The New Star

Competition Time

Shelby Corcoran, coach of Vocal Adrenaline, sighed as she waited in line at the concessionaire stand, wondering who had scheduled this event so close to lunchtime. Her team wasn't performing, their Sectionals were next week, but she'd come to here today meet to scout out Vocal Adrenaline's potential competition for regionals. She knew her kids would win next week. So far she was unimpressed with today's talent. The Jane Addams Reform School had performed a lacklustre rendition of And I'm Telling You, which ended with the last note accompanied by all the girls shaking their behinds at the audience. This was followed by a performance of Proud Mary done in wheelchairs from some bizarre reason. Shelby had noted that the vocals were mediocre, and she knew that if this advanced to regionals, her kids would have no problem beating them. And the next team was from Haverbrook School for the Deaf. Needless to say she didn't see much competition there. The only one who could possibly pose a threat was McKinley High's New Directions. They were new though, and probably wouldn't make it far. Still, it never hurt to know the competition.

She watched idly as a man and a woman a few positions ahead of her took two large pretzels. "Nope, you're money's no good here, I'm buying," the man said gregariously. "Celebratory giant pretzels." Shelby suddenly recognized him as the director for Haverbrook's glee club, while the woman was the director of Jane Addams'. She also had a sneaking thought that what she was doing was eavesdropping. She dismissed this however, since she was hardly about to step out of the line, and she couldn't really help overhearing. They were pretty loud.

The Jane Addams director replied, "I don't feel much like celebrating."

"Why not, one of us is gonna take this thing," The man said conspiratorially.

Shelby couldn't keep herself from snorting. Luckily nobody noticed. Then the pair were approached by a small redhead with large brown eyes. "Hi," she said sweetly. "Nice set list. Of course I haven't heard your deaf kids perform yet, but I hear they're doing Don't Stop Believing?" Shelby listened closer, still unnoticed by the choir directors.

"Uh, who are you?" inquired the Jane Addams director.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Emma Pillsbury, I'm the faculty advisor for the McKinley High School glee club." Ah, so that's why Shelby didn't recognize her. Although she had heard that the McKinley glee director was a guy named Schuester.