Glee: A Brand New Direction (first book of Glee series)

Chapter 2: The Proposal

Chapter 2: The Proposal

I walked the halls of McKinley High without knowing what to expect. Last week, the New Directions had prepared for their choir competition by prancing around in super hero outfits. Although I did enjoy seeing the bad boy from our sophomore class, Jake Puckerman, in tights, I was afraid they'd be doing more humiliating things to make the normal students feel uncomfortable.

Instead, what I found was that the hallways filled with blasts from McKinley High's past. The glee club alumni from the previous year's graduating class swarmed the hallways.

"What do you think they're doing here?" John asked me as we stood at the end of the hallway along with other students, watching them walk through.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Helping out with Sectionals? In town for Thanksgiving? Who knows..."

I spotted Santana Lopez talking to Marley as the latter smiled and nodded. Not too far away, at her locker, Kitty was talking to Quinn Fabray, no doubt kissing up to her idol, and showing her something that was taped to her locker. Next, I saw Mike Chang with a sophomore from my study hall, Ryder Lynn, bobbing his head as they listened to a song on an MP3 player or iPod or whatever. Someone bumped into me and quickly apologized. I turned and saw that it was a guy from the sophomore class, Wade Adams, dressed as a his alter ego "Unique", the woman that he liked to identify as. I didn't judge him or anything, but I didn't think it was smart to strut around Ohio in women's clothing like that. Anyway, he was walking with Mercedes Jones, the black diva of the alumni who I admitted I sort of looked up to as a freshman when she was a senior and left the New Directions briefly to make a new club, the Troubletones, with Santana and some other girls on the cheerleading squad. She seemed cool and if I was ever to join a glee club, it would've been that one.

Speaking of cool, Jake Puckerman was leaning against some lockers with his brother, Noah, who went by "Puck". I assumed by that point that the New Directions' newbies were being mentored by the graduates. Jake was nodding at something Puck was saying, and when the latter looked up and saw me, he pointed at me. As I passed them, Jake stepped in front of me and smiled.

I looked back at John and realized that he had stayed behind, talking to Sugar Motta and the Asian girl from the Glee club, that senior girl Tina Cohen-Chang or something like that. I looked back at Jake, who looked kind of nervously between his brother and me before finally speaking.

"Um, Juliet, right?" he said. I nodded, stupidly struck by the fact that he was talking to me. He continued, "Wow, you have the most beautiful, big, brown eyes I've ever seen."

I smiled and blushed like an idiot before saying, "Thanks." Then I realized how dumb I was being and told him, "Wait, aren't you dating Marley?"

He looked back at Puck, whose wide eyes told him to keep talking, and turned back to me and said, "I, uh, I am." I nodded unconvincingly because he quickly added, "Oh, I wasn't flirting with you! I was just wondering if you could be a back up dancer for the New Directions at Sectionals, which is coming up." I started feeling like an idiot for thinking he was hitting on me. Jake took a pause and when I didn't answer, he said, "You were a Cheerio for a while, weren't you?" Yeah. For three days. Things between Kitty and I didn't work out, though. "I saw you at our show and..." Jake went on. "I kind of thought you'd be interested. We're doing a big dance number and-"

"I'd watch out with this one," said Kitty as she appeared from behind me and stood next to him. Quinn Fabray passed by and went over to talk to Puck. "Whatever he tells you," Kitty told me, "don't believe him. The third nipple thing is true." I stared at her, confused and then she realized who I was. "I know you..." she murmured. "You're that elf who thought she'd question my authority over Brittany and quit the squad when she couldn't take the heat."