So for the past few months I have been binge watching Glee, listening to all of their songs, watching cast interviews, and today I downloaded the Glee Forever App...call it going through withdrawal if you will. I've also been reading heaps upon heaps of Klaine fanfiction. So when the song "Cool Rider" from the trainwreck of a sequel that was Grease 2 randomly popped into my head, it came along with the image of one Kurt Hummel in tight black pants dancing around a stage, and Blaine Anderson in a cardigan making gooey-eyes. And thus this pretty little fic was born.
Oh, this is an AU story. It's set in Season 3, so all the original New Directions are still there, but Kurt never met Blaine and never went to Dalton. Also, there might be a few characters from Season 4 making an appearance, and Sugar and Joe have ALREADY been a part of New Directions, but decided not to join again this year. And lastly, the New Directions won Nationals twice (1st and 2nd season), pushing them up to super cool "Kings and Queens of the School" status. That's pretty much all the explanation needed for now! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Glee...not even for the money...but because my little Klaine shipper heart was broken one too many times throughout the series.
Good morning William McKinley High School. This is Principal Figgins speaking. The droll accented voice pushed through the speakers of the hallways and courtyards, though none of the students paid much attention.
Throughout campus, overachievers rushed to their lockers, jocks patted each other on the back and made too much noise, and girly girls squealed at each other over their new purses, shoes, tans, etc.
A few cheerleaders were out by the front of the school practicing lifts and occasionally forming to yell out
"WEL-C-O-M-E
Welcome back to McKinley
Summer's over, that's too bad,
Time to get our butts to class!"
Behind the bleachers, the stoners and the skanks met up for a smoke, while the field was overrun with track, soccer, cross country, and football students who had already been showing up to campus to train for a week. Teachers pushed past people in hallways, occasionally reprimanding a student for running in the halls, but otherwise holding tightly to their coffee cups and lesson plans while trying to get to their classrooms.
"Hey, Mr. Schuester!"
"Hey, guys, welcome back," Will smiled at the group of sophomore students who passed by, waving at their teacher.
"Sup, Mr. Schue!"
"Hey, Joe!" Will raised his hand to high-five the junior.
"Have a blessed first day!" Joe put his hand over his own chest, making Will shake his head and smile.
"Mr. Schue! Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Sugar," Will's smile grew even larger.
"Miss Pillsbury just told me! I expect an invitation even if I'm not in the Glee club anymore."
"Of course, Sugar. You know you can come back to New Directions any time."
"I do miss the awesome jackets," Sugar winked, "But it just wasn't for me, ya know? Too much stress on my Asperger's. Anyway, I gotta go. My neighbor's cousin just transferred and I promised to show him around. Later, Mr. Schue!"
"Have a nice day, Sugar."
Will looked at the clock on the wall, realizing that he better get a move on if he wanted to have all the scripts ready in time for first period. This year's winter musical promised to be big, with the increased budget and so many students dying to be a part of it now, so they needed to start right away.
"Hello, Schuester."
Will sighed at the sound of an all too familiar voice, "Just when I thought my morning was going perfectly. Hello, Sue. How many freshman have you made cry so far?"
"Only three, but first period hasn't started yet. Besides, I've been busy."
"Doing what?"
"Oh, just successfully convincing Figgins to cut back your budget."
"What?!"
"Oh don't worry, your precious little glee club is still in tact, for now. You'll just have to make do without turning the auditorium into a jungle or ocean or whatever childhood fantasy of yours you want to relive. Catch you later, Will."
"I hate that woman," Will muttered, redirecting his steps toward the principal's office.
Outside, the students were still abuzz with chatter. Everybody was catching up, freshmen were finding friends from middle school in relief, and buses were releasing students by the dozens. The noise fell significantly, however, when a black Navigator and a red Range Rover pulled up, followed by two guys on motorcycles.
Soon enough, seven boys and six girls were making their way through the courtyard. Four of the boys wore football jerseys, while a fourth was in a white button up and khakis, his wheelchair being pushed by one of the boys who had arrived by motorcycle in a plaid shirt. He and the other biker bore a striking resemblance to each other, although nobody really knew who this new kid was. The last boy, who had arrived in his Navigator with the girls, was dressed to the nines along with his non-cheerleader female counterparts.
While each of the thirteen students seemed to own their personal style, one thing set them apart as McKinley''s elite.
Most of the jocks wore red and beige letterman jackets, and the cheerleaders, or Cheerios, wore red jackets with white piping. But these students rocked their own sleeker, tougher looking black jackets with red sleeves and piping. Each emblazoned with their names on the right side of the chest, a large red M on the left, and one of two things written on the back in white-lined red letters: CROONING TITAN or, in the case of the girls and the driver of the Navigator, TROUBLETONE.
As the group approached the courtyard, the crowds of students split to let them through. These were the members of McKinley High's most successful club, challenged only by the Cheerios. The New Directions had started as a place for the misfits and the invisible, but had sky rocketed with the help of McKinley's most popular teacher into a two time National's winning, fine tuned machine of the most popular, fashionable, and sought after students in the entire school. Everybody who didn't want to be a New Direction, wanted to be with a New Direction, which was no easy feat, since apparently the New Directions only dated among themselves, with the occasional date between a 'Crooner' and a Cheerio or a college girl, but never anything serious.
"You know, Jake, you don't actually have to push my wheelchair. I can push it on my own," said Artie to the biker without the New Directions jacket.
"It's no problem, man. Really."
"Yeah, Artie," said Puck, "Besides, if my little brother wants to be a Crooner he's got to work for it. If he can't get slushied, he might as well do something useful."
"We're going to be late," Kurt said, "Hurry up or I'm taking my girls and leaving you behind."
"Nobody hurries up a Puckerman, babe. You know I like taking it slow," the mohawked biker winked at the Troubletone leader, fist bumping his very confused younger brother.
The male Troubletone huffed in reply, linking his arm with Quinn, his right-hand Troubletone, "We're out. See you boys at lunch. Come on, girls."
"New Directions! New Directions!" the always annoying voice, appearance, and personality of Jacob Ben Israel appeared before them holding a video camera. Despite the nuisance, the singers all smiled, "Tell us, what can we expect now that more than half of you are set to graduate this year?"
"Expect the Crooners to come back hotter and more rock n roll than ever before," the older Puckerman popped the collar of his jacket and high-fived the rest of his group.
Rachel Berry rolled her eyes and stepped forward, "The New Directions are coming back stronger than ever. You can expect another Nationals win, and with the bigger budget, our in-school performances promise to be bigger and better than ever before."
"You can also expect plenty of diva offs. It's our senior year, we are not holding anything back this year, honey, you can tell your viewers Mercedes said so," the girl in question winked at the camera.
"And as for most of us graduating, we've already started preparing for that," said Brittany.
"My girl Brittany here is all set to take up the mantle as Head Trouble when Lady Hummel graduates," said Santana, linking her pinkie finger with her blonde companion.
"And Sam here is already in training to become McKinley's new reigning resident bad ass," said Puck, his hand shaking the blonde jock's shoulder.
"And as you can see," Rachel continued, looking into the camera, "We've already started looking into potential new members. We lost Sugar last year, but we're ready to take in as much new talent as we can find this year, so that next year the remaining members don't have to start from zero."
"Any dates for auditions yet?"
"Not yet," said Finn, "But we'll post a sign up sheet a week before."
"We're going to be late," said TIna from behind the two Cheerios, "We should get going."
"One last question!" said Jacob, making the others huff, groan, or roll their eyes in annoyance, "Can you confirm rumors of a Back-To-School number that you were all seen rehearsing over the last month?"
The Latina Cheerios smirked, her right hand grabbing at a whistle around her neck, "Well, there's only one way to answer that question. Hit it!"
The Cheerios in the courtyard heard the whistle go off and rushed to the New Directions' sides, clicking on a large stereo and standing in as back up dancers.
The Glee Club began to move along with the classic sounding rock music, popping their colors just as Sam Evans began singing.
Spending my vacation in the summer sun,
Gettin' lots of action and a lots of fun.
Scorin' like a bandit 'til the bubble burst -
Suddenly it got to be September First.
Finn Hudson joined in, stepping up front with Sam and Puck while the others danced behind them.
Woe is me, all summer long I was happy and free.
Save my soul,
The entire Glee Club joined in for the next few lines, posing at the foot of the stairs that led to the front door of McKinley.
the board of education took away my parole.
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
You won't find me 'til the clock strikes three;
I'm gonna be there 'til then...
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
Whoa, whoa, I gotta go... back to school again!
The Glee Club marched into the school building, making students and teachers stand aside as they passed down the red and white main hallway. Miss Pillsbury waved at them from her office as each member sent a wave, smile, or wink her way. Not many students (or teachers, for that matter) took the guidance counselor seriously, but it was an unspoken rule among the members of New Directions that Emma Pillsbury was a gift from the heavens above and was to be protected and loved at all costs.
As they turned a corner, Puck began a solo.
Geometry and history is just a pain,
Biology and chemistry destroys my brain.
Well don't they know that I deserve a better fate?
I'm really much too young to matriculate.
The rest of the Glee Club joined in, interacting with the rest of the students by spinning them, dancing around them, or putting their arms around their shoulders throughout the choreography. Soon enough, even a few teachers had joined in.
Well mama please, your child's come down with a fatal disease.
Mama said, "Come on you lazy bum now get your butt out of bed!"
"You gotta go back, back, back to school again!"
It's bye-bye fun, get your homework done,
You better be in by ten,
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
Whoa, whoa, I gotta go... back to school again!
Meanwhile out front, Sugar shook her head at her friends' shenanigans and looked at the picture on her phone again. If this new kid stepped off the bus, she did not want to miss him. Just as the last of the Cheerios/back up dancers entered the school, another bus pulled up and released a few dozen students, including a rather short boy in gray slacks, a gray and white striped cardigan over a white dress shirt, and a dark gray bow tie.
"Blaine?"
"Ugh...Sugar Motta?"
"That's me!" Sugar smiled, popping the gum she'd been chewing.
"It's nice to finally meet you."
"You too, cupcake. Nice bow tie."
"Really? It's not too much?"
Sugar laughed and motioned at her cheetah print shirt, white fur vest, and high heels, "Honey, if I can get away with wearing this, you can rock a bow tie. Don't worry. You're not the only fashion forward student at this school."
Blaine sighed in relief, "Thanks for offering to show me around, by the way."
"Oh, no problem!" Sugar looped her arm through Blaine's and led him toward the school entrance, "When Sandy told me you were moving here from Westerville, I told her that any cousin of hers is a cousin of mine. You went to Dalton before right?"
"Yeah."
"I've met a few students from there. Are you friends with any of the Warblers?"
"Um, no, not really," Blaine smiled shyly, "I didn't do much singing back at Dalton. I mean, I wanted to, but...stage fright. One of the guys was on the Lacrosse team with me, but that's about it."
"That's a shame. The Glee Club here is looking for new recruits this year. You should join."
Blaine shrugged, "Maybe."
Sugar smiled at him, although she had a feeling that Blaine was too scared to try out. Maybe she'd be able to convince him once they got to know each other better.
"So this is the courtyard where most people hang out before class. Don't ever use the bathrooms out here, though. Your best bet are the ones near the teacher's lounge, or down the hall from the choir room."
"Hey, Sugar?"
"Yeah."
"Um...I'm not sure how to phrase this but...what are the students like? I mean, are they mostly nice, or..."
"You mean do people get bullied here?"
Blaine nodded.
"It's okay, Blaine. Sandy said you might be nervous about that because you had trouble at your old school. I'll be honest. A few years ago, this school was horrible if you weren't a Cheerio – that's a cheerleader – or a jock. People got thrown in dumpsters and pushed against lockers and slushied all the time. But that all changed at the beginning of last year."
"Why? How?"
Sugar shrugged, "The losers became the cool kids. The quarterback's mom married the gay kid's dad. The biggest homophobic bully came out of the closet. The cheerleading captain came out and started dating another cheerleader. The quarterback started dating the theater freak with a big nose and the kid in the wheelchair turned out to be a really, really good rapper. And he also dated a cheerleader. And me. And then another cheerleader. So basically the lines that split everybody up got erased. All those kids I mentioned were in the Glee Club, and when we won Nationals a second time last year, it pretty much sealed the deal in turning New Directions into McKinley High School Royalty. And the New Directions don't let anybody get bullied while they're around. They're like the Bully Police. So as far as getting bullied for being gay, don't worry about it."
"What about for being a nerd?" Blaine asked, unable to hide a playful smile.
Sugar laughed loudly, "You're funny! I think that cancels out being a nerd."
"Thanks."
"Come on, I'll show you the cafeteria."
Sugar led Blaine down the halls of McKinley, turning to the right and then to the left. As they made the second turn, the sounds of music and singing reached Blaine's ears.
"Oh good! We haven't missed the whole thing! Come on!"
Blaine ran into the cafeteria, pulled along by Sugar, and immediately his eyes widened. All around him students were dancing and clapping. On various lunch tables, a group of about a dozen students was singing and dancing, including a kid in a wheelchair who had been lifted onto a round table at the far end of the cafeteria.
I got my books together and I dragged my feet,
Then I saw this angel boppin' down the street.
I said, "Hey, pretty baby, how's about a date?"
She said, "I'm going to school, and I can't be late."
"These are the New Directions?" Blaine raised his eyebrows and Sugar nodded. The New Directions were all wearing matching black and red jackets with red Ms on the front. There seemed to be something written on the back, but he couldn't tell much.
"SUGAR MOTTA! GET YOUR PERKY BUTT UP HERE!"
Blaine turned toward the voice that had yelled and had to remind himself to blink. A very cute guy was motioning toward Sugar. He was tall and lean, with the nicest blue eyes and perfect skin. His hair was set in a perfect coif, and he'd popped the collar of his jacket and rolled up the sleeves. A red neck scarf was wrapped around his neck, and a blue dress shirt peeked out from beneath his jacket, paired with black pants that were so tight Blaine was sure they were illegal. He wasn't going to be one to complain about the view, though.
Sugar smiled, "Do you mind? I'll be right back."
"Not at all. I can hold your notebooks if you want," Blaine motioned to the journals in Sugar's hands.
"Aw, you're a sweetheart. I'll be right back."
Sugar allowed Mr. Tall and Cute to help her up onto the lunch table, and Blaine stood back to watch them all sing and dance. It was easy to see these kids winning a National Championship. The Warblers at Dalton had been incredible, but they hadn't made it to Naitonals in the past two years, and Blaine could now see why.
Well, I can see, that look in her eyes was sayin' "Follow me,"
And I was caught - I thought of playing hooky, but on second thought,
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
You won't find me 'til the clock strikes three;
I'm gonna be there 'til then...
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
Whoa, whoa, I gotta go... back to school ... again!
Blaine clapped along with the rest of the students, handing Sugar back her notebooks.
"You were amazing!"
Sugar shrugged, "I'll tell you a secret...I'm tone deaf. I just hum melodies and dance real good. I doubt they'll miss me all that much. Besides, I won't have time for rehearsals this year. My sister an I are starting a fashion line."
A whistle blew so loudly in the cafeteria that everybody covered their ears. Blaine looked up to see a tall woman in a red track suit blowing her whistle into a bullhorn.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
The entire cafeteria went deadly silent, the tension clear until another teacher with curly hair and a light drown vest walked in and everybody seemed to relax. This teacher looked nice enough as he smiled and yet still looked reprimanding.
"Alright guys, fun's over. Time to go to class, come on. First day of school! Let's go! New Directions! Choir room now!"
Students quickly began to filter out, the New Directions huddling together and walking out with a quick smile and wave at Sugar. Blaine tried not to stare after the cute guy in tight pants.
"Come on, Blaine. Your first class is on the way to mine."
The New Directions walked into the choir room and scattered about, Kurt going to the mirror to check his post-dance hair.
"Tina, I am loving this new look, girl!"
"Thanks, Mercedes."
"Oh my goodness, did Tina Cohen Chang just smile?" Quinn asked, a playful glint in her eye.
"It's been known to happen."
"Well, keep it up," said Kurt, turning away from his reflection, "A Troubletone has to be fierce and fabulous. And part of being fierce and fabulous is not being afraid to smile, Miss Cohen-Chang."
"You know what else makes a person fabulous? A nice fine a-"
"Did you lose something Puckerman?" Quinn asked, crossing her arms at Puck as he inched closer and closer to Kurt, who looked bored out of his mind by Puck's mere presence.
"So, Princess. What's the word on the street?"
"Are you implying that I spend time on the street, Puckerman? Because I'm pretty sure I should be the one directing that comment."
The girls all hid their laughter to various degrees.
"Come on, Princess. You're not going to embarrass me in front of my little brother are you? Especially since up until two months ago I had no idea I even had a brother."
"I'm not doing anything, Noah. You're embarrassing yourself. I told you. This thing we had is over. Besides, shouldn't your brother be heading to his own class?"
"Well, I'm not sure I'm okay with that, Princess."
"Then I guess you'll just have to go lock yourself in the costume closet and cry because I don't plan on changing my mind."
Quinn snorted loudly at that.
"Yeah, it's really funny, Fabray."
"Actually it is. Now I think Kurt wants you to leave him alone."
Puckerman cast one last look at Kurt before going back to Finn and Sam. Finn cast Kurt an apologetic look, to which Kurt only shrugged at his brother.
Before the scene could get anymore dramatic, Mr. Schuester walked into the room.
"Alright guys we've got quite a few things on the agenda to start off. First of all, good job on this morning's number. But maybe try not to cut into class time for the next one. Also, Sue's plotting continues this year, and she attempted to have our budget cut back down to its original amount."
There was outbreak from the entire group, but mostly Tina and Mercedes who had been counting on not having to recycle pieces of old outfits, and Artie who had been planning on a very elaborate set for a rendition of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night.
"However!" Will yelled over the noise and the Glee Club fell silent, "I convinced him to cut only half of what he was planning to. Which means that we can still afford costumes, props, a few sets, and the proper transportation for all of us. And it's still more money than what we're used to having. If we end up needing more, we can always have a fundraiser."
"Yes because we've always done so well with those before," said Kurt.
"Hey, we've made good money off of those!" said Will.
"Yeah because Puckerman put weed in the brownies," Santana laughed, making the others either chuckle or scoff at the memories.
"And let's not forget my windshield *cough*Mercedes*cough.* I don't think any of us is looking forward to another one of our brilliant fundraisers."
"Well then we'll just have to improvise like we always have, and not let the extra money go to our heads. Next on the agenda: Principal Figgins wants us to do the school play again, but this year he wants it to be a winter play, not spring."
"But that overlaps with Sectionals," said Rachel.
"Which is why I strongly suggest that whoever gets a solo or a duet at Sectionals does not audition for a lead role in the play we'll be setting up. I'm going to assume that Artie will volunteer as Director."
"Yes, sir. Although I'd like to know what I'm directing first."
"Oh. Right. Sorry about that. This year's school musical is going to be one of the greatest and most popular musicals of high schools all across the country. Drum roll, please, Mr. Hudson."
Finn tapped a quick beat against his chair with a pencil as Mr. Schuester stepped up to the board and wrote in large black letters: GREASE!
There was general excitement from the entire club, except for Rachel who frowned.
"What's wrong Rachel?" asked Tina.
"Rachel, I thought you'd be the first one to jump on her chair at this," said Kurt, shrugging off his Troubletone jacket.
"Oh, I'm very excited about it! I love Grease and I've always wanted to play Sandy...but..."
"But her majesty wants a solo at Sectionals," Santana finished for her.
Rachel shrugged, "You see my dilema."
"Well, you'll have to choose one, Rachel. Doing both would be too much stress and too much strain on your voice." said Mr. Schuester.
"We'll have a Troubletone meeting later and we can decide who auditions for Sandy." said Kurt with finality, "I suggest the Crooners do the same for Danny Zuko. Next point, Mr. Schuester."
"Okay. The next thing is that we need to start recruiting. Sam was right with what he said at our last meeting. This time next year only three of you will still be here, and we'll only have a couple months to prepare new members for competitions. We've got to get some more in now, so that this time next year we have a full team of people who are ready for competitions. So throughout the week I want you to look for people that you think might fit the roster. Basically, people who love to sing and/or dance."
"Preferably both," said Mike, "It took long enough to teach me to hold a tune."
"Yeah, and even longer to teach me how to do a hip roll."
"Finn, you still can't do a hip roll."
"Exactly."
The group laughed. This was the great thing about Glee Club. They didn't allow each other to forget who they were: a bunch of goofy misfits who loved to sing and dance.
"Well, I don't know about you guys," said Mercedes, "But I already have my eye on some mega eye candy. And it just so happens that he was tapping along to our little jam session in the cafeteria."
"Mercedes, everybody was jamming along with us," said Quinn.
"They all love us," said Brittany, "Well, mostly me. You guys just make me look better."
Mercedes simply rolled her eyes at Brittany's antics, knowing that she meant well, "Yeah, but this kid had that look, you know? The same one Sam had when we did Empire State of Mind."
"If he has that look we need him in," said Finn.
"Who is this mystery music lover?" asked Tina.
"I think he's new." said Mercedes, "I would remember somebody as tiny and cute as that. He was with Sugar earlier."
"Bow tie kid?" Puck snorted, "That guy's a total nerd. He looked more nervous than Hummel at a Westboro Baptist Church convention."
"And you wonder why I broke up with you," Kurt mumbled, making Finn snort next to him. He spoke up at the next words, "While I agree that this new kid looks very...preppy..."
"Nerdy."
"Whatever. We don't even know if he can sing yet. Don't you Crooners have some sort of entry requirements?"
"Be cool." said Artie.
"Sing good." said Sam.
"Have heart." said Finn.
"Be a badass." said Puck.
"Need I remind you boys that before glee club most of us didn't fit more than two of those descriptions," said Tina, "I had a stutter."
"I uploaded myself singing show tunes onto MySpace." Rachel shuttered.
"I got pregnant."
"I was straight."
"Me too."
"Me three."
"Kurt, babe, nobody thought you were straight," said Puck.
"Didn't keep you from throwing me in the dumpster."
"Is that what this is about? I thought we got past that, Kurt!"
"I told you I just outgrew this...whatever it was!"
"Okay! Okay! Settle down, guys," said Mr. Schuester, "We've got the main points down, now I want to get started on our plan for Sectionals."
Kurt sighed and focused his attention back on Mr. Schue. Finn bumped his elbow and smiled encouragingly. Kurt ruefully smiled back at his brother. They were in for a very, very busy year.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The song is from the Grease 2 soundtrack, and the idea of Crooners and Troubletones stems from T-Birds and Pink Ladies, obviously.
Please review!