Just thought you guys would be interested in knowing that the NY story I'd been talking about starting, a spin-off of this Lima one, is up and posted, it's called "Classic New York Roommates" because I couldn't come up with anything better.
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"Congratulations," said Jordan.
"Yeah, congrats, Julie," Carrie added. The two Cheerios walked right past me and I watched them, confused.
"Hey, congrats!" Marley said as she and Unique passed me by.
"You go girl!" Unique exclaimed. What the hell was going on?
"We are so proud of you," said Mr. Schue, as he and his now-pregnant and wife passed by me.
"Great job, Julie, really," Mrs. Schue said softly.
I smiled. I had no idea what they were talking about but it felt great to be congratulated regardless.
"So I guess you've heard," said Bree as she stopped in front of me.
"Heard what?" I said.
"Wait, you don't know yet?" Kitty asked from behind me. I turned to her.
"Know what?" I told her. Kitty grinned widely as Bree rolled her eyes and the two girls led me around the corner and to my locker. There, a giant banner that said CONGRATULATIONS was hanging, splattered with gold, and I was definitely still unsure of what that meant.
"You don't know, do you?" Kitty said.
"You're getting married!" exclaimed Bree.
"What?" I shouted.
I turned and Ryder was there. But then Sam showed up, too. And then Jake. And John. And Dan. And before I knew it, all of the glee guys were there, old and new. They got on their knees and all asked, "Will you marry me?" at the same time, making me scream.
That's when my alarm went off. "What the hell..." I murmured. I looked up at my closet and saw my uniform hanging over the door. I shook my head. "Not wearing that today," I mumbled. I got ready as fast as I could, seeing as I was running late, and waited for Bree to come by and pick me up. John and I weren't talking and I really didn't want to be around Ryder that morning. So I had no choice but to ask the devil for a ride.
"I hope this means we're friends again," she said as I got into the passenger seat.
"This means we're not enemies," I told her. She chuckled and started driving. I couldn't help but laugh with her, seeing as the situation was kind of ridiculous.
"I had a terrible dream," I told Amity as I joined her at her locker. She hadn't switched backpacks, I noticed, so the slushie stain was still there. I could've gone to Marley or Kitty. Even Sugar would've heard me out on my dream. But with Amity, the slate was just so much cleaner. So I talked to her instead.
"Oh yeah?" she responded softly.
"Yeah," I said. "I was getting married but I wasn't sure to who. I just know it was one of the glee guys and it was just insane. Anyway... How was your weekend? I didn't get to talk to you since we were training Marley every second."
"I babysat a lot," she said. "I also went out looking for a job."
"Oh, well, I think they're hiring at the Sugar Shack," I said. "I'm sure Sugar could--"
"Get me a job at the place where everyone from school hangs out?" she said. "No thanks."
"There's nothing wrong with having a job," I said as she closed her locker and I followed her down the hall.
"I know that," she said. "I just like to keep my home life separate from my school life. I'll see you in glee club." She walked off and I suddenly realized who she reminded me of.
***
"Do you think Amity could go work with you?" I asked John as I caught up to him on our way to the choir room in lunch.
"At the shelter?" he said. "That's twenty minutes away. The Sugar Shack is down the street and they're hiring."
"She wants somewhere remote," I said. "Kinda like you did."
"Wait, since when are you talking to me?" he said.
"I'm not," I said. "I'm just trying to help out a friend."
"Oh friend?" he said. "You have those now?"
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Can you get her a job or not?" I asked.
"I'll see what I can do," he said. "Does she like animals?"
"She babysits a lot," I offered.
"Animals?" he asked, confused. We were walking into the choir room, which was mostly full.
"Kids," I answered. He gave me a look so I added, "Oh what's the difference?"
"You don't know what it's like to take care of a kid," he said. "Or an animal for that matter. There's a big difference." He went over to sit with Kitty so I joined Amity and Dan. The two had a lot in common, from being very religious to not being very popular. So they hung out a lot during school and I figured maybe I could make something happen between them. It might be a good distraction from all my drama. But then I realized that my drama started with dating and even those two weren't immune to it. So I chose not to.
"Alright guys," said Mr. Schue once the last person, Bree, walked in. "This week is a bit of a spin-off from the agreement we came to last Friday." He wrote FRIENDSHIP on the white board.
"Friendship?" asked Kitty. "Seriously, Mr. Schue?"
"You know what the biggest shocker was for me last year?" he asked us. "That Santana moved in with Kurt and Rachel. Now imagine what can happen in the next couple of years. Maybe Marley, Unique and Bree all move in together. Or Jake will go on to be John's best man one day or Julie and Joe start dating." What? "There is so much potential in this room, but it goes beyond talent. These walls have proven to have the ability to bring together the most unlikely of people."
"Like Santana and Rachel," said Joe.
"Or Artie and Puck," said Sugar.
"Or Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury," Marley added.
"Exactly," said Mr. Schue with a smile. "Santana used to torture Rachel. Finn dumped Kurt into a garbage dumpster every morning. And Puck used to lock Artie in porta potties. And they all left this school friends. So this week, we're going to put you guys on that path."
"I have a great song about friendship," said John as he stood up. Everyone was pretty surprised, especially Kitty. John hated solos like this.
"Alright great," said Mr. Schue. "Come on up."
John grabbed a guitar and turned back to us, saying, "As you all probably know, I'm probably not the most outgoing person in here. In fact, I might just be the most reserved. But I joined the club because of Kitty and because of my best friend... Julie. Now, things have changed since then and Julie has made a new best friend, ironically in Kitty," Kitty laughed but I didn't see this going in a positive direction, "But I wanted to sing to her because she's the reason I'm even in here."
He started playing a song. And at first I didn't recognize it because it's not usually acoustic, but when he did start singing, I knew what it was. And I was not happy.
John: You change your mind, like a girl changes clothes.
Sugar looked over at me with her mouth open in shock.
John: Yeah, you PMS... Like a.... I would know.
Considering my condition, that was just flat out rude. But at least he censored himself.
John: And you overthink... Always speak critically... I should know that you're no good for me...
I watched in digust as he sang the rest of the chorus. Everyone in the room felt really tense, I could sense it. He was not only insulting me, but he was using my bipolar disorder to do it. So I figured I had to stand up for myself. And that's what I did. I stood.
Julie: We used to be just like twins... So in sync... The same energy now's a dead battery...
He smiled complacently. What?
Julie: Used to laugh 'bout nothing. Now you're plain boring. I should know that you're not gonna change...
He was enjoying himself and I was angry. Just like last spring. Just like when I lost it. I sang the chorus with him as he strummed his guitar and Mr. Schue shook his head with disappointment.
Julie and John: Someone call the doctor...
John: Got a case of love bipolar...
I scoffed at him.
Julie and John: Stuck on a rollercoaster... Can't get off this ride...
I finished the rest of the song, but only because I couldn't let him win. But as soon as he sung the last note, I shook my head at him and left the room.