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

Chapter 65: The High Road

"God, what is with all those paparazzi outside?" exclaimed Carrie Underwood as she walked into the area backstage of the auditorium, with her assistant at her side, just before they were set to head out for the start of their show.

Jamie Foxx, Xavier Michaels, and Juliet Vasquez were already there, none of them seeming at all pleased about the extra press surrounding their event.

"What do you think?" asked Xavier. "The queen of scandals has gotten herself another one and now they're hounding her."

Julie rolled her eyes and turned to him, saying, "I didn't do this to us, ok? I've said nothing to the press, done nothing, I'm just trying to get through this, same as the rest of us."

Jamie looked at her for a second and then asked, "That chick really change out your medication?"

Julie sighed, but since Jamie had been nothing but nice to her since the start, felt no choice but to turn to him and answer, "It looks like it, yeah."

"Damn," said Jamie. "That's tough. You gonna throw her ass in jail, though, right?"

Carrie gasped. "She's not already in jail?"

"This one has to press charges," Xavier answered, looking at Julie. "You are going to press charges, right?"

"No..." Julie answered, getting sighs and eye rolls from them. "What? Guys, I don't want... It'll turn into something that I don't want it to turn to, ok? Court cases and more press releases, more articles about it everywhere. I just want it to go away as quickly and quietly as possible."

"You should at the very least sue her," Carrie advised. "What she did caused you a lot of trouble. Almost cost you your life."

"I'd just rather not," Julie said, her voice coming out a bit harsher than she intended. "Sorry, I just... The show's going to start soon so... Can we just..?"

"Right, right," Carrie nodded. "I understand. You won't hear any more of it from us. Right, guys?"

"Right," said Jamie, turning to Xavier and nudging him. He rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, whatever."

"Last Chance Round," Carrie continued, attempting to get them pumped. "Let's do it!"

"Yeah," Julie forced herself to nod and smile, knowing that there were hundreds of people out in the auditorium for their live audience waiting to see them all look good and ready. Time to be professional.

She waited for them to be announced and, when her name was said, began walking out. Xavier's named had been called out first, so when she made it to the judges' panel, she waved and smiled at the audience and then sat down beside him.

As the other judges were announced, he leaned in and whispered, "You really should press charges."

"We're on live television," she responded, though she was sure that the cameras weren't on them. "And drop it. Please."

Carrie Underwood sat down beside her, followed by Jamie Foxx, and the show got started. They began with introductions of the contestants that were about to perform, showing the audience clips of their rehearsals with their judges.

Only sixteen contestants remained, which was half of what they had started with, and Julie had three of them to work with. From the female contestants, she had kept Annie Gonzalez, a twenty-two-year-old soprano whom the producers thought might be able to make it to the finale. From the male contestants, she still had Ronald Machen, a twenty-five-year-old many were likening to Justin Timberlake with his beautiful falsetto. From the teens she had a sixteen-year-old pop singer named Jorge Rodriguez and from the groups, a boy band comprised of four boys between sixteen and nineteen, who had named themselves Idle Cravings.