Back Log: Try Again and This Time, Be Fabulous
Who: Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Artie, Tina, Mercedes & Santana
When: Tuesday, 7th February
Where: WMHS Choir Room
What: Re-Audition
Rachel clapped her hands together and quickly drew the attention of the other glee club members. She caught Santana rolling her eyes off to the side, but ignored her. This was her club and she would run it how she saw fit. “When you’re all quite ready,” she called out over the top of the scraping of chairs and conversation. She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot as a few seconds ticked by. “Now,” she began again, her voice louder than before. “Santana has been waiting... somewhat patiently, to re-audition and I’d really rather we hurry this along as I have a some song selections to discuss with you all afterwards.”
Mercedes was just sitting in her chair with her arms crossed, a slightly annoyed look on her face. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about this whole re-audition thing that was happening. Not because she had anything against this Santana girl, granted, she was a Cheerio and given the stank face she was giving right now, she did not want to be here. She had no idea why on earth she was auditioning to begin with really, but whatever. She was just going to end up swaying in the background like the rest of the Pips if Rachel had her way.
Tina didn’t like Santana on principle. She didn’t really know anything about the other girl other than that she was a Cheerio but Artie had recently told her about how he and Santana used to friends and how she had ditched him. Artie had also told her that Santana being in the group would make him miserable. Of course, Artie was too good of a person to just say Santana couldn’t be in the group out of spite. Tina on the other hand, didn’t have any problem voting no for no other reason than she didn’t like people who messed with her friends. She crossed her arms and waited for this audition to begin, secretly hoping that it would go terribly.
Finn was leaning back some in his seat, watching the others talk it over. He had no idea why Santana was having to audition again, her first one was pretty good as far as he could tell. But Rachel was like, intense about it. And he had no desire to argue with her when she was like that. She would get those crazy eyes and he was kinda scared of her when she was like that. Anyway, he kinda hoped Santana got in. She was hot.
Kurt didn´t really get why Santana had to audition again, either. He felt like she had been pretty talented the first time, and more or less just thought that it was because Rachel felt the need to make a big deal out of it and wanted to be in control. He disliked Rachel more than Santana, actually, so her becoming a part of glee club wasn´t really that big a deal to him. She was good, and that was what mattered. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest and rested his chin on one knuckle, listening.
Artie frowned, he didn’t want Santana in. That said, he wasn’t sure he was going to say anything about it. She had talent, he knew that. His personal issues with her were also, well, personal. It wouldn’t be right to oppose her because she had been mean to him years and years ago. That would be selfish. At least, that was what he was telling himself. He wanted to be selfish.
Rachel pressed her lips together and gave the group before a her a brief nod. “Great,” she praised her teammates before looking over at Santana. “Please provide Brad with the sheet music, state your name and audition piece and we’ll begin.” Rachel offered a small smile before adding, “again.” She quickly took her seat in the middle of the front row and turned her attention to Santana.
Santana rolled her eyes and walked over to the piano. She handed over the sheet music to the old white guy with the glasses and moved back to the middle of the room. “If none of you know my name by now, then I’m going to assume you live under a fucking rock or something. But since apparently some of you think that I needed to re-audition and I’m assuming this is because you’re either jealous or don’t have ears that work...I don’t know which because I honestly have never looked some of you in the eye before today, but here I am. And I’m about to lay the smack down on this song. You’re welcome in advance for the eargasm you’re about to receive.”
She cleared her throat and listened as the piano started and he played the little intro. She let her eyes close and took a breath. She wasn’t feeling nervous or anything. She just needed a moment to clear her head. She was mostly annoyed at having to do this again, but if any of them were going to call her talent into question, well, they were asking for it. She heard her cue and opened her mouth. “I keep on fallin...in...and out of love...with you...”
Mercedes facial expression didn’t change. She wasn’t dumb by a long shot, she had heard the Latina sing the first time, and she was definitely carrying that song then. Having her sing completely by herself was only going to make Rachel squirm she was sure. That attitude though was unnecessary, what was it with pretty girls feeling the need to be bitches to people? Except Tina. Thank goodness for that small miracle at least.
She discreetly looked over at Rachel to see how she was handling this new development. She felt she had no competition when it came to the other current members. Tina was still pretty shy and well, she was herself. Mr. Schue would rather light his flammable hair on fire than let the curvy black girl sing up front. So that left everything all perfect for Berry and Finn. Things might get interesting now though.
Wow. Santana was... good. Sitting up fully, Finn leaned in some, his full focus on the Cheerio. He remembered her singing with Brittany before, and well... the blonde was just kinda okay. So, he hadn’t really payed a ton of attention. But wow... without Brittany with her, Santana was really shinning. A small smile curved his lips and he nodded along a little. Yeah, they needed this girl for glee club. Like, now. Badly. He wondered if he could like, sing lead with her sometime.
Kurt listened in on Santana’s singing. She was good. He had heard her singing before, and he didn´t doubt that she had talent. And it actually worried him a little bit this time.. Maybe she COULD hog his spotlight. He stared at her as that thought crossed his mind. Oh god no... He already had to compete with Rachel. Now this too!
Geez. Why did she have to be so good? Tina crossed her arms tighter, frowning a bit. It was kind of hard to vote no when Santana sounded like that. Her attitude was appalling though and Tina couldn’t help but wonder how badly Santana would clash with Rachel if she joined. Tina glanced over at Artie, trying to gauge his reaction.
Artie was doing his best not to have any expression. He couldn’t deny Santana was good and should be in the glee club. He just....didn’t have to like it. Maybe there would be no reason at all for them to interact despite it all? That was unlikely and he knew that. Sighing, he knew how he was going to vote.
Rachel schooled her features, not wanting to let the others know how proud she was of her efforts to make Santana rise to the occasion. In Rachel’s experience, bullies always seemed to get what they wanted - not to say that life wasn’t probably difficult for them, their hostility most likely originated from some deep-seeded trauma or emotions they were unable to express in a healthy and constructive manner. Rachel just felt that Santana probably had little she had to work for. She honestly believed that Santana had taken the easy route in the first audition and Rachel needed only the best in her club if they were going to win. And that meant having members who were willing to push themselves further, that craved going that extra mile. Maybe there was still some hope for Santana, yet.
As Santana finished, she grinned smugly and crossed her arms. “Was that good enough, Berry or do I need to bust out something else?” If Rachel asked her to sing something else, Santana was going to call bullshit on that. She’d been the best she’d been in a long time and for a moment there, she’d just closed her eyes and completely forgotten she was auditioning for people unworthy of her time. She’d never been what she considered a “singer.” She used to joke around with Artie when they were little or sing in the car with her mom or Quinn and Brittany, but she didn’t want this as a career or anything. But this was kind of fun.
Rachel was impressed, which was a feat in itself. There were some issues with Santana’s breathing, but she would offer the girl advice at a later date. She pushed herself up off her chair and stood in front of Santana. “That was what I was looking for in your first audition,” she said, with a smile, her head slowly nodding along. “There are a few things that could do with a little tweaking, but I just have one last question for you.” Rachel knew she was pushing her luck, the murderous glare on Santana’s face was evidence enough, but she continued on. “You never shy away from brutal honesty, so we’d like it if you were upfront with your true motives for joining glee.”
“Oh this should be good.” Mercedes murmured under her breath. Why would she want to be around people that she did not like and thought were jealous of her. She had practically called them idiots for having her re-audition.
Finn shifted in his seat some, a little uncomfortable with all of this. He didn’t want Santana to go off on Rachel or something, she could be pretty mean. He’d seen her at enough parties to know. He looked around, a little worried, seeing is anyone else was concerned about this whole thing.
Rachel was right. Santana had never been shy about being brutally honest and she wasn’t going to start now. “You’re right. I keep it real and don’t for a moment think I’m about to stand up here and confess some hidden love of the arts or some ish like that. It’s simple, troll. You put the idea into Brittany’s head and now it’s important to her. So, it’s important to me. I don’t really care what any of you think of me like at all.” Her eyes flickered to Artie and then back to the rest. “But I care what she thinks and I can promise that if I’m not there with her everyday I’ll probably go out of my way to make all of your lives even more terrible than I already do. So, this would probably be in the best interest of all of us.” She shrugged. There was no reason not to be up front.
Rachel stared at Santana for a second, before turning to face the rest of the club. Santana’s reasoning hadn’t come as any sort of shock - it had been the only way she’d managed to convince Brittany to even audition. She was pleased that Santana had done exactly as she’d requested, although her insults could have been toned down a little bit. Perhaps to non-existence, but hopefully, with extended exposure to glee club, that would happen. She looked around the group. “Shall we put it to a vote?” She asked with an imploring look. Before anyone could reply, she continued on. “Raise your hand if you vote Santana in.”
Mercedes gave quick glances to everyone herself. There were six of them. Worst case scenario was that it came down to a 3-3 tie, and then they’d have to get Schue to split the tie, and he would undoubtedly vote however Rachel did. They needed members if they were going to compete, and the girl could sing. Brittany was in, but for how long if Santana didn’t come with her? She let out a breath that ruffled the ends of her bangs and then raised her hand.
Finn’s hand flew up. Yeah, she was a bitch, but she could so sing and she was super hot. So, yeah, he really wanted her in the group. He grinned at Santana, not shy at all about how excited he was to have her in the club. He looked over at Rachel, his voice lowering to talk to her. “Don’t forget though, we said no bullying. This is supposed to be a welcoming place.”
Rachel placed a comforting hand on Finn’s shoulder. “I know, Finn,” she whispered back. “I’ve got Mr. Schue on it,” she said, hoping that would assuage his fears, even though she herself wouldn’t put much stock in their teacher’s ability to keep students in line. “And... I’ll have a discussion with her about it.” She smiled at Finn as she squeezed his shoulder, her thumb rubbing his skin through his shirt.
Tina kept her arms crossed but she tried to leave her face neutral. She glanced over at Artie, there was no way she was voting until she saw what he was doing. After all, she’d told him she’d support him. That being said, if he voted yes, she probably would too. As much as she hated that the audition had gone so well, attitude aside, it had. Santana was really talented and glee club really did need more members.
Artie sighed, defeated, waving a hand as if brushing the vote away. He could see how the vote was going anyways. Three yes’s and he assumed Kurt was the fourth from his comments the other day. Outvoted. Could he abstain? “I abstain,” he finally replied, knowing his vote wasn’t going to matter, nor would Tina’s.
Santana’s eyes hardened when she heard Artie’s comment. Like seriously, when was he going to get the fuck over this? They hadn’t been friends in like three years or something. You’d think he’d just let it go. Whatever. It’s not like she’d done anything to him outside of not being his friend anymore and pretty much just ignoring his existence. It’s not like she’d actually teased him or something, but the way he acted you’d think she’d like killed his family. Whatever. It was her rep on the line, not his. And if she could get over having to pretend that it wasn’t killing her to be caught hanging out with these losers, then he could shut the fuck up about his issues with her.
Kurt sighed. “Yes.” He raised a hand as if to brush her off and get this over with. He avoided eye contact with anyone and tried to seem nonchalant. He was actually worried.. He knew he had star potential. And even if Rachel was talented as well, though her wardrobe was no good, Santana was in a completely different song category than he was and it was hard to compare. Which was part of why he was worried in the first place. He had to think this over and come up someone with something along the lines of a strategy.
No matter what she voted now, it wouldn’t make a difference. Part of her still wanted to vote no just so that Artie knew that she had his back. Then again, if Santana was going to join glee club anyway did Tina really want to piss her off by voting no? Tina sighed and glanced apologetically at Artie before reluctantly raising her hand.
Artie shot Tina a look. Yeah, it didn’t matter since it was already 4 in favor of Santana, but still. It was the principle of the matter.
Tina bit her lip and looked away from Artie. Clearly he thought she’d made the wrong choice and seeing the look he gave her immediately made her feel bad. She considered lowering her arm but she figured the damage was already done, she’d just have to talk to him later.
Rachel grinned, happy to have boosted their numbers by one more - even if it was Santana Lopez. “Well, that settles it,” she announced before turning to Santana. “Congratulations and welcome to Glee Club. You and I have a few issues to iron out, but you may begin attending meetings beginning this Thursday at three thirty. I’d prefer it if you weren’t late and that you come thoroughly prepared.” Her hand reached out to pat Santana’s tanned arm in congratulations, but she froze before her hand reached it’s final destination. Her grin wobbled and she quickly retracted her hovering arm, offering the slightly taller girl a small nod instead. She really hoped they’d made the right decision.
When: Tuesday, 7th February
Where: WMHS Choir Room
What: Re-Audition
Rachel clapped her hands together and quickly drew the attention of the other glee club members. She caught Santana rolling her eyes off to the side, but ignored her. This was her club and she would run it how she saw fit. “When you’re all quite ready,” she called out over the top of the scraping of chairs and conversation. She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot as a few seconds ticked by. “Now,” she began again, her voice louder than before. “Santana has been waiting... somewhat patiently, to re-audition and I’d really rather we hurry this along as I have a some song selections to discuss with you all afterwards.”
Mercedes was just sitting in her chair with her arms crossed, a slightly annoyed look on her face. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about this whole re-audition thing that was happening. Not because she had anything against this Santana girl, granted, she was a Cheerio and given the stank face she was giving right now, she did not want to be here. She had no idea why on earth she was auditioning to begin with really, but whatever. She was just going to end up swaying in the background like the rest of the Pips if Rachel had her way.
Tina didn’t like Santana on principle. She didn’t really know anything about the other girl other than that she was a Cheerio but Artie had recently told her about how he and Santana used to friends and how she had ditched him. Artie had also told her that Santana being in the group would make him miserable. Of course, Artie was too good of a person to just say Santana couldn’t be in the group out of spite. Tina on the other hand, didn’t have any problem voting no for no other reason than she didn’t like people who messed with her friends. She crossed her arms and waited for this audition to begin, secretly hoping that it would go terribly.
Finn was leaning back some in his seat, watching the others talk it over. He had no idea why Santana was having to audition again, her first one was pretty good as far as he could tell. But Rachel was like, intense about it. And he had no desire to argue with her when she was like that. She would get those crazy eyes and he was kinda scared of her when she was like that. Anyway, he kinda hoped Santana got in. She was hot.
Kurt didn´t really get why Santana had to audition again, either. He felt like she had been pretty talented the first time, and more or less just thought that it was because Rachel felt the need to make a big deal out of it and wanted to be in control. He disliked Rachel more than Santana, actually, so her becoming a part of glee club wasn´t really that big a deal to him. She was good, and that was what mattered. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest and rested his chin on one knuckle, listening.
Artie frowned, he didn’t want Santana in. That said, he wasn’t sure he was going to say anything about it. She had talent, he knew that. His personal issues with her were also, well, personal. It wouldn’t be right to oppose her because she had been mean to him years and years ago. That would be selfish. At least, that was what he was telling himself. He wanted to be selfish.
Rachel pressed her lips together and gave the group before a her a brief nod. “Great,” she praised her teammates before looking over at Santana. “Please provide Brad with the sheet music, state your name and audition piece and we’ll begin.” Rachel offered a small smile before adding, “again.” She quickly took her seat in the middle of the front row and turned her attention to Santana.
Santana rolled her eyes and walked over to the piano. She handed over the sheet music to the old white guy with the glasses and moved back to the middle of the room. “If none of you know my name by now, then I’m going to assume you live under a fucking rock or something. But since apparently some of you think that I needed to re-audition and I’m assuming this is because you’re either jealous or don’t have ears that work...I don’t know which because I honestly have never looked some of you in the eye before today, but here I am. And I’m about to lay the smack down on this song. You’re welcome in advance for the eargasm you’re about to receive.”
She cleared her throat and listened as the piano started and he played the little intro. She let her eyes close and took a breath. She wasn’t feeling nervous or anything. She just needed a moment to clear her head. She was mostly annoyed at having to do this again, but if any of them were going to call her talent into question, well, they were asking for it. She heard her cue and opened her mouth. “I keep on fallin...in...and out of love...with you...”
Mercedes facial expression didn’t change. She wasn’t dumb by a long shot, she had heard the Latina sing the first time, and she was definitely carrying that song then. Having her sing completely by herself was only going to make Rachel squirm she was sure. That attitude though was unnecessary, what was it with pretty girls feeling the need to be bitches to people? Except Tina. Thank goodness for that small miracle at least.
She discreetly looked over at Rachel to see how she was handling this new development. She felt she had no competition when it came to the other current members. Tina was still pretty shy and well, she was herself. Mr. Schue would rather light his flammable hair on fire than let the curvy black girl sing up front. So that left everything all perfect for Berry and Finn. Things might get interesting now though.
Wow. Santana was... good. Sitting up fully, Finn leaned in some, his full focus on the Cheerio. He remembered her singing with Brittany before, and well... the blonde was just kinda okay. So, he hadn’t really payed a ton of attention. But wow... without Brittany with her, Santana was really shinning. A small smile curved his lips and he nodded along a little. Yeah, they needed this girl for glee club. Like, now. Badly. He wondered if he could like, sing lead with her sometime.
Kurt listened in on Santana’s singing. She was good. He had heard her singing before, and he didn´t doubt that she had talent. And it actually worried him a little bit this time.. Maybe she COULD hog his spotlight. He stared at her as that thought crossed his mind. Oh god no... He already had to compete with Rachel. Now this too!
Geez. Why did she have to be so good? Tina crossed her arms tighter, frowning a bit. It was kind of hard to vote no when Santana sounded like that. Her attitude was appalling though and Tina couldn’t help but wonder how badly Santana would clash with Rachel if she joined. Tina glanced over at Artie, trying to gauge his reaction.
Artie was doing his best not to have any expression. He couldn’t deny Santana was good and should be in the glee club. He just....didn’t have to like it. Maybe there would be no reason at all for them to interact despite it all? That was unlikely and he knew that. Sighing, he knew how he was going to vote.
Rachel schooled her features, not wanting to let the others know how proud she was of her efforts to make Santana rise to the occasion. In Rachel’s experience, bullies always seemed to get what they wanted - not to say that life wasn’t probably difficult for them, their hostility most likely originated from some deep-seeded trauma or emotions they were unable to express in a healthy and constructive manner. Rachel just felt that Santana probably had little she had to work for. She honestly believed that Santana had taken the easy route in the first audition and Rachel needed only the best in her club if they were going to win. And that meant having members who were willing to push themselves further, that craved going that extra mile. Maybe there was still some hope for Santana, yet.
As Santana finished, she grinned smugly and crossed her arms. “Was that good enough, Berry or do I need to bust out something else?” If Rachel asked her to sing something else, Santana was going to call bullshit on that. She’d been the best she’d been in a long time and for a moment there, she’d just closed her eyes and completely forgotten she was auditioning for people unworthy of her time. She’d never been what she considered a “singer.” She used to joke around with Artie when they were little or sing in the car with her mom or Quinn and Brittany, but she didn’t want this as a career or anything. But this was kind of fun.
Rachel was impressed, which was a feat in itself. There were some issues with Santana’s breathing, but she would offer the girl advice at a later date. She pushed herself up off her chair and stood in front of Santana. “That was what I was looking for in your first audition,” she said, with a smile, her head slowly nodding along. “There are a few things that could do with a little tweaking, but I just have one last question for you.” Rachel knew she was pushing her luck, the murderous glare on Santana’s face was evidence enough, but she continued on. “You never shy away from brutal honesty, so we’d like it if you were upfront with your true motives for joining glee.”
“Oh this should be good.” Mercedes murmured under her breath. Why would she want to be around people that she did not like and thought were jealous of her. She had practically called them idiots for having her re-audition.
Finn shifted in his seat some, a little uncomfortable with all of this. He didn’t want Santana to go off on Rachel or something, she could be pretty mean. He’d seen her at enough parties to know. He looked around, a little worried, seeing is anyone else was concerned about this whole thing.
Rachel was right. Santana had never been shy about being brutally honest and she wasn’t going to start now. “You’re right. I keep it real and don’t for a moment think I’m about to stand up here and confess some hidden love of the arts or some ish like that. It’s simple, troll. You put the idea into Brittany’s head and now it’s important to her. So, it’s important to me. I don’t really care what any of you think of me like at all.” Her eyes flickered to Artie and then back to the rest. “But I care what she thinks and I can promise that if I’m not there with her everyday I’ll probably go out of my way to make all of your lives even more terrible than I already do. So, this would probably be in the best interest of all of us.” She shrugged. There was no reason not to be up front.
Rachel stared at Santana for a second, before turning to face the rest of the club. Santana’s reasoning hadn’t come as any sort of shock - it had been the only way she’d managed to convince Brittany to even audition. She was pleased that Santana had done exactly as she’d requested, although her insults could have been toned down a little bit. Perhaps to non-existence, but hopefully, with extended exposure to glee club, that would happen. She looked around the group. “Shall we put it to a vote?” She asked with an imploring look. Before anyone could reply, she continued on. “Raise your hand if you vote Santana in.”
Mercedes gave quick glances to everyone herself. There were six of them. Worst case scenario was that it came down to a 3-3 tie, and then they’d have to get Schue to split the tie, and he would undoubtedly vote however Rachel did. They needed members if they were going to compete, and the girl could sing. Brittany was in, but for how long if Santana didn’t come with her? She let out a breath that ruffled the ends of her bangs and then raised her hand.
Finn’s hand flew up. Yeah, she was a bitch, but she could so sing and she was super hot. So, yeah, he really wanted her in the group. He grinned at Santana, not shy at all about how excited he was to have her in the club. He looked over at Rachel, his voice lowering to talk to her. “Don’t forget though, we said no bullying. This is supposed to be a welcoming place.”
Rachel placed a comforting hand on Finn’s shoulder. “I know, Finn,” she whispered back. “I’ve got Mr. Schue on it,” she said, hoping that would assuage his fears, even though she herself wouldn’t put much stock in their teacher’s ability to keep students in line. “And... I’ll have a discussion with her about it.” She smiled at Finn as she squeezed his shoulder, her thumb rubbing his skin through his shirt.
Tina kept her arms crossed but she tried to leave her face neutral. She glanced over at Artie, there was no way she was voting until she saw what he was doing. After all, she’d told him she’d support him. That being said, if he voted yes, she probably would too. As much as she hated that the audition had gone so well, attitude aside, it had. Santana was really talented and glee club really did need more members.
Artie sighed, defeated, waving a hand as if brushing the vote away. He could see how the vote was going anyways. Three yes’s and he assumed Kurt was the fourth from his comments the other day. Outvoted. Could he abstain? “I abstain,” he finally replied, knowing his vote wasn’t going to matter, nor would Tina’s.
Santana’s eyes hardened when she heard Artie’s comment. Like seriously, when was he going to get the fuck over this? They hadn’t been friends in like three years or something. You’d think he’d just let it go. Whatever. It’s not like she’d done anything to him outside of not being his friend anymore and pretty much just ignoring his existence. It’s not like she’d actually teased him or something, but the way he acted you’d think she’d like killed his family. Whatever. It was her rep on the line, not his. And if she could get over having to pretend that it wasn’t killing her to be caught hanging out with these losers, then he could shut the fuck up about his issues with her.
Kurt sighed. “Yes.” He raised a hand as if to brush her off and get this over with. He avoided eye contact with anyone and tried to seem nonchalant. He was actually worried.. He knew he had star potential. And even if Rachel was talented as well, though her wardrobe was no good, Santana was in a completely different song category than he was and it was hard to compare. Which was part of why he was worried in the first place. He had to think this over and come up someone with something along the lines of a strategy.
No matter what she voted now, it wouldn’t make a difference. Part of her still wanted to vote no just so that Artie knew that she had his back. Then again, if Santana was going to join glee club anyway did Tina really want to piss her off by voting no? Tina sighed and glanced apologetically at Artie before reluctantly raising her hand.
Artie shot Tina a look. Yeah, it didn’t matter since it was already 4 in favor of Santana, but still. It was the principle of the matter.
Tina bit her lip and looked away from Artie. Clearly he thought she’d made the wrong choice and seeing the look he gave her immediately made her feel bad. She considered lowering her arm but she figured the damage was already done, she’d just have to talk to him later.
Rachel grinned, happy to have boosted their numbers by one more - even if it was Santana Lopez. “Well, that settles it,” she announced before turning to Santana. “Congratulations and welcome to Glee Club. You and I have a few issues to iron out, but you may begin attending meetings beginning this Thursday at three thirty. I’d prefer it if you weren’t late and that you come thoroughly prepared.” Her hand reached out to pat Santana’s tanned arm in congratulations, but she froze before her hand reached it’s final destination. Her grin wobbled and she quickly retracted her hovering arm, offering the slightly taller girl a small nod instead. She really hoped they’d made the right decision.