Rachel and Mercedes led Blaine excitedly into the auditorium, both wearing matching smiles that alerted Mr. Shuester to the newcomer right away.
"Ladies, what's going on? Hi, Kurt."
"Hey," Kurt muttered as he walked ahead of Blaine and the girls, taking a seat next to Tina in one of the aisles facing the stage.
"This is Blaine," Rachel announced, gesturing towards the young man proudly. "He's come to audition. I know for a fact that he has talent."
Kurt scoffed loudly, making Tina glance at him in confusion.
"Well, that's great!" Mr. Shue said with a huge grin on his face. "You're in my Spanish class, aren't you?" he asked Blaine.
"Yeah, I am," Blaine responded, pulling off his messenger bag and setting it down on one of the seats.
"Okay, well, take the stage then."
Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine turned and started climbing up the short stairs to the dimly lit stage. Rachel and Mercedes sat down behind Mr. Shue. The rest of the New Directions watched with polite, though wary faces as Blaine whispered something to the piano man and then went to stand in the center of the stage.
When the piano man began to play the opening notes of the song he'd selected, Blaine hadn't anticipated his stomach to twist nervously. It had been a long time seen he'd gotten butterflies from having to perform. Still, Blaine went ahead and opened his mouth.
"Days like this I want to drive away,
Pack my bags and watch your shadow fade."
Santana and Brittany, sitting in the highest seats behind Mike and Tia, exchanged equal looks of fascination.
"You chewed me up and spit me out
Like I was poison in your mouth.
You took my light and drained me down
But that was then and this is now, now look at me."
Blaine continued in as clear a tone as he could muster, given that he was starting to see why he'd been so nervous a few moments ago..
This song described his feelings perfectly about the past year.
"This is the part of me that
You're never gonna ever take away from me
This is the part of me that
You're never gonna ever take away from me, no.
Throw your sticks and stones,
Throw your bombs and blows
But you're not gonna break my soul.
This is the part of me that
You're never gonna ever take away from me."
Blaine sang the finishing lines as his heartbeat raced.
Mr. Shue stood up at the end and clapped.
"Blaine, I don't know what to say except.. welcome to the New Directions!"
A couple of the glee club members congratulated Blaine afterwards; mostly the girls. Artie, the boy in the wheelchair rolled down the aisles to shake his hand and the Asian boy who Blaine found out was named Mike also complimented his performance. Sam, the blond football player, Finn, the quarterback and Puckerman, however seemed a bit intimidated by Blaine and only gave him noncommittal nods, or in Puck's case; a cold glare, before heading out the door.
"Hey," Blaine called out to Mike before he could exit with his girlfriend, Tina. "Thanks for.. you know, before in the locker room."
Mike gave him a tiny grin as Tina glanced up at Mike with a question in her eyes. "No problem, dude."
Just as Mike and Tina walked out, Rachel ran up to Blaine, clasping a hand around his forearm.
"I knew you would nail it!" she squealed. "I can spot brilliance from a mile away."
"Thank you, Rachel," Blaine said awkwardly, gently extracting his arm from her grip.
She didn't look unfazed at all, though, and just continued rambling. "So we should totally do a duet together, don't you agree? Our voices are so clear and strong and indisputably beautiful.. Just email me a list of songs you think would showcase our talent, though I am more theater than top 40s-"
"Uhh, that sounds fun, Rachel," Blaine interrupted as he caught sight of Kurt glaring at them both from the open doorway. "But I have to go now." He didn't want to let the part-time Cheerio get away so easily.
"Kurt, hold up!"
Kurt stopped and clutched his leather briefcase tightly against his side as if he were afraid Blaine would snatch it.
Blaine pressed his lips in a firm line but made his voice sound cordial, nonetheless. "Don't be a sore loser. I'm not trying to steal your glee club. And I was just kidding about the bet."
Kurt raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and asked coldly, "Oh were you kidding about the stick up my ass too?"
Blaine couldn't help but chuckle. "No, actually."
"Piss off!" Kurt snapped, turning away.
"Hey, hold on a minute." Blaine made a grab for his arm before he could walk away.
Kurt flinched at the contact and Blaine dropped his hand immediately. In the back of his mind, he wondered why he even wanted an apology from Kurt. Obviously, it didn't matter. He'd had people dislike him before; granted it was in junior high when he'd just come out, but still.. He knew that selfish people weren't worth his time.
"Why are you still pissed about the uniform?" He asked Kurt with genuine curiosity. "Is it that big a deal? I apologized, you cleaned it up. Why do you keep using that as an excuse to hate me?"
Kurt's jaw locked. He didn't reply so Blaine continued, "And I'm not trying to outshine you. I did my thing with the Warblers. It's done. I'm happy standing in the background."
Kurt let out a sarcastic laugh. "I don't think Shuester is going to put you in the back. Rachel has already claimed you as her new duet partner."
"Okay," Blaine said slowly. "But that doesn't mean I'm going accept."
Kurt gave him an incredulous look. "You would turn down the chance to stand front and center?"
Blaine shrugged. "Like I said, been there, done that."
Kurt raised his chin, his eyes scoping down Blaine's form before he turned around wordlessly and heading for the parking lot.
Blaine shook his head, watching him go.
"Definitely a waste of my time," he decided internally.
Unfortunately for Blaine, Kurt's prediction came true and the glee club director, Mr. Shuester, didn't keep Blaine in the back during performances throughout that week.
Rachel and Blaine were assigned a duet the day after his audition, and though it was just in the choir room with only the other members to witness it, Blaine fel Kurt's critical stare on him the entire time; the silent phrase "I told you so" hanging in the air between them.
Another person who seemed unhappy about Blaine's duet with Rachel was Rachel's boyfriend, Finn Hudson the quarterback. On more than one occasion, Blaine caught the taller boy giving him mild versions of Puck's death glare.
Blaine decided to just ignore Finn, as he didn't see any need for a confrontation. In Puck's case, however, he thought he'd put it all on the table before Puck decided to give him a physical warning about not stealing his reputation.
Detention bought Blaine the perfect opportunity to do that as he walked into the assigned classroom and saw the grim-faced guy with the Mohawk sitting in one of the middle desks. Coach Sylvester stood at the front of the room, instructing a red-headed kid to write "I will not smoke pot till I'm ninety-five" on the chalkboard.
The kid glanced up at the striking woman with a pained look on his face.
"Can I please stop, ma'am? My hand's cramping."
Coach Sylvester didn't even bat an eyelash. "You will write one hundred times, stoner Brett, old school style!" she practically yelled.
Blaine decided to skip introductions and merely wandered over to a desk behind Puckerman.
"Don't think I didn't see you sneak past me, hair gel," Coach Sylvester exclaimed as Blaine sat down and dug out his homework. "You get to doing something productive or I'm hauling your ass back to private school, you hear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Blaine responded instantly, letting a hint of surprise color his tone. He didn't expect the detention monitor to be so brazen.
He flipped through his history textbook for awhile before reaching over and tapping Puck on the shoulder.
The bigger boy's head snapped around and the glare he gave Blaine was pure black. "You have a death wish, punk?" Puckerman hissed. "Touch me again and I'll throw you out one of these windows."
Blaine swallowed when he saw the threat plain in Puck's eyes, even as cliché as it was, and replied in a leveled whisper, "I just need to borrow a pencil."
Puck remained unshaken. "Yeah, well, if I had one, I'd jam it in your eye, loser."
Before he could turn back around, Blaine asked, "Did I do something, dude? Or are you just into targeting people for no reason? Are you the typical bully?"
"Dude, no. You're the one coming here, thinking you can own this place or something just 'cause you went to some private school and smoked some weed."
Blaine didn't expect Puckerman to say so much, let alone explain his rage.
"Umm, you've got it all wrong," he began. "I'm not trying to steal your friends or anything, okay? I'm just trying to start over."
Puck leaned back in his seat, slowly taking in Blaine's sincere tone and calm expression, as if evaluating whether it was real or not. He'd come across some fakes in his day, especially in juvie; guys who pretended to make nice seconds before they jumped you. But Puck doubted Blaine was that type, given his size, though he had heard something about a "fight club" at this Dalton place. Nonetheless, Puck decided to give the junior a break since it was only the second week of class and he and Quinn weren't together anymore so he had no reason to get all caveman jealous anyway.
"Okay, man," Puck said, eying Blaine carefully. "But just so you know, I'm legendary in these halls. Nobody can top my bad-assery and live to talk about it!"
Blaine bit back a chuckle and held out his fist. "Gotcha."
Puck bumped his fist against Blaine's, then ducked his head as Coach Sylvester came to stand near their desks.
"Why, isn't this sweet?" the blond woman said in a patronizing voice. "We've got a little bromance going on." She peered down at Puck and Blaine with mocking blue eyes. "Why don't you two luckless ladies stop flirting and finish your homework?"
Blaine was heading home after his detention on Thursday when he heard a scuffling noise coming from a corner of the hall just opposite his locker.
Grabbing his history book and slipping it in his messenger bag, Blaine quietly wandered over to the stairs.
"Not so fast, lady.."Blaine paused when he heard a masculine voice saying lowly from very nearby. "Give me a chance to cop a feel."
He rolled his eyes, thinking he'd just walked into some students making out, but then another voice said, "Stop it, Karofsky!" Blaine rounded the corner, recognized the soprano voice immediately.
He rounded the corner and saw two boys standing under the staircase. Kurt Hummel was clutching a binder to his chest and looking at Blaine with wide eyes. Across from him, a burly boy in a football jacket was sneering.
"Who the hell are you?" the bigger boy demanded, turning his head to face Blaine.
Instead of answering, Blaine just stared at Kurt. "What's going on?" he asked, steadily.
Kurt stuttered, surprising Blaine even more. "N-nothing. I was just going home."
"Ooh I see," the heavyset jock said suddenly. "Kurt, you should've told you had a boyfriend."
Kurt wordlessly pulled his face into an emotionless mask and started walking away. The jock reached out and shoved him as he brushed past.
Blaine lunged for the jock, even though he was twice his size and thick as a pro wrestler.
"Get off him!" Blaine shouted before the jock shoved him back hard against the white concrete wall opposite the stairs.
"You idiot," the jock sneered in his face. "I can pound you into kibble with just one punch."
Blaine's glare didn't drop, however. He was itching to run after Kurt, see if he was alright.
"Kurt better get himself a sturdier boyfriend," the jock laughed before stepping away from Blaine and turning towards the back exit.
As soon as he was gone, Blaine took off running down the opposite end of the hall.
The bright sun almost blinded him as he descended the short steps in front of the double doors. His eyes scanned the parking lot for Kurt.
There were only a few cars left, mostly faculty, so he soon caught sight of the brown-haired boy in the canary yellow coat making his way over to a dark Navigator.
"Kurt, wait!"
Blaine saw Kurt opened the driver's side door and he quickened his pace, almost panting as he sprinted to reach him before he drove off.
"Kurt.." Blaine breathed, resting a hand against the side of the car as he peered over at the boy sitting in the front seat.
Kurt still held the door open but glanced back at him with a suspicious look on his face.
"What do you want?" he demanded, his voice filled with irritation and something else.. embarrassment, maybe.
Blaine cocked his head. "Are you okay? What was that guy doing?"
"Nothing," Kurt snapped, turning his gaze away and glaring out the windshield.
"Come on, Kurt," Blaine softened his tone, leaning over so he could try to catch Kurt's eye again. "That didn't look like nothing. You can tell me."
"You don't know anything."
"Hey," Blaine moved his hand to rest on the back of Kurt's seat. Kurt still refused to look at him as he said, "I was pushed around too at my old school. You can tell me."
He watched Kurt's jaw tighten and his lips press in a firm line. Kurt's eyes were so clear, Blaine thought they were almost transparent. He wondered why he was being so nice to this kid. But then, not even an annoying little snob like Kurt deserved to get bullied, Blaine decided.
"Do you.." he hesitated before asking, "Do you want to go somewhere?"
"Perhaps he doesn't feel safe here," Blaine mused to himself, seeing how Kurt bit down on his bottom lip hard.
He laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" the other boy exploded, jerking in his seat, acting as if he'd just noticed how close Blaine was to him.
"I'm sorry," Blaine backed away immediately. "I just want to help."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere with you. Why don't you just mind your own business?"
Kurt slammed the car door shut and pulled out of the parking space so fast, Blaine barely had time to get out of the way.