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

Chapter 61: Enemy

"Wait..." Mandy said, her head suddenly spinning. "What?"

The other girls stayed silent. At this point everyone had found out about the planned engagement, so they'd forgotten that Mandy didn't know and wasn't supposed to know.

"He's proposing?" Mandy asked, excited anxiety preventing her from talking correctly. "Does he—Is he—How do you know?"

"He told her," Bree said, pointing at Julie, "and also said it outloud in front of a few other people, including me."

"Wow..." Mandy said, looking at the ground and then turning to Julie. "I guess I should apologize to you then."

"Why?" Julie asked, her arms crossed.

"For feeling so threatened by you," she sighed. "I thought that he was going to leave me for you because I saw him acting weird any time we ran into you. But I guess now I know why. You were helping him surprise—"

"Oh no," Julie shook her head, smiling even though she felt like punching something. "Don't misunderstand. I was not helping him with this crazy idea of marrying you. In fact, go ahead and un-thank me because I tried to talk him out of it. We all did."

Mandy turned to Marley in surprise, so the latter said, "That's not exactly true. I think you—"

"Stop trying to make her feel like she belongs around us," Julie said to Marley. "She may have fit in with Sam's friends in New York but... She's never going to be a part of this group." Harmony grabbed a water bottle from the mini-fridge, her throat dry, and awkwardly looked at Marley, the two nervous at the sight of Mandy losing her patience.

"Ok," Mandy said, putting her hands down on her lap forcefully. "I was trying to be nice to you. I realize we didn't get off to a great start and that was my fault. I admit to that. But since we met, you've done nothing but insult me and try to drive a wedge between Sam and me on some ridiculous notion that you two will get back together and relive your high school romance but—"

"What?" Julie exclaimed incredulously. "I have not! My behavior towards you has had nothing to do with Sam, other than me looking out for a friend. Ever think that maybe I just don't like you?"

"You know what?" the blonde exclaimed, standing up, "I knew you were a bitch from the moment we first met."

"Likewise," Julie grinned, turning away and staring at the white inner walls of the RV.

Harmony took a deep breath and said, 'Well this is fun... But we should probably talk about something else. Maybe not related to Sam. Like Marley! Marley, how are things between you and John?"

Marley looked up, trying to hide her total frustration at the arguing, and said, "Uh, fine... I guess. We haven't really had a chance to talk about what'll happen now that he's going back to L.A. and I'm moving to Boston."

"I'm sure you can make the long-distance thing work," Harmony nodded reassuringly.

Bree scoffed and said, "Only fools tell themselves that. No, seriously, check the score. Sugar and Rory broke up after she graduated. John and Kitty broke up because he was graduating. Same with Julie and Sam, when it came down to it. Bree and Joe also broke off because of the distance. You can try and I'm not opposed to giving it a shot but—"

"Wait, so what are you and Joe going to do if you're going to New York?" Marley asked curiously.

Bree shrugged and said, "He's going with me."

"Seriously?" Julie asked, shocked. Her friend nodded nonchalantly. 

"We talked about it and we'd rather be with each other," she said. "He's working as a part-time delivery boy right now and his real job is the volunteer work he does so... We figured he could easily start over in New York."