Back, as promised ;)

Just so any new readers know: this story is the sequel to my other story, New Perspective – so if you haven't read that, I thoroughly recommend you do so you can fully understand this story.

I was going to wait to post this up in October so it would hit the 1 year anniversary of New Perspective, but I just couldn't wait any longer! Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: Glee isn't mine.

Senior year. Class of 2015. Next year, she would be let out into the world. Of course, when she was a freshman, she never dreamt that this would be how it would go – the dream was always to get popular, get loved, win prom queen, fall in love with a prince charming with a gorgeous physique, then go off into the big wide world knowing that no one could touch Marley Rose. That was always the dream. And this senior year was hardly anything like that dream at all.

"Up. No, down. It looks more casual down. But it's chilly today and everyone will be wearing them up… but down. Yes, definitely down. Hold on, let's try it up again, just to make sure…" The brunette bickered to herself indecisively, doing so whilst pulling the zipper of her boyfriend's hoodie up to his chest, before another idea shot into her brain and triggered her to place the zipper of the navy hoodie back down at the hem, unclasping it altogether and letting the sides of the clothing article swing calmly at his hips. The model in question, of course, being none other than Glee Clubber and raging fan of science and math, Mister Ryder Lynn.

"Babe," Ryder cut in, surprising both himself and his smaller doe-eyed girlfriend. Upon hearing the chestnut-haired boy's interruption, she paused, halfway through another mumbling sentence and a zip-up, looking up at him with a worried look etched across her pale face.

"What?" She whispered, frustrated, annoyed at her own tentativeness. Her hands still gripped the hem of his hoodie.

Ryder's face softened at her narrow expression, and he began caressing one of her cheeks with a large thumb as he shrugged. "The hoodie doesn't matter." He brushed aside, hoping she would believe his words.

"Yeah, but…" Marley shrugged back in response, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails, painted a pale, natural pink. Despite having been painted just yesterday in preparation for this day, they began to chip at the tips, undoubtedly due to her anxious nibbling and picking at them. She let out a final huff. "I'm sorry. I guess I just want everything to be…"

"I know." Ryder understood, accepting Marley's train of thought instantly; he had been fussing about this too.

20 minutes later, following simple talk about what small things were happening in their lives soon and when – trips, parents, applications, dates, movies – it was about time to start moving in.

The couple agreed several nights before to come in early for the first day of school and meet behind the dumpsters, preparing themselves on the day so that it would be easier to take in the moment; to gain composure. Then, once this tranquillity was gained, they would walk into school together, holding hands, making themselves vulnerable to the public eye and – ideally – with confidence. But after a long summer of countless perfect nights without the pressure of high school or the ever-scary social ladder that McKinley possessed, the pair were out of practice, and feared they had miscalculated things. Would they curl under pressure? Act unnatural? Slip down the linoleum floor and make complete fools of themselves right for the student body to see?

"Mar, maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe we should wait a little while, wait until everyone is more relaxed." Ryder caved. To be frank, he was petrified. The boy knew very well what the students of that school were capable of: seemingly eating them alive, slushying them until their skin is a permanent cold, malicious teasing, even physical assault. And now it was time for Marley to do the reassuring.

"Ry, we're seniors now. It's the first day of school, I'm sure no one will even notice us because they'll be too busy catching up with each other." They both knew that could very well be a lie. "Okay, okay. Okay. Breathe. We can do this. Just act nonchalant, like nothing is even weird. Nothing is weird, right? It's just a relationship."

"Just a relationship between a Cheerio and the biggest dork in school, yeah, I'm sure it's totally casual." Ryder almost retorted sarcastically, but he was too whipped and overtaken with nerves to interrupt as his girlfriend continued her assurance.

"Mr Schue emailed us and told us that we'll be having a quick Glee Club meeting before the mandatory school assembly, remember? All we have to do is grab our stuff from our lockers, and walk to the choir room. And then, when we're in there, we can breathe easy, alright?" Marley went on tiptoes and gave Ryder a reassuring kiss on the cheek (and, doing so, appreciated her last few moments of privacy). "Everything will be fine." She mumbled into his skin.

Though she still didn't know if she was saying that to her boyfriend or herself.

Marley pulled her hands out from her Cheerios sweater cardigan, shivering at the cold morning air that now smoothed over them, before straightening her back up. "You ready?"

"I guess." Ryder bit his lip, rising from his leaning position against the school's brick wall. Raking a hand through his Bieber-styled hair, messing it up slightly, and adjusting his black-frame glasses, he confirmed his statement. "Okay, ready."

"Okay," Marley returned with a nervous stride, taking a few steps closer to the entrance with the boy, before frowning and stopping in her tracks. "Wait, wait, wait." She jittered.

"What is it-" Ryder halted and looked at her, before snorting instantaneously at the blue-eyed girl's actions. She had licked her thumb and was now smoothing over Ryder's locks, neatening and fixing the mess that he had done to it a couple of seconds ago.

Moments later, Marley finally looked satisfied and they began walking again, only to stop for a second time after a few more steps. This time, the brunette's thin fingers gripped around the loose hems of Ryder's hoodie, about to try zipping it up again.

"Marley." Ryder spoke abruptly, catching her attention once again, looking at her blankly.

"Fine, okay, sorry." Marley shook her head of her thoughts on the clothing article, and began taking slow but sure strides, closer to the entrance of McKinley. They let a few students passed them, and soon, they were right by the double doors. The cheerleader mumbled something incoherent under her breath before rushing into the school, giving Ryder no other option but to follow suit.

And then, they were in. And the hallways were packed.

Flooded with students and teachers alike, all abuzz with news on vacation or the semester to come… given any other situation, the couple would have done the same. But not now. Now, on the first day of their last year at high school, there was more important business than gossip – the gossip would soon be about them, anyway. Marley bit back the urge to roll her eyes at how awfully dramatic the whole event was. Look at them, just a few peaceful high schoolers, but by tomorrow they would be making the New York Times, or something equally, outrageously ridiculous. Why did this even have to be dramatic in the first place? Why is everything taken so personally; so seriously at this school? Why is a cheerleader and a "geek" dating suddenly the biggest love affair of all time – why are they branded star-crossed lovers? Why is this the modern Romeo and Juliet? The story of the McKinley High School century? Before she could go more into what was wrong with humanity and her high school, she felt a pair of eyes look at her.

Slowly turning her head, he looked at her. Nerves. Expectancy. Reassurance. Anxiousness. All mixed within the brown orbs he possessed. She couldn't use words – not now, now that so many people were around… for some reason, it felt wrong. So she used her eyes as well, and a simple head nod, telling him that she was ready. That was all it took for his hand to extend to hers, their fingers slotting together like the perfect jigsaw puzzle, intertwining, sharing mutual clamminess.

They began walking, looking nowhere in particular, guiding each other through the crowded hallways, though for some reason the people parted like the Red Sea at even the sight of the pair. It was ridiculous. She felt ridiculous, he felt ridiculous. But they continued to appear nonchalant to the ever-growing witness count. Marley's blue eyes drifted aimlessly towards the end of the corridor, landing on a certain Jacob Ben Israel, who was frantically jumping around the hallways and ricocheting off the lockers like a tennis ball, interviewing everyone on their vacation; she sent a silent prayer, hoping at all costs that he wouldn't stumble upon her and Ryder. And so, hoping her prayers would be answered, they continued venturing down the chaotic hallways of McKinley with their hands still intertwined. First stop, Ryder's locker. Then Marley's. Then the choir room. Then the auditorium. Ryder began regretting the entire thing, etching another nonchalant expression into his face, hoping there wasn't too long to go before they stopped – which is why relief flooded over him as they arrived at his locker.

Marley let out a sigh as she watched him exchange books, letting the other unrelated conversations going on in the hallways surround and reassure them. She contemplated peering over her shoulder to see if anyone was looking at them, but eventually decided against it, coming to the conclusion that it was better off not knowing instead.

Marley's locker followed on their journey soon after. Putting in and exchanging folders and books into her Cheerios backpack, the cerulean-eyed teenager instinctively started mumbling every fault in their performance. "I kept narrowing my eyebrows and not looking nonchalant. People knew I was uncomfortable with them watching us like that – and I am, Ry. I am! I mean, why can't we just walk through the halls like a normal couple should? Oh God, I almost tripped. Jeanette and Kasey from the Cheerios looked right at me – right at us – oh jeez, oh God, oh-"

"Marley, shhh." Ryder pacified. "Everything's fine. You look great, and it doesn't even matter what they think, remember? It's us against them, and we're always winning." He grinned to reassure her.

"Mhm, yeah. Sorry. I'm okay." Marley brushed off, grinning back.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay then. You ready?"

"Mhm," The girl confirmed as she slung her red, white and black backpack over one shoulder and grabbed Ryder's sweaty hand with her own once again, marching down the corridor with new confidence that Ryder attempted to match. He tried to focus on the fact that he was living the dream: he was walking down packed hallways of high school with a beautiful Cheerio fastened on his arm. He belonged only to her, and she belonged only to him – how devotion should be.

Their journey was almost at an end and, ignoring a few sniggers as they sidestepped a pack of jocks, they finally wormed their way through the crowds and came face-to-face with the choir room. Stepping in hurriedly as if the space just outside the room was lava, they finally arrived into the welcoming embrace of the area. The brunette finally drew her clammy hand from Ryder's equally moist one, and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing her first true sigh of freedom into his shoulder. Encircling her waist in his arms in an instant, he breathed in the reassuring scent of her perfume, looking behind her at the equally comforting room he was in, and let out a chuckle. Never had he been so anxious walking down a simple hallway before.

His chuckles and thoughts appeared contagious, because now, Marley was giggling into his hoodie and mumbling "that was the scariest trip of my entire life, as stupid as that is" under her breath. Though she was glad, because it was nowhere as bad as she had dreamt it would be… nevertheless, it was still terrifying, considering their past.

When the Cheerio finally broke away from the hug, she took the liberty of looking right in front of her. Tina, Blaine, Sam, Artie, Sugar, Katie… all people that she knew and who had, after a while, finally accepted her, and he only hoped that they – especially Katie (although I guess she expected it months ago anyway) – would accept this.

Ryder sighed for the umpteenth time that day, walking away from their spot at the door and venturing instead over to a chair to the left of the room, on the bottom row. The boy was slinging his bag down his shoulder and disregarding it on another chair to his left as Marley began walking over, abandoning her backpack on the floor near his. The brunette girl sat across his lap with a grin and rested her hands on his shoulders, then leaned forward and connected their lips for a reassuring, adoring kiss, soon sealing it with a second peck-

"Uh, hello?" Tina exclaimed. The pair hadn't known that pretty much the entire club had started watching them from the minute Marley sat across Ryder's lap.

"Um… hi." Marley pulled away from Ryder and replied, keeping with the concept of nonchalance.

"Wow, it's been five minutes back in school and there's already drama."

"There's no drama-" Ryder started to butt in.

"A Cheerio and a dork having a public relationship in McKinley isn't drama? I don't know what you guys smoked in the summer, but it sure is getting to your head." The fellow clubber scoffed.

"Maybe we're trying to make it no drama." Marley said calmly, though she didn't know how much more serenity there was left in her.

"Yeah, like that's possible." Sugar scoffed.

"Seriously, when did this happen?" Artie asked. More agonising questions followed, and even though the sight of Ryder getting more and more crimson was increasingly adorable, Marley hated this invasion of privacy. She was usually use to this, considering that when she was still very popular, these would be regular occurrences, but enough was enough, and her boyfriend was still extremely new to this kind of bombardment, so she finally lost her temper and yelled for them to shut up. Having been finally content with the quiet in the room, she persisted in telling them that even though it wasn't any of their business, she and Ryder were together.

"And if you could make as little a deal out of it as possible, well, that would be just perfect."

Chapter one complete! I'm so happy to be back with this second instalment. I'll most likely right other things as well, and keep with my Anecdotes story, but I must say: it's great to be back.

Please review, favourite and follow this story if you like it! I'd love some feedback :)

-Beth :)