A/N:
Relationships/Characters: Kurt/Sam, Kurtcedes friendship, Muppet Babies, Kurt/Sue mentorship, and possibly other stuff later
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: All of Season 1
"Finn!" Kurt yelled from outside of the bathroom that the boys shared. "Finn! Why is it taking you so long? You don't have a skincare routine besides your Clearasil. Now, Finn, I obviously made a mistake by allowing you to use bathroom first this morning. Because it is the first day of school, and I need you to hurry up!" Kurt let out a sigh of relief as Finn finally exited the shared restroom. Kurt now wished that his dad would turn that half bathroom upstairs into a full one. He made a mental note to bring it up later.
"Seriously Finn, what took you so long?"
"I wanted to impress Rachel and stuff." Finn replied simply.
Kurt took a quick sniff and then said with a tone of mixed disgust, annoyance, and a hint of superiority "Lay off the cologne, Finn. Just a little, don't drown yourself." He then strutted into the bathroom and shut the door on a dumbfounded Finn who now was smelling himself.
"Maybe he was right…" Finn said under his breath.
Rachel was not happy at her dads' choice of letting a foreign exchange student into the Berry household. She was all for opening opportunities to those less fortunate, but this girl - Faith - was getting under her skin. Especially when she would sing in the shower. She could easily belt out Celine Dion songs in English, and hitting every note pitch perfect. Normally Rachel would welcome such a talented presence into her house, but this girl was younger than her, had no professional training, and was from the Philippines. Rachel was aching to get back in the halls of William McKinley, if only for Glee club where she could be the star again.
Sam was new to Lima; he and his family only moved there three weeks ago, but did manage to land himself a spot on the Titan's football team as the kicker.
Coach Tanaka was raving about how well Sam played on the field, and compared his kicking skills to the kicker they had last year: Kurt something. (Sam really wasn't paying attention to the name.) Anyway, according to Coach this Kurt guy won their only game last year.
Sam Morgan sat at the table and chatted lightly with his dad about superficial stuff like how football practice was going. Sam liked his relationship with his dad, and he really didn't want to risk it with total honesty.
"I bet all those cheerleader girls will be falling for you! You are gonna be just like your old man; I was a football stud back before I met your mom." Mr. Morgan told him.
Sam nodded as he quickly ate his cereal, and then grabbed his keys and helmet and dashed for his motorcycle.
"Have a good first day, sweetie!" His mother called out as he rushed through the door.
Sam just rolled his eyes and didn't reply.
"KURT!" Mercedes squealed as she saw her best friend walking up the parking lot.
"Mercedes!" Kurt let one of his rare smiles shine through. The two friends had very little time to hang out over the summer, between Kurt visiting his grandmother in France, his summer Cheerios training, and Mercedes' family reunion.
The two chatted about how great the other was looking; Mercedes especially couldn't get over Kurt's new outfit (all from up-and-coming designers in France). They soon met up with Artie and Tina, who were holding hands in the hallway.
"So far no one has been slushied!" Tina said with a half smile. "This year just may be better."
"I'm not going to say anything is better unless I can make it a week without my glasses getting flushed down the toilet." Artie added.
Later that morning Kurt was at his locker with Mercedes and Quinn when Sue Sylvester came to see him.
"Ladyface!" She barked. "You, in my office, NOW!"
Kurt obeyed Sue's command hastily, and followed the Cheerio's coach into her office.
"Ladyface, I'm going to be frank," Coach Sylvester started out as she sat down at her desk. "You have shown an astonishing amount of improvement since you first auditioned for the Cheerios."
Kurt let a little bit of pride show in his eyes as she praised him.
"But, Ladyface, the Cheerios are still without a captain, and in all my years of cheerleading I have never given a boy the title of head cheerleader, but let's face it Ladyface, you sing like a girl, look like a girl, hell you even walk like a girl, so it won't be as terribly off-putting. Besides you won nationals."
"Are you telling me I'm the head cheerleader?" Kurt raised one eyebrow, because he could not fully believe what Sue was saying.
"Yes, that is exactly it, Hummel. I may have recruited you as a singer, but you have all the fine making of a cheerleader. In fact, you remind me of a young Sue Sylvester."
Kurt was speechless. Never had he been given the lead in something, and now to be the head Cheerio it just felt so right. Finally he would be getting the well deserved respect that he needed. Finally people would be looking up to him.
Sam and Finn hit it off extremely well in football practice. The two boys were actually very similar. Yet, once they were in class it was evident to Sam that he was much smarter than Finn. In the pretest they had to take Finn was actually cheating answers off of a blonde cheerleader who at the start of class had said "My cat got a tan over summer vacation."