Karofsky was annoyed because Kurt hadn't been at school the day before, so he set out on a mission to find him for an early-morning "welcome back" slushie. He wandered around the school looking for Kurt. He checked in the choir room, the auditorium, and even the library before giving up and drinking the slushy he had bought that morning. He was annoyed that he hadn't bought a blue one like he had the day before since he wasn't all that fond of the cherry ones, but he drank it anyway.
When he finally saw Kurt after lunch, he looked different. Happier. Karofsky faked sick ten minutes before his class ended so he could grab another slushie and be in position to toss it at Kurt. His plan was foiled when Coach Sue caught him in the hall approaching the slushie machine and escorted him to the nurse's office. After the nurse took his temperature, he was released. Since she was standing in the doorway watching still, he begrudgingly went to his American Literature course.
He was still annoyed that Kurt had managed to evade his early-morning slushie. He stewed about it all during English. When the bell finally rang, Karofsky knew just where Kurt should be, and he immediately headed there. He found Kurt walking down the hall, staring at his phone and smiling, which just infuriated him even more. He grabbed Kurt by the shoulders and shoved him halfway across the hall into the locker bay. He didn't stop to look back.
After the guys in the New Directions blatant effeminophobic reaction to the girls versus guys competition on Monday and after spending several hours at Dalton on a guided tour as a potential new student the day before, Kurt's tolerance for Karofksy's bullying had dropped to an all-time low, so when he was suddenly practically thrown into the locker bank, he straightened himself up and pursued Karofsky to the guys' locker room.
Kurt followed him in shoving the door back hard enough to hit the wall. "I'm talking to you!"
"Girls' locker room is next door."
"What is your problem?"
"Excuse me?"
"What are you scared of?" Kurt threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Besides you sneaking in here to peek at my junk?" He reached into his locker to pull some things out.
"Oh, yeah, every straight guys' nightmare–"
Karofsky turned back around and faced Kurt.
"–that all of us gays are secretly out to molest and convert you." Kurt stood his ground and practically yelled at Karofsky. "Well, guess what, ham hock?"
Dave went back to loading the gear from his locker into his duffle bag.
"You're not my type."
Dave stood up angrily and actually stepped towards Kurt this time. "That right?"
Kurt stood his ground and smarted back. "Yes, I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are going to be bald by the time they're 30."
Karofsky's face became more enraged. He leaned in and began to form a fist with his right hand. His words were venomous. "Do not push me, Hummel."
Kurt stood resolute. "You going to hit me?"
Dave moved closer. "Don't push me!"
"Do it," Kurt egged him on.
Karofsky used his left hand to slam his locker shut.
"Hit me 'cause it's not going to change who I am. You can't punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!" Kurt practically snarled.
Karofsky insisted, "I said, 'Get out of my face!'" But despite his words, he closed the space between them.
Kurt pointed his finger in Karofsky's face. "You are nothing but a scare little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are."
Before he had time to process what was happening, Karofsky stepped closer and reached for him. Kurt came to his senses quickly and grabbed Karofsky's wrists. His quick reflexes knocked Karofsky off-center and Kurt was able to shove him back.
"No! You will not touch me that way!"
He shoved Karofsky back again and he caught the back of his left leg on the narrow bench in front of the lockers. Karofsky was stunned. He managed to catch himself before he fell backwards over the bench. He moved back and leaned against the lockers on the other side of the bench. His face was contorted in rage and frustration.
Kurt bore down on him and got back in his face. "You will meet me after school in Miss Pillsbury's office."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll tell Coach Sue what you just tried to do."
"Why would she believe you?"
"Miss Pillsbury's office today or Coach Sue's tomorrow. Your choice."
He slammed his hand against the lockers again. "Fine. I'll meet you after school today." He grabbed his bag and stomped out of the room.
Once Karofsky was gone, the adrenaline rush dissipated quickly and Kurt plopped down on the bench. He leaned forward and propped his head in his hands for a minute and focused on calming his breathing. What the fuck did I just do?
Dave took off down the hall and out of the building. He tossed his duffle across the seat in his truck and climbed in and sat down. He crossed his arms in front of him on the steering wheel and leaned forward with his forehead propped on his forearms.What the fuck did I just do?
Dave plopped down in the vacant chair, closest to the door. He got back up and closed the door to the office and sat back down.
"Thank you for joining us, David."
He rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
"Kurt has brought it to my attention that you are in need of some guidance and are interested in turning over a new leaf, shall we say. Is that not the case?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever."
"David, if this isn't your idea, I'll have to go ahead and let the two of you leave. I can only counsel a student if the student seeks out my counsel or is referred to me by a teacher for a specific reason, such as incomplete homework or disruptive classroom behavior."
"Yes, fine. I'm here of my own free will and I would love to be a better person."
Completely missing his sarcasm, Miss Pillsbury went on. "Great. I'm generally a pamphlet type person, but I've never actually created one for no longer wanting to be a bully. I never thought I'd have the need for one."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "This school is rife with bullying. And if you don't see it, you are either willfully ignorant or woefully blind."
Karofsky stifled a laugh.
"That's enough, Kurt. I do know that there is a lot of bullying. I'm just not in a position to do anything about it. I have no authorization to expel students. That's Principal Figgins' job."
"Which he is neglecting to do," Kurt interjected. "Anyway, Karofsky–"
"David–" Miss Pillsbury provided. "In order to improve the situation, I believe it would be best if the two of you used your first names."
"Anyway, David assaulted me in the hallway today and broke the screen on my phone. I would like him to pay for the cost of repairing it."
"Is that true, David?"
"Yeah. Just tell me how much and I'll get it. It might take a day or two. I have some money in a savings account that I'll have to actually go to the bank to withdraw."
"Well, the last time you broke my phone screen, it cost me $107 to have it replaced."
"Fine, I'll bring it day after tomorrow unless I leave here early enough to make it to the bank today."
"You can bring it and drop it off in an envelope and I'll make sure that Kurt gets it."
David nodded. "Fine. Is that all?"
"Of course not," Miss Pillsbury said. "I need to know which areas in your life you want to improve in the most so that I can be prepared the next time we meet."
"The next time?"
"Restitution for a singular act of bullying does not make you a less angry or violent person, David."
"How about you just order me to leave him alone?" David fired back. "That way when I get ragged by the team for not participating in the bullying I can tell them that I've been ordered to stay away from him."
"I think that defeats the purpose of you learning to control your anger," she stated matter-of-factly. "If I order you to leave him alone, that does not require any change of heart, which is what I understood to be your ultimate goal."
"Right."
"I do have a pamphlet on anger control. Let's start with that one." She looked through her display and pulled one out. "How to Calm the Beast Within". She handed it to him.
He read through it halfheartedly, but did his best to look completely engaged. When he finished it, he said, "That was really helpful. I think I can put these ideas into practice."
She smiled cheerfully. "I'm glad to hear that."
"Are you going to call my parents about this?"
"No, I won't be calling your parents at Kurt's request. If Kurt returns and says that you weren't serious and that you've assaulted him again, I will have no choice but to send the matter on to Principal Figgins and your parents, who will meet to discuss the issue. You've offered to make reparations for the damage you caused earlier this afternoon and you've told me that you want to overcome your anger issues. It's my job to help you with that. Kurt said that he's willing to overlook your previous behavior if you take steps to get your anger under control and you stop bullying him."
"Got it. So is that it for today?" he asked in his most polite voice.
"I'd like you to come in and talk to me once a week."
"Sure. As long as you don't call my parents, I'll come in whenever you want."
"That's great. I'm glad you're so invested in making positive changes."
Dave did his best to look cooperative and cheerful. He stood up.
Kurt jumped up and followed him out to his truck.
"Would you just leave me the fuck alone?"
"Great job in there. You should audition for a play, if we ever have one. I had no idea what a great actor you are."
"I can sing too, Fancy. Are you impressed?"
"I could be. But you could be lying."
"I'm not. I was the boy soloist in our church's kids' choir for the seven years that I was a member." He unlocked the driver's side.
"Impressive." Kurt slipped passed him and climbed into his truck and slid over to the passenger seat, putting the duffle in the center.
"Why the hell are you in my truck?"
"My dad dropped me off this morning. He told me to find my own way home because he needed to take my Navigator to Dayton to pick up an order because his truck is up on the lift at the shop waiting for me to work on it. I didn't get it done yesterday because I got to work late, so the consequences were that he took my Navigator today. So, can you please drop me off at the shop or I'll be without my Nav again tomorrow."
"You fix cars?"
"Yes. Can we please get going? I'm already nearly a half-hour late."
"Alright, bossy pants. I have things to do too. And they didn't include being your chauffeur." He put the key in the ignition and turned it over, and over again, and a third time before it started."
"You need to get that fixed or you're going to burn the starter out."
"Is that so?"
"It is."
David pulled out and stopped at the edge of the parking lot. "Which way?"
"Right."
Less than ten minutes later, they pulled into the lot.
"Make an appointment. I'll fix your truck."
"You might cut the brakes."
"Not a chance. I'm a professional. I need a job, and being a mechanic pays a lot better than flipping burgers. Plus, that would come back and hurt my dad's business."
"Why do you need a job if your dad owns this place?"
"Because my dad is a big proponent of hard work and he's not a fan of giving out money for free. I like to dress nice. I like to go to shows, buy CDs, DVDS, download music – you know, things that cost money."
"Got it."
"I take it that your parents give you an allowance."
"Yeah, and in the summer I work as a filing clerk for my dad's law firm. I have to put the money I earn in savings. That's how I bought my truck."
"Nice. Well, if you don't want it to fall apart, make an appointment. You need at least one new spark plug, work done on your starter, and your exhaust pipe is cracked."
"You didn't even look at anything. How do I know you're not just making it up to get money out of me?"
"Take it somewhere else if you want a second opinion. No skin off my nose." He reached for the door handle. "Look. What happened in the locker room won't ever happen again without my permission. Consent, David. It's important. But I won't tell anyone either. You're obviously dealing with some deep-seeded internalized homophobia and you're taking it out on me. I won't be your punching bag anymore. I know how hard it is to come to terms with being gay, and that's in a home with a supportive parent. I know nothing about your home life, but you are obviously very unhappy about the fact that you're gay and you hate me for being gay. I have to go." He opened the door and got out.
Kurt was about ten feet from the truck when David said, "I don't hate you. I want you so bad that I can't think clearly." He pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.