Marley's heart just hadn't been in Grease rehearsal yesterday. What the heck was up with Jake anyway? He hadn't even looked at her once, much less apologized for his stupid kiss-ass remark. What had Kitty done with him?
"Oh look, it's our sumo-wrestler charity case," Kitty sneered, surrounded by a group of Cheerios and football players. They chuckled, but otherwise seemed uninterested with the exchange.
"Don't feel bad, Kitty. A lot of people have Asperger's," Marley snapped back before she could stop herself. Kitty's eyes narrowed into slits as the football boys wolf-called, and even a few fellow Cheerios had to stifle their giggles.
"You wanna repeat that?" she asked, her anger making her tiny frame seem ten feet tall. Marley scooted backward and her shoulders slammed into a locker behind her. Kitty smiled and Marley knew she was dead, "You like songs, right Garbage Princess? I have a little one for you." The blonde girl rolled her shoulders back, licked her lips, and sang in her nasal voice, "Roses are red, violets are blue, God made me pretty, what the hell did he do with you?" The entire group burst out laughing, and one particularly loud cackle caught Marley's attention. Looking up, she spotted Jake clutching his stomach and clapping a football player on the back. That was it. Tears threatened to spill over Marley's lashes and she ran for the girl's bathroom. How could he be so mean?
"Hey, Marley…are you okay?" Ryder caught Marley's sprinting figure in his arms, holding her hands away from her face. "What happened?"
"Nothing," she sobbed, "Let me go."
"Not until you're okay," he said, and dragged her shaking body against his chest. Try as she might, Marley couldn't wiggle her way out of his strong arms. And after a while, she realized she didn't want too.
Jake's P.O.V
Kitty's plan seemed to be working. Now whenever Marley looked at him while he was pretending to look away, there was this weird pain in her eyes. And she definitely looked at him a lot. The only thing that had bothered him was when he'd seen Ryder earlier in the day holding her in the hall. That definitely wasn't part of the plan.
"Okay, Step One's over, Kitty. What now?" Jake hissed as they walked down the hall together. He didn't want to admit it, but he really hated being mean too Marley. Kitty pursed her lips the way she liked to do before she insulted someone, and smiled so that her cheek bones stood out like smooth stones underneath her skin
"Now, we set you up as the savior, Oreo. I'll distract Ryder, and you swoop in and make it all better like a freaking Disney cartoon."
"When you say…distract…you mean-?"
"Yes, god, you're so dense. I'm going to practically rape Ryder in the hallway, mkay? I know you're skipping classes, Puckerman, but I thought you'd at least finished one day of preschool."
Jake snarled angrily, but fought down the urge to rip away his hand from hers. Kitty knew what she was doing. Didn't she? "This better work," he snapped into her ear, "And I want it to look believable."
Kitty raised one arching eyebrow, "You want me to make out with a super-hot guy and make it believable? What a challenge! Seriously, you're dumber than Ryder-oh, there they are. Go find a place to watch out of sight." Marley and Ryder were making their way down the hall, hands linked together. Marley's normally sparkling blue eyes seemed a little dull, but she was smiling at something that Ryder was saying goofily. It made Jake want to punch him.
As soon as Kitty came over, Marley turned and tried to run. Ryder, however, held her back, a defiant look on his face, "What do you want, bitch?" he asked angrily, shielding Marley behind him.
The blonde girl's face was completely transformed, Jake saw. Instead of confidence and an air of sexiness, her eyes were downcast and she seemed like a little girl who had gotten caught taking a cookie out of a jar. Damn she was good. "Marley…" she said quietly, "I'm really sorry."
"Are you serious?" Ryder asked, leaning into Kitty with a critical glare, "After everything you've done, you think 'I'm sorry' will just fix everything?"
"No, of course not!" Kitty exclaimed, and Jake saw tears slipping down her cheeks, "I just wanted to apologize. I just heard that my cousin died today. She committed suicide because of bullying from some girls who were very similar to me. You have to know that the only reason I even make fun of you, Marley, is because I'm jealous. You're beautiful, and tall, and an amazing singer, and Jake left me for you once,' Here her voice choked up and she looked like she was stifling a sob, " I just…I've never met anyone like you who gets things by being nice. And I wanted to be like you, or to take you down, I guess. To prove to myself that you're not an angel. But it hasn't worked. And I don't want you to ever consider hurting yourself. So I wanted to say sorry. Well…see you later." Kitty's words seemed genuinely heartfelt, Jake thought. Obviously Ryder thought so, because his angry expression had been replaced with something sympathetic. Jake wondered if Kitty's speech had actually been what she really thought of Marley, but he lost that expectation when he saw Kitty's expression. A wicked smile was curled up a face that had just been pouring it's heart out. She was even more manipulative then he had realized.
"Kitty, wait," Marley said, stepping out from behind Ryder, "Thank you." Jake winced. Why was Marley so unsuspecting?
"You're welcome," Kitty sobbed out, "I really-I really love my cousin, I'm sorry, my mascara's probably running."
Marley smiled kindly, "Don't worry, I have some more in my locker. I'll go get it." She turned and walked down the hall.
Ryder glanced at her warily, "I still don't trust you."
Kitty rolled her eyes, "Whatever, genius." Ryder's eyes widened, but before he could react, Kitty pulled him down and kissed him hard. Jake didn't know whether it was just a reflex, but it looked like Ryder was kissing back. Marley reappeared, a bag of makeup in her hand, but dropped it when she saw what was in front of her.
Kitty pulled away from an astounded Ryder and leaned back onto the heels of her feet, "Yeah…about that. I'm not really sorry. If I ever offended you, I meant it. Bye Ryder. See me later if you want some more," Kitty called over her shoulder as she wrapped her arm through a friend's who was passing by and walked away. Marley looked like she was going to throw up.
"Marley, she just-I mean I didn't-."
"Just forget about it," Marley said, her voice strangely hollow.
"No, Marley, you deserve an-."
"I don't deserve anything. Just please leave me alone." Tears had started flowing again, and she turned and sprinted into the girl's bathroom. Jake resisted every instinct in his body telling him to run to her. This was way out of hand. He was done with Kitty's plan.
