09/03/2014: I am currently re-uploading both chapters, and adding another. How long until the next chapter I don't know, but I am currently writing it, so we'll see. I won't apologise for the, um, years delay (whoops), mainly because I tend to get rather busy in-between school, sport and an attempted social life, so I'll basically be doing it more often than not.

Pairings: Marley/OC, Kitty/OC, etc.

Word Count: 4, 216

Rating: T (may change as story progresses)

Chapter 1

Phoenix Kovač slowly began to wake, a yawn escaping her lips as she grumbled, wrapping the duvet further around her body, soaking up the heat. Her room was dimly lit, the faint glow of the rising sun peeking through the curtains and illuminating her guitar resting up against the wall in a far corner.

The sound of footsteps soon pierced her ears, eliciting a groan from the young girl. A second later and the door slammed open, resulting in her turning over, pressing her face into the pillows.

"PHE! WAKE UP!" Her eleven year old brother, Eric hollered before sprinting away again.

Muttering angrily she rolled out of bed (literally), falling to the floor with a loud thud. Groggily she stood up, stretching out with a yawn. She tried running her fingers through her dark brown hair, but kept getting stuck in the knots. She glanced at her bed side radio, seeing the time was 6:00… Why'd she have to get up so freaking early?

Grabbing a pair of shorts from the floor she pulled them on before taking her oversized shirt off and putting on a bra. Pulling the shirt back over her head she exited the room, growling slightly as she covered her eyes from the bright lights. God, she hated mornings.

She passed countless photo frames as she walked down the hall, all of her family. She stopped at one in particular of her grandmother who she called baba, the Croatian term. Her baba was sitting at a table next to Phoenix as they smiled up at the camera. She smiled fondly at the memory. She loved her baba more than anything.

Sighing she moved away and turned the corner before heading downstairs. She missed being back home in New Zealand, more than anything. She wished they could move back, but knew it wasn't an option. Her father had gotten a great job in America, here in Lima, Ohio, the money offered a miracle. He was an environmentalist, and though she couldn't see how Lima could fund that, she couldn't change anything.

She shook the thoughts out of her head, yawning as she walked into the dining room, seeing pancakes already on the table, Eric with three large ones on his plate as he scoffed them down. She wrinkled her nose, not understanding how he could fit so much in his mouth.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before glancing into the kitchen, smiling when she saw her mother bringing over some drinks. She was dressed in her usual blue and white dressing gown and her bob styled blonde hair was bouncing up and down against her shoulders.

"Morning, Mum." Phoenix greeted, taking her seat.

Anya smiled, placing the banana smoothies on the table. "Good morning Phe, have a good sleep?" She questioned as she gave Eric his.

"I would've if I didn't have to wake up so early." She replied, placing a pancake onto her plate and dousing it in maple syrup. Picking up the knife and fork she began cutting the food.

"Well, you have to unless you don't want to make it to school on time."

"Are you saying I can go back to sleep?" Phoenix asked, a grin playing on her lips.

Her mother rolled her eyes before chuckling. "Ha, ha, very funny." She replied, the sarcasm seeping through as she took a seat. "You know, you should be more excited, it's your second week of high school, and so far things seem like they're going good."

Phoenix scoffed half-heartedly. "Me… excited… for school? Are you high?"

"How can she be high? She's sitting in the seat." Eric interrupted and Phoenix looked at him, eyes widening at the sight. He had maple syrup dribbling down his chin, and chocolate syrup covering his face.

"Not only are you dumb, but you look like you've just been rubbing your face in your food this entire time." She replied. "Ow!" She yelped, feeling him kick her hard in the shin.

"I'm not dumb! I'm special! Mum said so."

"I bet she did." Phoenix laughed, smirking at her mother who was simply shaking her head.

"Stop riling him, Phe."

After breakfast, it took Phoenix no longer than ten minutes to get ready for school. She'd made sure to pack some lunch, a change of clothes, her text books and sketchbook. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she walked into the living room wearing an old pair of jeans and a black one-sleeved t-shirt.

"Eric, hurry up!" She yelled up the stairs, slipping on a pair of shoes, wanting to leave already. They had a half an hour bike ride, Phoenix having to drop Eric off first. Since her father had to take the car into the city every day for work, they were left to walk. "If you make me late I will take all my Selena Gomez posters back and stick the Bieber ones all over your room."

"You wouldn't dare!" He screeched, running down the stairs, his cropped light brown hair greasy.

"You wanna bet?" She replied before frowning. "I thought I told you to have a shower."

"I did!" He protested.

She scoffed, "not very well it seems."

He whacked his bag against her stomach and she growled. "Stop the violence."

"You two have to leave now or you'll both be late for school." Her mother told them, walking into the room. "Eric! You look horrible!" She groaned, running up to him with another shirt fresh out of the laundry. "Here, wear this that one's stained." She told him, helping him to take his shirt off and slipping the other one on.

"Thanks Mum." He smiled, hugging the taller woman.

"No problem, have a good day at school." She told him, pulling away.

"See yah later, Mum." Phoenix told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the door. "C'mon Eric, we gotta leave now. And get your bike out of the garage." She spoke, opening the door and leaving the house.

Fifty minutes later after dropping Eric off, she'd finally made it to McKinley. She had a pained expression on her face, no doubt from Eric having forced her to walk into the school with him. The boy had insisted on introducing her to his friends. Friends, she laughed at the thought. She'd awkwardly said hi to a couple of boys he'd introduced her to and they instantly started flirting with her. She wasn't even sure she could call it flirting.

She shivered at the thought, especially when four other boys had joined in. It had taken her ten minutes to escape and make a run for her bike. Next time there was no way she was going to go in with him. She was pretty sure she was scarred for life, their so-called pickup lines nauseating

Hopping off her bike, she pushed it into the bike rack, twisting the lock around it before heading into the building and past groups of teenagers. The bell was going to ring any minute now and she had to get to the other side of the school first, where her locker was. Picking up her pace she dodged students as she sprinted down the halls, not wanting to be late for class, which would no doubt earn her a detention.

"Hi, Phoenix!" A voice called out to her and she briefly looked to the side to see Joe Hart smiling as he waved.

"Hey, Joe!" She called back, before continuing on.

Joe was a junior and a guy she'd met at a god squad meeting. It's not like she wanted to join the squad, but her dad had insisted, since he was really religious, unlike her; she couldn't be any less. She'd taken after her mother in that department, who was not religious in the slightest.

She quickly dodged a football hurdling towards her and skidded on the floor before coming to a halt in front of her locker. Putting in her combination she flung it open, taking out her books and dumping them on the floor, the bell ringing as she did so. Groaning she zipped open her bag, taking out her books and pencil case before stuffing it in her locker and closing it.

Picking up the books she turned and headed for the other side of the school towards her class.

Stupid brother and his pervy friends.

It was lunch and Marley Rose was currently in line at the cafeteria getting her food. She was in a relatively good mood, her day going well so far. But she couldn't help but feel slightly down now that it was lunch, knowing she was going to get some jibes by some jocks about her mum. She didn't care if they constantly teased her or not, but she hated it when they said anything bad about her mother.

They had no right, they knew nothing about her, didn't know what her life was like, so why'd they have to insult someone they didn't even know?

"Hi, Marley." A voice said from beside her, and she turned her head to see Tina Cohen-Chang, a member of the schools glee club, like herself.

Marley smiled. "Hey, Tina." She said with a slight chirrup. Ever since the glee club had apologised to her about insulting her mother, they'd been nothing but nice to her, something Marley wasn't used to, but warmly welcomed.

Marley noticed Tina was about to say something when someone else spoke, causing the girls to turn and watch as two jocks, Bobby Surette and Phil Lipoff laughed at Marley's mum.

"Is that all I get Jumbo? Why so stingy?" Bobby asked, smirking as he gave his friend a high five.

Marley tightened her grip on her tray before placing it down and taking a step toward them. A hand on her shoulder halted her and she looked questioningly at Tina who was shaking her head.

"They must let you eat all those leftovers, huh?" Phil piped up, laughing.

Marley looked to her mother who had her head downcast. By now a good majority of the cafeteria had noticed what was going on and were watching, some even laughing along every now and then.

"Quit it, that's my mum." Marley interjected, stepping in front of the much taller boys.

"Whoa, you came outta that?" Phil asked.

Bobby looked at her with a raised brow before smirking. "You know I've been wondering something." He taunted, taking a step forward. "Are you an only child or do you have a twin who's still in there?"

Before Marley could say anything someone else spoke first. "Why don't you idiots leave them alone?"

Marley couldn't help but feel shocked. Had someone just stood up for them? No one ever did that, not even the glee club, except for maybe Sam, but the distinctly feminine voice certainly wasn't his.

"You know, we need a float, why don't we just ride her?" Phil asked, oblivious to the girl.

"Did I stutter?" She asked, stepping in-between Marley and Bobby. "'Cause I thought I told you two back off."

The girl was Marley's height and had her shoulders squared threateningly at the jocks. Though Marley had no idea who she was, she was grateful she was sticking up for them.

"Go on, scram." The girl told them, and Bobby simply shrugged.

"C'mon Phil, let's leave these freaks to themselves." Bobby spoke before turning and heading off to a table with Phil and sat next to Kitty who'd watched the entire exchange, her eyes glued to the mystery girl.

"Thank you for defending me and my mother." Marley spoke shyly, the girl turning around. Marley's breath caught in her throat ever so slightly, her stunning bright blue eyes and sheer beauty catching her off guard.

She smiled kindly. "No problem; they have no right to treat either of you that way."

Marley smiled shyly, wringing her hands together. She couldn't help but take notice to her accent, finding it cute and unique. She wondered if it was Australian, but it didn't sound quite like theirs, and she didn't have the courage to ask.

"I'm Phoenix by the way, what's your name?" The girl questioned.

Marley couldn't help but think such a beautiful name fitted an equally beautiful girl. "I'm Marley."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Marley; I guess I'll see you around sometime." Phoenix replied, her eyes sparkling. With that she said a quick "bye", before heading off into the masses of students.

Marley smiled before turning around, and picked up her tray, Tina looking at her curiously. She looked up at her mum, smiling sweetly at her.

Her mother smiled back, placing the food onto her tray. Ms Rose was more than thrilled someone had stuck up for her daughter. Even though Marley's friends didn't bother saying anything, a complete stranger had the courage to. She was beginning to grow some faith in this school.

Katarina Smythe, known as Kitty sat at a table in the cafeteria, the protein shake in hand that Coach Sylvester forced upon the cheerio's, resting on her lips. Most, if not all the students at McKinley, scarce Bobby didn't know her full name. She liked thinking of herself as Madonna, Cher or Rihanna in that sense.

She was currently laughing along with her friends. The smile on her lips and laugh in her throat were both fake though, none of the idiots being able to tell a decent joke. And obviously they weren't really her friends. She couldn't care less for any of them, beside Bobby, to be honest.

Her thoughts as she laughed along were somewhere else. She was thinking about the brunette who'd stood up for the girl with the whale of a mother. She was absolutely stunning and Kitty couldn't help but feel drawn to her. Plus, she was brave, standing up to Bobby and Phil like that.

Though she knew Bobby couldn't hurt a fly, no one else did, and everyone feared he'd smack them up if they messed with him, but not her. It was like she didn't give a fuck about who he was. She had to give her props for that.

Kitty simply shook her head, wondering to herself why she was even thinking about her. She was obviously a loser, since she'd stepped up for one.

"Kitty…" A voice spoke and Kitty looked up, her eyes finding Sandra, another cheerio. "Are you even listening?"

"What?" She asked, slightly confused.

"Kit, she asked if you'd thought of a plan to kick Brittany out of head position." Bobby laughed, clearly amused by his friend.

Kitty glared half-heartedly at him before shrugging. "I don't know, but she'll be gone soon enough."

"How can you be so sure?" Bobby replied, clearly trying to test her patience.

"Because I'm better than that whore." She spoke smoothly, staring at Bobby who smirked.

"Better at what exactly?"

The entire table gasped. They'd never seen anyone speak back to Kitty like that.

She levelled him with a solid glare as he stared back with a raised brow. She blew some air out, knowing she could never get mad at her friend. They'd known each other since they were in third grade and knew how to get under each other's skin, even if they knew they couldn't affect the other.

Kitty simply smirked. "Well, I actually know my left from right and can spell my name correctly without having to ask for help. Oh yea and I can dance my way around her any day."

"Amen to that." Bobby replied, bumping her shoulder with his own.

Everyone watched in a stunned silence as she broke out into a genuine smile.

Marley stood at her locker, taking out her books for history, probably one of her least favourite subjects, but had a smile placed firmly on her face. She was still in shock from the beginning of lunch. No one ever stood up for her, not even her supposed friends, despite Sam or sometimes Blaine if he was there.

"Baby whale, did your whale of a mother beach before or after you came flying out?" A voice mocked and Marley looked down, clenching her fists. Why did they have to come after her? "I'm talking to you baby whale, answer before I slushy your ugly arse."

Marley took a deep breath, slowly turning around to come face to face with both Phil and Bobby, Kitty standing next to them with a wicked grin on her face.

"What? Too stupid to understand me?" Phil laughed, the slushy in his hand swirling around, taunting her. If they were going to slushy her, why couldn't they just skip to it and leave out the insults? "Your momma eat your brains too?"

Marley simply furrowed her brows. That was… that was just gross.

Bobby clearly thought the same, punching Phil in the arm. "That's just foul, man." He said shaking his head.

"Okay, you're boring me now; just slushy her or I'll be late for class." Kitty spoke in an overly sweet voice, bored. She was pretty sure she had algebra with the girl from lunch next.

Marley squeezed her eyes shut as soon as the words fell from Kitty's lips and instantly felt the cold sticky, clumpy beverage impact her face, burning her skin. She kept her eyes shut for a few seconds and bit her lip, realising it was grape. Damn, she hated grape, and it was probably the hardest to get out of her clothes.

As she opened her eyes she could hear the laughter resonating throughout the halls, and tears began to prickle at the lids of her eyes. She turned, shoved her books into her locker, took out a clean shirt and slammed it shut before running towards the nearest bathroom.

She ran past the students who were all watching her, laughing at the sight of the poor girl with the lunch lady mum. Opening the door to the girl's bathroom she walked inside, tears already beginning to cascade down her cheeks. She placed her top beside the sink, resting her hands delicately to either side as she looked into the mirror. One of the slushies' had been directly aimed at her face, while the other on her shirt. Luckily it wasn't one she really liked or else she was screwed.

She always wondered why people bullied others. Was it the need to feel power? To fit in? To hide their own insecurities? Or were they just naturally cruel? Marley shook her head, she didn't believe anyone could be truly mean for the sake of it, they had to have a reason, whether it made sense or not.

The sound of the door opening broke her out of her thoughts and she turned to watch as Phoenix walked in.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Phoenix asked before shaking her head. "Okay, stupid question, it's obvious." She said, walking over. "Looks like they got ya real good."

Marley took her hands away from the sink, biting her lip as she looked down slightly. "Yea."

"Here, let me help you." She piped back up.

The bell rang before Marley could reply. Sighing she spoke back up, "It's okay, you don't want to be late for class."

"It's no worries, I can't stand algebra anyway. The numbers hurt my head." She laughed, smiling at her. "Here, how 'bout you sit in this chair, even though I have no idea what it's doing in a bathroom." Phoenix said, pulling up a chair that'd been carelessly tossed on the floor.

Marley did as instructed and looked up at Phoenix as she turned a tap on. Marley traced the outline of her body with her eyes, captivated by her. She'd never met someone who was willing to actually stand up for or help her. Everyone usually left her behind, not bothered to help pick the pieces – except her.

"Okay, close your eyes while I clean your face, it hurts like hell if they get in your eyes, I know from experience." Phoenix spoke, and Marley watched as she bent down in front of her, placing a bunch of paper towels next to her on the floor.

"Wait… you've been slushied?" Marley asked, surprised. She couldn't believe anyone could slushy such a beautiful girl.

"Yep, but it didn't end well for the culprit. I may have "accidentally" kneed him in the crotch." She said shrugging. "He got it right in my eyes too and it still hurts." She said. "And we wouldn't want that happening to you."

Marley blushed before closing her eyes. The first thing she felt was the soft dabbing of the paper against her skin, careful not to scratch her. She could feel Phoenix's fingers gently brush against her chin, wiping off the sticky substance.

Nearly ten minutes later and Phoenix had finally gotten the slushy remnants off Marley's face and out of her hair. "There we go." Phoenix said, picking up all the paper towels covered in slushy and dumping them in the bin.

Marley watched as she did so. "Thank-you so much for the help." She smiled, standing up and pushing the chair to the side. "Now I just have to change my shirt." She said, looking down at the state of her current one. There was a large chunk of slushy clumped on her chest, and it had dripped down.

Phoenix picked up her shirt and handed it to Marley.

Marley quickly took off her shirt, almost gagging as she pulled it over her head before putting the clean one on. It'd take her days to wash that out.

"Well, I better be going before my teacher bites my head off." She heard Phoenix say, and looked up to see the girl leaning against the sink before pushing herself off.

"Me too." Marley said, looking to her watch, realising they'd already missed 15 minutes. "Again, thank you so much for helping me."

"S'all good." Phoenix replied, walking to the door and opening it, holding it for Marley who was quick to walk out. "So what do you have?"

"History." She answered, walking with her towards her locker.

"Well have fun; I have to get my books." Phoenix said, walking backwards when Marley reached her own locker.

"Bye." Marley called out as Phoenix turned the corner, and she heard her yell it back.

Marley smiled, opening her locker and taking out her books. Maybe this school wasn't so bad after all.

Kitty sat in algebra, twirling her pen, a frown firmly planted on her face. She'd been sure she had this class with the girl from lunch. She vaguely remembered her sitting at the desk in front of her; which was currently empty. Maybe she's late; she wondered to herself, looking to her watch to see it was 20 minutes into the lesson. Who was 20 minutes late to class?

Her thoughts were cut off when the sound of the door opening caught the entire classes' attention and in walked the girl, going to the teacher with a late slip. YES! She internally cheered… wait… I don't care if she's here or not… She thought to herself, crossing her arms.

She watched as the girl took the seat in front of her, confirming her suspicions. Kitty wondered to herself what she was like. From what she could tell, she already knew she was willing to stick up for people and was brave. For some reason though, she had a strange feeling she wanted to know more about her.

Kitty pushed the thoughts aside though, mentally kicking herself for being an idiot. She didn't care about this… this… loser… this, freak. She scowled, she was thinking too far into this, she just needed to cool down and relax before she got a migraine.

"Hey, Mum!" Marley greeted, bouncing happily into the school's kitchen, a massive smile on her face. Despite the fact that she'd been slushied and insulted today, she was pretty sure she'd made a new friend.

"Hi pumpkin, what's got you in such a good mood?" Her mother, Trisha asked with a smile as she cleaned the dishes. She loved seeing her daughter happy; it always brightened her own day.

"You know that girl who defended us at lunch?"

Her mother nodded.

"Well, after I was slushied earlier she helped me get cleaned up. I just can't believe someone's actually helping me, no one does that." Marley spoke, smiling happily as she jumped up and sat on the bench.

Trisha looked up at her daughter who had a content look on her face. She honestly hadn't seen her so happy in a long time, it was amazing. Her daughter had a smile that could light up a room, and it was nice to see her finally using it again. "This girl seems lovely. I'm glad to hear that you have someone to help you. You're a shining star and whenever you're down it's like the world is being robbed of such a beautiful light."

Marley blushed, "thanks mum."

"What's this mystery girl's name anyways?"

"Phoenix." Marley replied.

"Well, now, that's one hell of a name. It's quite beautiful… unique." Trisha spoke, nodding her head as she let the water drain from the basin.

"Yea, it is."