Disclaimer: I won't own Glee. Ever.

The brunette girl walked into the classroom hesitantly. She had been dreading this – truly dreading it. Whenever she thought about it, tears threatened to spill out of her large, cerulean eyes - the time had come for her algebra test.

Since her mind had been elsewhere (to say the least), Marley's brain was now that of a riot. Thousands of voices and equations were shouting over each other, fighting for something to say, screaming and hissing like serpents in her ears. They would grip on the sides of her brain, making her head throb and the sounds around her fade out. All she could hear were the fast thumps of her heartbeat. She took her seat and rolled a pencil between her sweaty palms; she was never nervous for tests, why now? Her heart only pumped faster when the paper was set in front of her. It would be deciding hardly anything too academically serious, but for Marley Rose, it was like her answers depicted her fate. Once given a quick brief by her slightly paedophiliac teacher, she turned over the test to the questions and began.

"a D?" Marley exclaimed a week later as she looked up at her teacher, revolted by her score, the words stinging her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose," the teacher began, looking not at her eyes but at a rather inappropriate area on her chest. "Your answers were muddled and your arithmetic was poor. My hands are tied." He said in faux sympathy, raising his hands in defence. Marley scowled before looking at her test score once again, clearly disappointed. Sure, she felt like her brain was telling her to write 'Ryder' for every answer, but she did the best she could. But apparently not good enough. She even got the whole affair on solving for 'x' wrong –it was Ryder's favourite part of the subject, as he had said so very enthusiastically as he was teaching her, and she had laughed and said that he was a "complete goof", and Ryder had said that he knew.

The bell rang through Marley's ears as she stuffed the paper in her bag before leaving the classroom abruptly. What was she going to do now? She hadn't spoken to her tutor since the kissing incident – she was just going to have to bite the bullet. She mused for a second before leaning against the lockers and pulling out her iPhone, quickly finding Ryder's name and sending him a text.

Hey :)

He replied moments later.

Hi. How are things? Did you have the test?

Yup. D

Pardon?

I got a D.

Oh…

It's not your fault, Ry. I got stuck and confused with everything that was going on, if you know what I'm talking about…

I know what you're talking about. I'm still sorry.

And you still don't need to be sorry. I need to be sorry for completely messing with your head and being the one to make you leave in the first place. Anyways, would it be ok if you came round and began tutoring me again?

Of course :)

Coolsome! You know the details. I can't wait ;)

-She had gained a bit more of her composure back.

Okay, Marls :)

"Hey, Mar-Mar!" Bree called through the halls the day after as she began waving and greeting her friend, several other Cheerios accompanying her. "How are things?"

"Totes badass, Bree-Bree!" Marley smirked as she hugged her books to her chest, flicking her high ponytail over her shoulder, "Hey Kitty Kat!" she then waved to her approaching blonde and smaller friend.

"Hey," Kitty responded, dragging the 'y' in the word on for a long time. "Ready to go to lunch, hun?"

"Always," Marley smirked as they headed to the salad part of the lunch hall. Marley had given up on her brief eating disorder problem and decided she just needed to stay healthy, especially after Ryder had brought it up on their tutoring session last night and convinced her – she'd still need to stick to Coach Sylvester's diet plan, though.

Minutes later, Marley sat down with a small plate of chicken salad and a pot of low-fat vanilla yogurt, accompanied by water. Marley had just tuned in to Bree's story about yet another jock she had meddled with, when Kitty let out a loud gasp and ghosted her fingers over Marley's neck.

"Dude, what the hell?! I don't have a leech on me!" Marley exclaimed, fanning Kitty's hand away.

"Sooooorry if one of your besties just wants to know where you got that massive hickey on your neck," Kitty smirked, sipping her smoothie (made with God knows what). This caused Bree to slam down her drink forcefully and turn to the girls with wide eyes.

"Let me see!" she chanted as she gave Marley gestures, telling the head cheerleader to show her. The brunette gave a frustrated huff and turned her head to the side so Bree could see it; the girl before her smirked. "So, who did it?"

"You're not gonna believe this," Marley began, smirking once more. "But this guy I met at a wedding last week did it. He's a senior, but he doesn't go here." This caused the girls to look at Marley expectantly, and she continued. "He's Italian, and, well, he came over to mine with his family and we came up to my room whilst the parents were talking and…"

"You didn't." Kitty said as her jaw dropped. Marley offered a wink before stating that she "wasn't one to kiss and tell", before sighing.

"He's back in Italy now though. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. He was a little cheesy for my liking, to be honest."

"What was his name?" one of the Cheerios asked.

"Paulo. Paulo Roberci." Marley smirked, digging into her salad again. "Now can we stop talking about it? The whole thing is making me sad." Marley pouted, taking a sip of her water.

"Sure. No problem." Kitty said before tasting her smoothie once more. "What were you saying, Bree-Bree?"

Marley opened the door and smiled at the boy before her. "Hey, nerd," she twirled her immaculate ponytail around with her index finger.

"H-Hey, Marley," he replied, holding up the algebra books in one hand and adjusting his glasses before smiling. "Ready for another tutoring session?"

"You bet, Four Eyes." She smirked as she led him up the stairs and into her room.

They began studying and Marley took note of everything he was saying, feeling the jumbled equations in her head clearing and differentiating themselves. She was starting to understand again, finally. After a while, Ryder proposed to take a break, placing the pencil he was using on the rug and adjusting his crossed legs. Marley agreed.

"Okay, Bieber. We'll take a little break," she smirked. "But try not to make any marks this time. Those things are hard to cover up, and the Cheerios saw. And, unless you want to change your name to Paulo Roberci and move to Italy, we should keep this thing hush-hush for now, alright?"

"Alright," Ryder agreed, taking off his glasses steadily (his eyes were already covered by contacts). Presenting a small smirk of his own, he inched ever closer to the girl. "I'll try to control myself."

Ooh, cliffhanger! So there you have it, guys. Your prayers have been well and truly answered ;)

I'll update as soon as I can. Please keep the reviews/follows/favourites coming. I'd love to hear your opinions and predictions!

-Beth :P