Chapter 14

As Long As There's Glee Club

Claire was in her senior year, more confused and conflicted than ever. She wanted to make Rachel, Kurt and the others proud. The New Directions were temporarily out of the game. So were the Warblers, what with their steroids debacle the previous year, and then there was Aural Intensity, the Unitards, and the Nun-Touchables. No one from those teams seemed interested in competing this year. Sue Sylvester turned the McKinley choir room into a computer lab. Since when does she even use computers?

Claire's voiceover said, "Well, this is it. Senior year and I don't even know what to do for the rest of the year. Now that glee club is over, not just for the New Directions, but some of the other teams across America, too, I don't know what the hell to do anymore. Now that Finn's also gone, it's gonna be a crappy year." She decided to join the football to honor Finn's legacy, so she went to Beiste…after she performed "Breakout" by Miley Cyrus.

"Hey, Miss Senior. What brings you here?"

"Well, I understand you need new teammates on the field. I was hoping I could try out."

"I don't know, Claire."

"Why not? You played football when you were in high school."

"That was different, pumpkin."

"What if I got permission from my parents? Come on, I need something to do, otherwise I'll just scrape the bottom of the barrel."

Jake and Ryder seemed okay with it.

Jake said, "Hey, it's cool with me."

Ryder said, "Yeah, she seems legit."

Out on the field, Claire put on her uniform and got out on the field.

Becky ran to Sue and said, "You're gonna want to see this, Coach."

Sue turned to look at her. "You have got to be kidding me."

Kitty asked, "Is she really going to do this?"

Marley said, "Claire?"

One of the players said, "Hut!"

Claire got the ball and one of the guys tackled her. She grunted.

Jake said, "Oh, man."

Ryder said, "Ooh."

Beiste said, "Claire! Stop looking in the stands. Sue's not coaching this team. I am! Now, get your head in the game."

Again, the quarterback said, "Hut!"

Claire got the ball and ran. She managed to make it to the end zone and spike the ball.

Jake and Ryder cheered. Marley said, "Yeah!"

Beiste said, "All right. One spike isn't enough, but it's good enough for me. Welcome to the team, Claire."

Claire said, "Thanks, Coach." Kitty looked at her. "Oh, come on, Kit. Like you wouldn't have made that pass."

Kitty said, "Oh, please. You know you're only doing this because of Finn."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It's not. It's sweet. But let's be real. Finn wouldn't want you on the team because he knew how delicate and sensitive you are. Enjoy it while it lasts, Claire. I don't want to see you get hurt on the field."

Meanwhile, in New York, Rachel was going over her lines of Funny Girl with her leading man. She was wearing a Fanny Brice wig, the same hairstyle that Barbra Streisand sported when she played the role. At first, Rupert Campion, the director, was skeptical about the wig. "This is a joke, right?"

"No. I wanted to get into character. I did some research, and this look was totally in back in World War I Manhattan."

"Do you have any idea how Broadway works, Rachel?"

"Yes. Look, I'm not a prop. Okay? You hired me to be my own Fanny, and I needed some freedom to find her myself. Please, I've been going through hell for four months, and I need something to help me get through it."

"Fine, just please don't make me regret."

When Rachel and Paolo were singing "You Are Woman, I Am Man," he seemed to be intrigued.

Campion said, "Stop. That wig. Thank God for the wig." He clapped his hands. "You were really Fanny up here."

"Well, you know, Fanny was a rebel, so I thought being rebellious would do the trick."

"Well, I think we've all rebelled for one day. No more, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

In the apartment, Kurt was channel surfing and Rachel walked in.

She said, "I just had the best experience of my life."

Kurt looked at her, stunned. "Oh, my God, did you cut your hair?"

"No. I was feeling stuck." She took the wig off.

Kurt said, "Oh," and he chuckled relieved.

"Rupert's amazing, but he has a very specific review of everything. I just felt like I needed to rebel in order to play."

"Does he know?"

"Yes. He really liked it and I might get to wear it in the show. I just felt like taking a risk. I felt so alive."

"Risks can be very stressful. Does this have something to do with Finn?"

"Maybe."

Rachel and Kurt have been really missing Finn. They felt like they needed to step out of their comfort zones in order to move past the grieving process. In another story, Blaine had also gotten into NYADA with them and is now doing everything he can like he always does. Artie was in film school and he seemed to be doing pretty well for himself.

Claire still felt like she and the others should be performing. But she didn't know what else to do. She made the football team, but she still felt empty. Now that Artie, Tina, Blaine and Sam were graduated, she was the only one of the New Directions left. Jake and Ryder have football. Marley was still trying to make it by. Kitty was still on the Cheerios. And Wade was still struggling with his Unique persona. Claire asked, "Mom, I'm drawing a blank here."

Wilma said, "Claire, for three years, you've always been capable of coming up with really great ideas. You don't need the glee club to feel like you're part of something."

"But I can't let that Sue Sylvester win."

"Well, if you really want to shove it down her throat, do whatever you feel is right."

Claire's dad, Marvin, came over and said, "Well, I'm off. I'll be home late tonight so you two have the house to yourselves, but don't order pizza. There's plenty of food in the fridge."

Wilma asked, "What's that?"

Claire said, "Permission slip for the football."

Wilma and Marvin were skeptical.

"Look, I talked with Coach Beiste and she seemed okay with it. She was on a team when she was in high school. I can be careful."

Wilma said, "I know that you can be careful, Claire, but a lot of things can happen in the heat of the game."

Claire said, "So everyone says."

Marvin signed it. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I."

Claire knew what she had to do. She gathered up the others and sent them an email telling them to meet her in an alleyway where nobody would find them.

Marley said, "So, what are we doing here?"

Anne Marie and Ian walked out. Anne said, "We are gonna go back to glee."

Marley said, "Anne Marie? Ian?"

Kitty said, "What are you two doing here?"

Claire said, "I asked them to come. We can't have a proper certified glee club without coaches."

Marley said, "Okay, I'm intrigued but confused."

"We are not gonna let your guys' junior year go to waste. So, I asked Anne and Ian to help us bring everyone back together, so we can compete and have your second chance to win Nationals."

Jake said, "No. No, we're done with all that. Look, Claire, it's a nice gesture, and it's really spunky of you, but isn't it kind of risky?"

"You're related to Noah Puckerman. You guys are all about taking risks."

"This is different. If people start to find out about this, word will get out and Sue will shut us down all over again."

Ryder said, "He's right. It's just not possible."

Marley said, "I'm gonna have to agree. Look, Claire, it's really sweet that you care so much, but none of us really want to go through it again."

Claire said, "Marley, didn't you say you wanted to be a songwriter? You wrote a great song to help us win Regionals last year. Maybe you could do it again this year."

"It's just not worth it if it means getting caught."

Kitty said, "I'm with them. Why don't we just say what this is really about? You just want to sing and dance again. Look, Claire, I want to see Sue Sylvester fail as much as the next person, but those days are over for me."

Wade said, "Sorry, baby."

They all walked away.

Ian said, "Well, now what?"

Anne Marie said, "Well, we can't just expect everything to go back to the way they were."

Claire said, "You guys gonna take off, too?"

Anne said, "No. No way."

Ian said, "No, we're with you, Claire. We just need to come up with something better is all."

The next day, Claire was singing "What If?" from The Cheetah Girls: One World.

When Will started New Directions, he had purpose. He wanted to being out the best in people. Let them find their talent. Rachel became less selfish, Kurt became less insecure, and Mercedes became a successful recording artist. Finn became more confident. Artie became more independent than he was before, and Tina, in spite of all her bitch-itude, stepped out of her comfort zones. Brittany made it. Sam made it. Quinn was a Yale prodigy and Mike was killing it in his dance classes. Even Puck was doing all right in the Air Forces. Santana had no idea what she was going to do, but at least she finally stopped insulting people.

Somehow, someway, Will made most of them better. Claire, Henry, Lauren, Sugar, Wade, Jake, Marley, Ryder, even Kitty. All of them have a purpose again. But what were they gonna do?

One day, some stupid boys were harassing Wade and when he told the others about it, Jake said, "We need some names."

Ryder said, "Yeah. Some people need to learn not to mess with you anymore."

Wade said, "No. I love you guys and your support means everything, but it might not fix anything."

Marley said, "Guys, we need to think about this. We need to consider the possibility of singing again."

Kitty said, "Yeah, but what's the point, Marley? If anybody ever found out about this, it'll all just go away again."

Marley said, "Claire isn't just doing this because she misses Finn. Maybe she wants to find her purpose again. Maybe she's just doing this to get back at Sue. But so what? When we were in glee club, I liked it. And you all did, too, in spite of the fact that we couldn't win Nationals."

Ryder said, "We could at least try."

Jake said, "Yeah, but even if we did, there are only six of us. We need 12 to form a whole team."

Back in the alley, Claire found them. "What are you guys all doing back here?"

Kitty said, "We want the truth, Claire. Why do you really want us to do glee again?"

"Look, I have more than one reason. The truth is, I wanted us to be a team again because I felt empty. I needed something to fill that void. Yes, I miss Finn. Yes, I like performing. And yes, I hate Sue Sylvester so much. But I don't want to just do this for me. At first, I did, but that wouldn't be fair to any of you. If I want us to be a team again, it also has to be because you guys want this, too. I'm sorry. Jake, you like to sing. Ryder, you like to dance. Marley, your singing is incredible. Kit, you may not want to admit it, but you liked it, too."

Kitty smirked. "A little."

"And, Wade, you're not the only trans in the world. You are who you are, and glee helped you stand out."

Marley said, "Claire, even if we were a new glee team, we still don't have a new name yet."

Jake said, "Yeah, and we still don't have enough members to compete."

Claire said, "Well, that's why I brought Sugar and Joe to come back."

Sugar and Joe walked in and they all clapped and cheered.

Claire said, "Now, we still need four more members, and I already have our team name picked out. As of this moment, we are all…Treble Base."

Ryder said, "Wait. Seriously, that's our new name?"

"Why not? We're rebels, aren't we?"

Jake said, "You know, I have to admit, it's kinda growing on me."

Kitty said, "But where are we gonna find new members?"

Anne Marie said, "We already took care of that."

Ian said, "Say hello to our newest members of glee club."

Three brand new character appeared. A tall blond guy named Austin Ross, a brunette freshman girl named Ann Lynn, and a sophomore from Michigan who went by the name JJ Ramirez.

Sugar said, "You know, there's something oddly familiar about these guys."

Claire said, "Well, now that makes it to 11 members, which means we only need one more. Oh, I wish we could ask Rory."

Anne Marie said, "But unfortunately, he's stuck in Ireland, so we can't. I'm sure he'd love it, though."

Sugar said, "Well, why can't he come back? I mean, I'm rich and I'd be happy to pay for his airfare."

Joe nodded, "It's all right with me."

Claire said, "Well, okay, then. Then it looks like we have a full house."

They all gathered hands, "Amazing!"

Marley said, "Wait a minute, don't we also need a new stage?"

Anne said, "We already took care of that."

They all smiled. Inside an auditorium, they were singing "Higher" by Taio Cruz, Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy.