Glee: A Brand New Direction (first book of Glee series)

Chapter 3: Rehearsals

Chapter 3: Rehearsals

"Oh no," said Kitty when she saw me. "What's she doing here?" Quinn gave her a look and then she didn't say anything else. I guess I'd walked in during something important because all of the alumni were standing at the front of the room and the students in the red chairs. Finn urged me to take a seat but instead I just stood and he went back to talking.

"We've noticed that some of you are struggling in different things than the others," said Finn. I sensed a lot of tension in the room as Finn said, "So today we're splitting up. Those who need to work on your dance moves will go with Mike and Quinn to the auditorium. And everyone else will stay here to keep learning the Korean with me. Cool?" Nobody objected so he looked over to Mike.

"Alright, Ryder, Sam and Brittany, you've got the dance solos," said Mike, "so I need you to definitely come with me. Sugar, you don't really sing so you can tag along. Wade, Blaine, Kitty, and Artie, I would also like you to come. Everyone else can stay here, I guess." They headed out and the ones who remained quickly got to work with their sheet music. I heard a lot of really bad Korean and sat down as Finn took a seat next to me.

"So what are you thinking?" he asked me. "Jake says he saw you practicing out with the Cheerios while you were still-"

"I'm not joining," I made it clear. "I just wanted to see what you guys did out of curiosity. That's all." He nodded, then turned to Sam Evans, the senior who had huge lips but was still pretty hot, as he walked in. He was the vice president of the school, and the guy who walked in right behind him was the president and also a senior, Blaine Anderson. Everyone knew him as the gay guy who they wished was straight.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked them.

"Mike said he wants us to bring back Tina," said Blaine.

"But she's singing the lead in the Korean," Finn said as everyone looked on. "She needs to be here."

"He said he thinks it'd be better for her to go," said Sam, "because they need her to really map out the choreography around her. And also he said to tell you to maybe just send everyone over for Gangnam style and keep Jake and Marley to practice the ballad. You know, kill two birds at once or something?"

"With one stone," Mercedes corrected him. To Finn she said, "I think that's fine, Finn. You need some time to rehearse alone with Marley and Jake anyway." Finn agreed with a nod and everyone followed Sam and Blaine out. Then Finn stopped Santana and Puck.

"You guys are their mentors," he said. "You two mentor them." They nodded and started going over some points with them.

Finn turned to me and I asked, "Why aren't you mentoring anyone?"

"There was no one else left," he said. "Unless you decide to join, that is."

I laughed. "Maybe," I told him.

"Oh, so it's a maybe now," he said with a smile as the music began playing.

"If after this you don't do anything like Gangnam Style ever again," I said. He laughed and we turned back to watch the couple sing. Again, that Marley girl did not look too good.

"I'm sorry," she said when it was her cue and she missed it. "Can we go again?"

"You okay?" Jake asked her, looking deep into her eyes. She smiled softly and nodded but I knew she was lying. I could always tell when someone was lying.

The piano man look exhausted as he started from the beginning and that's when I realized what song it was.

"From the Lion King?" I asked Finn as Marley started singing "Can you feel the love tonight?"

Finn nodded with a smile. "We thought it'd be something everyone could connect back to. And we're going to have the others in the back doing the humming and harmonizing as backup and everything. It's going to look really cool."

I watched as they sang. They were very good together. Suddenly, I didn't feel too comfortable so I stood up and just walked out. No one came after me but the next day Finn asked me to stay again. So I did. And I stayed every day again until Sectionals day came, on Thanksgiving.

The day of the last rehearsal, everyone went to the auditorium to practice Gangnam Style, so I stayed back in the choir room. I was too tempted by the piano, all alone and unplayed, that I sat on the bench and started playing a few notes. Then I started playing "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid and soon I was singing out loud.

"Look at the stuff, isn't it neat?" I sang. "Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, the girl who has... everything?" I kept singing until the end. I was about to finish, had just sang, "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above?" when I got the feeling that I was being watched. I knew I had nailed that note but I still felt embarrassed so I stopped playing and turned around. There was nobody there.