Glee: Back to the Top (the third book in the Glee series)

Chapter 12: Loaded Gun

"William," Sue said firmly as she stepped into their shared office on Monday morning.

"Oh, hey Sue," Will said, looking up briefly. "Have a good weekend?"

"You could say that," she said, giving no further explanation. "So I was going through the roster of glee kids and as it turns out, you have an excessive amount of seniors this year."

"Excessive?" Will raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant by that. 

"Yes," she said. "They will graduate this year and then leave your club pretty empty, with only five members. And that's assuming that those kids stay."

"We always find a way to recruit new members," Will shrugged.

Sue looked at him with pity and said, "You get maybe two, at most five each year. There's no way you'll be able to fill the empty slots once this big group graduates. Not unless you win Nationals this year."

"Then we'll win Nationals this year," he said confidently.

"William, I've seen the set lists you've made," she told him. "They are awful. The only reason you won Nationals back in 2012 is that you had some of my Cheerios on board for that Lady Gaga song."

"My kids are capable of getting through to Nationals on their own," he responded, starting to get offended.

"But they haven't won, Will," she said. "Take it from me. It's one thing to almost lose your team. But when it actually happens... It hits you hard."

"We aren't going to lose," Will said, dismissing her concern. She turned around in her seat, turning to her paperwork and giving up on making Will see what was ahead for them.

***

Harmony arrived to school just before lunch, having gone to a dentist appointment during the first half of the day. When she got to campus, she feared that she was going to miss part of glee club, which could include information about the upcoming fall musical, so she rushed through the backside of the building to find a shortcut.

She was almost reaching the front door when she saw Alex, with a black hoodie covering him and only his indistinguishable lazy stride making him recognizable, walking towards the bleachers. From sheer curiosity, she forgot all about glee club and hurried after him, wanting to know what he was up to. He disappeared behind a fence and was hid by the metal bleachers, so when she appeared at the place where she'd last spotted him, she couldn't see where he had gone.

Figuring he couldn't have gone very far, she hesitantly walked into the shadows, only to be scared by a girl with a huge lip ring who appeared in front of her. Harmony shrieked and the girl buzzed, "You lost or something?"

Harmony shook her head with a terrified expression on her face as she walked around her and kept going. She was even more frightened when she saw that there were more scary-looking girls just a few steps ahead, huddled around a small, tarnished footstool which was currently a poker table, and holding questionable smoking substances in their empty hands. A few feet away from them were a couple of guys who were chuckling softly. When she passed by them, they all looked up at her in a manner that made her nearly faint, and not in a good way.

She tried to get away quickly, but not before one took a step in front of her and, a sinister look on his face, said, "You looking for something, sweetheart?"

"Someone," she told him briefly.

"We've got plenty of someone's," he told her, nodding over to his buddies.

"Oh, no thank you," she said, trying to hide her disgust in case he suddenly felt like harming her. "I, uh—" She shrieked as she turned and saw that her way was blocked by another one of the guys. As the others began to approach, she considering calling out for help, but luckily she didn't have to.