Kurt dawdled slowly behind the queue of students waiting for lunch. Mercedes was behind him, and they both held red trays, wondering what lunch for today would be.
Things had been troubling Kurt for a long time now—the situation with Karofsky had only gotten worse and the only person he could talk to about it lived an hour and a half away.
Even Mercedes wouldn't understand.
'I am shaking, and it's either from low blood sugar or rage.' He stated. 'I knew it was only a matter of time before Rachel tried to take over the Glee club.'
Mercedes pulled a face.
Rachel had taken full advantage of Mr Schuester's absence to turn all attention on—what they were constantly reminded was—her solo for Sectionals. She had them all thinking about what songs would sound best with her wide range of vocal notes.
This had pushed Santana over the edge, and she threatened to go all 'Lima Heights Adjacent' on Rachel, not for the first time. Rachel had screamed. Kurt just laughed.
'You'll forget all about it tonight at bowling.' Mercedes assured him, as they piled their plates with food.
'I can't.' Kurt said, observing the mediocre selection. 'Blaine asked me to hang out.'
Mercedes seemed upset. 'But we've been looking forward to it all week.'
Kurt couldn't even turn around to face her. He'd felt distant from everybody lately, including his best friend, and he just needed somebody to talk to, somebody who he could talk to about all the things he enjoyed.
'Wait, are you two going out, because, I think you need to come clean.' She said, following him round the cafeteria.
'What—no. I'm not another Rachel/Jessie traitor scenario to overcome. Please Mercedes, mum's the word.' Kurt replied, concentrating a little too hardly on which salad to pick.
'We'd be happy for you.' Mercedes said, sensing there was something Kurt wasn't telling her. 'I mean we know how lonely you've been.'
'We just hang out, nothing about Glee club even comes up.' Kurt assured her, looking over the chips and deciding against them. He liked his chats with Blaine, usually they talked about everything but Glee club. The only time it had ever been different was when Kurt had complained about New Directions' recent lack of creativity, and Blaine had suggested they cover a more recent song.
'It's just nice to have someone to talk to.' Kurt sighed, taking a firm hold of his tray and walking to another serving table.
'What's that supposed to mean?' Mercedes asked, following him.
'It means someone like me.' Kurt said. 'But I promise to make it up to you.'
Behind him, Mercedes' face looked concerned.
'We'll hang out Friday night.' Kurt promised.
Across the cafeteria, the kitchen staff had just finished making a batch of tater-tots, and Mercedes eyed them up.
Beaming, she made her way over and shooed one of the football players out of the way.
'Excuuuse you.' Kurt followed her and stood next to her as she smiled at the lunch-lady.
'Ooh, couple more.' Mercedes said, and the lunch-lady added a few more tots to the already larger than normal portion. Kurt watched carefully.
'Thanks.' Mercedes smiled. Kurt looked down at the tots in disgust. He had never understood the appeal of such greasy little balls of deep-fried potato.
'So, what are we gonna do about Glee club while Mr Schue is sick?' Mercedes looked up at Kurt and he thought for a moment.
'I have an idea.' He smiled, hand on hip. 'Have you met the new Spanish teacher?'
Kurt knocked softly on the door to the Spanish room. The teacher was walking around the room, babbling in Spanish about Lindsay Lohan.
'Excuse me, Miss Holliday? A word?' He said, walking a few steps into the classroom.
She smiled at him and turned to the class, then told them to do something about Lindsay Lohan and rehabilitation—Kurt didn't quite catch it, he had always been better at French than at Spanish.
'Can I help you with something?' Miss Holliday asked—although she asked in Spanish, it was one of the few phrases Kurt actually understood.
'I understand that you are subbing for Mr Schuester's Spanish class, and I was wondering if you might not want to take over his Glee club duties as well?' He asked.
She looked at him carefully.
'What makes you think I know the first thing about Glee club?' She questioned him, and he smiled.
'You subbed for my English class last week and you were extraordinary.' Kurt laughed, recalling the performance of Conjunction Junction.
'Ah Miss Holliday—we are floundering. Would you please take over Glee club?' Kurt tried to hide his enthusiasm but his voice came out all high and adorable—he always hated it when it did that, but sometimes, maybe times like these, it was useful.
Miss Holliday smiled coyly. 'I thought you'd never ask.'
Kurt jumped a little in excitement and she laughed slightly. Snapping his fingers, he beamed at her.
'Muchas gracias!'
Kurt walked into the choir room, eagerly awaiting what Miss Holliday would have them do for their week's assignment.
He waltzed in, head high, a smile on his face—it had been the first day he hadn't bumped into Karofsky.
He heard Miss Holliday talking some kind of Spanish to the Glee club, but as he walked, he felt the floor slip from underneath him, and with a squeak he landed with a thud.
Pulling himself up, he gracefully stood by Finn, figuring out that Puck must have buttered the floor for Miss Holliday's arrival.
She asked their names, and then he realised that they had all switched names to try and confuse her. Their immaturity so close to Sectionals never ceased to amaze him.
'I'm not your average, run-of-the-mill substitute teacher. I want you guys to do things that you wanna do.' Miss Holliday spoke.
Kurt knew that calling her in to take Rachel's place was a great idea.
As always, Rachel had to ruin the fun.
'We can't just goof off all day, we have to write a setlist—for Sectionals.'
Miss Holliday stopped. 'You're right. What songs would you like to do?'
The New Directions went silent. Nobody knew any songs off the top of their head, nobody had been thinking about the setlist, they had been relying on Mr Schue to do that for them.
'Ooh, don't get asked that question much, do we?' She said.
Kurt took his chance.
'Miss Holliday's right. Mr Schuester's setlist sometimes looks like he hasn't listened to the radio since the eighties.' He walked towards the seats as he said it.
'He never listens to what I have to say.' Puck admitted.
They all knew what he meant—Puck had suggested Cee Lo Green's new song Forget You and Mr Schuester had dismissed the idea, encouraging them instead to find a Journey song they hadn't covered yet.
'Cee Lo! That's what I'm talking about.' Miss Holliday snapped her fingers.
'Oh, okay, what would you know about Cee Lo, cause you're like forty.' Santana quipped.
'Top 40 sweet-cheeks.' Miss Holliday's comebacks were almost as good as Kurt's.
'Hit it!' She said, and the band that helped the Glee club to practise kicked in with the intro to Forget You.
I see you driving round town with the guy I love,
And I'm like,
Forget you.
Brittany and Santana came in with some back-up vocals, as Miss Holliday grabbed a tambourine and started to play it.
I guess the change in my pocket just wasn't enough,
And I'm like,
Forget you.
As their new choir teacher danced at the front with Finn and Puck, Kurt sat at the back and danced along too.
Now I'm sorry,
I can't afford a Ferrari.
But that don't mean I can't get you there.
I guess she's an X-Box and I'm more Atari.
But the way you play your game ain't fair.
She pointed at Kurt and beckoned for him to join her at the front, and he ran down from his seat next to Mike and joined her.
I pity the fool who falls in love with you.
He's a goldigger.
Just thought you should know.
I got some news for you.
Yeah, go run and tell your little girlfriend.
Kurt danced around the piano and she jumped up to sit on it.
I see you driving round town with the guy I love,
And I'm like,
Forget you.
I guess the change in my pocket just wasn't enough.
And I'm like,
Forget you and forget him too.
As Rachel sat at the back, refusing to join in, Kurt took Miss Holliday's hand and she jumped down from the piano. Then he resumed his dancing.
Said if I was richer,
I'd still be with you.
Ain't that some shh.
Although there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best.
With a—forget you!
Mercedes and Artie then took over to sing the next bit.
Now baby baby baby why'd you wanna wanna hurt me so bad?
I tried to tell my mama but she told me this is one for your dad.
Yes she did, yes she did.
Kurt fell on Rachel playfully, resting his head on her shoulder, but she pushed him off. Kurt carried on enjoying himself anyway.
And I was like why?
Why? Why baby?
I love you! I still do!
He left Rachel on her own and joined the rest of the Glee club as they danced with Miss Holliday.
I see you driving round town with the guy I love,
And I'm like,
Forget you.
I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough,
And I'm like,
Forget you and forget him too.
Kurt danced with Santana and he couldn't stop himself smiling as the whole room came to life with the music.
Said if I was richer I'd still be with you.
Well ain't that some shh.
Although there's pains in my chest I still wish you the best,
With a—forget you!
The song finished and everyone whooped and applauded Miss Holliday. She beamed at them all, and Kurt felt that finally something good was happening to the Glee club.
'Oh, we have to get there early on Friday—it's late night for little people, and they'll buy up all the small shoes if they get there first.' Mercedes said to Kurt, as they waited in line for lunch.
Kurt momentarily panicked. You forgot all about Friday, well done Kurt, you're going to let her down again.
'Oh, I totally forgot, Greg Evigan is starring in Rent at the Community Playhouse and Blaine got us tickets.' Kurt tried to soften the news, knowing that this wasn't the first time he had let Mercedes down since Blaine, and it wasn't going to be the last. And he hated himself for it.
'Us as in, all of us?' Mercedes looked at him, but Kurt was too busy thinking about Blaine's eyes and had started to smile.
'I think he could only score two...' Kurt said, a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Santana suddenly appeared behind one of the lunch-ladies. She grabbed a tray-full of tater-tots and took them away. All around them, cheerleaders were taking all the tots they could find and throwing them in the trash.
'Where do you think you're going with those?' Mercedes attitude kicked in.
'Principal Sue banned the tots.' Santana answered, Brittany stood behind her with another tray-full.
'She can't do that!' Tater-tots were sacred to Mercedes. Santana looked to Brittany.
'They look like deep-fried deer poop.' Brittany said quietly. 'Take it up with Principal Sue.' Santana added, then threw her tray-full of tots into a nearby trash-can.
Kurt watched Mercedes as she breathed heavily.
He started to speak but she held a hand up to silence him.
The bell rang as Kurt took a seat opposite Mercedes in the cafeteria. She looked at her food in disgust.
'Look at this crap. Foam fish-sticks? Principal Sylvester is only serving pre-digested food now—to give us more energy. I mean, do I look like a damn baby bird?'
'Don't fret your culinary disappointments, I come bearing gifts.' Kurt smiled, little dimples in his cheeks.
'You brought tots?' Mercedes' eyes went wide.
'Better. I've set you up on a date.' She scowled, but Kurt carried on. 'I get it, my new budding friendship with Blaine is making you feel left out and jealous—'
Mercedes interrupted him. 'Who's the guy?'
Kurt gestured across the room. 'Anthony Rashard.' Mercedes turned around to look at him and he flashed her a smile, and blushing, she waved back.
'Why him?' She asked Kurt sharply.
'N-no reason.' Kurt smiled.
'Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact that he's one of the five black guys at this school?'
Mercedes could see right through Kurt—it was one of the problems of them being such close friends.
'A—no, he is a wide receiver among the football team, he is very good-looking—and he is a member of the Black Student Union..'
'Any non-black activities?' You've done it now Kurt, congratulations.
'I don't know, my Google search was a little..' He pulled a finger to his mouth and bit the nail to stop himself from talking.
'I can't take this anymore.' Mercedes held up her hands and then took out a pad.
'Mercedes trust me—love is just around the corner—' Kurt's voice trailed off as Karofsky walked past.
'Sup, homo?' He snarled, winking at Kurt, eyes burning into his. Kurt froze with fear and hatred and countless other emotions and lost track of what he was talking about.
'That's not what I'm talking about.' Mercedes mumbled—she hadn't seen or heard Karofsky's sly comment. She wrote something on the giant pad she held and then stood up on her chair and held it up.
'TOTS', it read. Kurt pinched the bridge of his nose.
Students stood up all around him, and Mercedes looked at them.
'TOTS!' A girl behind him roared, and he jumped out of his skin.
'OhmyGod!' He looked around and tried to act like he had nothing to do with any of it, which he didn't.
The cafeteria was full of angry students chanting 'TOTS TOTS TOTS' over and over again and Kurt just slouched down in his chair and splayed a hand across his face.
'I'm just saying that drunk people who get married to someone they met an hour ago by an Elvis impersonator—I mean that's a bigger insult to marriage than two gay guys getting married.'
Kurt argued his point, thankful to be talking about something other than Glee club for once. His talks with Blaine were rare, the 80 miles between them often meant they only saw each other once a week, maybe twice at most.
'Totally, it's like.. If marriage is so sacred, they should just outlaw divorce.' Blaine sat to his left, fully outfitted in his Dalton uniform—he had travelled straight over to Lima after classes had finished.
'Right! Right.' Kurt agreed, and he couldn't stop himself from grinning like an idiot.
Blaine looked across the table at Mercedes, who sipped on her drink mindlessly.
'What do you think Mercedes?' He asked her kindly, trying to include her in the conversation. She was Kurt's best-friend and he wanted to get to know her and not leave her out. If she was important to Kurt, she was important to him.
'Uhhh, about uh, Don't Ask Don't Tell?' She had struggled to follow the conversation since the moment they sat down.
'Oh no, we're on Prob 8 now.' Kurt corrected her, and her face fell a little.
'Totally for it!' She tried to be enthusiastic, but Kurt corrected her again. 'Against it.'
'Right.. I'm sorry I kinda just blanked out.' Mercedes apologised. Kurt still couldn't stop smiling in the presence of Blaine.
'No, don't apologise,' Blaine reached over and patted Mercedes' hand, 'We should talk about stuff that you're interested in too.'
Mercedes grinned and Kurt clapped his hands together.
'I know, let's play a game!' Kurt suggested, and Mercedes could see what was coming.
Blaine looked at her and then looked at Kurt—he could see what was happening, and decided to make a mental note—talk to Kurt about this later.
'Okay, on the count of three, name your favourite 2010 Vogue cover.' Kurt said excitedly.
'Ready? One, two, three—' At the same time Kurt and Blaine both shouted out the same answer. 'MARION COTILLARD!' and Blaine laughed. 'OhmyGod stop it! She's amazing!' He enthused.
Kurt agreed and they both looked across at Mercedes, who was staring at them, eyes wide, mouth open.
'Mercedes? Mercedes?' Kurt asked, a little concerned. Both he and Blaine looked at her, wondering why she had stopped talking or responding to either of them.
She smiled and shrugged.
'I was just talking about the Buck Eyes, I'm a college football fan. I—I like sports too you know.' Blaine smiled.
'Oh, way to break the stereotype.' Kurt grinned, and held up a tiny porcelain hand. Blaine high-fived him and they laughed.
A waitress walked past and Mercedes stopped her. 'Excuse me? I know it's not on your menu but I was wondering if you guys had—'
The waitress cut her off. 'You want some tots.' She finished Mercedes sentence, smiling at the group of three. 'You kids must go to McKinley.' She smiled at them again, pulling out a notepad and writing down the order, then she walked away.
Mercedes beamed, finally happy to get some tots. Kurt looked at her.
'So what were we talking about?' She breathed happily.
'Has anyone read Patty LuPone's new book?' Kurt asked, looking expectantly at Blaine, who gave him a glassy look. Kurt's brow furrowed and he looked shocked.
'I'm kidding, of course I have.' He said, and Kurt hit his shoulder playfully.
'You scared me so much there!' He laughed.
Across the table, Mercedes sipped from her Coke, watching them with sad eyes.
Blaine's face smiled down at Kurt from the little frame on the inside of his locker door, as he slid a few books in among the organised clutter.
As the bell rang out, Kurt looked over to Mercedes—she was standing unusually close to her locker, and she seemed to be hiding something large in her bag.
She grinned at him. 'Look what I snuck in.', pulling out a brown paper bag and removing a large box. Kurt just watched, eyes full of curiosity.
'My heart was racing,' Mercedes said, as she held up a box full of tater-tots.
Kurt stooped down a little, checking to see if anyone around was watching. 'Are you out of your mind? After what you did to Sue's Le Car—you're gonna end up in prison.'
'So,' Mercedes shrugged, 'You know what they have in prison..' She held up the box in her hand and beamed. 'Tots.'
Tell her Kurt, tell her how things aren't going to change. Tell her how she has to accept your new friendship with Blaine. You can't let her keep doing this.
'I'm not breaking it off with Blaine.' Kurt sighed, eyes looking at Mercedes sorrowfully. 'I really like him.'
Mercedes face fell.
'You are substituting food for love, Mercedes. And more importantly, you're substituting me for a boyfriend.'
She nodded, eyes flitting to the floor. She knew he was right.
'Look at me. Two weeks ago I thought there was no way I'd ever find someone like Blaine,' Kurt glanced up to the portrait in his locker admiringly. 'And there he was! You will find somebody.'
'But until then, you just gotta take care of yourself.' Mercedes looked at Kurt—she resembled a lost puppy, just wanting to be found. 'And treat yourself with a little respect.'
'You're right.' She said quietly. 'I gotta go.' She smiled, then walked away.
'Where?' Kurt said.
'I'm gonna go talk to that Anthony kid—first time I saw him I thought he was kinda cute.' Mercedes said, putting the box of tots back in the bag. Kurt nodded slightly, Anthony was cute, straight, but cute.
'Maybe we have a shot.' Mercedes gave a little wave to Kurt and then turned and walked down the corridor.
Kurt smiled, watching her walk away, but in the back of his mind there was the worry that his best-friend would maybe never be okay with his and Blaine's closeness.
'Question for you.' A hand slammed down on Kurt's shoulder and wheeled him around. Karofsky looked down at him, glancing up and down the corridor to check if anybody was listening.
'You tell anyone else what happened?' Karofsky spoke through his teeth, keeping his voice low and quiet. 'How you—kissed me?'
How dare he, how very dare he. Punch him Kurt. No, wait, violence never solves anything. You know that.
'You kissed me Karofsky.' Kurt corrected him, and Karofsky shushed him, nervously glancing over his shoulder every five seconds. 'And I understand how hard this is for you to deal with—so no, I haven't told anyone.'
He wasn't lying. The only other person who knew was Blaine, and he had been sworn to secrecy. Kurt knew Blaine wouldn't break a promise.
'Good,' Karofsky breathed, 'You keep it that way. Cause if you do—' He shifted just a few centimetres closer to Kurt, who stared at him, trying to keep calm.
'—I'm gonna kill you.'
Karofsky's words sent all the blood to Kurt's head. He felt every part of him go numb, as in his head he imagined the numerous ways that Karofsky could or would kill him. His stomach churned and his knees threatened to fail him. All he could do was look into Karofsky's eyes. Some kind of coldness in them told him that he wasn't joking.
Karofsky nodded a little, seeing the effect of his words on Kurt. He pushed past him and left him standing alone in the busy corridor.
Kurt couldn't even breathe.
Upon Mr Schuester's return to school, the whole Glee club gathered in the choir room. He walked in to a round of applause, as everyone stood up to welcome him back.
Kurt stood at the back, behind Mercedes and Tina. He clapped along with everyone but didn't whoop or cheer. He didn't have the energy.
As Mr Schuester talked about Sectionals and the un-written setlist, Kurt couldn't concentrate.
Mr Schue handed out sheet-music for Singing in The Rain, and as usually Kurt would be appalled at his ancient taste in music, he just stared blankly at the sheet, the sour taste of fear on his tongue.
He hadn't been able to live properly since Karofsky had forced himself into his life.
At the end of the week, the Glee club performed a superbly-mashed up version of Singing in The Rain and Umbrella. Kurt found it to be suitable modern and yet classic at the same time.
The dancing with actual umbrella's and lots of artificial rain also impressed him.
But in the back of his mind, there was always Karofsky's looming face, sneering at him, no matter how confident he felt, no matter how alone he was. He had started to jump at the tiniest noises, he couldn't sleep, and for the first time in his life, he was forgetting to moisturise. It was just those five words that scared the living daylights out of him. That, and the threat of 'The Fury' coming to pummel him.
I'm going to kill you.
Hello again.
So, here it is, The Substitute. Next up is Furt. I—personally—can't wait to write it (:
I'm a review whore. They make me happy and make me want to write.
Plus, the more reviews I get, the more catlike and adorable Chris Colfer gets, if that's even possible XD
Disclaimer - I DO NOT OWN GLEE—sadly. I don't. Not at all. Glee belongs to RIB and they are my masters and I worship the ground they walk on.