• Smooth Criminal • Sebastian Smythe-BOOK ONE✔

f i f t y - s i x

"Listen to yourselves." Mr. Schue said to the group, frowning.

"I know. I'm sorry. I always go to the yelling place. I have rage." Santana sighed, crossing her arms.

Mr. Schue's frown turned to a small smile. "No, it's a good thing. A great thing. There is so much passion in this room Even all your arguing, it's about the work. You guys really want this. Okay, so let's take a half-hour break, and then we'll run it from the top." People nodded at Mr. Schue's words, but immediately began to shake their heads when they were being offered a break.

"Mr. Shue, is it okay if we keep going? We got the first slot, which is, like, the death slot. We have to be amazing." Tina asked.

Quinn rested her arm on Tina's shoulder, nodding. "Yeah, 'Edge of Glory's' a bitch. I said I'd be dancing by nationals. I'll be damned if I don't."

Mr. Schue nodded in understanding, looking at the entire group. "Okay, then let's keep going. Mike, help the guys out with the choreography. Artie, help Puck with his geography. Ladies, 'Edge of Glory.'" People nodded at Mr. Schue's words, going back into their respective positions. Marina and Arabella stood with the rest of the girls, ready.

"Come on. Brittany, run us through it."

"From the chorus?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, from the chorus."

"Let's do it. Watch out. We're gonna do it. Okay. Ready? Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four Keep up." Brittany said as everyone got back to dancing, learning the routine to its completion.

The next day, Marina and Arabella awoke early, getting everyone's outfits ready and placing them beside the still sleeping people, before getting changed themselves. They then quickly did their hair and makeup to perfection, slipping their heels on before waking the rest of the group, forcing them to get dressed, do their hair, and sort out their makeup.

Once everyone was sorted, people went back to practicing and getting sorted for Nationals. Marina and Arabella wanted to quickly explore Chicago, both secretly wanting to find good fabrics. Rachel had also left to explore the venue.

When they were out of the hotel, a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Trying to get away from us so quickly?" They swivelled around, seeing five boys and a man.

"Boys!" The girls yelled happily, "Uncle Bobby!" All seven of them called him 'Uncle' at the man's insistence. The girls ran towards the boys, Marina jumping straight into Sebastian's arms as Arabella jumped into Trent's arms. They then got enveloped into a group hug, falling to the floor with a laugh.

"I brought alcohol for when you win." Bobby grinned.

Thad smacked his arm, "Surprise Reenie, Bella!"

They grinned, "It's been a day. I thought you guys were busy." Marina responded, confused.

"You seriously thought we'd miss this?" Trent asked.

"We'd never miss Nationals." Nick smiled.

Marina's phone beeped. "Uh-oh. We've gotta go. Practice." She shrugged, "See you guys in the venue, by Bobby!" The girls grinned as they joined hands, running to where they were needed.

Backstage, everyone was getting ready. Finn spoke loudly, as did Rachel. "For me?" The brunette asked in surprise.

"Well, it's for the wedding. For the Jewish part where you smash the glass. It's like, the climax of the wedding, right? Right before we kiss?" Finn asked Rachel, who nodded slightly.

"Yeah, it's supposed to symbolize the fragility of life or the destruction of the temple or something like that. It's very sweet." Rachel smiled to Finn. Marina looked over, seeing it was some type of glass.

Finn nodded, taking the glass back into his hands. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. But whatever. I wanted a piece of this town to be there. This is the town where everything's gonna change. We're gonna go from losers to National Champs."

"Your optimism if very sexy." Rachel smiled.

"Well, I'm so optimistic, I put my money where my mouth is." Finn stated.

Rachel turned panicked. "Wait a minute. That money was supposed to be for our honeymoon, okay? It was our money that we saved from babysitting and the tips you made at the tire shop!"

Finn, however, grinned. "I'm gonna double it. I'm gonna make it a thousand dollars. That's, like, an extra two nights in Niagara Falls.

"What if we lose?" Rachel asked weakly.

Finn shook his head. "Not this time. Carmen Tibideaux is coming, and we're gonna be perfect. And then we're gonna get married, and I'm gonna smash this glass, and then we're gonna live happily ever after."

Rachel only kissed the boy. "I love you."

"All right, gather around, everyone!" Mr. Schue entered the room, clapping his hands. Everybody cheered, slowly moving to form their show circle. Marina and Arabella stood side-by-side, Blaine beside Marina and Quinn beside Arabella. "I just want to say a few words before we go out there."

Finn stopped the man, "Hold on, Mr. Shue. Hold on. You've given us a lot of pep talks over the years, but remember, you told us once that, you know, a teacher's job is done when his students don't need him anymore?"

He gestured to the centre of the circle. "Okay. Finn, the floor is yours."

The boy stepped forward. "Last night we all sat around in a circle after you went to bed and we told stories. But then we went around the room, and everybody said what they wanted to win this thing for, and we all said the same thing: we want to win this for you." He pointed to Mr. Schue, everyone nodding in support of Finn's statement.

"Yeah." Sugar said quietly.

"And I know every year at school Figgins gives away the Teacher of the Year award. But I don't think any of us have to wait to see how we feel about that. You're, like, our Teacher of a Lifetime." They all cheered in agreement.

"Thank you, Finn, all of you. I love you guys so much." Mr. Schuester smiled to the group, getting smiles and happy expressions back.

"New Directions, line up."