I thought I would start off with a long chapter as a little treat to thank you all for your loyalty and support during my time writing this story. I am very excited for this sequel to Taking On New Directions, as you will see later in this chapter. There WILL be new members-- winners of the contest I held sometime in the original story. For a clearer image of who they are, what they look like, and what they sound like, refer to the cast listed on the side and you can check out the carefully selected cast!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I took a deep breath. Even after practicing all summer and getting used to the stage, my heart still beat at a mile a minute when I approached a performance. My palms were sweaty, vomit on the floor, mom's spaghetti. And apparently, nervously quoting Eminem in my head. Man, if my mom were around, that would really work.
I didn't have that much to be nervous about. I'd be performing with three other people, in front of only six others. It wasn't a big deal.
Except it was to me.
I almost bailed, but before I could the first beat started, which meant I had to run out into the stage ASAP. Bree followed from behind me and Marley and Kitty entered from the other end.
All: Ready!!!
Kitty: Let's go!
Marley: Hey!
Bree: Cheetah!
Julie: Uh-huh, uh-huh!
Kitty: Yeah!
Marley: Come on, y'all!
Bree: Everybody get up!
All: Here we go!
Mr. Schue, the glee club instructor, and the rest of the returning members cheered us on as we began our highly choreographed routine. I had been recovering over the summer from an ankle injury that I had suffered at the end of the last school year. I felt fine and the doctors said I was fine, but things were still a bit shaky.
Marley: Start the party up. Hit the groove. Celebrate is what we're here to do!
Poor Marley. She was probably more anxious than I was. We gave her lead vocals because not only did she have an amazing voice, but she wasn't that great of a dancer when it came to Hip-Hop style, which is what this choreography demanded.
Kitty: Crank the music. Now's the time. All of us are here tonight!
I loved dancing, as did Bree and Kitty-- we were all in McKinley High School's cheerleading squad, The Cheerios, after all. If it wasn't for the fact that we had chosen a song by a group of four, I don't think the other girls would've agreed to including Marley.
Bree: Something new; we're moving on. We've been thinking 'bout it all year long.
Bree was the latest addition to the glee club. She had pretty much bullied everyone in it, particularly Marley, whose boyfriend, glee club wannabe bad boy Jake, she had slept with, prompting them to break up. Anyway, we had needed an extra member for our Nationals competition at the end of last year so I had asked her to join. She was good and she was nice to me-- now, at least. But she had a bit of an attitude issue.
Julie: Got the right moves, Cheetah Girls. Here we go, gonna rock the world!
We sung and danced to the chorus and our tiny audience seemed to really be enjoying. After singing the chorus, I looked over at them and accidentally made eye contact with Ryder. Ryder Lynn was one of my two ex-boyfriends and the only one who still attended McKinley. I had avoided him all summer since we had broken up right after Nationals, but the way he smiled at me as I danced let me know that I wouldn't be able to avoid him any longer.
I tried to ignore the fact that he was watching me throughout the next verse and chorus-- unsuccessfully. He may as well have been the only one there.
All: We can do anything, everything we wanna, finally we get the chance.
As we sang the next part all together, I belted in the background, as was often my role in group numbers. I wasn't complaining-- it was awesome. But it also made my voice stand out from the harmony, putting me in an unwanted spotlight.
We moved on to an Acapella part in which my voice definitely stood out. Why did I have to have Chanel's parts and not one of the other Cheetah Girls? I guess I did a good job because after every hard note the crowd would cheer. Either way, we did a great job as a group. And just like the girls from glee club to graduate last year would have wanted, we demonstrated stellar girl power.
Six of our members had graduated last year. My slightly ditsy ex-boyfriend, Sam. A very sexy and unfortunately gay guy, Blaine. An awesome rapper in a wheelchair, Artie. The secretely genius, dimwitted dancer, Brittany. An Asian, royally great feminist, Tina. And finally, my amazing brother, Cory. Yup. We had a great group. And now we needed to fill empty spaces.
***
"We have to find more members soon," Kitty said as we sat together in lunch after that performance. She, Bree and I had sort of become inseparable over the summer. And now there we were, eating similar lunches, wearing the same Cheerios uniforms, with our hair in the same high ponytail. When did I become a clone?
"Agreed," Bree said. "You know what? We should do a number that really shows off something less kid-ish and more... sexy..."
"Sexy?" I asked. "How will that get us new members?"
Bree raised her eyebrows at me. "Oh," she said in a mocking tone. "Let me join a different club. I hate hot girls dancing in short skirts and winking at me."
"Okay, point made," I said. "But that only gets us new guys. We need to find talented girls, too."
"Last year was a sausage fest," Kitty said. "We can't turn the club into a freaking slumber party either but a girl or two more wouldn't hurt."
"Auditions signup lists went up this morning," said Bree. "Let's get together after school tonight and work on a number that's both sexy and empowering to women."
"I can't," said Kitty. "I'm busy."
"With John?" I teased, making her blush. I used to find her romantic life with my best friend nauseating, considering she and I used to be rivals, but now that she was practically my best friend, I didn't mind that they were dating. I did feel a little left out every once in a while but I kept to myself most of the time.
"Fine then," said Bree. "You're going to feel really bad when we perform this number and you wish you were up there with us."
"Up where, exactly?" I asked.
"Up there," she repeated, pointing up to the tables.
"We're doing the number here?" I asked. "Bree, shouldn't you know better than anybody that when the glee club performs songs in the cafeteria we always end up covered in food?"
"That was when I was leading the angry mob," she said with a slightly apologetic smile. "Sorry, but it's pretty fun being on the other side of things."
"I wouldn't know..." I mumbled, never having been a mean girl.
"I would," said Kitty. She had been the school bitch before Bree took the throne. Just then, John passed by and greeted us, walking right past us. This, we understood to mean, was his way of telling Kitty he wanted to have lunch with her. She stood up with a smile and followed after him, joining him at another table.
"So what song do you want to do?" Bree asked me.
"Hey, guys," said Jake as he approached us. "Mr. Schue wants us to meet him in the choir room after school for just a few minutes for a quick announcement." I nodded and Bree acted like he didn't exist so he went over to tell Kitty and John before disappearing.
"So what happened there exactly?" I asked. "Are you not on speaking terms at all at this point?"
"Song," she said, a serious look on her face. And I knew that meant she wasn't going to talk about it.
"Ooh I know just the one!" I exclaimed.
***
We would have gotten right to it after school, had we not been required to meet in the choir room. Mr. Schue was kind of late, but luckily none of us rode the bus home-- except for Jake and Ryder, but they were going to get dropped off by John. The rest of us just waited semi-impatiently for Mr. Schue to walk in and when he finally did, he wasn't alone.
"Joe!" exclaimed Sugar when the dreaded-haired hearthtrob walked through the door. She rushed over to hug him and the rest of us greeted him. Even Kitty, who was always annoyed with him when he was still in the glee club, clapped as he walked through the door with his guitar.
"What are you doing here man?" Ryder asked as he greeted him.
"I transferred back," Joe told him. "I just had to leave for a couple of months while I was on a Christian retreat. But now I'm back and I'm really excited about being a part of the group again."
"I also thought that this would be a perfect time to elect team captains," said Mr. Schue as Joe joined us in the chairs. That was ten members already. We only had to find TWO more kids who could sing and/or dance. That couldn't be too hard, right?
"So you want us to have another new Rachel contest?" asked Unique, rolling her eyes.
"Not at all," he said. "I'm talking about becoming the next leaders. Like Finn and Rachel. Sam and Blaine."
"I nominate Joe!" shrieked an excited Sugar.
"He is officially the newest member of the club," Bree pointed out.
"He hasn't even auditioned yet," Kitty added.
"I really hate you two as a team..." murmured Jake.
"Fine, I can audition," said Joe with a smile. And he went on to sing, "Rain" by Mika, giving a lot of special eye contact to Kitty. We all found it extremely entertaining, except for John of course. Joe was an amazing performer and obviously deserved more of the limelight.
"Alright, I second the Joe vote," I said when the song was over. Joe smiled and did his little squinty-eyed look. He was really a great candidate. He was grounded, with good morals, a senior, and he had been around longer than anybody else in the club, even if his presence wasn't as salient as others.
"Third," said Ryder, followed by Jake agreeing, "Fourth," John saying, "Fifth" and Marley saying, "Sixth." That was already a majority vote so it's not like there was anything else they could do about it.
"I won't let you down," Joe assured us with a smile and a quick nod. "But who will my co-captain be?"
"Last year's patriarchy had two male rulers," Kitty pointed out. "This time we should even it out with a girl."
We all looked around. We had to face it; none of us were qualified to lead.
"If there are no nominations," said Mr. Schue when nobody spoke up, "I guess we'll just have to wait until the end of the week to see who can get us the most new recruits."
I looked over at Bree, who winked at me as we were dismissed. She came over to my house-- mine was bigger and less crowded-- and we rehearsed our song.
***
By the next day, we already had a number planned. So we anxiously awaited lunchtime and when the time came, we had Sugar and Jake help us set up the music equipment.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jake asked. "I don't think we've ever escaped a performance here without food all over our clothes."
"Nobody will dare throw food at me," Bree told him. "Perks to having me on your side."
I nodded at him and he shrugged, so Bree and I went over to the tables. We nodded at Jake as we stepped on one of them-- we tried to choose the one with less food on the table so that we wouldn't be stepping on anyone's lunch. The music started and people were staring at us.
Bree: Now that I have captured your attention, I wanna steal you for a rhythm intervention. Mr. TSA, I'm ready for inspection. Sh-sh-show me how you make a first impression.
We had a highly choreographed routine, but with Bree it was essentially a stripping show. We didn't remove our clothes or anything but the dancing was sexual and a little too much for my taste.
Bree and Julie: Oh, oh
Bree: Can we take it nice and
Bree and Julie: Slow, slow
Bree: Break it down and drop it
Bree and Julie: Low, low
Bree: Cause I just wanna
Bree and Julie: Party all night in the neon lights 'til you can't let me go
Many of the students seemed to really be enjoying our performance as we sang the chorus together, but a few of them looked uncomfortable. Specifically, Joe and the rest of the kids at his table-- members of an organization that went by "The God Squad," were a bit squirmish in their seats. I tried to ignore this as I continued onto the next verse for my solo.
Julie: If you want me, I'm accepting applications. As long as we can keep this record on rotation. You know I'm good with mouth-to-mouth resucitation. Breathe me in, breathe me out. So amazin'.
I noticed Ryder watching me, druming softly on the table as Unique and Marley gave each other unsure looks. I was pretty sure Marley would not approve of our methods but I figured Unique would. Although she was born a boy, she identified herself as a girl-- something which had taken a few of us time to get used to-- and now she was a fierce female member of the glee club. She should appreciate our sexuality.
Bree and Julie: Oh, oh
Julie: Can we take it nice and
Bree and Julie: Slow, slow
Julie: Break it down and drop it
Bree and Julie: Low, low
Julie: Cause I just wanna
Bree and Julie: Party all night in the neon lights 'til you can't let me go
When we did finally finish our number, we actually did not get food dumped on us. Even more surprisingly, most of the room clapped for us.
"Auditions for glee club will be this Friday right after school!" Bree announced. "Be there or be square." Some jocks—they were always wearing their letterman jackets—helped us off the tables and we merrily sashayed towards the glee club's usual table. Those who weren't there already joined us.
"That was amazing!" Kitty exclaimed. "You were right; I do wish I'd joined you for this one!"
"Everyone loved you guys," said Sugar with a wide smile and nod.
"Not everyone," said Unique. "You made some of us feel really uncomfortable."
"Yeah," agreed Marley. "Maybe you're sending the wrong message about what the glee club is about."
"About having fun?" Bree told her with as much sass as someone possibly could. Marley seemingly backed away, evidently feeling uncomfortable and slightly intimidated by Bree.
"I'm sure nobody got super offended by that," I said. "It was harmless."
"Well, you may want to think twice about that," Joe said. He pointed at a girl who was now walking away from the God Squad table and said, "You see her right there? That's Amity, a really nice girl from the God Squad. She's a sophomore who just transferred and attended the first ever meeting this morning. And guess what? She's got a great voice and was thinking of joining the glee club. But now she's kind of spooked by this performance."
Everyone stared at us as Joe walked away. "Someone who will be scared that easily," Bree said, breaking the silence, "shouldn't be a big concern."
"She should if not many people try out," I said. And the concerned look appeared on everybody's faces.
***
"We talked to her already!" exclaimed Unique as she and Marley walked into our glee club meeting the next day. "She said she'd audition for us!"
"Who?" asked Ryder as Mr. Schue turned from the board.
"That Amity girl," said Unique. "She's really cute and innocent, kinda like Marley was last year—err, still is."
"Boring," Kitty murmured. Bree giggled and I rolled my eyes. I don't know if Marley heard or noticed, but Ryder definitely did, glancing over us for a brief moment with a frown on his face.
"This is amazing!" Mr. Schue said. "I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear that. How are we doing on other recruits?"
We all stayed quiet.
"Nothing?" asked Mr. Schue.
"There's a boy who asked if I glee club was fun right after the girls' performance in the lunchroom," Sugar said. It was really more of a question.
"Did he show interest in joining?" asked Mr. Schue. Sugar nodded. "You're officially in charge of recruiting him," he told her.
"But I don't even know who he was," said Sugar.
"I'm sure you'll see him again either later today or tomorrow," he told her. She didn't look too sure but she nodded and we were dismissed.
***
I hadn't found anyone else to recruit. Hopefully, "Slow Down" was enough to reel in new members because Sugar never saw that kid again.
We sat down for auditions and endured several performances that were just ridiculous. My favorite was Brett Buwowski, a senior who was always getting stoned, hence his nickname "Stoner Brett." He sang the same song that he appearantly sang in last year's auditions, an original song named, "Busters Get Popped." It was absolutely, incredibly ridiculous and hilariously entertaining. I tried my best not to laugh but I couldn't help it.
"Next!" Sugar called out after many, many bad auditions. She gasped when the next person came out. "That's him," she hissed.
"Hi," the guy said. "My name is Daniel Roberts, but I prefer Dan... And, umm... and I'll be singing 'Stop This Train' by... uh... by John Mayer."
"Nice..." I mumbled.
"He's cute," Bree nudged me.
"Hmm..." I replied. He was very cute. Tall and slim with dirty blonde, shaggy hair. He wore a grey, checkered shirt with a navy blue cardigan over it. I couldn't tell if he was a hipster or had an old soul. Please let it be an old soul, I thought to myself.
He had brought his own guitar. His own freaking guitar. Too perfect.
"One, two, three, four," he counted out softly as he beat the guitar. He began strumming the notes. He was a good guitar player. My expectations were obviously low after the last twelve auditions, but he just looked like a natural performer.
Dan: No, I'm not color blind. I know the world is black and white. Try to keep an open mind but...
Joe and Sugar looked at each other and smiled. Dude could sing.
Dan: I just can't sleep on this tonight. Stop this train I want to get off and go home again...
He did it so effortlessly. Like he was just hanging out on his porch and not performing on a stage. He had raw talent. As he went on with the song, I noticed that Jake and Ryder kept glancing at each other. They weren't too happy. Jealous much, boys? I looked over at Mr. Schue, who looked focused. Was he not enjoying it? I remember his smile during my audition. He definitely wasn't the poker face type. It wasn't until Dan hit higher notes that Mr. Schue finally reacted.
Dan: Had a talk with my old man... Said help me understand...
Mr. Schue nodded with approval as he jotted down a few notes. He let Dan finish the song and I stopped paying attention to everyone's reactions. When he sang the bridge, I could really tell that Dan sang with emotion. This song meant something to him, more than just a song he sounded good with. And it was magical to see him on stage.
"Thank you," Mr. Schue told him when he strummed the last note. "That was great."
Dan stood there for a second, smiling, before finally nodding and realizing he had to leave the stage. He awkwardly placed his guitar around his shoulder and walked off the stage. Kitty and I giggled as he struggled to make it out of the auditorium without falling to the ground.
"He was great," said Joe once Dan was gone.
"Fantastic," said Unique. We nodded.
"Why did he get to do the entire song?" Jake asked. "I seem to remember getting cut off in the middle of my audition."
Mr. Schue sighed. Sugar rolled her eyes and said, "Oh my gosh, Jake, get over it."
"He was pretty good..." Ryder mumbled.
"Whatever," John said briefly. "How many do we have left?"
"Hmm..." said Mr. Schue as he looked down at his clipboard. "Like twenty."
"Ugh..." Kitty groaned as she hung her head back. I exhaled loudly and hoped for more performances like Dan's. But sixteen bad songs later, there wasn't another great audition.
"I have to go to the restroom," I whispered between Number Sixteen and Seventeen. I tried not to be disruptive as I stood up and headed outside of the auditorium. There, I saw four people, none of which were that Amity girl. In fact, one of them was Dan.
"Hi," he said as I passed by him. I pressed my lips into a smile and continued to walk, so he walked with me. "Um, I was just wondering," he began. "Do you guys, like, know who has made it in so far or..?"
I smiled and stopped walking just before reaching the restroom, catching him off guard and making him stumble as he tried to stop, too. "Did you wait around all this time to find out if you made it?" I asked him. He shrugged sheepishly. "Well," I went on when he didn't respond, "I wish I could tell you but the list won't go up until Monday morning. Sorry." He just stood there. I chuckled and pointed at the restroom before asking, "Do you mind now?"
"Oh, no," he said, flustered. "Sorry. Go ahead. Not that you need my permission but, uh... Umm... Yeah, go ahead."
I shook my head as I laughed and walked into the restroom. Then I walked right out and, seeing that he was still standing there, told him, "But they'd be really stupid not to let you in. I'm definitely voting yes." He smiled, blushing, and nodded at me before finally starting to walk away, almost dropping his guitar in the process. I figured he wouldn't ever leave until he had an answer, so I gave him my honest opinion.
When I finally got back to the auditorium, we were down to two more auditions. They were both terrible.
"Amity wasn't outside," I told them when Kitty asked Joe where "his girl" was at.
"There's got to be some sort of mix up," said Marley. "She assured us she'd be here."
"Please tell me nobody sent her to a crack house," Mr. Schue murmured.
"What?" Kitty said for all of us.
"You had to be there," he told us. "Nevermind. If this girl isn't going to show up, then--"
"Sorry I'm late!" cried a voice from the doorway. We all turned and found a pretty, little brunnette rushing down the aisle. She made it onto the stage pretty quickly.
"You must be Amity," Mr. Schue said, prompting her to nod shyly. "You know, timeliness may not seem to matter in a glee club, but it's actually very important."
"Yes, I know," she said, seeming very distraught by her tardiness. "I, uh, I'm really sorry. I had a family emergency and, uh--"
Joe leaned in and murmured something to Mr. Schue. I couldn't hear, but whatever it was clearly convinced him to drop it. "Go ahead," Mr. Schue told her.
"My name is Amity Hills," she said softly into the microphone. "And I will be singing 'Little Me' by Little Mix." Bree rolled her eyes, though I wasn't sure why.
Amity cleared her throat and the band began to play the song. I wondered how they could possibly learn all the songs but decided not to question it and just focus on Amity's audition.
Amity: She lives in the shadow of a lonely girl. Voice so quiet you don't hear a word. Always talking but she can't be heard.
I looked over at Kitty, who glanced at me briefly before turning back to the stage. She had a nice, clean voice but... She was so quiet. I wasn't sure if it was part of the performance, considering the lyrics, or if she was really just that shy. Maybe she was nervous. I did notice that she fidgeted with her shirt a lot, tugging at the bottom of the fabric.
Amity: You can see there if you catch her eye. I know she's brave but it's trapped inside. Scared to talk but she don't know why.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Bree whispered. She must've noticed it, too. For someone singing into a microphone, she sure was quiet. But man, she was good.
She continued her performance and I thought she was going to be quiet the entire time, but when she reached the second verse, her voice rose along with the tempo. She either purposefully got louder or her confidence had grown as Marley, Joe, and Unique encouraged her from the row in front of mine. Marley and Unique even harmonized for her at some point. Was that allowed? Don't know. But man, it was good.
When she finished nailing the last note, the music ended and she cleared her throat. "Thank you," she said into the microphone before smiling and rushing off the stage. She disappeared and Mr. Schue chuckled.
"That was fantastic," he told us as he turned around.
"It wasn't bad," said Kitty. Bree shrugged.
"9," Sugar said, giving Joe a thumbs up.
"So who are we letting in?" Joe asked.
***
The next Monday, we were all very excited to welcome in our new members. When Mr. Schue posted the member list on the bulletin board near his office, we all went along with him, waiting around the corner to see people go check if they had made it. There were many disappointed sighs and what not as the rejects walked away from the piece of paper, but when Amity came around, we all got pretty excited.
"Here she comes..." murmured Jake. She walked nervously, looking around self-consciously as she went up to the list and skimmed down the names. She was at the very bottom and when she spotted her name she had absolutely no reaction.
"Seriously?" said Kitty when Amity just nodded at herself and walked away. "That was anti-climatic."
"Maybe not," I said. "Here comes Dan."
Dan made me want to laugh. He seemed to always look like he was about to fall down, and when he read his name on the list, I thought he might. He started laughing, fist pumped the air Breakfast Club style and walked away with a new air of confidence. When he was halfway down the hallway, we heard him shout, "Yeah!" and we all laughed.
"Do you think he even read at the bottom where it says the first meeting is after school?" asked John as Dan made it around the corner and disappeared. I shrugged.
***
Dan and Amity were both welcomed to the glee club with open arms. We asked them to sit down in the front two chairs as we performed a song that was dedicated to them. The band started playing and our two new members looked absolutely thrilled to be sitting in the room with us as we began.
Joe: Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen. Tonight we'll put all other things aside.
Marley: Give in this time and show me some affection. We're goin; for those pleasures in the night.
We knew that "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters wasn't exactly the best representation of our feelings for the new members as far as lyrics were concerned, but Sugar had suggested and as-- sigh-- the new co-captain, we had to comply. She was right, though; it was pretty fun to sing it and Amity and Dan surely seemed to think so.
Unique, Sugar and Bree: I want to love you, feel you. And rap myself around you.
I had to admit-- when Sugar told us she'd been taken singing lessons for the last few months, I didn't think she could have possibly gotten any good. She was no Rachel Berry, the biggest star the glee club had ever produced, but she wasn't bad. And she used to be bad. I know the rest of us were all impressed by her improvement.
Unique, Sugar and Bree: I want to squeeze you, please you. I just can't get enough.
Unique: And if you move real slow I'll let it go.
I laughed as the three girls shook what their mommas gave them in front of Amity and Dan. They both seemed slightly uncomfortable but that was to be expected. The goal was to help them loosen up a little and get out of their comfort zones by teaching them that the glee club was a place to be ridiculous just because we could be.
Jake and Julie: I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it.
Jake and I had prepared a dance solo. Although I still wasn't on good terms since he'd cheated on Marley and reverted to his manwhore ways, I did really love dancing with him. We were typically considered the best dancers in the glee club and I thought we made a great pair. Especially after starring as Troy and Gabriella in the spring musical, a compilation of all three High School Musical films.
Jake and Julie: I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it. And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I want you, I want you.
We danced around for a little bit as John and Kitty carried into the second verse and then passed the torch to Bree and Ryder. Then we came back for the chorus once again. We kept singing and twirling around like idiots until the song was over, a point at which Dan and Amity started clapping for us.
I liked those two and I figured we couldn't have asked for better additions to the group. Maybe Sugar had chosen the perfect song, after all. Subtract the sexual innuendos and you get exactly how we should all be feeling. Excited.