The familiar beeping of an alarm went off waking Blake from her deep sleep and making her groan in annoyance.
"I get it, I get it, I'm getting up".
She lazily moves to her closet grabbing her favorite pair of baggy jeans, a gray shirt, and her favorite flannel. She grabs the hair brush off her vanity and runs it through her hair making sure to get rid of the frizz from her bed head. She flips off her reflection in the mirror and heads down the stairs to meet her brother and father in the kitchen.
"Good morning angry bird" her father greets her with a smile.
"Yea nice to see you too" Blake responds with exhaustion. She grabs a bowl and starts to pour herself some Captain Crunch.
"You know, I never thought the day would come where I'd be more energized for school than you" Derek says.
"Yea, well sophomore year tends to suck the energy out of you." Blake responds.
"C'mon it can't be that bad, I loved my sophomore year" Aaron tells her. "Did you have Rachel Berry in your sophomore year" he looks at her shaking his head in amusement "no? Didn't think so."
"Alright miss attitude I think it's time for you guys to get to school" her father says teasingly. Blake sighs but grabs the keys beckoning her brother to follow. Aaron kisses both his kids on the head as they go on their way. "Bye dad" both kids yell out as they shut the front door and head to school.
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Blake hops out of the car saying goodbye to her brother as he goes to meet up with his freshman friends. She puts in her headphones and presses shuffle on her favorite playlist and Complicated by Avril Lavigne starts to play. Quietly humming along as she walks she notices a bunch of football players about to throw a boy she thinks is named Kurt Hummel into a dumpster. Seeing as her Spanish teacher Mr. Schuester just walked by and bought the bullshit Noah Puckerman told him she decided to step in.
"Hey, why don't you Neanderthals go jack each other off somewhere else and leave him alone."
They all turn to face her in shock not knowing why someone would try to confront them. Puck quick to regain his composure smirks at her
"I mean maybe you could help us with that"
Scrunching her face in disgust Blake rolls her eyes "yea as much as I wish I could there's probably not enough for me to help with." Some of the boys quietly snicker, Puck not expecting that looks at the taller football player she thinks is Finn Hudson for assistance. But all Finn can do is shrug in amazement at the quick wit this girl has. Noticing how most of the guys are at a loss for words she walks up to Finn yanks Kurts jacket out of his hands and gives it back to Kurt. She links her arm through his and leads him away from the asinine football players.
"While I appreciate the fact you're my knight in shining flannel, why would you help me?" Kurt asks her.
"Well I wasn't gonna let them throw you in a dumpster. And considering the fact a teacher didn't even help you I thought it was time someone stepped in" she says as they walk into the school.
"Well thank you, I definitely appreciate it. I just feel bad because now your on their radar and could be the next victim to the dumpster assault."
Blake laughs, "trust me, I'm not to worried about it. I think I can handle a couple of asshole football players"
Kurt looks at her smiling; happy he finally found someone he can rely on.
"I'm Blake Henley by the way" she introduces.
"Oh trust me I know who you are" he laughs "your commentary on Mr. Schuester's terrible Spanish presentations is comedy gold".
"Well I'm glad someone finds it entertaining." She smiles at him.
As they continue to walk down the hall the bell rings. The two reluctantly part ways promising to find each other later. Both secretly excited they found a new friend.
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Blake walks down the long hallway happy the day is almost over when she comes across the activities board. One specific thing caught her attention. Glee club.
She remembered the old director Sandy Reyerson got fired for being a pervert, so she wondered who would take it over. Curiosity getting the best of her she wrote her name down. Blake Henley. Wow, never did she think she'd sign up for glee club.
Considering Rachel Berry was in it she truthfully never even considered it, but now maybe it'll be a good experience.
As she's about to turn around someone raps their arms around her; not knowing who this person is her first instinct is to attack whoever is grabbing her. She swiftly turns around and palms whoever is holding her in the chest. The stranger releases her gasping for air, as she gets a good look at him she notices he's covered in something red. A slushee.
Guilt washing over her, realizing he had just saved her from a slushee attack she profusely tries to apologize.
"I-I'm so sorry! I had no idea who or-or what was happening so my first instinct was to hit whatever was touching me! I am so sorry!"
As she rambles the boy just laughs a little "hey, hey, it's alright. I just saw someone about to slushee you so I thought I could try to help" He smiles "but I mean if I knew you'd try to kung fu panda me I would've stood a little further back." He laughs lightening up the mood.
Blake let's out a half sigh half laugh "Well maybe next time you try to save someone, give 'em a little heads up before hand". Both the teens laugh
"I'm Ace Williams" he sticks out his hand for her to shake.
"Blake Henley" she responds while shaking his hand.
"Well Blake," he says as he slides past her to the sign up sheet "I'll see you at auditions" he gives her a goofy smile "now if you'll excuse me, I should probably clean myself up".
"Yea, yea. Again I'm really sorry for hitting you".
"No worries. I'll catch you later Blake" he says as he walks off to the boys bathroom to clean himself off.
Blake shakes her head smiling wondering how she managed to make two potential friends in a day.
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Blake quietly enters the backstage area of the auditorium catching the end of one of her favorite songs Pony, and as she looks out onto the stage she sees it's a boy in a wheelchair.
She notices not only how amazing his voice is but how his dance moves are better than 95% of the peoples who can walk. As he wheels offstage she can't help but stop him.
"Hey, I just wanted to say, that was a killer performance dude. Like seriously... I feel like I should've paid to watch it or something."
The boy laughs "thank you" as he pushes up his glasses in a way Blake finds adorable. As Blake is about to continue talking to the boy a girl she recognizes as Tina from her English class approaches the two.
"H-hey Artie you r-ready to go?" Tina asks.
"Yea totally, I was just talking to..."
"Blake. Blake Henley"
"Right, Blake" Artie says; embarrassed that he hadn't asked her name before.
Tina smiles warmly at her explaining how she knew Blake from English class. The three chat for a couple minutes until the one and only Rachel Berry came up to them and asked them to be quiet as she was about to perform. Rolling her eyes Blake said goodbye to the two as they walked out.
Blake quietly sits in a chair as Rachel sings On My Own until she hears a familiar voice.
"I'm kind of disappointed you didn't see my audition".
Blake turns around to see Ace feigning a look of hurt on his face.
"Oh I am so sorry. I guess I just didn't wanna sit through you butchering whatever song you decided to sing" she says with a sarcastic smile.
"Ha ha, I have a terrific voice thank you very much. And you would know that if you decided to show up."
Blake rolls her eyes at the brunette boy as Rachel finishes her song signaling she's up next.
"Well I might not have been able to see you audition but now you get the pleasure of seeing me audition so, sit and enjoy" she smirks.
She walks out on stage and introduces herself "Hi my name is Blake Henley, I am 16 years old and I will be singing Use somebody by Kings of Leon."
"Great, show me what you got Blake" Mr. Schue responds.
As the music starts Blake takes a deep breath in and starts to sing. She's always felt at home on the stage or whenever she performed; it's her happy place. She continues to belt out the song, like it's the last time she'll ever get to and she can't help but feel alive. As the song comes to a close she lets out a big breath and looks over to Mr. Schue.
"That was amazing Blake!" he laughs excitedly "I'll see you at glee rehearsals!"
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Performing Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat wasn't actually the worst part of glee rehearsals. Having to watch Rachel storm out like a 5 year old toddler though was.
"If this is how things are going to be with her the rest of the year, my father is going to be getting a lot of extra time with me after I get suspended for trying to waterboard her." Blake hisses.
"Girl I'll help you", a girl she learned was Mercedes said.
Laughing at Mercedes Blake walks over to her and Kurt. Seeing as Tina and Artie went off on their own, and as soon as Schuester left so did Ace. As the trio talks they decide to head out with Artie and Tina instead of waiting for Mr. Schuester to come back. Reaching the outside of the school she exchanged numbers with everyone and bid them farewell as she got in her truck and drove home.
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"Dad I'm home!" Blake yells out.
"In the kitchen" he yells back.
Blake throws her keys in the little blue bowl they keep on the table by the front door and walks into the kitchen.
"Hey kiddo, how was school"
"It was pretty good," she says as she slides into a chair "up until Rachel stormed out of glee rehearsals because she didn't get a solo, but other than that it was decent."
"You really don't like this Rachel girl do you" her dad asks.
"No not really" Blake responds "Maybe I would if she'd stop being such a brat all the time".
Aaron sighs putting his arms on the counter and leaning forward towards his daughter
"I know she's insufferable now, but it'll get better I promise. Most girls like that will grow out of their "it's all about me" phase. Just give it time."
Sighing, Blake looks at her dad "I sure hope your right, or you will be dealing with a lot of angry phone calls from the Berry family"
Laughing at his daughters antics he throws a spoon at her "all right, stop complaining and stir the pasta sauce for me".
"Sir yes sir" she giggles.
Hopefully her dad is right or else this year is going to be a rough one.
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The next day at rehearsals the last thing Blake expected was to see the quarterback Finn Hudson singing Your the one that I want with a very desperate Rachel Berry.
While she didn't expect it, she wasn't against it because they actually sounded quite good... up until
"Oh, hell to the no!" Mercedes calls out "Look, I'm not down with this background singing nonsense. I'm Beyonce. I ain't no Kelly Rowland."
And Blake couldn't help but agree, they might sound good but their are more voices that should be showcased.
"Okay, look, Mercedes, it's just one song." Mr. Schue tried to reason.
"And it's the first time we've actually been kind of good" Kurt says.
After debating it we end up running the number again until it's time to go. As Blake gathers her things and starts to walk out a hand grabs her shoulder.
She whips her head backwards to see Finn Hudson looking at her. Seeing he clearly wants to talk to her she beckons him to follow her.
"Too what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to the Finn Hudson" Blake says with a bit of snark.
"You act like I'm some kind of celebrity or something".
"I mean, aren't you" she asks.
"No, not really... look I just wanted to say you have a great voice" he compliments.
"You haven't even heard me sing" she argues.
"Just because I had crazy eyes all up on me doesn't me I couldn't hear you singing"
"Well... thanks for the compliment I guess"
"No problem," he smirks "I'll see you later for the trip to Carmel"
Finn walks off with a little more pep in his step, happy he finally found a way to talk to her. He hasn't been able to get her out of his head since she saved Kurt from being dumpster tossed.
Blake slightly confused walks out to her car, wondering why now did he make the effort to talk to her. Was it a set up to prank her for confronting the football players? Or was he genuinely trying to compliment her? Shaking her head to rid her thoughts of the quarterback she starts to think about vocal adrenaline and how much competition they're going to be.
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"For a show choir performance their seems to be a lot of people here." Blake comments.
"Yea I mean they have to be pretty good with how large the turn out is" Ace agrees.
As the two discuss the strangeness of how big the audience count is Blake can't help but tune in to the conversation happening in front of her.
"You're very talented." Rachel blurts out
"Really?" Finn asks skeptically
"Yeah. I would know. I'm very talented, too."
Blake has to hold in her scoff at the girls big ego. Which she doesn't understand how it could be so big considering how small she is.
"I think the rest of the team expects us to become an item. You, the hot male lead, and me, the stunning young ingenue everyone roots for."
Blake, trying to stifle the laugh she was holding; tries to cover it up with a cough until Finn just puts the icing on the cake of embarrassment for the Berry girl.
"Well, I, uh, have a girlfriend."
Blake couldn't tell if it was the uncomfortable look on Finn's face or the scent of desperation radiating off Rachel but she just starts cracking up. She pulls Ace out of line cackling to the point where she snorts.
"Oh god," she continues laughing "please tell me you heard that conversation"
"Sadly, yes I did" Ace says trying to keep his composure "I thought she was gonna pounce on him, honestly"
The two start laughing and all of a sudden the lights start blinking, so they head into the auditorium taking their seats next to Tina and Artie.
"Hey, guys, so this is supposed to be our competition, but, uh, I honestly don't think that they've got the talent that we've got. But let's be a good audience, all right? Give 'em some of that old McKinley High respect."
Hoping her teachers optimism and faith about their talent rubs off on her, she sits back hoping the big audience isn't because Vocal Adrenaline is good.
"Please give a warm Buckeye State welcome to last year's regional champions, Vocal Adrenaline!" An announcer booms.
When the music cues Blake immediately recognizes the song. Rehab by Amy Winehouse. Vocal adrenaline performs the song to the point of perfection. The dancing, the vocals, everything. It's terrifying, no wonder it's basically a full house. When the song ends everyone's jaw was on the floor.
"We're d-d-doomed." Tina manages to say.
"You can say that again" Blake mutters.
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Now knowing how big of a threat Vocal adrenaline is Blake wonders what inspirational speech Mr. Schuester has in store for them. Walking into the auditorium she stands next to Mercedes waiting for her teacher to make his announcement.
"Alright, um, I know what I'm about to tell you will be unexpected and come as a surprise. And I want you to know how much it pains me to do this, but I wanted you eight to be the first to know so you won't be shocked when it happens." he takes a deep breath "I will be resigning from the school."
Blake's jaw drops "What?!"
"You're leaving us?" Artie says feeling hurt. "When?"
"Well, I've given my two weeks' notice, but I promise I'm gonna find you guys a great replacement before I go." He reassures.
Blake was in shock, how could he just leave? He did all this work to get the club up and running. He got Finn to come in and perform with them and he's just gonna throw it all away?
"Is this 'cause those Carmel kids were so good? Because we can work harder." Mercedes states confidently.
"This isn't fair, Mr. Schuester. We can't do this without you."
Finn not really sure what's happening wants to ask what this means for him and the whole "Chronic Lady" debacle. "So does that mean that I don't have to be in the club anymore or...?"
Blake rolled her eyes at Finn's comment, she should've known he didn't actually want to be here. Making eye contact with Ace she knew she needed to make one last attempt at making her teacher reconsider.
"You were the one who wanted to renovate this club and make it better, you can't just walk away from it. We might not be the greatest but we can get better, but only if you stick with us." Blake tries to reason.
"This isn't about you guys." Mr. Schue counters. "Being an adult is about having to make difficult choices. It's not like high school. Sometimes you have to give up the things that you love. One day you guys are going to grow up and understand that. I have loved being your teacher."
"Being an adult is also about knowing what you love to do and not giving that up. It's about expressing what you want and not having to feel bad for it. If you love being our teacher so much; then don't leave." Feeling at peace with what she said Blake walks out hoping her teacher takes her words into consideration.
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Normally Blake doesn't let anything bother her, ever. But this is really affecting everything, her attitude, her home life, schoolwork. She feels like she just got a new puppy, and got slightly attached to it only to have it ripped away from her.
"What's wrong with you?" Her brother asks as he sits down in the chair that's in front of her vanity.
"Nothing" she mutters while folding her laundry.
Derek not buying his sisters poor attempt at convincing him she's ok, he asks her again.
"What's wrong?" He pauses waiting for a response "if you don't tell me I'm gonna get dad to give you one of his many lectures on hiding your feelings" he threatens.
Looking at her brother in disbelief she gasps "you wouldn't dare."
"Oh trust me I would and I will if you don't tell me."
Letting out an exasperated sigh Blake flops down on her bed. "Glee club kinda just," she makes an over dramatic hand motion smacking the air in front of her "died."
Trying not to laugh at his sisters over the top actions he puts his serious face on. "What do you mean it just," he mimics the hand motion "died?"
Rolling her eyes at her brother she sits up, and she doesn't know whether it's the fact she sat up to fast or the built up frustration, but she finally lets it out.
"Mr. Schue is quitting to become an accountant. He tried so hard to give this club a comeback and we were actually doing decent, until he decided to drop the bomb that he was quitting. Who does that? Oh, and not to mention; Finn the quarterback, and the only reason why were even sort of good decided to bail too. I mean I thought I had commitment issues but clearly I was wrong."
Eyes widening at his sisters rant he lets out a breath "Wow. That's... a lot."
"Yea tell me about it."
"You wanna know what I think?" He asks.
Blake looks up at him expectantly, hoping he has a better solution.
"I think you should talk to Finn" he states.
Blake gapes at him. "Are you serious?! He flaked on the entire club, why should I talk to him?"
"Because you care. And I know you won't let this go. You'll kick yourself in the future if you don't at least try to convince him to come back."
Blake not expecting that answer just stares at him, still not fully convinced she should talk to the quarterback.
"Now you probably can't do much about your teacher. But with Finn, you can do a hell of a lot more than just sit here and be mad. The Blake I know wouldn't stop until he agreed to come back." Derek stands up giving his sister a pointed look. "So get up and get him back in the club."
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After her brothers surprisingly inspirational and cliché talk, Blake was determined to get Finn back in glee. Walking through the halls she tries to find him until she finally sees him walking with Puckerman. Internally groaning because she doesn't want to deal with the Mohawk football player, but knowing she has a mission she powers through it.
"Finn can I speak to you?" She asks impatiently.
"Uh... yeah I guess." He looks at puck in a way that tells him to leave.
Puck getting the hint decides to leave. "Alright, uh, I'll see you at practice." He then looks to Blake, "and hopefully I'll see you later." He winks at her and walks away.
Trying not to gag at Puck's advances Blake looks at Finn with an upset expression.
"I seriously can't believe you just gave up. Just like that."
Sighing Finn runs a hand through his already messy hair and looks at her. "Look, you don't understand. My reputation is all I have; if I ruin that I'm nothing."
"Finn you are not nothing. Do you seriously
want to throw away something that makes you happy? I understand you might think that it'll make you a loser, but wouldn't it be worth it to be losers with us?" Blake let's out a breathy laugh. "Cause personally I think we're pretty cool losers."
Finn slightly laughing at her humor, "yea I guess you guys are some pretty cool losers."
Blake couldn't help but smile at his reaction. "So come back to glee." She says sounding a little more serious now. "Please?"
Finn's smile now falling he puts on his indecisive face, "look, I want to... I really do, it's just... I can't. The football guys would kill me if I did. I really am sorry Blake."
Instead of waiting for her response Finn walks off without another word, and Blake walks off feeling defeated; disappointed she couldn't get him to come back.
"Great job Blake, that went perfectly." She mutters to herself as she starts to walk to glee rehearsals.
Feeling kind of deflated Blake didn't really want to deal with any drama, so when she walked into glee club just to hear Rachel screeching at everyone, she was less than pleased.
"Look, you guys, these steps are not hard. I've been doing them since preschool."
"I'm sorry, did I miss the election for queen? Because I didn't vote for you." Kurt sasses.
"Yea neither did I. And we get it, the steps are easy but we didn't choose to learn those steps. So please stop screeching like a banshee (haha stydia) and try to talk to us about steps we can all agree on." Ace says.
"You know what I know what I'm talking about. I won my first dance competition when I was three months old." Rachel dismisses Ace.
Before Blake could snap back and say something to the loud brunette the door suddenly opened to reveal a scared but relieved looking Artie and... Finn.
"This is a closed rehearsal." Kurt states, clearly still mad about Finn's quitting.
"Look, I owe you guys an apology." He says, gaze lingering over Blake. "I never should have quit. I don't want to be the guy that just drives around throwing eggs at people."
"That was you?" Rachel asks incredulously.
Blake kind of shocked she's never experienced this raises an eyebrow.
"You and your friends threw pee balloons at me."
"Wait what?!" Blake says kind of angry he would take part in doing something like that, especially to Kurt."
"I know." He mutters not really acknowledging Blake.
"You nailed all my lawn furniture to my roof."
Ok, what kind of people do this stuff, Blake thinks to herself.
"I wasn't actually there for that, but I'm really sorry." He states trying to get back to what he was saying. "Look, that isn't who I am, and I'm tired of it. This is what I want to be doing, with you guys. I used to think that this was like, the lamest thing on Earth, and maybe it is, but... we're all here for the same reason–'cause we want to be good at something." Finn looks over at Artie with a gleam in his eyes that show he's got a plan. "Artie, you play guitar, right? Think you could recruit the jazz band?"
Pushing up his glasses "I do have pull there."
"All right. Mercedes, we need new costumes, and they have to be cool. Can you do that?"
"Damn, don't you see what I got on?" She sasses.
Laughing at her attitude everyone lightens up a little bit.
"Rachel, Ace, you can do choreography." Finn awkwardly looks over at Tina. "Tina, what are you good at?"
"I-I..." he cuts her off.
"We'll figure something out for you." He gives a half smile.
Noticing how he's assigned almost everyone a role besides himself everyone waits expectantly for him to say what he's gonna contribute.
"And what are you bringing to the table, Justin Timberlake?"
"Well I was hoping Blake would help me with the music." He looks at her hopefully.
Blake pauses then starts laughing. "You bet your ass I'll help you with the music."
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Blake slightly shaking, hoping the song her and Finn decided on was the right one. They went back and forth for a little while until Finn told her about his revelation when Darren, a guy his mom dated, played one of his favorite childhood songs and Blake couldn't help but agree that it was perfect for them. Still feeling kind of nervous about the performance she paced back and forth backstage, until a voice stopped her.
"You ready for this?" Finn asks her
"As ready as I'll ever be." She smiles at him.
"Let's go!" He says excitedly as he puts his hand out for her to take.
She takes his hand and they walk out on stage to see everyone in the basic but pretty iconic costumes Mercedes picked. Her and Finn having to part ways because he was singing lead with Rachel.
Walking up to Mercedes, Ace, and Kurt. Blake couldn't help but feel excited. "We're gonna nail this!"
"Hell yeah we are" Mercedes agrees.
The four laugh until it's time to get in position. They all go to their assigned places as the beginning to Don't Stop Believing starts. Being able to perform alongside these people made Blake realize, there is nowhere else she'd rather be. Seeing Artie shred on his guitar, dancing with Kurt and Mercedes, sharing friendly smiles and winks with Ace, surprisingly harmonizing with Rachel, and sharing gazes with Finn; it was all perfect. Nothing could ruin this for her. As the song comes to a close the group is about to celebrate when they hear clapping.
"Good, guys. It's a nine. We need a ten. Rachel, you need to hit the ones and the fives. Finn, I think if we worked on it, you could hit a high "B."
Looking at everyone else they all had the same question in mind.
"So does this mean you're staying?"
"It would kill me to see you win nationals without me." Mr. Schue tells them. "From the top!"
Smiling at her teacher and classmates enthusiasm Blake knew that this would be the beginning to a beautiful story.
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Authors note:
Hey guys, so this is kinda my first book. I don't really know if it's good. I'm sorry if it's not. I know their will be a lot of punctuation errors. I will try to fix them. And thank you for reading my book if you do. Sorry if the updates aren't as quick I will try to update every 3-4 days but I don't know if I will be able to. Anyways thanks again :)