Hello everyone! I am, once again, back. Enjoy the chapter, a lot happens in this one!
Disclaimer: DO I HAVE TO KEEP DOING THESE
"Hello, fellow Titans!" Jacob Ben Israel boomed into his microphone in his usual hyperactive, loud, jittery state. "I join you today, once again, in the halls of McKinley. Home to many cat fights, break-ups and slushie attacks, this hallway is an infamous part of our high school lives. But today, my viewers, we are zooming our lens in and focusing on a new dose of gossip." Stepping backwards down the hallway, he drew ever closer to his newest interviewee. "I am joined today by none other than Miss Marley Rose herself, the ex-head cheerleader you all know and hate who kissed the school's biggest dork. Marley," the enthusiastic boy turned to the girl in question and hovered his microphone under the surprised brunette's nose (she was just leaning against the lockers, on her phone, when the reporter approached her with no explanation), "is it true that you have joined the school's biggest geek-fest, singing-fest, and cliché-fest: the Glee Club?"
Having gotten over the initial shock, she smirked. "Well, JBI, I'd have to admit that is true."
So-called "JBI" grinned at his new material. "And, Miss Rose, how did you come to that result? Why would you risk being even more un-popular, joining such a club?"
"I understand it doesn't seem very logical, but I can assure you I am leading somewhere with joining my used-to-be enemies. Well," Marley turned directly to the camera being shoved in her face. "I can only say this: you have all underestimated the Glee Club greatly. Their talent and acceptance is going to help me, and it is going to help this school. I'm not worried about the teasing. It's inevitable, of course, but it can be easily ignored. You 'bullies' have run out of ideas and nicknames anyway, so it won't be hard."
"You said that the Glee Club was going to help you…" Jacob Ben Israel remembered from Marley's speech, fidgeting into the microphone. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, come my senior year, I will be back in business, JBI. I know that I probably won't be exactly where I was; I might not even get near the top at all. But, I can assure you that I'll be strutting down these halls next year with my uniform back on. The Glee Club are accepting me – I'll have friends, real ones. You all underestimated the Glee Club, McKinley," Marley repeated, "and you underestimated me. I'm not done just yet." Marley smirked before excusing herself to get to class, strutting fearlessly down the corridor for the first time in eons. She had left even Jacob Ben Israel standing speechless.
"I'm not done just yet."
The words echoed around his brain, seemingly never ending. He was still captivated by her as he watched her piercing blue eyes through the iPhone screen; soon, it was too much. He needed to see her again, even if it killed him. All he wanted was to speak to her.
Ryder still despised Marley. Even still not quite over her using him all those months ago before Nationals, his blood boiled more at what she had confronted him with that night. The night when the words spilling out of her mouth never ceased; the night she kissed him, and more eyes were watching them then he had thought. Soon, it was viral. All the feelings, all the emotion. His girlfriend had gotten furious, but she softened over time. Nevertheless, Marley's impulsions had led to a minefield.
Despite that, he was still… mesmerised by her. And he pitied her – just as was suspected, she had lost everything when people found out about them. He had lost nothing. She had drawn the short straw, and it pained him to see her so hurt. Then, she did the unthinkable and strolled into Glee Club, apologising for everything and asking to join.
Her audition stole him of his breath, and it still fascinates him today. Only in his fantasies was Marley Rose a pitch-perfect singer who strayed from her shell of stereotypes. She sung a Paramore song, Ryder had recognised – unlike what Unique, or anyone else for that matter, had expected by a long shot. The confidence she had whilst she was singing awestruck the boy – it was a confidence he had not seen in several months, due to the uncalled-for event that had left her vulnerable and alone. Every moment after that, he couldn't help but want to find her and talk. Nothing made sense in his brain, but he just wanted to talk to her about everything.
Swirling around another corner, his eyes landed on the girl herself fumbling for something in her locker. Grinning in spite of himself subconsciously, he steeped ever closer to the girl until he stood right behind her. "Hey, Marley."
She jumped in surprise but giggled it off as she peeked behind her shoulder. "Oh, Ryder, hi." She shut her locker, turning her full attention to the boy. "What can I do for you?"
"I just… wanted to talk to you, I guess." Ryder rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Marley's cheeks tinted pink; she was yet to know why.
"Oh!" Marley grinned, talking completely nonchalantly to her ex. "Okay."
"Your audition for Glee Club was… amazing. I didn't know you were that good at singing, Marley. You did the right thing about joining." Ryder declared, smiling.
"Thanks," Marley sighed, appreciative of his comment.
"But… if you don't mind me asking… why did you want to join in the first place? It wouldn't have exactly helped you a whole lot on the popularity thing, to be frank."
"I know. I just felt like I needed to give you guys a long overdue apology and I guess I was getting lonely. I kept thinking that if I joined then I could get out all of my feelings like you always said and, I don't know, maybe I'd have someone to sit with at lunch so I wouldn't have to keep skipping." Marley confessed hesitantly.
"Well, you did the right thing. It might take some time for the members to appreciate you fully, but you'll be accepted soon enough, I hope." Ryder said, eager to encourage the girl.
"I hope so too," Marley agreed, chuckling.
"Oh, look, it's Dork and Dorkier, about to suck faces again!" A student teased from across the hallway as he walked past, forcing Marley to scoff and roll her eyes.
"Marley…" Ryder started cautiously upon hearing the insult, reminding him of the subject. She looked up to the taller boy and nodded. "Can we talk about what happened… that night?"
The brunette sighed before nodding once again in reply. "I'm sorry. I screwed things up because of these feelings I used to have, even though you were already happy with someone. I realise now that if I just kept my mouth shut, we wouldn't be in this mess. Or, at least, I wouldn't be in this mess. No offence, but, you didn't really get out of it very wounded, did you?" Marley sighed bluntly. "I'm really sorry."
"I forgive you, but you shouldn't be the one apologising. I got you into this mess in the first place and you don't deserve it, contrary to what other people believe. I'm sorry."
"Well, everything will be okay now, won't it? Or, at least, I hope it will." Marley looked down.
"I'm gonna try and help it be okay. I really hope you know that." Ryder half-smiled. "Just call if you need anything, alright?" He whispered, making Marley's heart flutter at his persistent.
"Sure." Marley smiled. "And I'm sorry about Katie. She is a lovely girl and she really helped me out the other day. I want you guys to be happy."
"Thanks – we are." Ryder grinned.
"Good." Marley felt a pang of discomfort as she spoke the single word awkwardly. "I guess I'll… see you in Glee Club." Marley bid the boy goodbye before leaving the conversation. She resisted the temptation to purposefully bang her head repeatedly against a locker – why were all these feelings coming back? Why did they come back again, now that he was happy with someone else, again?Marley strived for the day when she was able to calculate what went on in her confusing brain, but for now, it would have to remain an enigma.
-(x)-
"Five, six, seven, eight!" Mr Schuester's voice echoed through the auditorium, where the Glee Club was having dance practice. The teacher clapped with each word in time, and soon, the boring song he had picked played in their ears once again. In addition with the sloppy and plain choreography, the routine and everything about it was both physically and emotionally draining. The Glee Club had been rehearsing for hours. Every member of the club was sick of it, though they chose to conceal their hatred as to protect their coach's feelings.
Having executed the routine one more time, Marley stood in the finishing position with a very sweaty and unimpressed Sam Evans (her dance partner) and, reflecting, she didn't know which part of the rehearsal she hated the most. Was it the tired and pathetic routine she was forced to practice or the fact that most of the Glee Club still hated her? Or was it the fact that Ryder and Katie were dancing so close to each other? She really wasn't sure.
"Alright, guys." Mr Schue announced after yet another replay of the routine. "We still have a little bit of patching up to do in places." The man proclaimed, the several rolling eyes from around the room going unobserved. "One more time from the top! Five, six, seven, eigh-"
"Okay, that's it." Marley thought to herself. "Someone needs to stop this, since no one is speaking up." With that, the brunette cut her curly-haired teacher off just before the music repeated itself. "I'm sorry, Mr Schue, but we can't do this routine. It's a definite no."
"Oh, really?" Mr Schue chuckled in disbelief. "And why is that?"
Marley looked around in search of anyone who might help her tell him, but the problem was that her fellow members of the club were simply staring at her in astonishment. Someone had actually spoken up?
"Well, Schuester, I'm sorry to break it to you, but… this routine is pretty boring. It's tired, it's got no originality… it's nothing special." Marley said frankly, her arms firmly crossed over her chest. The other members just looked on in surprise at the cerulean-eyed girl's bluntness.
"Okay then," Mr Schue somewhat barked. "Do you have any ideas then, Miss Rose? Otherwise, I'm afraid we'll have to stick to my unoriginal routine."
"Well," Marley grinned, thinking of a few moves she had learnt at Cheerios practice all those months ago, "I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." And so the smirking girl skipped up to the front. "Alright, dorks, let's see what you can do."
In the end, the brunette was proud of her impromptu choreography. The girl had constructed moves that were simple for the beginners of the club to execute, but the routine itself was far more exciting than Schue's original plans. Marley was still standing at the front of the stage, showcasing examples of the moves with Sam, who was the best dancer in the group.
"Okay now, girls, put your hand on your dance partner's shoulder and circle him until you're on the opposite side of him. Boys, watch her as she does so. Ready? Five, six, seven, eight!" This was seemingly the toughest part of the routine to execute. For one, it appeared that none of the glee girls new how to "strut"; two, the partners didn't know which side to circle, so everyone ended up crashing into one another. Marley, having taught the club for the umpteenth time, now viewed that they were getting the hang of it at last.
With that, she moved on to the move dreaded by all. "Now, boys, turn to meet her, put your hands on her waist – that's it – and lift her on the count of three. Alright? One, two, three, lift!"
Marley viewed the people in front of her from her new height in the air (now that Sam had effortlessly lifted her) and oh, what a mess it was. Unique sat out in the corner, claiming that she "didn't want to be lifted" because "this girl belongs on the ground"; Tina was being lifted by a puzzled Blaine who obviously hadn't got the right angle, meaning the girl was lifted at a precarious angle. Marley's eyes drifted to the back of the group where Katie was giggling hysterically with Ryder at her new position on the floor. Marley rolled her eyes as she put her feet back on the ground. "Alright, we need to brush over a few things. First of all, boys, don't be scared – she's not an elephant! And, girls, as long as he isn't a complete klutz and has butter-fingers, he won't drop you. We're gonna try again and then we'll go from the top, okay?"
After the lift was completed another time, this time with more grace and elegance, the club attempted going all the way through; having done so, Marley still felt as if there was something missing from the climax of the song. An idea soon popped into her head.
"Okay, listen up! Before the bass drops at the bridge, you're all going to part down the middle like the Red Sea. As fast as you can, or you'll get kicked! Got it?"
"Marley, what are you-?" Mr Schue questioned with anxiousness but, alas, the bridge of the song had already commenced.
As instructed, the Glee Club rushed to the wings of the stage on cue, and Marley still stood at the front, with her back towards them. She sighed – she had only ever done this with the beady eyes of Sue Sylvester watching her every move. When the bass dropped, Marley executed a flawless double backflip. The members of the club looked on in astonishment as Marley flipped her slender body backwards onto her hands, her palms acting as a boost to flip her back up onto her feet, before she completed the movements again, arriving at the back of the stage. It seemed like it all happened in slow motion. As Marley's head got over the sudden actions, she looked around her. Every person in the room was staring at her intently, as if she was an exotic bird of some sort.
They began chuckling in amazement and, soon enough, despite their previous dislike to the girl, began applauding her. Marley giggled and curtsied, internally thanking the Cheerios for giving her something to be commended for.
Mr Schue made his way from a seat in the auditorium down to the stage, making his way through the crowd of members to clap the girl on the back. "Wow, Marley, that was… incredible! How did you learn to do that?"
"Well, being Head Captain of the Cheerios meant you had to brush up on a few moves, I guess." Marley understated, grinning.
"Mr Schue, we have to include that for Sectionals next year. We have to!" Sam insisted.
However, one particular chestnut-haired boy did not hear these words. He was still in a trance. His subtlety was long-since discarded, and he couldn't help but stare at the girl without stopping. He looked at every part of her, from the way her nose scrunched up when someone complimented her, to when she tucked a strand of hair that had strayed from her high ponytail behind her ear, to her shirt that had ridden up slightly, revealing part of a toned and flat stomach. Even as club members began to clear off and collect their belongings, as the rehearsal had now finished, Ryder couldn't help but stare at her. They made eye contact. Marley gave a warm smile and a nod, and in return the boy held two thumbs up to the girl and grinned. The brunette herself left soon after, but Ryder's gaze still fixated on the spot where she previously was.
He was awoken of all his thoughts by a chaste kiss on the cheek as his girlfriend's arms snaked around him from behind. "Are we still okay for 6:30 at Breadstixx on Saturday, babe?" Katie mumbled into his ear as she grinned.
"Uh… yeah…" All Ryder could do was smile half-heartedly.
Marley still mesmerised Ryder. Nonetheless, there was another problem which added to the pile: Ryder still loved Katie.
Aaaaah, I'm sorry about the love triangle cliché-ness! I kind of hate it too, but do not fret – all will be solved in the next chapter!
I would love to hear what you thought of this one. I'm getting close to 100 reviews!
In addition, I now have an official New Perspective advanced organiser, which will (hopefully) help me battle my insane writer's block.
Until next time,
Beth :-)