Glee: World of Chances (the fourth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 50: A Kiss Part 2

When Julie woke up on Tuesday morning, it was to a loud blender at work at 7 in the morning. She tried not to get mad as she walked into the kitchen, where Dan was making smoothies. Or milkshakes. She was too sleepy to know the difference.

Dan turned to her and smiled, hoping she would blow her top the way she had with Alex. She, on the other hand, was trying her hardest to not do exactly that, so she smiled back and said, "Good morning, little brother! Thanks so much for making breakfast."

As he finished pouring himself a cup, she took it from him and took a big gulp. She grinned triumphantly and walked away with the whole serving, leaving him with nothing.

Dan watched her go and scowled, cursing her out silently as she walked away.

"You have to force her to do things she doesn't like," Peyton had advised him. "Alex used to do that for kicks."

That's why after Dan finished making himself another milkshake, he made sure to leave the kitchen a mess. Fifteen minutes later, Julie returned to wash her cups and saw the filthy kitchen counter, nearly passing out.

Dan walked in and said, "Oh, sorry about the mess... But I really have to get some work done. Mind cleaning up for me? Thanks, you're the best!"

This time, it was Julie who cursed under her breath as Dan made his way to his bedroom, grinning out of sight as he considered himself victorious.

Julie cleaned up the kitchen, despite hating manual labor almost as much as hated being woken before she was ready. Not wanting him to think he could just treat her poorly and get away with it, Julie did what she knew to be Dan's biggest pet peeve.

When Dan came back out into the living room, he nearly dropped his glass at the sight of what Julie was doing. His mail was spread out across the table, already opened.

"Whaa..." he mumbled as he looked around. Julie looked up and grinned.

"I hope you don't mind," she said with a coy shrug. "I opened all of your mail for you. You should pay the electricity bill soon and, uh, Peyton sent you a love letter. That's so old school and cute."

Dan snatched the letters from her. Taking his belongings, he marched to his bedroom and swore to himself that this would not stand. She had declared war and he would get her to crack and leave if it was the last thing he did.

***

At McKinley, the first thing Jared did upon arrival to campus was search for Stewart. He found the guy at his locker, so without greeting him, Jared asked, "What do you think of Autumn?"

"Above average beauty," he shrugged. "Seems intelligent but a bit of a pushover. Phenomenal voice. High seven overall. Why?"

Jared looked at him like he was an alien. He shook his head and then commented, "You're, like, a low six, so how would you like to date someone who is out of your league?"

"Autumn is a freshman," Stewart pointed out to his fellow senior. "That would be creepy."

"Nothing creepy about it!" Jared exclaimed. "Come on, what do you say?"

"You always say she's annoying," Stewart told him.

"She grew on me," Jared responded. "Look, I want her to be happy. And preoccupied by more than being the Mother Teresa of Lima."

"I'm too busy and I have a girlfriend," Stewart sighed. "So no."

"Surely Autumn is better than an invisible girlfriend," Jared chuckled as Stewart rolled his eyes and walked away.