Chapter 3
So he's beautiful, and a countertenor.
"A countertenor!" Rachel squeaked from his side, "Can you believe he's being wasted on the Dance Programme?"
"You know him?" Blaine whispered, watching as the beautiful boy with blue eyes walked past their row.
"He's one of the Primas, everyone knows him," Rachel explained, turing back to face the stage when Finn started singing.
Blaine had never seen someone so beautiful in his life. Kurt Hummel was unequivocally stunning, and Blaine could hardly wait to see what else that boy could do. His voice was perfect, and with that countertenor range, Blaine could easily see them winning Nationals. There was something about Kurt that was oddly familiar, as if he'd already met him once upon a time, and Blaine couldn't wait to get to know that boy.
The auditions ended soon after Finn finished singing, and he followed Rachel out of the auditorium and to the carpark easily. Blaine's head was full of images of that boy, and quite frankly, Rachel wasn't too far off either.
"I mean I know he's twice my height and a little gangly, but wouldn't we make the most perfect couple?" Rachel gushed as she continued her prolonged monologue about Finn Hudson, "It's a pity he's not in the Music Programme."
"Why should that stop you?" Blaine asked, "I mean, if you like someone, it doesn't matter what Programme they're in-"
"Stop right there," Rachel interrupted, turning to face her newest friend, "You've been in this school for one week. You are not challenging the whole eco-system of McKinley simply because you're projecting some silly little crush you have on Kurt onto my situation."
"I don't have a crush on Kurt," Blaine protested.
"Sure you don't," Rachel grinned, "Your secret is safe with me. Now come on, the Lima Bean shuts in two hours and I have two binders full of song ideas for our first Glee duet together."
"You what?!" Blaine exclaimed, but let himself be dragged away by Rachel anyway.
"That woman is a psychopath," Kurt announced the following Tuesday as he left his final class of the day; Intense Cardio.
"Amen," Quinn heaved as she hobbled besides Kurt, the four of them barely able to stand after Sue's intense work-out.
"I can't feel my toes," Brittany whispered to her girlfriend as Santana wrapped her arm around Brittany's shoulders.
"I can't feel my heart," Kurt complained, ignoring Santana's breathless dig of "You had one of those?"
"I don't want to go to Glee Club," Brittany complained, "Can't we just skip?"
"Mike's going," Quinn added, pointing to the barely-standing Asian on the other side of the corridor.
"Mike didn't also have Prima practice all day on Sunday," Kurt pointed out, seriously debating Brittany's idea to skip.
"Come on guys," Santana pushed, "If we don't go in there and start getting the ball rolling for Sue, she'll skin us alive."
"Point taken," Kurt nodded, the quartet now walking through the music classroom corridor, "What room was it again?"
"M13," Quinn replied, her eyes scanning the room numbers until, finally, they came across the classroom at the end of the corridor.
Or well, what should've been a classroom. Even from peering through the open doorway, the quartet could tell the room hadn't been used in possibly decades. It had been mediocrely cleaned, with heaps of dust still pilled in the corner of the room with a brush. The seats had been arranged up a slightly elevated platform with different levels, like tiered seating in a theatre. A black piano had been dragged in from one of the music rooms, taking centre left of the floor.
But even with the newer furniture, the room was a mess. There was peeling paint from the walls and some of the chairs had pieces of the backs missing. The floors had black scratch marks, as if someone had danced on it with newly-painted shoes. The whiteboard was murky and unwashed, stained with whatever information the classroom had once been used to teach with.
"Glamorous," Santana remarked as the four stepped inside, looking around, "Looks nearly as good as the storage closet on the second floor."
"Hilarious," Quinn smirked, the four barely registering the others in the room as they took four seats in the back row of the room next to Mike Chang.
Kurt knew Mike was a talented dancer, but he just wasn't Prima material. He was more hip-hop and contemporary than jazz and ballet, and although there was nothing wrong with that, it had sort of created this invisible barrier between Mike and the rest of the Primas. That, and Mike wasn't much of a talker. Regardless, Kurt firmly believed they should stick together, as there were so few of them from the Dance Programme in the room.
People trickled in as the minutes passed by. It seemed that everyone who had auditioned had scored themselves a spot in Glee Club, as Kurt had expected. Kurt had opted to file his nails nonchalantly whilst the girls gossiped around him, but it was only when he heard the shrill voice of Rachel Berry did he look up.
Because there, standing next to Rachel at the front of the room, was none other than Blaine, clad in a grey cardigan that made him look just that little more adorable.
"Isn't this so exciting?" he heard Rachel squeal to Blaine as the two took two seats at the front, "So many people to sing backup for us."
"Excuse me but, who said we'll be singing backup?" a girl in the second row asked, who Kurt recognised as Mercedes from the audition.
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend anyone," Rachel amended, turning to face Mercedes, "It's just that Blaine and I have that special type of star quality that I'm all sure you witnessed on Friday. It would be silly not to give us the leads."
"Girl-" Mercedes started, obviously infuriated, but she was thankfully cut off by Mr Schue entering the room.
"Good afternoon everyone!" he smiled brightly, taking the front of the room as Rachel turned back around, "Welcome to the first rehearsal for the New Directions. I have to say, I was blown away by the amount of talent you guys displayed on Friday-"
"Thank you," Brittany replied, earning a few odd looks from the room.
"-Which is why," Mr Schuester continued, "I'm excited to start working on our songs for Sectionals. We're only a few months away, so let's get started. But first; I'd like us all to get to know each other better-"
"I'll start!" Rachel volunteered, raising her hand before swivelling and standing up along side Mr. Schuester, "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Rachel Berry, and I'm a singer on the Music Programme."
"Thank you Rachel," Mr Schue smiled almost awkwardly, gesturing for her to take a seat.
"I'm Blaine Anderson," Blaine supplied, turning in his seat to address the majority of the club, "I'm on the Music Programme with Rachel. I just transferred to McKinley last week, actually."
"Where did you transfer from Blaine?" Mr. Schue asked, crossing his arms.
"Dalton Academy," Blaine supplied with a smile, and Kurt felt his blood run cold.
He knew he'd recognised Blaine, and of course, of course he had to be from Dalton. He was probably in The Warblers, too. Kurt could feel Quinn's eyes on him, because Quinn knew, she knew exactly what Kurt had been doing that summer, and he couldn't stomach the thought of Blaine recognising him, or talking to him, or worse.
Kurt kept his composure, despite being an anxious mess inside. He didn't want his friends to know all the dirty little secrets of his summer, but if Blaine recognised him, he was doomed.
Kurt's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of the other students introducing themselves. Mercedes was the only other person in the Music Programme, which was quite surprising. Finn, Sam and Artie were all in the Drama Programme, with Artie having a main focus on directing. Tina and Puck were Visual Arts students, which explained Puck's paint-stained jeans and Tina's large black portfolio resting against the far left wall. Mike, Brittany and Santana introduced themselves, leaving just Kurt and Quinn.
"I'm Kurt Hummel," Kurt began, awkwardly waving, "I'm on the Dance Programme and I'm part of the Primas."
"And I'm Quinn Fabray," Quinn continued, "Captain of the Primas."
"Fantastic," Mr Schue smiled, "It's so great to have so many of you from different programmes here."
And so, the lesson began, with Mr Schue explaining the process they'd be undergoing. They had to win their Sectionals to perform in Regionals, and win their Regionals to perform in Nationals (which would be held in New York, much to Kurt's pleasure). It was only twenty minutes into the lesson when Mr Schuester announced they'd be dancing today, just to see where everyones ability was.
All five dancers groaned in pain, Mike especially, who nearly slipped off his seat. Some of the other students eyed them questioningly, but regardless, the five got up and joined the others at the front of the room.
It was going to be a long hour.
"Thank you guys for all your hard work," Mr Schue smiled at the New Directions, "I really want us to get to know each other better, to work as a team and as a family. I'll see you all back here Thursday after school."
With a final smile, Mr Schue left the room, eager to tell Miss Pillsbury all about McKinley's newest club.
The four Primas shuffled to get their stuff and go. They were exhausted, and Kurt couldn't wait to soak in a steamy hot bath. Maybe he'd read the newest copy of Vogue, or watch a film, or something to pamper himself with-
"We should have a party."
Everyone turned to Noah Puckerman, the self-proclaimed bad boy of the group. He smirked when he realised he'd indeed caught everyones attention.
"My place," Puck continued, "This Saturday. Mr Schue wants us to get to know each other better, right?"
"As the leader of this group-" Rachel began, ignoring Mercedes glares, "-I think we should focus on Sectionals and-"
"I think it's a great idea," Santana supplied, taking a step forwards with her signature bitch smirk, "I know I don't know you Berry, but I can already tell you're so tight up your own arse that you probably don't even know what the word fun means."
"I can have fun," Rachel defended, pausing before turning to Puck, "I'll be there."
"I'll get the booze," Puck continued, "We need to loosen up a little."
"Word," Artie agreed.
As everyone busied themselves with excitement, talking to their friends about the upcoming party, Blaine stared at Kurt. He couldn't get over just how elegant he looked, with his long lashes and bright blue eyes. He was stunning, angelic even. There was no way a boy like that would like a boy like him.
But the party, and the whole Glee Club, was a way to be close to him. And quite frankly, Blaine didn't mind that.