AU set right after The Rocky Horror Glee Show. Kurt hasn't met Blaine yet and I also had Kurt have a new hair style a little earlier.
I don't own glee.
Chapter 1: Cheer for the Cheerio.
Kurt sat down in the auditorium. The white, red and black uniform hugging him in all the right places. It was tighter and fit him better than last year and while it was still horrendously out of fashion, only a small price to pay for the benefits he would enjoy. Coach Sylvester had been all too happy to have him rejoin the Cheerios when he'd auditioned and told her he'd been taking vocal coaching this summer. He was now able to go into a lower register easily. He had won her nationals last year with his medley and knew he was extremely flexible for a guy. She seemed to still have a soft spot for her 'Porcelain' and let him back on the team. Kurt was happy with that. It might have been annoying once, but she seemed like the only adult, barring his father, who stayed the same. And while she may be a bitch most of the time, so was Kurt. Sue seemed to like and dislike his attitude at random moments, but that was okay with the fashionista.
Being a cheerleader last year had made life at McKinley almost bearable. The jocks had left him alone for the most part, not wanting Sue to rip them a new one for harming one of her meal tickets, he'd gotten privileges he didn't even know existed and while he hated the conformity of the uniform, it did seem to make him stand out in a positive way. Sue hadn't been hounding him to lose weight either, when he'd told her it would probably implicate his energy, making him breathe improperly which would then affect his singing she had quit making a big deal out of it. His weight wasn't a problem anymore anyway.
Helping out in the shop with his dad and dancing had done wonders to his physique. Add to that a growth spurt and a new haircut that he'd gotten with Mercedes last week and he looked much more mature. Gone were the baby face and the pear hips. Even his father had seen the difference in his general appearance. Burt Hummel, the man who couldn't see the difference between a coat and a vest, had noticed the changes in his son's looks. It was an accomplishment.
"Hummel! Since when are you back to being a Cheerio?" Santana teasingly spoke, sitting down next to him. He crossed his legs and cocked his head towards her.
"Since Coach Sylvester let me back on the squad for my exceptional audition of 'Time to say Goodbye' Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman version." Santana scoffed.
"That's it?" she said and Kurt smirked.
"I sang both parts, while standing on my hands." It was a skill he'd wanted to learn over the summer. He'd almost broken his neck once or twice, but it was worth it. Santana whistled in amazement.
"Must have taken you a long time to get that down Ladyface," Kurt just smiled. It had taken a long time. Santana didn't need to know that though. He looked around and gave Mercedes a little wave from where she was sitting next to Tina. She waved back and continued her conversation with the gothic girl and Kurt turned to Shuester.
Doing Rocky Horror a few weeks ago had been fun, but had been started with the wrong intentions. Shuester had the nasty habit of involving New Directions in schemes to further his own relationships. He either used the glee club as an excuse or a way to curry favour with the ladies.
"Alright everyone! Settle down! First of all let's welcome back Noah Puckerman!" The club clapped in enthusiasm and Kurt rolled his eyes at the football player. His toughness spiel was getting pretty old now. He snorted at Quinn's adding and looked back at the Spanish teacher ,a look of no real interest on his face. "Now! I have in my hand our competition for sectionals," Kurt did perk up at that. This was important. Sectionals last year had almost been a complete disaster, thanks to Sue. "First up, the accapella choir from the all boys school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers." Kurt could hear his fellow glee clubbers hum and clap in anticipation for any sign of competition, like they could use it. He almost shook his head at them but refrained. Let them live in this little fantasy for a while.
"Okay, hold up," Santana began, "Like a million awesome gay jokes just popped up into my head," Kurt looked sideways at her and raised an eyebrow when she looked at him and smirked.
"I thought you'd say something more along the lines of 'Wow! New targets for my compulsive 'have sex with every penis disorder'," Santana glared while the glee club snickered around him.
"Well played Hummel," she said reluctantly, "Well played." Kurt just cocked up his chin and winked at her. He didn't want to be on her bad side and he hoped that the wink would show her that it wasn't meant to be hurtful.
He knew Santana was a bitch. He also knew it was a defense mechanism most of the time. He tuned back in to Shuester's speech just to hear 'Second annual boys vs. girls tournament' to which the club reacted favourably. Kurt tried to sneakily get over to the girls side but was chastised by the Spanish teacher and send back. He sighed in annoyance but complied. Hell week was about to begin.
Kurt closed his locker and was almost instantly slammed into it by someone. Karofsky apparently hadn't really noticed the cheerios uniform or was too stupid to care. He turned around, fury in his eyes. "What is your problem?" he yelled after the burly jock. Karofsky turned around and advanced on him, fist raised. He lowered it when he saw Kurt's uniform. No one screwed with a cheerio, unless they had a death wish, but Karofsky still advanced on him.
"You talking back to me, Hummel?" he said menacingly. Kurt moved back against the lockers.
"Leave me alone you stupid Neanderthal," Kurt spat at him. Karofsky's eyes narrowed. "You talk back to me again you fag and getting your queer ass slushied is the least you'll have to worry about!" He was inches away from Kurt when he slammed his fist into the locker next to his head and Kurt jumped and quivered in fear. Karofsky was bigger and stronger than him by miles and getting a fist slammed inches from your face was intimidating.
The jock stormed off and Kurt took a moment to steady himself.
He didn't understand what Shuester was trying to achieve, getting him to open up against his will. The teachers had never done anything to stop the bullying in this school. Sue had probably already gotten wind of one of her cheerios being threatened by one of the jocks and set him straight with threats and promises of great pain.
Kurt made a few statements about his unhappiness but the teacher only focused on the last part. The boys vs. Girls thing.
"Look Mr. Shue, I am unhappy and yes I would have rather performed with the girls as I don't really fit in with the guys in glee club," He got up and grabbed his bag, "Being the only openly gay kid at this school makes me a target. I rejoined the Cheerios because I know it will protect me somewhat. That and I am not at all challenged here, even though that doesn't seem to matter." He silently walked out and made his way to the gymnasium. Cheerios practice would start in 10 minutes and he wanted to stretch before starting. He opened the double doors and was greeted with only a few of the cheerleaders doing stretches. Practice had been grueling last year, constantly practicing new routines and singing himself hoarse to get that French medley correct. Stretching before practice made the pain a little more bearable.
He set down his bag on the bleachers and was about to start his exercises when their coach walked in. "Porcelain! Get your ass down here!" She yelled. He jogged over to her and greeted her with a soft 'coach'. She frowned. "You won't have to worry about that sad excuse for a human being anymore. I don't want your performance with my squad to go down because some jock can't keep his grubby hands off. Now go do your stretches!" She barked. Kurt offered a relieved 'thank you' before hopping back to his spot.
His plan already seemed to be working out. He silently contemplated to himself while bending over, wrapping his hands around his toes. If everything worked out, he'd not only have a better highschool experience, a little ounce of popularity (though it was unlikely), free waxes and facials at the expensive spa down in Westerville, but a chance to shine. To have an audience applaud him for what he achieved. He knew that cheerleading wouldn't be that big of a plus on his college app, but he still had senior year to worry about that.
Practice seemed to fly by and soon it was time for glee club. Kurt's muscles were protesting the heavy work out, but knew it would help in the long run. He gingerly sat down in one of the auditorium chairs in the middle of the boy group. He sadly, didn't get to sit with Mercedes.
Kurt's eyes widened when Shuester announced the change. He could really be in his element here. A girl song would be perfect for him to sing and dance to, as his register was higher. This also allowed him almost practical right to choose the song, as he knew the most female artists. This one was theirs.
Okay. So maybe it wasn't theirs. All the boys kept protesting his ideas and veto-ing his song choices. Puck adding in that he should do something useful instead of trying to get them to choose costumes and poison a bunch of old people was the last straw.
"Look, Puckerman. I don't have time to visit a school 2 hours away, because I have Cheerios practice this afternoon. I am trying to get something together here, so you can either come up with ideas or piss off and spy on them yourself," Kurt rarely swore. He knew that his choices were girly, but the assignment had been pretty clear. The more opposite, the better. What was more different for these guys then wearing feather boas while singing Diana Ross or Celine Dion? So what if he liked wearing sequin shirts while performing. He might like girly things, but he still had a penis, just like them. The boys seemed taken aback by his words.
"I don't have to sing lead," Kurt complied, "But that doesn't mean you can just sit there and expect me to do all the work and then flush it all down the drain because your manliness gets threatened. I'd rather be with the girl group because they don't bitch and moan about every littey thing," Artie spoke up first.
"I see your point Kurt. But could we tone it down, just a little bit? I'd feel mightily uncomfortable in feathers and glitter but I do like the idea of the bowties," He added hastily. Kurt nodded.
"Anything to add, gentleman?" he spoke to the others. Finn nodded his head uncertainly.
"While I know you can sing very high Kurt, this is supposed to be a group number, so a song choice that is in all of our reach would be a better choice..." Kurt smiled at him.
"Now we're talking."
