DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy :)

A/N: Welcome to my new story, and my very first AU! You will see how AU it actually is when you start reading it, but I think you should all still enjoy the idea. Let me know what you think.

Casting Call

Chapter One: Open Auditions

Finn Hudson fiddled with the web-cam on his computer, willing it to sit correctly on his monitor so it wouldn't shake. He cursed his trembling fingers, and wondered if this was a sign that he should give up on this altogether.

Miraculously, the web-camera finally hooked on to the top of the monitor at the angle Finn needed to record his drum set. This was it. All he had to do was film himself and he could stop feeling like such a fool.

He pressed the record button and stuttered out a little speech introducing himself. "Hey, my name is Finn Hudson and I'm 25 years old. I'm from Lima, Ohio, and I think I have what it takes to be on your show." He walked over to his drum kit, and proceeded to show off his talents. When he got up to stop the recording of the video, he re-watched it about 10 times before he attached it to an email, and sent it in.

He felt more than a little foolish. He wasn't even sure why he was getting his hopes up about all of this; he was more than positive it wouldn't amount to anything. But a chance like this. . .it was the opportunity of a lifetime that he just couldn't pass up.

Finn Hudson was your average run-of-the-mill, all-American guy. He was born and raised in the Midwest with only one set goal: to get the hell out of Lima before it ate his soul.

He'd had a real chance to get out after High School. He'd had a free ride to Ohio State on a football scholarship that any guy on the team would have killed for. Unfortunately for Finn, he blew out his knee during the play-offs in Senior Year and lost his scholarship. He'd gone to Community College after that, living at home and working odd-jobs to help his mom pay the bills. Now at 25, he could feel his ambitions slipping away through his fingers, and he knew if he waited any longer he would be stuck in Lima forever. Right now he was Assistant Coach for his old high-school gym teacher, Coach Tanaka. He enjoyed the work, but he felt like he was stuck in High School all over again.

That's when he'd seen the commercials. During American Idol for the past few weeks, there had been commercials all over FOX for an open casting call for their new show that was in development. They wanted to find the most musically talented people in America for a new TV show to start airing next year, and there was a Nationwide casting call for TV's next big stars. You had to be between the ages of 16-26 and have musical talents. All you had to do was record a video of yourself and send it in.

Finn was wary at first because of his lack of vocal training. But he sung in the showers enough to know that he had a pretty decent voice. And he could play the drums pretty well, a talent he'd decided to show off in his video. He couldn't dance to save his life, though. Maybe they had non-dancing roles they had to fill? He would do anything if it meant getting out of Lima. He was also worried about his age. He was already 25, and his 26th birthday was coming up fast. He didn't even know if he could pass as a teenager anymore. But he'd taken acting classes at Allen County Community College on a whim and had liked it a lot. He could totally do this if given the opportunity.

All he had to do was wait and pray.

Rachel Berry strutted down the streets of Manhattan with only one goal in mind.

To get to her agent's office and yell at him until her face turned blue!

She couldn't understand what was taking him so long to find her a new job. She was Rachel-freaking-Berry for Christ-sakes! Not some random bum on the street!

It had been almost a month since her last paying acting job, and she was starting to get worried. It had taken her forever to break into the Broadway community and now that she was there, she could barely find a decent job that didn't waste her talents. Sure, her agent was able to get her some pretty good auditions, but what good were they if she was always being cast in the background? Rachel Berry was a star and she wouldn't rest until someone else besides her and her agent thought so!

Okay, so maybe she was being a little bit overly-ambitious, but she couldn't help herself. Living in New York her whole life, she was raised in the glow of the lights of Broadway. She had done everything in her power to perfect her talents until no one could deny her a role on stage, and she'd succeeded a few months ago by snagging the lead in The Phantom of the Opera. She wasn't the original performer for the role, but she had received glowing reviews and she'd been selling seats. When she left the show about six weeks ago, it had been with the hope she'd be able to find bigger, better things.

She should have never left. The well of good roles had run dry in New York.

She felt like she was missing out on something. Even though she had worked her whole life to become a Broadway star, now that she was here she felt like she was wasting her talents. She needed to branch out, maybe try commercials until she found her next big role. . .

She walked into the agency and marched right up to her Agent's office, bursting in without an invitation. The large, round man almost choked on a half of a bagel.

"R-Rachel! I told you not to barge in like that! Look at me, I'm all verklempt! And I got some schmear on my tie!" Herman Katz was a large Jewish man who spoke more Yiddish than English. Rachel liked him, and he was a pretty decent agent, but her emotions were getting the better of her.

"Have you heard anything? From anyone?" She couldn't keep the worry out of her tone and she started to pace around the tiny office while Herman cleaned up the mess he'd made on himself.

"Calm yourself, bubbelah! I have some good news! Very good news!" Rachel ran forward to sit in the seat in front of his large, messy desk.

"What is it? Is it the people from Hair? I know I killed that audition!" She frowned when she saw Herman shake his head.

"No, it's even better. How would you like to fly out to Los Angeles and audition for a role in a new TV show?" His left eyebrow raised in amusement, and Rachel had to resist the urge to lean over and kiss the man. TV? Rachel Berry, the TV star!

"Are you serious? What kind of show is it? Will it be equity?" She'd been trying to get into the Screen Actors Guild but could barely find any equity roles in New York.

"You betcha! I booked your audition for next Monday. It's a high school comedy/musical. I swear, it was like they wrote the part with you in mind." He handed her a thick envelope filled with the excerpts she had to memorize for the audition, and a break-down of each character. "You'll be auditioning for one of the lead roles."

Rachel tore open the envelope and started to read the synopsis of the show and the characters. The title caught her eye, and she blanched when she realized what she was auditioning for. "The new FOX show? The one where they're going around having nobodies send in tapes of themselves?" She hated the idea that some random person would be handed a role when she had been working so hard trying to make it as an actor!

"Oy vey iz mir! Bubbelah, a role is a role! Yes, they are doing the nation-wide casting search, but they are also hiring Equity actors and everyone in-between. This could be the chance of a lifetime. You never know what could happen!"

She frowned severely but continued to read through the paperwork. She opened the script and read the first few pages. She was surprised when the material actually made her laugh. She looked up at Herman skeptically. "And you're saying this show will be a musical? With dance numbers and people bursting into song?"

"Yes. I told you, it's right up your alley. And my baby-faced bubbie can definitely pass for a high schooler. You've got this in the bag. Your flight is Sunday morning. I'll pick you up on the way to the airport."

She couldn't resist, she reached over the giant desk and gave her agent a hug. He had landed her the audition of a lifetime; an actual TV show!

"Thanks Herman, you're a real mentsch!"

Finn felt foolish after spending the last two weeks on pins and needles over his audition tape. He'd spent many a sleepless night thinking about how he should have drummed a different rhythm, or how he should have added more anecdotes in his video. He'd lost all hope after the deadline had come and gone without a word from Hollywood.

Who was he kidding? He was no Tom Cruise. He wasn't going to just get a call from Hollywood and become a celebrity overnight! He had become too wrapped up in the fantasy of escaping Lima for stardom. Things just didn't work out that way.

He had returned to his normal routine and tried in vain to forget about his audition tape. He couldn't help but feel like a disappointed fool. He had gotten his hopes up for nothing. What would he even do on a singing show? He couldn't dance and he could barely sing.

He let himself into his mother's house after a long day at practice. The football team had gotten better since he'd graduated almost seven years ago, and he'd been at practice all day long. Exhausted, he'd immediately walked over to the kitchen to see if there was any left-over food in the fridge. The blinking of the answering machine caught his eye, and he pressed the button while he scrounged through the fridge for sustenance.

"Mrs. Hudson, this is the Lima Public Library, you have about three dollars in late fees to pay off. . ." He laughed at his mom and her penchant for romance novels. His face lit up when he found a day-old container of Chinese food. He dug right into the cold-leftovers without even heating it up.

"Hello, my name is Tabitha Cohen, the secretary of Ryan Murphy, producer and creator of the shows Popular and Nip/Tuck, and I'm calling for Finn Hudson." He stood in his kitchen with cold Lo Mein noodles falling out of his mouth, and he thought his heart had stopped beating. "I am calling in response to your audition tape for our new TV show, Glee." His mouth opened in shock and the cold, half-chewed noodles fell right back into the container. "Ryan and the other producers were really impressed by your audition tape, and they wanted to know if you could be in LA on Monday for a read through." Finn was getting light-headed; he refused to breathe until the message was over. "Please confirm this audition by calling me at (504) 555-0687 before tomorrow afternoon. Thank you, and have a nice night."

Finn spit out whatever food was left in his mouth; he was sure he was going to throw up. He replayed the message back four times, writing down the secretary's number and contemplating its validity. Could this all be a joke? He was positive he hadn't told a soul about his audition tape, not even his mom. There was only one way to find out.

He dialed the long-distance number, and was surprised when a professional-sounding woman picked up the phone.

"Hello, Ryan Murphy's office?"

He stammered a bit to himself, unsure of what to say next. But he collected his wits and tried to not sound like a doofus.

"Hello, my name is Finn Hudson, and I received a phone call from you this afternoon about my audition tape." He could feel it coming, the sore sting of rejection when they realized it had all been a mistake. . .

"Ah, yes Mr. Hudson! Thank you for calling back so soon! Will be be seeing you in LA on Monday?" Her warm and pleasant tone threw Finn completely off-guard, and when he realized what all of this meant, he almost completely lost it right then and there.

"Of course!" Was all he could say without screaming like a pre-pubescent girl at a Justin Beiber concert.

"Excellent. Your read through is at 10 AM sharp, Monday morning. Your hotel accommodations will be covered during the audition process by FOX, but you will need to find your own transportation to LA. You will receive an email with the information about the audition, and some supplemental material for your read-through. Good luck, Mr. Hudson, and we'll see you on Monday."

He hung up the phone in complete and total shock. He couldn't believe this was happening!

He was going to LA to audition for a TV show!

By the next morning, he was already packed and shoved every last possession of his into his tiny Honda civic. He wasn't coming back to Lima. Even if the Glee thing didn't work out, this was his chance. He was sure of it. He couldn't afford a plane ticket, so he was driving all the way to California. His mother had been flabbergasted, but supportive. She bought him an atlas of America, and told him to call her after every state boarder he passed.

By the next night, he was on his way to Los Angeles. He was so happy to be leaving Lima, he thought he could sing all the way to California.

But he needed to pace himself.

He had an audition to prepare for.

The audition of his life.

Salut mes amis!

Do you like it so far? I have so many good ideas for this!

Happy Easter everyone! Or as my atheist friends like to say, "Happy Zombie Jesus Day"

Until Next Time. . .*sings* Don't Stop. . .Reviewing!

Merci Mille Fois

The Minsk