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

Chapter 54: Denial

"So how did you know that's what it was?" asked Jake as he, Ryder, John and Kitty took their seats at an empty table in The Lima Bean, a local, public cafe, the morning after Regionals. 

John sighed. "Julie's a really complex girl," he told them, making eye contact with each of them as he spoke. "She has all sorts of little hints she drops when she wants to express something but she can't say it out loud. One of them is with books."

"But how did that one specific book tell you what happened?" Ryder asked, not understanding the best friend telepathy he had seen the night before.

"She reads a certain book depending on the situation," he said. "Like an escape. She gets a bad grade, she turns to Stargirl. She'll read it over and over again until she can get over it. She has a fight with a family member and she'll read Catcher in the Rye. A fight with a friend, and she'll have a Sarah Dessen book depending on the situation. It's not so great when you catch her re-reading 13 Reasons Why but when it's Harry Potter, then you know it's really serious. And when it's Order of the Phoenix, that's when it's the worst."

He looked up at them, noting that Kitty refused to meet his eye for more than two seconds, and Jake replied, "I don't get it," a thought which the other two also had.

"In the book," John said briefly, "Harry loses the only real family he had after having only recently connected with him. When she was, like, twelve, Julie had a small Chihuahua. She'd had that dog for two years and loved her but then she died and Julie went into a terrible state of sadness. She had to learn to deal with it, and she did so by trying to empathize with the characters in the book."

"Ok..." said Ryder, beginning to understand. "Well, should we be worried? I mean, obviously this is taking a toll on her but should we be worried that it'll get bad because of her condition?"

"We can expect a typical level of grief," John told them. "But she's taking her medication and she's doing her best to be healthy. I'm going over to see her in a few so I'll let you guys know how she's doing."

"And you're sure she doesn't want a word of this to get out?" Kitty asked.

"Positive," John nodded. "She said just us four and Mr. Schue was enough and that she'd like to keep this private."

"Understandable..." muttered Jake, taking a deep breath. He could only imagine what Julie must be going through and wished she was well enough for him to stop by. But it was probably best to proceed as planned; John knew her the best and he alone could be too much for her at the moment. 

"She needs space," John reminded them, looking at the guys. "And she needs for all of her other problems to disappear."

"I'll handle Harmony," Kitty nodded. Ryder and Jake nodded at each other, as though that were enough to establish a set of boundaries. John bid them goodbye, grabbing his coffee and Julie's frappuccino before heading out.

***

"Harry was sure he would not be able to fall asleep; the evening had been so packed with things to think about that he fully expected to lie awake for hours mulling it all over."

Julie's reading was once again interrupted by a knock on her door. This time, however, she didn't hear her father's voice. She waited a moment before knocking on her door's frame, a signal she'd developed with John to let him it was okay to walk in. When he did, he carried a Lima Bean cup for her, which she eagerly took as he sat down next to her.

"Yum," she said, letting the heat of the cup warm her cold hands. "Just what I needed!"

"It's decaf," he warned her.