New Girl

Chapter 18: Sectionals

(Natalie's p.o.v)
"Today is sectionals. I know you guys will do great." Mr. Schue tells us. This is my first Sectionals and I couldn't be more nervous.

"Hey." Blaine whispers, squeezing my hand. "It will be fine. You and I will rock this thing."

I give him a small smile. "Blaine Anderson. How do you always know what I'm thinking?" He laughs. "I'm a mind reader."

I roll my eyes playfully. "Sure you are." I turn my attention back to Mr. Schue.
"Rachel, Blaine, Natalie, Quinn," he starts. "I believe in you. You will take us to victory. You all will."

He takes out some sparkling cider and pours us all a cup. "To teamwork!" he shouts. "To teamwork!" we repeat.
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I take a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror. This is it. The big moment. Don't screw it up.

"Are you ready?" Blaine asks walking over to me. "As ready as I'll ever be." I answer. "We have this in the bag." he smiles. I smile back half heartedly. "Yeah. I guess."

The club starts to leave to find there seats in the audience. I get up and follow. Blaine takes my hand and leads me to a seat next to his.

The lights dim and the first group takes the stage. "Straight from Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers!" the announcer says. I feel Blaine tense up beside me. I squeeze his hand.

Halfway through the performance, I start to feel even more nervous. How was that even possible? They were really good. I turn to look at everyone else. They looked surprisingly calm.

When they finished, the crowd bursted into applause. The next group took the stage. I watched intently. They were good, but not as good as the Warblers. We had a 50% chance of winning. Hopefully.
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"From Lima, the New Directions!"

The club quickly got in a show circle and shouted "Amazing!" We took our place on stage. First was our duet. I looked at Blaine and took deep breath to calm myself down. Let's do this.

"Sometimes I think we're the brightest stars,

And I try to believe we'll find a way.

Will life change when our hearts turn colder?"

Blaine makes his way over and he starts singing.

"All the rhythms in my heart lift me up inside,

We can't stay out of trouble,

Is it worth the blame?

Is it true that the more you give,

The more they take?

All the rhythms in my heart lift me up and say."

Everyone gets in their positions and start dancing around the stage with their dancing partner. Blaine and I sing the next part together.

"All your love will make us ache,

All your love is worth the chase.

All my love, I know where you'll find it,

All my love up by the mountain tops.

All my love, all my love.

All my love up on the mountain top."

The crowd was up on their feet by now. That's a good sign. I tried not to look at the judges' faces.

"All the rhythms in my heart
Lift me up and say.

We're just a mess of broken people,