Hey! I've never really written anything before, so if this sucks…just take that as an excuse! I don't own Glee or anything like that, and if you like the story, please leave a review! My thanks to my amazing boyfriend/beta reader, Wesz, and once again, I hope you guys enjoy!
If there is one thing that adults never seem to truly grasp, it's that transferring high schools is an extremely daunting prospect to a teenager, especially if that new school isn't just in a new town, but in a different state entirely. Sam Evans was used to a life in the suburbs of Nashville, and never once thought that he'd be looking up at the imposing façade of a high school in Lima, Ohio. His father had eagerly agreed to a transfer to a new sector of his company in the town, and Sam was powerless to argue. And now…here he was.
The boy gripped his backpack tighter, green eyes glancing at the steady influx of students into the gaping jaws of the school's entrance, Sam not knowing quite to expect. His old school had been pretty great, and the idea of starting out on the bottom rung of teenage society wasn't one that did much to excite Sam. Plus, he now had to deal with the mysteries of the girls he'd be surrounded by at all times. His old school had been purely for boys, and that was what Sam was used to. In fact, he wished that his parents would have moved to Westerville and not Lima. Sam had heard that there was an all-boys school there, too…not that he'd ever be able to afford the high costs that Dalton Academy asked for.
Breathing in deeply, Sam steeled himself, beginning the steady walk towards the doors of the school as the flow of students slowed. The blond wasn't eager to be tardy on his very first day, but he figured that he at least had an excuse. He didn't even know where his homeroom was, let alone anything else. Sure, they'd given him a map, but Sam didn't want to openly show everyone how new he was. Surely it was better to blend in for his first couple of days, and hope that none of the teachers called him to the front of the class to introduce himself. That was definitely something Sam wasn't cool with.
The boy passed through the doors, into the mouth of the beast, and hoped that the move wasn't one he'd grow to regret.
An hour or so later, and Sam was just another face in the crowd, sitting amidst his first sophomore math class, shoulders slightly shrunken. There hadn't been any introduction, thankfully, and apart from the glances of puzzled students that came his way, their faces showing their thoughts openly as they tried to conjure from their memory whether they'd seen this new blond before, it was a bit of an anti-climax. In fact, no one even introduced themselves to the new guy until the final few minutes of class started dwindling away. Sam had noticed that the guy to his left had been glancing over much more often than any of his fellow classmates, hazel eyes narrowing beneath dark eyebrows as the other boy reached over, tapping at Sam's elbow.
"Hey! Sorry, but…I've never seen you in class before. Are you new? I'm Blaine Anderson." Blaine smiled warmly, extending a hand to the slightly startled male before him, eyes glinting slightly in the dim light of the fluorescent bulb above them both; the weather outside was too overcast to offer much light from the glass panes lining the room. Blaine had been the new boy himself halfway through the previous year, when he'd transferred over from the very same Dalton Academy that Sam had heard about. Although he loved the school, it was the affections of a slick, handsome upperclassman that Blaine had encountered at his boxing class that drew him from the opulent confines of Dalton to the crowded halls of McKinley. The relationship may have fizzled out over the summer, but Blaine had opted to stick around at the school through his sophomore year.
Sam nodded once, eyes drifting down to the scarlet fabric of a bow tie adorning the other boy's neck, before he looked back up at Blaine's warm eyes and started to reply.
"Hey! Um, yeah. I'm Sam Evans. I just moved here from Nashville. Nice to meet you, dude." He reached out, taking the brunet's hand and giving it a tentative shake, not entirely sure whether to be firm or gentle in the approach of his hand.
"You too, Sam!" Blaine exclaimed, a toothy grin accompanying his welcoming words. "Welcome to McKinley! I transferred here myself halfway through last year, but not from as far away as you. I hope you're settling in well!" His enthusiasm was a little surprising, but Sam didn't mind. If anything, it was a little infectious.
"Oh, really? Awesome. I hate that I'm the new guy, you know? This is actually my first class." As he spoke, the bell rang sharply on the wall above him, the sound almost immediately accompanied by a cacophony of chatter, chairs scraping against the floor and books being shoved into bags. Blaine rose to his feet as Sam began to do the same, the smaller boy still smiling infectiously up at his fellow classmate as he began to head towards the classroom door; a fish caught up in the steady current of students heading in the same direction. Sam followed quickly behind him, as Blaine turned back to him, continuing the conversation.
"Well, everyone's the new guy at some point, Sam." Blaine mused. "I'm sure you'll fit in right away. My advice? Join some clubs, try out for some teams. It's a great way to meet new people." He nodded as if in agreement with his own words, glancing down at the pane of his wristwatch and back up at the blond. "What class do you have next, by the way?"
It took Sam a moment of rustling around in his bag for his timetable, the crumpled piece of paper tight in his hand as his eyes glanced over the class schedule written upon it. "I'm in Biology…I think. I hope I wrote these down in the right order. Um…which way is that?" Blaine laughed, pointing down the hall to their right.
"It's that way, Sam. I'm in Geography, which is down there." This cued another short nod, before Blaine once again extended his hand to the taller boy. "Good luck, Sam. I'll see you around." Sam took Blaine's hand, shaking it a little more firmly this time, the trepidation he felt before having ebbed away slightly while he chatted to the other guy.
"Thanks, Blaine. I appreciate it. And I'll keep in mind what you said about the clubs thing. Thanks again, dude!" Heading the way the other boy gestured, Sam let himself look around at the people around him. A blond, beautiful cheerleader was deep in conversation with another blond and a darker-haired girl, her eyes drawing upwards towards Sam as he walked past. He smiled slightly, trying not to let his gaze linger too long as he headed past, attention drawn to an Asian couple canoodling in front of the metal wall of lockers that lined the hallway, a short girl dragging a taller boy along the hall.
Sam moved aside to let them pass, slipping around another corner and exhaling a breath that he didn't realize he was holding when he saw that he was in what seemed to be the right place for his next class. He was checking his schedule for the scrawled handwriting that would reveal which room he was in, when he managed to walk directly into the path of another male, bodies colliding with an unexpectedness that drew a slight gasp from Sam's mouth. An angry, intimidating looking guy started across at the blond, eyes fiery and strong jaw set for a moment before he relaxed, his look of irate annoyance swiftly shifting to one of curiosity.
"I don't know you." Noah Puckerman spoke, with a bluntness that would foreshadow much of his character to the knowing individual. "Who are you, guy?"
Sam blinked, crumpling his schedule and slipping it into the pocket of his jeans, cheeks flushing slightly, the blond embarrassed and slightly aghast that he managed to cross someone so intimidating-looking in such a short time.
"Hey! I'm sorry, man. I'm Sam. It's kind of my first day…and I don't really know where I'm going." The larger boy's gaze softened at Sam's words, fists uncurling as a slight grin spread across his lips.
"Dude! Why didn't you say so? Name's Puck. I'm the awesome, badass football stud of this craphole of a school. Remember that name, dude." He raised his eyebrows for a moment, puffing out his chest. Sam nodded slowly as he grinned back, hands moving to grip the strap of his backpack as he tried not to look too awkward.
"Right. Badass, awesome football stud, huh? I'll try to remember that, Puck. Do you know where my Biology class is? It's like, Room 102 or something."
Puck shrugged, waving Sam's question away as he looked back at the blond. "No idea, dude. I don't go to Biology classes. But I'll see you around, bro." He clapped Sam on the shoulder, heading down the hallway with a confident strut as Sam continued on, quickly spotting the room he needed and slipping inside the door.
An hour later, and Sam was quickly adjusting to the atmosphere of McKinley, his Biology class passing without any incidents as he made a few more acquaintances amongst his classmates. Heading down the hall behind the gaggle of girls who'd been sat in front of him, the blond's eyes were drawn to the coloured papers strewn across a note board on a part of wall not occupied by the shining metal of the lockers, as most of the other such surfaces in the hallways seemed to be. He remembered Blaine's words from before, stopping for a moment to peruse the clubs and teams that the school had to offer him. Sam's eyes were drawn almost immediately to the football team try-outs, the boy fishing a pen from his bag and scrawling his name on the try-out form without any further thought. Eyes scanning through the other assortment of clubs, a couple caught Sam's eye, although for right and wrong reasons. He'd just passed over the celibacy club list, eyes settling on a few assorted names beneath a slip of paper advertising the glee club.
Sam did like to sing, but he'd never done it properly or anything and he'd never joined a club for it. It seemed interesting, but maybe just not for him. Sam shrugged, slipping the pen back into his pocket as he turned to leave, deciding to try out for just the football team for the moment. As he left, the blond failed to notice the tall, confident looking brunet leaning lazily against the wall opposite the noticeboard, eyes following the blond down the hallway. Sebastian Smythe chuckled softly to himself as he looked up at the noticeboard, his own name written eloquently towards the top of the glee club list as he slung his satchel over one shoulder, slipping into the ever-moving crowd of students roaming the school's halls.