Author's Note: Yikes! I took out a chapter because it was giving me serious writer's block. In addition, I had a lot of trouble with stats. It wasn't until yesterday or so that I could even see any hits, so it was like no one looked at it. Thank goodness for my two reviewers and the people who added story alerts, or I would have assumed nobody was reading it at all! ;_;
Listen to this! www. youtube .com /watch?v=5cuXasbjhT8
"One Vision"
Several blissful weeks had past at McKinley for Kurt and Blaine. They sometimes required quick getaways, but so far, Kurt was feeling great about life. His time at Dalton was beginning to seem like a dream, as if he and Blaine had always been living like this.
His Pavarotti dream seemed even more distant to him. At least, until one bland morning when Figgins made a PA announcement during homeroom.
God works in mysterious ways, mysterious ways
"Attention! Students we have some information regarding the official rules for Prom committee."
Kurt's heart began pounding hard in his chest. He felt foolish. Just because he had dreamed something didn't mean that it would come true. Of course there would be a prom this year.
"Due to increased budget cuts, we will be having one schoolwide Prom this year. That means students in all years can attend and participate in Court."
Gasps through the room. Kurt saw Quinn slap herself. No sophomore class was usually allowed at Prom, much less eligible for Court.
"There will be two positions this year. Prom King and Prom Queen. Any student is eligible for these positions. The results will be decided by popular vote at the Prom itself."
Prom King, thought Kurt. Prom. King.
The rest of the day passed in a haze. Blaine didn't even ask him what was wrong as he sat staring blankly into his salad at lunch. And glee club was even worse.
"Okay, clearly you are all too distracted to focus on what I was going to teach, so let's talk about it. Who is interested in participating in Prom Court?" It didn't take Mr. Schuester long to give up on them.
"Finn is in," Santana said. But Finn was less sure.
"Uh, yeah, it would be cool. If someone voted for me. But I'm not really in a competitive move these days."
She rolled her eyes as hard as she could. Rachel was glaring so hard she was leaning out of her seat. It must really suck to be Finn sometimes, Kurt thought.
"We're in!" Sam jumped to his feet and Quinn soon followed, clapping and jumping up and down. "My Star Trek alter ego is Captain Kirk. He was the youngest starship captain in history, and according to his autobiography, also Prom King."
"O…kay. Anyone else?"
"I was Queen of a family of garden gnomes once. But they impeached me when I couldn't protect them from the lawnmower's sharp blades." Brittany's voice became soft. "I don't deserve that responsibility ever again."
"Tina and I are cool. We've got Asian prom coming up soon."
"It's not a prom if your entire family dresses you… and attends!" Tina hissed at Mike.
"Really, no one else?"
Kurt's blood pounded in his ears. Or was more like the chirping of a Fairy GodCanary from another time? He stood. "Mr. Schuester, I would like to be nominated for Prom King."
Silence.
It was Mercedes who spoke first, of course. "Kurt, absolutely. That would be amazing!"
Rachel was on her feet too. "We could do a whole campaign. I'm going to ask my dads to sponsor you!"
Blaine clapped him on the back. "I'm in too, naturally."
"So much enthusiasm! How about we work this into our week's assignment?" Will wrote the words "King" and "Queen" in large letters on the whiteboard. "At the end of the week, we'll hold an assembly for the entire school. Glee members which are looking to showcase their talents can display them for the entire voting pool."
"I'll get started on our song selection immediately," Rachel said, pulling out a star-shaped notepad.
"Is nobody going to support us?" Sam whined.
"I'll vote for Quinn, she's banging hot and I would know."
Mr. Schuester sighed deeply. "Thanks for making discussion time awkward once again, Puck."
The next day, during lunch, Rachel sat with Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes.
"Well, are there plans? I have plans!"
"As do I," Kurt said. "But why exactly are you so interested? You have an ulterior motive don't you?"
Her enthusiasm wilted slightly. "Only a little bit. I thought that Finn might appreciate my generosity to you and I could get some alone time with him if he wanted to help with the campaign."
"Ah. The truth revealed." Kurt smirked at her. "But I think I'll need all the help I can get. It'll be a miracle to pull this off."
He noticed Blaine was just idly staring at his food.
"I don't want y'all to get sassy with me again, but Blaine I WILL eat those tots if you won't," Mercedes warned. "Why are you spacing out over there?"
"Er, sorry. I'm just sort of in shock. Kurt and I had this grand plan to come back here and survive. Really show the ignorant people here that we are just normal guys that deserve to be treated with respect, you know? And it's sort of working. I've met so many people here. We are being ourselves and not being pushed around anymore."
He stabbed at tot absently. "If Kurt becomes Prom King, it will be like… a revolution. Like we really will have changed the way people think." Then Blaine looked into Kurt's eyes and smiled. Kurt began to dissolve in a puddle of warm feelings. "And we can do it. Together."
One man, one goal
"One mission," Mercedes sang tentatively.
"One heart, one soul, just one solution," Rachel countered slowly. Faces turned to them.
They looked to Kurt. He thought of Pavarotti.
And then he launched his campaign.
One flash of light yeah, one God, one vision
"Ladies and Gentleman, I am Kurt Hummel and I am running for Prom King!" Kurt scrambled on top of the table and Blaine pulled out his guitar.
One flesh, one bone
One true religion
One voice, one hope
One real decision
Gimme one vision
Ten rooms away, in the faculty lunch room, Will Schuester was also drumming up support.
"It's great, Will," Emma agreed. "But make sure they aren't focusing too much on the winning aspect. All the kids should feel like winners no matter what happens."
"Ha!" Sue barked. "A glee kid getting nominated for Prom King or Queen!" She paused. "I actually do not have a witty retort to back that up. It's so ludicrous on its own that I can't embellish it."
"I dunno, Will," Shannon said. "Your kids are so used to being put down. Won't they be crushed if they don't make it?"
"Be positive. Imagine if they do. How great that would be for Kurt or Sam or Quinn if the whole school acknowledges their talent."
"Porcelain is campaigning? For King or Queen?"
"I'm sure it's funny to you, Sue. But think of what it will mean to him if he gets it. This prom could be revolutionary."
Then Will sang to Shannon.
No wrong, no right
I'm gonna tell you there's no black and no white
No blood, no stain
All we need is one worldwide vision
The other teachers started to leave the room but at least Shannon seemed delighted. Emma lingered for a long time, pretending to make more coffee, but eventually ran of excuses to linger.
"You've got real talent, Will," Shannon said shyly. "It really would be great if any of your kids pull it off. I'll make sure to encourage them when I see them next."
One flesh, one bone
One true religion
One race, one hope
One real decision
Back in the cafeteria, the mood was mostly shocked. But more of the students remembered Kurt from his BullyCam escapades then he realized as familiar faces began to stand and cheer. Mercedes pulled out the party favor bag they had prepared the night before. She began to pass out designer makeup samples. Rachel flung candy (sugar-free) and Kurt tossed out temporary tattoos of his own face. The students grabbed at the items in a frenzy, not caring what they were except that they were FREE.
I had a dream
When I was young
A dream of sweet illusion
A glimpse of hope and unity
Kurt had a dream a few months ago. He never thought he'd be able to face bullies, or stand on a table and deliver a solo to a gaping crowd. But he was going to make his dream a reality. If he had made it this far.
And visions of one sweet union
But a cold wind blows
And a dark rain falls
And in my heart it shows
Look what they've done to my dream, yeah
He had never told Blaine about the dream. Well, how could he without revealing his tender feelings toward his best friend? He glanced over at Blaine's irresistable singing face, watching him play the guitar with so much energy. Maybe that day would come soon...
One vision
So give me your hands
Give me your hearts
I'm ready
Kurt marched up and down between the cafeteria tables, singing with determination as he threw plastic packets to a sea of hands. Prom King was going to happen. And along the way, he'd just have to gather the courage to tell Blaine how he felt. He slid back to their table and faced Blaine. The boy winked back, and maybe, just maybe, gave Kurt's saucy dancing an appreciative once over.
There's only one direction
One world and one nation
Yeah one vision
Out in the corridor, Karofsky watched. A temporary tattoo of Kurt's face skidded across the floor and hit his shoe.
No hate, no fight
Just excitation
All through the night
It's a celebration
Hey one vision one vision one vision one vision
Nobody was paying attention to him, so nobody could say for sure what the look on his face meant. Only that he was staring very intently at the way Kurt Hummel was sashaying in front of Blaine whatshisname. And clenching his fists really tightly.
One flesh, one bone
One true religion
One voice, one hope
One real decision
Kurt wasn't the only one making decisions that day.
As the final bell of the day rang, Rachel walked slowly down the hallway. She softly sang to herself: "Gimme one light… gimme one hope…"
"Hey, Finn!" she said brightly as she caught up to him.
Just gimme
"Rachel." He wouldn't look at her when he said her name. Even though it had been months.
One man, one man
"So, are you going to help us with the Kurt is King campaign?"
"What? You're really helping Kurt?"
"Of course I am. He's such an important member of our team and he's also… family to you, so that's important to me, of course."
Finn squinted down on her. "I think that sentence was like, a palindrome or something."
One bar, one night
"Uh, anyways, we're brainstorming ideas to help him at Mercedes' house tonight. If you want to come. There's, uh, we're going to be, there's going to be-"
One day hey hey
Don't say something stupid, Rachel thought. Be cool, just for once!
Just gimme gimme gimme gimme
"- fried chicken!" Then she bounded away before she could scream or cry in front of him.
"Hey, thanks! I'll be there!" he shouted from down the hall, and Rachel felt her nervous butterflies slip away.
God works in mysterious ways
Next: (Death on Two Legs) The conflict between Karofsky and Kurt goes too far, forcing Blaine to get his hands dirty.