"And our 1999 Ultimate Grand Supreme is...Contestant number sixteen, Kurt!"
Six-year-old Kurt Hummel jumped up from his mother's lap and bolted to the stage at the front of the hotel conference room. The glittering crown matched the rhinestone trim on his jacket. He flashed a blinding smile at the cheering audience as he received a sash, trophy and five hundred dollars to go with his latest tiara.
"Congratulations, Kurt!" the bleach-blonde pageant director exclaimed, her unnaturally white teeth gleaming at him.
Both his parents were on their feet, Burt shouting, "That's my boy!". It was unheard of for a boy to out-glam all the girls at a pageant, but Kurt always brought the judges to tears with his angelic singing voice. Davey watched, confused, as the boy's parents embraced him. "A boy won first place?" he asked his Aunt Sharon, who was busy comforting his younger cousin Ariel. The four-year-old brunette had only won Queen of her age division, earning her a crown much smaller than Kurt's.
"Yeah...Kurt wins these things about half the time" Aunt Sharon replied distractedly. Ariel whined at her mother, her tears messing up her heavily applied makeup. "There, there, sweetie. Those silly judges, if they don't pick Kurt, it's some cookie-cutter blonde. You did awesome up there, Ariel." She patted her daughter on the back. "Come on, do you want McDonald's? Let's get McDonald's."
At the mention of his favourite restaurant, Davey followed his Aunt and cousin out of the conference room. His eyes followed the winning boy as he, too, made his way into the lobby. His parents looked so proud, clutching his prizes.
"Davey, Ariel? Should we go congratulate Kurt?" Aunt Sharon asked them, noticing her nephew's gaze. "Let's go say 'good job', okay?" She led them over to the Hummel family.
"G-good job" Ariel stammered at Kurt with a sniff.
"Aww, thank you, beautiful!" Kurt replied, handing her a tissue. "You did really good. I bet you'll win next year!" Ariel brightened at this, and posed for a picture with the pageant superstar.
Davey stepped forward next, eyeing the skinny boy warily. Kurt smiled at him, his long lashes fluttering and his cheeks turning pink. He must be wearing makeup, Dave thought. Weren't guys not supposed to wear makeup? But gosh, he did have pretty eyes. And a pretty smile...
"Hi!" Kurt extended his hand. "Are you Ariel's brother?"
"I...I'm her cousin. Dave" Davey replied, trying not to stare right at Kurt's light blue eyes. He shook the other boy's hand uncertainly, not used to such a formal greeting.
Kurt's smile widened. "So nice of you to support her!"
Davey couldn't help but return the smile. "You, um...you were really great up there. Great singing."
"Thank you, Dave!" Kurt enthused, throwing his arms around the other boy. Dave stiffened at the close contact, but patted Kurt on the back.
The slimmer boy pulled back after a moment and looked over his shoulder at his happy but tired parents. "I gotta go" he said, sounding almost sad about it. Davey, Ariel and Aunt Sharon waved at the Hummels as they got into the elevator.
As Davey ate his Happy Meal later that day, he wondered if he'd ever see the boy with the pretty eyes again. Suddenly, accompanying Ariel to her pageants didn't seem so boring anymore.
