Life: Starring Jesse

Moving In // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

Ever since arriving at Sylvester, nothing had gone according to Rachel’s plans. She hadn’t planned on ever accepting a junior’s offer, but the week wasn’t even over and she had just accepted an offer from Jesse St. James. After doing so, she promptly reported her acceptance to administration. They in turn informed Rachel that her permanent housing would be in Jesse’s suite. Our suite, Rachel thought, but was guessing the Housing Secretary couldn’t care less what Rachel thought. Rachel felt a flurry of internal panic upon learning that not-so-little detail, but jotted down the room number and headed back to her temporary housing to start gathering her things. Her fathers would adamantly protest her living quarters being so close and connected to those of a boy. Rachel herself wasn’t entirely sure of the idea, but didn’t miss the fact that such living conditions would only offer her a higher standard of safety than she initially expected. And, it would allow for even more time for her to spend with Jesse. She would truly have his attention quite often.

With those thoughts more settled in her head, Rachel picked a few suitcases for her first trip to the suite - she would need to take several trips as she had had her fathers to help her initially move in - and made way to the dorm building. Once she found the room number she had been given, Rachel knocked on the door. Only then did she realise she was never given a key to the suite. That was strange, and Rachel wondered if the Housing Secretary simply forgot to give her one, or if Jesse already had her key.

When he returned to his room after Rachel’s acceptance, Jesse emailed the school administration to let them know that he’d made Rachel an offer. While waiting for a reply, he retrieved the key to the adjoining room that would belong to her. He’d been in there only once since moving out of his old accommodation and into this senior suite. Now he unlocked the door adjoining the shared bathroom, to make sure the room was still in order. Sure enough, it looked much the same as his, albeit stark and empty. Jesse had only half-unpacked his own belongings, but it was amazing what difference a few posters and photographs made.

Jesse relocked the door and slipped the key into his pocket. He’d had the key copied, since he was planning to give Rachel a key to her door but didn’t want her to have the power to lock him out. Back at his computer screen, there was an unread email from the school admin. As well as confirming Rachel’s acceptance of his offer, the secretary had emailed him her school timetable, which he printed out and pinned up on his bulletin board, which also served as a calendar. He would need to clear some space on it if he was going to fit all Rachel’s schedules and commitments on there as well as his own. Jesse began to take down some of last years additions, old flyers and outdated rehearsal schedules, until the knock on the door interrupted him.

“Good afternoon, Rachel,” he greeted her, then glanced past her at the darkening sky. “Or evening.” He gestured for her to come in, raising an eyebrow at the two cases she had with her. It seemed she’d packed lightly. “I assume the Housing Secretary explained that you’ll be living with me from now on? Your room is adjoining; you’ll find it if you go through the bathroom. Put your cases in there and then come back here so we can go through a few of the rules.” He handed her the key to her door - the spare was safe with the rest of his keys. ”Here, you can have a copy for now… provided you don’t abuse the privilege.”

Proving Lustre // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

Rachel crossed her arms defiantly when Jesse dismissed her as an arrogant freshman, but listened intently as he went on, giving her a little credit and then speaking of her dreams. Her heart stopped a little when Jesse suggested she ally with him. He, star of the musical theatre department, wanted her as his pupil? Why shouldn’t he? Rachel reminded herself. She had just given the best performance among the other musical theatre freshman, and if Rachel wanted a talented pupil, she would pick herself. However, she had the feeling Jesse could have almost any freshman he wanted by simply running his hand through his gorgeous curls while announcing he still needed a pupil, and there was a handful of pretty blondes in the department that were more than averagely talented. “You want to be my mentor?” She asked just to be sure as her arms dropped to her sides.

With her confidence regarding the protest fading, Rachel knew she had to go a different way if she wanted to stay at the school. No other ideas came to mind, and she realised that maybe she did have to give into the system - a little, at least. So, if she was going to have a Mentor, she wanted say in who it was, and she wanted the best. From everyone she had met so far, Jesse appeared the best, but she was still wary of trusting him or any other junior. The was though, she wanted to trust him. She wanted to stay at Sylvester and Jesse would most likely be the best connection she ever made. “I think such an arrangement would be beneficial to my safety and also to the department. It’s only right the best performers connect.” Rachel imagined it was expected from everyone else in the department, after she did well in front of all the musical theatre professors and upperclass students. She didn’t mind at all the idea of spending a lot of time with Jesse, as long as he truly wasn’t like Sebastian or some of the other juniors who had bugged her. “But I meant what I said. I don’t need someone controlling my life.” She wanted Jesse to be an important part of her life, but not in charge of it.

Her initial disbelief was flattering, and Jesse nodded. “Of course. As you say, the arrangement should benefit us both.” A little smirk crept into his already satisfied smile. “I’ll take that as an acceptance then. I believe we’ll make a great team.”

For Jesse, choosing a freshman was never going to be simply a matter of personal taste. It was a strategic alliance which would allow him to continue his legacy of greatness at the Academy. But Rachel’s attraction was triplefold: her talent had drawn his attention at first, of course, but the fact that he actually liked Rachel was an unexpected bonus. He admired her ambition, and she was almost as enthusiastic and passionate about her major as Jesse himself. She had self-respect too. Unlike some of the musical theatre freshmen who would have been his at the snap of his fingers, she’d considered his proposal like a business deal before accepting.

And of course, Rachel’s inner charms weren’t the only ones Jesse appreciated. Her library-girl beauty wasn’t lost on him, nor were those wide brown eyes which didn’t lose any of their magnetism when she stepped offstage. He was looking forward to making them light up in other ways. Those thoughts he kept to himself, however, since he suspected Rachel might retract her acceptance if he voiced them. He merely smothered a grin.

Jesse commanded his thoughts to stop wandering. ”I’ll contact the administration, but you should probably go talk to them about your change of accommodation. Technically, you’re the one who has to formalise everything.” He also wanted to know who had made Rachel an offer before he had the chance to, and whether they’d been seriously bothering her, but he could discuss that when he saw her later, as he doubtless would. She was his for the next two years, after all. And if anyone tried to interfere with his star in the making again, Jesse would make sure that, as lesser mortals would put it, they backed the fuck off.

Proving Lustre // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

By coming closer rather than leaving, Jesse was doing the exact opposite of what Rachel wanted him to do. She tensed when he touched her arm, her mind flashing back to her encounter with Sebastian, but his touch went no further and he inquired if everything was okay, his voice sounding to Rachel like he truly cared. She didn’t say anything in reply right away, but instead took a deep calming breath and wiped away the tears she didn’t want Jesse to see.

She pulled herself even more together as Jesse referred to her audition, pointing out how she had affected the room. But when he spoke of mentors, Rachel quickly whipped around and faced the junior. “Is that what mentors are supposed to do?” She demanded. “Watch out for their…” Rachel wasn’t exactly sure how to refer to claimed freshmen. She still didn’t have a full grasp of the whole system. “…pupils?” Wasn’t that what someone had said? “Because I had one offer and that was certainly not the vibe I was getting from him.” Her tone was laced with anger, now trying to cover up the overwhelming vulnerable feeling Rachel had been plagued with ever since her encounter with Sebastian. “You make it sound like the mentors care about us. All I heard at the assembly was you upperclass students get one of us to… own…” She made a face as the word slipped from her tongue. “…and boss around. I can handle everything else,” she repeated. “I don’t want or need someone else controlling my life.” She did want protection, but she didn’t want to have to “obey” someone in the ways the Headmistress insinuated.

Jesse immediately frowned: the only part of that he paid attention to was the part where Rachel said she’d already had an offer. From who? But he kept his tone cool, not rising to Rachel’s easy temper. “Yes, actually. That is what we’re supposed to do. It’s what my Mentor always did for me.” Sara had been unforgiving and his freshman and sophomore years had been hard, but he wouldn’t class anything she’d done to him as abuse. In hindsight it was easy to see that he’d benefited from the system and the discipline. “If you end up with some Computer Art recluse who abuses you, obviously that’s… not ideal. But most of us aren’t like that.”

“You may think you don’t,” he continued dismissively. “No offence, but you’re an arrogant freshman. Perhaps more deservedly so than most, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with nonetheless. It’s fine, all of us here have been there.” Oh wait, still there. Heh. “Even if you think you can deal with everything else at the Academy, it’s clear that you can’t deal with the other juniors. So before you get allocated to some bottomfeeder who won’t understand your dreams, ally yourself with someone who can.” He leant forward slightly. “Me, for example.” His voice raised at the end slightly, making the statement into a query, but although Jesse’s voice was casually polite he was as usual supremely confident in his own power and appeal.

Proving Lustre // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

Excitement bubbled up in Rachel as Jesse went on about how Sylvester’s show choir not only made it to Nationals, but had won multiple times. Back home, it seemed like the high school show choir hadn’t made it past sectionals in years. “Oh, I’ll definitely be auditioning!” Even though she knew, like Jesse said, it was unlikely she would be given any solos (only by the excuse of her underclassmen status, Rachel thought), she was dying to be part of a show choir that really made it far. “I’m auditioning for everything!” Sylvester had its show choir, but also put on several musicals and plays throughout the years. Rachel had her sights set on the musicals especially. “And,” she dared to add, a smile of her face, “maybe I’ll be the exception to the generality of no solos for freshmen.”

As Jesse started to answer her, starting off with a question of his own, Rachel hung onto every word. His first point was solid, Rachel thought. Although she was only going off one performance, he had the talent to be at any arts high school in the country. “Oh, no!” She countered quickly, realising she was making herself look bad. She believed she deserved the opportunity and but wanted to justify her acceptance to the school. “I want to be here,” she insisted passionately. “I petitioned for months to come, but… it’s not like I thought it would be,” she tried to explain, her emotions quickly surfacing and her last words came out quietly. Rachel glanced away from Jesse and back down at the songbook in her hand, swallowing thickly. She had to keep herself together. First impressions were really important, and she wanted to make a good one on Jesse, but felt like she was falling apart when she thought about what happened, and it was impossible to not think of it.

“The school is almost perfect,” she continued, once she felt safe to go on. “I love the musical theatre department and know it is the perfect place to hone my talents, but-” She broke herself off again. Maybe she should come up with an excuse to leave the room, and try getting to know Jesse at some later time? But, she had to figure out what she was doing soon. “I don’t know if I want to spend the next four years with these kind of people,” she tried to explain, but then regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. “No, I mean. Not you!” Well, for all she knew, Jesse could be just like Sebastian, but it wasn’t fair to assume so. “I came here because I knew I would be among others almost as talented and ambitious as myself,” she tried to fix, turning to look at Jesse again. She let out a sigh. “I want to be here, but I don’t know if I… can handle it,” she admitted, then biting down on her lip harshly to keep away tears. “I don’t mean the academics. I can handle the workload well, and I know I’ll excel musically, but… everything else.” Rachel had no idea how to explain without talking about what happened with Sebastian, and that she didn’t even know how to talk about. She just needed the encounter erased from her mind.

She completely hated herself right now for failing at her first impression on someone who could be one of her most important connections at the school, and that only added to Rachel’s instability and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Here,” she said quietly, handing Jesse his songbook, before quickly turning back to the boxes of sheet music. With her back to Jesse, she let some of her tears fall, and she silently hoped he would leave. If she dared to talk another minute, surely she would fall apart. She had done well with her audition minutes ago, but couldn’t even pull together a simple act of stability while talking to the star of the department. Hopefully she just needed space and time, and then everything would be okay and she could figure out what she was doing before the week was over.

These kind of people. Everything else. Jesse frowned as she turned away from him, wondering if a senior had somehow spooked the freshman. There had been a lot of banter and pranks flying around over the past few days, some more harmless than others… but he wasn’t allowed to get protective. Rachel was fair game until someone claimed her. He thought he saw her shoulders shake slightly, and touched her arm lightly, trying to make her look at him. His voice softened a little. “The first week is tough. Is everything okay?”

She seemed to be ignoring him. “Look, you have potential. Do you have any idea how few freshmen could make a room sit up and listen the way you did just now?” Jesse raised his eyebrows to emphasise his point. “Not that your performance was by any means flawless. But Sylvester Academy is the place to give your performance the polish it needs. You say you can handle everything else. You just need… a Mentor. Someone with authority to watch out for you.” Like me, Jesse thought with increasing self-assurance. ”Don’t waste this opportunity just because you’re having a hard time, because you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” He was already wondering if he was wasting his time. Rachel would have to be a lot more hardheaded than this to make it in ‘the industry’ - if some little prank like this made her start having second thoughts… she is only fourteen, he reminded himself. Why was he so opposed to the idea of Rachel dropping out? Sure, it was rare, but talented students did leave the Academy from time to time, and it was usually for the best - they couldn’t hack it.

Proving Lustre // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

Rachel had her own impressive compilation of sheet music and songbooks which were still in boxes waiting to be unpacked, but in the main choir room alone there was a grander collection than Rachel had ever had available to her. Even though it was the musical theatre department, there was music of every genre and Rachel knew there was even more in the Academy’s library. The resources of the Academy made Rachel’s middle school with it’s three cardboard boxes of yellowing sheet music seem even more pathetic than Rachel original thought of it. She was flipping through The Very Best of Lionel Richie when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. She thought everyone else had left and assumed it was going to be some junior with an offer - something she was not in the mood to deal with and she planned to ignore whoever it was. However, the particular phrase of greeting demanded her attention and Rachel turned, songbook still in hand, to find herself face-to-face with Jesse St. James, the first person she had been attracted to upon learning his status, and then even more so after seeing a performance of his.

But now, Rachel immediately felt some of her spirit zapped away. The last time she was alone in a room with a junior, she ended up in a situation she still wasn’t dealing with well at all. She felt no less than scarred for life. Yet still, Rachel was fighting within herself to justify staying at the school, because she very much needed to. “I told you I’d make sure you soon heard me sing,” she replied with a small smile of confidence regarding her talent alone. She took it as a good sign Jesse hadn’t started off with a list of harsh criticisms like how he responded to Kurt’s audition video. “I saw your performance of ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’ The glee club I would’ve been a part of if I went to school back home, they don’t even begin to compare.” She had seen a good handful of the high schoolers’ performances and initially couldn’t wait to be among them herself, but knew she could do better. Now her desire was to be starring opposite Jesse in the ensemble he was a part of, or even better, starring by herself without an ensemble to potentially drag her down.

“Is it really worth it?” She asked after a moment of silence, a hint of desperation in her tone, but she fought to keep her plethora of emotions at bay. Jesse had apparently reached the top and was basking in the glory of stardom at the greatest level one could achieve at the Academy while still attending, but he had first gone through the oppressive end of the system himself. Rachel used to think she would do almost anything for fame, but she had only been at Sylvester for a few days and was already feeling incredibly shaken and scared.

Rachel looked a little shaken by his sudden appearance. Jesse realised that perhaps he should have said hello first. All the same, her compliments were flattering and he affected (unsuccessfully) to look modest. “Well, your hometown team shouldn’t feel too bad. This year will be our third consecutive National championship.” They’d won for both the years Jesse had been a member of the team - but he thought mentioning that might sound presumptuous. “You should think about auditioning. Competing in showchoir is one of the best ways to get your name out there when you’re still in high school, and there are talent scouts at all the national competitions. Solos don’t generally go to freshmen and you don’t strike me as someone who enjoys being stuck in the back, but being part of an ensemble is actually good for discipline - and the choreography will keep you in better shape than some of the dance majors.”

He’d been flicking through the ‘L’ folder as he spoke, and raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of the book in her hands. Yep, it was his copy - the margins and occasionally the score itself were scribbled with familiar pencil annotations. Arranging new piano accompaniments, duets, ensemble pieces… ”That’s not actually department property. I left it here over the summer… there’s another copy around here somewhere.” He didn’t take it out of her hands, but glanced over her shoulder at the page she was currently on. Wondering if she’d care to work on a duet with him sometime…

Before Jesse could propose it, however, Rachel’s second question made him look up at her. He frowned a little. Sure, he knew she and a few other freshman weren’t happy at finding out about the Mentor system and some had even been planning a protest, but Rachel sounded like she was genuinely unhappy here. He frowned at her for a moment, wondering if some of the seniors had been giving her trouble. Not all of the freshmen were accustomed to the Academy sense of humor, he’d learned while talking to that blond kid, Tennessee. “If it wasn’t worth it,” he said slowly, “would I be here right now?” His thoughts momentarily went to his sister as an example. She would have been a sophomore this year. “It doesn’t work out for everyone,” he admitted. “But you’d be surprised how few freshmen quit and how many end up the better for being at a school like this. You’re not thinking about leaving, are you?”

Jesse leaned back against the piano, waiting for an answer intently. The back of his mind was already preparing arguments to talk her out of it, which was foolish of him. Rachel wasn’t his to advise, and Jesse didn’t know that much about her except that she was exceptional. Often people with that kind of ability got pushed into schools like this. The idea disappointed him - Rachel reminded Jesse of himself in a lot of ways, and he badly wanted her to be his. He knew she could complement him well. But if you wanted to really make it to the bright lights that Sylvester Academy prepared its pupils for, Jesse knew you had to want it - you needed drive, ambition, and that wasn’t something he could give her if she wasn’t prepared to stick it out.

Proving Lustre // Rachel&Jesse

rachelbarbraberrygoldstar:

Ever since her jarring encounter with Sebastian, Rachel had been doubting her decision to come to Sylvester Academy. She felt foolish for allowing the incident to go so far, and grew even more outraged with the school once she found out how little they cared that she had been attacked. They basically informed her that her only chance for protection was the Mentor system which was exactly what Rachel had wanted to protest. She felt stuck, not about to trust a single junior after how Sebastian played her, but not able to give up everything the school had to offer in its musical theatre department. That was what tethered Rachel to the school.

Through the first morning of academics, half of the time Rachel felt like she was going to cry and she tried to develop a plan to be able to call her fathers soon than in two weeks time. She needed to talk to someone, but hardly knew anyone and Kurt was already caught up in the Mentor system. But then, once the afternoon rolled around and Rachel found herself in an elaborate choir room room preparing to sing for the musical theatre professors, excitement flowed through her veins at the prospect of getting to showcase her talent for a room full of people who would truly appreciate it. The high of performing actually soothed other less pleasant feelings that had been dominating her emotions earlier.

While waiting for her turn, Rachel found Jesse, who had introduced himself as the star of the musical theatre department, sitting in the back with several other older students. While weary of all upperclass students, Rachel still wanted to impress him and was glad she was already getting the chance to do so.

Since she just recently rehearsed it for someone and received positive feedback, Rachel decided to perform ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade,’ which she announced along with her name once she was at the front of the room, by the piano. She wasn’t on an elevated stage, but still felt like she was in the right place. Now was her time to command the attention of everyone in the room. She would be in control of the situation and firmly on her own two feet with confidence surging through her. Since she wasn’t in an auditorium, Rachel’s movement during the song was limited, and she mostly stayed front and center, but didn’t let such limitation negatively affect her performance. Her crystal clear voice filled the room, and Rachel put her all into the performance, energetically engaging with the audience at the appropriate moments during the song. The song had quite a strong personal meaning for Rachel at the moment, and she let it give her strength and hope.

Once done, she gave a curtsey and took in all reactions. Her fellow freshmen seemed greatly impressed. So were some of the professors, but others were impossible to read, obviously refraining from showing how positively or negatively they thought of her performance. There wasn’t time for on-the-spot feedback as they had to get through every freshmen, but would receive detailed reports later. Rachel was a little put off, having expected an obvious, immediate and unanimous acceptance as nothing less than phenomenal, but was proud enough of her performance to hold onto her high for the rest of the class while she watched the rest of the freshmen take their turn. Criticisms built up in her head as she watched each of them perform, but had to admit they were all more talented than she thought they would be. This place really did find the best, and Rachel was again reminded why she couldn’t just quit the school. If she went back to public high school, she would never reach her full potential while everyone here would surely sky rocket ahead of her as they gained knowledge and experience she couldn’t get her hands on if she went back to her small town that cared so little about the arts.

Once the class was over, Rachel decided to linger and go through the stacks of sheet music that had been pointed out to the freshmen. She had a fair amount of time before her next class anyway and wanted to keep her focus on music, not excited about dealing with everything else that weighed heavily on her mind.

As he and the other juniors gathered in the choir room, Jesse took the opportunity to check out the new freshmen. It was amazing what difference two years at Sylvester made - although they weren’t that much younger than himself, they looked fresh-faced, wide-eyed, nervous, while the juniors assumed their seats like they owned them and looked at the performing space like any moment that they weren’t standing there was a waste of their time.

Jesse knew a lot of his peers thought this afternoon was a waste of time. True, they were only here because the musical theatre professors were all busy watching the freshman performances and weren’t available to teach them. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t be valuable. Not that his powers of criticism needed sharpening, but Jesse had been waiting for an opportunity to see the freshman class perform. He hadn’t found a slave yet, and at Sylvester Academy where talent was everything, he wanted an onstage equal - someone he could respect. As the default male lead in the department he should have his pick of the freshmen, but the most promising new talent would soon be inundated with offers and he needed to make a decision soon.

Jesse recognised a couple of them from audition tapes, and he’d spoken to a couple of them - Hummel, who he’d been surprised to hear had accepted Blaine as a Mentor, and Rachel Berry, the confident girl with the gold stars. She reminded him almost comically of the showchoir director at Carmel, the high school he would have gone to if he hadn’t been invited to Sylvester. He’d taken dance and singing classes from her in the evenings, and she’d been the one who’d encouraged him to apply to the Academy in the first place, which was perhaps what had made him think of her in the first place.

As the performances began, Jesse jotted down a couple of names of performers who stood out to him. Everyone was talented, of course - Sylvester only accepted the best - but only a few had the spark that in this environment had the potential to flourish into real stardom.

“My name is Rachel Berry and I’ll be performing ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’.”

He glanced up from his notebook. Sure enough, a small, dark-haired figure had taken up the spot beside the piano. Jesse had been curious about her performance, even while watching the others sing. He’d wanted to hear her sing ever since their first conversation. A lot of freshmen were mistaken in thinking they were the next big thing, but Rachel’s confidence was the kind you wanted to believe in.

Jesse was familiar with the song, of course, and his pencil drummed against the page in time with the intro. It was a challenging song, especially for a first performance. What exactly was Miss Rachel Berry made of?

The moment she opened her mouth, everyone in the room sat up a little straighter. He saw at least two of the professors exchange glances. Her voice was huge coming from such a small person. Strong, clear, expressive. It would have been easy to let such a famous song take over the performance, but Rachel took command of it and made it her own - the excited light in her eyes whenever she tossed a glance into the audience made the classic brand new.

He could pick faults, of course. It wasn’t a perfect performance. But it had spirit - bucketfuls of the stuff.

When Rachel stopped singing and retook her place, Jesse knew the professors well enough to tell that the atmosphere had shifted imperceptibly. Rachel Berry had become a very important person in a short space of time - to none more so than Jesse himself. Quite simply, he wanted her - her confidence, that mesmerising voice, the magic in the starry dark eyes that had kept a bunch of jaded seniors enthralled. All of it proved irresistibly attractive to him. And aside from the fact that she was the best, and the best, in Jesse’s world, belonged to him… they would make a good team. He could help Rachel as his own Mentor had helped him. His wasn’t the only pair of eyes which followed Rachel back to her seat.

Jesse paid dutiful attention to the following performances, but although there were some excellent ones, none of them stood out to him - he didn’t feel the same buzz in the room after they’d finished. And he didn’t jot anymore names down in his notebook - instead he crossed out the ones already written there, and underneath in block letters printed ‘★ RACHEL BERRY ★’. For his part, the decision was made. Now he just had to make the offer… judging from what he’d overheard her say about protesting earlier, he didn’t know if she’d accept him straight away.

It was a stroke of luck that she hung back after class ended. Jesse watched her flick through sheet music with her back to him. Her blouse and sweater were a different colour to what she’d been wearing yesterday, but apart from that her ensemble was essentially the same - neat, demure, a kind of schoolgirl look that he would usually find offputting, but strangely didn’t. Perhaps because it wasn’t fake or faux-sexy… Rachel gave off the air of a girl who had been dressing this way since kindergarten and didn’t realise that her over-the-knee socks and little pleated skirts had long since transitioned from endearing to sexy in the eyes of the guys around her.

He wasn’t sure if she’d noticed his presence, so he got to his feet and went over to where she stood, under the pretense of looking for some sheet music of his own. It wasn’t even a lie - Jesse was sure he’d left some music in here after last year’s Lionel Richie assignment. ”I wondered when I’d get to hear you sing.”