A/N: I hope y'all are liking this story as it's unfolding! This one is the longest, but it's the one that will be one of the most important to the story. I own nothing related to glee and please leave a review because I'd really love some feedback!
Marley's POV
"Marley, this is pointless. We'll never find Katie." Ryder moaned as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Yes we will." she countered as she continued typing away on the computer during their free period.
"Really? Because Artie's a tech genius and he can't trace the cell phone or the IP address because it's a school computer. If he can't find it, no one will.
"Ryder? Please trust me." she begged.
"Fine." he sighed as he leaned back into his chair. "Oh, and please ignore the spelling errors." he added ashamedly as she continued going through all the messages him and Katie exchanged.
"Already have. Ryder, these conversations sound like ones we've had before." she said quietly as she read the details of the private conversations.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah. I mean, you told me about your Star Wars sheets a long time ago, so clearly Katie isn't the only one who knew that." Marley replied.
"Oh. I guess I forgot that I told you that." he mumbled.
"Wait a minute. Ryder, did you start talking to Katie because I was with Jake?" Marley asked cautiously as she read the part where he said he might have been getting over her.
"Marley, it wasn't about you!" Ryder said defensively as he stormed away from Marley.
Marley sighed, wishing everything wasn't so confusing for her. She continued to go through the messages as she heard a beep coming from the computer. Katie had just tried to send him a new message.
Katie_XOXO: Hey babe J you sent me a weird text earlier. Is everything OK?
Marley felt anger go through her body as she received the message. Some may have said she was jealous and maybe a little part of her was, but she was angry that Katie had the nerve to continue talking to him. So, she decided to reply.
Ryder_Lynn: Hey Katie. This isn't Ryder. It's Marley. And it's not OK to screw him over. Why don't you stop being a coward and just tell him who you are?
Katie_XOXO: What the hell are you doing, going through our private conversations?! This isn't any of your business anymore. He doesn't want to be strung along while you go through your daddy complex and choose the projects over a guy that cared about you. P.S., HE'S OVER YOU!
Ryder_Lynn: Wow, you sound like a real charmer. No wonder he's into of you to pass judgment when you don't know who I am. Oh and P.S., asking him to send nude pictures? It's not cute, it's trashy. Trust me, I will find out who you are.
Katie_XOXO: Good luck with that.
Then, Katie signed off. At least she scared Katie a little bit. Hopefully, it'll get them one step closer to finding out who it is. Then, she got a text from Jake, who was telling her that he was waiting for her in the parking lot. Marley signed off the internet and met Jake at his car. He gave her a kiss as she got in.
"Hey babe. Where were you?" he asked as they drove off from the school.
"Trying to help Ryder find out who Katie is." Marley replied. Jake practically slammed his brakes.
"Why?" he stammered.
"Because he needs help. He really wants to know who's behind him." Marley said calmly.
"You guys will never find her. Maybe you should let it go. Just tell Ryder to stop talking to her." he said fiercely.
"Jake, he can't just do that. He trusted her with his deepest and darkest secrets. He doesn't know who he can trust anymore since he found out Katie wasn't who she said she was." she said quietly.
"Why do you care so much? Don't you think it hurts him even more that you're so jealous of Katie when he's trying to move on from you?" Jake sneered.
"I care because no matter what happened between us, I can't stop caring about him." Marley shot back. "Look, can we please forget about this? I hate fighting with you." she added quietly.
"We wouldn't have to fight if you weren't so stubborn. Sometimes, I feel like you think that you made a mistake choosing me instead of him." he admitted.
"He's my best friend, I can't just forget about him. Do you think you made a mistake?" she asked him seriously.
"Of…of course not, Marley." he said. Something in his eyes made her believe he was lying to her, but she was willing to let it go.
"Okay, fine. Can we please go?" Marley urged, playfully nudging Jake until h chuckled and leaned over to kiss her.
"Yes, let's go. And you'll have to ignore Puck's awkward sexual innuendoes." Jake chuckled.
"Duly noted." she laughed.
After dinner that night, Marley was sitting in the living room working on homework while Jake was helping his mom clean up the kitchen. As she worked on her math homework, she heard a buzzing coming from Jake's backpack and noticed something lighting up from the mesh side pocket. It looked like an old blackberry of some sort. But Marley knew that he didn't have that type of cell phone. Out of curiosity, she pulled the cell phone out and looked at the screen. She looked to see who was texting Jake and was surprised to find it was Ryder. She read the message and could swear that her heart stopped beating as she read the text.
Katie? Please answer me. I need to know who you are.
"Oh my God." she said to herself. She couldn't believe it. Why would Jake have this phone? It all seemed too good to be true. She took out her phone and compared the Katie number Ryder gave her to the number of the blackberry and it was the same. Why was this happening? Marley took the blackberry and dialed Ryder's number to see if he it was him. After one ring, she heard Ryder's voice.
"Katie?" he prompted. Marley could hear the shock in his voice. Quickly, Marley ended the call and put the cell phone back in the backpack as Jake came back into the living room. Suddenly, Marley didn't feel safe there anymore and threw her books in her bag and got up to leave.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Jake asked curiously as she tried to shuffle past him.
"Nothing. It's my mom, she wants me to come home." Marley lied.
"Why? Do you need a ride home?" Jake asked.
"No, I'll be fine. It's still daylight." Marley stammered as she left the house.
Her house was about an hour walk from Jake's and the sky was quickly getting dark. On top of that, Jake lived in the Lima Heights Adjacent district of town, which Marley never felt safe walking in. If her mentor Santana Lopez wasn't out with some of the older Glee club members, she would've asked Santana to pick her up. But Marley didn't care. She just needed to get far away from Jake and process what happened. A part of her wanted to refuse that Jake was catfishing Ryder. Why would he want to betray his best friend, who'd already been through so much? Marley didn't notice that she had just walked past the school, but she still had a good thirty minute walk back home and it was almost completely dark. Then, a car pulled up beside her and Kitty popped her head out to get her attention.
"Marley? What are you doing out here so late?" she asked curiously.
"I was at Unique's house and now I have to get home." Marley tried to say nonchalantly.
"Unique lives on the same side of town that you do. Why would you be here by the school?" Kitty frowned.
"Fine! You got me, I was at Jake's and I had to leave. Now that we got that out of the way, you can leave me alone. I'm sure you have better things to do." Marley muttered.
"Get in the car. I'm giving you a ride home." she replied sympathetically.
"Why?" Marley asked suspiciously.
"Because it's dark and you already look exhausted. Besides, you're my friend, despite what I said to you earlier. Consider this my apology." Kitty sighed as she stopped the car.
"If I get in, are you going to murder me or something?" she asked.
"No! I know I'm a bitch, but I don't think I'm all evil." Kitty laughed. "If you don't get in this car right now, I'm calling the police to say you're a suicidal runaway and we can't have that. Please get in? I can't have it on my conscious if you get mugged and killed by a hobo." Kitty pleaded.
Marley sighed and got in the passenger seat.
"So why didn't Jake give you a ride home?" Kitty asked curiously.
"I wouldn't let him. I needed to get away from him." Marley answered.
"Why?" Kitty asked, looking confused.
"You wouldn't understand. I just didn't feel safe there anymore." Marley sighed.
"Did he do something to you?" she questioned.
"No, just…something happened and I feel like I don't know him anymore." Marley answered.
"Okay, clearly we need to have some lattes and girl talk." Kitty said as she pulled into the Lima Bean.
"You like iced caramel lattes, right?" Kitty confirmed as Marley nodded her head.
"Cool, me too." Kitty smiled. "Two iced caramel lattes, please." Kitty said to the barista as she batted her eyes at him. Marley noticed that he kept looking over at them and Kitty nudged Marley. "Just smile and flirt with your eyes a little bit, okay?" she whispered. Marley tried to oblige as best as she could. Five minutes later, the barista walked over to them and handed them their drinks.
"It's on the house." he winked at them. Marley raised an eyebrow at Kitty as she shrugged her shoulders.
"That's Chip. He's the president of the frat house of the University of Lima. He's a sucker for the high school girls. He'll make you the best drinks here if you flirt with him a little bit." Kitty smirked.
"Wow, that is the best latte I've ever had here." Marley agreed as she took a sip.
"So what's the deal with you and Puckerman?" Kitty asked.
"I don't know. It seems like everything is going fine, until something happens." Marley replied miserably.
"Well, what happened?" Kitty coaxed.
"If I tell you this, do you swear not to tell anybody?" Marley pleaded as she looked around the coffee shop to make sure they couldn't be overheard.
"I swear. Now please tell me! The suspense is killing me! Let me guess, Jake's questioning his sexuality? I always suspected he had a thing for Ryder." Kitty joked.
"No, Kitty." Marley growled. "I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I think Jake's the one catfishing Ryder." Marley whispered. And Kitty looked just as surprised as Marley was.
