The New Star

working

"Slow day today," Ryan commented as he tinkered around under the hood of a pickup truck in the auto shop, a radio playing in the background. Madonna's Vogue, ironically. It was Friday afternoon, and they had just wrapped up the bizarre Madonna week. Ryan was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones were now Cheerios. It seemed to go against all the laws of God and man, but somehow it had happened.

Kurt hummed in agreement. He'd just come to pick up something from his dad and had ended up in a conversation with Ryan Berry. "I need to leave soon, I'm going out with Mercedes and Tina."

"Oh, ok," Ryan said awkwardly. He never got invited anywhere with the other glee club members. He started singing along as Maroon 5's This Love started playing, trying to keep his mind off the fact that even though he was part of the glee club, still nobody wanted to spend time with him. Again, he knew why. He had an obsession with being the best and he had a hard time keeping his thoughts to himself. He couldn't help himself though. He needed to be, he needed the New Directions to win, and if the others wouldn't work on it, he'd have to motivate them himself. In fact, he had a suspicion that some of them were lip-synching. He'd have to do something about that.

Ryan was about to start on the second verse, when he noticed someone enter the garage. He stopped abruptly as Kurt hurriedly shut the music off and retreated into the back to go find Burt.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help –" Ryan faltered as he recognized who the customer was – the director of their rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline. And she was staring at him. "You're Shelby Corcoran," he blurted out after a few moments of the two of them looking at each other. "You're the coach of Vocal Adrenaline."

Shelby quirked her eyebrow, seemingly pulled out of her trance. "Yes, I am," she said absently, still looking at him intently. "And you're Ryan Berry," she added, causing a surprised look to appear on his face. "I saw you at Sectionals. You're quite talented."

A large smile appeared on Ryan's face at her compliment. Finally, someone had noticed him! And not just anyone, this was Shelby Corcoran, coach of the best glee club in the country! Keep it cool. "Thank you," he said, preening slightly. "That means a lot coming from you. I mean, you've won the National title three years in a row." He stepped toward her, extending his hand. Shelby shook it, and he felt something, some kind of connection. He couldn't really explain it.

"Do you work here?" Shelby questioned.

"Yes, I've been working part-time here for a few months now. I've been around the shop since I was 11 though, and Mr. Hummel's taught me a lot about cars. I actually spend most of my time here when I'm not at school. It was either this or getting a job waiting tables at Breadstix, and I didn't want to do that. Plus as an added bonus I get to work with cars," Ryan rambled, blushing as he caught himself. "Sorry, I tend to talk a lot." What the hell is the matter with you? Don't embarrass yourself! Something about the woman confused him, and he didn't know what it was.