She couldn't help herself. She had to go see if he was okay. Wait – of course he wasn't okay! A person he called a friend betrayed him and made him fall in love with some sort of online fantasy.
Kitty found herself hunting down Ryder through the halls of the high school after Unique and Marley rushed out after him when he first stormed out of the choir room after Marley "admitted" to catfish-ing him.
The blonde cheerleader found the boy she was looking for sitting alone on the auditorium stage. She didn't say anything when she sat down next to him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be glee rehearsal?" he asked her. Kitty could hear the tears forming in his eyes.
"Mr. Schu let us out early after everything went down," Kitty said.
"Perfect," was all Ryder could say. "You know I can't go back. Not after what Unique and Marley did to me."
"I know. But don't forget Ryder, just because two people betrayed, doesn't mean anyone else is going to," Kitty said, looking at Ryder. Kitty wasn't expecting to catch eye contact with Ryder, but she was happy that she did.
"You know this is the first time we talked since the library. Just the two of us," Ryder said, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards.
"Oh, I know," Kitty said, smiling slightly. Ryder grinned, which caused Kitty to let out a low sigh. "Look, Ryder, there's something I have to tell you. Me and Artie are together."
Ryder's jaw opened a few centimeters, shocked. Together. He then put on a stoic expression, and locked his jaw. "For how long?"
"Stevie Wonder week," Kitty said, her voice getting into a nervously-high pitch.
Ryder looked away, all he could say was, "Oh. I better get going. I'm not in glee any more, so I guess I can get more homework done." Ryder stood and started to walk off stage.
"Ryder, wait!" Kitty yelled after him, chasing after him. Ryder turned to face her. Kitty noticed the tears were closer to flowing down his cheeks now. "Look, I know that you're hurting, but you can't quit now. We need you." Ryder smiles slightly. He did wish that "we" was a different pronoun.
TWO WEEKS LATER
"Yes. We are officially, publicly, shockingly, a thing!" Kitty exclaimed before grabbing Artie by the cheeks and kissing him on the lips in front of the glee club, cheered on by the fellow glee club members – all but Ryder, that is.
He sat in his chair, behind Marley and Jake, his arms crossed, looking upset at this situation. He was glad the bell rang soon after the kiss, because he was one of the first people out of the door.
Ryder hoped he escaped any one from glee club as he walked down the hallway, but when he felt the firm grip of Jake's hand on his shoulder push him into the boy's restroom, Ryder knew he was in some deep waters.
"What the hell was that in the choir room today, dude?" Jake said, blocking the exit to the restroom, crossing his arms.
"What are you talking about, dude?" Ryder said, crossing his arms as well.
"You looked more depressed than the people in depression commercials when Kitty told everyone she and Artie were dating," Jake said.
Ryder groaned and leaned his forehead against the wall opposite Jake. "How long did you know?" Ryder asked his best friends.
"Basically ever since you rejoined the New Directions so quickly," Jake said, walking over to his friend, patting him on the shoulder. "By the looks of it dude, it seems that they just got together. There's still a chance."
Ryder let out a sigh. "Doubt it," he said.
Jake rolls his eyes and counters with, "Just sing her a Beatles songs. Everyone loves the Beatles."
And with that, Jake disappeared back into the McKinley High School hallways.
"Is it just me and you, or something?" Kitty asked as she walked into the gymnasium, while Ryder was carrying foldable tables to and fro.
"I guess so," Ryder said, trying to act as cool as he could. He set down a table and started unfolding the legs. Kitty tossed her backpack onto a table. She signed up for Prom Committee because she thought it was going to be easy and would look good on her college applications. Little did she know that she actually had to work. "Now that you're hear, we can test out the microphones."
Ryder stood and lead Kitty over to the microphone controls just off the stage. "Alright we gotta make sure that the mics are okay for the glee club to sing with. I'm going to go sing a little bit, and tell me if they work okay, got it?" Ryder asked her.
"Sounds easier than it actually is," Kitty said with her ever-so-confident smirk.
"Alright, let's get it started," Ryder said with a grin. He flicked on the music and the microphone and hurried on stage.
RYDER
I've just seen a face
I can't forget the time or place
Where we just met
She's just the girl for me
And want all the world to see
We've met, mmm-mmm-m'mmm-mmm
Had it been another day
I might have looked the other way
And I'd have never been aware
But as it is I'll dream of her
Tonight, di-di-di-di'ndi
Falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
I have never known
The like of this, I've been alone
And I have missed things
And kept out of sight
But other girls were never quite
Like this, da-da-n'da-da'n'da
Falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
Falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
I've see a face
I can't forget the time or place
Where we just met
She's just the girl for me
And want all the world to see
We've met, mmm-mmm-mmm-da-da-da
Falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
Falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
Oh, falling, yes I am falling
And she keeps calling
Me back again
Ryder had to take a few deep breaths before walking back to Kitty. "How'd it sound?" he asked her, trying not to grin.
Kitty turned to face Ryder, staring him down with her icy glare. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead slapped him across the face and walked out of the gymnasium, taking her back with her.