Love Beats - A Different Take on Glee

Chapter 1

2009

High school. For some people, it's paradise. For others, it's hell. So, starting off, we have a bunch of cheerleaders practicing their routine. Coach Sue Sylvester was unimpressed.

"My name is Rachel Berry. You might laugh because every time I sign my name, I put a gold star after it, but it's a metaphor, and those are important. My gold stars are a metaphor for me. And just so we're clear, I want to clear up that hateful rumor that I was the one who turned that closet case Sandy Ryerson in because he gave Hank Saunders the solo I deserved. That's cockamamie.

I am not homophobic. I have two gay dads. I was born out of love. They screened potential surrogates based on beauty and IQ. To this day, we still don't know who my mom is, which I think is pretty amazing. My dads spoiled me in the arts. I was given dance lessons, vocal lessons—really anything to give me a competitive edge."

She was typing on her laptop one night. "You might think that all the boys would totally want to tap this, but my MySpace schedule keeps me too busy to date." She put up a camera stand. "I try to post a video every day just to keep my talent alive and growing. Nowadays, being anonymous is worse than being poor. Fame is the most important thing in our culture now. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that no one's just gonna hand it to you."

"My name is Kurt Hummel. I'm a sophomore at McKinley. My first day at this school last year, the principal got up in front of the whole freshmen class and said that the next four years were gonna be the best of our lives. Like that was convincing.

Everywhere I go, I'm isolated and I feel alone. I know how my mom said how good it made her feel that I was so happy, but I honestly don't remember what that even would've felt like." He walked to some pamphlets and picked up one about suicide. Suddenly, Emma walked up to him and said, "Can I help you?" Kurt turned around and replied, "Oh, no. I'm sorry, I just made a wrong turn."

"What's your name?"

"Kurt Hummel."

"Hi, Kurt. I'm Miss Pillsbury, the guidance counselor." They shook hands daintily. "I don't think I've seen you around school."

"I'm a sophomore."

"Well, if you ever need anything, my door is always open. Feelings don't take vacations, do they? They work in 24-hour shifts. I mean, I don't. I work during regular school hours." She sprayed on hand sanitizer.

"It was nice meeting you." He walked away.

"It was nice meeting you." She blew on her hand gently and looked at the suicide pamphlet.

Emma asked Burt, "What is that on your hands? What would you call that, oil or grease?"

"At the shop, we just call it grime."

"Grime."

"Look, I know why you asked me down here."

"Oh, you do. Oh, dear, has Kurt been acting strangely at home?"

"Since he was two. Look, I know he's a little bit different, but I also think it's a little bit early to talk about it. When I was a kid, I was a Bangles fan. Now I'm a Browns guy."

"No, sorry, I don't think we're talking about the same thing. Um, I'm worried that Kurt is…depressed. Deeply, and I'm concerned about him. Look, I walked in on him and he was looking at this." She handed him the suicide pamphlet.

"My name is Mercedes Jones and I don't have a lot of friends at this school. I mean, it's not like I get picked on and most folks are nice, I guess, but there are a lot of white folks here at McKinley. There is that one black kid, but he's really boring."

"Hey, Mercedes."

"Yeah, hi. I'm a big star at my church where everybody knows I got a big-ass voice, but here, I heard they're jump-starting the singing club at McKinley, and Mercedes Jones has decided to sign up."

"My name is Tina Cohen-Chang and you don't care. I'm wildly unpopular, but I love it. I'm trying to be unpopular because I am Goth. Goths don't have time for cliche high school clicks, we are the anti-click.

My stutter is fake. Not even Meryl Streep herself could fake a stutter for three and a half years. I could be a great, big star if I weren't so shy. I need to work on that, and I also need to stop talking to myself. Oh, shut up, Tina, everybody talks to themselves. Be gone, jocks. Be gone, cheerleaders. You have no power here. True power comes from non-conformity. Especially a boy in a wheelchair."

Artie rolled towards her. "What's shakin', bacon?"

"N-n-nothing."

"My name is Artie Abrams and I'm in love with Tina Cohen-Chang. She's not only sexy as hell, she also treats me like a real person. Tina doesn't look at the chair, she looks at me. She jokes with me, argues with me, and I know it sounds lame, but sometimes she even touches my shoulder or my arm. It's nice because that never happens to me. She's my best friend." Then he said audibly, "I like you."

"W-what?"

"Uh, nothing. Let's go eat, woman!"

One day, in the McKinley cafeteria, Kurt set down next to Rachel and they introduced themselves to one another. "Could I sit here?"

"Be careful with the posters. They each take 20 minutes to make."

"I see you're in the speech club."

"Speech, renaissance, Muslim students, black student union—it's important for me to be immersed in all the cultures. I'm an actress."

"I know. I've seen your videos on MySpace. You're very talented."

"Thank you. I'm Rachel Berry."

"Kurt Hummel." They shake hands. "Perhaps I should join the speech club. My dad's making me join something. And to be honest with you, I've also been toying around with a career in acting myself."

"I'm not toying around with anything. The minute I graduate, I'm going directly to Broadway and I'm never looking back. Besides, you can't join the speech club. It's full."

"Oh."

"Can you carry a tune?"

"Yes."

"I don't know if you've heard the good news, but the glee club is starting up again and it was really awful when that perp Mr. Ryerson was in charge, but Mr. Schuester is gonna be taking over now. He's the cool Spanish teacher who looks like an old Justin Timberlake."

"Ohh." He smiled fondly.

"When he was in glee, they were in Nationals. Do you know how hard that is? I'm assuming you're a mezzo-soprano. We'll explore your vocal range tomorrow after school. I'll reserve the auditorium." They were singing "Popular" from Wicked together. Their first duet. It was lovely. "That was incredible," Kurt stated.

Later, in the hallway, Kurt caught up with Mercedes. "Um, hi. Miss Jones?"

"That's me," she smiled.

"I'm Kurt Hummel."

"Mm-hmm. And, Kurt Hummel, what do you want? We're walking and talking."

"Well, I heard you're a total star in your church choir. You cracked a stained-glass window when you hit a high note."

"Well, that's how you get the big man upstairs's attention."

"I want to be just like you."

Mercedes stopped walking. "Kurt, you are adorable. But I don't think this really fits in with my church choir. I mean, no offense."

"Oh, no, none taken. Not at church, here. In the new glee club. Haven't you heard? Why wait for Sunday to be Aretha Franklin or Beyonce and Donna Summer when you can do it every day here?"

"Miss Jones is listening."

"Well, I want to audition, but I'm… I don't know what songs to sing, I don't know what to do with my hands…I don't know how to move all cool like you do because you're you and I'm…me. But inside I can be more."

"Okay, I'll help. First tip: you have an incredibly loud sense of fashion. Respect. But I see the way you slink around at this school. I think I may know the perfect song for you."

The school bell rang and Rachel walked with Mercedes. "Excuse me, Mercedes Jones? Hi, I'm Rachel Berry. I saw that you signed up for glee. Me too. I can tell by your signature that you have a very strong personality and by your torso that you have a very strong diaphragm. That means you're talented, which is good because I'm talented, too."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rachel. Guess I'll be seeing you."

"You sing at one of those churches. That's amazing. My dads always say, the person who's better than you, or almost as good, should be considered your best friend."

"Okay, let me just stop you right there. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get all in my head and make me nervous so you can swoop in and get all the attention. But let me tell you, I've been dealing with this for the last three years in my church choir. I overcame it and I'm over it. I gotta go to gym class."

"I'd really love to hear you sing one time. Maybe I could come to your church."

"You want to come to my church?"

Of course, during auditions, Mercedes chose to sing Aretha Franklin's "Respect." She belted. Mad pipes!

Kurt said, "Hello, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'll be singing 'Mr. Cellophane.'" While he was singing, Will enjoyed it and wrote, "Gay" and "Sweet kid." Kurt parted his hair to the side. Piano stopped. Will said, "Thank you, that was really nice."

Tina said, "Tina C. 'I Kissed a Girl.'"

Will seemed to be enjoying himself and Artie was in awe. Will wrote, "Edgy" and "Good energy." He clapped when she was done, then she said to Artie, "See if you can top that, wheels."

"Damn, girl, you nailed it." They did a high-five. He rolled on stage and said, "I'm Artie Abrams and I'll be singing 'Pony' by Genuine."

Will wrote, "Great voice" followed by "Soulful," and circled "Needs ramps."

Will threw his pen in awe and said, "Whoo." He clapped. "All right, Artie. That was fun. Thank you."

"Genuine is a badass."

"Artie, that was r-really, really good. I had no idea."

"Really?"

"Seriously. That's the best voice I ever heard."

Artie smiled and they hugged.

"Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and I'll be singing 'On My Own' from the Broadway classic, Les Mis."

"Fantastic," Will said. "Let's hear it." Rachel, of course, was spectacular, but that's no surprise.

"Very nice, Rachel."

"When do we start rehearsals?"

They were all singing "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat."

Outside, Sue was yelling, "That's sloppy! You're sloppy! It's just disgraceful."

Will found Rachel sitting in the stands. "You're the best kid in glee club, Rachel."

She told him, "Look, I know I'm just a sophomore, but I don't want to leave high school with nothing."

"You get good grades and you're a great singer."

"Everybody hates me."

"You think Glee is gonna change that?"

"Being a part of something special makes you special. I need a male lead who can keep up with me vocally. Look, Mr. Shue, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but sometimes it just isn't enough. I can't keep wasting my time."

A whistle blew. "Schuster!" Tanaka yelled. "Figgins wants ya!"

Will put his hand on Rachel's shoulder.

Inside Figgins' office, he said, "But we just started rehearsals."

"My hands are tied, Shue. I need the auditorium."

"If we show up at Regionals, the glee club stays."

"What is it with you and this club? You have five kids. One of them's in a wheelchair."

"Well, then I guess you have nothing to lose."

"Fine."

"Yes."

"But you're running detention to make it up to me."

"I suppose I can work with that."

Will's voiceover said, "I honestly thought that was it." Then he found Finn singing, "Can't Fight This Feeling" in the shower. Will realized he had purpose again, and his voiceover went on. "I suddenly realized why I wanted to do this in the first place. It was seeing a gift in a kid that they didn't even know they had. Pure talent. What I did then was the blackest moment of my life."

In his office, he slid a packet. "You gonna tell me how long you've had that?"

Finn said, "I don't even know whose that is. That's not mine, Mr. Shue."

"I see a lot of myself in you, Finn. I know what it's like to struggle to make good choices. I don't want to see you throw away everything you have to offer the world."

"That really got to me," Finn said, "when Mr. Shue said that. Because every day of my life, I expect more of myself. See, I might look confident and everything, but I really struggle with the same things others do. I never knew my dad. He died back in Iraq when we were fighting Osama bin Laden the first time. My mom and I are really close, but being a single parent can be hard. Darren was good to her, and he was cool about letting me hang out." In a flashback, they were singing, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" by Journey. "That was the first time I ever heard music."

Darren said, "You got a voice, buddy. Seriously. If I had that voice, my band would still be together. Stick with it."

Finn's voiceover said, "My mom took it really hard when Darren left her for that girl he met at Pick-n-Save. I decided to do whatever it took to make my mom proud of me, make her feel all her sacrifice was worth it."

They all agreed to let Finn join glee. They called themselves the New Directions. This could be fun. At Carmel High, Rachel and Finn were walking together in line for coffee. She said to him, "You're really talented."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I would know."

"I have a girlfriend."

"Really? Who?"

"Quinn Fabray."

"The head cheerleader Quinn Fabray? The president of the celibacy club?"

"Yeah. For almost four months now. Hmm, I wonder if they have Sour Patch Kids."

Will and Emma also stood in line. He said, "Those sausages look like they've been in there a long while."

"Do you want to go half-and-half on a PB&J?"

"That sounds perfect." They walk. "I haven't had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a really long time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Terri's allergic to nuts."

"Oh. Well, that's really sweet, though. I mean, you know, not eating something because she can't." She pulled out half the sandwich. "That's kind of noisy. But they're clean." She picked up the other half.

"Oh, man," Will said. He ate it. "Mmm."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Fifteen years. We've been together since high school. She was actually my first girlfriend. I don't know. She used to be filled with so much joy. You don't want to hear about my problems."

"Oh, no, I don't. I mean, I do. I mean, I'm not happy that you have problems, but I'd love to hear." "Terri rides me hard and I always appreciated it. I figured she just wants me to be better. But lately, though, I keep asking myself better at what?"

"Did you like the sandwich?"

"Yeah, it's like the best I've ever had."

Will found them all in the auditorium singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." He clapped when they finished. "It's a nine. We need a ten."

Finn asked, "So, does that mean you're staying?"

"It would kill me to see you win Nationals without me. From the top."