Push to the Limit (the sixth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 51: Not Good Enough

"Lafayette was a little better than Duluth," said Amity as she and the others arrived at their hotel in North Little Rock on Thursday morning. "I am a little tired out from everything, though."

"And tonight we have yet another show," Sam reminded her as he rocked Gaby in his arms. "So rest up. Soundcheck in three hours."

"Soundcheck, of course," groaned Tyler. "I am going to take a dip in the pool."

"I'm going to take a nap," John sighed. He turned to Lyric and said, "Nap time?"

"No, I'm going to see if the hotel gym is any good," she said. "I really want to get my blood pumping already."

"Suit yourself," John said. He saw Julie struggling with Izzy and said, "And if you want, I can put her to sleep in my room and you can do whatever it is you need to do."

"Would you?" Julie asked, not hesitating to hand her fuzzy toddler over to him before he could change his mind. "Thanks. I'm going to grab some food."

"Well, ok then," John chuckled, grabbing all of Izzy's things and heading to the elevators with Sam and Amity. As Julie headed to the cafe, Alex walked into the hotel, falling a little behind as he ended a private conversation on the phone.

Julie saw him and stuck around, waiting for him to put down the phone to ask, "So who were you just angrily yelling at in the bus?"

"My stupid parents," he rolled his eyes.

"You talked to your parents?" she said, surprised.

"I didn't want to," he admitted. "But apparently they are in town right now so Tabitha gave them my number and convinced them to reach out to me and... They want to meet for lunch in a little bit."

"What did you say?" Julie asked.

"I told them to go to hell basically," Alex shrugged. "I don't have anything to say to them and I definitely don't want to hear them talk about how much I'm screwing up my life."

"It sucks that you don't talk to them," Julie sighed. "I can't imagine not having my dad and Veronica be a part of my life. I don't talk to them that often but when I do it's such a relief."

"Well, your parents are better than mine," Alex said. "Minus the part where your dad wanted to keep you in a mental institute but..."

Julie ignored that last jab at her father and said, "Well, it still sucks. Having a good relationship with a parent means a lot to some people, like me. But I guess we're different in that way."

She caught a look at a table of bagels and immediately strolled into the cafe in search for more food. As she left, Alex recalled a comment John had made over the weekend about them and the fact that Julie would want a big, close-knit family. She would want him to be on good terms with all of these people, even if he hated them.

"Oh Vasquez," Alex whispered as he pulled out his phone. "I must reeeaaally like you." He dialed the most recent number on his call log and took a deep breath, hoping he didn't get an answer. But the answer was almost immediately and his surprised mother had said his name. "Hey mom..." he forced himself to say. "So what I just said now about how I'd rather eat feces, throw it up and then make clay pots out of it with the ghost of Patrick Swayze serenading me... I was just kidding. How does an hour from now sound?"

***

"And we're back with the ladies of Rhythmix!" exclaimed Tenesha, the usual host of Starstruck, as the girls sat across from her on a couch on set and 'He Said She Said' faded out all around them. "Let's see, we've got from left to right—Zoe Rivers, Shana Davis, Kayli Markis, and Leila McGuire."