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

Chapter 61: Enemy

"Pretty soon he'll have that..." John muttered, taking a small gulp.

All of the other guys looked up. "Wait, you're going to ask her to marry you?" Jake asked curiously.

Sam turned to them and sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small little box. "I carry it with me everywhere," he explained softly. "Waiting for the right place... The right time... The right moment..."

"Congrats, man," Ryder said, patting him in the back.

"Yeah," John said, lifting up his bottle. "Cheers." The guys all watched as he continued to drink, not even bothering to fake a smile for his pal.

***

With Julie's strumming getting louder in the backroom, Bree stopped midsentence and turned around to shout, "That sucks even more than the last one!"

Julie strummed more so Mandy turned to Bree and said, "That sounds pretty good."

"It sounds amazing," Bree agreed. "But I'm mad at her."

Marley smiled, rolling her eyes. Then she suddenly had an idea. "Julie?" she called out.

The strumming stopped. "Yes, Marley?" Julie responded. 

"Can you come out here?" she asked.

Harmony turned to her and whispered, "What are you doing?"

Marley nodded reassuringly and called out, "Bring your guitar."

The other girls stayed quiet for a moment, waiting, until Julie finally came out of the room. "It's like you have secret powers," Harmony whispered to Marley.

"It's called being nice," the latter responded. She turned to Julie and said, "You were working on something? Play it. Maybe we can help."

Julie began to strum hesitantly until Bree stopped her. "Ok, let's just get one thing out of the way," she said. "Who is it?"

"Who is what?" Julie asked, confused. 

"Who is the song about?" Bree asked. "Your boyfriend, her boyfriend," she pointed at Mandy, " or Marley's maybe? Mine?"

Julie looked down at her guitar so Mandy cleared her throat and said, "It's ok, you know? If it's about Sam... I know you two had a history and—"

"You don't know anything," Julie snapped at her.

"Julie—" Marley began, beginning to think her idea wasn't that good. She thought maybe if they all worked together they could get along. But they hadn't gotten to the first line without the claws coming out.

"No," Bree stopped her. "Let her run her mouth. I'm sure something interesting will come of it."

"Yeah, unlike the garbage that comes out of your mouth," Julie retaliated. 

"Do I need to kick your ass again?" Bree retorted.

Julie laughed harshly and said, "I'm not the one that ended up on the floor."

"Ok, enough!" Marley exclaimed. "Seriously, this was supposed to be a fun trip! We ditched school only to end up stuck in an RV fighting it out? Why do you all have to tear each other down? If you would take a moment to breathe and think, just a little, you'd realize how alike we all are and maybe even learn to appreciate each other a little more."

"I appreciated Bree," Julie said, her voice much calmer. "Until she didn't get one stupid solo and decided to tear everyone else down because she was booty hurt."

"Booty hurt?" Bree asked, crossing her arms. "The only one bitter here is you, Julie. Bitter because Sam's asking her to marry him and not you."