Glee: To the Next Level (the second book in the Glee series)

Chapter 23: Duets and Vulnerabilities

Julie walked into the auditorium just in time to see that the other pairs were taking a seat. Marley and John were on stage and the music was starting as Jake and Julie sat down next to Alex and Amity. Neither of them was a big fan of Alex but Amity was sweet. That and all the other seats in the front two rows were taken. So Julie took her seat between Jake and Alex and hoped that nobody punched nobody.

"Alright, Marley and John," said Mr. Schue. "You guys are up first."

"We've been hearing them rehearse," Amity leaned over Alex to whisper to Julie. "They're really good together." Jake stiffened besides her, so Julie smiled to Amity and turned to look at Jake.

"You okay?" she asked him. He nodded and turned to the stage.

Behind them, Ryder and Unique watched them carefully. "Slide her the letter now," Unique whispered.

"No, not until after rehearsals," he responded. "I don't want to make things weird and I kind of need an escape route in case things don't go well."

On stage, Marley's knees quivered as John grabbed his guitar and started playing. She cleared her throat as she began.

Marley: Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, books and pens...

She looked over at John and smiled. He smiled back, much to Kitty's concern.

Marley: I can tell that we are gonna be friends. I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

Sugar smiled at the cute performance until she turned to Kitty and saw the worried look on her face. She could tell what she was thinking. It wouldn't be the first time a boyfriend realized how mean she was and left her for sweet, adorkable Marley. And now John was joining Marley down center of the stage and smiling at her as he strummed.

John: Walk with me, Suzy Lee, through the park and by the tree. We will rest upon the ground and look at all the bugs we doun. Safely walk to school without a sound. Safely walk to school without a sound.

Julie nodded at the performance, wondering whether John and Marley had talked about her, and didn't look away until she received a message from Sam, which read: Hey, I'm sorry about last week. Just got your message. Is there anything I can do for you?

She turned off the screen and looked back up, not noticing that Jake had seen over her. The latter, who was unsure of what to think of the message and of the performance in front of them, turned around and looked at Ryder briefly. As expected, Ryder was stealing glances at Julie as he listened.

Marley and John: Here we are, no one else. We walked to school all by ourselves. There's dirt on our uniforms from chasing all the ants and worms.

Marley: We clean up and now it's time to learn.

John: We clean up and now it's time to learn.

Marley walked downstage center and turned to John, who had done the same on the left side end.

Marley: Numbers, letters, learn to spell. Nouns, and books, and show and tell.

John: Playtime we will throw the ball. Back to class, through the hall. Teacher marks our height against the wall.

Marley: Teacher marks our height agains the wall.

Bree found herself annoyed by Marley, but now even more so that she noticed how uncomfortable her smiles at John made Kitty. She scowled as she watched them on stage, slowly approaching each other towards the center of the stage once again as they continued to sing.