Glee: The Next Generation

Curtain Call

Tracy AnderHummel has had the time of her life on stage the past year and a half. Getting to perform the story that she wrote and the songs that she selected was a dream come true. Now that it was ending, she wasn't really sure how she'd feel when it was over. Luckily, nerves were the last thing on her mind on closing night. She knew all the words to the songs, had the script memorized. All she felt as she curled her hair in her dressing room was happiness.

Kurt AnderHummel was used to crowded Broadway theaters. He'd performed in them for years, and been an audience member even longer than that. But there was something different about it this time. It was Tracy's last show (for now, at least). He was so proud of her, but he was also worried. Her two biggest idols were in the audience, and it was supposed to be a surprise that they were there. What if she saw them and messed up on stage?

Blaine saw the look on Kurt's face. "Have a little faith," he said. "She's been doing this show for nearly a year now."

"I know," said Kurt. "But remember how she passed out when we gave her those concert tickets?"

Blaine nodded. "You've got a point. Let's just hope she doesn't see them until the cast party."

Tracy was twirling in front of her mirror in her embroidered cloak for what may be the last time. (She hadn't yet decided if she wanted to keep it to wear on occasion, donate it to a museum or charity, or keep it in storage for the next person who would play her character if they ever revived the show. Any one of these were possible.)

"5 minutes!" a stagehand popped into her room to say. 5 minutes until she went on stage. 5 minutes until the end began. She was starting to feel a little bit sad. There's no time to be sad, she thought, so stop.

It didn't matter how she was feeling about this part of her life ending, because as she stepped onto the stage, everything felt...right.

2 hours later

The finale of Tracy's show had always been her favorite part. Once the set was ready and the curtain's came back up, her excitement was barely containable. With a cloak tipped over her head, she slowly strolled into the setting her amazing set designers had put together: a bonfire (fake, of course, for safety purposes) in a field of clovers, all bathed in light from not only the fire, but the crescent moon above them.

[The following underlined sections are her performance] {The play is a jukebox musical, using songs from Taylor Swift's reputation and evermore. The plot is completely original, with inspirations pulled from the songs and from stories Tracy loves.}

Dancing around the fire in a ritualistic manner, Ivy {Tracy's character: the protagonist} sings Don't Blame Me solo, with backing vocals from the others participating in the ritual. The song is part of the ritual. As she sings, the fire gets higher and more powerful. It attracts more attention to the Spirits That Control {beings in the story that control life and death and destinies} , but not the kind of attention Ivy was seeking.

When the songs ends, Tracy expects the Spirits to be there, to talk to her, so that she may bargain for her lover's resurrection. Instead, Ivy collapses and all goes black.

A few seconds pass in silence, when an ethereal figure dressed all in white appears at the far left of the stage.

"Ivy?" she calls out.

Faint moonlight is cast over Ivy, who is now dressed in all white as well. She looks around until she finds the source of the voice she is hearing. When she sees her, she thinks of nothing else. "Danielle. Danielle! I'm here!"

Danielle rushes over to Ivy and embraces her. "What did you do?" she asked as if she were upset, though she was still holding onto Ivy.

"I don't really know..." but then she did know. Ivy realized, with a feeling of resentment towards the Spirits but also joy because she was now with Danielle, that she had succeeded in making a deal: she just hadn't known what it was until it was done. "I made an exchange that cannot be undone, but I would never dream of changing this."

Danielle pulled back from Ivy to look at her. "You mean...you're like me?" Dead, that's what she meant to say. But she couldn't say it, not about Ivy.

"It seems so," Ivy said through a teary smile.

Danielle swept Ivy off her feet and into her arms with no struggle - she'd always been strong - and carried her up an staircase to the Beyond. As this happened, the chorus sang, once again, these lines from Don't Blame Me in a choir-like way:

Oh, lord save me. My drug is my baby Ill be using for the rest of my life.

Perra Castillo couldn't be more proud of Tracy. They'd been friends since middle school, and she'd watched as Tracy went from Citygoer #3 in one of her dads' plays to the leading role in the show she'd written herself. Perra didn't know any other 16-year-old as cool as Tracy. Though, she knew, that Tracy would say the same about her.

Perra was new to acting on stage, but she'd been a child star before, on TV. Once her show ended, she decided she didn't enjoy Hollywood. So, she moved to New York with her much-older sister (her legal guardian) and went to an arts school, majoring in theatre.

Perra carried Tracy up the steps and the curtain went down.

"Thank you," Tracy said quietly to Perra.

She set her down and smiled. "No, thank you."

They went backstage soaked in the sounds of the audience clapping and cheering while the dancers and extras prepared to go out for curtain call. Tracy and Petra would be last, as they were the main characters.

Quinn Fabray was crying. Her goddaughter had just finished her first Broadway show, and she couldn't be more proud. She'd been emotional before, but seeing Tracy walk into the stage, curtsie, and wipe tears from her eyes in happiness was the final straw.

Tina tapped her shoulder and handed her a tissue. Quinn smiled at her wife and took it.

She didn't even half to look to hear Kurt and Blaine's embarrassingly-loud cheering. They'd all sat together, and she was almost embarrassed. Almost, but not really. She'd be just as obnoxious if she could stop the tears. Something about the whole performance had just reminded her of high school and Time Warp.

Blaine Anderson knew Tracy would be a star the moment he heard her screaming the words to champagne problems by Taylor Swift in the car as a toddler. Now, she was nominated for a Tony and was the biggest new name in theatre.

As she thanked the audience for their dedication and interest in her work, Blaine thought of his and Kurt's first broadway show. Now she had had the same experience, and he couldn't be happier for her.

Tracy took one last bow with her cast and crew and it finally sank in that she wasn't ready to leave them.