It was time for Glee Club practice and nobody was paying any attention to the week's lesson. People were busy texting on their phones, talking about the latest gossip and Kitty was playing with her luscious blonde pony tail completely unaware of the gorgeous brown eyes that were following her movements. Marley was very aware though, she'd had her eye on Ryder for a while but her plan to get him had backfired spectacularly. She had always liked Ryder but had flirted with Jake to try and make him jealous. Unfortunately for her, Ryder saw this and backed off completely, so she had settled for Jake due to her hatred of being single. Meanwhile, Ryder had found himself falling for Kitty. Many people saw her as bitchy but he saw it as misunderstood honesty and a facade for the soft person underneath, he was determined to get past it. Then the bell rang.

Ryder ran to catch up with Kitty when he saw her walking down the corridor during lunch. Hey Kitty! He said with a big smile creeping across his face.

"Er, what's with the happy face?" She replied bluntly.

"Errr nothing" He lied, he couldn't tell her he smiled like this whenever he thought about her, which was waaaay too often for his liking. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted come over tomorrow night and work on that Glee Club assignment so we can practice, and maybe get something to eat?"

Kitty looked up from her locker. She took a moment to consider his offer, but it felt like a lifetime. His stomach was churning over and over, he wanted to be sick. Kitty seemed to enjoy seeing him squirm, before eventually answering "Okay, but only for the sake of Glee practice" before she winked and walked off.

Ryder was started to panic, what would he make for food? Would they go out to eat? What should he wear? He then realised there was someone who was close with Kitty, that he could ask for help, Marley. He spotted her at her locker and jogged up. "Hey, Can I ask you a question?" He whispered as Marley turned round, very hopeful that a date was coming her way. Her face dropped when he continued, "I need to plan the perfect first non-date for me and Kitty, can you help?!" As his words started to sink in, Marley realised there was an opportunity for sabotage in front of her.

Thinking on her feet, she replied, "Oh right. Well, I think you should take her to Breadsticks, she loves that restaurant. I know the manager, so I'll ring up and book it for you. You'll get the best table. Now, I have to get to class" she said smugly before closing her locker and leaving. Once out of earshot of Ryder, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled the number for Breadsticks. "Yes, hello? I'd like to book two tables for tomorrow night. I know the exact two I want."

The next twenty four hours quickly came around, as Ryder was jolted out of a daydream by his doorbell. He grinned and made his way downstairs, before opening the door to see Kitty standing on the doorstep. She'd left her hair down and the wavy blonde curls were perfect in his eyes. She smiled as he stuttered He…hello. Why don't you co-co-come in? before she walked through the door and into his living room. They spent the next few hours rehearsing, laughing and messing around. Before long it was time to eat, so they made their way to Breadsticks and found a booth waiting for them.

They talked and talked over dinner, sharing some personal stories with each other. Soon the end of the evening came and Ryder drove Kitty home. As they sat outside her house in his car, Ryder felt the urge to be brave and spoke up, "Hey… so I was wondering if you'd maybe like to go on a date with me?" but kept looking down at the floor, fearing the rejection he expected. Instead he heard the reply, "I'd love to and I really enjoyed tonight" before he felt her lips press against his cheek before she jumped out of the car, waved and disappeared inside her house.

The next morning at school was odd; everyone kept staring at Ryder and whispering. There was probably an update on one of the gossip blogs that float around the school internet, doing nothing but destroying people's friendships. But what would be on there about me? He thought to himself but quickly forgot about it once Kitty and the memory of last night popped back into his head. The odd looks continued all morning, even when he walked into Glee practice. He sat next to Jake and smiled at Kitty when she walked in and took a seat next to Marley.

Just as Schuester was about to start Glee practice, Artie piped up. "If no one else is going to be brave enough to ask, I will. Ryder, is it true?"

He was taken aback by the sudden question, "I'm sorry is what true?" came the answer.

"Oh, that's awkward. The gossip blogs are all saying that you used to do ballet and even played the part of Barbie in a production?!" replied Artie.

Ryder sat there shocked and embarrassed, "WHAT?! How did they find that out?! I've never told any…" he stopped as he remembered his conversation with Kitty last night. Surely she wouldn't? But there was no one else he'd told, ever. It wasn't that embarrassing in the grand scheme of things but he hated being confronted and he did hate that story. She did have a reputation for being a bit of a bitch though, what if everyone was right about her? Kitty looked up as Ryder started shouting "How could you?! I trusted you and you broke it the very next day"

Kitty sat there shocked and simply whispered "It… it wasn't me!"

Ryder was having none of it though, "Don't you sit there and lie to my face. Maybe you are as bad as everyone says."

Kitty picked up her stuff and ran out of the room with a tear rolling down her face. Out of everyone, she thought at least Ryder would believe her. The sad thing was, no one ran after her, they all thought she was some mega-bitch. So she found a quiet spot in the library and just sat there thinking about how much she had fallen for Ryder in one night and whether he would ever look at her again.

Glee practice ended with no further drama after the Kitty-Ryder showdown. Ryder and Sam had struck up a conversation as they headed down the hallway. They stopped in front of Sam's locker when Sam spoke "Sooo where did you take her on your first date?" he asked.

"Errr it wasn't technically a date but Breadsticks" Ryder replied.

"Breadsticks?! I'm surprised I didn't see you. My mum made me go pick up some food from there that she'd ordered. I did see Marley though. She was sitting next to the corner by the bar" Sam shot back.

"Wait, Marley was there?! Who was she with? Where did you say she was sitting again?!" Ryder tried to wrap his head around the situation.

"Erm next to the corner booth by the bar at the back Sam repeated. But… but we had the corner booth by the back! That's weird. The waitress said it had been specially requested by the girl who booked it."

Sam thought about this before replying "That's weird dudeee. I mean, she could probably hear your conversation. What a freak. Although she does have a soft spot for you, but to tag along? Too far."

As he said that, the penny dropped in Ryder's head, if she had heard the conversation, she was the one who spread it to the blogs this morning. Especially if she did have a "soft spot" for him. Now he may have messed things up with Kitty for good. "I've made a horrible mistake which I need to fix, I'll see you later!" He shouted to Sam as he sprinted off down the corridor. He knew exactly where Kitty would be, the extra Cheerios practice that Sue had made them do every week.

He was slightly out of breath by the time he made it down to the football field but he didn't care. He just needed to find Kitty and apologise. The Cheerios were mid-routine so he took a seat on the bleachers and waited until they were on a break. He ran up to Kitty, trying to think of the best way to apologise, "Hey! I need to talk to you. I was wrong, I was so wrong. I know it wasn't you who told the blogs, it was Marley. Please let me make it up to you on that date we discussed?!"

"Of course it wasn't me but you couldn't see that because you believed everyone else's perceptions of me. You're the only one who has seen the real me but you jumped to that conclusion with the rest of them. Now I'm sorry, but I have to get back to the Cheerios." Kitty turned her back and walked away, leaving Ryder standing alone.

The rest of the day passed in a strange blur for Ryder. His sadness over the Kitty situation meant that everything was tinged by the fact he wasn't going on a date with her anymore, or that she didn't want to speak to him. It was fair enough, he had shouted at her in front of the whole Glee club, he had called her a bitch and he'd even made her cry. That was the worst part for him, he just couldn't believe he'd hurt Kitty, the one person he really cared about. He didn't sleep much that night, or the next few.

Ryder kept seeing Kitty around school but she never really stopped to talk to him. Soon it was time for Glee practice, so he headed into the choir room. Kitty was already there, so he took a seat on the opposite side, next to Sam. Slowly the choir room filled out and Schuester began talking. The lesson for the week was duets, and everyone had to find a partner. Ryder partnered with Sam because it was easiest and that's who he was sitting next to at the time. They arranged to meet in the choir room at the end of the day, before parting at the end of Glee.

The bell rang at the end of the day and Ryder made his way to the choir room. Sam was running late and he'd been there for ten minutes when he heard the door open. "Oh great, you're here. I had some great ideas for our…" he turned round and stopped as he realised it was Kitty stood there and not Sam.

"Hey… I hope you don't mind but I persuaded Sam to swap duet partners, so you're stuck with me. I do have a great idea though. If that's okay?" She spoke, with her eyes locked on his at all times. Ryder's face broke into a grin as he nodded before pulling her into his arms.

They practiced for an hour but they didn't really need it, they sounded great together. They had ended up lying on the choir room floor, it was strangely comfortable, with Ryder's arm around Kitty's shoulder. He then whispered in her ear, "Thanks for giving me a second chance." She didn't say anything, just smiled and kissed him. He wasn't expecting it but he responded by putting both his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. This time, he kissed her and he felt her melt into the grip he had around her. Afterwards she pulled away, looked at her watch and jumped up, "Is that the time?! I've got to go, I'll see you tomorrow!" She called out as she skipped out of the room, full of happiness. Ryder just lay on the floor for a few more minutes, not believing how much his day had turned around.

The next week came around quickly, with Kitty and Ryder's blossoming relationship continuing. They had decided not to tell anyone and were barely seen speaking at school. There was the odd kiss when one of them couldn't ignore it any longer, such as in the auditorium when no-one was around or under the bleachers, in a truly cliche style. Glee practice rolled around and it was time to showcase the duets, Ryder and Kitty also planned to announce their relationship to the rest of the Glee club. Blaine and Brittany had just finished their performance of Love The Way You Lie when Schuester called out Ryder's name. Many people still thought he was performing with Sam, he couldn't wait to see their faces when Kitty joined him instead.

He walked to the front, "Despite some people's best efforts to derail this partnership, I'd like to bring up my duet partner, Kitty Wilde." He looked at Marley as he spoke, she looked like she'd been hit by a ton of bricks. Kitty skipped up to the front as she started to sing, "I tried to be cool but you're so hot that I melted… nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention… It cannot wait, I'm yoursss". He was only hearing bits of it as his heart skipped beats listening to her angelic voice. The next four minutes flew by, and as they finished, he gave her a massive hug before kissing her in front of the Glee Club. That should send the message, he thought.

They walked hand in hand down the corridor following their successful debut at Glee Club. Kitty suddenly spotted something down the corridor, "Hey babe, can you wait here for me? There's something I have to do." Kitty asked before walking over to where Marley was stood at her locker.

Kitty slammed the door, making Marley jump. "Hey, FRIEND." Kitty started, in a very sarcastic tone. "I know what you did. You think you're so much better than me but in actual fact, you're wrong. At least I'm honest about being horrible to people. If you ever mess with my relationship again, you'll wish you'd never met me. Now I have better people to be talking to." Kitty smiled as she turned away, and Marley watched her run down the corridor, linking arms with Ryder and walking down the corridor, as happy as she'd ever been.