"You have got to be kidding me," was the first thing Kitty Wilde said out of her mouth when Will Schuester pulled her name out to sing a song with Ryder Lynn.
"Can't I sing with someone else? What about Marley?" Ryder asked. Ryder has been fighting with Jake Puckerman for Marley Rose's affections since Grease. It's been three weeks since then.
"No. You two will be singing together, and that's final," said the glee club director, using his rare stern voice.
Kitty rolled her eyes, while Ryder sighed and looked over to see Marley giving him a comforting smile before Jake shot him a smug look since he was the one that got picked to sing the duet with Marley.
Ten minutes later, Kitty emerged from the choir room, her high pony swinging behind her, along with her skirt. She headed straight for her locker. She spun in the combination number and opened it. The first thing she saw was the giant that was Ryder Lynn standing behind her through the mirror reflection.
She jumped and spun around to face him. "Sweet Virgin Mary, you're like a goddamn ninja, or something," she said.
Ryder gave her one of his small smiles. "Sorry, I just want to talk to you about the duet we have to sing," he said, apologizing.
Kitty shut her locker and started walking down the hallway. She rolled her eyes as she saw Ryder following her. "I work better by myself, so working with you will be useless," she said.
"Well, whether you like it or not, and I know that you don't like, we have to work together," Ryder said.
Kitty sighed. She placed a hand on Ryder's chest, Jesus H. Christ, it's like a wall, she thought. "Alright fine, I have Cheerio practice until four. You have football till what? Five? Pick me up at the Lima Bean and then we can go to your house, or mine, whatever," Kitty said.
Before Ryder could say anything, she left, leaving him watching her go, her skirt and ponytail swinging in unison.
Kitty sat down at an empty table at the Lima Bean with her iced latte. She took a sip and set it back down. She started playing with her phone.
"Hey," Ryder's voice sounded behind her. She turned around in her chair as she saw him limp over to her. She noticed a pack of ice was wrapped around his bare foot.
"What the hell happened to you?" she said, Ryder was surprised with the sincerity in her voice.
"You know, football. Ready to go?" he asked. He obviously didn't seem to care about his foot, which was a surprise to Kitty.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah, let's go. I figured we could go to my house, but I think it'll be better to go to your now, because of you're foot and all," Kitty suggested, but Ryder waved it off.
"It's cool. We can still go to yours," he said as Kitty picked up her things.
The two made their way out of the café, and despite Ryder's injury, he held the door open for Kitty.
The two teens walked down the basement steps, with Ryder hopping down on one foot. "Sorry it's a little messy, the people my mom hires to clean the house very rarely clean down her," Kitty said about her rather spotless basement.
Her statement caused Ryder to snort, but he rather not say what he was thinking. "Let's just get started," Ryder said, sitting down on the couch, putting his backpack on the coffee table. He pulled a laptop out of the big pocket.
Kitty sat down next to him, rather uncomfortably. She pulled off her Cheerio sweater, which revealed a large bruise on her bicep. "Kitty, what is that bruise from on your arm?" Ryder asked.
"Don't worry about it," Kitty advised him.
"I would rather worry about it, Kitty. That looks nasty. How long have you had it?" Ryder persisited.
"I told you to not worry about it," Kitty said, dryly.
"If I tell you how I injured my foot, will you tell me how you got that bruise?" Ryder bargained.
Kitty bit her lip, not sure to take the deal or not. "Alright, fine," she agreed.
"Okay, so today in football, we were doing this drill in football where the receiver has to catch the ball and go through this really weird obstacle course, I guess you could call it," Ryder started, "So I'm halfway through the course and this dude, comes at me like a bat out of hill, and I duck out of the way, but I knock over the water cooler and it lands right on my foot."
Kitty can't help her self not to laugh. Ryder smiles. He stares at Kitty, he never seen her genuinely happy before. She stopped laughing and saw Ryder staring at her. "What are you looking at me like that for?" she asked him, her bitchy tone injected in.
"Anyways," Ryder said, avoiding the question. "So how did that bruise get on your arm?"
"I was helping my dad fix his desk and one of the legs popped off and landed on my arm," Kitty said.
Ryder saw the truth in her eyes: bullshit. Ryder knew that bruise wasn't from a desk leg, but rather from a man's grip. Her father probably did that to her, Ryder thought to himself.
Kitty walked Ryder up to his front door when she drove him home from her house. The two didn't' pick a song to sing yet, but they agreed to meet during lunch the following day.
"Did you and your dad finish that desk?" Ryder asked.
"What your talking about?" Kitty asked him. She totally forgot that story she told about the bruise on her arm.
"That desk that you and your dad were working on. You know, when you got that bruise," Ryder said, cryptically telling Kitty he knew all along that she was lying.
"Oh, right! Sorry, I had a brain fart," Kitty said with a laugh. "We finished it. It's ugly as shit, though. I don't know why I helped my dad out with it in the first place."
"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, I guess?" Ryder asked.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Kitty said.
The two exchanged small smiles as goodbyes, and Kitty walked back to her car. Kitty slammed the door shut after climbing into the car. She quickly pulled her make up bag out of her back pack and easily covered the bruise on her arm. The make up she used to cover it up earlier must have sweated off during cheer practice.
Once Kitty knew that the bruise was fully covered she drove off. She thought she was safe.
She didn't notice Ryder watch her from a window covering up the bruise.
The next day at school, Ryder noticed that Kitty would avoid him the best that she could. Lunch soon rolled around, and Ryder found himself playing with his pencil, waiting for Kitty to arrive.
Ryder waited till the end of the period, and Kitty never showed up. Ryder was angry; not because Kitty stood him up, but because the fact that she lied to him the previous night.
Kitty was gathering things for her next class when her locker was slammed shut by Ryder. Kitty jumped, and so did many other people in the hallway. She wasn't able to produce any words when Ryder dragged her into the near by boy's restroom.
"Let go of me, you crazy ass!" Kitty yelled, pulling her arm away after being pulled in the restroom. "What's your problem?"
"What's my problem, Kitty? You are. I stayed in the library the whole lunch period waiting for you, and that's besides the fact that you lied to my face last night, when you told me how you got that bruise," Ryder said.
"I didn't lie," Kitty argued.
"Then why did you cover it up with make up after you dropped me off?" Ryder asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kitty said, rolling her eyes.
Ryder scoffed. He licked his thumb, and ran it down Kitty's arm, where the bruise is. She winced at the pain and at the truth being shown.
Kitty shoved Ryder's hand away from her arm and then said, "Jesus Christ, alright! I got a bad grade on my test and my dad grabbed me. It's no big deal."
"Kitty, that's abuse! No ifs or buts about it," Ryder argued.
Two days past since that encounter in the boy's restroom, and it was the day that Ryder and Kitty had to sing in front of the glee club.
"Alright, Ryder and Kitty, you two are up," said Mr. Schuester.
Kitty sighed, almost annoyed, when she got up, while Ryder strode to the front of the room.
"Tell us about the song you two chose," said Mr. Schuester.
Ryder gave Kitty a sideways glance, she wouldn't even look at him, before saying, "It sort of fit our situation, I guess."
"Alright, let's hear it," said the glee club director, nodding.
Ryder clear his throat as the music began.
RYDER
Haven't seen you since high school
Good to see you're still beautiful
Gravity hasn't started to pull
Quite yet I bet you're rich as hell
KITTY
One that's five and one that's three
Been two years since he left me
Good to know that you got free
That town I know was keeping you down on your knees
RYDER
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
RYDER AND KITTY
It's good to let you in again
You're not alone in how you've been
Everybody loses, we all got bruises
We all got bruises
RYDER
Have you seen him?
KITTY
Not in years
How about her?
RYDER
No but I hear
She's in Queens with the man of her dreams
KITTY
Funny back then she said that about you
Que sera you'll never guess who I saw
Remember Jakey P.?
RYDER
Remember him we were best friends practically
Let's do this soon again,
KITTY
Ten years is that what it's been?
KITTY AND RYDER
Can't believe how time flies by
RYDER
Leaving you makes me want to cry
KITTY AND RYDER
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
It's good to let you in again
You're not alone in how you've been
Everybody loses, we all got bruises
We all got bruises
RYDER
I would love to fix it all for you
Ryder looked over to his duet partner to see her eyes swell up in tears. Kitty knows that Ryder means the words he's singing.
KITTY
I would love to fix you too
RYDER AND KITTY
Please don't fix a thing whatever you do
RYDER
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
It's good to know you've got a friend
That you remember now and then
Everybody loses
KITTY AND RYDER
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
It's good to let you in again
You're not alone in how you've been
Everybody loses, everybody loses, everybody loses
We all got bruises, we all got bruises, we all got bruises.
The glee club erupted into cheers, but Kitty didn't care. Her swelling eyes quickly turned into unclogging faucets, and tears were streaming down her face. She ran out of the room.