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

Chapter 32: Wonder-ful

The alumni had gone home right after the musical but it seemed like all we would ever hear about was them. It had been about two weeks since the show when Mr. Schue walked in the room with a huge smile.

"Alright guys, I just got some wonderful news from Rachel," he said as he wrote WONDER-FUL on the whiteboard. 

"Is it that her boyfriend turned out to be a prostitute?" asked Tina. "Because Santana's been tweeting about it since she went back to New York."

Mr. Schue made a face but decided not to ask. Instead he said, "She's got her second callback for Funny Girl." The room immediately filled with cheer. Even though not everyone in the room had a close relationship with Rachel, we were all very happy for her.

"And that's not our only good news," Mr. Schue went on. "Brittany's at MIT touring the campus because she's got her early acceptance."

"That can't be true," Kitty said, shaking her head. But it was. According to Cory, Brittany had turned out to be a genius. And Sam, who had been dating her for the past week, was pretty bummed out because they couldn't spend every second together anymore. You could say things were tense in the room. But I had it coming. I took her boyfriend, so it was only fair for her to take him back.

"I've got good news, too!" Tina claimed as she raised her hand, her smile wide. "I got waitlisted to Columbia's College of Veterinarian Medicine. It's a fallback if I don't pursue acting." 

"Bless her heart," Wade said. The thing about Wade is... I couldn't really call him Unique. Ryder agreed with me when I confessed to him that it was odd and confusing to me. I knew he liked to identify himself as a girl and I was totally cool with that, but to me he was a Wade. I felt wrong for thinking so, but I had failed to see it otherwise.

Mr. Schue adulated Tina and went on to announce the week's assignment, a Stevie Wonder week. Ryder was definitely the most excited about it and I understood. He loved him as much as I loved Billy Joel, maybe even more.

We were dismissed to class and I saw Kitty chase after Artie. I wondered what that was about and evidently so did John, who watched them go as Kitty, who power-walked faster than Artie wheeled, stopped in front of him and started talking.

"What's that all about?" I asked John.

"Who knows..." he mumbled. They weren't doing too well lately. Kitty's conversation didn't last long. She walked away with a devious smile, not noticing us staring. The next day she called an emergency lunch meeting, during which Mercedes, Mike, and Kurt came in.

"They're back again?" asked Rory.

"Don't they have lives outside of their old high school?" Joe asked. Before we could question their visit, Blaine began playing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" on the piano and it was Kitty who began to sing. Ryder and Jake joined her as her dancers in a rather athletic performance. I looked around th room and we harmonized in the background for her, except for Mercedes, who didn't seem too thrilled with her performance. Neither did John, and considering that she was singing to Arite, I didn't blame him.

When they finished, she announced that the song was in celebration of Artie's acceptance into a college in New York but he didn't seem too happy about it. 

Mercedes then went on to say that her performance wasn't good enough for Regionals and the two went at it. Mr. Schue announced that Mercedes would be our vocal coach and Kurt also insulted Kitty. I was sure she'd come up with a good comeback to "the garbage that comes out of your mouth" but Mike announced that he'd be choreographing Regionals and the conversation shifted. 

Tina went on a mini-rant and then Mercedes got us started.

She looked over at me but then shifted to Marley. "Marley, get in the front," she said. "Kitty, go to the back." Kitty seemed pretty ticked off about this, but she seemed much better when she was once again talking to Artie after our meeting. This time John passed right by them and she didn't even seem to notice him. 

"Are John and Kitty okay?" asked Cory when we were on our way to after school practice the next day.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "I haven't really been talking to them much lately."

"Yeah, I have noticed that," he said. "Hopefully everything's okay."

"Since when are you Team Jotty?" I snorted. 

"Team what?" he said with a laugh. I shook my head and we joined the rest of the group on stage. Kitty, Joe, and Sugar were gone, as well as Brittany who would be missing all week. I sometimes forget that Sam dated Mercedes, but when he introduced her as wonderful to the group, I remembered.

Mercedes gave Marley praise for her vocals and then led her into an amazing performance of "Superstition." And the wonderful-ness continued the next day when Kurt serenaded his healthy father, using Kitty, Tina, and Marley as his background dancers and singers. 

"Why aren't you up there?" asked Ryder, leaning towards me.

"He didn't ask me to..." I whispered back. I couldn't help but feel more and more left out each day.

These feelings grew when Jake was given a spotlight moment the next day, performing "I Wish" and dancing along Mike. Well, the alumni may not adore me but at least they didn't dislike me. Not that I knew of at least.

After school, I went to lunch with Ryder to hang out. He dropped me off at home and I was surprised to find Kitty in my living room.

"Um, Kitty?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well hello to you, too, Juliet," she said. "I have a problem and I'm not sure who to talk to."

"Um, ok?" I responded. I took a seat on the couch and she paced back and forth.

"So I've been meddling in Artie's life," she said. "You don't need to know the details. I just feel bad. I'm helping him, at least I think I am. But now he may hate me more than he probably already did. What should I do?"

"Um, stop meddling?" I suggested.

She rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. "Not all of us can just give up when things get hard, Julie," she said before storming out the door.

I grunted and threw my face onto a pillow. Why was everyone being so pissy?

The next day of our Stevie Wonder week, I skipped out on the final alumni meeting during lunch. Afterwards, Ryder caught up to me and sat next to me in class.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"I just didn't want to be around Sam and Kitty and everyone," I said. "It was getting stuffy in there for me."

"Understandable," he said. "But don't miss out on what you love because of them. You missed a great performance by Mercedes."

"I'm sure she didn't even notice my absence," I told him.

"Oh, so that's what this is about," he said with a smile. "You've been feeling unappreciated. What happened? Did you get used to the spotlight?"

I didn't answer.

"Listen, I get it," he said. "It's hard seeing everyone else being praised for all the things that they are more talented than you in. I get it. But you have to know that the difference is, they aren't better than you. You can dance just as well as Jake. You can sing just as well as Marley. Maybe even better. So stop underestimating yourself and join us for the next song."

"What song is it?" I asked, blushing at all the nice things he had said. Did he really think I was better than Marley? Marley who he was in love with Marley? He grinned.

And that's how I got myself into another performance in which I didn't contribute anything to. Artie sang lead and quite a few of us noticed the looks he and Kitty exchanged with each other. John seemed completely indifferent, even when Kitty sat on Artie at the end of the song. And after we left the auditorium, I found out why. After leaving my house, Kitty had broken up with John. And just in time for Regionals to be even more awkward than it was already going to be.