"Why'd you throw the note?"
The question throws Kurt off; he hadn't expected anybody to still be hanging around, it being nearly five o'clock now.
"When somebody harasses the one person you love, you make sacrifices. Mine was throwing the song." He might choke up again if he's not careful, it's still so fresh in his mind, the small fault in his voice, the click in his throat, the soul-encompassing feelings of guilt, inadequacy, and failure still stinging in their place in his gut.
There's silence from behind the curtain, and he's still wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt- tears make some of the worst stains.
"You could have won." And really, who is he to deny that? Rachel can't put emotion into her 'works', and he knows firsthand about discrimination and being held back by society, forget about his love of the song. But Rachel… is a girl, and when it comes down to it she always had more of a chance. He says this to the speaker, and hears rustling of the curtain as William Schuester stalks through.
"Kurt, I know you can hit that note. It's not right that Rachel-" "You never cared before. And you didn't care this time until somebody confronted you about it. You handed that solo right over to her without a thought, even though I had told you I love that song. You're just a bigoted, stereotypical basket case, with an awful fashion sense and hairstyle." There wasn't a stutter in his voice, he was glad. He blew that note like no other, it physically hurt to crack his voice like that.
No response. That was ok, he hadn't expected one. He gathers his bag, turns to look at the mess of a man, and finds not only him but the whole club- minus Rachel and Finn.
"He's got a point Schue." Puck- Puck- says, "You totally just handed that solo to her—" "y-y-yeah, and K-Kurt's version was so much b-b-better." Tina interrupted, closely followed by Artie "Not only that, but it was so obvious that he threw the note, his voice has never done that before."
"He had it yesterday, I watched him in the choir room." Brittney joined in, and Santanna made a weird face at her, "What were you doing in there? We had Cheerios practice." "I thought I lost my shoe, but it was in my bathroom." Nobody questioned her- because really? They were used to it by now.
"Anyway, as much as I just adore being around all of you simpletons, I really have to go." He quickly snatched his bag and started to hop off the stage. He was midair when his arms where captured and he was pulled back up. 'Stupid Mike, and Matt, being stupid strong and stupid…stupid' the fashionista thought.
They set him down on the wood and stepped back "Dude, we're talking to you; Schue, can we, like, do another try out on another song or something?" They all looked to Will, but he shook his head and looked down "No guys I can't do that, not only is it unethical, but Rachel would have a hemorrhage."
Murmurs of agreement went through the lineup of gleeks. Rachel could throw a fit when she wanted to. Everyone mulled that over for a few minutes. "But I guess I could make Defying Gravity a duet? Would that be ok? Or maybe Kurt could sing a different solo."
Kurt nodded slowly, "Yeah, I could think about a solo, but if I can't think of anything then I guess a duet would be good."