A/N: Hi, everyone! First of all, let me say I am very excited to contribute to all of the wonderful and inspiring Kurtofsky fan fiction. You all are brilliant and I'm honored just to have a story! Please review and give me your thoughts! I love Kurt Hummel and I most definitely love Dave Karofsky! Pirates unite! ;)
Title: Maladjusted
Synopsis: Kurt is looking for Dave on the first day of school at McKinley to start up the PFLAG group he promised to help him run. But, where is he? Eventual Kurtofsky.
1. Because You Left
The sound of Lady Gaga's Fashion blared through the speakers of Kurt's alarm clock stereo signaling that it was indeed the day he had been waiting for since summer began; the first day of his senior year of high school. Kurt pulled the covers off of himself and leaped out of bed making a sprint for the shower. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, put on his outfit that he picked out the night before and made a mad dash down the stairs to the kitchen where he was invited by the smell of scrambled eggs and pancakes.
"Good morning, my wonderful family!" Kurt announced jovially as he entered, not hesitating for a second to seat himself at the table. Not a single strand of hair on his head was out of place. His skin shined with the sun pouring into the kitchen. No kid in the history of the planet was ever this perfect and excited about the first day of school.
Burt looked up from his paper, his attention grabbed by his son's dynamic entrance. "Morning, Kurt." He took in the boy for a few seconds and then returned his gaze back onto the sports section of the Lima Daily Gazette in his hands.
Carole set a plate of breakfast in front of Kurt and smiled. "You're awfully energetic this morning. Most kids would be struggling to get out of bed on the first day of school." Her attention turned to the sound of stumbling coming from the entryway of the kitchen. As if on cue, there was Finn, fighting to fit one of his sneakers onto his foot. "Kind of like that one," she said, amused by her son.
"I hate the first day of school...," Finn muttered wiping at his tired eyes. He made his way sluggishly to the table and dropped down onto his chair. He looked over at Kurt, noticing his perky demeanor. "Huh? What's up with you? You've got that whole Julie Andrews thing going on."
Kurt rolled his eyes at his step-brother although surprised by his reference to Julie Andrews. Well, maybe not all that surprised since Victor Victoria and Mary Poppins had been movies he had made Finn watch over and over again since they became a family. "Finn. It's the first day of school! I've been preparing for this day since summer started. I have a list of things as long as Kate Middleton's wedding gown that I want to accomplish this year, one of which includes running for Senior Class President! There is this really fantastic theater school I want to apply for and I'm going to need lots of activity on my transcript this year to impress them." Kurt suddenly remembered there was something he had wanted to ask his brother. "Finn, I need a favor."
"What?" Finn yawned, propping his gigantic size twelve sneaker onto his chair and battling to tie his shoelaces.
"Remember when I kicked for the football team? I would very much like it if you could get me back on the team. It'll look good when I apply to colleges." This wasn't the first time Kurt had asked this favor of Finn. His sophomore year, Finn managed to grant his request even at the expense of his own reputation. How did Kurt thank him? Maybe quitting in the boys locker room during showers wasn't the greatest idea in hindsight.
"I can talk to Coach Beiste about it. I'm sure it won't be a problem when she sees what you can do." Finn paused for a moment and gave his brother a suspicious sideways glance. "...You can still do it, right?" Clearly, Finn was eluding to his step-brother's unusual methods of achieving 100% accuracy on field goal attempts.
Kurt nodded eagerly, despite any real certainty. "Sure I can! It'll be like... riding a bicycle!"
"Wouldn't use that analogy," Burt commented, sipping at his cup of coffee and turning the page of his newspaper nonchalantly, not even really looking up.
"Dad!" Kurt hissed at his father. He turned back to Finn. "Really, I will find my rhythm again. It's natural talent!"
Finn nodded slowly, now prodding at the food in front of him. "Tryouts are after school. Bring some clothes to change into."
Kurt grabbed a red gym bag lying next to his school satchel and held it up to Finn. "Already done," he replied gleaming.
"When is your first game scheduled?" Burt asked, still fixated on his paper. He peered over the pages when he didn't get a response from Finn who was struggling with a mouthful of pancake.
"Well, the first game of the season isn't for a while, but we have a scrimmage against Carmel this weekend," Finn replied finally. "They're pretty tough this year. Me and Puck saw their tryouts last week and they are a well oiled machine." He smirked at Kurt. "But, we've got the only kicker in the state of Ohio that can kick a 65 yard field goal."
Kurt gave his brother a timid, yet reassuring smile. He prayed to the Gods that he wouldn't make a mockery out of himself. Oh well. It was for the greater good. Getting into NYADA was his ultimate goal. NYADA. Kurt suddenly remembered that another measure he'd use to gain entry into the college of his dreams was to set up a PFLAG chapter at McKinley. It was only natural that when the idea entered his mind so did Dave Karofsky. Memories came flooding in about all of their encounters the year before. The kiss. The death threat. The apology. The Prom. Kurt hadn't heard a word from his former tormentor since they were crowned McKinley's homecoming King and Queen. He wondered what Karofsky had been up to all summer and if he had come out to anyone. Kurt also wondered how their inevitable meet up at football practice would pan out.
[***]
The day passed along at a brisk pace. Kurt had caught up with all of his friends and even met some new ones like the transfer student from Ireland, Rory Flanagan. Kurt did take notice of the absence of someone in particular. Someone he definitely thought he would have bumped into by now. Dave Karofsky. Where was he? Kurt shrugged it off. He was sure that the chaos of the first day of school simply distracted him from noticing the jock.
"Kurt," Ms. Pillsbury interrupted Kurt's thoughts. He had stopped by her office to ask if she would sponsor his PFLAG group. "I would love to be the faculty sponsor for your PFLAG group." She paused. "But, in order to establish a club at school I'm afraid you need another student to take the responsibility of organizing it with you."
"I have someone in mind," Kurt answered. "I haven't had a chance to talk with him yet, but he sort of owes me the favor." He realized it might take some convincing on his part to get Karofsky to honor his part of the bargain they made when he transferred back to McKinley from Dalton Academy. When the proposal was first made the jock was not exactly thrilled about it. 'Just kill me now...' were his exact words. Ok, maybe it wasn't as much of a proposal as it was a demand. Kurt pinned the jock in a corner and didn't leave a whole lot of room for negotiating.
"Okay," Ms. Pillsbury nodded. "Bring him in next time and we'll fill out all the paperwork and submit it to the school board for approval." The bell for the next class period rang. Soon the halls were flooded with students trying to get to their respective rooms. Kurt stood and gathered his book bag. "Thank you," he said, waving goodbye. "I'll get right to work on that."
Kurt stepped out into the hallway and turned at the familiar sound of the splashing of a cold beverage. There was no mistake. It was the sound of a slushy hitting flesh. He spotted Rory a few feet away completely drenched in the syrupy concoction. Azimio bumped into Kurt with his shoulder, an empty slushy cup in hand. The jock frowned. "What are you looking at girly boy?" He pushed himself past Kurt.
Kurt didn't retaliate and instead shrunk back avoiding any further confrontation with Azimio. When the coast was clear he hurried to Rory. "Are you ok?"
Rory wiped at his eyes. "Americans sure know how to make outsiders feel welcome..." he muttered shaking himself off.
Kurt smiled. "Come on. I've had plenty of experience cleaning up this particular type of mess."
Kurt helped Rory by guiding him into the boy's restroom and began washing the dyed icy remnants out of his hair. Inside, he was berating himself. Not because he should've stood up to Azimio. Well, maybe that a little. What really ate away at him was that when he first turned around in the hallway and heard the slushy splash on impact he half expected it to be Karofsky throwing it. How difficult was it to give Karofsky the benefit of the doubt? He did apologize. He sounded sincere, too. So why did he immediately think Karofsky was back to his old ways? After the fiasco at Prom, their fragile relationship, if you can even call it that, was unclear. Maybe the humiliation would drive him back to bullying. Maybe Azimio's antics were just a preview of things to come. There were too many maybes.
"Thanks for helping me out," Rory said once the stinging in his eyes stopped. "I haven't had the best of days."
Kurt nodded at the boy, washing his own hands in the sink. "You're welcome. I sort of lived through this nightmare on a daily basis last year. Slushies are only the beginning."
Rory grinned. "Any advice?"
Kurt gave a little laugh and shook his head. "Don't wear anything that isn't stain proof. I've had to bid adieu to collections not even the allowance of the entire school combined could afford."
"What's with that fellow anyway? I didn't do so much as look at him. Guess he found my face offensive or something of the sort." Rory asked, as the two of them exited the bathroom and returned walking down the hallway.
"Who knows what fuels these Neanderthals' minds? Cheetos, French Fries, Bacne... Researchers are still unclear. " Kurt joked. "At least you just got Azimio. Did you know there were two of them working as a tag team at some point?" God, there he went again. Kurt began to question whether or not he still subconsciously held a grudge against Karofsky even after he said he forgave him.
Rory's eyes widened in disbelief. "Must be the Irish luck in me that I only had to deal with the one."
Kurt kept silent. He walked Rory the rest of the way to his class and then went on to his own. School was nearly over and he still hadn't seen Karofsky anywhere. He was beginning to wonder if the jock might be avoiding him as a result of the humiliating outcome of Prom. As Kurt stepped beside Karofsky that night down to the center of the gymnasium for the customary Prom King and Queen dance he could feel the anxiety and horror radiating off of his former bully. He could only imagine the thoughts that went racing through Karofsky's head at the time. Oh well. Football practice was only a period away and Kurt decided to just wait until he saw Karofsky there to figure it all out.
[***]
Kurt expected the looks he'd receive entering the boys locker room. Many of the guys stopped undressing when he strode through, not really sure what to make of his presence. Kurt paid them no mind and instead went directly to Coach Beiste's office towards the back.
"Kurt Hummel. Come and take a seat," Beiste said, seeing Kurt lingering by the doorway.
Kurt smiled nervously, holding the strap of his gym bag rather tightly as he stepped inside and sat down. He took notice of a framed photo of the football team in zombie make up on the night of the Championship game the year before on his coach's desk. Kurt scanned through it, smiling at his step-brother in the center of the photo posing like a walking corpse. All of his friends were in the picture except him. That's because at that time he was attending Dalton Academy. He'd almost forgotten the reason for his absence until he spotted Karofsky in the photograph. It was so weird seeing him smile like that. In fact, Kurt was almost certain he had never actually seen Karofsky smile. It was... nice.
"That was one of the best nights of my coaching career," Beiste said taking notice of Kurt's fascination with the photo. "I owe Will big time for being able to make winning the championship game a reality. I've also heard stories about what you've done for the Titans. Like Will, you also brought unity to the team and we need that more than ever this year. Carmel High has a extremely good team and the Titans could use a secret weapon. I'm hoping you'll be it, Kurt."
Kurt nodded. "I will try my best not to let you down, Coach." He felt bad that his only motive for joining the team seemed to be selfish in nature; to look good on his college resume. He felt even worse for not having any idea whether his kick would be anything like it was back then.
"Alright Kurt," Beiste said grabbing the whistle that hung by her desk. "Get suited up and I'll see you out on the field."
Kurt left Beiste's office and headed down to the locker assigned to him. As he began removing a few items from his bag, Kurt sensed a ominous presence near him. It must've come from a whole year of being bullied that he developed this "spider-sense".
"Changing into your cheerleading outfit, Hummel?" That was the voice of Azimio Adams. There was no mistaking it. He stood uncomfortably close, arms crossed.
Kurt was initially inclined to retreat from Azimio, but had already given him the pleasure earlier that day and wasn't about to do it again. "Oh, that was cute," he chided. "Sadly, that would be a waste of time for me seeing that no amount of cheering could help you win a game."
"That right?" Azimio challenged, moving menacingly closer to Kurt.
Kurt moved back. "What's with you, Azimio? It's the first day of school and already you're being a jack ass. Are you that big of a jerk or are you just making up for Karofsky dumping you as his sidekick?"
Something changed immediately about his aggressor's demeanor. There was no response from Azimio. Instead, the boy scoffed and walked past him saying nothing.
Kurt let out a sigh of relief. He must've hit a nerve by bringing up Karofsky. Although, he admitted to himself, it was strange how instantly it had an effect on Azimio. Did they have a falling out? Kurt also thought how strange it was that he started the day thinking about nothing else but his path to college and yet... Karofsky drew more of his attention than anything. He was just finishing up getting ready when his brother Finn walked over to him.
"You ready, Kurt?" Finn asked, helmet in hand and uniformed.
Kurt grabbed his own helmet and nodded. "Ready!" The two of them made their way out onto the field. Just as practice was getting started, Kurt surveyed the perimeter. "Hey Finn?"
"Yeah?"
"Where is Karofsky? Isn't he on the team? I haven't seen him all day and thought for sure I'd see him here." Kurt stole a glance at his brother who put on his helmet and took a swig of water from his water bottle.
"Well, you probably haven't seen Karofsky around because he transferred out of McKinley," Finn answered.
And now it all made sense. Kurt didn't understand why he kept bringing up Karofsky throughout the course of the day until receiving that news. It explained how Azimio reacted earlier. Somewhere inside of him, Kurt felt Karofsky was gone. So, why did he feel let down by it? Just like that. Karofsky is gone?
"I'm really glad you wanted to come back and play," Finn continued, putting a firm hand on his brother's shoulder for gratitude. "Without him blocking, we're going to need a way to make up for the loss."
Kurt didn't put much effort behind the smile he gave Finn. All Kurt could think about was that he would get no closure about anything that happened between him and Dave Karofsky. Because you left.
Ending A/N: I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading! Can't wait to unfold the next chapter and to read your reviews!
