Chapter One: Labels

Whoever said teenagers had it easy must never have attended public high school. At least, that's what Blaine Anderson thought as he desperately tried to remember the locker combination he'd forgotten for the third time that week. 7…23…18? No? C'mon! He sighed and rested his head against the cool metal in frustration. He was going to be late for English. Again. The teacher had been lenient enough the first few times, it being the first week of school and all, but his patience was bound to run out sometime, and Blaine was in no hurry to hasten it along. He smacked the locker in frustration.

"Problem?" said a sardonic voice behind him. He turned to see a pair of wide brown eyes looking down at him from an open, friendly face. He shot the newcomer a hesitant smile in return.

"Uh, yeah. My locker won't open. I keep forgetting the combination. Um…I'm sorry. I know you're in one of my classes but I can't remember your name for the life of me." The other boy just grinned wider.

"I'm Sebastian Grey. And let me guess: you're fresh off the middle school conveyer belt?" Blaine's shoulders drooped a little. Did he look that clueless? But Sebastian's expression was still friendly and sympathetic, so his smile stayed in place, even if it did turn a bit ironic at the corners.

"Yeah…is it that obvious?" Sebastian laughed.

"Yes, it's pretty obvious. Let me give you a few pointers, new kid. Look like you know what you're doing even when you don't. Walk like you have a purpose, a set destination. Write your locker combination on the inside of your hand until you remember it. And in the meantime…" he banged his fist firmly on the middle of the locker door, which swung open easily. Blaine stared at him with such a comical mix of gratitude and hero-worship that the older boy couldn't help but chuckle again.

"…come to me if you need anymore help. Don't worry…soon you'll fit right in."

After that day, Blaine couldn't believe he had ever doubted the merits of high school. Sebastian, it turned out, was a senior, and he took Blaine under his wing and showed him the ropes: what days to bring lunch from home, how to sweet talk the lunch ladies out of an extra apple or pear, which professors were friendly and which were immune to all student advances of familiarity. For his part, Blaine just drank it all in and gazed at Sebastian with stars in his eyes. With the older boy's help, he made friends in no time…mostly students from art and show choir, a few drama and band kids thrown in here and there. It never occurred to Blaine that these weren't the "coolest" kids to hang out with. They were all older than him, all confident and tall and ready with smiles for him. Sure, they treated him like a kid brother a lot of the time, but having a multitude of older siblings beat the hell out of just being the guy with no friends.

Not that Blaine hadn't had any friends in middle school. He'd had Sheena, Kim, Stephanie, Morgan, Cale, and Bridget. But Cale had moved away in the middle of the school year in eighth grade, and Blaine had lost touch with him. Sheena, Kim, and Stephanie had gone to one of the other three high schools in Westerville, Morgan had gone to the private high school, Dalton Academy, and Bridget had gone to the third public school. Which left Blaine pretty much alone, and hopelessly lost. Except for Sebastian.

"So, Blaine…what do you want to be in high school?" the older boy said one day at the lunch table. Blaine choked on his milk a little, and gave Sebastian a weird look.

"Um, isn't it supposed to go, 'what do you want to be after high school?'" Sebastian chuckled.

"Sure, that's the usual question. But why should you have to wait until you graduate to be something? You're a person now…what kind do you want to be?"

"Isn't high school where you experiment and figure that out?"

"Oh sure. But high school…it's kind of like prison. The groups are a little less scary, but only just. And if you don't find one, you end up alone and you're an easy target, right?" Blaine just stared. What Sebastian said made sense…but he found he was a little disappointed to hear it.

"Isn't it best just to be yourself and let people like you for who you are?" Sebastian gave him a look, but at the sincere expression on Blaine's face, his own features softened. He reached across the table and put his hand on one of Blaine's.

"Of course it is. I wasn't suggesting you be someone you're not at all. What I meant was…what do you want to do? Other than just go to class and hang out with me and my weird friends," he gave the younger boy a wry smile.

"I don't think your friends are so weird," Blaine objected. Sebastian laughed.

"Oh sure, you don't think so. You're walking in on the finished product, though. The nice façade, if you will." Blaine's face said clearly that he didn't understand. Sebastian sighed.

"Look, Blaine. You've been hanging out with us for a few weeks now, and I'm glad you like us. It's just…the band kids, the drama kids, the art students…we're nowhere near the top of the totem pole. We're more like the dirt it gets stuck in, honestly. It's not so bad for the seniors, because most of our fellow classmates have grown up a bit and, like us, are too busy freaking out over graduation and getting into college to do much damage. And no underclassman is stupid enough to pick on a senior. But still…it wasn't always this easy for us. Some of us got picked on a lot at the beginning, and some of us still do, in mild ways. I just…" and here, Sebastian's perfectly sure expression got a little hesitant, nervous, and a little bit sad. "I just want you to know what you're getting into, hanging out with us. If you're with us, you're not going to be the big man on campus. You won't ever be class president or prom king. It's only fair to let you know that."

Blaine stared at Sebastian for a full minute. He had never seen the older boy look so awkward, and it wrenched at something inside him uncomfortably. He thought about how Sebastian had shown him how to get to classes without getting stepped on, helped him with the French homework that was admittedly a bit advanced for him, dragged him along to get coffee with his friends like he wasn't just a wet-behind-the-ears freshman. He grasped the hand Sebastian still had resting over his own and squeezed, prompting the other boy to look up.

"I'll only say this once, okay? You—you're the best friend I've ever had. I didn't know anyone when I got here. If it weren't for you I probably would've gotten lost somewhere between the gym and the auditorium, and I never would've found my way out again. Do you really think I care what other people think? You're the coolest person I know, and if the rest of the kids here are too stupid to realize that you'd make the world's best prom king, they must not be very smart. I don't care about cliques and labels, Sebastian."

Sebastian looked at Blaine's hand grasping his, then back up at him, something unidentifiable on his face. Then he spoke.

"Here's one you might care a little bit about. Blaine…I'm…I'm gay."