Hummel: Book Three of the Kimberly Hummel Series

Chapter Two

"Alright, New Directions! Big news," Mr. Schue said as he came into the choir room. "As you all know, Vocal Adrenaline came in second last year at nationals."

    "The only good thing that came out of that lost weekend . . ." Finn said, earning an elbow from Rachel, "besides us getting together."

"Well, the boosters at Carmel don't donate tens of thousands of dollars every year to come in second. So they fired Dustin Goolsby."

"So handsome," Artie said.

"And they're having trouble finding a new coach," Mr. Schue continued. "Seems that no one wants to take on that pressure."

"Which means that they're vulnerable," Tina said.

"Yes. And if we work hard enough, we can beat them. Which is why I realized that, um, I can't direct the musical this year."

"What?" I said, all color draining from my already pale face.

"Mr. Schue, you–you can't cancel the musical. My New York dreams depend on it," Rachel said.

"I'm not canceling it, I'm just not directing it. My sole focus has to be here. Nationals, nationals, nationals. And it's not just me that's going to try harder this year," our teacher went to the whiteboard, starting to write on it. "So every day after choir practice, I am instituting a mandatory 'booty camp' so that we can work on our dancing." He turned back to us. "Now, it's not for all of you–just the people that I think need help. Like–"

"Finn," my younger brother said.

"How did you know? And Puckerman. Older Hummel."

I busted out laughing. Older Hummel, oh my god I loved it.

"I must protest," Kurt said.

"You kind of have one move, Kurt," Mike said. "It's like this sashay," He shimmed his shoulders, "and it's super distracting."

"Jones," Mr. Schue continued.

"What?" Mercedes asked. "Hell to the nizzy-no."

"You told me once you were Beyonce. You don't think she spends extra time in the studio? Mike Chang has offered to be my assistant and Kimberly is–"

"Still debating. Yes, I did dance competitively at one time, but it's been a while," I said.

"You're really good, you should help," Mike said.

"Coming from you, that is such a compliment. Alright, I'll do it Mr. Schue," I said.

"Perfect. We start tomorrow," our teacher said as Puck raised his hand. "And yes, Puckerman, it is mandatory."

"Mr. Schuester, would you mind if I dropped by for a little bit?" Blaine asked. "I really need to catch up with you guys."

"Okay, Mr. Schue, I'm glad that you're so concerned with our special needs members, but what about me? Who's gonna direct the musical?" Rachel asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your co-musical directors," Mr. Schue gestured to the door. "Miss Pillsbury and Coach Beiste. Now Miss Pillsbury did such a good job helping me out with Rocky Horror last year that I knew she could handle the job."

"And I'm here to keep the football guys in line," Beiste said. "I've also talked them into playing the jets."

"Mr. Schue, with all due respect to Miss Pillsbury and Coach Beiste, this is crazy. They have absolutely zero experience in directing a musical," Rachel said.

"Not true. In college, I was in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," Beiste said. "I played the Forum."

"The teachers at this school are already overworked, and unfortunately a lot of them agree with Sue that the arts are a waste of time. Besides, they are gonna have some help," Mr. Schue said. "I've decided to include student directors this year."