The beeping sound of an alarm clock rang next to Blaine's ear. He rolled out of bed, bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. He painfully picked out his uniform for school. All students were required to wear one. It was the same gray as the houses, matching the theme of the rest of the community. One more year Blaine, you can do this. He thought to himself. This nearly comforted him until he realized the dreading future he was to have. Then he changed his thought process. Make it last.

As he walked down the steps, his father was leaving just before him.

"Bye." Blaine called, just to be polite. His father just slammed the door behind him and walked out. Blaine sighed. It was worth a shot. He looked at his wristwatch. Not enough time to make it to the cafeteria for breakfast. And so Blaine walked to school with his head down, counting his steps and watching his laces bounce with each one. Once he'd had finally made it to the schoolyard, he saw students gathering for the opening assembly. With little energy, he followed. Blaine finally looked up from his feet at the full gymnasium. He saw familiar faces of his old friends and teachers. The only reason the school used the gym anymore was for assemblies. They used to offer sports but the head canceled it because it was too violent. That had upset Blaine because he always had a good catch for football. When he was little. He'd always dreamed of being Quarterback and it could have made him more popular too.

There were no open seats by the entrance so Blaine made his way across the room. Half way through, he felt something hit his head. He turned and saw some boys throwing gum (Already chewed) at him. When they saw the sorrow on his face, they burst into laughter. If the community needed to be so perfect, why did they never do anything to protect those few students who are bullied? Blaine ran to the bathroom, wetting his dark curls attempting to get the gum out. He heard a flush come from one of the stalls. Through the mirror, Blaine looked to see who emerged. He was looking for someone he knew but an unfamiliar face appeared. The boy looked about his age. His skin was pale and his eyes were the brightest green/blue Blaine had ever witnessed. Great first impression Blaine thought. This new kid would probably know him as "gum boy". To Blaine's surprised he spoke.

"Peanut Butter." He simply said as he squirted the artificially scented strawberry soap into his soft palm. Blaine looked at the boy. Now they he was getting a better look, Blaine could tell that he was something special.

"What?" Blaine replied, half because he didn't understand what he said and half because he just wanted to hear his voice again.

"Peanut Butter. It will get the gum out of your hair." He smiled. "I know from experience." Blaine let out a soft laugh.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any peanut butter." Blaine said, smiling even though he shouldn't be. Not with gum in his hair. The boy shrugged but then he jolted up.

"Wait a second!" He exclaimed shaking his hands instead of drying them. "I might..." He paused, looking through his bag. "…Have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch." He rummaged through the bag while Blaine stood helplessly with his hand in his hair.

"You pack your lunch? But where do you get the foo-" Blaine couldn't finish his sentence before the boy answered.

"I just got to Jenson two days ago. I came from the REAL world. You know, where they have freedom and individuality." Blaine could tell the boy had a strong opinion. He couldn't help but wonder why he came here anyway. "Anyway…" He said, getting back on the topic. "… I brought the food when I came in. Well I smuggled it but that can be our secret." He winked at Blaine. "I thought the food might be gross so I came prepared. I mean, I only have enough for a few weeks but I'll savor it." Right when he finished speaking, the announcer came on.

"STUDENTS, STUDENTS, STUDENTS! WELCOME… OR WELCOME BACK TO JENSON SCHOOL Of EDUCATION." The boy whispered as if the announcer could hear him.

"No, what is it? The international school of pancakes." He laughed at his own sarcasm. Blaine figured he was talking to himself since he had no idea why the school he spoke of had international pancakes but he laughed just because this stranger had said it.

"PLEASE PROCEED TO THE GYM WITHIN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES TO AVOID CONCEQUENCES! THANK YOU!" A beep signaled the end of the announcement.

"Ooh, Harsh." The boy said mocking the threat as he pulled a plastic bag out of his bag. "Aha!" He shouted. Blaine laughed awkwardly.

"They're serious though. We should get there in 5 minutes, trust me." Blaine warned him. The boy looked up at his hair and stepped closer so he could rub the peanut butter on the gum.

"Why should I trust you? I just met you." He smiled but Blaine couldn't see because his head was under the faucet. No one spoke for a minute as the other boy tried desperately to get each and every piece of the gum out of his hair.

"OW!" Blaine screeched. The other boy apologized and then turned the water off. He wiped his hands together with accomplishment.

"Tada!" Blaine ran his fingers through his hair.

"Thanks. I'm Blaine." He held a wet hand out.

"Kurt." He smiled and shook his hand. "Shit." Kurt cursed when he looked at his watch. "Let's GO!" He began sprinting to the gym. Just as the door shut behind them, the bell signaling the start of assembly rang. Blaine wiped the sweat away from his forehead. He found a seat in the far corner of the bleachers. Kurt however, being new was instructed to sit by the podium so he could be announced. Blaine smiled at him when he looked to the edge of the gym. Kurt gave him a little wave back.

Not long after Blaine had sat down, the head began his annual speech outlining any new rules, etc. Most students dosed off through this because it was simply the most boring speech that any person has ever written and/or given. Once he finished his last sentence, the gym clapped slowly for most of the kids were waking up from a nap.

Next up was the student body president. President wasn't really an accurate term considering there were no candidates or elections or anything. The teachers chose each year so it ended up being someone insanely smart or a teacher's pet. Again, no one paid much attention during this speech. Blaine looked around the gym at everyone in their plain, boring, gray uniforms. He saw two little kids being taken out of the gym, probably for discipline. He saw another boy, crying with a cut on his face. Blaine looked with a pitiful face to the little boy. Another student was helping him put the band-aid on his cheek. She laughed and made jokes to him, getting the hurt boy to smile. Then Blaine turned his attention towards his own grade. Two guys were pulling another one's hair. The boy was begging them to stop and I'm sure his fate would have been worse if it wasn't assembly right now. Blaine could picture the bullies being pulled out of assembly ten years ago and getting disciplined but it hadn't done much. The punishment in Jenson seemed corrupt but maybe that's because the whole point is to avoid any need for punishment. Still it happened, but usually it stopped after high school. The only good thing about anything after this year. Blaine thought to himself. Before he knew it, the "president" had finished his speech and the gym was filled with the quiet clapping of few students and proud teachers.

Next was the last and most interesting part of first assembly: Student Introductions. They started from the youngest kids and proceeded to the oldest. The announced the whole Kindergarten together since they were all new and continued. Once you got to year 6, a speech was necessary for your introduction. Well, it wasn't a speech since it had to be 5 sentences, no more and no less.

Blaine listened to the 5 sentences about each person. Most of them were the same though and he ended up loosing interest. Finally, they had gotten to year 11 and Blaine brought his attention back to the podium. There was only one new person in year 12, and that was Kurt. Blaine straightened his posture and fixed his hair, which was still wet from the cleansing. While Kurt made his way to the podium, Blaine watched him as he walked. There was such a grace to him as he took each step. Somehow, he made the horrid uniform look good.

Once at the podium, Kurt cleared his throat, re-adjusted his gray cap and pulled a note card out from his back pocket. Blaine sat eagerly for him to begin.

"Hello students." Sentence one; Blaine was disappointed that he would waste one of his sentences on that.

"You are most likely incredibly bored at the moment." Sentence two; Blaine sighed at another useless sentence. He wanted to learn more about Kurt. Unlike Blaine, others let out a short laugh at his obvious statement.

"Instead of increasing your already prevalent boredom, I wrote a poem." Sentence three; Blaine lips curved into a smile. A poem would be interesting.

"Hi, My name is Kurt

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel

It's nice to meet you"

He finished his haiku and did a curtsy. The gym burst into laughter. They weren't laughing at Kurt's "descriptive" poem either. They were laughing at Kurt. Right as he was about to sit down, someone shouted.

"THAT WAS SIX SENTENCES." The head tried desperately to shush the room and eventually, they did quiet, waiting for Kurt's answer. He seemed untouched by the horrid behavior towards him. Blaine was astonished.

"No, it wasn't." He contradicted. "I said three sentences before my poem and there were only two sentences in my poem. One was a phrase." He flipped his bangs away from his face and sat down, legs crossed. The head, trying to put an end the commotion, spoke into the microphone.

"STUDENTS, STUDENTS! EVERYONE QUIET DOWN!" He gave Kurt a dirty look signaling, "We don't appreciate what you just did, however you didn't break an policies but watch out."

Each student was assigned a room to pick up their schedules and locker numbers. Blaine was in the same room with Kurt he and could only hope their lockers were nearby. He decided to wait so they could walk over together.

"Nice job up there." Blaine congratulated him as Kurt came closer. He stood up and slung his backpack across his shoulder.

"Thanks. Assholes, huh?" Kurt said, smiling at Blaine. "Glad to see that nasty gum's gone. How'd you get it up there anyway?" They both laughed at the immature reference. Once Blaine had stopped laughing, he answered.

"Uh, those guys…" Blaine pointed. Kurt nodded; he could tell Blaine was embarrassed.

"I got taunted a lot at my old school. Way worse than what happened today in assembly, that was child's play." Kurt explained. Blaine nodded.

"They're pretty mean here too. I've gotten a fair share of black eyes, not that I've done anything wrong though. They're just mean." He reassured. Blaine couldn't believe that Kurt had been bullied before, he just seemed so flawless. It was like there couldn't be a mistake with him. Once they both had picked up their schedules, Kurt compared them.

"We have a lot of classes together. That's good." He laughed a little.

"Hey, what's your locker number?" Blaine asked.

"142. You?"

"144!" Blaine was ecstatic. He felt especially sorry for the person who would be between them.

"Looks like it's going to be a good year." Kurt stated. Blaine nodded (again) and they walked over to their new lockers. Kurt hid his lunch under his coat so no one passing by would see. No one had claimed locker 143 yet and Blaine had almost forgotten it was there. He was too blinded by his joy of being by Kurt. Finally someone interesting had come to Jenson and he was going to make sure that he was able to learn something from him. However, just a few minutes later, a bulky boy, at least six foot, 5 inches came to the locker. Blaine recognized him immediately. He kicked Blaine's backpack out of the way and shoved his bag in. Kurt looked behind the owner of 143's back and pointed a fake gun to his head. Blaine laughed and the enormous person turned towards Blaine.

"What are you laughing at?" He asked, spitting while he spoke.

"Nothing. Sorry Ed." Blaine apologized while he wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Why are you apologizing Blaine? You didn't do anything wrong." Kurt stated, talking more to the mountain of a person than Blaine. He turned to face Kurt.

"Don't get smart with me." He threatened. Blaine was nervous for Kurt. He tried to tell him to stop but Kurt ignored his signs.

"It will be kind of hard, considering a three year old could get smart with you." Kurt sassed back. Blaine quenched with fear for Kurt, waiting to see him fall to the floor. Instead though, the bully turned away, his face hid in shame. Apparently Kurt had hit a soft spot.

"Kurt." He said, holding his hand out. It was the same introduction he had used on a Blaine. A signature thing, he assumed. Ed looked at Kurt's face and then his hand. He grabbed Kurt's wrist, preventing any movement. Then his spit in his hand, which made it soaking wet. He shook Kurt's hand and then pushed Kurt's (now soaking wet) hand into his face. He laughed and walked away. Blaine stood in his locker, horrified. He ran after Ed.

"GET BACK HERE!" Blaine screamed as he jumped onto Ed's back and began wrestling with him. Ed easily resisted his pathetic attempts and rammed Blaine into a locker. Blaine lost his grip with the force and Ed walked away, unharmed. The entire hallway stared at Blaine who lied on the ground. Kurt ran over from his locker to help Blaine up. Once he was on his feet, people got back to their normal business. Kurt assisted him as they limped over to the 140s. Kurt threw away the towel he was using to wipe his face and hands.

"You okay?" Kurt asked, sympathetically. He knew that Blaine did it for him.

"Yeah, yeah." Blaine lied. His back ached and he could barely walk.

"You shouldn't have done that. It didn't bother me that much." Kurt said. He felt bad.

"I would have done it for anyone, it's okay." Blaine lied. He wouldn't even do that for anyone unless he was Kurt. Slowly and painfully, he stood up and got his books for the morning.

"You're pretty cool Blaine. Ready?" Kurt asked and Blaine nodded. At least he had Kurt.