As soon as the bell rang, Kurt made his way to his desk. Blaine couldn't help but notice that the class was rather small. There were about twelve students, Kurt making thirteen. They were all as far away from Kurt as possible, so about half the classroom was empty. Blaine couldn't help but feel compassion towards his new friend, because he knew what it was like to be unpopular, and that only made him want to be Kurt's friend even more. After all, those days for him were miserable. Blaine was in his own world, so he didn't notice a young woman come up to him.
"Hello! You must be Blaine Anderson! The new transfer?" she asked with a smile. "I am Mrs. Rose! Welcome to McKinley High. Today we are starting our partner projects. I saw that you and Mr. Hummel walked in together. Do you know him?" she inquired.
"We just met today," Blaine replied. "He was kind enough to show me the way here."
"That's strange for Kurt, he is very introverted," she said with surprise. "I am the only person he really talks to. He comes in here for lunch, since that's when my free period is, and we discuss a variety of topics. I'm glad he's finally opening up!" she said with a smile.
"Yeah, he seems like an awesome guy," Blaine replied, while glancing over at Kurt, who was looking at his phone in concentration and probably playing a game. "I really want to get to know him better."
"Well you're in luck!" Mrs. Rose said with a bright smile. "We have an uneven class, so Kurt opted to work alone for his project, but since you're here you can be his partner!"
"Cool!" Blaine said reciprocating her smile. "What's the project over?"
"Today we start reading Of Mice and Men, and it's a two-and-a- half week project. Here's the syllabus," she said, turning around to pick up a piece of paper on her back table and handing it to Blaine. "You'll read the book all of this week, half of next week, and then you'll select a way to present what you think the themes of the book were. Most of the class will probably do a PowerPoint, but I have put more ideas on here to give everyone an opportunity to expand their horizons."
"Okay! Thanks a lot!" Blaine replied with a grin. As he turned to walk away, Mrs. Rose called out to him.
"Blaine, you think you might want a book?" She asked with a teasing smile and holding a copy of the book in her hand.
Blaine chuckled to himself for being silly, grabbed the book with a 'thanks,' and made his way to the desk next to Kurt's. Kurt smiled when he looked up and saw Blaine there.
"Hey there, stranger," he said.
"Hey there, partner," Blaine corrected.
"You really want to be my partner?" Kurt asked, shocked that Blaine wouldn't rather work with someone else in a trio.
"Of course I would, Kurt. Remember, we're friends now. Plus, I think that you're more intelligent than most of these people," Blaine said, pointing at a couple of jocks who were sleeping and one that was picking his nose.
"Well thank you. I'm glad I am not the only one who thinks so!" Kurt said with a blush and couldn't help his racing heart, much less his racing thoughts.
'This is bad, shitshitshitshitshit, I am falling for him. God, please no, just repress it Kurt. It will go away….Right?'
