A week later, they finally got the announcement that sports team and club member lists had been posted. Blaine, Anita, and Rose all ran down to the main office, where they were posted, and quickly scanned for the list they were looking for. When they all found them, they practically screamed with joy, and hugged each other, as Anita's soon-to-be basketball coach came out and saw them.

"I take it you're happy about the results?" she asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah, but I don't get it! I thought I stunk!" Anita responded. She brushed her red hair out of her face as she started to calm herself down.

"You weren't perfect. But you didn't stink," the coach explained. "We all have our moments where we slip up. 90% of the tryout went superbly!"

Anita broke into a wide grin when she heard her say this. She had a second chance! As her coach walked away, she quickly went over to her friends and high-fived them. Just then, a taller girl with smoky quartz-like skin brushed past them. She went over to scan the casting list that Blaine had just read.

"Kat Cruz!" Blaine recognized her pretty quickly. "What part did you get?"

Kat gave an angry sigh in response. "The dang ensemble!"

"No way! I got that, too! It's really not so bad," he quickly added upon sensing her tone. "We'll have a part in every number, get a ton of free time, won't have to worry about lines, and..."

"We'll never get on stage?" she responded with a scoff.

"I was gonna say, 'have less stressful costume changes,'" Blaine clarified.

"Whatever. It's not like you had to go from Grizabella last spring to a background character. You don't understand the frustration! You've never been in the spotlight!"

Without even giving Blaine another word, Kat stormed off. As she did though, Blaine got another look at the cast list. As usually happened, Melinda Williams's name was at the top, as Sophie Sheridan. What caught Blaine's eye was that, next to his own name under "Dance Captains," was Kat's name.

"Background my foot!" Blaine said as a response. "What's up with her? She has the role I'd kill to play!"

"Well, you are playing it," Anita pointed out.

"She's right," Rose agreed. She placed her hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Don't worry about what some girl has to say about your role. You busted your behind for it and you deserve to feel proud!"

"Yeah!" Anita added. "If I knew the show better, this is probably where I'd sing to try to cheer you up."

Blaine giggled. "Yeah. You'd be butchering 'Dancing Queen' and I wouldn't be able to tell if it was intentional or not."

Rose giggled alongside him. Anita feigned offense. "Alright, Mr. Musical Know-It-All, let's see you sing it from memory!"

"Gladly!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke was glad to get out of homeroom. Noah was still trying to convince him to add Blaine to the band, in spite of his objections. He wished he could make him understand how much it meant to him to have a band that was just theirs, but he wasn't gonna be able to. So, when students were let go to see the lists in the main office, Luke left even though he didn't sign up for a club or sport.

When he reached the main office, three other students were already there: A redhead with gypsum skin and a black t-shirt with the words "We Are The Storm" printed on it; a girl with long and coily black hair, sard skin, and a dark green tank top; and a boy with similarly sard-colored skin, short brown hair, and a blue t-shirt that read "I Conquered It's a Small World."

Luke settled himself towards a nearby windowsill. He expected a crowd, but that didn't mean he wanted to be too far into it in that moment.

And that was when he heard the singing.

"You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life..."

Wow, he thought, have I been enrolled in a performing arts school without knowing it? He chuckled softly at his own joke, but it was true that there seemed to be quite a few talented kids at his school. He decided to make his way over to the group, just to see if there were any details about the play. It was something he would've liked to see.

"Excuse me?" The boy seemed to take notice of this. "Did you audition, too?"

"Oh, no," Luke awkwardly giggled. "I'm just looking to see when it will be. I can see why they cast you, though. You're fantastic!"

"Wow, thanks!" He giggled back, then whispered under his breath, "I'm getting a lot of attention this year, aren't I?"

The two girls seemed to be just as confused as Luke was. "What do you mean?" the redhead asked.

"A boy at the audition. Melinda's brother, if you can believe it. He overheard my audition and immediately struck up a conversation with me."

Melinda...wait, isn't that the name of Noah's...

Oh no...

"That's pretty cool, Blaine!" the coily-haired girl responded. "Your hard work is paying off!"

Dang it! Luke thought with an involuntary sigh. Now I have no excuse...

"Yeah, here's the thing..." he started, pausing for a bit before thinking, Oh, just spit it out already! "That boy is my friend, and we want you in our band!"

It took him looking around at the others' stunned expressions to realize he could've let that sink in a bit more.

"I'm sorry, that was a little..."

"I'd love to!" Blaine interjected.

"Wait, what?" He honestly didn't expect this much enthusiasm.

"Yeah! My whole life, I've been waiting for my big musical break, and, now, I've got two! This is so exciting! When can I come over?"

"Oh, umm...this weekend's fine. I can DM you the details. Do you have a Twitter?"

"Yeah, it's BlaineR99!"

"Perfect, I'll keep that in mind!" He walked away with that, putting on a smile as their newest member hugged his friends in celebration. He was nervous - very nervous - but he wondered if it was all in his head. He wondered if this could actually be the start of something good for him and his friend.