FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE. TRUST ME, I RANT FOR A REALLY LONG TIME. JUST WARNING YOU NOW.

Please don't hate meee! I'm soooooo sorry for not posting sooner, but I've been trying. Believe me. My grades are kinda... eh... so my mom says that I am now only allowed to type on weekends. NEVER during the week. So blame her! XD Actually, I can't be too mad at her. She finally read this story. And my other one. And actually liked them! I'm honestly surprised any of you like them as much as you seem to! It makes me happy! Soooooo happy! :)

Anyway, I'll try to make up for lost time as best I can. This chapter felt kind of blah to me, but I tend to be very self-deprecating, so I'll just let you wonderful readers judge FOR me. :) I have definite plans for the Superbowl scenes though, so don't you worry.

Was it just me, or did Dave seem just a little bit more like the fanfiction world Dave we know and love in that episode? All smiley, and actually kinda sweet at some points? Though I must say, at the end of that conversation with Finn and Dave I was biting my pillow, screaming into it "WE WERE SOOOOO CLOSE! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Aaaaaaand my mom looked at me like I was a nut. Which I am. So I don't blame her. :D

But there was no Dave in the Valentine's episode! I was personally outraged! I mean, how could they COMPLETELY ignore that giant chunk of a love triangle in the VALENTINE'S DAY episode? *sigh* I can only hope that since there was a lot of Dave in the Superbowl episode and hardly any Kurt and then a whole lotta Kurt in the Valentine's day episode and NO Dave, that they will finally combine the two in the 'Comeback' episode. Which I am now disappointed about because I was hoping that 'comeback' meant Kurt was coming back. But that doesn't seem to be the case so far... *sniffle* But! You never know! :)

Ok. I'll stop talking now. Sorry. It's fun to rant when no one can interrupt you! Go ahead and feel free to rant in the reviews box if you want. Really. I'd love to hear it! XD

On to the story!

Bruce Springsteen and the 10:00 am Slushie

Well, I was back at McKinley.

Don't ask me how. The time that passed from the meeting with Kurt and his dad and now had been a complete blur to me. All I know is that one minute I'm at home wallowing in self-pity, keeping my U2 playlist on constant repeat and then the next thing I know, I'm being stuffed into a suit and tie and dragged to some meeting with the school board. Against my will. Seriously. I could probably charge my father with kidnapping or something. The only thing I remember clearly from these last weeks was arguing with him, telling him that I didn't want to go. That I really didn't want to go. That I really, really, really didn't want to go. But he didn't listen. Of course.

Not that I wouldn't be thrilled with seeing Kurt again, but I had done some heavy thinking after that meeting. I honestly didn't think there was anything I could do to rehabilitate my image in his eyes. And I didn't think my heart could take that look on his face when he passed me in the hall. It was already burned into my brain forever. I didn't need to see it up-close and and in person every single day.

So my dad threw around words like 'good kid' and 'just a phase' while the board threw around more words like 'no witnesses' and gave me a stupid, empty little warning not to do it again. Yeah. I kinda figured that out for myself, thanks.

And then I was back. Nothing had changed. The Gleeks were still losers and we still Slushied them at every chance we got. (I felt kinda bad about the Holiday Slushie, only because who knows what kind of crap is in slush from the parking lot. Yeesh.) The football team welcomed me back with open arms—minus the Glee boys, of course. Everything was exactly the same as it was before any of this started happening. With one exception.

Kurt was gone. And it was all my fault.

I had looked everywhere for him when I got back. He wasn't in any of my classes and I didn't see him in the hallways. But then I overheard the Glee guys in the locker room talking about it. They had said that Kurt had transferred to Dalton Academy.

So I went home and Googled it and found a home page for the school. Every guy in the pictures wore the same uniform and I felt a sharp pain in my chest when I realized that it was the school that pretty-boy Blaine went to. The pain gradually dulled into a heavy, somehow hollow ache in my stomach.

Fine. Great.

Kurt should be happy now. He was at a better school with better people and his… boyfriend.

And me? I decided to forget anything had ever happened. Simple enough. I tried to convince myself that with Kurt out of the school, my stupid little… whatever the hell it was, would leave with him. I tried to convince myself that I never had a crush on a guy, and certainly not on Hummel. I knew I was lying—badly—to myself, but I figured it would be enough to last me until I got out of this stupid town. With him gone, I would forget about Kurt Hummel.

I should have figured that would be easier said than done.

Not long after my return, I was getting ready to leave football practice. I had completely reverted back to numbness and was perfectly happy following the leader again. I tried not to do anything I didn't have to and didn't really talk unless I was expected to.

Puckerman stood on one of the benches when I was closing up my locker. He tried to get our attention. "Hey, listen up!" Azimio immediately grinned and shot back, "You gonna light your farts on fire again? Because I am a major fan!" Oh, God. I didn't realize until just now how dumb my 'friends' were. But they were still popular. It didn't quite make sense anymore, but being in the group, I didn't question it and I didn't complain.

Puck ignored him. "I wanna talk to you guys. About Bruce Springsteen." Bruce Springsteen, dude? Yeah. I was so not in the mood for this. "Is this going somewhere?"

His temper immediately flared up and he pointed right at me. "Don't push me Karofsky!" I looked over to Azimio to see how he was reacting to this when Puck continued. "You forced my boy Kurt outta here, and juvie or no you're already number one on my list to go all Death Star on!" I looked back at him at Kurt's name and felt a sharp jab in my lower abdomen before I caught myself.

You didn't have a crush on Hummel. It's best that he's gone. You're better off. He's better off. You didn't have a crush on Hummel…

So why did I feel like this? I didn't have time to process it before I saw Azimio looking at me funny. So I put my game face back on. It was hard.

Not only did I feel bad now that Kurt wasn't here in general, but it seemed he had gotten close enough even with the (ex?) resident badass of McKinley for said badass to call him 'his boy'. It was almost like they were… bros. Or whatever. That was… cool. I guess. If I repelled all thoughts of how much I wished he was my boy…

You didn't have a crush on Hummel. You didn't have a crush on Hummel. You didn't have a crush on Hummel...

Puck went back to his speech. I broke out of my repetitive mantra and tried to act amused during it, seriously wondering now where this was going. "Anyways… So Bruce is destined to go blue-collar his whole life. But instead he goes and buys an old Strat from a pawnshop and just starts wailing on it. He starts putting all the pain and the promises and the dreams into that music. And the next thing he knows he's on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week."

During his speech, I found myself glancing over at Azimio more than once. Apparently I cared about these guys' opinions more than I thought. It was like I needed their approval before I approved anything.

Puck obviously thought we were complete idiots, because he felt the need to clarify. "Those are magazines." Uh, duh? Azimio was quickly losing patience. "Not to seem redundant, but is this going somewhere?" Finally, finally Puck got to his point. "Glee club, dudes! It's time to join up!"

He… should have kept quiet.

You could feel the tone of the room change immediately. Once again, Azimio spoke up first. "Sign up for Glee club? Why don't you come to my church on Sunday, and get some of my cousins to sign up for the Klan?" I was with him on this one. I mean, really, Puck?

He obviously wasn't getting it. "Glee club is cool!" Wow. Lame, dude. He sounded like a five-year-old. But he was stubborn. I knew I had to cut this off. Now. "Glee club is most definitely not cool."

I had just barely begun to accept the fact that I was gay. Even if I wanted to, the last thing I needed at this point in my high school life was to be associated with Glee club: the bottom of the social pyramid. The losers.

And yes, while I was denying that I had had a crush on Hummel—Oh, please! You love him and you know it! —I just couldn't go back to the way I was before. It was physically not possible. Not knowing what I knew. I was gay, and I knew it and I was dealing with it. I was dealing with it at my own pace. A slow pace, but my own nonetheless.

So there was no way I was going to let anyone else in on it. Not yet.

Azimio's voice broke me out of my musings. "Clearly we need to reinstate the 10:00 am Slushie."

My frustration with life in general finally bubbled over. Eh. Why not? I really didn't care anymore. I'd Slushie 'em all. Kurt Hummel didn't control my life, whether he was here or not. I was Dave freaking Karofsky! If I could Slushie dorks in Glee club while he was here to witness it, I could sure as hell do it when he didn't know about it.

Unfortunately for Puck, he was on my bad side today—not that I ever seemed to have a good side anymore, actually. I looked straight at him. "I say we make an example of him." I heard Azimio crack his knuckles menacingly, his eyes never leaving Puck. "I say you're right."

And right on cue, an angry mob of football players attacked poor, scrawny Puckerman. I could hear distinct yells of "Get him! Get him!" Puck screamed, "Whoa! Not the face, not the face!" It was like a freaking battle in there.

Ok, honestly? I had nothing to do with the whole port-a-potty thing. I really didn't. I figured we would just pound on him a bit and be done with it. Seemed the guys decided to take it farther. But I really didn't know.

Oh well. Didn't matter. Because there was no way, and I mean not-even-if-you-made-me-king-of-the-freaking-world was I ever, ever going to join Glee club. And if this was the only way to get it through his thick skull, then so be it. Sorry, Puckerman. No. Freaking. Way.

…

Er… I thought.