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

Chapter 47: Troubled

"You can't do what you're doing," Cory told me as he drove us to school. I had been dating Ryder for a week and the glee club was practically bifurcated between the old and new cast members, only Jake wasn't a part of either group.

"And what is that?" I asked. 

"Working your way through every guy in the glee-" he started.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I stopped him. "Uncalled for! I've dated two guys. Sam dated the entire unholy trinity, plus Mercedes. John dated Kitty and Sugar. Artie has dated Brittany, Tina, Sugar, and Kitty. And somehow the fact that I'm going out with Ryder now is the worst thing a person could've done? That's incredibly sexist."

He didn't say anything. He had fueled my anger. I had yet to take my medication. He wasn't going to win.

I had started taking a new pack of meds and took them every day at the start of first period. It was far more effective to remember to take them along with going to class than with getting ready for school, a routine that was too spontaneous to be routine anymore. When we got to school, he started to remind me to take my meds but I just walked right past him and headed to my locker. I could remember to take them on my own. Idiot.

"Hey beautiful," said Ryder as he appeared in front of me. I forced a smile. He quickly detected this. "What's wrong?"

"Do you think we're destroying glee club?" I asked him. "By being together?"

He laughed. "Julie, we're fine," he assured me. "We wouldn't be the first or the last to get together in that choir room."

"I know," I said, "but ever since we got together—"

"I've been happier than ever?" he completed for me. "The dynamic couple power in the club has been stronger than it has all year?"

"I'm just scared that we're not doing the right thing here," I confessed.

He placed his gentle hand on my cheek, caressing it. "Nothing about this feels wrong," he told me. The first bell rang. "I've got to get to class. But I'll see you later."

He kissed my cheek and then ran off. As the hallways began to empty, I contemplated on whether I wanted to go to class or not. But the heaviness I felt in my chest about the whole Sam thing directed me to skipping class.

I made my way through the silent hallways until I reached the girls restroom near the nurse's office. I didn't want to be around that wretched girl who Sam had a thing for, but I knew that if I were to get caught I'd need an alibi. And saying I was sick and on my way to the nurse before running into the restroom and throwing up sounded like the best plan if that were to happen.

But when I entered, I found that someone else either had the same idea or was actually sick. I couldn't tell which stall the gagging was coming from so I started pushing doors open until one wouldn't move. The gagging stopped as the person on the other side realized they weren't alone. I knocked on it.

"Do you need help?" I asked. Nobody answered, though clearly someone was there. I got on the floor and peeked over. A girl was kneeling down, bent over on the toilet and whimpering softly. "I said," I repeated, causing her to jump, "do you need help?" The girl turned around slowly and I nearly gasped when that girl turned out to be Marley. She sunk down to her bottom and began to cry.

I didn't know what to do so I crawled underneath the stall and joined her, rubbing her shoulder as she cried. When she had calmed herself down, she asked, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in class?"

"I couldn't do it," I said. "I decided to skip."

"Aren't you, like, the current valedictorian?" she asked. "You can't skip."