The best thing about middle school: anonymity, no one care to know I existed and least of all no one invaded my sanctity. I was the lone ranger, left to my own devices, immersed in the comfort of reading. The pages of French vogue would never turn their back on me; Kurt Hummel's best friends are a bunch of fashion magazines, a stack of books and his father; pathetic. All he spent his days doing was working in his father's shop or coordinating new outfits- when he wasn't doing either he was reading on how to improve his skills. The best thing about middle school was he just cruised through; he was reading above his age in three languages and he was reading into some basic algebra but he refused when they wanted to push him ahead because the he'd lose his anonymity and his comfort. So Kurt just channelled his time into refining his other talents: piano, vocals and dance became an integral part of his day to day life- important for keeping his sanity!
The life of an eleven year old, as Kurt had come to realise, was no easy task to undertake; the basics of it were easy but Kurt found himself to be easily distracted and fell prey to poor concentration at times. Of all the problems Kurt faced he dubbed his nightmares to be by far the worst; he woke up sweaty and clammy with the face of a red haired teen with glowing green eyes burned into the back of his eyelids, her voice echoing in his mind, taunting him "the one alone shall be no more,
seek the moon and its smile be known,
shine in bright the prophecy of four,
death befriends in the twilight zone,
the earth for you shall change its core,
the maiden brother the yield no throne."
Kurt sat by himself on the playground bench whilst his 'play date' ran around like an idiot, Kurt didn't care for the boy much- he once heard he used bar soap to wash his hair which is not okay- he sat next to the boy's mother as she knitted her scarf and he read his book under the warm may sun. The last day of the fifth grade and then a summer of cars, fashion and books! Throw in a random recital here and there and it was the summer of his dreams; Kurt had taken to counting down the days out of sheer excitement; one more left.
"Hi, I'm Rachel" a little girl with wild brown curls and a bright yellow T-shirt said happily sitting next to him.
"That's lovely but I don't see the relevance" he didn't even introduce himself, he never bothered to anymore because the other kids felt like he was as interesting as the lawn furniture.
"You wanna play?" She said with a small smile.
"Why?" Was all he could muster, the other kids never offered to play with him and he'd give up on asking them.
"It'll be fun, you can be the knight and I'll be the princess." he paused at the thought, that didn't sit right with him.
"Aren't we a little old for that?" He asked the brown eyed girl, she shrugged. Kurt gave it a moment's thought.
"Well, then a dual!" She said with a sparkle in her eye.
"Just because I read about medieval warfare, doesn't mean I want to part take in it!" He let out a huff and turned away from her.
"I meant a musical dual," The girl said as her smile faltered and she fiddled with the hem of her jeans.
"Well, if that's the case. How can I say no?" He said with a smile as he threw his book on the bench next to him.
"I like this a lot!" Rachel squealed as they ran to a secluded spot on the edge of the playground before Rachel stopped suddenly, "What did you say your name was?"
"Kurt." He stopped for a moment, "are you new here?"
"Yeah, my family had to move here from Idaho." Kurt liked Rachel, he didn't know what drew him to her but he felt a bond with her. "Are you from around here?"
"Yep, been living here since I was born!" There was a comfortable silence as they got into their sparring positions; each invested their breath into making faux fighting sounds as the other raised their voice to the heavens before they collapsed in a wild fit of laughter. As they lay on the grass taking in the spring day their comfortable silence was broken, "Do you like to sing?"
"I love to sing!" She beamed tossing her loose curls over her shoulder, "Have you seen The Sound of Music?"
"Yep, I love it! When I grow up I want to be just like Maria!" He said proudly, "I want to sing how I feel!"
"Did your mom make you watch them?" Rachel gestured to the woman knitting on the bench, he didn't miss his mother because he couldn't remember her, he'd just heard stories of how she loved him; he did feel sad because he couldn't share with her all his troubles and joys like one does with one's mother.
"That's not my mom," he paused and took in a deep breath, "I don't have a mom, well I had one once, I guess, but I'm not sure what happened but I never knew her."
"Shut up."
"I didn't say anything."
"Shut up!"
"Still not saying anything."
"I don't have a mom either! This is destiny; fate has brought us together to do a duet in life." She sucked in a deep breath and continued, "I don't have a mother either, I have two gay dads and I may have been deprived of a mother-daughter relationship, much like you, but I use it to build myself."
"Whoa, slow down, I'm a boy!"
"I know, I didn't mean it like that." she looked sympathetic. Their conversation was interrupted by a shrill screech. They turned toward each other, "not again!"
"What was that?" He asked her. He had never heard such a sound in his like, it was what he'd imagined death would sound like.
"You heard that?" He looked at her as though she'd lost her mind.
"Of course I heard that!" He looked at her curiously, "why would you ask such a thing, everyone in the park heard." as he looked around he noticed that no one had so much as flinched at the noise.
"We need to find one of our dads!" She said as she started running towards the road, without a second thought he followed her, grabbing his book and saying his goodbyes under the pretext of going home.
"My dad's shop is a couple of blocks down the road." he said as he caught up with her. For a short girl Rachel ran really fast. As they approached his dads shop, Kurt turned to see what appeared to be a beautiful woman with an odd complexion who was hot on their tail. "Is that her? Is she making the noise?" He asked breathlessly as they made it to the door, it opened and as Kurt's dad walked out. He saw the kids and the monster.
"Oh god!" Was all he could muster as he guided the kids into the store and shut the door, Kurt instantly felt a sense of security. He and Rachel were doubled over and gasping for air.
Rachel regained her composure whilst Kurt switched to hyper ventilating, "Hi Mr Hummel, I'm Rachel Berry. Kurt and I are friends now." Kurt could see the shock on his father's face.
"Do you know what that was?" Burt asked the little girl before him.
She nodded, "a Scythian dracanae. How much does Kurt know?" He was baffled, he didn't know what was worse, Rachel knowing more than he did or his father knowing something and not sharing it with him.
"I don't know a thing" he said boldly, for the first time he was in the dark he hadn't felt this way for about as long as he's been able to read.
"I'll go call my dad's, give you some privacy." she looked from father to son and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder as if to say 'I got you'.
"Phone is in the office through those doors," he said as he pointed her in the right direction. They both watched her till she disappeared through the office doors; they turned to face each other and there was silence- so thick you could cut it with a knife- just when Kurt started to demand some answers his father started to provide them. The muddle with their words broke the tension, "I love you, Kurt. I will always love you."
"But..." Kurt prompted his father to continues, he wanted this explained!
"But I haven't been honest about something;" he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "I was waiting for the right time but I guess the fates have forced my hand..."
There was eerie silence, "What is it?" He demanded of his father, he wanted to know.
"I can't tell you everything, not here. You're a demigod, I'll tell you the rest later." Kurt could see the sadness in his pale blue eyes, "We're going to Long Island."
"Like New York, Long Island or like when you said we were going to Paris and we went Texas." He was excited; he had always wanted to see the city for himself. He wanted to see the setting of West Side Story and Will & Grace; he was going to the city! "When do we leave?"
"As soon as Rachel finishes her little phone call," he started checking for his wallet and he got the car's engine roaring and into gear.
"How are we getting there?" Kurt asked softly as he looked out onto the spring sun as it began its descent. There was an eerie silence- those seemed to be increasing in frequency- he turned to see his dad load their 'Hurricane' supplies, he lifted an eyebrow in surprise, "you think there might be a hurricane?"
"What?" His dad paused and looked at him, sudden realisation crept onto his face, "oh that's actually a shot gun and a bunch of other stuff I might need to kill monsters." Kurt let free a simple 'hmmm' as he fixed his hair deep in contemplation on how long his father's been lying to him. He just looked at the man he thought to be his dad, before the question could form in his mind he was presented with the answer, "I'll always be your dad, no matter what! It will always be us."
"I'm ready, my dad's say they'll meet us at the foot of the hill." Rachel wiped away her tears, "whatever that means." she let out a soft sob. I could empathise with her sense of abandonment, I grabbed her hand and smiled at her; she smiled back.
"This doesn't make me your boyfriend!" I was firm but playful; she giggled softly and turned her head up. Kurt knew that just like all of the brave people he read about and the great heroes in the Disney movies he had to think beyond what he wanted; to what he needed to do for himself and those around him; right now they needed him to put on his brave face as he got into the back seat, buckled his seat belt and watched the mid-western landscape disappear into a blur as the clouds danced about to the soft sounds of John Mellencamp.

~0~

"Kurt! Rachel! Get up, you need to brace yourselves." Kurt jerked awake, he'd been dreaming of the same girl- her voice was clearer and her word stronger- it frightened him but he schooled his emotions and concentrated on the situation at hand. Through the car window Kurt could see vast expanses of greenery shrouded by the cover of darkness; the car was travelling far beyond the speed limit, Kurt could feel the engine roaring wildly as it battled to keep up the fast pace. "Where are we?" His mind rushing, he was excited, nervous and every emotion between the two.
"Pennsylvania, but there are some monsters hot on out trail." Kurt secured his seatbelt as the car jerked violently. He looked out the window to see a pair of red eyes and a matching mane of fiery red hair; I paled, this was beyond the bounds of my imagination and yet this was real!
Kurt wondered how they could escape this nightmare, 'think about it' he said to himself as he wrecked his mind trying to find an out. "Have we passed Penn State?" He yelled with an air of authority no one would be surprised to hear from him.
"Not the time to be looking at options for college!" His dad said in a rather irritable manner. He climbed over the centre console into the passenger's seat, "what are you doing?"
"I'm re-routing our journey." He fiddled with the GPS whilst his father and Rachel looked on in amazement.
"Where to?" Rachel asked as she peeped between the seats with a look of confusion.
"Well, the airport here is open to the public and if I can get to a pilot and we can fly to Long Island." As they approached airport Kurt knew they had little time, the car was swerving from side to side as the monsters tried to push the car off the road. There was a momentary lapse of trouble and the car gained speed till there was one of those creatures in their way.
"Drive through her." Rachel said encouragingly but it seemed a bit too easy to work. Kurt cautiously considered their chances of survival, and then he caught sight of the gleaming metal.
"Don't hit her she's got a metal leg, that'll do a bit of damage!"
"Buckle up," hi dad said bracing himself on the car floor. "We are gonna give new meaning to the phrase 'it's how we role'." he added with a hearty chuckle.
The world turned on its head as Kurt and Rachel held on tightly as they were shaken like grains of rice in maracas. When stillness was restored Kurt's head kept on spinning, scattering his thoughts, "Let's do it again!" He screamed before taking a moment to re-compose himself.
As they staggered into the office, it was his father who spoke to the attendant at the plane rental desk; "How much for a plane to new York that leaves in the next five minutes?"
"That's impossible but in half an hour you can get a plane for fifty thousand dollars" he said with a smile.
"Half an hour!" My father exclaimed as his face turned red.
"I'm hung up on the fifty thousand dollars." Tactless Rachel stage whispered to me.
The man behind the counter turned up his nose and said, "You can have that plane for free!" He laughed as he pointed out the door to an old fighter plane.
"We'll take it!" I said rather rudely.
"That plane hasn't moved in over ninety years, when it returned from the firs world war!" The man was guffawing at this point.
"We'll try our luck!" Kurt said leading Rachel and his father out into the open; they kept their eyes open for the monsters, "Dad, go get your tool box from the car. Rachel, get on the 'Hurricane kit' and keep watch. I'll take a gander at the engine."
Everyone carried out their instructions as instructed, the Sopwith F1 Camel was a beauty. Kurt had seen it at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton a couple of times. He had a model hanging from my ceiling, he knew this plane. When his dad came back he put him to work, "Follow my instructions exactly!"
"Their coming." Rachel cried, pointing at the three monsters heading our way.
"We can leave now but she won't last very long," Kurt chewed his lips as he thought "twenty minutes tops."
"Works for me" Rachel said his dad took hold of his shot gun and the ammo; he got in the back, knowing that he couldn't shoot and fly for the first time. He and Rachel squeezed into the front as he started the engine, "You can do this." Rachel whispered in his ear, barely audible over the loud thud of the plane. Letting loose a hearty roar he set his foot on the pedal and pulled the lever toward himself while he silently said a 'thanks to books'. It wasn't long before they were cruising above the roof tops of Pennsylvania and heading toward Long Island; Kurt marvelled at how a book here and there on flying along with a couple of movie could help so much as the bare rural land turned to the small towns of outer New York.
"I see the sky line, I can see it!" Rachel exclaimed happily, Kurt was yet to see a thing, he knew there was still quite a bit of flying to be done and I wasn't sure how much more the plane could take. He increased altitude to avoid unnecessary manoeuvring as he approached the city he knew it was quicker to fly through rather than around. Kurt was manoeuvring around some of the taller buildings when he started to hear the steady drumming thundering from behind him; he saw his father, shotgun in hand, firing at something he could only describe as a dragon!
"What fandom of monsters are we dealing with here?" He screamed over his shoulder.
"What?" Rachel screeched; he winced at how piercing her voice was.
"What kind of monsters are these?" She was blank which prompted him to go on, "Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter?"
"Oh," she said but failed to answer the question; her face scrunched into what was assumed to be a thinking face. "Greek Mythology." She finally added.
"Just checking," he turned to guide the plane through the last of the planes, in the general direction of Long Island. Kurt had never thought he'd pilot his first flight; this experience was surreal for him. He turned to his father to confirm the particulars but got no reply, "Do you have any idea where we're going?" Rachel shook her head; this was not what he wanted to hear! The thought of flying blind scared him, he tried once more to get through to his dad; he was met with a muffled reply of 'hill' and 'Long Island'.
They dropped their altitude when the city skyline was behind them; Kurt wanted to be sure they could land safely at any time. The dragon was still hot on their trail as the flew over suburban homes toward the wide expanses of the North Shore of Long Island and it was in that enthralling moment of fascination Kurt almost forgot he was being pursued by a fire breathing dragon and he was supposed to be flying a plane; the reminder came when the back of the plane became engulfed in flames and he barely cleared the fence over the hill when a second dragon appeared from a tree at the edge of the farm, "What is up with these dragons? What is this, American Dragon?"
Kurt guffawed at Rachel's joke and then he saw the plane's trajectory was sending them to fiery crash. "Jump!" he screamed, his dad stopped shooting.
"What?" His dad's raspy baritone harmonising with Rachel's screechy lyric soprano.
"I said Jump!" he flicked his bangs to the side and got himself ready for the eight-foot jump, "Jump. Tuck. Roll. Jazz hands!"
He grabbed Rachel's hand and jumped, he kept reciting the plan as they fell toward an opening adjacent to a large cabin. They landed perfectly with drama that made their lives seem like a Broadway smash hit, his dad ruined the moment by hitting the ground with a thud.
"Good Evening," a- Kurt couldn't remember the proper term for it- half man, half horse, "I'm Chiron camp director. I can't say we're expecting you or anyone till tomorrow."
"I'm Rachel Berry," she extended her hand; "This is Kurt Hummel, my best friend."
All I could do was smile shyly because I'd met her six hours ago but who was I to take the wind out of her sails?
"Mr D," a podgy man said looking Kurt and Rachel over a couple of times, "You two are half-bloods?"
Kurt helped his father to his feet, a handful of teenagers had gathered to speculate the loud crash and see the new blood. Kurt almost swore he saw someone he knew- he took a second look- there she was, the red haired girl from his dream. "Do I know you?" he asked approaching her. She seemed to be baffled by the accusation, she stared deeply into his eyes but before she could respond there was a bright light from behind him.
"Athena!" Mr D said, directing Kurt's gaze toward the brunette standing before him.