Glee: Back to the Top (the third book in the Glee series)

Chapter 60: On the Open Road

"Either is fine by me," he nodded, considering the two options. "Though if I'm being honest, I'd much rather be outnumbered than outgunned, if you know what I mean."

Squinting her eyes at him, Kitty said, "Are you suggesting a three-some with Shana?"

Vince held out his arms defensively and exclaimed, "You said it, not me!"

Laughing more than she had in weeks, she grabbed a cushion and hit him with it. "I'll just tell them both and Unique to come over here. We can order in, watch movies, play games, and make fun of Joe for being a fifth wheel."

***

???, OHIO

"Are we almost there yet?" Harmony whined, her head on Rory's lap as she sat in the small living room of the RV. After listening to Sam's music for the past fifteen minutes, a back-to-back play of "Ice Ice Baby" and "Baby Got Back," she had a headache that made time feel much slower.

"It's only been, like, forty-five minutes," Marley mumbled, half-asleep on John's arm. "We have more than an hour to go." She turned to Mandy and said, "Where are we?"

Mandy looked up from her magazine, where she was reading about the latest fashion trends, and called out, "Hey babe? Where are we?"

"I don't know!" Sam called out, finally turning down the stereo a bit. "I didn't look at a map."

"Wait, what?" Harmony asked, shooting up in her seat and slapping Ryder across the face in the process. He was in the middle of a chess game with Jake, and nearly knocked all the pieces down on the impact.

Marley also looked up and asked, "Why would you volunteer to drive if you didn't bother looking at a map?"

"I've been to Columbus before!" Sam exclaimed nonchalantly. "We'll be fine. I know how to get there. Jake, you said to get on I-75, right?"

Jake looked up, startled. "No," he said slowly. "I said to go toward I-270... Please tell me we are on I-270."

"Umm..." Sam said softly. "I'd be lying if I said that... Re-routing now! Just, uh, add like another hour to our trip."

John shook his head as Harmony grunted and threw herself down on Rory's lap, hitting Ryder once again. "Are you doing that on purpose?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she responded, shooting back up and hitting him a third time.

"Ok, seriously, is this about—" Ryder began, stopping himself and looking around at everyone.

Harmony crossed her arms and sneered, "About what, Ryder? Please... Share?" Marley looked over at them and raised an eyebrow, too tired to be more than a little dubious. 

"Nothing..." Ryder softly answered. "Never mind." He turned back to his chess game and Harmony made sure to hit him once again when she lied down.

In the back room, where four bunk beds were placed, each against its own wall, Julie sat on the floor, a guitar on her lap. "Ok, you can do this..." she murmured to herself. She began to strum once again but was soon interrupted.

"Are you going to finish up any time soon?" Bree asked her, removing a pair of headphones from her ear. "I came in here to take a nap and the last thing I need to hear is you trying to write about your ups and your downs and 'I was so happy but then I was so sad' or whatever your songs are about. 'I like him, wait, no, he's the one, or no, maybe him.' Which of your first-world problems really makes your insides crawl?"

Julie turned to her and said, "My mom, Bree. My mom died of cancer a year from last week and as I sat by her grave—alone, by the way—I realized it was time to finally dedicate one song to her. But I'm drawing a blank. Is that deep enough for you?"