Get ready for me, love, 'cause I'm a comer

I've simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer!

Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade!

Kurt's alarm clock blared, almost instantly waking him up. Just five more minutes, he thought as he fell back into the pillows. But then he remembered what day it was.

Looking at his calendar, he saw a big, red X on today's date of November 15th.

Today was his first day at Dalton.

He immediately rose from his bed, turned his alarm clock off, and opened his closet. The last item on the rack was a blue and red blazer. He carefully pulled it out of his closet and held it in front of him. He's made better decisions when it comes to fashion, but it wasn't like he had a choice. And wearing his own clothes at school was a small sacrifice he had to make to come to Dalton. At least he didn't have to worry about any of his clothes getting ruined by slushies anymore.

He pulled a white dress shirt from his dresser and put it on, quickly buttoning it. After putting on his pants and making sure his hair looked perfect, he tightened his tie around his neck and pulled on the blazer.

He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to stay calm. You know Blaine, he told himself. You're not completely alone. And you'll have the Warblers...

But Kurt wasn't sure if he wanted to join the Warblers just yet. Maybe he should just get situated at Dalton first. He really didn't know too much about Dalton. They placed him in his classes based on his grades at McKinley. What if this was going to be harder than he thought?

Kurt shook his head, as if it would clear the thoughts from his mind. Shut up. You'll be fine. The other students at Dalton seemed kind enough when he visited. Surely they'll help him, right?

He walked downstairs to the kitchen and set his bag on a dining room chair. He grabbed eggs from the fridge and cracked them onto a pan. Just then, Burt walked downstairs.

"Hey, kid."

Kurt put a slice of bread in the toaster and turned it on. He looked over his shoulder to his father. "Good morning, Dad. Why are you up so early?" It was 5:30 in the morning. Another downside to Dalton was that it was nearly two hours away. He had to get up extra early to get there on time.

"It's gonna be a busy day at the shop. Something's wrong with Mr. Vargas' car and I can't quite figure it out. Plus I have about ten other cars and bikes to work on..."

"Well, let me know if you need any help. I should be home from school around five or six. Breakfast?" He put his eggs on a plate and took a bite out of them, taking a seat at the dining room table.

"Nah, I'll pick something up. And you let me know if you have any trouble at Dalton, alright?"

"Of course. But you don't have anything to worry about. Dalton is safe."

Burt shrugged and poured coffee into a mug. "Alright. Good luck, then."

"Thanks, dad." Kurt finished his breakfast and set the plate in the sink. "I should get going. See you later!" He pulled his bag onto his shoulder, looked in the mirror one last time, and almost ran out the door.

When he got in the car, he got a text from Blaine. Happy first day of school! Hope your day is great! :D Kurt couldn't help but laugh at the excitement in the message. He told Blaine he was on his way and put the key in the ignition.

Two hours later, Kurt pulled into the Dalton parking lot, surprised at how big the school is compared to McKinley. He was convinced it had grown a few stories since the last time he was here. Dalton was made up of two huge buildings, one for classes and one for dorms. It seemed like the chances of getting lost were highly likely. He sighed and looked at the clock. 7:45. Classes started in fifteen minutes. He turned the car off and got out, making sure to lock it before realizing they chances of his car getting stolen or vandalized here was small.

He began to walk across the parking lot to the school and found that once he got to there, he had no idea where to go. He looked around the courtyard, trying to find someone that didn't seem busy. Across the concrete space on a wooden bench he saw a tall, blonde boy with is face buried in a book. He seemed kind enough. Kurt walked up to him. "Excuse me?"

The boy looked up. "Yeah?"

Kurt smiled. "Hi, I'm new here. I was wondering if you could tell me where the office is?"

"Sure." He stood up and and pointed in the direction of a small brick building off to the side of the school. It seemed miniature next to its neighbor. "It's that small building right over there."

The boy turned back to Kurt. "Welcome to Dalton, by the way. My name's Jeff." He held out his hand and flashed a smile at Kurt, who introduced himself.

"Thanks for the directions. I'll see you around," he told him and started walking towards the office.

When he walked inside, a bell chimed on the door. The office was only a small room, with a desk in one corner and a television and couch in another. There were also a few vending machines selling chips, soda, and candy.

Upon entering, a middle-aged, tan woman with long brown hair turned from her computer to the door. "How may I help you?"

"I'm a new student. My name is Kurt Hummel?" He turned the last sentence into a question, although he wasn't sure why.

"Oh, of course." She typed and clicked on her computer, multiple windows popping up. Kurt noticed a name plate on her desk: Mrs. Robertson, Secretary. "Here you are." She clicked a button on the screen and the printer turned on. The secretary dug around in a file cabinet until she found the papers she was looking for. "Here's your schedule and a map of the school. You'll have to wear this until you can get a proper ID." She handed him a name tag with his name printed on it. "And I believe that's all. Welcome to Dalton, Mr. Hummel. Feel free to ask any questions you may have throughout the day. I'm sure our students would be delighted to help you."

"Thank you," Kurt said and headed out the door to the school. He was already a couple of minutes late for his first class, and he wasn't even sure which class that was. He found his schedule and studied it. It looked like he had History in room fourteen first period. He unfolded his map and laid it in front of him. The social studies hall was upstairs to the left. He shoved the papers in his bag and hurried up the spiral staircase. It wasn't until he had reached the top that he realized this was the staircase where he met Blaine. He smiled faintly at it before moving on.

He walked down the hall, past rooms ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...when he reached room fourteen, he paused at the door. Holding his breath, he gave it a small knock.

A few seconds later, the door opened. Behind it stood a tall, skinny man, clad in a white dress shirt with a dark red tie and black pants. He looked like he was in his twenties.

"Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel. I'm a new student. I'm sorry I'm late, I had to pick up my schedule and-"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Hummel. I was told we were having a new student coming in today. Please take a seat. There should be an extra book on the shelf." He opened the door further and went back to his place at the board.

Kurt walked into the room. He felt the stares of the other students on his back as he went to the shelf in the back of the room. There was a large variety of different textbooks on it. He quickly glanced around the room at the other students' books, unsure of which he needed. They seemed to all have red books, so he picked an identical book off the shelf and took a seat in the back of the room.

Mr. Williamson had just finished writing a list of terms, half of which Kurt had never seen nor heard of, on the white board. He directed the class to copy them down. As Kurt wrote the words he wondered just how much harder Dalton might be compared to McKinley. He put down his pen and looked around the classroom for the first time.

From what he could tell, the boys here seemed...civilized. The classroom was eerily quiet. At McKinley, he was used to the constant whispering and chatter over the teacher's lecturing. He was used to having to strain his hearing to be able to hear the teachers. Here, the students were silent. Obedient. Not that Kurt was complaining; he had always found it easier to concentrate when it was quiet.

He thought of his friends back at McKinley. They were probably just getting out of glee club now. He only just got here, but he already misses them. He wondered what impromptu performance they decided to put on today. He wondered what drama was going on this morning; who cheated on who now? Who would threaten to leave the club this week? At McKinley, there seemed to always be some kind of rumor or news going around that put the entire glee club in a mood for the rest of the week.

...Which reminded him of the Warblers. He would have to remember to ask Blaine about auditioning when he saw him. But he wasn't sure if he wanted to audition so soon. Maybe he should take a couple of weeks to get used to Dalton first.

Kurt was jolted out of his thoughts by the bell. As the students filed out of the room, Mr. Williamson called Kurt over. "Yes, Mr. Williamson?"

"I just wanted to welcome you to Dalton Academy." He extended his hand and Kurt shook it. "Thank you."

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you happen to transfer from?"

"William McKinley High. It's in Lima, pretty far away. About a two hour drive."

The teacher looked shocked. "Wow. May I ask why you decided to transfer so far from home, Mr. Hummel?"

Kurt was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He didn't like talking about the reasons for his transfer. "Just...personal issues. I actually met Blaine Anderson, if you know him..." Oh, god. Why did he bring up Blaine? He had nothing to do with their conversation.

Kurt had to admit, the man was intimidating. His facial expression was cold and hard. Kurt tried to look at anywhere but the teacher's eyes. His own eyes settled on Mr. Williamson's desk. There were papers scrambled all over it. If his desk was any indication, he was very unorganized. On the side of his desk, sticking out of a folder was a drawing. Kurt stared at it and realized it was a pair of eyes. It's irises were golden-yellow and the pupils were enlarged. He wondered if Mr. Williamson drew it. If he did, why? Maybe he was just over-thinking things, like he often did.

The teacher replied, "Ah, yes. Mr. Anderson is a very...interesting boy." Kurt noticed that the man stiffened and his voice lowered the tiniest bit, but doesn't question it because in the next moment, he is back to normal and Kurt wonders if he just imagined the entire thing.

An awkward silence followed the teacher's statement. I really should go, Kurt thought. I shouldn't be late for second period...

As if he read his mind, Mr. Williamson said, "Well, Mr. Hummel, I hope you find Dalton an enjoyable learning environment. Feel free to let me know if you need any help."

"Thank you, Mr. Williamson," Kurt said, and walked out of the room as fast as he could.

His next class was Trigonometry. Kurt aimlessly hurried across the building, not sure where he was going. He tried to straighten out his map to find the math hall. His eyes were scanning the map before he bumped right into someone, crumpling his map once again.

"Oh! Sorry!" Kurt exclaimed, looking up to see who he had collided with. "David?"

"Kurt! Blaine told me you were transferring today. Do you need help? Where are you going?"

"Um..." Kurt pulled out his schedule. "Trigonometry."

David looked at Kurt's schedule. "With Mr. Parker? I'm in the same class—so is Wes. Come on, let's go. Don't wanna be late!" He spun Kurt around and led him towards the math hall. Kurt silently thanked god for David—turns out he had been walking the wrong way.

"So have you talked to Blaine yet?" David asked him.

"Not yet. I don't know if we have any classes together either."

"You'll run into him sooner or later. Here it is." He nodded towards room forty-six and walked inside.

Sitting at his desk, Mr. Parker was average-sized and bald. He wore a navy blue sweater vest under a white polo shirt. Kurt walked up to his desk and introduced himself to the teacher, who told him the same thing as Mr. Williamson.

On the way to his desk, he heard David shout, "Hey, Kurt!" And motioned for Kurt to come by him. When he got to David, he saw Wes with him. "Hi!"

Kurt smiled, looking at the two boys, and greeted Wes. Maybe he really did have some friends here. His eyes began to scan around the room, looking for an empty seat.

"Oh, there's a seat right here if you want it." Wes pointed at an unoccupied desk behind him and David.

"Thanks." Kurt found a book and took a seat just as class started.

Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about Dalton just yet. Some classes were easy while others where difficult. Everyone seemed nice, however. They welcomed him in the hallways and helped him find his way around the school. He didn't have to worry about being taunted because he was gay. It was a welcome change.

He and Blaine ended up having the same French class. Kurt had run into him after lunch, and they walked to the class together.

He had met many new people (who were all Warblers, coincidentally). Jeff from the courtyard, David, Wes, and that guy who helped me find the cafeteria...what was his name? Kurt's brows furrowed as he tried to remember the boy. Oh, yeah. Trent. They were all willing to help him.

Blaine, Wes, and David even invited him for coffee at Dalton's cafe after school. "Just like old times," Kurt mused as they each took a seat at the table.

"So how was your day?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"It was great!" Kurt replied. "Everyone here is so nice. The classes are a little harder, but there's nothing wrong with a challenge, right?" He smiled and took a sip of his mocha. "The kids here are definitely...different compared to McKinley."

At this statement, Wes, David, and Blaine all chuckled, as if there was some kind of inside joke. Kurt chose to ignore it.

"Did any of the teachers give you trouble?" David questioned.

"Not really. Except for Mr. Williamson," Kurt remembered. "He kept...interrogating me. You'd think I was a murder suspect or something."

The three boys exchanged glances. "W-What did he ask?" Blaine said.

"Just where I'm from, why I transferred...and when I told him I met you, he told me you were 'a very interesting man.'" Kurt did his best Mr. Williamson impression, but the boys didn't laugh or smile. Instead they looked at each other. "Is something wrong?" Kurt asked.

"No, no," Blaine answered a little too quickly. "It's just that Mr. Williamson can be...hard to please sometimes. He tends to hold grudges."

Kurt nodded, thinking about this and deciding to be careful around his teacher from now on. He looked down at his watch. "Oh, crap," he exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "I have to go. Gotta be home in time for dinner. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" And with that, he left the other boys by themselves.

They waited until Kurt was out of the room to start talking again. "Why do you think Mr. Williamson would go after Kurt?" David wondered.

Wes shrugged. "Something doesn't seem right about this. I can just tell. He always gives me dirty looks whenever I pass him in the hallway. I have no clue why. I've never even taken any of his classes before."

"He did the same thing to me when I first transferred," Blaine told them. "He was always a little more strict to me, called on me when he knew I didn't know the answer, doing anything to make me feel humiliated. I always just passed it off as a bad case of homophobia. Thank god I finally dropped the class."

Silence again.

After thirty seconds or so, David spoke up, his voice barely a whisper. "...What if it's not just homophobia?"

"What do you mean?" Wes asked him.

"If he did it to Wes too...and who knows about the rest of the pack? What if...what if he knows?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You mean about—"

"Of course, about that. What else would I mean?"

"I don't know! How could he know about us? It's not like we go around talking about it in public places."

"What do you think we're doing right now, Blaine? We're in the middle of a freaking coffee shop!"

Blaine sighed and exasperatedly looked around the room.

"We'll have to talk to the others about it later." David grabbed his coffee cup and stood up.

Wes looked up at him. "Wait, you think we should tell them? When Sebastian finds out—"

"It doesn't matter," David told him. "If we're right and Williamson knows about us, we're all in danger."

"Can't we at least wait a few days?" Blaine suggested. "Maybe try to find out more, just to be sure?"

David seemed to contemplate what Blaine said. "Fine. One week. Then we're telling them." And with that, he stormed out of the cafe.

"And after school Blaine and two of his friends invited me for coffee. That's why I was late to dinner."

"Oh, honey, it's okay! As long as you're making friends." Kurt's stepmother Carole told him, taking a bite out of her pizza.

"I'm glad you like it there, Kurt," Burt said.

"So, Finn," Kurt turned his head to his stepbrother. "How are things at McKinley?"

"Same old, same old," he replied. "Puck's sleeping with Santana, me and Rachel are fighting again, Sam and Quinn are still dating..." His face turned red as he mentioned his ex-girlfriend.

"Why are you and Rachel fighting?" Kurt asked. "I swear to god, if it's because of this love pentagon thing you guys have going on—"

Finn looked at Kurt, confused. "What love penta...? Whatever. Anyways, Rachel found out what happened last year..." He dropped his voice and hoped he wouldn't have to explain further in front of his parents.

Fortunately, Kurt understood what he meant: Rachel found out that Finn had slept with Santana. "Oh. I see." He thought about the problem at hand. "I can try to talk to Rachel, if you'd like."

"Thanks, man." Finn smiled at him, thankful that his girlfriend and stepbrother were such good friends, especially now that Rachel didn't have to compete with him for solos. Kurt hadn't spoken to Rachel since he had announced that he was transferring anyways. They needed to catch up.

"Hey, it's almost time for the game to start. You wanna watch, Kurt?" Burt asked his son, picking up his paper plate and throwing it into the garbage can.

"No, thanks. I have homework to do." He got up and went to his room, determined to finish all of it before midnight. He had a five page history essay due Friday, French quiz tomorrow, and a big Trigonometry test on Thursday.

And it was only his first day.

Kurt Hummel wondered what else Dalton had in store for him this week.