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Mrs. Huntington was waiting for them outside the school. Before they made it up to the door to greet her, Kurt stopped by the newly installed dumpster to have a look at it. It's seemed secure and like no one would be taking any dives into it. Sam moved closer and took his hand and they walked up to the building. Burt and Carole were already speaking with her when they walked up the steps.
"So, we're going to head into the gymnasium ahead of time and sit in the top row of bleachers, hopefully away from most of the students. Mr. and Mrs. Karofsky are already inside. We'll sit at the other end of the bleachers from them. The parents of the entire football team, hockey team, baseball team, basketball team, Glee Club, and AV Club have been summoned as well. The school cannot force them to attend, but the letter was quite firm about them attending. They have been seated along the top rows of the other side of the gymnasium. They met outside the gym doors about 10 minutes ago. Coach Beiste showed them to their seats."
Kurt was surprised. "This better be good or it's going to make things worse."
"Let's get inside," Mrs. Huntington said, as she led the way to where they were going to sit.
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They sat down and waited for the students to arrive for the assembly to begin. Once the students were all seated, Kurt looked at the adults sitting on the platform – Miss Pillsbury, Coach Sue, Coach Beiste and a couple of teachers. The first thing that Kurt noticed was that Principal Figgins was nowhere to be seen.
Miss Pillsbury approached the microphone. The students didn't quiet down. She stood there. Coach Beiste blew her whistle. That got people's attention and everyone quieted down.
"Today's assembly is about our school and the changes that will be taking place over the course of the next few weeks and next school year. First and foremost, as many of you may have noticed, Principal Figgins is no longer a member of this school's staff. Coach Beiste has replaced him as our new school principal. You may call her Coach Beiste or Principal Beiste from now on. She will be speaking a little later this morning. Our first presenter this morning, will be Coach Sylvester who will be discussing academic integrity and what that means for the end of this school year and in the future." Miss Pillsbury sat down.
Coach Sue stood at the mic. "Thank you, Miss Pillsbury." A PowerPoint presentation loaded on the screen behind the stage and the lights in the gym were dimmed. "Over the course of the last several years, many of our students have found using the internet to be helpful with completing their homework. And while using the internet to learn new information is admirable, copying and pasting information directly from websites into school assignments does not count as doing the assignment. This form of cheating is rather new and was not expected by many of our staff and they only realized what was going on when several students plagiarized the same answers from the same websites. This type of academic fraud will no longer be accepted at McKinley High School. Starting in the fall, the school will be participating in BlackBoard, which is an online program. Students will submit their papers into the appropriate dropbox for their course. Their assignments will be run through a program that detects plagiarism from the internet and a very comprehensive list of print books and other printed material. We are aware that not all students in this district have access to personal computers at home, but that issue has been dealt with and will be discussed a bit later in this presentation.
"A few weeks ago, I ran a journalistic experiment of sorts. I restarted a school newspaper. A few interested students wrote articles and submitted them to a student editor, who approved them and the newspaper was printed. Unfortunately, it turned out that the newspaper had zero journalistic integrity and was nothing more than a gossip rag. The students who turned in articles did not fact-check their stories and the students in charge of editing the information did not fact-check the information either.
"What I learned from this is that the students at this school do not know how to properly research topics. They do not know how to separate out facts from gossip. They do not know how to tell the difference between satire and truth. I'm not even sure that they can distinguish between fact and fiction. What the students at this school need to know is that the information printed in The Muckraker was pure gossip. And gossip means, maybe it has some truth to it, but not much. Something else that needs to be understood from this experience is that photos tell stories, but the stories they tell can be made up and those stories can be false just as easily as they can be true.
"Assuming that someone can determine the true story behind a single photo is just ludicrous. I know that all of you have seen absolutely crazy pictures that you know are faked, but the instant you see people you know in a photo, somehow you're convinced that you have the intelligence to know exactly what happened in the photo." She flashed through several images on the screen. "This is when I met Abraham Lincoln. That's me with Ronald Reagan in 1981. This is me at Bill Clinton's inauguration. It's me being blessed by the Pope in Rome. Oh, and this one is my favorite. It's me being knighted by Queen Elizabeth."
Some of the students were laughing.
"Good. I see that some of you have figured out that I got one of our AV kids to Photoshop some images of me. And they did a bang up job. None of those photos are real. You, as young adults, must learn to research and learn to tell when you're being manipulated by the media or just flat out being told lies that look like truth. One day soon, all of you in this room will be adults who need to have these skills. No one likes to be played. But you all are letting it happen to you all the time.
"I expect anyone who has been treating a fellow student differently because of the articles in The Muckraker to examine your ability to know the difference between the truth and gossip. Did you approach the person who was the topic of an article and ask the person if it was true? Did you just assume that it was true because it was printed on a piece of paper? I think a lot of you in this room owe other people in this room apologies.
"Gossip tears a school apart. Blind hatred towards people because someone is somehow different than you tears communities apart. Cliques are tearing our school apart. Being a football player does not make you a better person than being a member of the Chess Club. Being a hockey player does not make you a better person than being a member of the Glee Club. For all the hatred that these supposedly 'lower on the food chain' groups receive, I bet not a single one of you football players would enjoy spending the rest of your lives with no music, no movies, and no televised sporting events.
"Everyone enjoys entertainment, even football players. If our football players bully every person that makes music and sings or who runs AV equipment and programs computers – and the rest of the football players across the country do the same, who will sing at the halftime shows? Whose CDs will you buy or whose songs will you download or watch on YouTube? Think about that. Everyone one of your big music idols probably started out as a Glee Club member somewhere. You all seem to love Beyoncé. What if the football team at her school had slushied her enough times that she gave up singing? Think about these things. With no geeks, there are no people to create movies with all of those special effects you love so much.
"Schools are a mandatory part of childhood. Adults have decided that a civilized society is comprised of well-educated members. This school is changing course and its time to buckle up for the ride. New policies will be implemented, beginning as soon as this assembly ends. Coach Beiste will be discussing those changes."
Coach Beiste moved to the podium. "Most of you know me as the coach of the football team. When I arrived here at the beginning of this school year, I found out that members of my team had serious attitude problems. I cut every member and held tryouts. I filled the positions with the best players available to me. I worked on their elitist attitudes, but it hasn't been enough. Members of my team continue to target other students in this school. Physical bullying is happening on a daily basis in this school and the two main groups responsible for this are the football team and the hockey team.
"Effective immediately, any member of a sports team who physically assaults another student will be put on probation with their sporting team for the upcoming school year. You will receive handouts that list the actions that will cause disciplinary action."
Distinctive low level booing could be heard.
"ENOUGH! This school will be implementing a No Bullying policy that will be sent home to all students who attend this school. The form must be returned to the school by Wednesday of this week. Both the student and the student's guardian MUST sign the form. If we do not receive your form on Wednesday, your parents will receive an in-home visit from a representative of the school district to obtain their signatures on the form.
"No student will be allow to participate in any extra-curricular or after-school activities without a signed form on file. And for those of you sports players who find this to be absurd, I can guarantee that if you get offered a scholarship to continue playing your sport for a college, you will be signing similar forms agreeing to the team's ethics and behavior code, violations of which will terminate your scholarship and eligibility to play. And we all know how many people get drafted that haven't played in college, so those of you who were booing can think about that.
"The dumpsters have been replaced. They can no longer be accessed by students. Any student needing to throw trash away will need to do so inside the school building in one of the trash bins. As you can see behind me, a wide variety of new policies are being implemented. One notable one is that the slushies and other drinks will no longer be allowed to leave the cafeteria area. And as you can also see, using a liquid as a projectile, meaning throwing it at someone, is now automatic 3-day detention. A second offense will receive an in-school suspension. If the disciplinary action is not enough to stop the behavior, the school will begin to serve only water and white milk in the cafeteria. All of the slushie machines and the other liquids will no longer be available for purchase or allowed to be brought into the school without medical documentation.
A lot of booing started.
"LISTEN UP! School funds are being wasted on cleaning products and staff hours to clean up the messes you all are creating. Wouldn't you rather see that money go into improving the school in some way? Even if that doesn't matter to you, it matters to the taxpayers in this school district. Every textbook that has been destroyed at the hands of one of you slushie-throwers has cost the student who was assaulted a lot of money. Those books aren't free. And the students whose parents cannot afford their books, that falls on the district cover due to federal laws about educating every student in our district. Destroying school property is a crime. And the criminal behavior will no longer be tolerated.
"This school will become a safe zone. It will be a place where the students in this community can come and learn and not be afraid. If your parents are not in agreement with our new behavior policies, they are free to make an appointment with me and come in and discuss their issues with the policies.
"Students will move to and from classes in our hallways freely with no risk to their personal possessions or safety. And to this end, our hallway monitoring guidelines have changed. All students must have a signed pass to be in the hallways during class time. That means you'll need a pass to go to the restroom, the nurse, the library, or to the guidance counseling office. If you are found in the hallway during class without a pass, a teacher will escort you to my office directly. Every major hallway intersection will be staffed by a teacher during classes. And during passing periods, all teachers will be standing outside their doors observing student behavior. Teachers will also be stationed outside the restrooms during passing periods. There will be no more swirlies or ruined notes or homework in the restrooms.
"It sounds like a prison," a student shouted.
"Well, when students can't be trusted to allow their fellow students to walk down the halls without being injured, rules have to be implemented. The students who have been on the receiving end of your bullying will welcome these new guidelines. Those of you who have been perpetrating these crimes are the ones who have brought these stricter rules upon yourselves.
"You suck!"
"Verbal bullying will not be tolerated. Students will be expected to speak to each other civilly and those who will not comply will find themselves writing essays in detention each afternoon instead of attending their afterschool activities. Schools with the level of disrespect and bullying that our school currently has have been seen to have student deaths within a few years time – fatal stabbings, beatings, bludgeonings. Is that what we want for our school? I say 'no'. It's time to turn the course of the school in a better direction. We will be a school with a reputation for hard work, discipline, and integrity."
Quite a few students were clapping.
"Miss Pillsbury will speak to the academic changes that will be taking place." Coach Beiste returned to her seat.
Miss Pillsbury began, "The school will be changing from its current 6 course a day format to a block format. If you look behind me, you can see how this will work. We will offer 8 courses per semester with a M/W/F, T/R/F alternating pattern. This will take everyone a little time to get used to, but it has worked well in the districts that have implemented it. It has the same amount of contact time per subject, or close to it, but the classes will be in longer blocks. Each class will be attended five times in a 10-day period. The 8 classes will allow some clubs, such as Jazz Band and Glee Club to become actual courses for credit like most high schools in this area. For most students, they will continue to take 6 classes per semester and they will take two study halls – so they will have a study hall each day of the week.
"Earlier, Blackboard was mentioned. During study halls, students will have access to the school's computer system and will be able to upload their written assignments to the appropriate dropbox in the Blackboard system. All students will receive training on how to use the dropboxes and the Blackboard system at the beginning of the fall semester.
"The additional two periods may be filled with courses for those students interested in taking more courses. This will allow more students to be able to take classes such as art, music, cooking and other courses that are not part of the required courses to graduate. The addition of a study hall each day will give struggling students time to receive tutoring during school hours and it will also allow students who participate on sports teams or who have afterschool jobs time to work on their homework each day during school. Any sports team member not performing at required levels academically will be receiving mandatory tutoring to bring their grades up to suitable levels.
"All of the information will be sent home with students for them to share with their guardians. If your guardians have any questions, contact information is on the information sheets. Returning students will start their fall registration within the next two weeks. As you've already seen, staff changes have already started, but there will be more staffing changes in the fall. Some of our teachers will be retiring, others will be moving on to pursue more education themselves before returning to teach. Any staffing changes besides Principal Beiste's new position will not be made known until a couple of weeks before school starts due to contracts and scheduling issues, so please do not start asking the teachers whether they will be back in the fall. The positions have not yet been settled because we need to see course selection data as well. If twice as many students want to take Spanish as want to take French, it would not make sense to have twice as many French teachers as Spanish teachers on staff.
"In conclusion, bullying will no longer be tolerated. Our school will be a place where students come together to form a learning community. We will strive to become a school known for our hard work, discipline, and integrity. Remember that the forms need to be returned to the school by Wednesday. They will be distributed to you when you return to your classes. Everyone is dismissed with the exception of those of you who were notified in advance."
Once the students who are allowed to leave were gone, the jocks and their parents along with the parents of the Gleeks and other bullied kids were ushered to the bottom of the bleachers by Coach Beiste. The jocks all sat in a group together, away from the parents, who all sat mixed together.
Miss Pillsbury spoke. "We specifically requested for you to be here today because your children are either among the group of known bullies or the known targets of the bullies. I'd like for the parents to stand up and introduce themselves to each other. We'll start on this end."
Each parent stood and stated their name and named their child.
"We brought you in today in an effort to figure out how to stop the bullying. Much of the bullying is due to the jocks believing that being 'different' is a justifiable reason to assault people. This is social bullying. Mr. Berry introduced himself a few minutes ago. He's Rachel's dad. She is not much taller than 5' and has a very slender build. She is a member of a multitude of clubs. She was picked out freshman year, which was before I arrived, but she was already one of the 'chosen' ones to receive slushie facials. She is no threat to any of the students that have attacked her. No one has ever identified a reason to me why Rachel has received so much hatred, other than that she's annoying. Bullying and assaulting someone because they are supposedly annoying is a ridiculous reason. Of all of the students in this school Kurt Hummel has been assaulted more than any other. He is here today, but actually now attends a private school in a placement paid for by this district. His life was threatened. During my two years here, he was a student here for three semesters. During that time, he was on the receiving end of dumpster tosses and was shoved into lockers resulting in five broken bones. FIVE broken bones. He still has bruising from events that took place before he left the school in November over four months ago."
Many of the parents looked shocked.
"I'm glad to see that you look shocked about this. The bullying that is going on here is not the simple bullying of 'your shirt is ugly' or the 'your momma's fat' jokes. This is flat-out assault and property damage. Kurt's placement out of district in a safe school has cost the district a lot of money. And that is not Kurt's fault. It is the fault of parents and a society that teaches and allows one group of people to hurt another group of people for arbitrary reasons. Hurting people because they are Jewish, or black, or tall, or short, or fat, or skinny, or gay, or atheist, or Christian, or annoying, or terrible at sports – none of those are valid reasons to injure another human being."
One of the parents raised her hand. "Why hasn't the school contacted us about this situation?"
"That's a good question and I'm glad you asked. There's a 'circle the wagon' mentality. And for those of you who don't know what that means, it means that the bullies are united. They cover for each other. They give each other alibis. They get a group together to say that it didn't happen the way the victim said it did. And in all honesty, the previous head of the school despised dealing with conflict and he just let them go. When one of them would be accused, the accused would bring in a witness to agree with his side of the story, and then they were both let go and the victim was dismissed as a liar or just trying to cause trouble. Afterwards, the victim would be targeted for more bullying than before for attempting to get the bullies into trouble. So, it eventually created an environment where the victims all knew that going to the administration was a waste of time because it just made their lives more difficult in the long run and the bullies were emboldened by their successful intimidation tactics."
"You mentioned a death threat," she stated.
"Yes. It was specific to Kurt and not to the general school population."
"What was done about that?" she asked.
"The student was initially expelled because it happened during a short period of time when Coach Sylvester was acting principal. But the student's parents fought the expulsion and the school board sided with them and the student was allowed to return to the school."
"How can that be?" she asked.
"It was a decision that I was not a part of, so I do not have an answer to that question. Kurt withdrew from the school when he learned that the person who levied the threat was returning."
"Well that's understandable," the same woman said.
A lot of the other parents nodded.
She spoke again. "You said the district is paying for him to attend a different school. Why?"
"If a home district cannot provide an appropriate education, the school is required by law to pay for an out-of-district placement for the student. This is most often seen with blind or deaf students. Home districts are required to pay for those children to attend specialized schools."
"I see," she said. "So, in this case 'appropriate' meant where his life wasn't being threatened."
"Basically yes. But the district is not going to pay for an out-of-district placement for him next school year. He will be returning to McKinley. These changes are being implemented by outside forces as well as by choice by some people within the school itself. We were presented with the option of complying and providing a safe school for all of our students or the advocate that secured the funding for Kurt's out-of-district placement threatened to bring a class action suit against the school district requesting out-of-district placements for all 30-40 of the habitually bullied students in this school, which the school district cannot afford."
"Alright," she said. "So, the majority of us who stood up and introduced our children as athletes are the parents of the students who are bullying the children of the rest of the people here?"
"That is a generally true statement. But it is not 100% accurate. Not ALL of the sports team members are bullying other students. But as I mentioned, the bullies have banded together making it pretty hard to determine which ones are. We know a few for certain because they are constant repeat offenders, meaning on a daily basis."
"So, if I were to ask you privately after this is over if you know for certain that my son is one of these bullies, will you tell me?"
"Yes, of course."
She nodded and sat back down.
"The jocks at this school have a huge attitude problem when it comes to the teachers as well. Many of the teachers are afraid to grade your students' work appropriately. The school has had minimum GPA requirements for the sports teams for many years, but as the bullying has increased, the intimidation of teachers has increased as well. We have many teachers in their 50's and some in their 60's who love teaching, but who are part of the group that is considering retiring or taking positions in other districts at the end of this school year. When a student athlete turns in a paper that is obviously plagiarized or written by another student, the teachers are afraid to give those student athletes the zeros they deserve. Teachers have had their tires slashed, their homes vandalized, and personal items from their classrooms stolen."
"Are you serious?" the same mother asked.
"Unfortunately, I am."
"This is absurd. Students who assault other students and who vandalize teacher's property? This is like reading the news from some big city with crime problems."
Kurt stood up. "May I address the group?"
"Sure, Kurt."
Kurt walked down to the floor level. "I just want to make sure that you see me. I am a straight A student. I'm a member of the National Honor Society. I currently tutor students at my school. I have never started any type of conflict with any of the jocks at this school. Our home has been vandalized. My father's shop has been vandalized. I received phone calls and notes in my locker while attending school here suggesting that I commit suicide. My textbooks were destroyed by slushies. Jocks have taken my class notes and stuck them in the sinks and soaked them so that they were useless. They done the same thing to papers and assignments I had completed. I have been shoved in to lockers too many times to count. I lost track of the dumpster tosses. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's when two or more jocks grab you and toss you into the dumpster and leave you there. I have spent thousands of dollars replacing phones, clothing, laundering clothing, having it dry cleaned, and replacing textbooks. I've spent endless hours redoing assignments and doing extra credit to get the points back I lost from having my work destroyed. And yes, I've had five fractured bones from the physically bullying. My dad had to have our roof replaced when the football team nailed our lawn furniture to our roof as a prank. I have lived through the humiliation of having pee balloons thrown at me. All this has happened because I am openly gay. I have not done anything personal to any of the jocks who have done these things to me. Heck, I helped the football team win their only game last year as the kicker. But somehow in the end, they hated me even more because being shown up by a 'fag' is worse than losing. I didn't want to change schools. All I want to do is go to school in peace. I don't think that's asking too much."
He went back to his seat, but stopped before he got there and turned back.
"Miss Pillsbury didn't mention Artie, who is in a wheelchair, being pushed down a flight of stairs or being locked in the port-a-potties out in the football stadium. He's been slushied too."
The same mom stood and spoke up. "Pee balloons? Calls suggesting that you kill yourself? Oh, honey, that is just beyond horrible." She looked at the group of students. "He stayed through all that? He put up with all of that until one of you threatened to kill him?" She looked around at the parents sitting near her. "I don't care how wrong you think being gay is. That boy has been abused at the hands of some of OUR children. This has to stop." She turned back and addressed the jocks. "And you pick on girls? What is wrong with you boys? I don't care if Rebecca or Rachel or whatever is the most annoying person on the face of the earth, what kind of teen boys attack a girl that probably doesn't even weigh 100 pounds? You all are criminals. She can't properly defend herself. What if she was your sister, how would you feel about a 6'4", 250 pound nearly-grown man attacking your sister or your mother or your grandmother? And pushing a boy in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs? What? His life isn't hard enough in a wheelchair?" She glared at the boys seated near her. "YOU ARE CRIMINALS."
The jocks stared at the floor.
"That's right. Look down. Be ashamed. You all ought to be ashamed. I'm ashamed of all of you who have done these things. It makes you real big men to push around a tiny girl? And a boy in a wheelchair? HA! It makes you despicable." She shook her head and sat back down.
Miss Pillsbury spoke again. "If parents and schools don't get the students to understand the value of hard work, discipline, and integrity things are going to get bad in Lima. Some of these students graduate this year. The Lima police consider bullying on school property to be a school's problem, but when these students graduate, and they behave this way in public, the police will get involved and your adult children are going to end up in jail."
"Well, if my son has been a part of it, he won't be anymore," the same mom said. "I didn't survive growing up in inner city Chicago to move to a nice small town to have my son grow up to be a hoodlum and a criminal."
"I appreciate your support in this."
Coach Beiste stood up. "The sports teams will be attending mandatory diversity training at the beginning of the school year. No one will be allowed to play without attending the course. Parents can request to view what will be taught ahead of time and you can refuse to allow your student to participate, but he will not be allowed to play on the team."
The same woman spoke up again. "Why would anyone refuse?"
"Because part of the teaching covers sexual orientation as a protected group."
"What do you mean by protected?"
"It means that bullying someone just because of their sexual orientation will not be allowed. Currently in Ohio sexual orientation is not a protected group. That means that an employer can fire a person just for being gay. You don't have to have done anything wrong – just being gay can get you fired. People can refuse to rent an apartment to someone just because the person is gay."
"Being gay is a sin," someone said.
"That is a personal belief that not all people hold. Science says that people are born with their sexual orientation as part of who they are. Science has shown that conversion therapy does not work. Many gay people have lived their whole lives in the closet, opted to marry and raise families, but when interviewed they are still gay, and a lot of the times miserable. How many of you would like to be forcibly required to live with a same-sex partner in order to be considered acceptable by society? Many societies throughout history accepted homosexual and bisexual individuals and did not consider their sexual orientations to be abnormal or immoral. What is a sin? Sin is what a group of people decide is wrong, but that list isn't constant across all religions or even within a particular religion. You'll find Jewish people that eat pork. You'll find Christians who drink and dance and other Christians who say that drinking and dancing is a sin. Some religions teach that eating meat is wrong. The diversity training will not require anyone to agree with or disagree with anyone else's beliefs. It will just teach the team that accepting people as they are is what is expected. Calling people derogatory names like 'spick' or 'fag' or 'nigger' or 'dyke' or 'slut' any other number of words will not be allowed. And as I said, parents are more than welcome to come in and pick up a copy of what will be taught ahead of time."
A man spoke up. "So, you're not going to teach my kid that being gay is okay. You're just going to teach him that he can't pick on gay kids just because they're gay?"
"Exactly. I'm not going to teach your kids that being Jewish is right or wrong or that being atheist is right or wrong. I'm not going to teach them that being sexually active is right or wrong. I'm going to teach them that being mean to people because they are different is wrong. The point is respect. People can respect each other without having to agree with each other."
"I can live with that," he responded.
"We will be doing fundraising before the end of the school year to update the locker rooms with more privacy features. One thing that the jocks have complained about is the potential for gay students to watch them shower. Not that we have any evidence of that happening, given that we currently have had only one out gay student and he did not shower with the team when he was on the team last year. But to allay any fears from both sides, we will be installing additional privacy barriers in the shower area of the locker rooms. Anyone who wants to see the design can come look before they leave. We would ask that when we send home the fundraising sheets that you help your students raise the money for this. It is the jocks that have complained loudly about the lack of privacy. They can be the ones to help raise the funds for these improvements. I'll be having them all stay after school one day next week."
"You keep referring to all of the jocks as male. Does the school not have a problem with female bullying?" the same question-asking woman asked.
Coach Beiste answered. "Not to the extent that would warrant any school-wide changes. None of the female athletes have complained about the potential for sharing showers with lesbian teammates or students. I don't know that we actually have any female students who have publicly declared that they are lesbians, but the female population of the school doesn't seem concerned about their potential existence. Statistics say that in a school this size, there are 40-60 LGBTQ students. With only one gay student publicly sharing his orientation that leaves 39-59 students who are most likely afraid to identify themselves as LGBTQ. Fear of being rejected by their families or fear of being treated the way that Kurt has."
Miss Pillsbury spoke again. "I appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to come this morning. I'd be glad to talk to any of you individually. You are all free to leave. You can also stay and talk to each other, if you'd like. The students need to return to class."
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Burt and Carole were still talking to some of the parents. Kurt waved as he and Sam walked toward the exit, and Burt nodded.
"Well, that was interesting," Kurt said, as he and Sam walked out of the gymnasium hand in hand through the empty hallway after everyone else had gone back to class.
"Yeah. I guess we'll see what affect it has by the end of the week. From how serious everyone sounded, I think if anyone actually hassles me, they'll be gone. I have no hope that I'll be accepted, but like you said, I'd be happy if they just left me and you alone. I don't need their approval, but I'd like them to stop harassing me – and you – when you come back. I already told you that I don't think I'll play any sports next year."
Kurt changed the subject. "I'm excited to register for our classes this afternoon."
Coach Sylvester came around the corner from the opposite direction and stopped the two of them before they made it out of the building. "Please follow me to my office."
They did as she requested. The both took a seat facing her desk. She shut the door behind them and sat down at her desk.
"Why did you want to see us Coach?" Kurt asked rather bruskly.
"I wanted to tell both of you that I'm sorry. I should not have allowed The Muckraker article to be printed that outed you, Sam. I did not think through the potential outcome of allowing that story to be published. I allowed my anger at the three Cheerio girls who ruined my 6-year Nationals streak to fill me with even more rage toward Glee Club than I had before. I meant what I said up there. If all of the musicians got bullied for making music, the world would be such a boring place to live. Kurt, I also meant what I said last year about trying to keep you safe here at McKinley, and then I was stupid to allow that article that outed Sam or potentially outed him. Even if he was 100% straight, allowing an article like that to be published was just asking for someone to hurt him. And for that I'm sorry. I will be keeping an eye on you, Sam. And I want you to come directly to me or go to Coach Beiste if anyone hassles you about being gay or bi or whatever."
"Thank you, Coach Sue," Sam said.
"I know you don't trust me now, Kurt. What I did endangered the person you care about. But I would still like you to return to the Cheerios."
"I'll consider it, but since the practices are afterschool, it's not likely. Sam and I are going to be going to OSU Lima in the afternoons."
"I see."
"So, you won't be playing football, Sam?"
"I doubt it. I have no intention of pursuing football in college. It was supposed to be something fun to do in high school. I don't have any aspirations of being a professional football player or anything. And even with the potential improvements to the locker room showers, I doubt I would be welcome."
"Well, if you change your mind, Kurt, just let me know."
"Will do. Is there anything else you need from us? We actually have an orientation meeting and registration at OSU Lima to get to."
"You're free to leave."
The two of them stood up and left.
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When they all got home, Carole pulled out lunchmeat, cheese, bread and a few other things to make sandwiches with and some sliced raw vegetables and put them on the counter for a make-your-own lunch. They sat down to eat lunch together.
"So, what did you think?" Burt asked.
"Lots of good ideas," Sam said. "It just depends on whether the school actually enforces them. Lack of access to the dumpsters is 100% good. Not allowing the slushies to leave the cafeteria should cut down on the slushie attacks, but plenty of 'accidents' could take place inside the cafeteria and outside in the courtyard. But we can be sure to put our bags and books in our lockers before we go into the cafeteria to cut down the risk of having anything besides our clothing ruined."
"That one mom was something else," Burt said.
"She's not going to be happy after talking to Miss Pillsbury. That was Mrs. Adams. Her son is on the daily repeat offender list," Kurt said.
"I see," Carole said.
"He's Karofsky's best friend," Sam added.
"Got it."
"I'm excited to go to our orientation and registration this afternoon. With that new system that Miss Pillsbury talked about, I'm going to see if we can register for four classes at OSU and just take two at McKinley. Then we'd be able to leave school at about 10:00 and spend the rest of the day at the college. And there would be no reason whatsoever for me to be at the school when the jocks are there practicing."
"Sounds like a good plan, honey."
"Sam and I need to do a few things before we go. Can we be excused?"
"Sure. You can tell us what classes you chose later tonight."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"I want you to learn a song to actually sing with me in Glee this afternoon, okay? I'll have the band play. You can play your guitar and sing or just sing."
"What's the song?"
"I'm sure you've probably heard it before. I'm aggravated about how the Glee Club has behaved recently and I feel like expressing my feelings in song to make a point."
"Alright."
"I burned it to a CD so we can listen to it on the drive to campus. Give me your phone for a minute." Kurt pulled up the lyrics and took screenshots so Sam to study them. He gave the phone back. "Let's grab our stuff and head to campus for our orientation. It's chillier than I thought it was." Kurt grabbed a red and black buffalo plaid jacket from their closet. Sam followed behind and grabbed a zip up hoodie and they left. They listened to the song on repeat all the way to campus.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
After completing their orientation and campus tour, Kurt and Sam met with an advisor together since they wanted to have compatible schedules. They both opted to take their math courses and English courses at the university.
Kurt's French score allowed him to by-pass and get credit for the first four college-level French courses. He chose a French grammar course to make sure that he was completely ready to take a French literature course in the spring. He opted for the costume design course instead of the European History course he had planned to take. Sam chose a pottery and a watercolor course.
Sam had brought his paperwork with his official dyslexia diagnosis, so once they had finished registering they headed to the disability services department. Kurt waited while Sam saw the advisor. She set him up with a plan allowing him extra time on written tests and a school-provided note taker for any class he needed to take notes in.
They headed back to McKinley, but had a little extra time, so they stopped and got two smoothies on the way back to the school. They arrived a few minutes before Glee was set to start.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They went straight to the choir room and found Miss Pillsbury working with a laptop that was hooked up to a printer on the table outside Mr. Shue's office. She had an ironing board and an iron on the other side of the doorway to Mr. Schue's office.
"What's going on?" Kurt asked.
"Oh, it's what Will is doing in Glee to help get the group back together after the destruction The Muckraker dealt everyone last week."
"That was an interesting description that didn't really answer the question."
"I'm not sure that I'm allowed to say yet."
"Alright. We'll just wait."
Sam and Kurt sat next to each other in the back row. Sam scooted his chair closer to Kurt's so that their thighs were touching and he put his arm around the back of Kurt's chair.
"Not going for subtle, I see."
"Nope. I'll kiss you, if you'll let me."
Kurt leaned toward him and kissed him instead.
"Get a room." Artie said as he rolled in.
"Oh, because we've never seen you kiss anyone in this room?" Kurt asked.
"Our bitch ratio has suddenly improved dramatically," Santana said as she came in with Dave in tow. She winked at Kurt. They sat on the opposite side of the room and Dave didn't make eye contact.
Everyone else sat down and Mr. Schuester started talking.
"So, as you can see Miss Pillsbury is here today to help us with class. Each of you needs to quickly think of something that you have been embarrassed about yourself that you have come to terms with or some part of your personality that is part of who you are that you are learning to overcome or improve." He unbuttoned his shirt and showed what was written on his. CURLS. "My curls have always been a sore spot for me. When I was a young child, I mistaken for a girl unless my mother kept my hair nearly shaved. I was teased. I'm still teased. It's Sue's go-to insult. I tried straightening it for a while, but I eventually came to the point where I just decided to leave it be and stop worrying about it."
Miss Pillsbury turned around and showed her shirt, which said OCD.
"So, as quickly as you can come up and write your statement and your name on a piece of paper so she can get these set up to print and put on white t-shirts. We're going to wear them in about 15 minutes."
"Mr. Schue?" Kurt said as he raised his hand.
"Yes, Kurt."
"I have a song I'd like to share today as well. Sam will be singing with me."
"Alright. You can do that once everyone has turned their sheets in to Miss Pillsbury."
"Thank you."
Everyone finished quickly, put their sheet on the table where Miss Pillsbury was sitting, and went back to their seats.
"Alright, Kurt."
He went over to the band and told them the song. And returned to the center to stand next to Sam, who had a guitar in his hands and was ready.
"So this song is for the people in this room and people in general who think they know what's best for us or who think they have the right to meddle in our lives. It's also a song that I think everyone in this room can identify with." He nodded and they band started to play. Kurt sang the whole song. Sam joined in here and there and during the choruses singing harmony.
Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time,
And try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset
I'm not the one who's lost with no direction
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening
And who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life I've tried to make everybody happy
While I just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
"This song was to remind each of us how much we don't want other people to decide what's right for us or to tell us what we can or cannot do. For a group of people who purport to be friends, you didn't display that recently. You told me that you wanted me to come back to McKinley. And then you turned on each other and on me and Sam. That was NOT the way to do it. I've decided to give most of you a second or third of fiftieth chance. But this is your final chance. If you turn on me or on Sam again, that's it. There are enough people in this town who hate me – and now him. I don't need to voluntarily subject myself to more abuse. We need to be a real group of friends. Celebrate our differences, not attack each other. And learn to communicate, not gossip. End of rant."
"That's a good reminder, Kurt. And that is a good lead into our activity for today. We're going to head to the auditorium and work on some loose choreography while Miss Pillsbury continues to work on the shirts. Perhaps, Dave can stay behind to help her?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
"Everyone else get up and let's go."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They took seats in the auditorium and Mr. Schue handed out the lyrics. They divided everything up and got up on stage and started to work out some choreography and sang through the song a few times. Miss Pillsbury and Dave brought the shirts down about 30 minutes later. Miss Pillsbury handed their shirts out. They headed into the dressing rooms and changed. Several people put their jackets back on over the top, not yet revealing what they had chosen.
Dave sat in the audience. Miss Pillsbury and Mr. Schue stood along the edge and watched the students perform.
Kurt entered the stage in his shirt that said LIKES BOYS and moved to the middle and sang out:
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up 'cause you were born this way, baby
Mercedes and Tina joined him on the stage. Tina's shirt said SHY. She sang:
My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
Mercedes sang the next section. Her shirt said BOSSY. The curtains opened back and the rest of the group was on the stage. The lead switched throughout the song, with the whole group singing the choruses. At various points in time, they all revealed the words on their shirts and tossed their jackets off the front of the stage. Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury joined them on stage near the end.
When they had finished, they all joined in hugging each other. Sam kept his arm around Kurt's waist even after they stepped back from their group hug.
Mercedes was the first to approach Kurt. The three of them stepped away from the group a little. "I'm really sorry, Kurt. It's been months since we've spent time together. And that's my own fault. I have a car. I could have driven to Westerville to see you. I let my feelings get bruised when you and I butted heads in the fall. I just couldn't wrap my head around how you could not believe in God. After what happened last week, I sat down and talked to my mom. She set me straight the way moms do."
Kurt laughed and nodded.
"I was wrong. Just because I believe in God doesn't mean that you have to or that I'm better because I do. I was a bully. And then last week I was stupid. I know that you wouldn't cheat on someone you care about. It's just those pictures really threw me. With all the cheating that has gone on in this group and the partner swapping, the part about Quinn going back to Sam seemed plausible, but then you were in the same place with them. I was stupid not to just ask. Not that you had to tell me because I know you wouldn't have. But even when you all three denied the accusations, we just wouldn't relent. We need to learn to mind our own business. When a friend says they can't tell, it means that they're keeping their word to someone else or they just can't share the information for some valid reason."
"Yeah. You need to learn to trust me. And you don't right now. I don't trust you either anymore. If we're going to be friends again, we'll have to rebuild that trust."
"I get that. I really do. But I am sorry. I'll call you and we can talk more."
"Alright." Kurt offered her a hug, which she accepted.
She reached out and put her hand on Sam's arm. "Sam, I really blew it. We weren't close before, but now I know you don't trust me and I don't blame you. All I can say is that you must really care about Kurt to be willing to withstand the crap this town is going to throw at you for it. He's worth it though."
"I agree. He's definitely worth it." He had a huge smile on his face and pulled Kurt closer to him, causing Kurt to smile too.
"Well, thanks for listening."
"Sure."
She walked back toward the dressing room to change back into her regular clothes. So did Kurt and Sam. Everyone met back and sat in the auditorium.
Kurt raised his hand.
"Yes, Kurt."
He stood up and hopped up on the edge of the stage and sat facing them. "I have some suggestions that you can use or ignore. Don't buy new costumes for Nationals. The outfits the girls wore for Sectionals looked really good. Use those. Have the guys wear the outfits from Regionals, but add white bow ties and put the white spats covers we wore in "Toxic" on the black shoes. No cost and the combination would look really good together. I looked through the rules online. There's no rule that says you can't sing songs from Sectionals or Regionals. I think that the songs you sang for Regionals were great. And the choreography for "Valerie" was amazing. If you could find a single upbeat group song or write one and use the choreography from 'Valerie', I think that combination would be amazing. 'Loser Like Me' needs to be rechoreographed. It was haphazard and looked just barely passable, but nowhere near Nationals-level good. Just don't show up in New York unprepared. It might be the only time a lot of you ever get to go to New York. Most of us have never flown or been anywhere more than 100 miles from here. Be ready to perform when you get there so that you can go see as many things as you can and have as much fun as possible. Showing up and trying to choose songs or write new ones and create choreography after you get there would be so stressful and would just ruin the whole trip. The venue for Nationals rotates, so even if we make it again next year, it will be held somewhere else."
Rachel was the one to speak first. "I agree with Kurt about preparing ahead of time. I know we sort of do this crazy last-minute, high-stress, pull-it-all-together-at-the-last-second thing every competition, but I want to enjoy New York."
Tina spoke up next. "What Kurt said about the costuming is true. We should mix and match what we have just like he described and we'll look really classy."
"Thanks for the suggestions, Kurt," Mr. Schue said.
He nodded and went and sat back down next to Sam.
"That's it for today guys. I hope everyone had fun. We'll discuss a set list the next time we meet. I agree that we need to be ready when we leave. No last-minute nonsense this time."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Sam headed to work and Kurt went home. He had convinced the two students he tutored to let him do it over Skype so he could stay in Lima for the night and drive back the next morning. While Sam was at work, he started on his reading and some assignments that he needed to do in addition to the Skype tutoring.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
About 5:00, Rachel showed up. Kurt let her in the house and she sat down in the chair in the living room.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
"No thanks."
Kurt sat down on the couch.
"I came over to apologize. I went to see a new therapist. She and I discussed a lot of things. I was really angry about a lot of things. She took notes and then wrote things on a white board in her office. Once I saw things written on the board, I guess I had an epiphany of sorts. I realized that I've been using Glee Club as a way to compensate for my social position at the school. By insisting that I am the best and putting myself at the top, I was gaining this sense of accomplishment. It made me feel like I was actually good. Even though I'm in lots of clubs and I do my homework, I'm not popular in any of those clubs, even the ones that I'm the president or vice president of. And I'm not a straight A student like you. I considered you to be my main rival because we have similar musical interest in Broadway and we have similar vocal ranges. But it was stupid of me to consider you a rival. You're a boy. We would never compete for the same roles in a play or musical unless the casting is based purely on vocal skills, like we'd all be in animal costumes or something."
"Right..."
"I just wanted something for me. Something to make me feel good about myself. So many people hate me. I know that you get bullied more than I do physically, but I the verbal bullying really takes its toll on me. And it was wrong of me to stalk Quinn. I get so angry with her. But I shouldn't have let my anger blind me to what I was doing to you and Sam."
"Did you come here because your dads made you?"
"Actually no. I'm sure I'll get in trouble when I get home. I asked Tina to bring me here. She's waiting outside. By being here, I'm breaking my grounding."
"I see. Look, I get wanting to be the best at something and I get wanting people to appreciate your talent. You're just going about it the wrong way. You have to learn to get along with the rest of the group. No one wants to work with a spoiled child. I know you want to make it on Broadway. Making enemies and annoying people is not the way to do it. Think about this. Who is the best tailor or seamstress in Glee?"
"You. Well, Tina because you're at Dalton."
"Best guitarist?"
"I'm not actually sure."
"Best piano player?"
"Brad usually plays for us."
"Best dancer?"
"Male – Mike. Female – Brittany."
"Best gospel or R&B singer?"
"Mercedes."
"Do any of the people you actually named need to TELL the other people in the group that they're the best at those things?"
"No."
"Think about that, Rachel. Everyone KNOWS that you're the best for Broadway tunes and for some styles of music. You don't need to tell anyone."
She nodded. "I just want to win."
"I know you do, Rachel. Everyone knows that. The problem is that Mr. Schue has become too dependent on your ability to lead the group at the last minute. That's not the way the club should work. You all are going to Nationals in five weeks. The set list should already be settled. You all should be working on perfecting the vocals already."
"You're right."
"Is there anything specific you have to say? You said you came to apologize and mostly you just talked about yourself and Glee Club."
"Oh, right. I came to apologize for following Quinn and causing all of the problems for Sam."
"That's something you should apologize to him for. Not me."
"I'll do that tomorrow at school."
"Well, I have homework to get to if there's nothing else."
She got up and he closed and locked the door behind her. He went back upstairs.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt and Sam enjoyed their extra evening at home together once Sam got home from work.
"I'm not sure I like your shirt," Sam said when he threw his shirt and what he was wearing into the laundry."
Kurt look confused. "Why not?"
"I don't want you liking boys."
Kurt laughed. "Well, he said to put something I had to work to accept about myself. It took time for me to accept that liking boys was okay. But see now, I'm nearly an adult and I don't like boys anymore." He stripped as he got closer to the closet. "You see, now I'm in love with one particularly gorgeous man. Just slightly taller than me. Great sense of humor. Smart. Hardworking. Really nice voice. Amazing smile. Sweet. Fantastic laugh. He treats me like I'm really special." By that point, Kurt had cornered Sam in the closet and they were both in their underwear. "And the most amazing thing is that this awesome man loves me back." He pressed his lips to Sam's and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around Sam's neck and deepened the kiss. "I love you, Sam Evans. No more boys. Just you."
Sam was out of breath. "I love you too. Just you."
Kurt grabbed his hand and led him to the shower.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-19{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
After breakfast, Kurt stuck his dishes in the dishwasher and closed it. "I have to get going. I need to get to Dalton. I've missed a lot of classes dealing with this stuff. Unlike McKinley, the teachers at Dalton actually teach things during class that are NOT in the textbooks, so I have to get notes from a couple of different people to make sure I don't miss any information."
"We'll see you Friday, honey."
"See ya, kiddo."
Kurt got up and headed upstairs to grab his stuff. Before he managed to grab everything, he heard Sam come in the room behind him. He ended up sitting everything down and he turned around. Sam wrapped his arms around him and Kurt did the same. They stood hugging for a couple of minutes.
"I'll call you tonight. You can find out from Carole if you can use Finn's computer to Skype me."
"I'll see."
"I hope things are okay for you at school this week. I hate leaving you to face that madhouse alone." He kissed Sam. "I love you."
"I love you too. I'll help you carry this stuff outside." He stepped back.
Kurt stepped forward and kissed him again. He turned back around and grabbed his satchel and his suitcase. Sam grabbed his books.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-20{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"So the College and Career course is ending this week. Did it help you make some decisions about your future? Is there anything you think the course should cover that it didn't?"
"It did help a lot. Without it, I would have gone into the college application process with a lot less information than I have now. I have made some definite changes to my short-term plans, but I haven't changed my end goal."
"How did the assembly go Monday?"
"We'll just have to wait and see. My boyfriend still got called names yesterday and he's had notes put in his locker this week. Vague threats like 'You better not even consider playing football next year'. And 'No fags in the locker room.' Things like that."
"And how about around here?"
"They're fine. I'm doing all of my work and I'm doing well in my classes. That's what matters to me. I've made three friends and I've assimilated as much as possible."
"I did ask about what you had suggested."
Kurt looked puzzled.
"You had mentioned being willing to take your exams during reading week and finishing early."
"Yes."
"The Headmaster is willing to consider it. Since you don't have any AP exams to study for, you have time to write your final papers during the two weeks that most of the juniors and seniors will be taking the AP exams."
"I can do that. I am definitely willing to do that."
"Alright. You would need to stay through reading week until at least Thursday. You are tutoring a lot of students and leaving them without someone to help them review for their finals would not be acceptable."
"Of course." Kurt pulled out his phone. "So, I could leave on the 19th?"
Mr. Adam's flipped to May's calendar on his desk. "Yes."
"That's what I would like to do then. I'd actually like to find out if there's a way to have my stuff graded so that I can take my official transcript for this year with me, so I can go ahead and transfer back to McKinley and choose my classes for next fall."
"I'll see what I can find out and let you know next week. Get started on those final papers. Those take longer for the teachers to grade than the final exams."
"I'll do that. I need to get going so I'm not late to my tutoring session. Thank you for all of your help, Mr. Adams."
"You're welcome, Kurt." Kurt grabbed his bag and headed up to the study room to his tutoring session.
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Kurt had Sam's dinner ready for him when he got home Friday night. They ate quickly, cleaned up after the dishes, and headed upstairs. Kurt shut and locked the door behind them. He and Sam had the house to themselves until whenever Burt and Carole got back from their date. Finn's grounding had ended and he had gone to Artie's for the night.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to Artie's with the rest of the guys?"
"I'm sure I don't want to. With Finn gone, you and I can play video games by ourselves."
"Sure. But first, I need to unpack, shower, and put my pajamas on." Kurt kissed him and grabbed his suitcase and started dumping the clothes from it into his laundry basket. He emptied out the other stuff and put the suitcase under his bed. "Shower with me?"
Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt. "Definitely."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"BAM! He's dead."
Sam laughed. "Much better. A week of practice after school gets out and you'll be as good as the rest of the guys."
"I want to be able to hold my own against Puck. That's how good I need to get."
"Oh, I believe you can do it. You're already really good. You just need more to practice more, to get more familiar with how the game is played."
"Thanks. Finn mostly just rolled his eyes and made excuses when I asked him to play with me."
"Ah, well, I'd bet that he's afraid that you're better at it than him and you'll show him up."
"Oh, another one of the many ways gay guys can't be better at than straight guys or they feel emasculated?"
"Exactly."
"Like after I won the football game, they hoisted me up and in the moment everyone was thrilled. But after they were teased for the dancing, they were torn between the excitement and the embarrassment. And within a week, it was all back to normal."
"I didn't even know you had played until I found out from Tina and Mercedes when they were talking about it after the girls joined the team so we wouldn't have to forfeit. They mentioned that we'd have a lot better chance if you were the kicker still."
"It's all a part of misogynistic culture that considers toxic masculinity the apex of being a real man."
"This conversation has gotten way too serious. We're supposed to be mindlessly killing things and wasting time as teenagers. And you're psychoanalyzing people's views on gender roles in society." Sam put his controller next to Kurt's on the coffee table and pushed Kurt onto his back and started tickling him.
Kurt let out a surprised yelp and started laughing. He managed to free an arm and wrapped his hand around the back of Sam's neck and pull himself up and kiss him. The kiss slowed the tickle attack and Kurt got his other hand free and pulled Sam down on top of him.
"I thought we were playing video games," Sam said.
"You seemed to want my attention, so now you have it. My 100%." Kiss. "Undivided." Kiss. "Attention." He licked his way into Sam's more than willing mouth.
Sam relaxed down onto Kurt and let himself be caught up in kissing Kurt. When they broke apart for air, Sam reached out for the controller and turned his head toward the screen and powered the game system down and picked up the TV remote and turned it off. He turned back to Kurt and kissed him gently. "Let's take this upstairs." He stood up and pulled Kurt up to standing. They headed upstairs.
Sam locked the door behind them. Kurt headed into the bathroom, came back out, and sat at his vanity to do his nighttime moisturizing. Sam brushed his teeth and sat on the end of the bed and watched Kurt. As soon as he finished, he turned the lights off and turned some music on. He walked over to the vanity and held his hand out. Kurt turned the vanity lights off and took Sam's hand. Sam pulled Kurt close and wrapped his arms around Kurt.
"Teach me to dance, like you did Finn. I want to be able to dance with you. Real couple's dances."
"M'kay." He looked around the room for the other source of dim light.
"They're nightlights. I put one in the outlets on both of the side shelves of the bed."
"I like them."
They sway danced around the room. Sam moved in the general direction of the bed after a couple of songs. He grabbed the bottom of Kurt's t-shirt and pulled it up over his head and did the same to his own. Kurt took the hint and slipped his pajama pants off, pulled the covers back, and climbed into the bed. He scooted over to his own side and Sam slipped in next to him.
"I wanted us to be able to see each other when we talk and kiss at night. You're beautiful and well, I just like looking at you. Your smile, well you smile a lot and it just makes me really happy."
"Being around you makes me happy, so that's why I smile. You're probably the only person in the world that thinks I smile a lot."
"So the nightlights are okay?"
"Can they be turned off if they keep me awake?"
"Yeah, they have little switches on them."
"Perfect."
"So, tomorrow?"
"I'm getting up early and going in to work at the shop like normal, but just earlier than usual. Then Dad wants me to stay to do some extra stuff, which is why I'm going in early because I still want to be home by 2:00. So, you can get as much of you homework as you can while I'm gone."
"Boring, but okay."
"Then when I get back, I'm going to take you somewhere. Just wear your normal clothes."
"A surprise?"
"A surprise."
"I like surprises."
"I know you do."
"Now, I'm excited and I can't sleep."
"Good thing I know a really enjoyable way to make you tired."