Things get pretty angsty in this one, sorry. Also, I don't own the songs mentioned in this chapter!
Marley Rose had never been a girl who revelled the sense of accomplishment too much – she never had the time, and after every success came another task, so she decided to skip the celebration continuously. But now, walking into the choir room on the last week of the school year, knowing that next year she would be a senior and deciding where her life takes off, she felt true achievement.
She had strut in her step that afternoon, as passers-by gawked at her. The brunette's smirk was well and truly back, perched across her lips in a way that was, now, real, despite her having to have painted it on just a few months before. Carrying her recently reclaimed backpack over one of her small shoulders, she walked into the choir room with perfect posture. The girl was slightly late, so everyone was there in their own conversations, but with no sign of Schuester. Her fellow members of the club had barely noticed her arrival, when one – Sugar Motta – nudged the people who she was talking to in Marley's direction. The responses to the brunette were mixed.
Among the mumbles which all spoke at once, the girl heard Tina Cohen-Chang. "Finally! Now that she's leaving us, I might actually get to have a solo around here…"
Others were more afraid, however. "Please tell me that's a Halloween costume." Artie whined.
Marley just rolled her eyes, before looking down at her attire. Red, white and black, and felt just the same as the last time she had put it on, months before. Marley never really felt comfortable at the school when she was wearing her own clothes; that was a disregarded thought, though, now that she was back in her Cheerios uniform.
"Yes!" Was all she said at first, in an exasperated manner. To the questioning faces, she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am back on the Cheerios. It was all thanks to a lot of Sue-convincing, forged with my unwilling agreement to polish her trophies next semester right until Christmas break, or whatever. Coach Sue gave me another chance, and now that I'm pretty much sorted out, I am not going to blow it and let her down again."
"But... but who will be able to do awesome backflips and cartwheels for us for Sectionals now?" Sam whimpered like a puppy in the midst of a rainstorm.
"Relax, Guppy Lips." Marley crossed her arms with an eyebrow raised. "I'm not ditching you guys anytime soon. I'll just be a part of both clubs, okay?"
"Doesn't everyone on the Cheerios hate you, though?" Katie asked with her usual concern evident in her voice. To her question, Marley simply smirked.
"Ohhh no, no, no, no, no! You are not being let back in our squad. Coach won't allow it, and neither will we. So go and take off that uniform and those trainers and pull out that ponytail, Marley Rose." Bree objected upon seeing Marley before first period. She and Kitty stood by the blonde's locker, and upon seeing Marley waltz down the corridor, decided to take a stand.
"Huh, nice to see you too. And what a shame, Coach will allow it. In fact, she allowed it just about five minutes ago in her office." Marley smirked.
"Well, just because you're on the Cheerios again, don't expect everyone to worship the ground you walk on again, Dog Name. Everyone still thinks you're a lying, manipulative, dork-kissing freak. You can't touch the Cheerios anymore." Kitty retorted fiercely.
"Hm, how funny," Marley said as she pretended to think to herself. "Well, as my Dad always says, there are no better comedians than hypocrites." Kitty and Bree seemed to cross their arms over their chests and scoff in unison. Marley smirked. "Alright, then. So, Kitty, you can confirm for me that you didn't have a similar secret relationship with one Mr Artie Abrams in sophomore year? And Bree, you mean to say that the information of you having a fling with Mr Flippenger so you could get a good score on an essay which counted as 50% of your grade, is completely false?"
The two cheerleaders in front of Marley gawked, remaining silent and eerily still. "H-How did you know about that?" Kitty demanded.
""You can't touch the Cheerios", eh? Well, try touching the Glee Club." Marley spoke menacingly, with fake-innocence woven into every syllable. "Listen here. I have no problem spreading that steaming-hot information across these halls, and giving you both a well-damn-deserved taste of your own medicine. Or, we can act grown-up about it for once and you guys can inform the Cheerios that yes, I'm back, and I'm here to stay, and just because I may have had a fling with someone I actually really care about, doesn't mean I lost any of the awesomeness I always possessed. And hey, I'll actually be nice and won't meddle and I'll grow up – in fact, I already have." Marley ended her offer with another mischievous smirk. "It's your decision, girls."
Once Marley had recounted the morning's event, Mr Schue clapped as he finally strode into the room. "Alright, guys, take your seats. I have very exciting news."
Marley refrained from rolling her eyes at her teacher's persistent enthusiasm and scanned the room for a free chair; the brunettes always-awful luck not surprising her when the only free seat was next to none other than Ryder Lynn. With a frustrated huff, avoiding his gaze at all costs, she sank into the chair with one leg resting over the other's knee, arms firmly folded in front of her chest. Memories of his eavesdropping and realisation flooded through her brain in an instant, causing her to zone out as the painful ruminations haunted her and made her throat sore. Just thinking about last week's incident in the hallway made her feel sick.
Trying to focus on – thankfully – the last assignment of the school year, Marley averted her attention to Mr Schuester. "…And so we will come back fighting, next year, and blow the roof off Sectionals!" The leader beamed, triggering claps and cheers from around the room. "Now, since it's the last week of the year, I have decided to get you all hyped up for summer with a last-minute competition!" Some mixed reactions – cheers and groans – followed. Ignoring the sounds of protest, Mr Schue advanced. "Drum roll please…" drum roll… "Impromptu duets!" More groans. "Come on, guys, it'll be really fun, I promise.
"Anyway, here's how it's gonna go down: I will pick two names out of a hat and the two will be assigned a well-known duet in which they will have to give a performance of, having had no practise, to the entire group. Whichever single performer was considered the best by the rest of the group will get to pick a song to do at Sectionals and get a chance to solo in that song. As usual, no voting for yourself. Are we all clear?"
"Wait, wait, wait. What? Mr Schue, some people have worked so hard to get a solo, and you can't just give it away to someone who had one good performance!" Tina (who else) objected.
"I think that's part of the beauty of the competition, Tina. It'll be like sudden death. No matter what everyone's musical past is, everyone has a fair chance of winning. Besides, there will be plenty more opportunities to solo next year, even if it will be your last year. Anyway, this little exercise would help your performing skills and prepare you all for unpredictability in show choir competitions. So," Mr Schue clapped once before picking up two hats filled with folded up pieces of paper that were previously resting atop the piano, "shall we begin?"
Marley clapped tiredly after Tina and Sugar's slightly painful rendition of 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', her eyes drooping over to the ever-growing pool of paper scraps – the pieces which had already been picked out of the hat. She fumbled with her perfectly-manicured, light pink nails in her lap as she subconsciously blocked out the hysteric voices around her. It was only when she heard her name moments later when she snapped her head back up to her peers.
"And… Marley Rose! Come on, Marley, get up here!" Mr Schue beckoned her to the floor with a hand.
"Well, this is going to get awkward." Sam deadpanned, and Marley fixed her gaze on who Schuester was standing next to. 'Of course. Jeez, the world is against me today.'
"Alright, you two. You will be singing to…" Mr Schue gripped the hat by its rim and swirled his hand around the torn pieces of paper, before plucking one and fumbling with it to read the results. He grinned. "2012's best-selling song: Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye and Kimbra! Ryder, you'll be doing the part of Gotye; Marley, you'll take Kimbra's part."
Marley brushed past all of the comments being made around the room and rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. It couldn't possibly be fair to give 1) a smaller part to her and 2) a song with so much relevance to them at the time.
"Good luck to you both. Hit it!"
Marley crossed her arms again, cocking her head to the side slightly as she looked attentively at Ryder. The chestnut-haired boy just gazed into her cerulean eyes with an intensity she had never seen in him before. The beginning of the song began, and the two started on opposite sides of the choir room, facing their audience.
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
For the duration of the instrumental, Marley began stepping closer to Ryder to the music, and Ryder did the same in a relaxed manner. When they finally became within a 1 meter radius, the cheerleader began circling the boy slowly with a look of mischief and curiosity, never taking her eyes off him as he sang.
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over
As the chorus hit, the two did more complex dance moves in perfect sync, despite their never having performed it before. Their expressions sent signals to each other as Marley (who lead the dancing, considering she had a smaller part and was the better dancer) and Ryder belted out the chorus.
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
As the instrumental hit again, Marley separated from Ryder and stepped over to the other side of the room elegantly, as Ryder followed. Soon, his breath was the back of her head as he stood directly behind her, his hand landing over hers in view of the audience. Marley looked at his hand, considering this choreography, before lifting her head up and moving to peer gracefully over her shoulder, where he was. She sang her part softly, full of emotion.
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
As the drum got louder and the music grew more exciting, Marley raised her voice. She turned around fully to Ryder, letting go of his hand, looking into his eyes, and placed her index finger's tip on his chest as she advanced, Ryder walking backwards from her as Marley proceeded to walk forwards, sashaying her hips and gaining up on him to the music.
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know
After her part, the two stopped walking but were still looking directly at each other. Ryder pushed Marley's arm down so that her finger was no longer placed on his chest, and he sang the chorus once again with even more passion; Marley harmonised with 'oh's in the background, like the song originally did.
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
The two began moving together, dancing in perfect synchronization with meaningful expressions.
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
Marley then slowly sank to the floor, squatting as low as she could as she harmonized with him, before body-rolling back up against him when he sang his next line, her back to his front. This activated a few wolf-whistles and impressed noises from the crowd. They continued dancing with the same angst-filled movements projected in the song's lyrics, and Marley harmonized with Ryder for the rest of the song.
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)
For the final part of the song, the two stood facing each other, a metre between the two of them. They looked intently at each other, both showcasing a hurt expression as they sang together.
I used to know
That I used to know
I used to know
Somebody
After a few seconds of silence, the room erupted with cheers and applause. The brunette gave Ryder a wry smile before returning to her seat, as he did the same. They did not speak to each other.
"Alright, guys, we'll announce the winner after a vote tomorrow. And, as my treat, we'll end the week with any summer anthems you want." The bell rang and Marley immediately slung her Cheerios backpack over her shoulder and left, followed closely by the other members of the club.
"Alright, guys. Time for results!" Mr Schue clapped once (it was really annoying how he kept doing that, Marley thought) as he exclaimed the next day.
Scraps of paper were soon ripped off and passed out to every member of the group, and the participants each wrote a single person on their piece. Marley huffed, really not caring about whoever won this competition, and scrawled a random name on her paper in her swirly, slanted writing. Schuester then collected everyone's pieces, and counted each one with a concentrated albeit knowing look.
"Okay then, we have a winner. Drum roll, please…" This was followed by an eruption of thigh-slaps across the room, anxious to who the winner – the person deciding a song for Sectionals, and the possible new soloist – would be. Even Marley tapped her finger pads against her legs softly and looked at Mr Schuester with an expectant expression as he held onto the suspenseful moment.
"I bet you all saw this coming… Marley Rose!" Mr Schue grinned as the girl herself froze in her seat.
"What?! Why me? I had the tiniest part ever!" The brunette chuckled in disbelief.
"I think we can all agree that it was what you did with your tiny part that counts." Mr Schuester insisted.
"What, just because I body rolled all over Four-Eyes?" Marley chuckled as she gestured carelessly over to Ryder, whose mouth was well ajar at the news also.
Mr Schue chuckled. "Personally, I think your dancing was one of the best I've seen in an improv performance, and your singing was phenomenal."
"But-"
"No more 'but's, Miss Rose. You won fair and square, now get up here so we can congratulate you!"
Marley rolled her eyes (although her still-present grin said otherwise about her emotions) and uncrossed her legs so she could get up, then stepped bashfully into the middle of the room, as her peers began applauding – although there were some with slightly bitter faces. Marley soon found herself grinning even wider, and looked around the small crowd of people who were smiling and cheering and applauding her performance. It had been a long time since she had ever received this much praise – real praise.
Her eyes drifted to her duet partner, and she composed her grin into a small, commiserating smile made especially for him – she hoped her bursting emotions of 'I still love you and I'm really sorry for ever hurting you' were not projected on the outside. But, even if they were projected, Ryder still sat, not flinching once. His straight expression curled into a wry smile as he emotionlessly clapped her.
The girl returned to her seat, feeling like she had come last because of how he made her feel – his look of dryness still flashed back into her mind and made her decide: she couldn't take this anymore.
That's all for now, folks!
SO: Marley's back on the Cheerios and she will be soloing with a song of her choosing next year at Sectionals! You might want to remember that ;) But she still hasn't patched things up with Ryder yet, and things are, as I warned before you read the chapter, hella angsty. Stick around for the next chapter!
Until next time,
Beth :-)