My Heart is Jumping

"McKinley High's Masquerade Dance!" Is what a bright red poster reads and Marley Rose rolls her eyes. Why did schools feel the need to press these events on the students and on Halloween night? It was obviously a trick to keep the kids of Lima off the street but sometimes adults where just plain stupid, kids would be on the street after the dance anyway and most of them will be high or drunk...or both. Marley sighed as she shook her head at the bright white letters, school dances where just popularity contest and nothing more. Plus, she had better things to do on Halloween night (that is if you count sitting at home and passing out candy). There was no way in hell she was attending some stupid Masquerade Dance.

"So are you going to that dance?"

Marley jumps at the voice of Jake Puckerman. She smiles as she turns around to face her best friend who was looking pretty bummed out, she figured it was Kitty. She had a knack of sucking the life out of people. "Nah, it's not really my scene." She shrugs. "I was just going to stay home and watch scary movies."

"I wish I could do that," He tells her as he scuff his foot on the tile. "Kitty is making me go, I was kinda hoping you would go so I would have a normal person around." and then he does that thing that she hates, he smiles and her heart flutters. "Can you please go, even for an hour and then fake sick so I can take you home?"

Marley laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I'll have to see if I can get a dress." Marley smiled as the bell rung. "So we should get going to glee, sit next to me?"

"I thought you would never ask"

~X~

So Sugar practically loses it when Marley tells her she is going to the dance. The girl actually drags her to her house and then forces her to try on the billions of dresses that she owns. Sugar has her own store in her closet and most of the stuff still has the price tag on it and she just sits and judges everything she tries on. Finally Sugar gives a gasp when she walks out in this white strapless dress that reached the top of her knee. Its pretty and there are real diamonds on the bust. Sugar stands up and walks circles around her before saying. "That's it, that is your dress."

The night of the dance comes around and she is over Sugar's house once again to get ready. Marley is not shocked to find out that Sugar has a stylist who she sicks on her. The man does nothing but complain about her split ends and her freckles. But when he gets done she barely recognizes the girl in the mirror with the flawless skin and red lips. Sugar looks up from her vanity as Marley closes her smokey eyes. "Wow," Sugar says as the stylist smiles from ear to ear. "Honey, if I played for the other team I would so want you." Marley gives a soft laugh as she examined her perfectly styled hair. "You look sexy, Jake isn't going to know what hit him."

The final touch comes when Sugar hands Marley her mask, she runs her fingers along the feathers and ringtones before putting it over her eyes. "Alright," Marley sighs as she smooths her dress. "Let's go to this dance."

~X~

Sugar ends up going to scow the dance floor for Sam so Marley just stands by the punch bowl and lets her eyes wander around the room. She spots Kitty first but smiles when she doesn't see Jake at her side. The evil cheerio is wearing a trashy red dress that actually makes her look like the devil and to make it even better, she is flirting with another guy that isn't Jake.

"These things are always so boring aren't they?"

Marley smiles at the voice because it belongs to none other than Jake. She turns around to see the McKinley bad boy spiking the punch bowl with whatever was in his flask. "It needs another kick." He says with a smile and Marley would have scolded him if she wasn't trying to hide her face. "My friend was supposed to show up but this really isn't her scene." He shrugs. "I should be hanging out with her and watching stupid horror movies." He then looks over at her and grins. "You know she is perfect, my friend." He gets this smile. "She doesn't push me to be some outstanding citzen...she lets me be me and I know that I should have made a move on her when it presented itself." Jake frowned. "But I was to scared and I think she may have trapped me into the friend zone." Jake gave a sigh and then looked at her again."Do I know you?"

Her eyes go wide and Jake shrugs. "Wait, that is the point of asking you that question." He smirks. "We are not supposed to know what is behind the mask," He rolls his eyes. "Stupid" and then takes a drink from his flask. His eyes fall to Kitty and the random guy that she is dancing with. "I broke up with her tonight" Marley's heart flutters. "I thought that by dating her she would leave my friend alone but that didn't help." His eyes narrow when he looks into her blue ones. "You wanna dance?"

Marley sucked in a breath at his confession and then licked her lips, now or never right? "I thought you would never ask."

Now it's his eyes that are going wide and his mouth hangs up as his eyes rake over her. "M-Marley?"

"Yeah," and then fear bubbles in her chest, what if he was mad at her for doing this? But then he gets that smile that he only saves for her and removes her mask.

"You look beautiful" He murmurs and her face heats up. "But I prefer you without the makeup, you don't need that stuff."

She laughed. "Oh you are so smooth," She smirks. "But I'm only wearing it for tonight, it is Halloween after all." They share a smile and he pulls her out onto the dance floor, and all eyes where on them. Out of the corner of her eyes she see's Kitty huff and roll her eyes but then Jake cups her cheek and brings his lips to hers.

Maybe school dances were not so bad after all.