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

Chapter 50: Finale

["Two is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls.]

John: I remember what you wore on the first day. You came into my life and I thought, 'Hey, you know, this could be something.'

"Hey Ryder," Harmony said, finding him out in the hallway alone. "Not up for watching the performance huh?" He didn't say anything, so she took a seat on a bench next to him and listened.

John: 'Cause everything you do and words you say. You know that it all takes my breath away. And now I'm left with nothing.

"You know," she continued, "when I joined just two months ago, my first priority was to become the lead of the club. You know, the star performer? And it didn't take long to find out that the position was filled by Marley and Julie."

Ryder looked up at her as Marley's voice came on for the chorus. He didn't say anything, so Harmony took this as a cue to keep talking.

"I knew Marley was the good girl," she went on. "The polished one. And Julie was a bit rougher, less tamed. So I figured, if I take her down first, it'll be easier."

Ryder thought about this. "So you were just here to mess with us?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I came here to be a winner. To lead a winning team."

"You're kind of crazy," he muttered.

Marley: I remember every look upon your face
John: The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste. You make it hard for breathing.

Harmony ignored his comment and said, "I tried really hard to turn everyone against her. Or at least to be liked more. But no matter what I did or said, everyone had nice things to say only. You, Dan, Marley, Amity, Shana, Joe, whoever. 'Julie's so great... She's so talented... Her hair's so pretty--'"

"She does have nice hair..." Ryder muttered.

Both: 'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away. I think of you and everything's okay. I'm finally now believing.

"When I first heard about her and Jake," Harmony went on when John and Marley were back to the chorus, "I saw an opportunity. I prepared everything I would say about her and destructing the team and what not. But then I saw her. How sad she looked, how much she cared... About you, mostly."

Ryder shrugged. "Didn't care about me when she was kissing my best friend," he murmured.

Harmony shook her hand. "I think you're way off," she smiled. "Because the way I see it, she's been walking on egg shells trying not to hurt you. I mean, come on, haven't you been paying attention? She was at risk of being in serious problems with Schuester because she didn't want to sing a duet with him. I doubt that was in service to him or herself."

"I don't know..." he shrugged. "She's been stringing me along for almost a year and I don't even know if it's worth it anymore."

"Maybe that's not what she was doing," Harmony suggested. "I heard what she said to you back there. That she's been scared of being hurt. Sometimes some people go for what they want, like me with the singing and you with her. But sometimes there are people whose walls are a little harder to break down and those are the people you have to fight a little harder for. Doesn't make them any less worth it."

Ryder thought about this as the song went on inside the auditorium. He turned to Harmony and repeated, "You're kind of crazy."

"I know," she acknowledged it this time. She stood and said, "But I think we both know I'm right and you need to go apologize to the girl you love for being such a jerk to her. All she's done is care about you." She walked away, leaving Ryder to his thoughts. He got up and tried to run to Julie, to tell her how sorry he was for not seeing things in the way Harmony had explained them, but when he went back into the auditorium, Julie's song was starting. He sunk down into one of the seats in the back, next to a middle-aged woman, and watched.