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

Chapter 67: Hidden

Hello! We're at 67 of 80 y'all. We're reaching the end!!!!! I'm trying very, very hard to get some writing in but with work and everything, I rarely have time to write these days! However, since we're reaching the end and a lot will be happening in the next couple of chapters, I will do my best to put out something every day if I have to. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"John!" Amity shouted when she walked into the board room the following Monday and saw her friend there with Tyler.

"And Tyler!" Tyler exclaimed lifelessly. "You know, the sexy keyboardist everyone just ignores..." 

Amity ignored him and walked to John's side. "How are you?" he asked her.

Nodding, she answered, "Perfect. I'm great. You?" John shrugged. "Are you back for good?"

"No..." he shook his head. "Sebastian wanted me to come record something in person just to make sure everyone's in sync, you know? Is everyone else here?"

"They're on their way," she nodded. "Sam and Alex and I think Julie, too. Dan's in the studio recording some instrumental tracks with Dani."

"Cool," John sighed, looking away.

"I'm going to let you two have some privacy," said Tyler when his phone started ringing.

Amity murmured, "So why didn't you stick around for long after Regionals?"

"I was in a hurry," he said apologetically. "And a little embarrassed that I was the only one who voted for New Directions to win."

"I figured..." she rubbed his back. "But everyone understands how those things are. It sounds more like you just don't want to be around us. Or specifically, Sam... Am I wrong?"

John shook his head. "You're not... I guess I'm just too scared of how he'll react. I'm dreading his arrival now."

"Look, I think you just need to man up," Amity sighed. "That's my honest opinion. You're both grown man and you're acting like children. Besides, he really needs you right now. His life is all tangled up and... He needs his best friend."

"She's right," said a feminine, British voice from the door. John and Amity looked up to find Leila there with a smile on her face. "You've really made quite a mess, haven't you, John?"

Amity pressed her lips together and said, "I'm going to go see if Dan needs me. Have fun..."

She walked out and smiled at Leila on her way. When she was gone, Leila said, "I met up with Bree and Shana in New York this weekend and they caught me up on everything so I thought I'd stop by..."

"You probably think I'm a really big hypocrite," John sighed.

"No, not really," she negated as she went to sit by him. "Our bad things were too very different bad things... But... I'm just confused... Are you in love with Mandy?"

"I don't even know anymore..." he shook his head. "Can I be honest?"

"Please..." Leila nodded. 

"I think I just wanted change," he told her. "We'd been in Lima for months now and I was so used to this life on the road and moving around and everything that I... I wanted to leave. I sabotaged everything, got my wish and..."

"And are you happy?" she asked him.

He looked at her for a few silent seconds and shrugged. "I don't know. I like my new job but... I saw the televised charity concert and I wasn't there and... It felt weird. Wrong, in some ways. And while I've made my peace with Julie and at least I'm friends with her now, I miss Sam. I really do. I just don't know what to do about him because I don't regret what happened with Mandy. I just am really sorry about how he felt about it. Is that terrible?"