I entered the 'cafeteria' feeling slightly overwhelmed again; tables of jocks, preps, nerds, cheerleaders...it was exactly like a movie, tables of cliques and each kid terribly stereotyped. Problem was, where did I fit in?
As I scanned the room, my eyes connected first with the cheerleader table which I immediately looked away from, avoiding the beckoning of Quinn and her friends. One place I knew I didn't fit in.
As I continued looking around I noticed Kurt waving manically at me, sat at a table with a couple of free seats, and quickly walked towards it, avoiding the looks the cheerleaders were giving me.
"Hey new girl, come sit with us." Mohawk guy said, causing me to stop a couple of tables away from Kurt.
"I'm okay thanks." I muttered, moving to go.
He stuck his arm out, "It's okay, if you're shy I can always catch up with you later; somewhere more private." he said, raising an eyebrow and grinning while a couple of his friends hooted with laughter and praise.
I made a half smile and a dismissing noise at him before pushing past him towards Kurt's table.
"The name's Puck!" he yelled after me, winking.
"Hey." Kurt said smiling as I finally reached the table, throwing my bag down onto the seat opposite his, "Ignore him, he's a dick." he said, signalling to Puck, and turning back to the others he said, "Natasha, this is Rachel, Archie and Tina."
I sat down, smiling at the boy in the wheelchair, the Asian Goth, the happy go lucky brunette with a smile plastered on her face which looked like it would never fade. Such stereotypes. This was obviously the table for social outcasts. Though Rachel seemed like she may be able to fit in more than the others.
"Um, that's my seat." ah, and here comes the fat black chick with anger issues. Perfect.
"Mercedes." Kurt hissed, scowling at the girl who huffed and threw herself onto the end seat next to Artie instead.
"I can move..." I mumbled. I may be new but I know when not to upset someone.
"No. You're fine." Kurt said, smiling at me before turning to Mercedes to give her a meaningful look.
"So, you're from England. What's it like? They're so full of culture." Rachel sighed happily.
"Oh, a lot less than you would think. In America they think it's all tea drinking and posh voices and going to the theatre, but really it's chavs and stabbings and grey skies." I said in an equally happy tone.
"Oh..." she mumbled, looking alarmed and slightly crestfallen. Oops.
"Joking! Joking! There are some good...things. Like, um, plays. And, choirs." Oh, I'll give them that much. Choir there was utterly amazing. The acoustics of a church, the heavenly sound of the singing...probably the only time I ever step in a church to be honest.
"Choirs? Wow, that must be amazing." Rachel replied, the smile appearing on her face again.
"Oh, it is, it sounds so heavenly, and it just makes you feel so good when you sing." I replied, smiling. I do like to sing. It's my weakness. In the shower, in choir...anywhere.
"You sing?" Kurt said, springing up from his lunch to look at me, a grin on his face, "You have to join glee club!"
"What actually is glee club? I've heard everyone talking about it but I still don't know what it is." I muttered. Which was very true. I had been wondering that ever since those cheerleaders started ranting on at me.
"Oh, it's great. You have to join if you like singing or whatever. We need as many members as possible." Rachel said, her face lighting up. Um, okay.
"We sing and dance, choreograph our own routines. Rachel and Finn – the captain of the football team – are the leads, and we're going to the sectionals. It should be a breeze because we're up against the most utterly pathetic schools, but then that means we go to regional's." Kurt told me, grinning as he said this. It was obvious he was very into it. It was also obvious he was very gay. That was really annoying me. As I stared into his blue eyes, trying to ignore the glint they got from his excitement.
"It sounds awesome. I was wondering if there would be choir or something over here." I said, actually glad of something for what seemed like the first time today. Who cared if I was going to get bullied shitless like the rest of these lot, I loved singing. End of.
"Oh, it's not really like a choir at all. It's so much better." The boy in the wheelchair – Artie – said to me, smiling.
"Awesome. When is it?" I asked, feeling excited and worried at the same time. Those always seem to go together.
"Tonight. Mr Shue runs it, you can just come along, he won't mind." Kurt said, still grinning. God that was a nice grin.
"Great! So you're all in it, right?" I said, looking round the table and noticing Mercedes again, who was scowling slightly at me, and the worried feeling doubled.
"Yeah. The 'social outcasts' if you will." Kurt said, smirking at his little joke. No fair, he has a cute smirk too.
"Awh, I don't see why." I said, hoping that this would come off as a compliment and not some kind of pity comment.
"Pah! Have you actually seen us? We're not exactly you're average preppy teenager, are we? I mean, glee club is the ultimate social death trap. Unless you're on the football team or a cheerio or something, because that apparently makes up for it." Kurt said, and I could sense that although he came off as not caring there was something down deep that showed that he did care that he wasn't well liked by most people.
"Well, is it necessarily a good thing to be liked by that lot?" I gestured to the rest of the cafeteria, "And anyway, I thought you were on the football team?"
"Who told you that?" Kurt asked.
"The blonde 'cheerio' that dragged me off this morning." I laughed, "Oh, and you're a soprano."
"God, those little..." he started, looking annoyed.
"Don't start bitching again, Kurt." Mercedes said, tittering. Ugh, she laughs like the cheerleaders.
"Well I'm sorry. You're allowed to do it but not me? That's hardly fair." He said, raising an eyebrow and pouting at her before turning back to his lunch, "Anyway, don't you have any lunch?" he asked, turning to me.
"Um, no, I forgot it. I should probably go and get some. Um, I'll catch up with you guys later?" I said, suddenly worried that I had to leave the first thing closest to friends here, but slightly happy that I would be able to get out of the way of Mercedes.
"Awesome! Make sure you come to glee club." Rachel said, still smiling. Okay, I understood why she was a social reject too now.
I said goodbye to the rest of them and waved to a crazy grinning Kurt before turning away and heading back towards the cafeteria doors, not really knowing where I was heading. As I walked down the fairly quiet corridor, I wondered if I could count any of them as friends yet. Kurt, I would say. He'd talked quite a lot. And he seemed to want me to go to this glee club. And Rachel, but she seemed animated about anything. She'd have probably been thrilled to be told she was to sit in a room all day with a jar of mayonnaise. Finn? I wish. Maybe if I talked to him more...or maybe not. I'm one of the social rejects now, I have to remember that. At least I think I am. Or I soon will be.