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"You dropped this."

Damian fought the urge to roll his eyes at the comment. It was four weeks into his time here, the beginning of November. His friendships were growing, especially between him, Cameron, and Hannah. The Pearce household was becoming less intimidating for him, even if he was still the tiniest bit uncomfortable there. He'd even caught up in most of his classes. Things definitely seemed to be improving.

The one thing that hadn't changed for the better was the bullying. He had been sure they'd become tired of it and he'd be old news within his first couple days here. Wishful thinking. Nope, they seemed to find it just as amusing as ever. Did they not have hobbies or something?

Just a minute ago, he'd stopped at his locker to pick up some books. The moment he'd closed it, something – three guesses what – rammed into his back, and the books went tumbling to the floor. Wasn't the first time (not even close). What surprised him was when, as he kneeled down to get them, a hand reached over to him, holding one already. Looking up, he saw that a boy – it was a boy, right? From the voice he'd expected a girl – had kneeled down beside him. The boy smiled at him kindly, and, after the shock passed, Damian took the book from him.

"Thanks."

"No problem." The boy shrugged, as if to say it was nothing. Then he reached out a hand to him once more, pulling the Irish boy to his feet. Damian quickly stashed the books into his bag. He didn't want a repeat - the jocks always seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Don't mind them. They're all just a bunch of Neanderthals. You know, the type who'll be working for you in a couple years."

The Irish boy laughed at this, smiling. It was definitely a nice way of looking at things.

"My name's Kurt, I'm a senior."

"Damian, sophomore."

"Well, Damian, how are you finding our fine, fine school here in Ohio?"

"Well, it's definitely more interesting than my last, but I guess it isn't all bad."

"Well, if you say so. I mean - that's the spirit!" Damian chuckled at the other boy's sarcastic tone. They began walking down the hall at a leisurely pace. They still had 5 minutes 'til next period, and his class was pretty close by. Besides, something about talking to Kurt managed to cheer him up.

"So, exactly how bad do you have it here?"

"Well, not too bad. Just the occasional tripping, shoving, calling me freak."

"Yup, sounds about right. Both the football and hockey teams make a hobby of knocking down those who stand out. They especially enjoy new blood. Just think of it as never-ending hazing. Still, with someone like you, they might just tire down in another week or two."

"Well, that's reassuring."

The boy laughed. "I mean it, though. With you, the novelty might just wear off. Then there're people like me. Let's just say –"

"Hey, lady!"

The two of them looked up just in time to be hit in the face by something both freezing and painful. Thankfully, Damian instinctively closed his eyes, but it still hurt like hell, and the mocking laughter didn't help any. He stood there in utter shock until a hand grabbed him by the wrist and began to drag him somewhere.

"Come on, we'd better wash it off fast. Just keep your eyes closed for now. That way the stinging won't be too bad."

A minute later, they were standing in the boy's bathroom – thankfully, Kurt had stopped just short of entering the girl's – the other boy helping to clean the Irish boy off with a towel he'd gotten out from his bag. Damian's face still felt numb from the cold, but the pain was wearing down. He shook his hair, which was wet from Kurt washing the slushy out of it in one of the (thankfully large) sinks. Finally it felt safe enough for him to open his eyes.

"What in the name of God was that?"

"A slushy."

"…Is that usually how slushy's are used around here?"

"Around here, yeah."

Damian stared at the boy blankly. Kurt gave a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry, it was meant for me, not you. You just got stuck in the crossfire."

"But why would they slushy you?"

"Why do you think?"

Damian didn't know how to respond to that.

Kurt shook his head. "Sorry. Basically, even if I wasn't 'the way that I am', I'm also in the Glee Club. Just about the closest thing to social suicide at a school like this."

"Glee Club?"

"Yeah, you know: singing, dancing, show tunes. That kinda stuff."

"I didn't know there was a Glee Club here…"

"You sound interested."

Damn it, not again. Okay, change of subject.

"But what does Glee Club have to do with slushy's?"

"The Glee Club is basically considered the bottom of the heap around here. Everyone in it are called losers, even those who were popular before joining. The jocks have made a sort of game out of giving each member a slushy facial at least once a week."

"Seriously? They can do that?"

"In a school like this, there's nothing to stop them. None of the teachers care enough to stop it, not even the principal."

"Wow…"

"You never did answer me."

"What?"

"Are you interested?" Kurt gave him a look that told him the boy already knew the answer.

"W-well, I mean, I don't really – but I like music, so…" Damn him and his stuttering. He never had this problem back in Ireland. "Either way, how're you gonna sell the idea after all that?"

Kurt laughed. "The extra bullying is a definite turn off, I'll admit to that, but when you love it like we do, you love it, you know? Music is life for some people." While saying all this, Kurt was inspecting his expression, and Damian was finding it unexpectedly difficult to hide his interest. Because he was interested. Very. But still…

" I dunno…"

"Alright, how about this: we've got practice after school tomorrow. Come with me,"

Damian looked skeptical.

"I'm not saying you have to join, just come and check it out. You can sit and listen. I promise it'll be worth it."

Kurt was looking at him expectantly, and in the end he cracked.

"Yay!" Kurt clapped his ands together, obviously excited. Damian smiled at that. There was something really likable about the boy. Then something hit him.

"Oh, damn it!"

"What?"

"Class!" They'd been so busy washing off the slushy, they hadn't even noticed the bell.

"Oh! I have free period."

"…"

"Oh… Right… That doesn't help you much, does it?"

Damian gave him a look, and he shrugged apologetically.

"Well, you can get away with ditching once, can't you?"

"Don't really have a choice now, do I?"

"That's the spirit! Sooo… Wanna ditch together?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes!"

Kurt went on to drag him around the school, visiting his favorite spots. It was nice and quiet – most people didn't have fourth free, and those who did were off to an early lunch. Besides, he had to admit: running through the halls, being dragged around by the enthusiastic & amusingly sarcastic Kurt made school seem almost, well… fun. And – although he refused to admit it – the more the boy talked about the club, the more interested Damian became in it.


"Hey, Cam?"

Cameron gave a little start. They were all sitting around the lunch table, everyone absorbed in their own conversations. Cameron had been spacing, and the last thing he had expected was to be snapped out of it by his usually quiet friend. The other boy mostly just observed at times like these, never taking the initiative to start a conversation of his own. It was one of the many things he'd learned from observing the boy.

"Yeah, what's up, Damo?"

"What do you know about the Glee Club here?"

Well, that wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"…Glee Club?"

"Yeah. I talked to a boy earlier today who mentioned it."

"Well… I don't know that much, just that the kids in there are tortured pretty mercilessly. But they're good. Every year, early on, they put on a performance for the school. They all seem really talented."

"Did you… I mean… Have you ever considered joining?"

"Truthfully? I considered it early on this year. I'm a big fan of music. It sounded kinda perfect, you know? But then I saw how bad they had it. Those slushy's look painful."

Damian nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.

"So, yeah, call me a wimp, but I decided just to stay invisible." Cameron scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Truth is, he had really wanted to join. Deep down, he still did.

"Why do you ask? You thinking of joining?"

"W-well…" damn stutter, "I was gonna go check it out tomorrow after school. You wanna come?"

Cameron smiled. "Sounds like a plan."


I'm reeeeally sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I've been REALLY stressed out with my first semester of college. Anyway, I've been in a bit of a slump with this story, but I'm pretty far in already and rereading earlier chapters has really helped.

I loved bringing Kurt in. I love him so much. 3 But I'm not quite sure how important I'll make him. After all, the main focus so far has been on the Glee Project contenders. But I love the idea of a Kurt/Damian friendship. How important do YOU think I should make him?

Sorry if Damian seems a bit off. He's supposed to, I guess, but I keep on worrying that I'm not writing him well enough. Not doing him justice, you know?

Well, until next time! 3

Hugs and Cookies for REVIEWS. XD