Warning this chapter includes non graphic mentions of bullying and suicide.
Rachel, Kurt and Blaine laughed as they watched as the group rushed upstairs pushing and shoving to be first.
"I want to be next to Rachel's room!" Kurt said in a falsetto voice.
"No, I want to!" Blaine said back playfully shoving him.
"Guy shut up!" Rachel said shoving them both trying not to laugh at them.
"Come on, let go hang out and what for Rachel's love connections to get back," Kurt said.
They all went to the lobby and sat at the table that the producers had set up for them. They laughed and joked around with each other as they waited for the contestants to settle in and return downstairs. After about fifteen minutes the group returned Blaine settled them down and had them form a single file line before returned to his seat.
They called the first person in and a tall man walked in. He had brunette hair and a face that looked like a bit of a toddler. He swaggered in with a lopsided grin.
"So tell us your name and a bit about yourself," Rachel told him.
"My name is Finn Hudson. I was the quarterback and captain of my highschool team and I was prom king, he said with his chest puffed out.
"Okay?" Kurt said extremely confused. "You're what like twenty-three now. Why are you talking about stuff that happened five years ago? What about now?"
"Uh, now? Well, now I work at the local garage in town," he said sheepishly shrugging.
"Now I see why he would prefer to talk about high school," Blaine said as he and Kurt held back laughter.
"Guys stop being mean. I totally understand him wanting to put his best foot forward. My mom always said 'when you are trying to impress somebody to put your best foot forward.'" Rachel said smiling causing Finn to smile back at her.
"He looks familiar," Blaine said. "Where did you say you were from again?"
"Lima, Ohio," he said, "You probably never heard of it."
"No kidding you came from Lima? He had to have gone to McKinley. That's the only highschool in Lima," Kurt said.
"Yeah, the team that only won one game in it's entire history. Looks like his best foot is a bit lame," Blaine said with a cruel laugh.
"Guys what are you doing?" Rachel asked. "You're being unnecessary cruel."
"I think we should call him Minimum Wage. Since he has nothing going for him other than that," Blaine said.
"What?! Blaine no!" Rachel said at the same time as Finn called out.
"Fuck no!"
"Three nicknames, no vetoes," Kurt said as he wrote the name on the tag and handed it to Finn.
Rachel sighed and acquiesced, "I'm sorry, but that will your nickname."
"This is bullshit!" Finn said kicking the chair in the corner as he stormed out of the room.
"Okay, guys, what the heck was that about?" Rachel asked.
Blaine and Kurt looked at each other, sighed, and Blaine explained, "Back when I was at Dalton Academy I used to go to these support meetings for gay teens. I made friends with this guy named David Karofsky. He was a football player at McKinley and he was in the closet. He was struggling with with coming out and I was helping him. I advised him to start small tell someone close to him. He told his best friend, the captain of the football team. Rather than support him like a real friend, he blabbed it to the rest of the school. David was bullied for months before it became too much and he killed himself."
"Finn said he was captain of the football team," Rachel said nodding her understanding. "You can't blame him for something that he did over five years ago.
"Well he still looks like a smug jackass to me," Blaine said.
"Fine, believe what you will but understand I cannot and will not allow your clear bias against him effect his position in this competition," Rachel said.
"Yeah, okay, but it will be up to you to explain to your two gay dads that you are dating a homophobe. I wish you all the luck in the world with that," Kurt told her raising an eyebrow.
Rachel just rolled her eyes and called out, "Next person!"
A/N: So I had actually planned to have this chapter include more than Finn and to have a totally different nickname for him but this narrative just sort of came to me and I liked it better than my original so it is the one I chose. I am hoping to introduce Quinn next chapter as long as my muses don't slap me with a different narrative.