Glee: To the Next Level (the second book in the Glee series)

Chapter 39: The Next Forty Minutes

Julie laughed as she followed Ryder down the parking lot to his car. Ryder was a goof and regardless of what he said, he always made her laugh. But when her phone rang, there was nothing he could say to make her smile.

"What's wrong?" he said, noticing at once how upset she seemed when she ended the call.

"Umm," she said, "I think I'll just meet you at Breadstix."

"Why?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she lied. "There's just something I need to go do first. But I'll be there soon."

"You sure?" Ryder asked, concerned. "You don't want me to--"

"I'll be fine," she assured him, forcing a smile. "You go on."

"Ok," he said, quickly stealing a kiss on her cheek before she ran back into the gym. He sighed, watching her go before getting into his car and driving to Breadstix, a smile on his face. Once there, he picked out the best table he could find-- a few other students were there-- and sat down, prepared to wait for his beautiful date to arrive.

***

"Ok, slow down," Jake said, his bowtie loosened around his neck and hanging from his shoulders. "What's going on?"

Julie tugged on his arm, trying to pull him towards his car as quickly as possible. "You need to take me to the hospital," she insisted. "Isabelle, she's... it's... I don't... I need..."

"Ok, ok," he said, following her to his car. "Just calm down, please. You're freaking me out."

"That's because I'm freaking out!" she exclaimed as they reached it. "Please Jake. I just need one minute. I just need to be there."

***

"Jake gave me his dinner coupon," John explained as Marley sat across him in the booth at Breadstix. "But seeing as Kitty won't answer my calls or texts and these coupons expire tonight... I figured I may as well put them to use. So thanks for coming."

"It's not like I had any plans tonight," she said, shrugging. "So you and Kitty are fighting, huh?"

"Yeah, sort of," he said. "I don't know... I'd rather not talk about that right now."

"Right," she said. "Well... we should probably order already. I'm starving."

***

"Thanks for tonight," said Harmony as Dan walked her to her door. "I know it didn't exactly make you popular with you friends but--"

"Don't worry about it," said Dan. "I had fun. And about the others, they're really good people. You just have to be a little patient."

"Thanks," she repeated, smiling. She leaned in to kiss him goodbye but he quickly pulled away.

"Goodnight," he said quickly and awkwardly as he stumbled back to Bree's car. Somehow, all the people who'd offered to drop them off earlier had disappeared before he even left the gym and, as embarrassing as it had been, Bree was the only option he had other than calling his mom. And that would've been worse.

"Goodnight!" Harmony called out, giggling as she headed into her house.

***

Ryder sat at his table, looking at Julie's empty seat and wondering whether he should order for her. He looked around and, upon spotting John and Marley in the corner, sunk down in his seat, hoping they couldn't see him over the half-wall.

***

Julie rushed down the empty halls, with Jake trying to keep up with her quick changes in direction. "Do you know where you're going?" he asked as they passed the same hallway twice.