that entertain and the ones that observe. Well baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kind of girl. Don't like the backseat, gotta be first."
Of course she would sing the song about being in the centre of everyone's attention, Kurt thought.
"I'm like the ringleader, I call the shots."
He suppressed the need to hold onto his jaw when, for the first time, he saw Rachel Berry easily command the group of people surrounding her. She bent her finger at the same blonde guy that previously smiled to her; he immediately followed her.
"I'm like a firecracker," Rachel playfully waved her hand at her face. "I make it hot. Then I put on a show."
"Is it just me or Rachel was able to make Britney Spears sound even better, if that's even possible?" Blaine's breath tickled Kurt's ear. Blaine worshiped the ground which Britney walked on – those words coming from him surprised even Kurt.
Now the whole team was spinning around Rachel and the rest of the girls who danced behind her. Rachel turned her back to the audience to run back to the platform in the back of the stage. A single spotlight hit her face and, grinning, she went on:
"I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins," she sang backed up by her girl teammates. "Spotlight on me and I'm ready to break. I'm like a performer, the dance floor is my stage..."
She jumped down, just to be caught by skilful hands of two guys. She never lost the beat.
"Better be ready, hope that you feel the same."
The applause was still thundering around them when Kurt felt someone pat his shoulder impatiently. Slightly startled, he turned his head around to see a curly-haired girl, looking at him questioningly.
"You're Kurt, right?" the girl asked loudly, fighting with the overall noise. "Rachel told me to take you two to her after the performance."
Without waiting for their response, the girl started moving down the aisle between the chairs. Blaine exchanged quick looks with Kurt before shrugging his shoulders and following their tour guide. Kurt noticed that the girl was carrying a bag that looked like filled with some equipment and he remembered seeing her during the number, recording Vocal Adrenaline from a spot near Rachel's mother.
He realised that she must have been the friend that Rachel has told him about sometimes, Jackie from the show choir blog. Stepping into the backstage of Carmel's auditorium, Kurt let out a small gasp at the size of the place. It was twice as big as McKinley's auditorium.
Jackie showed them to the small make up area and told them to wait for a moment before Rachel would change back into her clothes. Then, she just left them alone.
"Is it only me or she hates us for some reason?" Blaine joked, looking around. "Do you think that the rest will come, too?"
"I don't know how I feel about being dragged down the lion's liar," Kurt murmured to Blaine. He planned meeting Rachel outside after everything was over; facing all twenty-something members of Vocal Adrenaline was the last thing he wanted to do unprepared.
"You're overreacting," Blaine squeezes his hand reassuringly. "I've met few of them once or twice, or even last year after we sang here. They're not that bad in reality."
"You just had to remind me that out of our three, I'm the only one not leading any glee club, huh?" Kurt rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's words. "You make me want to go back to McKinley to take over New Directions."
Although Kurt was only half-joking, Blaine burst into laughter at the mere idea. Pouting, Kurt folded his arms and glared at Blaine until he felt Rachel's arms around his neck, and heard her excited giggle in his ear.
"Oh, my god. I was so amazing out there!" Rachel squealed straight into Kurt's ear, causing a wave of laughter from Blaine and an annoyed roll of eyes from Kurt himself. She really didn't need to rub it into his face.
Kurt heard some voices to their left. Looking there, he saw that, one by one, the rest of Rachel's team spilled out of the green room, talking, laughing or simply looking around until they saw something over their heads; something that made them all stop.
Before Kurt managed to turn around himself, Rachel let him to, covered her face in shock and sprinted in the direction of whoever was behind them, laughing and calling:
"Oh, my god, I can't believe you're here!"
Having known St. James a bit better now, Kurt wouldn't have been surprised to see Rachel's boyfriend grinning like a Cheshire cat while holding Rachel in his arms, happy that his surprise was a success. The image in his head was so crystal clear that it came as a quite a shock to Kurt when he realised that the person Rachel was strangling was not Jesse at all. Instead, her arms were full of a tall, lanky, dark-skinned girl who returned the gesture with a matching smile, while another girl was staring at the scene with slight consternation before Rachel released her victim to just grab the second girl and lock her up in an even tighter hug.
"Hey, I know her," Blaine whispered to Kurt. "It's Giselle Torres, she talked to me about Vocal Adrenaline's offer last year."
Hearing that, Kurt's jaw tightened for the shortest moment. The secret files from Rachel were still a sore topic between the two of them. In meantime, Rachel was approached by the majority of her team who joined in with their own greetings. Everyone was chatting happily, probably sharing their impressions about the team – and completely ignoring Kurt and Blaine who were still standing few meters away.
Just as Kurt was about to comment on their rudeness, he saw that two of the people who stayed behind moved a bit closer to them. One of them was Rachel's dance partner from the performance and the other was a pretty girl who was observing with amusement the scene in front of them. They were the only ones to actually greet Kurt and Blaine, introducing themselves as Justin and Briana.
Taking advantage of this new situation, Kurt opened his mouth to ask one of the many questions that were trying to leave his mouth since the last few minutes, but something next to Rachel caught all their attention once more.
There was yet another new girl standing few meters from the small crowd. She wasn't alone, though, accompanied by a tall, bulky and totally handsome guy. They were both wearing the same terrified expression while watching the scene before them. Taking a closer look at their newest company, Kurt realised that he actually recognised the girl from the party that Rachel had organised for her dads' anniversary few months earlier.
"Kate?" Briana called out in surprise, loud enough for Rachel to hear that, and stop her frantic description of her newest artistic success. "Oh, it's going to be fun."
"Yeah," the guy next to them agreed, watching Rachel's expression change. "I better go there before Berry commits a homicide."
Wow, it's been one long chapter!
Britney Spears' Circus was just playing on the radio when I was writing the chapter, hence the sudden inspiration for the Invitationals number.
Oh, and I LOVE your reviews, it's sooo good to know that people enjoy my work so much!
Until next time! (no longer than two weeks from now, I promise!)
* Finally, the name of the chapter is the title of the song Ten Duel Commandments from Hamilton – if you haven't listened to the Cast Album – do it! It's totally sick.