Glee: The Beginning (4 page)

‘If only her personality was a little less . . .’ Artie trailed off. He sat at the last desk in the first aisle, the only one that was

wheelchair-accessible . He wante d to be diplomati c about
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Rachel. He was pretty sure she wasn ’t a completely horrible person, but she just managed to come off that way. His mom had always told him to say only nice things about people, but that policy wasn ’t always practical.

‘Bossy?’ Tina commented, drawing an upside-down skull on the cover of Artie’s notebook . ‘Annoying ? Offensive?’

Rachel had told her that she enunciated like a two-year-old, which Tina didn ’t think was fair. She had a speech impedi-ment, all right?

Artie straightened his black-framed glasses and stared at the list of vocabula ry words Mr Schu was going to quiz them on toda y. ‘I was thinking
loud
, but those work, too.’

Their discussio n was silence d by the statick y feedback tha t came over the loudspeake r wheneve r someon e turned on the mike. ‘Let’s see wha t she does today,’ Tina whispered, turning forwar d in her seat to face the blackboard , where the word
ser
had been incorrectl y conjugate d by someone on the previou s day. Mr Schueste r hadn ’t notice d it. Next to the writing , a gian t map of Spain was halfwa y unrolled over the blackboard.

‘Happy Tuesda y morning , McKinle y High!’ Rachel’s cheerful voice boomed into every classroom. ‘It’s Rachel Berry here, bringing you the morning announcements.

In sports news,

the boys’ soccer team led a valiant effort against Troy High, but unfortunately the team was defeated in the final seconds of the game. You’ll get them next time, boys!’

‘Is it wrong to want to murder someone for being too
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cheerful?’ Tina asked over her shoulder as Rachel announced, with almost unnatural enthusiasm, the results of the senior government class’s mock trial.

‘I think so.’ Artie had meant to tell Tina he liked her LITTLE

MISS GROUCHY T-shirt when he first saw her in the hall that morning, but he was afraid she’d think he was staring at her boobs. Was it too late to tell her now?

‘And now I’d like to bring to your attention a disturbing case of injustice that is going on right here at McKinley High,’ Rachel continued. Artie and Tina exchanged a worried glance. Had Rachel gone completely off the rails? ‘Those of you who tried to do your civic duty and vote for homecoming king and queen were probably shocked and appalled to find that certain cheerleaders running the voting booth were
charging
people to vote.’

A few students chuckled. ‘As anyone who has taken Mr Hillburger ’s American histo ry class knows, the Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits the practice of charging a citizen to place his or her vote. If it’s good enough for the Constitution of the United States of America, I think it’s good enough for McKinley High. If this were happening in Iran, CNN would be running headline stories about it, but because pretty blond girls are doing it here, at our high school, eve ryone hands over dollar bills.’

‘Is she insane?’ Artie whispered. ‘She sounds like a CNN

news update.’

‘I don ’t thin k it’s tha t f-f-far-fetche d to assum e there ’s
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something psychologically wrong with her,’ Tina whispered back. ‘Like, clinicall y.’

Rachel’s pert voice continued. ‘In conclusion, I urge you all to boycott the homecoming election because of its blatant unfairness. I’m sure—’

‘I don ’t know who you think you are.’ A deep, brash voice interrupte d Rachel’s plea. The entir e schoo l immediately recognized it as the voice of Sue Sylveste r, the legenda ry coach of the Cheerios . She was powerfu l and opinionate d and known for kicking Cheerios off the squad if they cried in public. ‘But you are way out of line here. Challenging the status quo is a deceitful and insidious tactic.’

Artie leaned forward. ‘This is getting good,’ he whispered to Tina. The whole class leaned forward in their desks, eagerly listening to the exchange on the loudspeake r. Most people knew not to mess with Coach Sylveste r, but Rachel seemed oblivious to that sort of thing.

‘I wish there was video,’ Tina answered. Secretly, though, she worried that people would take seriously Rachel’s call to boycott the homecoming election and might even boycott the dance itself. Tina was kind of hoping that Artie would ask her to the dance, even though she knew it was silly. Artie got nervous about things like that, and going to a school dance was probably the last thing he wanted to do. Still . . .

‘Charging students to vote is unethical and . . .’ There was a nervou s note in Rachel’s voice as she spoke to Coach

Sylveste r.

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‘I’ll tell you what unethical is. Unethical is you denying my Cheerios the right to raise money for their tanning needs. These are some talented athletes who are going all the way to the top, and you, young lady, need to stick to your lonely path to unrealized ambitions.’

Eve ryone in the classroom burst into laughte r. ‘If Rachel ’s starting a fight with Coach Sylveste r, she’s even crazier than we thought,’ Artie said, shaking his head.

‘I don ’t know.’ Tina smiled and glanced out the windo w. It was a sunny day, and the smell of freshly mowed grass came through the open windo w. Maybe what Glee needed was someone who was willing to fight for it. ‘Maybe we should just stick it out for a while. At least until the perform-ance on Friday.’ She shrugged. Maybe
she
was the crazy one, but she felt they might actually have a chance to sound good in front of the whole school. ‘Then we’ll know once and for all if Glee is doomed.’

‘I hope it’s not.’ Artie leaned back in his chai r. Rachel was still bickering with Coach Sylveste r. He couldn ’t imagine life in high school without Glee after school. He got to hang out with Tina and sing and be someone besides ‘that wheelchair kid’. There, he was a baritone, someone who could sing the low parts, someone who did a mean rendition of Usher ’s

‘OMG’. He was part of something, not just a single odd piece that didn ’t fit in. There, he was normal. ‘Glee is the best part of my day.’ His dark eyes met hers for a moment before returning to his list of conjugated Spanish verbs.
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Tina blushed. That was exactly how she felt. ‘I . . . I,’

she stammered, having a hard time starting. ‘I know what you mean,’ she said finall y.

Artie nodded. ‘So if Rachel can help us keep it going, I’m willing to make certain allowances, like putting up with her awful personalit y.’

‘And I’ll leave you with a musical note in honor of toda y,’

Rachel’s voice came over the PA. Coach Sylvester had stormed out of the room in a huff, probably vowing to get back at Rachel ‘and your little dog, too’. In a clear, confident voice, Rachel began to sing a verse from an old Rolling Stones song,

‘Ruby Tuesday’.

Having taught almost ten years at a middle-of-the-road

high schoo l deep in the farmlan d of centra l Ohio , Mr Schuester was fairly good at zoning out when one of his kids starte d ramblin g on. That morning , he’d foun d himself daydreaming about running a bed-and-breakfast in Bali, and he hadn ’t hear d the majorit y of Rachel Berry’s morning announcements.

On pape r, she was the kind of student any teacher should love, but in the flesh she left something to be desired. The previous year, in Spanish II, Rachel raised her hand so often that Mr Schuester had to turn his desk in a different direction so that she wouldn ’t be in his direct line of vision. Her enthusiasm was, in some lights, charming, but in others, just an annoyance.

Whe n she starte d singin g ‘Ruby Tuesday’ , though , Mr Schuester ’s ears perked up. Despite the poor acoustics of the
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announcement

room microphone and the staticky PA

system, it was clear that Rachel was good. Very good, even. For a second, listening to her voice took him back to his own days at McKinley High, back when Glee was full of talented, confi - dent students who loved to perform in front of the entire school and who always brought down the house. He’d been one of the stars himself, and while he wouldn ’t say he could have had any girl he wanted, he’d definitely had his fans among female students. But it was always only about Terri, whom he’d married when they were both halfway through Ohio State.

‘See you tomorro w,’ Rachel signed off in her chipper voice.

‘Remember to
not
vote.’

Smiling, Mr Schuester stood up. He gazed across the room at the rows of bored students, some chewing on pencils and some texting under their desks, as if he wouldn ’t notice. He’d planned a lesson on conjugating -
er
verbs toda y, but suddenly he decided to do something different. Something new and exciting.

‘Guys, how woul d you like to learn the words to

“Guantanamera”?’

He felt inspired again, thinking about the

days whe n he and his Glee friend s woul d sing and jam togethe r. Eve rything had seemed so much . . . happier then. The students exchanged glances, as if this were a trick. ‘Is that a song?’ someone asked.

‘Only the most popular song in the histo ry of Cuba.’ He cleared his throat and started singing. At first the students
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giggled and looked at him like he was crazy, but in a few minutes he could see them swaying in their seats, as if they couldn ’t fight the beat. A couple of cheerleaders in the back started clapping along. Feeling good, he did a couple of quick salsa-inspired moves, much to his students’ amusement. He’d forgotten that dancing made a person feel good – although Terri claimed that dancing would give her lupus, which ran in her family. From the front of the classroom to the back, smiles lit up all the faces.

Mr Schuester smiled, too. He was reminded that

teaching

could be fun.

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five

Football field, Tuesday after school

T
he vast, grassy sports fields that stretched out behind the high school always bustled with activity the second the final bell rang. Boys and girls wearing running shorts and McKinley Athletics Department T-shirts circled the school grounds and neighborhood streets for cross-count ry practice, and the soccer fields were filled with kids thundering across

the grass, scrambling to get a foot on the ball. The football team had command of the centrally located football field, and the Cheerios held their practices in the far end zone. Tuesday afternoon was unseasonably warm, and all the teams

– with the exception of Coach Sylvester’s whip-trained cheerleading squad – were a little lazier in their efforts. The runners
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jogged a little slowe r, flirting with members of the opposite sex as they ran.

The football team, especiall y, in their uniforms and heavy pads, were movin g sluggishl y. Most of the player s were stretche d out on the field in variou s states of repose, pretending to have completed a drill when Coach Tanaka looked their way. The coach was in the near end zone, working with Daniel Duffy, the team’s kicker, who had to this point managed to kick the ball through the goalposts on only one out of twenty-three tries. The rest of the team was under orders to run drills, but something in the warm air made eve ryone reluctant to move, and concentration seemed impos-sible.

Or maybe it was because the Cheerios were acting extra peppy at their end of the field, their girlish voices calling out instructions that the football guys couldn ’t understand. In the brilliant September sunlight, with their ponytails flipping as they executed their routines perfectl y, they looked like birds. Lithe, acrobatic birds, Finn couldn ’t help thinking. He’d been throwing passes across the field to Puck Puckerman, but Puck kept dropping the ball because he was watching the girls as well.

‘Dude, they are so hot.’ Puck came up behind Finn and punched him in the shoulder pad. They’d been friends for years, since they played on opposing Little League teams. Puck had hit Finn in the head with a fastball. He’d insisted that Finn was crowding the plate, and Finn had rushed the
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mound. After the game Finn’s mother took them out for ice cream, and all was forgiven. ‘It’s cruel and unusual punish-ment to make us try and practice while they’re out there flipping their skirts up.’

‘I know. They’re really good.’

Both of them watched as Quinn Fabray started running.

Each held his breath as she executed a perfect double flip before spiraling through the air in a move that looked as though it belonged in the summer Olympics. Quinn landed on her feet with an
oompf
, her ponytail bouncing at the end.

She immediately returned to her original position without breaking a sweat. Did girls even sweat? Finn wondered. How come they never smelled like the boys’ locker room after practice? He was pretty sure Quinn always smelled good.

‘Quinn, huh?’ Puck glanced at Finn. He took off his helmet and hung it at his side. ‘You two going out?’

‘I don ’t know. Kind of. I mean, I think that we’re going to start hanging out soon.’ Finn wiped the sweat off his forehead with his equally sweaty palm. He didn ’t really know why Quinn liked him, but he guessed she did, since she’d invited him to the Celibacy Club meeting and then out for ice cream. He’d always thought she was prett y, though, and once she started paying some attention to him, he felt that he should go with it. Only a crazy person would turn down Quinn Fabray. ‘I’m going to Celibacy Club with her toda y.’

Puck raised his eyebrows. ‘What’s
that
all about?’