In 7 Days [Book 1]

Chapter 33 - Make You Believe

I stared down at the paper in my hands. The Sectionals set list, filled with every song and every Glee club in the area. This was actually going to happen. 

The day we had been spending hours rehearsing for had arrived - and we were going to win. 

I had been practicing my solo over and over, and I basically knew it backwards. I practiced non stop. Santana - who was Brittany's ex-girlfriend - had been helping me get ready for my big moment to shine. She had been critiquing me and now I was nearing perfect. Santana said she was living vicariously through me - she never used to get solos when she was in Glee club, and I was lucky none of this went to a "spotlight hog" or something along those lines. Quinn, another graduated student who had come down, starting calling Santana a bitch because she did in fact get to sing a lot of solos and then Quinn ended up slapping Santana. It was harsh to watch. 

Finn paired each of us newbies with a graduated student. Unique was paired with Mercedes, Ryder with Mike, me with Santana, Kitty with Quinn and Jake was paired with his half-brother, Noah. He looked very different without the giant mohawk and I almost didn't recognize him when he walked into the choir room with the rest of the graduates.

Ryder was paired with Mike, the dance choreographer for the musical, because he basically had a lead dance part. He was dancing with Brittany during Gangnam Style - they were doing a tango sort of thing, and I was pretty jealous it wasn't me being lifted by him. Ryder told me one day while we were hanging out outside my house that he was nervous for this big dance part and they should have chosen Jake to do it.

I was so excited for the dancing part of the whole performance - I had been practicing in my heels everyday and I had every step down. It wasn't making me nervous. My solo was what was making me nervous. I was scared of letting everyone down. 

I combed down my hair in the mirrors set up in the choir room. I checked out how my body looked in the dress I was wearing. My arms looked slimmed, and my collarbones stuck out the way I wanted them to, but my stomach looked huge underneath the tule. 

The dresses us girls were wearing for our first performance of the year were black with thick straps and a gold piece of fabric stretched around the middle. They had a petticoat that made them puffy. Mom, Tina, Unique and I had made them together. The girls came over to mine four times in the past three days and we worked on them for a couple of hours whilst gossiping about boys and boyfriends.

The Glee club were sitting in a big circle in the choir room, a few of us marking the dance moves, and a few of us getting our makeup done. Kitty was painting foundation on me and trying to even out my eyeliner. 

The more I sat there, the more nervous I was getting about singing in front of a crowd. I was also getting hungrier, because I hadn't eaten anything since this morning. Maybe getting something healthy to eat wouldn't hurt me or affect my performance...

An announcement came out over the speakers. "New Directions - on in five!"

"Show circle!" Finn summoned us into a big circle. I looked at the faces of all my friends, of my boyfriend, of all the alumni of William McKinley - I had so many people to disappoint. "I believe in you, guys. I believe in the people who have been doing this for years, and for those of you who have never done this before. Make us proud, New Directions!" 

Everyone cheered and my stomach rumbled. I was so hungry, I didn't know how I was going to dance on a completely empty stomach. 

"Hey, are you alright?" Ryder asked quietly, putting his arm around me. His lips brushed against the side of my head and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, just really nervous." I replied as coolly as possible. That was partly true, I guess. I was so nervous and afraid of letting everyone down. And God, I was so fucking hungry. I felt like this wasn't going to end very well at all for me or the Glee club.