Summary: It's tradition for the sophomore, junior, and senior students in Vocal Adrenaline to skip the last class of the day on the Friday leading up to Regionals to go and psych out their competition. Freshmen students are strictly prohibited. That isn't going to stop Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James from being a part of something they feel they're ready for. Shelby Corcoran is going to teach them a lesson they won't ever forget.
Follows events in Birthday Traditions and Cementing Her Place
Chapter 1: Surprises Abound
The day that Shelby Corcoran looked forward to most every school year was finally here. It was the last Friday before the Ohio State Regional Show Choir Competition and it was tradition for the older students of VA to skip their last period of the day (sanctioned by the school and with parent permission, of course) in order to show up at one of the other competing school's auditoriums and give a little performance. And if that performance happened to psych the other team out only days away from Regionals, all the better.
The freshmen were forbidden from going, a fact that never failed to disappoint said students. Every year, there was at least one student that tried to argue the unfairness of their imposed banishment. And every year, Shelby needed only to turn her patented Coach Corcoran glare onto them. Of course, her freshmen never knew about their own special tradition that happened on this day.
This year's freshmen were six in total, and Shelby strode down the empty hallways of Carmel High School with an extra spring in her step as she went from classroom to classroom and collected her youngest members. She'd already sent the first four down to the auditorium one by one and was now on her way to fetch Jesse St. James, a little pipsqueak of a fourteen-year-old with the voice of an angel. The last on her list was Rachel Berry, her daughter.
Of course those two were this year's dissenters—and it came as no shock as to why. Rachel and Jesse were more comfortable around Shelby than any of her current or former students had ever been; Rachel for obvious reasons and Jesse because he'd known Shelby as his friendly, musical-theater-obsessed neighbor since he'd moved in three doors down from her at the tender age of ten. She and his parents had become close friends years before he ever saw her as her alter-ego, hard-as-nails Coach Corcoran.
Their unique relationship with Shelby made them more brazen with her, more outgoing. It also made them more dedicated and determined to work harder than any other student she'd ever coached. Shelby couldn't deny that the pair of them were talented—they had an innate talent for theatricality that couldn't be taught. On top of it all, they worked wonderfully together. It was one of the reasons Shelby had gone off-script and given the pair of them a solo at their upcoming competition. Freshmen never got solo parts. And to be fair, it was a small bridge near the end of the song, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but unheard of all-the-same.
So Shelby hadn't been surprised when those two had the loudest objections to the freshmen ban. She also hadn't been shocked when her glare did little to bring them to heel. By Wednesday, she had heard complaints from nearly half of her team that her star freshmen were trying to browbeat their teammates into taking them along on Friday. She'd rounded the pair up after practice that day and given them both an ear-blistering lecture. She thought that was that.
Rachel hadn't agreed, and Shelby found herself rehashing everything for the girl at the dinner table that evening. "Look, Rachel, I've told you as your Coach that freshmen aren't going. Now let me tell you as your Mom—You're not going. You do not have permission to go."
"But Jesse and I have worked harder than everyone else this year! You gave us the solo and you never give it to freshmen—you said so yourself!" Rachel had argued.
"You two have worked hard—but so has the rest of the team. And yes, I gave you guys a small solo because I feel you've earned it. But that doesn't mean you two are entitled to special treatment. Funk Day is a tradition this team has had for over six years now and freshmen have never been a part of it. You will have your turn next year. You've got to be patient and wait it out, just as every other member of VA has. Now, eat your dinner; you've got homework to finish."
Her daughter had continued to argue and pout, surprising Shelby. Rachel didn't usually put up this much fuss when Shelby told her to do (or, in this case—not) something. In the nearly ten months now that Shelby had had Rachel, she'd never had to be firm with the girl. Of course, there was that little bit of mischief involving their cantankerous neighbor's new driveway, but even then Shelby hadn't faced a difficult teenager. After all, Rachel had run straight home to confess herself. And while Shelby had decided to spank her daughter for her actions that day, the spanking itself had been a minor one. And then, things had gone back to normal and Rachel was once more that perfect, easy-to-parent child.
So, Wednesday night's Rachel was new territory for Shelby. In the end, she'd simply told Rachel to trust her. Rachel had sighed but let it go, and the two of them finished their dinner on a relatively happy note. For the second time that day, Shelby Corcoran had thought that was that.
Shelby's thoughts returned to the present as she made it to Jesse's classroom. The boy had Math last period of the day and Shelby knew for a fact it was his least favorite. She couldn't wait to see his face when she dragged him out of it for the special surprise she held for her freshmen every year.
She knocked lightly on the closed door, peeking in through the little window to see the math teacher look up at her in confusion. Shelby frowned; he knew she was coming to get Jesse, so why was he giving her that look?
Her confusion grew as Hank Thomas moved to the door. Where was Jesse? Shelby stepped back as Hank reached the door. He joined her, shutting his door behind him.
"Hey, I emailed you this morning about Jesse—didn't you see it?" Shelby asked.
"I did, but then Jesse came with a pass from you," Hank answered.
"What? I didn't give him a—" Shelby cut herself off, a sinking suspicion growing in her belly. "Hank, do you still have that pass?"
"Yeah, let me get it," her coworker replied, slipping back into his classroom. He returned a moment later with the blue teacher slip they all used.
Shelby's face grew dark as she stared down at the signed pass. There on the signature line was Shelby's own name scrawled in a near-perfect imitation of the real thing. Shelby sucked her teeth and shook her head, her eyes never leaving that signature as anger and disbelief mounted inside her.
"Thanks, Hank. Sorry for the mix-up," she said as way of goodbye, turning on her heel. She didn't wait to hear the other teacher's response. She was already stalking down the hallway towards her daughter's classroom.
oOo
Across town, Rachel and Jesse sat in the backseat of their Uber driver's Nissan Altima, giddy with disbelief and excitement that their plan had actually worked.
"I knew it would," Jesse crowed. "We made sure to cover all of our bases. And how cool will it be when we bust in and join the others? We'll be legends, Rach!"
Rachel rolled her eyes but couldn't help returning her friend's devilish smile as she envisioned their grand entrance.
Truth be told, Rachel hadn't been completely on board the day before when Jesse first suggested they skip class and catch an Uber to join up with the rest of the team at William McKinley. "We can't just walk out of school, Jesse. Our parents will definitely find out," Rachel had pointed out.
"Not if we are excused," Jesse revealed. "If our last period teachers think we have permission to be somewhere else, they'll never suspect a thing. McKinley isn't that far away. We'll catch an Uber over, join the team, and either Uber back or hitch a ride with one of the others. They're all gonna have to be back here for rehearsal anyway."
It hadn't taken much convincing after that for Rachel to agree. She promised Jesse she'd swipe a couple of passes from her mom's office later in the day and the two friends had parted ways in high spirits.
Grabbing the little blue teacher slips had been easy enough for Rachel to accomplish; she was in and out of Shelby's office all the time. And when she'd stopped by the woman's office on her way to lunch, her mother had made it even easier.
It'd been clear enough that her mom was on her way out when Rachel showed up. Still, she'd been greeted with a warm smile and a "Hey, bug." Shelby even stopped to hug her as she moved about the space, grabbing up a stack of manilla folders. "Sorry I'm in a rush, kiddo. I've got a meeting I've gotta get to. Is there something you need though?"
Rachel had jumped on her chance. "I'm out of lunch money," she replied.
"I've got some ones in my drawer. Take what you need, hon. I'll see you later, okay? Love you!"
Rachel had waved her mom off, calling out her own "Love you" as she did, and then hurried over to her mother's desk. Opening the pencil drawer, Rachel spotted the passes right away. She peeled six off of the big stack, knowing her mom would never notice them missing and wanting a few extras in case she made a mistake attempting the woman's signature. She'd made sure to grab $5 from her mother's stash to keep her ruse up, and then high-tailed it out of there in search of Jesse.
Rachel had then spent the previous evening in her room, painstakingly practicing her mother's signature over and over again on a sheet of loose-leaf paper. When she was finally happy with the look of it, she'd written out the passes for both her and Jesse and tucked them away in her backpack for the morning. Then she'd taken the extra passes and her practice sheet and snuck down to her mom's office to use her shredder. She made sure to empty the bin afterwards, and even collected all of the other trash in the house to take out—she wasn't about to leave behind any evidence.
Rachel had had second and third thoughts as Friday wore on, going back and forth on whether or not they were out of their minds for even thinking about pulling their plan off. Excitement and an unwillingness to miss out on this experience won in the end. Rachel's heart had beat a fast tattoo inside her chest as she'd made her way to her last period class, blue slip in hand. Her history teacher, Mrs. Feld, hadn't batted an eye when Rachel had given her the pass. The woman had smiled at Rachel and told her to "Have fun!" Rachel had been shocked, but she turned and left as if she hadn't a care in the world. She'd then raced to meet Jesse near a janitor's closet by the gym.
Jesse had timed the Uber perfectly so that the car pulled up right as they crept out of a door at the back of the school. They were well hidden from any potential prying eyes. Still, Rachel's pulse quickened as they jumped into the back seat of the car. 'Here goes nothing,' Rachel had thought as she buckled her seat belt. Then they were off!
Rachel focused back on the present as the car pulled up outside of William McKinley High School. She unbuckled and then slid out of the car while Jesse finished up with the driver, taking in the expansive building before her.
Her thoughts turned to her fathers and the reality she had known before. It wasn't lost on her that if things had turned out the way they were supposed to, Rachel would be nearing the end of her first year of high school here. Her heart clenched and tears welled unbidden. Then another thought hit her just as hard: if it hadn't happened, Rachel never would have gotten to know her mom.
Before she could get sucked too far into her grief-filled spiral, Jesse popped up at her shoulder, his exuberance contagious.
"It's showtime, bitch!"
oOo
Shelby was fuming as she made her way to the auditorium. She couldn't believe (didn't want to believe) that her own daughter and the sweet neighbor boy she'd known for four years were capable of such deliberate rule breaking. But the proof was in her hand! Two little blue slips of paper with Shelby's forged signature on them.
Stopping outside of the auditorium doors, Shelby Corcoran took a moment to calm herself. There was nothing she could do about Jesse and Rachel's disappearance right now and she didn't want to be angry when she walked through those doors to spend time with her remaining freshmen. Today was about connecting with her youngest students and letting them know how much she valued their enthusiasm and hard work this year. And it was a day for them to see their Coach in a more relaxed light. There would be time later for Shelby to be angry and deal with her disappearing duo.
She was going to read those two the riot act when they came back this afternoon—and they would come back. The final surprise of the day was that rehearsals were cancelled. Shelby had learned after the very first Funk Day that holding practice afterwards was more trouble than it was worth. It was better to let the kids have their fun and ride the high, heading into the Regionals competition rested and refreshed. Her plan hadn't failed her yet and would serve her all-the-more today.
Taking one last deep breath, Shelby pushed one of the doors open and stepped through into the cool quiet of the auditorium. Her footsteps were the only sound as she walked down the center aisle, four pairs of anxious eyes tracking her every move.
When she got to her freshmen (three girls and a boy), Shelby wasn't surprised that she towered over them—ninth graders as a whole were tiny. 'Babies, all of them,' she thought fondly. One of the best things about being a high school teacher was getting to see her kids grow from gangly youths into young men and women. She smiled at her four now.
"You don't have to look so scared," she told them. "I have a surprise for you."
"Just us? What about Rachel and Jesse?" Darcy Adams asked with a frown.
"Rachel and Jesse…" Shelby trailed off with a heavy sigh and considered her words. "Let's just say they'll have their own surprise waiting for them," she finally settled on. The teenagers exchanged glances and Shelby knew they'd be whispering about it later; they remained quiet now and waited for her next move.
"Well let's get this show on the road!" Shelby clapped, and she had to hide her smile as the four freshmen sprang to attention before her. Spinning on her heels, she led the way toward the stage.
Shelby stopped when she'd reached the closed curtains and spun back around dramatically. She felt for the opening and grabbed hold of the thick fabric. Drawing it back with a flourish, Shelby delighted in the awed looks of the teenagers as they took in their surprise.
She had enlisted the help of some of her seniors during lunch, getting the boys to carry two tables, a sofa, and a couple of bean bag chairs out from the props room and arrange them on stage. The girls hung string lights and decorated the tables, laying out the variety of serving bowls for all of the snacks Shelby had been sneaking in all week. The only thing Shelby had to do before going to collect her freshmen was dump the different chips and dips into the waiting bowls and fill up the ice bucket for the drink station. She'd had pizzas delivered at the very last minute, placing them on the empty table where the plates and utensils sat.
"It's party time, kids!"
oOo
Rachel and Jesse made their way towards the auditorium entrance, spotting a couple of their older teammates already heading inside. Jesse raised his hand, ready to call out to the juniors, but Rachel practically dove to capture his arm. She yanked it down (nearly taking the pair of them down with it) and then motioned for Jesse to be quiet as he rounded on her in annoyance.
"I don't think we should announce ourselves," Rachel said, her eyes darting towards the parking lot as she scanned for other teammates. They were in the clear (for now).
"What?!" Jesse bellowed. "Rachel! We didn't go to all this trouble to sit on the sidelines! What's the matter with you?!"
"Shhh!" Rachel hissed. "I know! But we're also not supposed to be here and what if one of them rats us out to my mom?" Rachel bounced on the balls of her feet as the beginning stirrings of guilt tickled her tummy. Now that she was here, the idea that they could actually get into trouble began to weigh on her.
"I don't think they'd—We're teammates. And they like us!" Jesse said confidently.
"Okay, well. What if no one tells on us intentionally but someone slips up and my mom finds out anyway? And what if she decides to take away our solo because of it?!" Rachel watched as her friend's face lost some of its color.
"Okay, yeah. Good point," Jesse conceded, his shoulders slumping. "Let's…let's go watch, at least. We came all this way."
Rachel agreed and the two friends crept the rest of the way towards the auditorium, heads swiveling back and forth as they watched for familiar faces. They slipped in through a side door and were relieved to find the lobby empty. Rachel spotted the door labeled 'Balcony' first. With one final look around to make sure the coast was clear, they ran for it.
Shelby laughed until she had tears streaming down her face as Jackson Brantley acted out 'Man! I Feel Like A Woman!' for his next round of Song Charades. After the kids had eaten their fill of pizza and snacks and Shelby let them ask her a bunch of get-to-know-you questions, she started them on the game. They'd each taken several turns already (Shelby included) and the teens had all started to try to outdo one another in outrageousness. Shelby loved to see them let their guard down around her, as she usually inspired a healthy dose of fear in her youngest students. Her freshmen were always the most serious of the lot because they only ever saw Shelby in Coach Corcoran mode. And Coach Corcoran was scary, she would admit. But she could be fun, too.
Her thoughts turned briefly to Rachel and Jesse. She was upset they weren't here—not only because they'd outright disobeyed her, but because they were missing out on such a special moment. And she hated that she'd have to come down hard on them for it. Already her mind was mulling over the best way to teach her two little stars that they weren't the only shining spots in the sky.
At the same time over at McKinley, trouble and consequences were the furthest thing from Rachel and Jesse's minds. Crouched down before the front row of seats in the balcony, they peered over the half wall to the stage below and watched with awestruck expressions as their teammates performed 'Another One Bites The Dust' to the stunned McKinley glee club.
"I really wish we were down there with them," Jesse whispered wistfully. "Oof. Connor was a little pitchy there."
"I don't think the McKinley kids noticed. Look at them. They're gobsmacked!" Rachel returned.
"We're really going to be going up against them? It's almost cruel, isn't it? Look at that tall one. I don't think he has two brain cells to rub together!" Jesse snickered.
Rachel turned her attention to the oafish jock her friend was referring to. He was cute, she supposed, in a goofy sort of way, but Jesse was right. He looked as dumb as a box of rocks. She barked out a laugh and then clapped a hand over her mouth in alarm. She and Jesse ducked their heads, hearts hammering. Rachel gave her friend a sheepish, apologetic look. Then they both dissolved into giggles.
"I don't think anyone saw or heard us," Jesse whispered once he had composed himself. Rachel was still tittering behind her hand.
Two heads reappeared over the half wall to watch the rest of the performance. When it ended and their teammates whooped and hollered their way off the stage and up the main aisle to leave, Rachel and Jesse stood to make their own exit. Neither of them noticed the surprised gasps and pointing fingers of the two juniors that spotted them.
oOo
Shelby sat perched on the edge of the stage, one leg crossed over the other and bobbing in time to the song she was humming. It helped pass the time as she waited for her troublemakers to return.
And sure enough, as three o'clock rolled around, the auditorium doors opened and in walked Rachel and Jesse. Their exuberance was high as they giggled, Rachel actually skipping down the center aisle. They stopped short as they reached the open space in front of the stage, confusion replacing their excitement.
"Mo—Uh, Ms. Corcoran—" Rachel was quick to correct her address when Shelby's face darkened. "Where—Where is everyone?"
"I think the better question, Rachel, is where were you?" Shelby returned, her tone low. Dangerous.
Rachel's stomach plummeted at that tone and she snapped her eyes up to her mother's face. She watched in horror as her mom reached behind her and then brought her hand back around. Held between her thumb and the first two fingers of her left hand were the two teacher passes Rachel had filled out and signed. Rachel forgot how to breathe.
"You two have a lot of nerve," Shelby declared.