*DISCLAIMER: I own nothing; characters and songs belong to their respective owners.

oOo

Wednesday at school rushed itself, at least for Ryder. He never actually noticed he had at least four classes with Kitty, mostly because she sat on the other extreme on the room with the other Cherrios, but today the minutes flew away like seconds when both of them were together, it was as if the world stopped when they were around each other.

Kitty never was the one to open up to anyone, nor the one to let her emotions show easily in public, after all giving away how you felt could show vulnerability and other people could use it in their advantage, but today she didn't care about any of that. Being with Ryder, the guy who two days ago she thought just served as eye candy during glee club practice proved to be just the guy she dreamed off, attractive, strong, kind and loving.

Glee club practice finally arrived and the seating order was as usual, except this time Kitty gave up seating next to Brittany, Jake or Sugar and opted to take the empty spot that Ryder had obviously saved for her. The rare sight of seeing her smile at someone else willingly without an witty insult or jab before it made some people wonder what exactly was going on. All doubts were clear once Kitty rested her head on Ryder's shoulder while holding each other's hand.

"Who would have thought, I never saw Ryder as being with someone like Kitty to be honest, but I would be lying if I told you they don't look like a cute couple." Marley whispered at Jake.

Jake shrugged. "Don't get me wrong I'm happy for Ryder but I'm not buying that at all. I know Kitty too well and she wouldn't be all mushy and cheesy for being in a relationship with someone."

"You might be right but maybe Ryder's the one for her. I mean, he's one of the noblest persons I know; his positive attitude might be a foil for Kitty's. You know what they say, opposites attract." She replied back to her boyfriend.

"Maybe, but still I'd imagine she has something up her sleeve and Ryder's my friend. Well he is now that we stated ground rules about your and my position as a couple and I believe the guy deserves a shot at love but I can't help but think Kitty's going to screw him up big time." Jake said as Artie placed himself next to Marley.

"Hey teammate, wanted to ask you, I did my research on the topic and I noticed our Spice is the least featured one in any songs. How are supposed to give a convincing number when we don't even have enough source material to work from?" Artie asked as Marley switched her attention from the new couple to her teammate's burning question.

"Oh Artie. Artie, Artie, Artie. You don't give me enough credit, Posh Spice or Victoria Beckham, whatever you want to refer to her as, was a strategic choice. She's the one with the easiest style to emulate, she's got all British press around her finger and she's the most successful and well-known Spice Girl. We don't need to use her vocals to demonstrate who we are, the woman's got enough of a pubic image to have this assignment write itself." Artie gave her a confused look as she smiled with pride.

"So you're telling me we are going to base our performance on her individual accomplishments rather than on her career as a member of the Spice Girls?" He asked as Marley just nodded. "Well it seems like you didn't do your homework, Marley Rose. As I searched for more information about her I read a ton of articles concerning how she doesn't want to go back to the group ever again and how she'll never sing again. If using that public image and stance is what you had in mind we might as well just quit beforehand."

"You don't understand, the image is what we are using to show the style and personality of our performance." Marley said sounding as secure about her idea as possible.

"So you want our style and personality to show apathy and boredom? I don't know if you were aware of this but that's not the best way to sell yourself. I watched some old interviews of the girls from the nineties and they all seemed to be grateful of the newfound fame they were gaining, compare it to now and Posh is just a shell of what she used to be, fame isn't something she's grateful anymore, its just a lifestyle." Artie replied back. "Don't take this the wrong way but I'm starting to think you just picked Victoria Beckham just to be noticed more."

"Oh my God, are you implying I'm an attention whore?" Marley, obviously offended, asked her wheelchair-bounded classmate.

"Not necessarily, I just think that picking Posh Spice is in a way reflecting your current situation right now. Before when you first joined the glee club I felt you a lot more genuine and I sensed a very Rachel Berry-like vibe in you, lately now that you got yourself a boyfriend, a fair share of solos that people like Sugar and Joe haven't even gotten even though they have been on the club a lot longer not to mention the whole lot of attention you received due to the incident at Sectionals has made you a bit less real, at least that's what I think." Artie said as Marley's faced gave an obvious angry expression.

"Oh so you think that because I'm happy and finally living my life without any tormenting from people is making me less of a genuine person? Well listen mister, its not my fault that you think happiness is what makes people fake. After all what would you know about happiness? You can't even walk, is that why you think everyone should live just as angry as you?" The outburst of made everyone's heads turn. Just as she finished her statement Marley realized the horrible thing she had just said and shoved her hands in front of her mouth.

With the embarrassed Marley in front of her, Kitty couldn't help but stand up in defense of Artie, after all he did complimented her performance of "Wannabe" last week. "Did you seriously just use a disability as an insult? I just want all of the people present her to remember, as much as a self-admitted bitch as I can be, we've now seen Marley Rose set the bar a foot higher. Congrats honey."

"Hey calm down Kitty. There's no need to be cynical." Ryder told her as he pulled her down and embraced her, while she still gave Marley a cold leer.

Marley's eyes started to fill themselves with tears as looks of disappointment directed at her filled the room. The pressure and feeling of hate directed at her were too much to handle, which made her break down, she couldn't help but let some sobs out. To avoid any more humiliation she ran out of the quire room onto the hallway. Artie followed her while looking worried about her.

Jake's face started to show anger as he turned at Kitty's direction. "Are you happy now? Was that what you wanted? You're a pathetic human being you know that? You can't stand the fact that I preferred Marley over you! Heck, I bet even your boy toy would rather be with her he just went with you because you were what was left over!" He shouted at Kitty as Unique and Sugar's jaws dropped. Blaine and Tina were both shocked at the sudden anger outburst as well and Brittany and Sam while Joe quickly prayed for the anger to cease.

Ryder got up his seat now with an angry expression directed at Jake. "Shut your mouth! You know as much as I do that I care for Marley and I know Kitty might had sounded rude but she had a point, Marley just went all out on Artie for no apparent reason, and if you dare say another thing about Kitty I'll make sure you choke on your own teeth."

"Don't you see she's just using you? I bet she just went for you because you were also infatuated by Marley. She just can't stand the fact that even without being a cheerleader Marley will get more love in a day than what she will ever receive in her whole life span." Jake said while still angry over the whole incident.

"Okay, I warned you!" Ryder then tackled Jake into the ground and both started punching each other.

"Where the hell is Ms. Pillsbury?" Tina asked Blaine who in returned shrugged.

Kitty was horrified at seeing both her ex-boyfriend and Ryder fighting in such a violent manner. "Stop this, please. I don't care what he says Ryder, just get off him you could get in trouble!" She then tried to intervene as they both continued to punch the other while on the ground.

"I don't care, if he thinks he can insult you and get away with it I'll prove how wrong he is." Ryder said as he continued to punch Jake. Kitty continued to try to get him off Jake by pulling his shirt from behind him. Jake was on the floor and Ryder was in the perfect position to knock him out cold with a direct punch to the face, he quickly pushed his arm back and as he was about to send the punch he felt something hit his elbow, he assumed it was a chair or the piano but as he saw Jake's angry expression turn into a horrified look as well as listening to the rest of the students in the room gasp, he ignored his desire to land the punch and turned around to see a horrible sigh, Kitty was laying unconscious on the floor with a huge bruise on her cheek. He quickly went to over to Kitty's location and tried to talk to her, she didn't respond. Seeing the girl he loved laying on the ground, hurt by no other than his own hand made him angrier at himself than what he was at Jake just a moment ago. He then began to punch the ground as hard as he could, his was hurting himself but the pain didn't compare to the one of seeing Kitty hurt.

oOo

New chapter, no song this time but more drama than the one in the other seven chapters combined. As much as I made Artie hate on Victoria Beckham I'll admit that I don't dislike her, I just find it sad that she doesn't act as fun as she used to back on her days with the Spice Girls. As for the Ryder hitting Kitty scene, I think I wasn't able to describe it as well as I wanted to on the text so just imagine the scene where Finn accidentally bitch slapped Rachel's nose while on a dance practice, but with the elbow.

Your reviews really make the writing process worthwhile. Thanks for the support! ;D