The halls of McKinley were scary. They were full of large jocks with menacing glares and petite cheerleaders whose eyes scoured the halls for people to judge. Students hurried from class to class, clutching books to their chests and avoiding eye contact with anyone above them on the food chain. Of course, this was probably a usual scene in a typical high school, but to new student, Blaine Anderson, it was terrifying. After the year of private school that he had attended, public school was like entering a cage full of lions.
Blaine's eyes glanced down at the schedule he held; his classes were printed in a neat grid and his name and locker number, 125, were written in curly handwriting at the top. He'd been sure to memorise where his classes were on the map that the obviously bored receptionist, who had looked rather annoyed about the fact that Blaine had interrupted her nail filing, had given him, so that he didn't have to walk around all day with a map held in front of his face.
He came to a halt at his locker and yanked at the lock in order to get his possessions in it and get to class as soon as possible. The hallways were making him claustrophobic and he dreaded the embarrassment he'd face if he had to walk in late to his first class.
Already, Blaine hated McKinley. As optimistic a person he was, he couldn't see himself enjoying being at this school as much as he enjoyed being at Dalton. At Dalton he had friends, acceptance, a reason to belong. He could tell McKinley wasn't going to offer him any of these things.
He'd grabbed his books for his morning classes, tucking his timetable and map into one for safe keeping, and began striding in the direction of his first class. He was so determined to get to lesson that he didn't concentrate on dodging other students and his shoulder soon came into contact with another, sending the student's books flying to the ground. Immediately Blaine knelt to help the student pick up the books.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. So sorry," he quickly apologised, stacking the books on top of each other before glancing up at who he'd just helped. He wasn't expecting the sight that he met.
The first thing he saw were his eyes. Two beautiful orbs of blue, green and grey, the colours swirling together; it was like looking into the ocean. The eyes were set into a gorgeous face, flawless, porcelain skin on high cheek bones and a proud nose and around perfect pink lips. The boys hair was chestnut brown, styled with care into a fantastic quiff. Blaine's sight found the boys eyes again, which were now swimming with confusion. It took a moment to realise that he was still knelt on the floor, staring at the boy.
Blaine quickly stood, holding the books out to the boy with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," he whispered, cursing his voice for coming out so quietly.
"No, it's fine," the boy replied. Blaine hadn't been expecting his voice to be so beautiful, high and melodic. "Thanks for helping me pick them up." The boy paused, his head tilting slightly as he assessed Blaine's features. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around."
Blaine nodded, before answering, forcing his voice to return to normal. "Yes, first day."
"Ah, well in that case, welcome to McKinley. Senior?"
"Junior, actually," Blaine corrected him.
"Oh, me too. You just looked older." The boy paused, his expression indecisive before he thrust a hand in front of Blaine. "Kurt Hummel."
"Blaine Anderson," Blaine replied, taking Kurt's hand, revelling in the feel of Kurt's soft, delicate fingers against his.
All too soon, Kurt took his hand back and wrapped his arm protectively around the books resting against his chest. "Nice to meet you Blaine Anderson. What class do you have first?"
"English, Room 203, Mrs McGrew," Blaine recited.
"Looks like we have class together," Kurt said. "I'll walk you there. Wouldn't want you getting lost on the first day."
Blaine smiled at Kurt, choosing not to mention that he had memorised his way or that he actually had a map in his book. "Thanks, I appreciate it!"
"Let me just put my maths book in my locker and I'll be right with you." Kurt stepped behind Blaine and went to open locker 128, just three lockers from Blaine. He quickly put some books into his locker and turned to walk with Blaine.
"So, are you going to join any clubs?" Kurt asked as they began their journey to the class.
"Well, I think it's a little too late to join any sports teams, but I'd love to do football. Maybe next year, though. But, I was part of the glee club at my old school so I'll have to see if they have one here."
"They do," Kurt assured him immediately. "Erm, I mean, McKinley has a glee club. The New Directions. I'm actually a part of it."
"You sing?"
"Countertenor."
Blaine let out a low whistle. "Wow, we never had a countertenor. You must get like, all the solos."
"Not necessarily," Kurt said, avoiding eye contact for a moment. "I don't really like to be put in the spotlight."
"The spotlight can put a lot of pressure on you," Blaine commented.
"You sound like you talk from experience."
"I was actually the lead singer of my glee club."
"You must be good. I must warn you though, if you're good Rachel will hound you until you do a duet with her. After her and Finn broke up she's been looking for someone else who can keep up with her vocally," Kurt explained.
"I'll be sure to remember that," Blaine said as they came to a pause at class 203.
"This is us." Kurt shot Blaine a dazzling smile that left Blaine's head spinning slightly. Kurt pushed the door open and entered the classroom, which was already nearly full. Kurt went to take his usual seat at the back, leaving Blaine standing at the front, unsure of where to sit. Once Kurt was sat down, he looked to the front at the confused Blaine. He bit his lip before gesturing for Blaine to come and sit next to him.
"No one sits here?" Blaine asked.
"No," Kurt said with a small smile playing at his lips.
Blaine sat at the desk, a grin spreading across his face. Maybe McKinley wouldn't be that bad.
"So, will you be coming to glee tonight after school? Mr Schue will most likely let you audition there and then, but if not then you can just check out the club and see if you fancy it," said Kurt once they'd left English.
"I might just take you up on that offer," Blaine replied. "I'll just have to ask my parents, but I don't think they'd mind."
"Great! So what class do you have now?"
"Chemistry, Room 187, Mr Hargreaves," Blaine recited, picturing his timetable.
"Ah, you'll love Mr Hargreaves. He teaches great lessons. I had him last year," Kurt said with a grin. He went to continue, but squealed in surprise instead when a pair of arms wound their way around his waist.
"Hey, Kurt. Who's this?"
A head came to rest on Kurt's shoulder and Blaine moved his gaze to look at the new face. His sight met a boy with deep green eyes, sandy brown hair and a fantastic jaw line. The position that the boy was in showed that he was tall, a couple of inches taller than Kurt, and even though Blaine could see little of his arms, he looked muscular. There was no mistaking the red letterman jacket he wore. This guy was a jock. A gorgeous jock who still had his arms around Kurt's waist.
Kurt's grin disappeared, his eyes immediately widened and the sparkle in his eye seemingly dimmed. Blaine tried not to frown at the noticeable change.
"H-hey, Alex. This is Blaine. He's new and was interested in joining glee. I was just telling him what he needed to know" Kurt answered, his answer seeming strangely specific to Blaine.
Alex looked up at Blaine, as if to get him to confirm what Kurt had said. Blaine smiled at him with a nod which seemed to please Alex.
"You look like the kind that would join glee," Alex said, his eyes sweeping Blaine's polo shirt and Capri pants. He wasn't sure whether Alex was simply stating a fact or attempting to insult him. Either way, he ignored it and just smiled at the taller boy.
"Well it'll take up my time whilst I wait for sports try outs," Blaine clarified.
"You play sports?" Alex asked in surprise, the corners of his mouth turning up into a mocking grin.
"Yeah. Well, my old school wasn't very big on sport but I played a lot out of school. Football, baseball, soccer, boxing," Blaine said.
"Oh, cool," Alex said, clearly not convinced. "Well, I guess I might be seeing you in the locker room... Shane, was it?"
"Blaine," he corrected. "Blaine Anderson."
"Good to meet you, Blaine Anderson. Alex Hughes; quarterback of the football team and," his eyes narrowed at Blaine, "boyfriend of Kurt Hummel."
Blaine tried not to let the disappointment show. Yes, he'd spent most of English wondering whether Kurt was gay. Yes, he'd already began to form a crush on the boy. Apparently someone had gotten in earlier and this someone wasn't exactly the guy Blaine imagined Kurt would be into.
"Oh, great," Blaine said, attempting to sound positive, but he sounded more sarcastic.
"You coming to French, Kurt?" Alex asked, turning his attention to the boy in his arms.
"Yeah, of course. I'll see you later, Blaine. In glee club," Kurt said.
"I don't suppose you'll meet me at your locker, would you? I don't really know where I'm going," Blaine requested.
"Oh, of course you don't. Yes, I'll see you there!"
"Thanks. Later, Kurt!"
"Nice meeting you, Blaine," Alex called, spitting Blaine's name venomously as he and Kurt separated.
It looked like in his first few hours at McKinley, Blaine had made a friend and an enemy.
The rest of the day rushed by. Blaine had spent his lunch with a girl called Tina and her boyfriend Mike, who he'd originally struck up conversation with when she mentioned glee club in their shared Maths class.
"So have you met anyone else nice?" she asked.
"Erm, I ran into, literally, Kurt Hummel this morning. We shared a class so he walked me there and I sat next to him. He seems very nice, do you know him?"
"You spoke to Kurt?" Tina questioned with a tone of surprise.
"Yeah. He seemed really nice."
"Oh, I see," Tina mumbled.
"Why? Is that unusual?" Blaine asked.
"Sort of. Kurt's been distant lately. He avoids talking to any of us and we're his closest friends. He usually just spends his time with Alex and stays in the background," Tina explained.
"Oh, how long has he been like that?"
"A couple of months, I guess," Tina shrugged.
Blaine took a bite of his sandwich before asking, "Out of curiosity, how long have Kurt and Alex been dating?"
"Erm, about three months?" she answered, looking at her boyfriend for confirmation. Mike nodded. "Yeah, about three months."
Blaine nodded and continued to eat, allowing the conversation to swerve into other topics, but Kurt didn't leave his mind.
When he got to his locker later that day, Kurt was already there. With Alex. Blaine didn't approach immediately and managed to catch their conversation.
"I can't believe you're waiting for him. He's just as much a loser as you are!" Alex said in a hushed voice, obviously unaware that Blaine could hear him.
"It's his first day and he doesn't know where the choir room is," Kurt argued, not meeting his boyfriend's gaze. Blaine froze. They were talking about him.
"Let him find his own way then!"
"Why do you have a problem with him, anyway?"
"I just didn't like how he was looking at you, like you were a model or something. He obviously can't see that you belong to me." Perhaps the statement was meant to be sweet, but instead all Blaine heard was the venom and anger in his voice.
"Look, I don't even know if he's gay. He probably isn't."
"Kurt, he was wearing Capri pants. He's joining glee club. And he was looking at you like you're actually worth something. He screams homo," Alex laughed. Blaine frowned. Why would Kurt let him say such things? "I'm telling you he better not try anything. You know what happens if you let him try anything, don't you Kurt?" Alex's voice had dropped to a slightly more threatening tone. Blaine could see Kurt gulp as he nodded his head enthusiastically, but didn't speak. "Good. See you tomorrow. You're coming to mine after school." And with that, Alex left, leaving Kurt staring at the locker in front of him, his eyes wide, and Blaine a little more certain of what was going on with Kurt.