Quinn Fabray: My Story

Chapter 23 - Don't Stop Believin'

Returning to school on Monday the majority of us kind of felt like we lost all hope of winning. With Coach Sylvester being one of the judges it made things just that much harder for us. I sat with Artie unsure of what sectionals was going to bring for us. Mr. Schue entered the room as he began writing 'Journey' on the board. "Mr. Schuester, Finn and I have something we want to say to you," Rachel said as she and Finn entered the choir room. "Me first. Have a seat," Mr. Schue said as Rachel and Finn took their seats.

We all looked to Mr. Schue wondering what he was going to say to us. "Nine months ago, there were five of you in here. And we sucked. I mean, we really sucked. Bad. One day, all of you are going to be gone. And all of this, all of us will be nothing but a hazy memory. It will take you a second to remember everyone's name. Someone will have to remind you of the songs we sung, the solos you got or didn't get. Life only really has one beginning and one end, and the rest is just a whole lot of middle. And I love you guys too much to let you not make the most of it. Now, I was going to quit once, but you guys brought me back with "Don't Stop Believing." It was a nine, but we are going to make it a ten," Mr. Schue told us. "We're doing "Don't Stop" at Regionals?" Rachel asked. "And then some. We are doing a Journey medley. Because who cares what happens when we get there when the getting there has been so much fun?" Mr. Schue said as we all nodded to agree. He was right. Win or lose we still gained a family. "Rachel? You had something you wanted to say?" Mr. Schue asked. "Just that we're all really glad you didn't become an accountant," Rachel smiled as we all laughed. "Regionals, here we come!" Mr. Schue exclaimed as we began rehearsals for our Journey Medley for Regionals.

The rest of the week we were dedicated to getting our Journey numbers perfect. No matter what the outcome of Regionals we were still going to give it our all. Saturday came quicker than we could've imagined as we all nervously entered into the auditorium to await our turn for Regionals. We were performing second with Aural Intensity starting off and Vocal Adrenaline finishing last.

I sat nervously backstage with the rest of the New Directions as we listened to a mashup Aural Intensity did of 'You Raise Me Up' by judge Josh Groban and 'Magic' by judge Olivia Newton John. I couldn't help but shake my head. They had to have been tipped off about the judges and were trying to play the sucking up card. "A mashup of Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban. Are you kidding me?! Somebody tipped them off about the judges," Puck said annoyed. "Guys, we can't get distracted by what the other teams are doing," Rachel said. "We just got to keep our heads in the game and focus," Finn agreed. "Even though we know we can't win?" Santana said annoyed. "Yes," Mr. Schue said as he shut off the PA system. "If this is only about winning for you guys, then I owe you all an apology, because I've failed you. And we should just all go home, because it means we've already lost. Besides,we have got something that the other groups don't," Mr. Schue said. "What?" Artie asked. "Finn's dancing. Right? Come on," Mr. Schue said as we all bursted into laughter including Finn. "Now let's get out there. We got two minutes. Aural Intensity's almost finished. Bring it in. Come on. Come on. Let's go, go, go, go, go and..." Mr. Schue said we all got in with our hands. I couldn't help but feel a weird feeling but I decided to ignore it as I held my back.

We got ready onstage as the announcer began to speak "Ladies and Gentleman, our second competitors, winner of the Central Ohio Sectional, McKinley High's New Directions!" the crowd cheered as Finn and Rachel started us off singing 'Faithfully'. Towards the end of the song the curtain lifted up as the rest of us backed them up on the 'ohhhs'. The crowd seemed into the performance. I couldn't help but beam as we went into our next song which was a mashup of 'Any Way You Want It' and 'Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin''. I sang background proudly enjoying every minute of it. I was paired up with Puck for the choreography in some ways having him as my partner again made me feel safe like nothing bad was going to happen. The song ended as the crowd yet again cheered. We closed out our numbers with an amped up performance of 'Don't Stop Believin''. It felt like everything had truly come full circle. As we finished the song we all couldn't help but feel great about our performance.