Unlikely Star

The First Time

I had so much on my mind when I walked into Glee rehearsal. From West Side Story opening this week, to my possibly leaving to join the Troubletones. Hanging out with Santana and Brittany over the weekend consisted of them mostly trying to convince me to join. But when I ran into Finn and Rachel at Breadstix, they were trying to tell me the opposite.

Mr. Schue was ushering us all into the choir room as the bell rang. I found myself a seat and placed my bag on the floor. He clapped his hands together and began the lesson. "Now I know most of you are stressing out about the musical this week, but remember, it's Glee Club time. Sectionals is coming up faster than you would think. And these past few weeks, we've been having some trouble with people coming and going, so I need to know now. I need to know that you're all here for this team, and you want to stay together and win together."

I had a million voices running through my head. Ms. Corcoran was telling me I could be a star, Rachel was telling me they wouldn't be the same without me, and Santana was telling me to get my head out of everyone else's asses (that one made me kind of disgusted). Everyone was looking around to see if anyone dared to get up. It was finally time for me to make my final decision. I thought deep down in my heart to try to see what it thought I should do.

I slowly began to grab my backpack. I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of here without anyone seeing me, but maybe starting to leave could not be as awkward. No one had seen me grab my backpack, but Puck was first to notice that I was starting to stand up.

"You too?" he asked. Suddenly, everyone turned their heads to see who it was referring to. Mr. Schue had a look of disappointment on his face as I walked towards the front of the room.

"I thought you said you didn't know what you wanted to do yet?" Finn looked disappointed in me, but I wasn't surprised. He had been trying all week to convince me to stay.

"I'm really sorry guys, but I want to be front and center for once."

"And you will Mallory," Mr. Schue was pleading.

"When? Were you thinking about Sectionals, or did you already have a setlist planned that featured Rachel and Finn?" He paused. Everyone did. Rachel started to fiddle with her fingers, and Finn was looking at the whiteboard and then the ceiling. "Listen, I have nothing against any of you. I just want to maybe not sway in the background for once."

I turned back around and walked out the hallway. I wanted to quietly celebrate. I had actually stood up for myself. I started punching my fist into the air and dancing around to non-existent music. I started skipping down the hall until I almost ran into Coach Sue.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry Coach."

"You almost made me drop my protein shake Baby Hands, but I wouldn't expect you to catch it. It would probably fall straight through your tiny hands. Besides, you looked far too happy, so I guess it's good you ran into me." She then pushed by me and continued down the hallway. I will never understand why she became a teacher if she hated children that much.

I finally made it to Ms. Corcoran's classroom. Inside were all the Troubletones starting to warm up their voices. I knocked on the door lightly, and everyone turned around to see who their new recruit could be.

"Hi Ms. Corcoran. I was wondering if your offer still stands with joining the Troubletones?" Mercedes hurried over to me and wrapped me up in a hug. Everyone else came over and joined in a big group hug.

"Alright ladies, let's get started. We've got Sectionals coming up, and we've got some tough competition."

***

Before I had announced my leave, Blaine had asked me to accompany him to his old school to invite former classmates to the opening of West Side Story. I didn't have anything better to do, and it would give me a reason to miss the beginning of West Side Story rehearsal.