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

Chapter 69: Before Prom

Very short chapter!
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An entire week-- which was dedicated to planning and rehearsing songs for the New Directions to sing at prom, as was tradition-- passed and not much changed. Now it was prom week and that seemed to be what was on everybody's minds.

"I can't believe Shana and Kitty are going to prom together," Amity told Alex as they walked to class between periods. "It's kind of crazy. But really smart. Maybe you and I should go with Unique and Jake."

Alex laughed and said, "I really somehow doubt Jake will agree to me as his date. And there's no way I'll let him take you."

"But Jake's a great dancer," Amity joked, only to have Alex scowl at her. She punched his arm playfully but a scene at the other end of the hallway caught her attention before she could make another joke. "Oh no," she said.

Alex followed her gaze to Dan, who was being heckled at his locker by a few of Ryder's football pals. "These guys sure don't have anything better to do in their off-season," Alex muttered. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Are you kidding?" said Amity angrily, attempting to go help Dan. Alex grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Don't get yourself into trouble with those jerks," he warned. She pulled away from his grasp and turned back to Dan, just as Ryder and John appeared and began arguing with them. Alex and Amity watched from their end of the hallway and when the jocks finally left, their New Directions pals walked out of sight, too.

Amity turned to Alex and hissed, "Why didn't you go help him?"

"We're not really friends," said Alex, shrugging.

"That doesn't mean you should let someone get bullied," Amity shook her head at him angrily. "He's my friend." She walked away from him and he knew better than to stop her. Sighing, he follow behind her to their next class, hoping it would blow over.

It didn't.

By the end of the week, Amity refused to talk to either Dan or Alex until they admitted they were feuding without any good reason. The closest one to caving in was Dan, but he had prom to distract him so he didn't. 

In fact, prom seemed to be distracting everyone-- staff included. Will tried to make Friday a productive day, but even he couldn't focus, so he didn't expect his students to. It was better for World History, since he taught sophomores who were for the most part not attending prom, but for his Environmental Systems juniors and seniors, prom was all the buzz, so she didn't bother teaching.

He didn't trouble himself with hosting a glee club meeting-- the kids were all super distracted and anxious to get home-- so instead he hung out at the teachers' lounge and listened to all of the instructions to prom chaperone team was receiving. He and Emma would be leaving Danny with his parents for the first night, as they had volunteered as chaperones for the sake of the kids. And now they were being instructed to be tyrants to the students, who Principal Hallman was sure would try to get away with something while at the hotel.

"You know," Will said as they got ready for prom later in the afternoon. "I've gotta hand it to Lisa. She may be a little too strict on the kids, but it's nice to have a qualified principal for once. Figgins was a great guy but far too easy to manipulate. And Sue, well... She's Sue."

"I feel kind of bad for her," Emma said as she helped Will adjust his bow-tie. "I mean, Lisa doesn't like her at all and I have a feeling she's only keeping her while she has a winning team. If Sue's Cheerios don't win this year, I can't imagine what'll happen to Sue."

"Their competition is in a week," he responded as she applied a final touch of makeup. "I'm sure Sue's got it all figured out... Ready to go?"

"Give me just a sec..." Emma mumbled, leaning over their vanity mirror. "And there it is. We are looking great, Danny is with your parents, and everything is in order. Let's head out."