GLEE: It's A Bonding Experience (3/3)
Title: It's A Bonding Experience (3/3)
author: infraredphaeton
summary: people try out for the Warblers. Some get in. Some don't.
warnings: lots of OCs, lots of youtube. Eric. language.
rating: PG-13 for language.
a/n: Sorry this took so long! Still, it's done, so back to present day Warblers and Klaine!
The Warblers rehearsal room was a music room at the top of a tower. An actual tower, with arrow slits and step spiral staircases and everything, which was incredibly cool, in Liam’s opinion. David had rolled his eyes at the stair case and decided to fall onto Wes.
“Carry me.”
“No, walk.” Wes said, pushing him off.
“But you’re super strong. You can carry me easily.” David whined, and Wes rolled his eyes.
“If I carry you, I get to replace your desk with a TV.” Wes bargained, and David grinned, falling against Wes again.
“Done!” David chirped happily, and Wes hoisted over his friend over one shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Is this an actual spiral staircase?” Blaine asked wonderingly, running a hand over the end of the banister, and Eric, who had invited himself to join the group when he saw Liam with them, rolled his eyes.
“No. It’s fake.”
“It’s like Bowser’s staircase in Mario 64. It’s straight and it goes on forever.” David said, and Eric narrowed his eyes at him.
“That’s what she said,” Pratik added laconically, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
“I’m just saying. It’s cool. Very Hogwarts.” Blaine said, and they began to climb the stairs.
By the time they reached the top, everybody except David had lost their excitement about it being a spiral staircase.
“You know, if you hang upside down while going up in spirals, you get pretty dizzy,” he said cheerfully, staggering to the music room’s blue door.
“Give us a minute,” Harry gasped, hunched over. Pratik was sitting on the edge of the stairs, his head between his knees as he tried to breathe deeply. Blaine sunk back against the wall, head tilted up, chest heaving.
Wes, Liam and Eric, who were all remarkably not out of breath, shook their heads at their unfit comrades.
David smiled brightly at Blaine, “I bet you wished you’d thought of that deal, don’t you?”
“No. I think I’ll need my desk for the next four years of homework.” Blaine said dryly, “I can put up with five minutes of discomfort for four years of workspace.”
“Well, you enjoy sounding like Darth Vader’s asthmatic nephew for these next five minutes then,” David said cheerfully, and went over to flop on Wes’ shoulder.
Eric rolled his eyes at the boys splayed out over the top few steps of the staircase, and headed for the door.
“Come in when you like, but I’m not going to be late and sabotage my chances at getting a part.”
Pratik, who had finally begun to breathe normally, rolled over and whispered to Harry, “What’s sabotage?”
“Right, well, get up, people. We have a choir director to impress.” Wes clapped his hands, ushering them up.
“Yes, get up, children.” David clapped his hands in imitation, “Your nap isn’t scheduled for another hour and a half.”
“Yes, mother.” Blaine complained, and stood up. He brushed down his blazer and ran a hand over his hair.
“Really, Blaine? you have enough gel in there that an earthquake couldn’t shift it.” David said, and shook his head.
Harry gave Pratik a hand up from his lifeless sprawl over the stairs, and the six teenagers looked at the music room door.
“Who’s going to open it?” Wes asked.
“Shotgun not me.” David replied immediately, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
“Courage, guys. You need it.” he stepped forward and opened the door, ushering the others in ahead of him.
The door opened onto a wide, pastel green and white painted room floored with a dark grey carpet. Blonde wood desks lined the edges of walls, each with a keyboard set on top, but the expanse in the centre was empty, only a few stacked chairs near the door suggesting where the students usually sat.
“Hey, guys!” A friendly looking man, with a welcoming smile and short, spiky grey hair waved at them from his seat in front of a computer, “You’re the freshmen for this year, aren’t you?”
Blaine stepped forward from the group, “Yes sir. I’m Blaine, these are my room mates, Wes and David, and our friends, Harry, Pratik and Liam.”
“Lovely.” said the music teacher, and he spun his chair around, “I’m going to guess you’re looking for the Warbler try outs?”
David nodded silently, and Pratik gave the teacher a nervous smile and a thumbs up.
“Well, great, because I’m the new music teacher here, Ryan Matthews. You boys can call me Mr. Matthews. We’re both new, so we’ll have to help each other, okay?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Matthews,” Blaine said charmingly, smiling at him.
“You too...Blaine?”
Blaine nodded.
“Well, I’m going to tell you what I told everyone else. We’re starting new this year. The Warblers are a very prestigious group, and a lot of the older boys have only been hanging onto their positions because they’re seniors.” Mr. Matthews reached under the desk and grabbed a thick yellow folder, passing it to Blaine.
“What’s this for, sir?” Wes asked, opening it.
“Lyrics for songs we already have arranged and ready to go. Pick something, head down to the auditorium, and get ready to sing. I borrowed Jenny McCauly- she’ll be your math teacher- to play piano for us, so don’t worry about going a cappella for now. That’ll come later.” He smiled brightly, and turned back to the computer, “I’ll be down in about ten minutes to start the auditions.”
“Everybody is auditioning?” Harry asked, already flicking through sheaves of music with steady hands.
“Solo auditions, and then we’re doing a group piece at the end to see how you all mesh. You should all grab a copy of Put The Lime In The Coconut.” Mr Matthews agreed, and Pratik drifted over to the computer.
“Are you working with Audacity?”
“Yes, yes I am. Are you interested in music editing?” Mr. Matthews asked, surprised.
“I like music,” he shrugged, and Harry beckoned him back over to the group. He smiled at the teacher, and walked back, shoes scuffing against the carpet.
“We should agree not to do anything one of the others is doing,” Blaine suggested, fanning out the four pieces he was trying to choose between.
“I call The Beatles,” Harry said immediately.
“Try something newer. Get out of your comfort zone,” Pratik rolled his eyes, and shoved a Coldplay piece at him, “Like this.”
“Clocks.” Harry read off, “I don’t think I’ve heard it.”
“I have it on my iPod, you can listen to it on the way. Try something different, Harry.” Pratik nudged him, and Harry rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
Pratik nodded approvingly.
“Okay, so Harry’s doing Coldplay...” Blaine put one of his pieces onto the rejection pile, “I guess I’ll do Save Tonight. That’s Eagle Eye Cherry.”
Pratik grinned and nodded at him.
“All yours,” Liam said, “Actually, I think I’ll do something older. um. This one.” he held up a piece, and Pratik and Harry nodded in unison, giving him an approving look.
“Blackbird. Could be very interesting,” Harry said, and Pratik just nodded again.
“Everybody’s Changing. Keane.” Wes decided, dropping his alternative pieces back onto the pile.
David laughed, and grabbed a piece of the pile he hadn’t noticed before, “If we’re trying to do interesting, we can’t get much more interesting than a baritone singing My Happy Ending.”
Pratik nodded approvingly.
“I’m singing a Rush of Blood To The Head. If Harry can deal with sharing a band?”
“It’s fine,” Harry said, waving a hand in the air absently as he read the lyrics and notation for Clocks.
“And a copy of Put The Lime In The Coconut for everyone,” Blaine said, passing out the sheet music, “Alright.” he gave the yellow folder back to Mr. Matthews, who smiled at the them, and pointed to the door.
“I’ll see you boys soon. Good luck!”
“Thank you, sir,” Wes grinned, and they left.
“I can’t believe we have to go all the way down the stairs now.” Harry said unhappily, looking down the tower staircase.
“Speak for yourself,” David said, and clapped twice.
Wes hoisted him over his shoulder, “Your chariot, my lord.”
“Quite so. On, James, and don’t spare the horses.”
“My name is Wes, not James.” Wes muttered, and David slapped him on the back.
“I said on, Wesley, and don’t spare the freaking horses.”
“Horses. What horses? This is all me.” Wes jogged down the stairs.
“Yes, yes, you’re incredibly athletic,” David agreed, as he bounced on Wes’ shoulder, “I’m very jealous of your manly stature.”
“As you should be.” Wes said, patting David’s leg.
The auditorium had about eighty boys of various ages in it, a small huddle of fifteen freshmen separate from the rest of the group. The seniors were glaring at everyone else and hogging the piano, running scales and practicing their audition pieces.
Blaine took the lead and guided the other boys to the the freshmen group. Somehow, Eric had already arrived.
“How did you get here?” Liam asked, curious, and Eric pulled aside his blazer, revealing a light, flexible strap of webbing- part of a harness.
“This entire building is criss-crossed with vents and old secret passages. I took the old dumb waiter, and then the vents. Now, shut up. I need to practice my runs.”
Liam nodded agreeably and turned to the rest of the freshmen, who all looked incredibly nervous and unsure of themselves, gripping their sheet music with sweaty palms and darting looks at the angry seniors near the piano.
“Alright. So we’re all new, we aren’t going to get lead roles, that’s obvious.” Blaine said, putting his hands on his hips as he addressed the group, “But we just want to get in, at this point.”
A tall, rather effeminate looking boy with short blond hair, who was sitting at the back, cleared his throat, and raised his hand, smiling mockingly. “Hi, yeah, Jim Bond, Hallman house, I was wondering...Who put you in charge, exactly?”
Blaine blinked, stepping back, and all the confidence that Wes and David had noticed grow over this first week seemed to disappear. Looking at each other, they nodded, and stepped forwards.
“Hi,” Wes started.
“Yeah,” David continued.
“Wes Heely,”
“And David Hardison,”
“Both Keiran house,” Wes said helpfully.
“And you did, when you decided to sit at the back and do nothing.” David said, smiling sweetly, and Wes clapped Blaine on the back and pushed him forward.
“Do your thing, kiddo.”
“I am the same age as you.” Blaine said in frustration, rolling his eyes, but smiled at the group charmingly.
“Right. So, we all want to join the Warblers, and we’ve got some pretty stiff competition. We’re new. But, we have a better chance than the last group of freshmen did. We’re in an open audition. If we’re good enough, we could have more freshmen than seniors. I mean, how many freshmen usually join?”
“Eight,” said a brunet with bright green eyes and rectangular glasses, “Um. I’m Gary, by the way. Keiran.”
“Nice to meet you,” Blaine said, smiling charmingly, “So usually, only a third of us would get in. This year, we could all get in. I’m Blaine, by the way. Also Keiran. We have about ten minutes before our choir director comes down, and we all know that the group piece is going to be the one that really determines whether we get in or not. And the people who can’t sing together, it doesn’t matter how fantastic their solo voice is, they won’t get in. So I say, we do scales, and then we practice Put the Lime in the Coconut.”
“Sounds good to me,” Wes said, and he and David low-fived discreetly behind Blaine’s back.
“Our little boy is growing up.” David whispered tearfully, and Wes caught him in a headlock and scrubbed at his shaved head.
“What the fuck ever. We’re outnumbered, guys.” said a boy with the most ridiculously fluffy black hair, crossing his arms sullenly. “It’s all Keiran.”
“From that, I’ll guess you’re Hallman.” David said.
“No shit, Sherlock. Lee Dwyre. Hallman.” Lee had an Irish accent, a seemingly permanent scowl, and stony grey eyes.
Only, he, Jim, and four other students had the Hallman Griffin’s head pin instead of Keiran’s Rose, and they had all grouped together towards the back. When Jim cleared his throat, Lee’s head whipped around to watch him, scowl dissolving into an expression of lovestruck adoration.
“Well he’s obvious.” Blaine muttered to Wes and David, who had separated to stand on either side of him. Harry, Pratik and Liam and slipped off to sit within the group of freshmen- Harry and Pratik near the Hallman group, Liam next to the angry ginger boy who had followed them up to the music room earlier.
“I agree, actually. Blaine, was it?” Jim said, examining his nails.
Blaine nodded cheerfully, “Alright then, let’s get to the scales, then. After me- me me me me me meee.”
The group of boys followed obediently.
From his position in the lighting box, Mr. Matthews hummed thoughtfully, and noted something down on his clipboard.
“Good job, guys. It’s good to see where we stand,” Mr. Matthews said, as the last sophomore came offstage, and turned to the nervous huddle of freshmen, the last left on the ‘unperformed’ side of the auditorium.
“Now, let’s see what we’ve got in terms of new talent. Let’s start with...”
David flicked Wes’ ear.
“You. David, right?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Get on stage, and stop tormenting your friend.”
“Yes, sir!” David said cheerfully, and mock saluted him, jogging over to the stage.
“Let’s hear it, then.” Mr. Matthews said.
“I decided to perform something new and interesting. I doubt you’ll have ever heard anything like it before.”
“That’s what they all say.” Mr. Matthews said, rolling his eyes.
“Ah, but have you ever heard Avril Lavigne transposed so a baritone could sing it?” David asked, giving his sheet music to the pianist.
“...You may be right. Go on.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFGbSWP-G-o
David finished to applause from the freshmen side of the auditorium, and Mr. Matthews almost falling off his chair with laughter.
“That was...interesting. Yeah. Alright, Mr. Hardison, take a seat.”
David grinned again and headed off stage to secure some seats.
“Wesley Heely? You next.”
“Alright, good job, Lee, you go take a seat over on the other side of the theatre,” Mr. Matthews said, sending Lee offstage to sit with the other boys who had already performed.
“Um. Blaine, you now.”
Blaine smiled nervously, and Wes and David cheered him on from the other side of the auditorium.
“Go Blaine!”
“Woop woop!”
“And that’s enough from you, boys.” Mr. Matthews said, pointing his pencil at them with a frown. They obediently quieted, and Wes gave Mr. Matthews a thumbs up, grinning.
“Alright. Blaine, whenever you’re ready.”
Blaine passed the sheet music to the pianist, and she nodded, doing a simple introduction.
Blaine took a deep breath, looking out at the auditorium, split into two groups, before and after, both equally nervous and unsure of themselves, and threw his shoulders back.
He was done being nervous, being defensive, being...a coward.
New school, new him.
He opened his mouth, and sang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnEdUVBjZfo
The next day, the list of who had made it into the prestigious Dalton Academy Warblers was up outside the music room. David managed to convince Wes that his deal lasted for as long as his desk was replaced with the TV, and was carried up the stairs again. This time, the area landing outside was crowded with students, and they passed a lot of sour looking seniors and juniors stomping downstairs, as well as a few of the weaker freshmen. Gary grinned at David hanging over Wes’ shoulder, and stopped to talk to them.
“You didn’t get in?” Harry asked sympathetically.
“Not this time, but I don’t really mind.” Gary shrugged, “There’s always next year, right? And D&D runs at the same time, so it wouldn’t have been great for me anyway.”
“Right.” Pratik said, confused by Gary’s nonchalant response.
“I look forward to seeing your first performance though!” he grinned, and patted Blaine on the shoulder on his way downstairs.
“We got in?”
“Read the list!” Gary called up, jumping down the stairs two at a time in a way that looked particularly accident prone.
“Right.” Blaine shook his head, and they continued climbing up, Blaine apologizing as he slipped through the crowd surrounding the music room door.
He returned, a few seconds later, with a broad grin.
“We got in! Us, the Hallman guys, and two others- Eric Lennhardt, countertenor, and Melvin Rufus something the third, bass.” Blaine smiled again, charmingly, “Good job, guys!”
“We are so awesome.” David said cheerfully, from his place hanging over Wes’ shoulder.
“We totally are.” Wes said.
Somehow, they managed to high five.
Clocks by Coldplay (Harry)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmej-clcqA4
Everybody’s Changing by Keane (Wes)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KiuXwYMqOI
Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay (Pratik)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz1uK8OOr38
Black Bird by The Beatles (Liam)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5CUHHGlQg0
Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne (David)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFGbSWP-G-o
Put The Lime in The Coconut by Harry Nilson (Group)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA9OqUuA6a0
I want to say thanks to everyone I haven't had time to reply to who commented. I will get back to you, I've just been super busy. :)
author: infraredphaeton
summary: people try out for the Warblers. Some get in. Some don't.
warnings: lots of OCs, lots of youtube. Eric. language.
rating: PG-13 for language.
a/n: Sorry this took so long! Still, it's done, so back to present day Warblers and Klaine!
The Warblers rehearsal room was a music room at the top of a tower. An actual tower, with arrow slits and step spiral staircases and everything, which was incredibly cool, in Liam’s opinion. David had rolled his eyes at the stair case and decided to fall onto Wes.
“Carry me.”
“No, walk.” Wes said, pushing him off.
“But you’re super strong. You can carry me easily.” David whined, and Wes rolled his eyes.
“If I carry you, I get to replace your desk with a TV.” Wes bargained, and David grinned, falling against Wes again.
“Done!” David chirped happily, and Wes hoisted over his friend over one shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Is this an actual spiral staircase?” Blaine asked wonderingly, running a hand over the end of the banister, and Eric, who had invited himself to join the group when he saw Liam with them, rolled his eyes.
“No. It’s fake.”
“It’s like Bowser’s staircase in Mario 64. It’s straight and it goes on forever.” David said, and Eric narrowed his eyes at him.
“That’s what she said,” Pratik added laconically, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
“I’m just saying. It’s cool. Very Hogwarts.” Blaine said, and they began to climb the stairs.
By the time they reached the top, everybody except David had lost their excitement about it being a spiral staircase.
“You know, if you hang upside down while going up in spirals, you get pretty dizzy,” he said cheerfully, staggering to the music room’s blue door.
“Give us a minute,” Harry gasped, hunched over. Pratik was sitting on the edge of the stairs, his head between his knees as he tried to breathe deeply. Blaine sunk back against the wall, head tilted up, chest heaving.
Wes, Liam and Eric, who were all remarkably not out of breath, shook their heads at their unfit comrades.
David smiled brightly at Blaine, “I bet you wished you’d thought of that deal, don’t you?”
“No. I think I’ll need my desk for the next four years of homework.” Blaine said dryly, “I can put up with five minutes of discomfort for four years of workspace.”
“Well, you enjoy sounding like Darth Vader’s asthmatic nephew for these next five minutes then,” David said cheerfully, and went over to flop on Wes’ shoulder.
Eric rolled his eyes at the boys splayed out over the top few steps of the staircase, and headed for the door.
“Come in when you like, but I’m not going to be late and sabotage my chances at getting a part.”
Pratik, who had finally begun to breathe normally, rolled over and whispered to Harry, “What’s sabotage?”
“Right, well, get up, people. We have a choir director to impress.” Wes clapped his hands, ushering them up.
“Yes, get up, children.” David clapped his hands in imitation, “Your nap isn’t scheduled for another hour and a half.”
“Yes, mother.” Blaine complained, and stood up. He brushed down his blazer and ran a hand over his hair.
“Really, Blaine? you have enough gel in there that an earthquake couldn’t shift it.” David said, and shook his head.
Harry gave Pratik a hand up from his lifeless sprawl over the stairs, and the six teenagers looked at the music room door.
“Who’s going to open it?” Wes asked.
“Shotgun not me.” David replied immediately, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
“Courage, guys. You need it.” he stepped forward and opened the door, ushering the others in ahead of him.
The door opened onto a wide, pastel green and white painted room floored with a dark grey carpet. Blonde wood desks lined the edges of walls, each with a keyboard set on top, but the expanse in the centre was empty, only a few stacked chairs near the door suggesting where the students usually sat.
“Hey, guys!” A friendly looking man, with a welcoming smile and short, spiky grey hair waved at them from his seat in front of a computer, “You’re the freshmen for this year, aren’t you?”
Blaine stepped forward from the group, “Yes sir. I’m Blaine, these are my room mates, Wes and David, and our friends, Harry, Pratik and Liam.”
“Lovely.” said the music teacher, and he spun his chair around, “I’m going to guess you’re looking for the Warbler try outs?”
David nodded silently, and Pratik gave the teacher a nervous smile and a thumbs up.
“Well, great, because I’m the new music teacher here, Ryan Matthews. You boys can call me Mr. Matthews. We’re both new, so we’ll have to help each other, okay?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Matthews,” Blaine said charmingly, smiling at him.
“You too...Blaine?”
Blaine nodded.
“Well, I’m going to tell you what I told everyone else. We’re starting new this year. The Warblers are a very prestigious group, and a lot of the older boys have only been hanging onto their positions because they’re seniors.” Mr. Matthews reached under the desk and grabbed a thick yellow folder, passing it to Blaine.
“What’s this for, sir?” Wes asked, opening it.
“Lyrics for songs we already have arranged and ready to go. Pick something, head down to the auditorium, and get ready to sing. I borrowed Jenny McCauly- she’ll be your math teacher- to play piano for us, so don’t worry about going a cappella for now. That’ll come later.” He smiled brightly, and turned back to the computer, “I’ll be down in about ten minutes to start the auditions.”
“Everybody is auditioning?” Harry asked, already flicking through sheaves of music with steady hands.
“Solo auditions, and then we’re doing a group piece at the end to see how you all mesh. You should all grab a copy of Put The Lime In The Coconut.” Mr Matthews agreed, and Pratik drifted over to the computer.
“Are you working with Audacity?”
“Yes, yes I am. Are you interested in music editing?” Mr. Matthews asked, surprised.
“I like music,” he shrugged, and Harry beckoned him back over to the group. He smiled at the teacher, and walked back, shoes scuffing against the carpet.
“We should agree not to do anything one of the others is doing,” Blaine suggested, fanning out the four pieces he was trying to choose between.
“I call The Beatles,” Harry said immediately.
“Try something newer. Get out of your comfort zone,” Pratik rolled his eyes, and shoved a Coldplay piece at him, “Like this.”
“Clocks.” Harry read off, “I don’t think I’ve heard it.”
“I have it on my iPod, you can listen to it on the way. Try something different, Harry.” Pratik nudged him, and Harry rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
Pratik nodded approvingly.
“Okay, so Harry’s doing Coldplay...” Blaine put one of his pieces onto the rejection pile, “I guess I’ll do Save Tonight. That’s Eagle Eye Cherry.”
Pratik grinned and nodded at him.
“All yours,” Liam said, “Actually, I think I’ll do something older. um. This one.” he held up a piece, and Pratik and Harry nodded in unison, giving him an approving look.
“Blackbird. Could be very interesting,” Harry said, and Pratik just nodded again.
“Everybody’s Changing. Keane.” Wes decided, dropping his alternative pieces back onto the pile.
David laughed, and grabbed a piece of the pile he hadn’t noticed before, “If we’re trying to do interesting, we can’t get much more interesting than a baritone singing My Happy Ending.”
Pratik nodded approvingly.
“I’m singing a Rush of Blood To The Head. If Harry can deal with sharing a band?”
“It’s fine,” Harry said, waving a hand in the air absently as he read the lyrics and notation for Clocks.
“And a copy of Put The Lime In The Coconut for everyone,” Blaine said, passing out the sheet music, “Alright.” he gave the yellow folder back to Mr. Matthews, who smiled at the them, and pointed to the door.
“I’ll see you boys soon. Good luck!”
“Thank you, sir,” Wes grinned, and they left.
“I can’t believe we have to go all the way down the stairs now.” Harry said unhappily, looking down the tower staircase.
“Speak for yourself,” David said, and clapped twice.
Wes hoisted him over his shoulder, “Your chariot, my lord.”
“Quite so. On, James, and don’t spare the horses.”
“My name is Wes, not James.” Wes muttered, and David slapped him on the back.
“I said on, Wesley, and don’t spare the freaking horses.”
“Horses. What horses? This is all me.” Wes jogged down the stairs.
“Yes, yes, you’re incredibly athletic,” David agreed, as he bounced on Wes’ shoulder, “I’m very jealous of your manly stature.”
“As you should be.” Wes said, patting David’s leg.
The auditorium had about eighty boys of various ages in it, a small huddle of fifteen freshmen separate from the rest of the group. The seniors were glaring at everyone else and hogging the piano, running scales and practicing their audition pieces.
Blaine took the lead and guided the other boys to the the freshmen group. Somehow, Eric had already arrived.
“How did you get here?” Liam asked, curious, and Eric pulled aside his blazer, revealing a light, flexible strap of webbing- part of a harness.
“This entire building is criss-crossed with vents and old secret passages. I took the old dumb waiter, and then the vents. Now, shut up. I need to practice my runs.”
Liam nodded agreeably and turned to the rest of the freshmen, who all looked incredibly nervous and unsure of themselves, gripping their sheet music with sweaty palms and darting looks at the angry seniors near the piano.
“Alright. So we’re all new, we aren’t going to get lead roles, that’s obvious.” Blaine said, putting his hands on his hips as he addressed the group, “But we just want to get in, at this point.”
A tall, rather effeminate looking boy with short blond hair, who was sitting at the back, cleared his throat, and raised his hand, smiling mockingly. “Hi, yeah, Jim Bond, Hallman house, I was wondering...Who put you in charge, exactly?”
Blaine blinked, stepping back, and all the confidence that Wes and David had noticed grow over this first week seemed to disappear. Looking at each other, they nodded, and stepped forwards.
“Hi,” Wes started.
“Yeah,” David continued.
“Wes Heely,”
“And David Hardison,”
“Both Keiran house,” Wes said helpfully.
“And you did, when you decided to sit at the back and do nothing.” David said, smiling sweetly, and Wes clapped Blaine on the back and pushed him forward.
“Do your thing, kiddo.”
“I am the same age as you.” Blaine said in frustration, rolling his eyes, but smiled at the group charmingly.
“Right. So, we all want to join the Warblers, and we’ve got some pretty stiff competition. We’re new. But, we have a better chance than the last group of freshmen did. We’re in an open audition. If we’re good enough, we could have more freshmen than seniors. I mean, how many freshmen usually join?”
“Eight,” said a brunet with bright green eyes and rectangular glasses, “Um. I’m Gary, by the way. Keiran.”
“Nice to meet you,” Blaine said, smiling charmingly, “So usually, only a third of us would get in. This year, we could all get in. I’m Blaine, by the way. Also Keiran. We have about ten minutes before our choir director comes down, and we all know that the group piece is going to be the one that really determines whether we get in or not. And the people who can’t sing together, it doesn’t matter how fantastic their solo voice is, they won’t get in. So I say, we do scales, and then we practice Put the Lime in the Coconut.”
“Sounds good to me,” Wes said, and he and David low-fived discreetly behind Blaine’s back.
“Our little boy is growing up.” David whispered tearfully, and Wes caught him in a headlock and scrubbed at his shaved head.
“What the fuck ever. We’re outnumbered, guys.” said a boy with the most ridiculously fluffy black hair, crossing his arms sullenly. “It’s all Keiran.”
“From that, I’ll guess you’re Hallman.” David said.
“No shit, Sherlock. Lee Dwyre. Hallman.” Lee had an Irish accent, a seemingly permanent scowl, and stony grey eyes.
Only, he, Jim, and four other students had the Hallman Griffin’s head pin instead of Keiran’s Rose, and they had all grouped together towards the back. When Jim cleared his throat, Lee’s head whipped around to watch him, scowl dissolving into an expression of lovestruck adoration.
“Well he’s obvious.” Blaine muttered to Wes and David, who had separated to stand on either side of him. Harry, Pratik and Liam and slipped off to sit within the group of freshmen- Harry and Pratik near the Hallman group, Liam next to the angry ginger boy who had followed them up to the music room earlier.
“I agree, actually. Blaine, was it?” Jim said, examining his nails.
Blaine nodded cheerfully, “Alright then, let’s get to the scales, then. After me- me me me me me meee.”
The group of boys followed obediently.
From his position in the lighting box, Mr. Matthews hummed thoughtfully, and noted something down on his clipboard.
“Good job, guys. It’s good to see where we stand,” Mr. Matthews said, as the last sophomore came offstage, and turned to the nervous huddle of freshmen, the last left on the ‘unperformed’ side of the auditorium.
“Now, let’s see what we’ve got in terms of new talent. Let’s start with...”
David flicked Wes’ ear.
“You. David, right?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Get on stage, and stop tormenting your friend.”
“Yes, sir!” David said cheerfully, and mock saluted him, jogging over to the stage.
“Let’s hear it, then.” Mr. Matthews said.
“I decided to perform something new and interesting. I doubt you’ll have ever heard anything like it before.”
“That’s what they all say.” Mr. Matthews said, rolling his eyes.
“Ah, but have you ever heard Avril Lavigne transposed so a baritone could sing it?” David asked, giving his sheet music to the pianist.
“...You may be right. Go on.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFGbSWP-G-o
David finished to applause from the freshmen side of the auditorium, and Mr. Matthews almost falling off his chair with laughter.
“That was...interesting. Yeah. Alright, Mr. Hardison, take a seat.”
David grinned again and headed off stage to secure some seats.
“Wesley Heely? You next.”
“Alright, good job, Lee, you go take a seat over on the other side of the theatre,” Mr. Matthews said, sending Lee offstage to sit with the other boys who had already performed.
“Um. Blaine, you now.”
Blaine smiled nervously, and Wes and David cheered him on from the other side of the auditorium.
“Go Blaine!”
“Woop woop!”
“And that’s enough from you, boys.” Mr. Matthews said, pointing his pencil at them with a frown. They obediently quieted, and Wes gave Mr. Matthews a thumbs up, grinning.
“Alright. Blaine, whenever you’re ready.”
Blaine passed the sheet music to the pianist, and she nodded, doing a simple introduction.
Blaine took a deep breath, looking out at the auditorium, split into two groups, before and after, both equally nervous and unsure of themselves, and threw his shoulders back.
He was done being nervous, being defensive, being...a coward.
New school, new him.
He opened his mouth, and sang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnEdUVBjZfo
The next day, the list of who had made it into the prestigious Dalton Academy Warblers was up outside the music room. David managed to convince Wes that his deal lasted for as long as his desk was replaced with the TV, and was carried up the stairs again. This time, the area landing outside was crowded with students, and they passed a lot of sour looking seniors and juniors stomping downstairs, as well as a few of the weaker freshmen. Gary grinned at David hanging over Wes’ shoulder, and stopped to talk to them.
“You didn’t get in?” Harry asked sympathetically.
“Not this time, but I don’t really mind.” Gary shrugged, “There’s always next year, right? And D&D runs at the same time, so it wouldn’t have been great for me anyway.”
“Right.” Pratik said, confused by Gary’s nonchalant response.
“I look forward to seeing your first performance though!” he grinned, and patted Blaine on the shoulder on his way downstairs.
“We got in?”
“Read the list!” Gary called up, jumping down the stairs two at a time in a way that looked particularly accident prone.
“Right.” Blaine shook his head, and they continued climbing up, Blaine apologizing as he slipped through the crowd surrounding the music room door.
He returned, a few seconds later, with a broad grin.
“We got in! Us, the Hallman guys, and two others- Eric Lennhardt, countertenor, and Melvin Rufus something the third, bass.” Blaine smiled again, charmingly, “Good job, guys!”
“We are so awesome.” David said cheerfully, from his place hanging over Wes’ shoulder.
“We totally are.” Wes said.
Somehow, they managed to high five.
Clocks by Coldplay (Harry)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmej-clcqA4
Everybody’s Changing by Keane (Wes)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KiuXwYMqOI
Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay (Pratik)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz1uK8OOr38
Black Bird by The Beatles (Liam)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5CUHHGlQg0
Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne (David)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFGbSWP-G-o
Put The Lime in The Coconut by Harry Nilson (Group)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA9OqUuA6a0
I want to say thanks to everyone I haven't had time to reply to who commented. I will get back to you, I've just been super busy. :)