Hey everyone! Thanks again for the reviews! They really help and it's great to see that you all are reading the story still and enjoying it. I'm going to try my hardest to get to Regionals before the end of the weekend. I have decided that this story will be part of a series of stories. So I think this story will end soon. Just so I can fast forward and get to the point where we are in the TV show. Thanks for the support and again, appreciate reviews
As Dave and Kurt walked through the door when the first bell rang, eyes fixated on them. They were arm in arm knowing everyone was watching. Dave was still feeling the repercussions from the assault on Friday, thus showing a limp as well as cute arm candy.
"Everyone's staring," whispered Dave, concentrating more on his feet, making quick glances at the surrounding faces as he and Kurt walked down the hallway.
"Let them. Dave listen, Az is in juvey right now as are the other guys who did this to you. No one is going to do that again. The most they're going to do is stare and call us names," replied Kurt who was holding his head high and looking back at everyone who was staring. "You can't let it get to you."
They walked to Dave's locker first where he grabbed his books for Physiology and English.
"So did you want to sit with us at lunch?" asked Kurt who was leaning into the locker next to Dave's, watching him prepare for the morning.
"Who is 'us'?" Dave asked, looking at Kurt then back to the locker.
"The Glee kids, duh!" exclaimed Kurt. Who else?
"Oh! Right," started Dave, who had everything he needed and shut his lockerand turned to face Kurt.
"Well I just figured we go to my car during lunch and have a nice make out session like last week." Dave flashed one of the cutest smiles that Kurt has ever seen, making him blush.
"Okay, one of these times we're going to get caught, so why don't we spare the embarrassment altogether by just having lunch during lunch? Crazy concept, I know," said Kurt, crossing his arms and cocking his head to the side, waiting for Dave's retort.
"Well… Uh, I think lunch is overrated and…dumb," Dave responded. He put his right arm around Kurt's neck and led Kurt down the hall. "What we really should do is just go on a lunch date off campus. What do you think about that? That way we don't have to get all these stares while we eat."
"If you're worried about what people are seeing or talking about, one, they'll be talking about this, right now," said Kurt, waving his hand at his head, referring to the obvious couple pose as they walk down the hallway. "And two, when they notice we're not at lunch, their imagination is going to be running wild about what we're doing."
Crap he has a point. Why are the effeminate ones always smarter?
"Fine, you win, but you owe me a lot of tongue action later babe." They got to Kurt's locker where Kurt was getting his things for History and Trigonometry. Kurt was more aware of his surroundings when going through his locker because of the constant bullying he endured, and he noticed Dave fidgeting.
"David, what's wrong?" asked Kurt as he was still looking for his Trig notebook.
"Huh? Nothing!"
"You're lying. You're twitching like you're on something." Kurt grabbed two notebooks and looked at Dave.
"It's nothing! I swear." Kurt wasn't convinced but he let it go for now.
"Alright," he sighed. Kurt shut his locker and they continued down the hallway.
"So today's the big vote day in Glee isn't it?" asked Dave. They turned the corner where they would have to separate.
"Yep! I'm hoping we'll get a Wicked number. It's my all time favorite," Kurt assured, not sure if Dave knew that little bit of information.
"Yeah, I remember you looking for that sheet music of yours. Find it yet?"
"No! It's so frustrating!"
"Alright well I'll see you at lunch then," said Dave. They weren't sure how to part yet; if it was appropriate to kiss each other, shake hands, or hug. Dave was perfectly comfortable with a high five but figured Kurt earned more than that. Looking down both ends of the hallway making sure they didn't have an audience, Dave went in for a hug.
Wow, this is more than what I was expecting from Dave. They embraced for a good three seconds before Dave quickly let go, and after a friendly hand wave Dave walked down one end of the hallway while Kurt stood there, not sure what just happened.
XoXoXoX
"A hand wave? After a three second hug? Is he in the seventh grade?" asked Mercedes as she and Kurt were sitting in Trigonometry, working on a group assignment. The other two people in their group were absent that day so it was just the two of them. They preferred gossiping rather than exploring trigonometric functions they'll never use after the year is over.
"In his defense, he just came out to his parents a couple weeks ago and then my family…and then Finn. And he was publicly forced out of the closet last week. I think that's a lot to handle in that short of a time span. Especially for a guy who's not as obvious like me." Kurt was drawing stars on his graph paper while Mercedes was initialing every single page in her textbook.
"Yeah, that makes sense. You think he'll actually audition for Glee?"
"Not sure. I've asked him before but he's expressed zero interest in singing in the club. But he has a nice voice. He's sung to me before." Mercedes looked up from her busy work with a look of bewilderment. Kurt noticed the sudden absence of scribbling from her pencil and looked at her. "What? Do I have something on my face?" Kurt went for his pocket mirror in his sidebag.
"No! You just said Karofsky sings to you? Care to share the deets?" Kurt stopped rummaging through his bag and looked back at Mercedes.
"Share what? He has a nice voice. He likes country music a lot and a lot of indie stuff. Very straight of him," said Kurt in a bragging attitude. Mercedes nodded in approval before going back to her textbook.
"Well it'd be cool if he'd actually audition rather than just sit in the classroom and not participate. He's like our own personal cheerleader, and I don't think a Cheerios uniform is his idea of a good time." Kurt giggled at the thought of Dave wearing a Cheerios uniform and then veered to an erotic fantasy that included Kurt wearing the female Cheerios uniform and Dave wearing the male uniform. The bell rang, snapping Kurt out of his fantasy real quick.
"So Dave's gonna sit with us at lunch. That means not bringing up the whole auditioning for glee club thing. Got it?" Kurt said as they packed up.
"Yeah, yeah alright. But I'm not the only one thinking it. Better have a conversation with everyone in Glee. I'll see ya at lunch," said Mercedes as she left the classroom.
XoXoXoX
Dave was in Physiology and normally he was pretty awake for the class but all he could think about was what he wanted to talk to Kurt about at the locker. I want to audition for Glee but I don't know if it'll look too weird doing it last minute before their Regionals competition. Do I really want to? No, I shouldn't. That's Kurt's thing and my thing is sports. Finn can pull it off but not me. I need to just concentrate on finishing up hockey. Crap did the teacher just mention a test? Fuck. I can't concentrate with this crap in my head. The bell rang before Dave knew it and everyone surrounding him got up and left before he could even close his notebook. Dave got up and went to the teacher's desk.
"Uh, Mr. C, did you mention something about a test?" asked Dave.
"Yes David. You should probably listen to those kinds of things don't you think?" replied the teacher.
"Sorry, distracted. When is it? And…what's it on?"
"Next Tuesday, and it's on the last three chapters. I understand you were out of commission this weekend so I suggest you hit the textbook hard this week, and not other students." The teacher sat down and started going through his grade book. Dave wasn't sure how to respond to his last comment.
"Uh, Mr. C, just an FYI, I was the one who was pummeled in the locker room to the point of hospitalization. I didn't hit anyone." Meaning didn't get a chance to take a few more swings. Bastards.
"The point is David you have your work cut out for you this week so I would spend less time daydreaming back there, and focus your thoughts to the school work. Not on…other things." Dave wasn't sure if his teacher had a problem with the fact he wasn't paying attention, or if it was deeper to the point of homophobia. Before getting into a heated argument with a thirty year-old, Dave left the classroom without another word.
XoXoXoX
"How were your classes?" asked Kurt as they were in the lunch line.
"They were fine. My Phys teacher was being weird today. I got the vibe that he has a problem that I'm gay. I'm not surprised he knows seeing as what happened last week, but he was giving me shit for being 'out of commission' this weekend as he put it. Even when I explained I was the victim," said Dave. He grabbed two cheeseburgers and then two slices of cheese pizza, skipping the salad bar and going to the bagged chips. Kurt was at the salad bar picking through the lettuce, making sure he didn't just have iceberg lettuce, and then going to the dressings.
"Well have you brought it up with any other faculty members? Maybe Ms. Pillsbury-Howell?" asked Kurt as he made his way to the baskets of fruit, picking out a banana.
"No I haven't brought it up to anyone else. Didn't want to overreact. I just thought it was weird." They paid for their food and made their way to a table by the windows where Mercedes, Tina, Mike Chang, Artie and Brittany were already talking and eating their lunches. They saw Dave and Kurt walk over and suddenly stopped what they were talking about.
"Don't let me interrupt," said Dave, noticing the strong change in tone at the table.
"Sorry, we were just talking about Regionals. How are you feeling?" asked Artie.
"Fine thanks." Dave started to eat his pizza while everyone still watched him eat. Kurt noticed this and was looking back and forth between everyone.
"Uh, guys, what's with the staring?" asked Kurt. Dave was completely oblivious to all of this until Kurt said something. He looked up at everyone and then to Kurt, then back to everyone else.
"What? Do I have somefing on my face?" asked Dave with a mouth full of pizza. He wiped his face with the back of his hand then back to Kurt looking for approval. Kurt just closed his eyes and shook his head. He grabbed one of his napkins and gave it to Dave.
"Sorry, we're just surprised you're sitting with us," said Tina. Dave shrugged and went back to his food.
"So, how many songs do you guys sing at Regionals?" asked Dave nonchalantly. Everyone looked at each other silently approving Dave then went back to eating.
"We get to choose three songs; one has to be a ballad. The other two can be whatever you'd like. Normally we do a duet which counts as our ballad, a mash-up of two songs, and then some other song based on popular vote," explained Kurt as he was picking at his salad.
"Yeah last year we did a whole tribute to Journey so we're going to try and do something different," said Artie.
"Well it helps that we have to do something related to an anthem. That's what will make it hard to decide," said Mercedes.
Dave leaned in to Kurt and whispered, "What's an anthem?"
"It's a song that has a specific message that it's trying to spread," explained Kurt. Dave nodded and thought about it for a minute, then spoke to the rest of the group.
"Like Born This Way? That's a pretty good one. I just heard it last night on the radio when I was leaving the hospital. It's catchy." Dave seemed to be acting pretty casual about the whole conversation. Kurt looked at him like he just sang the most beautiful opera piece. Kurt looked at the other Glee kids and they had similar looks. Dave noticed the quiet and looked back up. "Seriously, is something wrong with my face?" He started to wipe his face vigorously with the napkin.
"No, Dave, stop it. Stop! Dave!" Kurt said trying to prevent Dave from going any further. "We just think that's a brilliant idea!" exclaimed Kurt.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm not paying attention. I keep thinking the lunch lady is the witch from Hansel and Gretel," said Brittany. Everyone looked at her confused as ever before going back to Dave.
"Wait seriously? You guys hadn't thought about Gaga? I'm surprised," said Dave.
"Why because us 'weirdos' are supposed to look up to her?" said Mercedes in a very diva-like tone. Dave looked over at Kurt before going back to Mercedes, mid-bite with cheeseburger #1.
"Uh, no. I was just thinking she advocates for the arts and being creative and to be yourself… I thought that's what you guys were all about… Am I wrong? Kurt you gotta stop me when I'm saying stupid shit," said Dave.
"Dave, really, with the swearing? Stop. No you're right. We'll bring it up today at Glee club! Dave, come with me," said Kurt. Dave looked up at Kurt, confused.
"Do I hafta?" he asked, mouth full of burger. Kurt raised his eyebrows and then leaned down and whispered in his hear.
"Remember that thiiing that you wanted to do that was involving tongues…ya know…that thiiing….," said Kurt, imitating Emma Stone in Easy A. Dave's face went from disappointment to excitement. He got up quicker than a deer in headlights.
XoXoXoX
The afternoon went by faster than Dave expected and before he knew it he was in the choir room with Kurt and the rest of the Glee kids waiting for Mr. Shue. Dave noticed there were a bunch of song titles on the white board grouped in three columns.
"I just want to remind everyone to keep in mind when voting today to consider me and what I will sing the best. I'm always a Barbara but I can throw in a few pop hits here and there," said Rachel with a huge grin on her face. Everyone looked at her with pure annoyance which she noticed right away and her grin slowly faded.
"Is she always like that?" asked Dave. Kurt nodded before speaking up.
"But she's getting better…slowly…" Mr. Shue walked in at that time with Ms. Holliday and closed the door.
"Alright well let's get this underway! First things first, we gotta vote on our set list for Regionals. Now, uh, David, because you haven't auditioned, you aren't an active member which means you can't vote. Just wanted to make that clear," said Mr. Shuester.
Dave hung his head, feeling a little disappointed with the news.
"It's cool." Kurt looked at Dave before talking.
"Why don't you just audition right now and vote? I'm sure he'll allow it," said Kurt in a lowered voice.
"Nah it's cool. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to audition this close to Regionals anyways. What if I suck? It's fine." Kurt pouted to Dave but Dave wasn't budging.
"Alright, now, I have paper slips for your votes. Ms. Holiday and I came up with a list of songs for each category that we will be performing this weekend. Some we've done, some we haven't. We're going to vote for the song first and once we vote for the number, we're going to vote for the singers. Secret ballot. Got it?"
"And we've also thought that it was best if you don't vote for yourself, otherwise, we won't get anywhere because let's face it, you all love yourselves way too much," said Ms. Holiday. There were groans from the students, upset they couldn't vote for themselves.
"Okay, so first up is the ballad!" Everyone wrote down their choice and put it in a bowl at the front of the classroom. They voted for their anthem song and then a mash-up song. Mr. Shue and Ms. Holiday went to the piano and started tallying the votes. They both nodded in approval and went back to the class.
"Okay, so the song we are doing for the ballad is Someone Like You by Adele, the anthem song is Born This Way by Lady Gaga, and our mash-up is going to be Stereo Love/The Time (Dirty Bit)," announced Mr. Shue. Everyone seemed happy with the choices that they made.
"Alright, now it's time to vote for the singers. For Born This Way, you'll be choosing three soloists so choose wisely. In the mash-up, choose two soloists. This particular ballad will require only one soloist. And you can't repeat soloists either. As much as Mr. Shue likes to play it safe, you all need to shine at some point," Ms. Holiday said as she looked back at Mr. Shue, who wasn't particularly happy with what she just said, and gave him a coy wink. She turned back to the class and exclaimed "Happy hunting!" Everyone looked at each other as they wrote down who should sing which parts.
Once everyone was done and placed their votes in the bowl, Ms. Holiday and Mr. Shue tallied again. They looked at each other, then at the class, then back at each other and started to deliberate. Once they were done, it was Ms. Holiday who read out the votes.
"So, singing Someone Like You, we have a tie! And Will and I figured that this pairing hasn't happened yet so we'll see how it goes today, and if we like it, it'll be sung by both. Winners are Santana and Rachel!" Everyone gasped as they looked at the two divas who were equally as shocked.
"You're having me sing this song with the eighth, and forgotten, dwarf from Snow White?" said Santana. Rachel huffed and glared at Santana before turning her head back to Mr. Shue.
"I demand a recount!" she screamed.
"We're going to try this first! If it sounds good, well quite frankly we could use that talent at Regionals," said Mr. Shue.
"Who's going to judge then? Everyone is biased," said Rachel.
"The only person who didn't vote," said Holly. Everyone looked from the two teachers to David, who was picking at his shoe. He noticed the silence once again and was caught unprepared.
"Shit, what happened? What did I do?" he asked.
"You sir, are going to help us decide," said Holly. "Now, on to the next song. The three soloists for Born This Way are Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina…well, that's not stereotypical or anything. And finally, the two soloists featured in the mash-up are Quinn and Artie."
"Wait, I don't get a solo? But I'm better than everyone here," said Brittany. "Didn't we cover this when we were all channeling my nemesis Britney Spears?"
"What's more important is singing this song so David can choose me over Santana," said Rachel who stood up from her seat and walked down to the front of the classroom.
"Oh please, Sir Gay-A-Lot and I go way back," said Santana as she walked down from her seat and ran her hand through Dave's hair.
"Okay, let's get Brad in here and we can begin," said Mr. Shue. The piano man walked in and sat down with the sheet music in front of him. He started to play and Rachel began singing the first verse.
I heard that you settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.
Santana cued in to join the bridge harmonizing with Rachel.
I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,"
Yeah.
Santana sang the next verse and Rachel harmonized on the second bridge. Once they finished the song they got a round of applause and both singers looked at Dave. Dave looked around the room and then at the two girls.
"I gotta say it sounded amazing with you two singing it. I say stick with the two girls," said Dave and it seemed he wasn't the only one who thought so. Everyone who was watching seemed to have liked the combination in voices, even Rachel and Santana seemed to have liked it.
"I guess I could share the spotlight with you," said Rachel.
"Yeah, Yentl seems okay," responded Santana, followed by a smile.
