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

Chapter 30: Ok

"Hi, Kitty," Emma said when the blonde walked into her office and took a seat. "I'm so glad you scheduled a meeting. Sorry it had to be in the afternoon; my school hours were pretty jam-packed. But now that we're here you want to tell me what's going on?"

Kitty sighed. "I've been thinking a lot about my future," Kitty began. "Like a lot. And I just realized that after I graduate I want to get as far away from Lima as possible. Not to New York—that's so cliché and only Quinn can do it in style. I want to go far, like different time zone far. And I want to do something that'll pull me away from everyone."

"Wow, that's pretty specific," Emma took that all in. "So you want to look at colleges in the west, then?"

Kitty nodded. "Preferably one with a Christian affiliation," she told her. "And maybe a political science option."

"Well, luckily for you," Emma began as she opened her college brochure and shifted through them, "you have a wide range of options. You were a cheerleader, you had glee club, and you have good grades. I think these are good options for you with extended deadlines. And there's a few that are due in December so maybe prioritize those." 

Kitty took the pamphlets and thanked Emma, leaving her office and heading home to spend the rest of the afternoon applying to the ones with closer deadlines.

***

"You know how great it is that you cook?" Julie said before taking a bite of her noodles. "Mmh," she said as she swallowed her food and patted the corners of her lips with a napkin. "This is amazing. What is this called?"

"Spaghetti Carbonara," Jake said. "My mom says it's the sexiest food so she taught me to make it when I was a kid."

"It's amazing," Julie said, digging in for more.

"Thank you," he said with a nod as he served her more pink lemonade. Jake tried to eat, too, but his stomach was in knots. He mostly just sat there and pretended to be focused on chewing, though really he was watching her. Julie absentmindedly chatted away, discussing everything from the completion of her Stanford application to their Sectionals duet to the slumber party she was planning after the football game.

"And I think when the Cheerios show up and pump up the crowd," Julie said, "it'll not only help the guys take the win but also reestablish us and just help everything settle back in."

"And Kitty agreed to you being head cheerleader?" Julie asked. "Just like that?" 

"Well, sort of," Julie said. "She said she owed me for a lot and I'm not really sure what she meant by it but she said if Bree and I wanted to rule together we could. Can you imagine? Bree handling all of the dirty politics of cheerleading while I ensure that the regime doesn't get out of hand like it has in the past... It'll be the perfect ruling."

"Well, yeah but you already have that power, that team with the presidency," Jake noted. "You and Kitty have glee club, too."

"So what, Kitty and Bree should have this one to themselves?" Julie asked him.

He shook his head. "Not what I meant," he said. "Just that if the squad thing doesn't work out, you can still do all of the things you wanted to do. Help the school."

"Is there something wrong?" Julie asked suddenly, pushing her empty plate aside. "You've been acting really strange and I can tell something's bothering you. But we tell each other everything so there's no reason to—"

"We don't tell each other everything," Jake said, a forced smile on his face.

Julie creased her eyebrow and said, "Umm, I... I tell you everything."