Not that Blaine and Tina weren't excited about their classes and the year ahead of them, but they would be lying if they said that they weren't relieved that it was lunch time and they had a chance to relax.
"I am WIPED OUT." Blaine admitted to Tina as they left the lunch line with full trays of food. "I'm going to eat all of this, and probably come back for seconds!"
"Slow down, bud, we need to find a seat first." Tina said, clutching her lunch tray nervously and looking out into the vast and crowded cafeteria. "And I have an inkling the first lunch of college is going to be just like the first lunch of high school: awkward."
It seemed that just like in high school, the NYADA students had fallen into a series of cliques: the jocks, the nerds, the hipsters, etc. The only problem was, Tina and Blaine were not sure of their place, and decided it was best to just sit alone.
"Well, if it isn't a couple of Lima losers." A voice said, and Tina and Blaine turned around to see Kurt giving a good natured laugh.
"Kurt!" Tina squealed, jumping up to give him a hug.
"You're here!" Blaine beamed, and gave him a bit of a lengthy hug.
"Well, where else would I be?" Kurt laughed.
"Not sitting with a couple of Lima losers who are too afraid to branch out and meet new people." Tina said miserably. "You should probably be with your much cooler friends."
"Oh, please! I want to sit with you guys!" Kurt said, taking the seat next to Blaine. "My friends can wait; I don't have to sit with the same people every day."
"Speaking of friends, where's Rachel?" Blaine asked.
"Ugh, probably surrounding herself with her adoring fans." Kurt rolled her eyes. "Look, I love Rachel, and I'm glad we're best friends and roommates, but at NYADA, we like a bit of space."
"You mean you like a bit of space or she isn't willing to give you the time of day?" Tina asked.
"A bit of both, actually." Kurt said casually. "I like my space because she doesn't give me the time of day, but it doesn't bother me- I don't like the people she hangs out with."
Tina and Blaine exchanged nervous glances, which Kurt caught. "Aww, you two are afraid you're going to get sick of each other!" Kurt cooed, "Don't worry; neither of your egos are as big as Rachel's. You two will be fine."
"We better be, considering we have almost every class together." Blaine said.
"And considering we've had yet to make any other friends." Tina said miserably, picking at her food.
"Oh, come on you guys, it's only your first day!" Kurt said encouragingly.
"Well its everyone else's first day and they seem to be doing just fine." Blaine huffed angrily.
"Well maybe you two should put yourself out there instead of sitting here isolated!" Kurt pointed out.
"No fair! You know I'm shy!" Tina whined.
"The Tina Cohen-Chang I know evolved from a shy Goth freshman into a confident, sassy diva by senior year. So do NOT use the shy excuse on me." Kurt said wisely.
"Exactly. I was shy freshman year. And since I am a freshman again, I'm going to be shy again." Tina retorted.
"You know what? I don't even care!" Blaine said. "I've got my two best friends by my side right here, who needs new people anyway?!"
"Well, you're going to need new friends soon. I don't have lunch at this time every day so you can't always count me being here. And I don't like to judge but I'll admit...if you two don't add more people to your lunch table you'll be branded as antisocial losers."
"Gee, thanks, Kurt!" Tina said sarcastically.
"It's the truth! I'm just looking out for you guys!" Kurt laughed.
"Where's 'Blainey Days'?" Sam asked when Tina returned from school, mocking her affectionate nickname for Blaine.
"He went for coffee with Kurt." Tina replied, hopping on a stool at the kitchen counter. "They invited me, but I kinda got the feeling that they wanted to be alone."
"I see. Taste this, will you?" Sam asked, feeding her a spoonful of pasta sauce. Tina gave him a shocked expression. "Too spicy?"
"No, I'm just surprised you're cooking such a fancy dinner. Or the fact that you're cooking dinner at all." She said thoughtfully. "What's your angle? Are you apologizing for something? Oh my gosh, did you break something?! Set something on fire?!"
"No, I'm innocent!" Sam laughed. "I just assumed after your first day of school you'd be too tired to want to make anything."
"You thought correct." Tina sighed.
"And I thought if I'm making the food, I might as well make something special, right?" Sam said. "Because this will be a rarity. Tell me, does this garlic bread look done?"
Tina stared at him in shock. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm feeling great, actually. I had an awesome workout today. Why?"
"Because I never thought I'd see you in the kitchen utilizing cooking skills that didn't involve heating up frozen food in the microwave." She said honestly.
"You'll see plenty of that in the future, trust me." Sam assured her. "But when my family was going through a rough time with money, my parents were working a lot. I really had to step up to the plate and take care of things around the house, like dinner. So I guess I'm kind of a good cook." He explained as he handed Tina a fresh plate of fancy pasta equipped with garlic bread before she headed to the kitchen table. "Hey, do you think Blaine will be back for dinner?"
"He said they were going out for coffee, but my senses tell me there will be a little more than just that." Tina told him. "No use waiting around for him. Guess it's just you and me tonight."
"I don't mind if you don't." Sam winked as he took a seat opposite her at the table, and Tina smiled before hastily taking a bite of pasta, unable to think of a sufficient response to his flirty comment.
"My God, this is amazing!" She exclaimed.
"You're just saying that." Sam said modestly, but couldn't help but grin.
"To be honest, I was expecting it to not taste as good as it looked, but it tastes even better than it looked!" She said, eagerly taking another huge bite.
Sam laughed. "So, how was school?" He asked.
"Good. It's everything I wanted and more. I love my classes, and I have several with Blaine, which is nice." She said thoughtfully. "Although, I have had a bit of trouble making friends."
"Tina, calm down, it's the first day!" Sam said.
"Yeah, but everyone else seemed to be making friends just fine!" Tina told him.
"Well you have lots of classes with Blaine, right? So at least you always have a friend." Sam pointed out.
"Yeah, but he's already going off with Kurt and leaving me to walk home by myself! I want him and Kurt to get back together, but I'm just worried if they do, I'll be the ultimate third wheel and then I'll have no one to talk to at school." She admitted.
"Hey, the Tina Cohen-Chang I know would NOT be worried about this. She would MAKE people want to be friends with her by showing how cool and talented she is." Sam said encouragingly.
"Thanks, Sam." She smiled.
"Worst comes to worst, just find your own boyfriend to rival Kurt and Blaine!" He joked.
"That might be a little hard. I've never been the best with boys, and the girl to guy ratio at NYADA is kind of uneven. And to be honest, there seems to be plenty more gay guys than straight guys at NYADA."
"Perfect! Just your type!" Sam teased.
"Shut up!" Tina giggled.
"Oh, c'mon, you set yourself up for that one!" Sam said fairly.
"Fine, just go ahead and add another 'vaporape' joke while we're at it." Tina sighed.
"Hm. Can't think of one at the moment." Sam said thoughtfully.
"That's a first." Tina said bitterly.
Sam chuckled. "See, you're funny, Ti! Just talk to the kids at NYADA like you're talking to me and you'll have plenty of friends in no time!"
"Thanks, Sam." She beamed. "But enough about me, how about you? How's the job search going?"
"Good, I think. I have an interview at the 'Steam and Cream' tomorrow afternoon." He said.
"Ooh, sounds fancy." Tina gushed.
"It's really just your average coffee shop." He shrugged. "But I think it'll work well with my class schedule. I'm a bit nervous for starting college next week."
"Why?"
"I don't know anybody! I'm going to have no friends!" He whined.
"Are you kidding me?!" Tina scoffed. "You get mad at me for being worried about not making friends, yet here you are whining about how you won't make any! Hypocrite!"
"Not fair! These are totally different scenarios; you have Blaine at school with you, while I'll be alone." Sam said.
"But you also have a killer personality. I sure don't have that for me. I'm almost positive that at least one point last year, every person in the Glee club wanted to kill me except Blaine."
"More than one point, actually." Sam added.
"Exactly!"
"I was kidding."
"Well, maybe you were, but the newbies sure had it out for me!" She said, then returned to the subject at hand. "But you? Everyone loves you! You've got a heart of gold, you do hilarious impressions, you're kind, responsible, funny, and you've got an awesome body."
"What was that last part again?" Sam smirked. "I have an awesome what?"
"Oh, shut up, Mr. Modesty; don't make me say it again!" Tina sighed. "You're getting a bit too cocky for my liking."
"And since when have you ever even liked me?" Sam teased. "Best frenemies forever, right?"