A New Start, A New Saint

[Will Schuester]

Will Schuester just stood by his usual spot at the piano beside brad, in awe of this boy's talent. Of course, he knew everyone in glee had something to offer and it surely is no surprise that the younger brother of Vocal Adrenaline lead, Jesse would have a voice similar.

There is no doubt that Chris could really bump up their performance and enhance their overall quality. If one were to really look at all the advantages, Chris would be a great addition to Glee from the talent stand point.

However there is also the possibility of him spying for his older brother, getting close to members in glee just to crush them soon before their next big show. Right now, as it stands, Will just has to take one glance at his kids to know that not one of them is too comfortable with the idea of letting him in.

While they would agree that he is good, the memory of Jesse invading New Direction followed by breaking Rachel's heart so soon after he made her find out that Shelby Corcoran is her biological mother. Such careful scheming and the typical smug attitude could very well carry over onto Chris here, no matter how much he defied it.

As questions were thrown at him regarding Chris's sudden appearance and whether or not we should accept him into our family, Will paced slowly to appear not the least bit frazzled. Regardless of whether or not everyone liked Chris, he made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of moving. Jesse's brother looked at him right in the eye as if to say, you have no choice

Finding his words carefully, Will stood in front of his kids and looked at each one of them as Chris stood with that accomplished look on his face. No way could he tell him to walk out that door but he still had to think of what's best for glee. Times like these, Will wished Emma were here to give him some perspective like she always used to. NO! nows not the time to think about her.

"Chris, that was..impressive. The way you put so much emotion into it while controlling that perfect pitch shows that you have what it takes to be in show choir." However, he wouldn't let the decision ride on his shoulders. "So team, what do you think? Should we accept Chris?"

[Rachel Berry]

"But regardless of what I’m like, my talent speaks for itself and perhaps I should let it do just that.”

Rachel huffed, letting go of Finn's hand as she crossed her arms over her chest, a sign that she was going to be stubborn about this situation. Jesse destroyed her, it took a lot to repair herself again, and by a lot it meant a certain tall guy named Finn Hudson standing by her, and she would not let even his own brother who was claiming that he was not like that to destroy the Glee club again. She kept her head high and looked at Chris St. James, scrutinizing him. Although she would not give him a chance to crush the Glee club, she could not deny though that she was curious about his so-called talent. She wanted to see if he was as good as his brother vocally, but Rachel swore that no matter how good this kid is there was no way she would accept another St. James into the group.

When he started singing though, Rachel tried her best to not let herself be amazed at his voice. She could not even deny it this time though, he was really good. And unlike Jesse, Chris was actually full of heart as he sang the song. That was where they differ, she noted. He had great potentials, and it annoyed her that he was right, he really had talent. But no, she could not let him and his talent fool her, that was exactly how Jesse got her...got them all. Maybe he was not so much different from her brother anyway. All she knew was that Glee club needs to win at Regionals this year, and as the co-captain, she would not let anything or anyone get in their way.

After his performance, Rachel then noticed that the others had arrived -- Brittany, Santana, Quinn, and Mercedes. They were almost complete, and as she looked around, it seemed like they all have similar thoughts, and it was confirmed when Santana and Mercedes not so subtly voiced out their opinion. Ignoring Santana's remarks and rolling her eyes at Brittany's unnecessary comment, Rachel turned her eyes away from Chris and back to Mr. Schuester, who was waiting for the verdict. "Absolutely not," she answered instantly at the teacher's question. "So what if he has great talent and potential, Jesse did the same thing to us." She said, waving her arms dramatically to emphasize her point. Then with raised eyebrows, she turned her eyes on Chris. "How can we be so sure that you are not here to do the same thing your jerk of a brother did to us?" She asked him, her eyes piercing through him, trying to bring out the truth in him.

[Chris St. James]

Chris decided right then and there, the only way to get to these clubbers was to open up perhaps a little bit, they were into emotion were they not? Well, perhaps they could loosen their gears with a little honestly from their newest addition (or soon to be anyway). Deciding to ignore Santana for the moment, he went straight for Artie, eyebrow raised.

“Forgive me, but you say that being a good singer doesn’t make me a good person, how exactly can you judge my character? You’ve met me a whole five minutes and you’ve decided because I’ve got one bad seed as a relative, I have to be pure evil? How judgemental is that? I was under the impression this club was about finding who you were, not being a stereotype and being labelled, so that’s more than a little hypocritical.”

Oh yes, Chris had done his homework, he had looked up this club and their reputation, he feared his name might cause some alarm, so he had needed something as leverage. Eyes gazing at Brittany for a moment, he offered her a slow smile and a gentle nod, letting his eyes linger on her for a moment before he turned his gaze to Mercedes, who had just walked in, eyebrow raised at her comment, slightly amused. “That would be, a person with a name, even if you’ve decided to hate me after literally walking into the room, you could at least acknowledge that I am indeed a human being, not an object.”

He may be trying to make a few friends, but he was also not going to let himself being picked on or bullied and honestly, he’d found the girls comment rather offensive and unnecessary. His eyes gazed back to Mister Schuester, smiling slightly at him; he seemed to be on his side more or less, though he was a little down hearted to hear the club got to decide if he joined or not seeing as that hardly seemed fair. But Mister Schuester had been right, Chris was not going anywhere, whether or not he was going to be voted most popular boy to sing a show tune or not.

Then came Rachel and Chris met her gaze and slowly watched her for a moment before speaking.

“Well for starters, I haven’t spoken to or seen my brother in five years, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try and act like we’re joint at the hip, because after being ripped away from my family and shoved in a boarding school, I really don’t feel you have any right to suggest I have some great, incredible bond with them and would run around as Jesse’s errand boy. I’m not my brother, I will never be my brother, whether you believe me or not.”


The thing that was most bitter about this was that Chris used to have an huge bond with Jesse, five years ago, before he was shoved away from him thanks to his parents and denied access to him. He would love to be talking to Jesse on a daily basis, but after five years of not knowing him, Chris had pushed himself away from Jesse the minute he got the chance to finally see him, too afraid of what could have changed, how Jesse could have changed and from what he’d heard from this school, he had indeed changed.

Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his wavy hair, feeling the faint feel of gel on his fingertips as he looked back at Mister Schuester and then back at the group.

“I’m not even going to go in how stupid the idea is that Vocal Adrenaline would send the brother of the person you screwed you over last time to spy, they are NOT that stupid. Perhaps lacking in any talent that doesn’t involve over the top dance moves, but still – they are not stupid, just based on your reactions so far, it would be a stupid spy choice. Secondly, I have never been a Carmel student in my life, check any school record you want and finally....”

He trailed off and finally spoke up...

“Do you honestly think I’d join a group that spends their time killing Queen classics? Vocal Adrenaline are no Freddie Mercury and every time they try to be, I feel the desire to strangle them all with their overpriced jackets.”

[Sue Sylvester]

Usually Sue found spying through her hidden camera in the choir room very inspiring when it came to scheming but right now she was furious. Her incredibly generous effort to save the glee club last semester was now being completely ignored.


Now engorged with bile and fury, she stormed out of her office and practically ran the 2 corridors to the choir room. Arriving at the door, she slammed it open. "Wilhelmina Schuester! You are a disgrace!" She fumed.

Seeing his shocked face, she continued." Do you remember what I told you or has your hair grown so out of control that it's rooted itself into your brain and has finally began draining your memories just to survive the onslaught of hair wax you apply every five minutes?"

"I swore to you that if you don't get placed at Regionals, your little club would become a bad memory on the grand journey that is my life. Don't worry, you'll be able to watch it in my upcoming biopic film, ' You'll Never Be Better Than Me: The Sue Sylvester Story'. Michelle Pfeiffer
is playing me while Jonah Hill is playing you!"

"So, if you primates want to survive this year, you'll need all the help you can get. So why is it that you are ignoring this kid? He is obviously more talented than the other boys here. Not including my Nationals winning champion, Kurt Hummel of course." She gave Kurt a wink in recognition.

"It's so simple even my 4 month old kitten named Lucifer could do it! So I'll lower it down to laymans terms so you can understand: HIRE. St.JAMES. OR. FACE. UTTER. ANNIHILATION!"

[Santana Lopez]

She was too good for this. Right now Santana could be at home or on a beach somewhere, soaking up the sunshine that was so cruelly denied to her. Damn it, she was losing the tan she had regained once Coach had allowed her privileges back – it had been tough going for a while when they had been stripped from her, but Brittany had managed to calm her down somewhat after the initial shock had passed. She really hated Sylvester sometimes.

In fact, speaking of Brittany, how the heck had she managed to sneak into the room so quietly? Stealth had never exactly been something the blonde possessed in high quantities (hide and seek was always a dangerous risk to take, what with Brittany’s tendency to forget they were playing) and, to be honest, Santana generally knew where her friend was at all hours of the day anyway. It was unusual to see one without the other at school; it had gotten to the point where if one was sick, then the other would often skip school too and attempt to cheer up their friend. It was suspicious, sure, but when had McKinley High ever taken an interest in their students? Santana returned the smile Brittany sent at her easily, the scowl being replaced with an openness she doubted the majority of the club ever imagined her capable of. So what? Santana had a heart after all. She’d make sure they regretted speaking about it though if they ever decided to blab or hold it against her – she’d crush them.

They would always drag themselves to Cheerios practice though – better to feel terrible than suffer the wrath of Sue if they both missed practice. Santana remembered when the coach had dragged a freshmen from where she had been curled up in bed with a cold all the way to school. The more experienced cheerleaders knew that having a cold as an excuse just wouldn’t cut it; you needed to be on death’s door or one of her favourites in order to skip for the day. Thankfully, Santana considered herself one of the latter.

Santana looked on in interest as Rachel voiced a rather strong opinion against the St. James kid, and was now torn in two. One the one hand, Santana had worked hard to keep Glee intact while appearing to follow Coach’s attempts to destroy it, and seeing it taken down by some new boy just wouldn’t sit well with her. Then again…it was so tempting to disagree with everything Rachel said. It was like Sophie’s choice, except she had never actually watched it.

Then again, the new kid (Chris, she had learnt through the subtle art of listening), seemed to be doing a good enough job of sticking up for himself. In fact, he was bordering on tearing the club a new pair while he pointed holes in their arguments, Santana inwardly cheering when Mercedes was taken down a notch or two – if Santana was anything she was possessive, and she had never quite forgiven the other girl for trying to take something she had considered hers, even if she had never truly wanted it. Besides, Brittany seemed to like him (though, when did Brittany not like anyone?) and Santana worked hard to make her friend happy. She wasn’t particularly happy about the ‘cute’ part, but Santana instantly decided those would be thoughts to dwell on another day.

‘Well, I like him’ she announced, placing her feet up on the chair in front of her and sending a quick look of triumph in the general direction of Berry. In the end, her love of tormenting the other girl had won out. ‘He sounds good, he’ll get on Rachel’s nerves and he’s shown he has a pair to defend himself with, which we all know he’s going to need with Glee’s current reputation’, she continued, glancing over the rest of them briefly with her eyes as if they were the reason Glee was so low in popularity. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m still against suddenly bursting into song, but whether he joins or not? I say we need all the help we can get if we want to win, and I like winning – I’m voting yes’. She might as well get this ball rolling; get this pity parade over being deceived last year over and done with.

Her point was only stressed to inconceivable levels when Coach marched in (there’s no other word for it – Coach marched everywhere) and gave her own opinion of the matter, which everybody would end up following out of sheer terror alone. Santana allowed herself a smug smirk as she listened to Sylvester go on, crossing her arms across her chest and looking every bit the satisfied cheerleader as if to say ‘told you so’. Maybe now they would listen to her more often.

[Artie Abrams]

Artie nearly fell out of his chair when Sue Sylvester barged into the room.

Truthfully, what Chris had said about judging people really stung him. Of all people, Artie himself should've been the most willing to accept Chris, even if he was the brother of Jesse St. James. Isn't that what the rest of the club did for him, despite his very obvious physical handicap? And isn't that what had initially destroyed his relationship with Tina, something that nearly killed him after he thought about what he'd said? Artie, shamed of himself, was ready to propose that Chris be allowed in, and was about to apologize profusely.

But then Sue showed up.

Artie's first thought was that he had to catch that Sue Sylvester story movie, just to see if they made Jonah Hill sing. Also, he was very curious as to who would play Rachel if they made that movie. Vanessa Hudgens? Or - even more annoying - Miranda Cosgrove?

Then he really started focusing on her words.

Sue had a point that he could sing. Why she was so worked up about the club getting to Regionals - or how she even knew what was going on - Artie might never figure out, but, even as she subtly insulted him, she hit the nail on the head. He sang. And they couldn't afford to lose any voices. (Which, Artie reasoned, was the only reason Finn was still around. Besides the fact that he and Rachel were joined at the hip.)

"...Coach Sylvester, who's playing Rachel in your life story?" Artie had to ask. He'd inject his opinion later. Like, when she was gone.

[Sue Sylvester]

Turning to the cripple in the wheelchair, Sue addressed him." Well, if you have to know, it's torn between Kristen Stewart and Vanessa Hudgens. God, I hope none of them get it. That Kristen Stewart is a one trick pony. If she played Ms Berry, it'd turn attention away from Michelle and I can't have that. Besides, she a b***h."

Taking a breath, Sue carried on." Now when it comes to Ms Hudgens, I will not allow that vocally insensitive cow to desecrate my life story! I'd be fuming because we all know that with her in it, we'll have the diva pulling one on us and having her boyfriend, one Zac Efron, and the rest of her formr castmates suddenly taking the roles of you kids. Then they'll turn my Biopic into High School Freakin Musical 4!"

[Finn Hudson]

"Mmmm, nougat."

While the rest of New Directions seemed to be up in arms over the arrival of Jesse St. James' little brother and to the outside observer, the pensive look on Finn's face might have been confused for thoughtfulness or concentration. Instead Finn was too busy focused on the leftover pieces of Milky Way candy that were lodged in his teeth, almost completely oblivious to the chaos that seemed to be unfolding around him. After all chaos was something that Finn was getting used to after a summer spent getting used to his new role as Rachel Berry's boyfriend, especially when Rachel had a tendency to overreact just a little bit.

It wasn't until Rachel dropped his hand that Finn snapped to attention and tried to focus on the rabble of voices around him. He opened his mouth to speak, but when he snuck a sidelong glance at Rachel he quickly closed his mouth again, looking down at his shoes. Sure, Finn loved Glee, especially since he didn't suck at it like most of the sports he played, but Mr. Schue didn't exactly have Coach Tanaka's ability to micromanage to team when things started to fall apart.

Finn slowly lifted his gaze from his shoes, flitting his glance to Chris who was still standing at the center of attention, and then slowly leaned over to Rachel, bracing himself. They were the co-captains after all, they were going to have to be the ones to set an example-- a fact he hated each time they were required to actually do something with their titles. "Rach, you know maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea..." Finn paused lowering his voice even further as he wiped his hands on his jeans. "Well, you know-- we need to win this year, so he, well...maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he joined..." Finn's faded out smiled nervously, his fingers now gripping the bottom of his seat, his feet tapping like they usually did when he was anxious. "Also if he screws anything up I promise I'll hold him while you punch." He added with an awkward shrug, running his hand through his hair as he let out a heavy breath.

[Rachel Berry]

Chris' answer was the least thing that Rachel had expected to come out of his mouth. There were a lot of things that she had expected, but she definitely did not expect him to bare his history to all of them as if they were his closest friends. She felt like the worst person in that room and as much as she did not want to admit it, he was right. She was a hypocrite for not accepting him. She knew that almost all of the group, probably all of them except for Finn, are pretty much irritated with her attitude and personality, but for the sake of the club they had accepted her and welcomed her back every single time she diva out of rehearsals, because despite their differences they all have the same goal. Rachel especially, the girl who was slushied every day, should have been the most accepting of them. One thing she had learned from Glee was to not judge anyone before getting to know them.

Rachel was about to speak up again when Ms. Sylvester suddenly burst into the room and proceeded to insult Mr. Schuester's hair and his decisions about Chris as if she was in their room all along. She did not know how the heck the Cheerios coach knew what they were all talking about but then again this is Sue Sylvester, she has her ways. As the coach went on rambling about a biographical film, Rachel looked around the group again awkwardly, stopping at Santana who voted for yes just to insult her, and Artie who suddenly asked who would play her in Ms. Sylvester's movie, then back at the Cheerios coach as she waited for her answer. After hearing her answer, Rachel had to roll her eyes. Kristen Stewart? Vanessa Hudgens? Neither are even good enough to play her.

She was about to voice her opinion on the matter when Finn suddenly brought her back to the subject matter. Being co-captains has its ups and downs on their relationship. The positive thing about it was that they were required to work together, which means spending more time with each other even if it was for Glee. The negative part is when they do not have the same opinions. Having Finn as co-captain though was good for the team, because he has the ability to make her listen to him, like that day. Finn was right, they do need to win and Chris would be a big help, so she had made up her mind. After giving her boyfriend a small but meaningful smile and nodding at Mr. Schuester and Ms. Sylvester, she stood up and walked over to Chris. "Chris St. James," she said his name with authority, "as the co-captain of this group, I welcome you to New Directions." She then offered her hand for him to shake, giving him a small smile as well.

[Will Schuester]

Will Schuester smiled in a way that said 'I knew they would all come around to Chris.' One by one, the glee coach noticed how none of them now seemed to refuse the St.James sibling's acceptance. However there remained the problem of the cheerio coach. The one woman he dreamed of crushing over and over. Sue Sylvester.

Maybe Will should have felt startled that she just stormed in as though she owned the school. However, this is just the way she works. Sue likes to insult his hair, try to get into his head, annihilate Glee. Its like every episode of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. They always butt heads but in the end, both are still standing. This is how it will always be with them. Well, that is if Glee Club manages to win Regionals, which they will.

Instead of running his mouth, trying to win the last word with Sue, who likes to see him getting riled up, Will tried a new approach. It is a new year after all and that means him coming up with new ways to outsmart, outwit and beat Sue at her own game. He wouldn't stoop to her level. No, he would rise above. Will simply looked over his shoulder, smirked and looked back at his kids, ignoring her as she were a mere fly on the wall. It would take a little more than a few fired up words to get to him.

"So it's settled. Chris, welcome to New Directions and welcome to this school. As of now, this is your family. If you need anything, we will be here for you." Will walked up to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back and then pointed him toward a seat. "Let's begin! We can't afford to waste time now."

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[Sue Sylvester]

"Well now, was that so bad William?" Sue smiled. "I know agreeing with me gives you intensely painful bowel movements but sometimes you have to admit, Sue Sylvester knows what she's talking about!"

Turning to the rest of the room, Sue spoke to the club, "Ok, listen up you wannabe stars, since this a new start for you lot and you're all hungry for your shot to be like yours truly in the fame game, I'll let you be first to know..."

"One of my cheerios, namely some white girl I can't be bothered to remember, has decided to do a Quinn Fabray and get herself preggers! So now that I've kicked her off the squard, we have an opening! And I, your nationals winning coach, am holding tryouts! So I expect ALL of you to be there!"

Sue turned around and called behind her," If you have any questions, I can't be bothered by them so ask Santana or Kurt!"

[Noah "Puck" Puckerman]

"I know agreeing with me gives you intensely painful bowel movements but sometimes you have to admit, Sue Sylvester knows what she's talking about!"

As the blonde-haired demon from hell spewed insults as his coach in third-person, Puck couldn't help but fix his gaze at the newest edition of New Direction. The kid was a spitting image of Jesse; even if he decided to keep his surname a secret, he still would have emitted that feeling of familiarity to Puck. Yes, he may have been failing a few subjects because of his failure to pay attention, but this was not some silly math course. This was the real world.

And in the real world, Jews, no matter how little they paid attention to the actual culture, had an this intuition. Anyone who hurts another Jew, is bound for the worst of all punishments. Of course, this meant a typical trip to the dumpster. Hey, he was fresh meat anyway, he should at least begin to tour the school a little bit.

Just because Puck was having a few change of hearts lately did not completely exempt him from... ya know. Wanting to dole it out on some punk. The least he could do was spy on Jesse for them. Yes... Puck sat up, his usual blank stare momentarily replaced with a look that screamed brilliance. Of course, he hastily returned back to nonchalant look. The girls went crazy for that crap. Why, who knew? It was like... they were looking for that guy who cared the least about them.

Puck began to vocalize his thoughts. "Guys, I know how the Jesse-clone can---" Wait a minute. Realization hit Puck like a 160-pound German Shepard. There was no way that this kid was just going to do whatever they wanted after being here a total of two minutes. He'd have to be completely retarded. Puck stopped mid-sentence and cleared his throat. "... he can prove himself by doing a little initiation. Ya know.... like, cleaning the choir room. Or something." Puck cleared his throat again, and shifted his eyes. Impromtu was not his hottest skill. Anyway. No way Mr. Schuester would like spying on another team. He be all, "Puck, I know you're not serious. That goes against morals. Blah, blah, blah... you should really have more consideration.... my hot ex-wife--"

Puck eyed Chris once more. Perhaps his famous glare would make him piss his pants. Either way, his smolder was losing its mojo. Last year he had been making the glee-kids human slushies and now? He was hanging out for them, sticking up for them, and even initiating them. He figured he'd practice on the chess team, who were infinitely below them. They were such dorks. They had sweater-vests for God's sakes.Who even invented the sweater-vest?

"Oh, no! I want to wear a sweater, but only my torso feels cold! My arms are toasting up!"
"Look, I cut out the sleeves of this argyle crap my arthritic grandmother crocheted me. It's so cool!"

Should Puck be worried that he knew what argyle was? No, it was something he picked up from QVC. Hey, he couldn't help it if the hosts were complete MILFs. Just like he couldn't help it if he was going to get what he wanted out of Chris. They were going to win this year regardless of the method.