In 7 Days [Book 1]

Chapter 35 - We Are Who We Are

"Come on, move it, guys! We gotta get to the auditorium." Finn pushed us through the hallways of McKinley while the group of us burst with excitement, unable to hold back our chatter. The top three show choirs were called to the stage for the announcement of the winners, and we had made it! The other two groups that had a shot at first place were The Hipsters - a group of old people finishing high school after all these years - and The Warblers from Dalton Academy, the ones who stole our Nationals Trophy. 

We all ran to the auditorium together, laughing and giggling, and we piled onto the left side of the stage, jumping over each other and nervously holding hands. We organised ourselves on the stage, trying to fit all of us on the steps. Ryder wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked. 

"Uh, very scared," I laughed, "but with the whole fainting thing, I actually feel okay. My head still hurts a bit but yeah, we're all good." 

The judges, who were some local business owners, stepped up the microphone. A hush fell over the audience and the room was deadly silent. "In third place is...." The judges opened an envelope, "The Hipsters!" 

The Hipsters applauded for themselves and one walked slowly to the front to collect their tiny trophy. They were happy for the third place win, and that made me feel all the more better about the idea of us losing. I hoped we didn't, though, I didn't want to let everyone down that badly. 

"Now, in second place...." The judge trailed off, fumbling with the envelope. I squeezed Brittany's hand tightly. I was beginning to get really nervous. I looked past Ryder and over at The Warblers; one of the guys towards the back mouthed at me 'You're gonna lose.' I smiled at him and tried to pretend like I was shrugging it off, but I was so scared he was right. 

The judge opened the envelope and read out the name on the card. "The Warblers! In first place, the New Directions!"

A stunned feeling washed over us. The audience screamed and cheered, and we just stared forward with our mouths gaping open. We won. We didn't even finish our set, I fell over and ruined a perfect number, and we still won. The Warblers looked shocked, too - no one had expected us to overcome and win. Finn grabbed the first place trophy from the front and the second he brought it back to us was when we started screaming. We jumped, we ran around, we hugged one another tightly. 

I jumped into Ryder's arms and he spun me around. "We won!" I screamed. "Even though I fell, Ryder, we won!"

"Didn't I say this was going to happen?! You were amazing out there, Marley!" I blushed bright red and watched his lips curl into a smile. We laughed together and we hugged again. I looked into the audience and saw the alumni all cheering and mom clapping along. We won.

***

Finn unlocked the almost full trophy cabinet. Blaine carried our Sectionals trophy to the cabinet but then changed it's route and handed it to me. It weighed a ton and I could barely hold it. "Why are you handing this to me?" I laughed. 

"Because you won it for us!" Tina said, pointing to the trophy with a wide smile.

"I actually nearly cost you guys the win." I reasoned, trying to hand the trophy back to Blaine, then to Tina, but they both refused to take it.

 "Just put it in, Marley!" Sam beamed. 

I sighed and replied with a breathy,  "Okay." I walked to the cabinet and put the trophy in, resting it on the shelf next to all the other sectionals trophies. 

Finn closed the cabinet and I stared longingly at it through the glass. The first trophy I had ever won in my life with the first friends I'd ever had. I smiled. Was this my life now?