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

Chapter 51: Love Song

"What do you have for me Peyton?" Alex asked, not turning his head sideways in the slightest as Peyton began to walk beside him.

"My espionage has proved to be successful," she responded, looking around as though they were being watched. "I visited the school. Nobody saw me. Just as you asked."

Alex nodded. "What'd you find out, Beaver?"

"Lots of things, Alex," Peyton told her. "And stop calling me that. My teeth are fine now."

"Ok," he said. "Tell me everything so that I can report back to the glee club."

***

"Tuckwood?" Jake asked. "As in, they tuck their—"

"How do we know she's telling the truth?" Unique asked. "The Cheerios are notorious for trying to destroy the glee club."

"We can trust Peyton," Amity told her. She turned to Alex and asked, "We can trust Peyton, right?"

"Right," Alex nodded. To everyone, he said, "The Tuckwood School for Visual and Performing Arts has been around for decades yet never have they had a show choir compete in our division. This all changed when a group of students in their co-ed a capella group decided to stop charging for their performances."

"But once a show choir charges they are ineligible to perform in amateur competitions," Julie pointed out. "It's only allowed for fundraiser events."

"Exactly," Alex said. "Last year, they stopped charging and reformed their group. Changed their name from One Note Stand to Ransom Notes."

"So that's how they did it then," Marley said. "Change their identity, become a new group, and they are pros singing with newbies."

"Except we aren't newbies," Kitty said. "We've got just as much experience as most teams out there now and we can take on a group of wannabe Pitch Perfect's any day. We beat the Warblers, didn't we?"

"On technicalities," Julie pointed out. "We shouldn't get complacent but we can beat them. Right?" She was asking Alex, who didn't look happy.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said earnestly. "Peyton said they're really good. Like, The Sing-Off good. I was thinking a few of us could go check them out this week at their Regionals."

"Those Aca-Bitches have a show?" Kitty asked him. 

"Peyton said so," he responded. "They are rallying up support for Regionals. Unlike us, they have the luxury of attending a school that is already supportive of the arts and their show's purpose is to get as many people to attend the competition."

"It's being held at a neutral center this year," Will said, walking in. "If this other group gets more people in the audience that is on their side, that can have an impact on the judges. It's definitely worth scoping out how good they are. When's the show?"

"Wednesday," Alex answered.

Will nodded. "Ok then," he said. "Mandatory glee club field trip. I'll try to get us a bus but we'll most likely need to carpool there."

"What if we can't make it?" Amity asked, raising her hand. "The God Squad's delivering Valentine singing grams Thursday and we'll be practicing all afternoon on Wednesday."

"That's you, Kitty and Dan?" Will asked. The mentioned nodded. "That's fine," he agreed. "Just catch up on what you miss from your peers. Anyway, on to domestic business. Valentine's Day will be on Saturday but as always, the properly themed assignment extends into this entire week."

"Please be songs about sex," Stefan muttered. Shana nodded as Bree rolled her eyes at them.

"Love," Will said as he wrote the word on the whiteboard. "I want everyone to sing a song with that word in the title. Try to choose for the song that best represents the holiday and the word... Love."