Friday soon rolled around as both twins were anxious about it, Quinn was nervous about the second game of the football season where she and the Cheerios would be traveling to Toledo where the Titans were going to play against the Rogers High School Rams. Grace, however, was anxious about her audition for the New Directions. She had been practicing all week and was hoping to give her best possible performance to make it into the Glee Club. Besides that she knew most of the tests were that day and she wanted to keep up her grades.
As another school week came to a close, Grace headed to the auditorium carrying her sheet music when Rachel grinned seeing her, as she was at the front of the line for the auditions. "Grace! It's good to see you," Rachel said.
"You too Rachel. So, you signed up too? I'm not surprised," Grace said seriously.
"Of course I did. I picked out the perfect song. I had just posted my cover of it to MySpace, you should check it out," Rachel grinned.
"Sure, I will after school," Grace said honestly.
"Great. It looks like only 6 of us signed up," Rachel said with a sigh.
"Yeah but at least it's the 6 of us who could actually carry a tune from the Singsations," Grace offered. "True," Rachel nodded as she noticed the other 4 members approaching.
"Well break a leg out there everyone. I will naturally close these auditions," Rachel said confidently as Mercedes rolled her eyes.
"Like anyone cares who auditions where for these things," Mercedes said as Rachel scoffed.
"Please you should all be thanking me that I'm not going first, none of you could measure up to me," Rachel said dramatically as Mercedes glared at her.
"All I know is I'm going to bring the noise hard and y'all should too," Mercedes said simply as Mr. Schuester greeted them outside the theater, calling them inside as they were instructed to go backstage and wait to be called out in the order they signed up.
"Just introduce yourselves and tell me what song you're going to be singing," Mr. Schue said to the group.
"Just like a standard Broadway audition," Rachel beamed enthusiastically.
"Precisely," Mr. Schue smiled a bit before sitting at the podium with his notebook opened as he called them out one by one, starting with Mercedes.
"My name is Mercedes Jones and I'm singing 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin," Mercedes said hands on hips.
"Sounds great Mercedes, whenever you're ready," Mr. Schue smiled softly as Mercedes began to sing. Grace watched her friend in awe of how incredible Mercedes' voice truly was. As she finished, Mr. Schue thanked her before calling the second name on the list, Kurt.
"Hello, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'll be singing 'Mr. Cellophane'," Kurt said as he then began to sing through his song hitting the high notes with ease as Grace watched him, once again in awe of how incredible he sounded. She knew her two best friends had truly killed their auditions. Mr. Schue then called for Tina.
"Hi there," Tina sang out before stuttering her way through her name. "I-I-I'm T-T-Tina C-Cohen Ch-Chang...s-s-singing I k-k-kissed a girl," Tina stuttered as Grace felt sorry for Tina, she hadn't known the girl had a stutter but as Tina sang, Grace was amazed by her voice. She hadn't known her prior but had a really good feeling about her being a part of the group. Mr. Schue clapped for her then called Artie out onstage and he wheeled himself out there.
"And you are?" Mr. Schue asked.
"I'm Artie Abrams and I'll be singing 'Pony' by Ginuwine," Artie smiled as Brad began to play 'Pony'. Grace was also amazed by Artie's soulful interpretation of the song. The more she heard from the group, the more solid she felt about their dynamics and possibility that this group could really become something special.
"Grace," Mr. Schue called as Grace took a deep breath heading out onstage as she handed Brad her sheet music before standing center stage.
"Hi I'm Grace Fabray, and I will be singing 'Fly Me to the Moon' by Frank Sinatra but I'll put my own feminine twist on it," Grace smiled softly.
"Sounds great Grace," Mr. Schue smiled, encouragingly as Grace turned to Brad, nodding for him to start playing as she began to sing.
"Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars. Let me know what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, baby, kiss me. Fill my life with song and let me sing forevermore. You are all I long for, all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you," Grace sang her heart out as she smiled softly as Mr. Schue clapped for her.
"Very good, thank you so much Grace," he said as she nodded heading offstage as Rachel then took the stage, knowing she was closing things off.
"Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and I'll be singing 'On my Own' from the seminole Broadway classic, Les Mis," Rachel said seriously.
"Fantastic, let's hear it," Mr. Schuester smiled softly as Rachel began to sing, putting her heart and soul into the performance. The other members seemed to murmur in awe of Rachel's performance as she nailed the song.
Mr. Schuester applauded her as she finished "Very nice Rachel."
"So, when do we start rehearsals?" Rachel demanded as Mr. Schue seemed surprised by her forwardness.
"Well everyone why don't you come back onstage," he said as the other 5 headed out onstage, Grace couldn't help but feel even more nervous than ever before. "I want to thank you all for signing up and trying out for the New Directions. I'm pleased to welcome you all to the Glee Club," Mr. Schue said seriously as they all cheered with excitement, seeming thrilled that they made it. Grace was incredibly relieved, Rachel however expected to make it and gave some faux shock.
"Now to answer your question Rachel, we'll start rehearsals Monday morning. Be sure to change into your costumes before rehearsals. We are going to be singing a Broadway classic 'Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat' from Guys and Dolls," Mr. Schue said as the New Directions seemed to chatter excitedly about the performance as he handed out the sheet music.
"Artie, I would like you to take the solo on this number," Mr. Schue said seriously as Artie nodded, seeming surprised.
"Sure, I'd love to Mr. Schue," he grinned as Rachel scoffed, clearly upset.
"Now as for the rest of you, please practice the background vocals over the weekend, we want our first rehearsal to go as smoothly as possible," Mr. Schue said seriously as everyone seemed to nod "Alright, you guys are free to go."
Everyone began to gather their belongings as Rachel continued to fume. "How could he do this to me?" she scoffed.
Grace shot her a sympathetic look "I'm really sorry Rachel that he didn't give you the solo but I think the soloist is traditionally a guy in the number," she offered.
"So what? I have the strongest voice and the most experience out of all of us!" Rachel exclaimed, upset.
"I get you're upset, I do but I'm sure there will be plenty of other songs you can have the lead on," Grace offered as Rachel huffed.
"You don't get it Grace, this is just an extra for you. Performing is my whole life!" Rachel exclaimed dramatically. As Grace was about to answer her back.
"Don't. Just don't Grace," Kurt whispered to her as Grace bit her lip knowing he was right. She just left Rachel alone to have her tantrum about losing the solo to a freshman, hoping the rest of rehearsals wouldn't be this dramatic.