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

Chapter 66: Getting Involved

"Wait, what?" he stopped her.

"She's totally got the hots for John," she rolled her eyes. "Keep up. It's like the girl's got a censor for taking anything that's mine."

Jake rolled his eyes. "And your point?" he said, not believing what she'd said about Marley.

"Right," she continued. "I realized that the Jake Puckerman I knew would not have given up on Julie so easily. So what's your angle?"

"There's no angle," he shrugged. "I had a tiny little crush on her and I impulsively kissed her but that's it."

"See, this morning I might've believe you," she told him. "But after seeing you dance with her I know that not only are you still into her, but your raging Puckerman hormones are worse than ever."

Jake looked at her with an amused smile and said, "Are you done?"

"No!" she exclaimed, hitting the center console in frustration. "Tell me why you won't just fight for her!"

"Because she's better off without it!" he cried, sighing. "She's better off without me..."

"Not that I disagree..." she admitted. "But when has that ever stopped you? Nobody wanted you to chase after Marley and that only made you want her more?"

"And look how great that turned out," he muttered. "Look, Kitty, I appreciate what you're trying to do-- actually, I'm not really sure what you're trying to do. But the thing is that she and Ryder are always going to go back to each other and getting in between them would be the dumbest thing I could do. She's not Marley."

"And you're not the same Jake you were sophomore year," she said. "I'm not telling you to steal her away from Ryder because as nauseating as they may be, they're cute together and right now she needs him and what he can offer her. And same goes for him. All I'm saying is that you need to stop thinking that you'll never be good enough for her."

"How--?" he began.

"Please, I can read you like a book," she said. "I know how you think and I know what you do. Lash out, fight with everyone, feel bad, think you're terrible, and cycle repeats on and on. Look, she needs all of us right now, Jake. And you choosing to be a martyr and to keep your distance from her is about the worst thing you can do. So think about what it is you're giving up because you're right... She's not Marley. Now get out of my car Nipples."

He sighed, doing as she said and watching as she drove away.

***

"I got chills and they're multiplying," Dan mumbled as he met up with Harmony the following day. "You look fantastic."

"I wasted so much time," she said, looking up at him. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, never really sure what she was talking about.

"Trying to lead glee club," Harmony told him. "When I should've been trying to lead the school..."

Dan's face contorted into a confused expressions as he said, "But we had an election and you weren't even in Lima at the time."

She rolled her eyes. "Not as student body president," she said. "Answer me this, how many friends do you have?"

"Plenty," he said.

"Outside of glee club?" she asked. When he didn't answer she said, "Exactly. Nothing against Mr. Schue or New Directions but we spend way too much time in glee club for anyone's own good. We all date each other, have lunch with each other, hang out with each other. Most of us don't have many friends outside of glee club. Just the Cheerios and the God Squad people and that's only because they're forced to interact with other people."