Jess got out of the car. Her dad had driven her to school: William McKinley High School, in Lima, Ohio. Her parents had just moved to Lima and that was her first day of school. She thought that it would be a great day but she was a little nervous. She didn't know anyone there, it was a new place and she was going to arrive there two months after the school year had begun. Jess went in the building and got her class schedule. Nothing interesting that day: math, geography and history. She went to math class. She really paid attention and tried to catch up. At least, it wasn't much different from her old school. When she was walking to her next class, a tall guy with a red football jacket ran into her and made her drop her books. She looked at his back angrily because he didn't even apologized or helped her. Jess thought maybe someone would help her to pick up the books but she was wrong. No one seemed to notice her in that school. Just after she thought that, she felt like there was someone watching her. She looked around but the only people there were passing through the hallway quickly and a group of jocks were talking next to the lockers without looking at her. It was probably her imagination.

In geography, Jess tried to talk to the girl sitting next to her so she could start making friends. The girl had her blonde hair tied back in a pony tail and she was wearing a cheerleader uniform. She ignored Jess and kept on sending texts with her phone. Jess felt sad, she felt invisible there. At lunch time, she sat alone in a big table. She spent the entire lunch time analyzing the groups formed in the cafeteria. They were all divided, and all the cheerleaders and jocks were sitting together. They seemed to be the popular kids. McKinley seemed to be a very stereotypical High School. When she was walking through the hallway and picking up some things from her locker before going home she felt the same sensation again. She felt that someone was looking at her and she could have sworn that she caught a glimpse of two incredibly blue eyes. But again, when she looked back to find those eyes there was nothing. Maybe she was just imagining things. Maybe next day would be better.

The following day Jess went to science class in the morning. An old woman told her to take the free seat at the back of the classroom. There was a guy with dreadlocks in the seat next to hers. He was drawing an accurate caricature of the woman. The teacher paired them off for the science project but Jess wasn't too happy about it. The boy seemed lazy and he had been the whole class distracted and looking through the window. At least, if she had a partner for the project, she would have someone to talk to. After class, she was putting her science books back in her locker.

"Umm… Excuse me." Jess looked at the boy that was talking to her. He was a tall, blonde boy with glasses. He was wearing a cardigan and skinny jeans and he was holding some books in his arms. "That's my locker." he said pointing at the locker under Jess'.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jess said and she took a step back.

"It's ok." the boy said smiling at her. The boy put the books in his locker and took another one. Jess looked at it.

"Do you have English class now? I think you are in my class." Jess said showing to him her identical book.

"Yes. Wow, this is weird. How haven't I seen you before?" he asked while they both walked towards the classroom.

"Oh, I've just moved to Lima. This is my second day."

"And how do you like it so far?" he asked her curious.

"Uuh. It's been terrible." She complained and the boy laughed. "Yesterday I spent the whole day alone and the people I met weren't very nice."

"Well, most people here are not very welcoming. But I'm not like that. Come with me, I'll introduce you to my friend Hannah. My name is Cameron, by the way."

"I'm Jess."

Cameron walked with her into the classroom and he introduced her to his friend. Hannah was a red-haired, smiling girl. The two of them were sitting at the same table and Jess was sitting alone behind them. However, they smiled at her all the time so she wouldn't feel alone. Although most of the time they were paying attention to the teacher they talked a lot in whispers. It was nice to finally meet some nice people. When the class finished Cameron asked her to join them for lunch. They ate and Hannah asked her where was she from and what things did she like to do in her free time. They were very friendly.

"Do you like music?" the boy asked.

"Sure." Jess answered.

"Can you sing?"

"Cameron!" Hannah said with a look of warning.

"What is going on?" Jess asked.

"She's new!" Hannah said to her friend.

"So?" Cameron asked raising his eyebrows. Jess looked at both of them. They seemed to be having a telepathic conversation.

"Okay." Hannah said. "Cameron is asking you that because he wants you to join the glee club."

"What's that?" Jess asked. She had heard about glee clubs before but she wasn't sure what they were exactly.

"Just come with us later. It starts in an hour. You are going to love it. I promise." Hannah told her.

Jess agreed to go. At that moment she wasn't going to reject any opportunity to make more friends. At least, she had made two great friends that day.

After a while, all three were entering what they called the choir room. There was a young man sitting at the piano.

"You're early, guys" the man said.

"Sorry Mr. Schue, but we couldn't wait any longer. Look. We've brought someone." Cameron raised his arm pointing at Jess. The teacher looked interested.

"And you are?"

"I'm Jess Hudson. This is my second day in the school. My parents just moved from Colorado. Cameron and Hannah told me about the glee club."

"Well, that's great! Are you interested in joining in?"

"I guess I can try but I've never sung in front of anybody."

"It's okay. The more, the merrier. It is great that you want to join because we need far more people as soon as possible…" he said with a look of concern at the end.

"What's wrong, Mr. Schue?" Hannah asked.

"I just talked to Principal Figgins. He told me that we have to perform at Sectionals or he's cutting the club."

"What? No! He can't cut the club! We have just started!" Cameron complained with a panic expression.

"I know guys, but after last year he's not willing to keep the club if we don't perform at Sectionals."

"What happened last year?" Jess asked.

Hanna cleared her throat and started to explain it to her.

"Mr. Schuester took over the glee club four years ago. By how he talks about them, they seemed to be pretty good and when most of them were in senior year they won Nationals. NATIONALS." she repeated. "But then last year they still hadn't enough people to compete and when they finally found some they went to Sectionals but they lost. Then, with no competitions, most of the new kids forgot about the glee club. And then Mr. Schue had his baby and he was too busy. So the glee club was completely forgotten in the whole High School. It was a shame; I would have liked to join last year if I had known about it."

"And now we have to find more people to sing at Sectionals or the club is over." Cameron explained angrily.

"How many people do we need? How many are we?" Jess asked. The other three looked at her surprised.

"It's just us." Hannah said. "This year only Cameron and I are in the club. And we have to be twelve to compete. We need nine people! How are we going to get nine people, Mr. Schue?" she asked worried.

"We have to sing in the assembly." he answered. "This Friday is the school assembly. We have to make the best impression in front of the students so they want to join."

"But we are going to be just two people singing. We don't even have a band this year. How are we going to impress anybody?"

"With your voices, Hannah. You and Cameron are wonderful singers."

"Do I sing in the assembly?" Jess asked.

Cameron scratched the back of his head before answering.

"Well, you can sing if you want to… but I wouldn't recommend it. You have just arrived and, for the time being, it's better that people don't know that you are in the glee club. We don't want you to get slushied so soon."


"Yeah, it's kind of a tradition for glee kids" Cameron sighed. "Jocks throw us slushies in the face whenever they want."

"You should tell me who they are and I would tell Mr. Figgins!" the teacher said looking upset.

"And they would beat me up if I told somebody, Mr. Schue. It's okay. As long as it's just slushy… I would never win a fight if they decided to pick on me…" Cameron explained, but Mr. Schue still looked angry.

"Okay. Let's move on. Which song are we going to sing?" Hannah asked.

"I thought we should do a glee club classic. The first group of New Directions loved it: Don't stop believing." Mr. Schue said.

"Oooh… I love that song!" Cameron said. "Hannah and I could sing it as a duet."

"But Mr. Schue, I don't know if I will be able to sing it…"

"Come on, Hannah! You'll be great. You need more self-esteem." The man argued.

"No, Mr. Schue, I have a lot of self-esteem but this week I have a sore throat and I cannot sing very well."

"You'll be great." Mr. Schue repeated smiling at her and giving her confidence.

Jess really liked that place. Mr. Schue talked to them as a friend, like he was one of the group. And they got to sing and do performances. Glee club seemed like a lot of fun. The only problem was that it wasn't cool in the school and popular kids picked on them. But that had never been a problem to Jess. She had nothing to do with popular kids.

When glee club finished they were walking to the parking lot. Cameron and Hannah were telling her more things about glee club and Jess listened to every little thing with a wide smile on her face. Two cheerios passed next to them.

"Hey, Han. Coming from glee club?" said the one cheerio that was Latina. "It's good for you to be in glee, right? That way you can spend some time alone with that weirdo, nerdy guy you like, huh?" the girl said and then started laughing.

Hannah blushed and Cameron frowned at the cheerios.

"Let's go, Emily." The red-haired cheerio said, pulling the other girl of her arm.

Jess looked at Hannah, who was still blushing and looked uncomfortable.

"Is this normal?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, they do it all the time, mainly cheerios and jocks." Cameron answered.

"Well, I don't like it. This time I was just watching but if they say anything else to any of you, I am not going to keep my mouth shot." Jess explained.

"Don't worry. We're used to it. Do you want a ride?" Cameron asked when they arrived to his car. "Get in! I'll drive you two home."

Hannah and Jess got in the car and Cameron asked her friend to rap something for Jess. Cameron started beatboxing and Hannah began to rap Ice, Ice baby. It was awesome. Jess had no idea Hannah could do that and she seemed much more confident. Jess arrived home. It had been a much better day than her first day. She was now a member of the glee club.

It was the day of the assembly. Jess was so nervous. She wasn't even going to sing but she was nervous because of her friends and because of the club. However, other things were on her mind at that moment. Jess was in the school library looking for information for her science project. The guy she was paired with, Samuel, hadn't answered any of her calls. He didn't show up at class and Jess had decided to start their project by herself. She wasn't going to let his attitude result into a failed project. So there she was, before the assembly, reading a science book looking for information. The place was empty except for a brunette girl sitting behind a big table. She seemed very concentrated in her English book. Jess finished with her book and was crossing the hallways towards the gym. They were going to sing there.

"Excuse me, dwarf! But this is not elementary school. I think you are in the wrong place." Some jocks told to a really short boy. The boy rolled his eyes and ignored them, but Jess looked at the jocks angrily. A really tall, ugly guy was the one that had spoken. Jess noticed there was a jock with incredibly blue eyes next to him, just like the eyes she sometimes thought were looking at her. Jess bit her tongue because she was late and she hadn't time to start a fight. Jess entered the gym. Everyone was taking seats. She sat in the front row next to Mr. Schue.

"So, how are they?" Jess asked.

"Nervous." the teacher said. "They have never sung in front of the school before. Hannah is having a little trouble with her throat, but I hope she will do fine. We really need people. Sectionals are just weeks away."

Jess nodded in silence. Even Mr. Schuester seemed nervous. He was really involved in the glee club. He had to like it a lot. The lights turned off and Mr. Schue approached the microphone. Jess heard some giggles and saw the Latina and the red-haired cheerios sat no far behind them.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Mr. Schuester as you know and I'm the director of the glee club. A year ago we won Nationals in L.A. and this year we need more people to get the glee club on top again. We may be less people this year but we're still capable of singing wonderful music. Let my friends show you what they've got!" Mr. Schuester said. He picked up the microphone and Jess could hear a blonde woman in a jogging suit say something about his hair. Mr. Schue sat back and the lights of the improvised stage went on.

Cameron and Hannah were standing looking at each other. The music of Don't stop believing started playing.

Cameron: "Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world" "She took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

Hannah: "Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit" "He took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

Jess watched them worried. They sounded amazing but people in the audience seemed bored. Hannah and Cameron started walking like they had practiced in the choreography.

Hannah: "A singer in a smokey room" "A smell of wine and cheap perfuu—uume"

Hannah could not reach the last note because of her sore throat and people started laughing. Jess heard the giggles of that Emily girl and saw Cameron getting nervous.

Cameron: "For a smile they can share the night" "It goes on and on and on and on"

Hannah and Cameron were spinning at this last part but at the end Cameron's foot got stuck with Hannah's and Cameron tripped, making everybody laugh in the audience. That made Cameron blush and get more nervous.

Hannah and Cameron: "Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard" "Their shadows searching in the night"

They sang together and did all the choreography they had rehearsed, but Cameron was so nervous he didn't dare to do big movements and his dancing looked ridiculous. Jess could hear more and more laughter and people whispered offensive comments.

"SHUT UP!" a jock shouted.

"YOU SUCK!" said another one.

Hannah and Cameron: "Streetlights people, living just to find emotion"

Cameron (together): "Hiding, somewhere in the niiiiiiiiiiiiiight!"

Hannah (together): "Hiding, somewhere in the niii- (coughs)"

Students started booing and Hannah and Cameron looked at each other. Jess wasn't yet a part of their telepathic conversations but she knew they just wanted to run out of there. She looked at Mr. Schue who was extremely pale. The cheerios kept laughing and people started to yell at Cameron and Hannah, who had stopped singing and were just standing there with panic and watery eyes. She had to do something. If they didn't get enough members the club was over. Jess jumped off her seat and grabbed the mic and the music remote. She got on the stage and saw how her friends were asking her for help with their eyes. Jess tried to not look at them. She felt guilty about what she was going to do but it was the only way. Jess grabbed the mic.

"Wow!" she said smiling. People lowered their voices enough so Jess could be heard. "I thought those glee kids could sing!" Everybody in the audience laughed. "It seems I was mistaken…" Jess couldn't look at her friends but she was sure they were hurt. "And that song? Could someone tell these boys we also have music in this century?" People laughed again and Jess saw Mr. Schue frowned. "Has anybody listened to the radio lately?" Jess adjusted a little bit the mic while people kept laughing. "Let's try something a bit more modern, ok? Let's get the show on the road!"

Jess: "She take my moneeeeeeyyy, well I'm in neeeeed"

"Yeaaaah, she's a triflin' friend indeed"

"Oh! She's a gold digger way over tiiiiiime"

"That digs on me…"

Everybody went silent. They looked shocked. Jess sang smiling to the audience. She had a beautiful voice. Jess finished her part and lead Hannah to the mic. She stood next to Cameron and winked at him, making him smile. Jess pressed a button on the remote and the music started playing.

Cameron and Jess: "She give me money…"

Hannah: "Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger"

Cameron and Jess: "When I'm in need…"

Hannah: "But she ain't messin' wit no broke, broke"

Jess and Cameron started doing an improvised dance while they were singing the chorus. Hannah sounded so great rapping. She sounded confident and with attitude. Hannah kept on rapping the whole song while Cameron and Jess were singing in the back the no-rapped parts of the song. Hannah grabbed the mic and started moving through the stage and she did even a little dancing. Jess couldn't help smiling. Everything was going perfectly. The crowd was still silent. They haven't expected that. The cheerios' mouths hang open and Jess was sure that a lot of the students actually liked that song. Mr. Schuester seemed happy and Jess saw the jock with the blue eyes smiling. It was perfect. Now Hannah was shocking everybody with her rap. Jess knew she could do so much better with a rap than with a song with high parts she couldn't reach so well that day. Everything was going as planned. Hannah, Cameron and Jess finished the song and got off the stage. Jess heard a little clapping from the teachers in the audience but she and her friends ran to the next room.

"I'm so sorry about what I said, I didn't mean any…"

"Are you kidding me?" Cameron shouted. "You saved us! You made it look like all of that was on purpose. Like doing Don't stop believing so bad was planned."

Hannah ran and gave Jess a tight hug.

"Oh my God!" the girl said. "I thought they were going to kill us! And then you came to the stage… and then I was: Is she serious?... and then the rapping… And everybody's faces…"

Cameron laughed nervously putting his glasses on the right place.

"Oh my God, Jess! Thank you so much!" Hannah said excited. "We killed it! And you, Jess. You sounded amazing! That was really good. I think now more people are going to join the club. This is awesome!"


Ok. That was the first chapter. I hope you've liked it and you keep on reading. More characters will appear in the next one.


(P.S.:I suddenly noticed something about Jess. I chose Jess' last name to be Hudson by chance. She has no relation to Finn Hudson XDDD. Maybe I should have put a little more thought into that and found another surname that wouldn't create confussion. XP)