-Coward-

"Wait for it… Billy Idol!" Will looked around the choir room with anticipation, but none of the students seemed excited or impressed. "C'mon guys, Billy Idol. I figured we'd do a week on his second album, and to spice things up…"

"Are you going to have us compete in pairs and the winner wins a dinner at Breadstix?" Tina blurted out.

"Well…"

"Come on, Mr. Shue, that's too old school," Artie groaned.

Wade* snapped his fingers. "Nn nn, Mr. Shue, we need some funk in this room. I'm tired of reenacting the soundtrack of a hillbilly's love life."

"Yes!" Blaine said. The other students agreed.

"Billy Idol is a classic, and I think it would build some appreciation within all of you."

"We would appreciate, Mr. Shue, if we did something more current," said Tina.

"Preach, sista!" Wade fanned himself and the students ganged up on Will.

"More Katy Perry!"

"I want a mashup of Brüno Mars and Michael Jackson."

Sam stomped furiously. "Linkin Park!"

"We should do Beyoncé!" Marley shouted.

"We did Beyoncé a couple weeks ago, though," Jake whispered to her. He was seated beside her, his arm draped around her shoulder. "When we did Diva."

"We need more rock, though," Ryder said. "There's not enough thrill, and rockstars are like scary divas."

"I don't know…" Will wasn't having it.

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Sugar stood in her seat. "Okay, Mr. Shue can pair us up and give each of us a Billy Idol song, then we find a more current song that's similar."

"That's actually kind of brilliant," Blaine said.

"Amen!" Artie shouted. "I'm for it."

"Alright, since you guys are so adamant against poor, defenseless, Billy Idol, I'll let you guys pick a song that matches." Will clapped his hands together. "But, if I don't think your songs match up, I am taking complete control of the set list for Regionals."

"I kind of forgot about Regionals," Jake whispered to Marley.

"Yeah, is that ever going to happen?" She whispered back.

"Alright, everybody pair up. I want to know who's singing with who by rehearsal tomorrow." Will shouldered his laptop case and his clipboard, then he waved at the band members as he left the room. The choir room immediately exploded into noise as the New Directions fought over their partners. Ryder sat, cold in his chair, and his eyes slowly drifted sideways to Jake. He worked on the words carefully, then he turned in his seat.

"Hey, Jake…" Jake looked up at Ryder, wide-eyed and curious.

"Oh, I got it!" Marley interrupted, drawing Jake's attention back to her. "Jake, we could sing Marry the Night."

"Lady Gaga?" Jake made a disgusted frown.

"Yeah, but the song is similar to White Wedding."

"So, we're partners?" Jake asked. Ryder watch the exchange nervously, and he refrained from saying anything.

"Well, I kind of assumed we would be, because, you know…" Marley flashed a bright smile. "But we don't have to be."

"I mean, we have until tomorrow to tell Mr. Shue who we're singing with. It'd be best to think this through." Jake turned to Ryder. "You were going to say something?"

"What?" Ryder blinked.

"Yeah, you just called my name."

"Um—well, it's not really—uh…" Ryder gripped his knee anxiously. I can do this. Just ask. Ryder shook his head. He'd told himself he was not going to. But he really wanted to. Besides, there was—BRAHM BRAHM. Ryder jumped, startled, as his phone went off.

"Whoa, damn that's loud!" Jake winced and Marley covered her ears.

"You're so lucky that didn't go off while Mr. Shue was talking."

"You okay, dude?" Jake watched Ryder swipe through his phone with some concern. Ryder stood quickly and nodded.

"Sure, I gotta go."

"Ryder!" Jake called out in vain.

Ryder left the choir room and started toward his locker as he read the text message. Another update from Katie: How was glee rehearsals, Mega Stud? Ryder grinned and typed back: *Pretty fun. We finllay got Shue to be slightly sell of a hardass. Ryder wandered aimlessly through the halls, smiling again when he got a reply. Huh? Run that by me again? Ryder looked at his past message again and swore. He typed as carefully as he could: Sorry. L's are my worst. I feel so stupid sometimes. He reached his locker and pulled out his Geography and English textbooks, then he got another reply. Don't be sorry, Ryder. You deal with something other people wouldn't understand, yet you still manage. You're not just sweet, or cute, you're brave, too. Gtg! :P Ryder's face glowed, and his eyes felt hot. He was still grinning at the text when he felt the devil's presence behind him.

"Mm, a scandal." Kitty.

Ryder spun on one foot to face her. "Why are you lurking behind me?"

"Besides checking out that grade-d Bieber booty? I needed a reminder that mediocrity can be cute, too."

"What—are you insulting me, or what?"

"Wow, you're slow. Anyway, do you have a duet partner? Or did Jake reject you in favor of the friendly neighborhood vagina?"

"What?" Ryder blushed furiously, though he still didn't understand half of what the girl was saying.

"I'm asking if you want to be my partner for this week's lesson."

"I don't know, I kind of want to weigh my options."

Kitty raised an eyebrow, a move she probably practiced in a mirror to be as scathing as possible. "What options?"

"Um, I'll get back to you on that."

"Sure… Tell Katie I said 'sup'!" She grinned devilishly as she pranced away, parting the crowd in the hallway. Ryder's previous ecstasy had vanished, and now he had an anxious disdain for Kitty, but not so much that he wanted to back out of being her partner. She was right; he didn't have any options. Then he saw Sam in the hallway.

"Hey, Sam!" Ryder ran up to his locker.

"Wassup, mini-me?"

"Mini—whatever. Can I ask you something?"

"I already got you." Sam turned and rolled up his shirt. "The pelvic thrust is how you want to start it. That's what gets the cougars throwing 20s at you."

"Whoa, whoa, what're you talking about?"

"Just a quick pointer for when you start stripping. Personally, I find the fireman costume gets them worked up the best."

Ryder shook his head. "Do you have a partner for this week's lesson?"

"Yup. Me and Brittany are stealing this competition. You freshmen don't have a chance."

"I'm actually a sophomore."

"Then how come you didn't exist until, like, this year." They blinked at each other, and Ryder looked away.

"Anyway, I don't know what to do. Maybe I should just skip out on this lesson."

"Why? The person you wanted to sing with is taken?"

"Kind of…"

"That happens all the time. Even though Brittany is my girl, personally, I like singing with Tina or Blaine. The harmonies just work. My advice is: never skip out. Life's too short." Sam clasped Ryder's shoulder and stepped past him. Ryder looked after him with a frown, feeling as if he was back at square 1. Then he saw Jake sipping from a water fountain, his muscled back stretching as he bent over. Ryder's eyes lit up, and he felt frozen and warm at the same time, like he'd been trapped in a volcanic glacier, images of smiling-Jake scratched into every facet of ice and every tongue of fire.

"Ryder?" Blaine was suddenly blocking Ryder's line of sight.

"Oh, Blaine, hey," Ryder said.

"You okay?"

"Of course."

"Alright… have you seen Sam? He doesn't have a partner yet, does he?"

"Yeah, but I think he wants to sing with you." Ryder suddenly got an idea. "Wait, do you want to be my partner? I've got to be honest, I don't even know who Billy Idol is."

"Google is your best friend, and, um, I'll get back to you on that."

Ryder groaned. "Great, that's what I said to Kitty."

"Why don't you ask Jake to be your partner?"

"Jake?! Why Jake? I mean, I couldn't care less if he was my partner or not, I just want to get the lesson. Why would I pick Jake?"

"… Because you two sing together a lot?" Blaine frowned and rolled his eyes. "Was I this bad around Sam?"

"Huh?"

"It's just an assignment. Go ask your friend if he wants to partner up. Like you've done many times before." Blaine flashed him two thumbs-up, then he slipped past him. Ryder looked at Jake again, who had now turned and returned his gaze. Their eyes locked, and the cheery expression on Jake's face slowly faded, replaced by confusion. Ryder's mind popped like a game of Perfection as he sorted through his memory bank of facial expressions, trying to figure out what in the hell was more appropriate than his gaping, jaw-hanging ogle. But then a pair of slender, pale hands covered Jake's eyes from behind, and Marley's giggling face appeared at his shoulder. The two of them laughed as Jake guessed who she was, then they kissed and walked down the hall. Ryder groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

Forget this stupid assignment, he thought. I'm better off skipping rehearsal for another treatment tomorrow. He'd been meeting with Dr. Chin to work on his dyslexia; most of the exercises conditioned his brain to see things like others saw them. It was exhausting, but better than spending an agonized hour in Glee Club. He was walking by the cafeteria when he saw a flash of blond hair amidst a group of girls. A slashed image of a face through the splayed strands caught his attention, and he spun around. The girls were quickly leaving through the side-door in the cafeteria, where Artie used his ramp, and Ryder ran after them. By the time he crossed the cafeteria and reached the door, they were gone. The crowd of students in the parking lot made his search impossible. Just for a moment, that face… he could've sworn…

She's here? Katie goes to McKinley? Ryder searched desperately through the crowds for flares of golden-blond. No way. That had to be her. He'd be skipping rehearsals, but he was seeking a different kind of treatment: a cure for his iniquitous attraction, and the doctor was the aloof Katie.


* Note that I use masculine pronouns when referring to Wade, but feminine pronouns when referring to Unique. I hope I got that right.

* Also note that some of Ryder's text messages will be a bit scrambled. Here's some trivia for those who don't know: dyslexia isn't an optic disorder, it's a neurological disorder. The eyes work fine, but the brain collects optic data in a different order.

Well guys, this is my very first fanfic. I figured I'd take it slow and try to make something happen in 2 chapters. Be brutally honest with me, folks. – Blackbyrd.