"Ok, high school. How do you feel about it? Go." Kurt said, walking into his room with a bowl of popcorn to join Mercedes and Tina; who were looking through various sets of clothes from each of their closets to pick out an outfit for their first day of high school.
"Scared out of my mind, but at least we'll be styling and profiling when we get there. Tina?" Mercedes said, slipping one of Kurt's hats on. Tina looked up from the outgrown tops that Mercedes had brought her and thought for a moment.
"Kind of nervous, but why worry about it right now? We still have over twelve hours left of freedom left. Kurt?"
"Nervous, very nervous. But it's no big deal, my best girls are going to be right there with me." He said, moving to inspect his closet. Tina laughed and Mercedes pulled a clothes hanger on him.
"You better believe it! William McKinley won't know what hit them!"
"Or bit them. I swear if that phyco principle sees my family in the grocery store one more time, he's going to have a heart attack. Imagine what he'll do now that I go to school there!" She said, pulling out one of her black, lacy blouses. Kurt rushed to her side, excitedly sorting through her clothes until he found her red tank top, leather skirt with red lacy trim, and a black sparkly hat. Tina squealed and ran into the bathroom to change. When she came out, striking runway poses and strutting around Kurt's basement the friends gushed over how amazing she looked. Then they collapsed on the bed, laughing from their fashion high.
"So, tell us about Arrrrtie!" Mercedes cooed, wagging her finger at Tina. She blushed, looking like a shy school girl.
"Um…we've become a good friend, that's about it."
"Oh please Tina, we're not blind. You might be friends for now but you can't honestly tell me you don't really like him." Kurt said, leaning over on his knees to smile playfully at her. Tina couldn't hide the small smile that lit her face up as the butterflies in her stomach went crazy. Both of her friends shrieked happily and almost tackled her as they bombarded her with questions. But Tina didn't mind, she was having the time of her life.
But morning inevitably came, and Kurt's alarm clock seemed to wake them up way too early. Somehow they managed to drag themselves out of bed and get dressed (not too tired to risk not looking fabulous on their first day though.) Kurt's father drove them to school in relative silence, and before any of them were ready, they were standing in front of the scariest sight they had ever seen. High School.
"Wow, it's so…big." Tina said, her voice sounding small and almost scared. The three looked at each other, and without a word intertwined hands, forming a chain of strength as they braced themselves for what was to come.
Ok, so the first day wasn't so bad. Mercedes' cousin had shown them around the school, making sure that they knew where their classes were. They changed classes, but certain groups had the same schedule, and some bizarre twist of fate put the three friends in the same circuit. And to Tina's excitement, Artie was also in their circuit, and the four sat together in every class. The teachers didn't seem too bad, but a lot of the teachers either fell asleep in the middle of their lectures or just didn't teach and gave you simple worksheets. Failing was not going to be an issue, and ten minutes into each class, the group was finished and approaching boredom. But all in all, high school wasn't so bad.
Of course, the inevitable yet had to be tacked onto the end of that theory. The other kids were getting used to the idea too, and Tina had no doubts that their methods were going to change. Still, she didn't dwell on it, and she almost let her guard down. Almost a week went by before they realized that they couldn't stay in this blissful phase of peace long.
The day it happened, Artie and Kurt were nowhere to be found. The girls didn't think too much of it, seeing as they had seen them first period. Maybe they were skipping class? Either way, they were alone when they were cornered in the lone hallway. Every sane person was already in the cafeteria, celebrating their hour of freedom. Everyone but the ignorant jocks holding their captives hostage with multicolored slushies.
"Oh come on, this is so inma…ah!" Was all Tina was able to say before at least five of the slushies hit her. She gasped, trying to get her breath back as the cold ice stung her face and rolled down her shirt.
"Later losers, oh, and welcome to McKinley High!" They called out, laughing as they walked away. The girls didn't seem to care as they tried to get the sticky goop out of their eyes and regain movement. Once they did, they shuffled to the bathroom.
Cleaning up was a mess, but at least they were able to use hot water and warm up. Mercedes quietly fumed and Tina tried not to cry. Even with the water steaming up the mirrors in the small bathroom, both of the girls were still shivering.
"Well we still have thirty minutes of lunch and I don't really want to go to the cafeteria to give them a chance to slushy us again. Want to go outside?" Mercedes asked, breaking the tense silence. Tina nodded, following her friend to the doors.
"Oh, it feels so good out here." She said happily, feeling a lot better. Mercedes smiled at her, sitting down in the soft grass.
"Yea, it does. I wonder what happened to Kurt and Artie?" She asked, almost as an afterthought. Tina immediately took out her phone and checked her messages. She only had one from Artie, and it was gibberish. She knew something was wrong then, Artie always used 'proper grammar' in his texts.
"Maybe we should go look for them." She stood, brushing the grass quickly off her pants before heading to the closest spot, which just so happened to be the football field. She called Artie's phone as Mercedes called Kurt's, and they were surprised to hear faint ringtones. They headed toward the field, but then they just got fainter. Both girls turned, trying to find the source of the sound. The only thing they saw was an overturned pot-a-potty.
"Artie, Kurt? Where are you?" Tina put her hands to her mouth to make her voice louder as Mercedes prepared to listen hard, even though she didn't need to.
"Hey, yo were in here!" Artie's voice seemed panicked and strained. The girls barely spared each other a glance before they raced to tare the door open. Sure enough, they saw them both cramped inside. Artie's wheelchair had nearly fallen backward, and the only thing keeping him upright was Kurt. He was pinned between the wall and Artie's chair.
"Jesus, are you guys ok?" Mercedes reached out her hands as if to try and sort through the tangled mess of bodies, but she had no idea where to begin.
"Yea, I'm fine, but I fell over on Kurt. I think he's hurt." Artie said, panicking as he tried to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. Sure, he was uncomfortable, but he would be ok if Kurt would just talk to him. He had in the beginning, but as the hours wore on he had gotten quieter and quieter until he hardly answered him at all. Artie was all but in a frenzy when he heard Tina's voice.
"Ok, we have to get Artie out first. Can you grab his legs 'Cedes?" Tina was trying her best to get a good grip on Artie under his arms, but she was at an awkward angle. She knew they would probably have to drag him out.
"Kurt honey, can you hear me? Talk to me please." Mercedes pleaded as she grabbed Artie's legs, straining to think how they could do this without hurting either of them more. She knew that she needed a clear head, but she found that hard to do when her best friend was eerily silent.
"I..i'm ok. I'm fine." Artie tensed at the sound of how pained and breathless Kurt's voice was. He automatically willed himself to be lighter.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." His voice was barely a murmur as the girls tried to gently slide him out of the disgusting stall and onto the ground. They tried to sit him down gently, but couldn't keep their grip long enough to get him to the ground.
"Artie, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, just get him out." He waved them away, laying out on the grass and finally letting his tense muscles relax. Mercedes was back at the stall immediately, now able to poke her head in a little as she spoke to her now panting friend.
"Hey, let's get you out of here, ok?" She said quietly, helping him onto the ground next to Artie. She didn't like how he was so breathless, but he was moving, so that had to be good. She sat down next to him, catching his hand out of habit.
"Are you alright? Gosh, you must have been in there a long time." She said, helping him sit when he started to pull himself up.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just kind of breathless and sore, but that will be over soon." Kurt closed his eyes, as if concentrating on his breathing. Sure enough, he managed to slow it down. Satisfied that he wasn't in any immediate danger, she looked to Artie.
"What happened?" Tina had just gotten the wheelchair out of the port-a-potty, but they left it alone for a few minutes as the four sat on the ground, trying to catch their breath. Artie suddenly looked angry as he started to tell the story.
"I was going to ask the councilor about the handicap door when a bunch of football players came up behind me and started pushing my chair toward the field. Kurt was on his way to the bathroom and followed, but he didn't catch up until they got outside. He argued with them, said that putting a handicapped student in a port-a-potty was harassment and they could get expelled, but they just shoved us both in there. They left us like that for like, ten minutes before they turned it over. My chair would have flipped over, and I probably would have fell if Kurt hadn't tried to catch me and got stuck. Those punks just left." Artie's voice was more filled with disbelief than malice at the end. It was quiet for a moment before both girls started ranting.
"Oh hell to the no!"
"They cant just get away with that, can they?"
"They can, but we're not going to let them." Kurt was the one to finally calm them down, speaking normally for the first time. Tina turned to see his small smile.
"How?"
"Oh trust me, we'll just do what we do best."
"You ready for this?"
"Oh yeah, hit it girl." Artie pressed play on the boom box on his lap that they had brought to with them. Mercedes, Kurt, and Tina all jumped up on the bleachers and instantly started swaying. Half the football team looked at them like they were crazy, and the other half tried to ignore them. That is, until Kurt started singing.
You went to school to learn girl, what you never never knew before…
Artie smiled, seeing they had their attention as he jumped in.
I I say I before E except after C
And why 2+2 makes 4 now now now I'm gonna teach you
Tina and Mercedes joined in, singing in perfect harmony
Teach you, teach you
All about love girl
all about love
Sit yourself down, take a seat
All you gotta do is repeat after me They all came in, swaying in time.
A B C easy as
1 2 3, oh simple as
do re mi, A B C, 1 2 3 baby you and me girl
1 2 3 baby you and me
Come on let me love you just a little bit
Come on let me love u just a little bit
I'm gonna teach you how to sing it out
Come on come on come on let me show you what it's all about
Reading and writing, arithmatic
all the branches of the learning tree
and now let me tell you girl
education makes complete Tite- Tite- Tite-
Artie's gonna show you
show you, show you
How to get a name
How to get a name
Let me show you what you have to do
Listen to me baby that's all you gotta do
A B C, easy as
1 2 3, oh simple as
Do Re Mi, A B C, 1 2 3, baby you and me girl
A B C, it's easy it's like counting up to 3
sing a simple melody
that's how easy love can be
sing a simple melody
1 2 3, you and me! Kurt jumped down from the bleacher, facing the girls with his hand on his hips. The three had to resist not laughing at his serious expression.
Sit down girl!
I think I love you!
No! Get up girl!
Show me what you can do. The girls jumped up, starting to the twist as Kurt was mock teaching them.
Shake it shake it baby
come on now
shake it shake baby
ooh ooh
shake it shake it baby
Ho!
1 2 3, baby
ooh ooh
A B C baby
na na
do re mi, baby
No!
That's how easy love can be
A B C, it's easy it's lake counting up to 3
sing a simple melody
that's how easy love can be
They finished the song in a line, jazz hands high in the air. The whole team was staring at them now, seeming to be at a loss for words.
"So put that in your juice box if you can find the straw popular kids." Tina said as disdainfully as they had called them losers. Artie made a sizzle noise as she undid the breaks on his chair, then together they walked toward Mercedes' mother's van, bell bottoms dragging the ground.
A/N Long, chapter is long! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I hope this makes up for it! I had to pause for a moment when I realized that I have a problem. After I got off my Klaine high from "Original Songs', I realized that it kind of ruined my plot line. I knew I would probably have to mess with it, but now I kind of feel bad making Blaine be the bad guy for a while. Oh well, I just hope no one hates me for that! So…please review and tell me what you think! Oh by the way, I don't own Glee, or its characters, just thought you should know that ;)