It was a new week and we were all sitting in the choir room, while Mr. Schue wrote on the board movies.
"Everybody loves movies. They don't just tell stories...they transport us to other worlds. They are inspirational. They provide comfort, and they help us escape from our day-to-day anxieties." Mr. Schue tells us.
"Like getting left at the altar?" Kitty asks.
"Too soon." Ryder mumbles.
"Exactly. Or in your guys' case, studying for exams or... worrying about regionals. In any case, for this week's assignment, I want you to pick your favorite songs from your favorite movies." Mr. Schue adds and we all cheer.
"Unique knows all there is to know about The Crying Game." Unique comments.
"You don't get dibs on Les Mis just because you are the poster." Kitty mentions.
"Finally I can do my Nicolas Cage impression. 'Oh, not the bees! No! The bees! No!'" Sam exclaims.
"That is the worst Nicolas Cage impression I've ever seen." Kitty comments.
"Do you even know who Nicolas Cage is?" Leo asks.
"Okay, it's not that simple, guys. This is a group competition...boys against girls and we are doing mash-ups. Now remember, movies are visual. So it's not just about the singing... it's about...performance, it's about theatricality, it's about the language of cinema." Mr. Schue explains.
"Preach. And as I move into production on my first micro-budget feature...I'm happy to offer starring roles to whichever team wins. No trailers, no per diem." Artie adds.
"Great. Okay. Well, everyone split up and start working on your song choices." Mr. Schue says.
All of us girls then start discussing what to do for our mashup. The bell rung and we all got up to leave when Leo came up to me.
" Hey, Liz can I show you something?' Leo asks.
"Sure," I respond.
He then pulls out his phone and shows me a video of me singing favorite crime a song I wrote a few months ago.
"A recording of me singing a sad love song?" I ask.
"Look at the views." He mentions.
I look to see 500k views and my jaw drops.
"What...how?" I ask surprised.
"They love you and your songs. They want more." Leo mentions.
"Thank you so much Leo. Normally I would be upset if someone posted a video of me singing one my sad songs but you knew what you were doing." I tell him.
"No problem. I just saw how much potienal you have so I decided to try and get out there." Leo says.
I then pull him into a hug and we both laugh.
"If I become big in the future, I'll make sure to tell the world about you." I comment and he laughs.
~~~~~~~
The next day Marley, Sam, Leo, Tina, and I were talking at our lockers when Brittany and Blaine came up to us.
"Guys, Brittany and I were just talking..." Blaine mentions.
"And we agree that though we love that it's mash-up week and that it's girls versus boys..." Brittany says.
"It sucks that the guys and the girls can't do a number together, so we were thinking, just as a warm-up, we should do the guys versus girls in the same number, to kick things off." Blaine adds.
"And then the girls can kick the boys' butts." Brittany comments.
"Uh, or vice versa." Blaine says.
"Which is my favorite Fred Savage movie." Brittany comments.
"Well, it'd have to be the perfect movie song, you know, like, uh... 'Dream Warriors' from Nightmare on Elm Street 3." Sam suggests.
"Good one," I comment and Sam gives me a high five.
"Yeah, or a good song like 'Let the River Run' from Working Girl." Tina mentions.
"Or...'Wind Beneath My Wings' from Beaches." Marley adds.
"No, no, no, no. How about this...the perfect movie song, totally iconic and everyone loves it, a little ditty from the seminal American college comedy...Animal House." Blaine suggests.
We throw our backpacks on the ground and get ready to sing.
*Shout - Sung by Blaine, Brittany, and the New Directions*
We managed to get half the of the school and some of the new directions to help us with the performance. We all finished the song in the cafeteria.
"I realize this number wasn't in competition, but you do know it's not even a mash-up, right?" Artie asks.
~~~~~~~
The next day we were all sitting in the choir room waiting to see the boys mashup.
"I hope they mash-up 'Batdance' with 'Howard the Duck.'" Sugar says excitedly.
"Shh." Tina tells her.
*Old Time Rock & Roll/ Danger Zone - Sung by Blaine, Artie, Joe, Sam, Ryder, Leo, and Jake*
At the end of the song we all clap and cheer for them.
"Wow. Okay. That was awesome. Where'd you come up with the inspiration for that?" Finn asks.
"Well, it's our tribute to the early macho cinema of one Mr. Tom Cruise." Artie responds.
"You can't handle the truth." Joe comments.
"That's actually Jack Nicholson, not Tom Cruise." Jake corrects.
"Girls. You're up." Mr. Schue mentions.
We all got up and went to the bathroom to get ready. I finished fixing my hair and makeup, so I was getting ready to go back to the choir room.
"Hey, you ready?" I ask Marley.
"I just need to fix up my makeup a bit but I'll meet you there." She responds.
I nod and kiss her cheek before leaving. After 5 minutes Marley and Kitty come out and we all get ready to perform.
*Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend/ Material Girl - Sung by Unique, Marley, Kitty, Liz, Brittany, Tina, and Sugar*
At the end of the song, they all clapped and cheered for us.
"Wow, come on, you guys. Let's give it up for girls..." Mr. Schue cheers.
~~~~~~~
Over the next few days, we help Mr. Schue got to Ms. Pillsbury's sister's house. We help Mr. Schue sing a song to her and eventually, she comes out and we leave them two to talk.
I was now waiting in the pottery room for Marley since I asked her to come down here. This was originally gonna be the last gift for her on valentines day but the night went differently than planned so I decided to just use this as a little date.
"Hey. What's going on in here? You wanted to see me?" Marley asks.
"Uh, yes. This was supposed to be your last valentines day present but things went out of plan. So we're gonna do it today." I respond.
"This is not what I think it is." Marley comments smiling.
"Oh, yes, it is. Come here, sit down. I am singing your favorite song from your favorite romantic movie." I tell her.
"The Hunger Games?" She asks.
"Second favorite romantic movie?" I mention.
"Okay." She mumbles before sitting down.
I turn on the machine and we wet our hands before we start molding the clay.
*Unchained Melody - Sung by Elizabeth Fox*
At the end of the song, I was about to lean in when looked away and stood up.
"Oh, Liz, stop. I'm sorry. Uh...I lied to you. Ryder kissed me. And I let him." Marley says.
I sat there trying to process what she just said. I decided to get up and walk out before the tears came.
"Liz. Are you...? Liz? Liz, don't leave." Marley cried out but I just ignored her.
Later that day we were all sitting in the choir waiting to see who the winner was. I was doing my best to keep myself together while avoiding Marley.
"Girls rule, as usual." Tina comments.
"And we should win for these sweet glasses alone." Sam says.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for the announcement of this year's mash-off winner." Mr. Schue announces.
"Who of course, will be starring in my senior film project... Hollywood Hootenanny, a tribute to dance on film." Artie adds.
"And the winner is...everyone." Mr. Schue says.
"What?"
"I'm about to pull a Finn, so you better hide your chairs."
"Why do you always do this?"
"This is a sham."
Brittany grunts and Ryder throws his backpack.
"Why don't you just send Maria Shriver in to give us all hugs?"
"In reality, what you're saying is, we're all losers."
"Why did we bother having a competition in the first place?"
"Calm down, y'all. Calm down. After exhaustive storyboarding and pre-production, I realized that I needed a lot of talented bodies to make this film great. So, choosing one winner was just simply impossible." Artie explains.
"That is exactly right. Uh, Finn, can I talk to you in the hallway for a sec?" Mr. Schue asks.
They both walk out and we all get to asking Artie questions. I just sit there in silence while Marley sneaks a few looks at me. We then end up performing one last song.
*Footloose - Sung by Sam, Leo, Artie, and the New Directions*
Should Kitty and Liz hook up?