Kurt kept his head down and his eyes on his paper. Blaine sat at the other end of the room, head down and eyes on his own paper. They took Theatre together so they could hang out more, but now…
It was so hard not to apologize to him. So hard not to explain what was going on. Kurt was dying to kiss him again. He could almost picture the sweet little smile on Blaine's face growing as Kurt told him that he loved him back, that he'd always loved him, that he was always going to protect him. That is, if Blaine still wanted him, which was doubtful. Kurt bit the tip off of his pencil eraser.
"Is there a Kurt Hummel here?"
The students tuned in unison, all except Blaine, who winced at the sound of Kurt's name and stared resolutely forward. Kurt turned to see a woman in a crisp police uniform scanning the room. A sensation of being dipped into a cold bath shuddered over him.
'Don't go to the police.'
Kurt stood up stiffly and followed the officer into an empty classroom. A heavyset man in a grey janitorial uniform was vacuuming, but scurried out when fixed with the officer's cold gaze. She was probably about 35, with short blonde hair and a face that would be pretty, if she learned to put on mascara correctly. If Kurt wasn't panicking so much, he would be planning a makeover in his head.
"My name is Sheriff Dew, and I wanted to talk to you about what happened to Wes Leung?"
"It was an accident," Kurt said. "Something went wrong in the kitchen."
The officer sighed, "I think there's a lot more to it than that, Kurt. There are a lot of coincidences, aren't there? There are only seven boys at Dalton who have food allergies severe enough to require that they carry an epipen. Only three of those boys were in that lunch hour. All three had their pens stolen, and the extras were taken from the nurse's office earlier that day. Tires were slashed in the parking lot, but the security footage from that afternoon has disappeared. Someone just happened to bring a cell phone blocker to the cafeteria. One of the students saw you talking on your phone just before the blocker was activated. Who were you talking to, Kurt?"
"M-my dad."
"If we call him, will he tell us that?"
Kurt dropped his eyes to the desk, "No."
"Who were you talking to?" Kurt didn't answer. Dew sighed. "We know this wasn't an accident. The cafeteria wasn't serving any peanuts that day. There's no reason they should have even been out."
"Oh…"
Dew must have seen how much he was trembling, because her tone softened. "No one thinks you had anything to do with this. But the headmaster, Professor Dorian? He tells us that you've had some strange things done to your property lately. Is that true?"
Kurt shrugged, "It was a stupid prank."
"You know, Kurt, what these guys do, it's not magic. I know it can seem overwhelming, but the person who did this is just as human as the rest of us. Did you know that the head office at Dalton has a list of the students with severe food allergies and their lunch hour? They have to have that list widely available so that on days when foods with peanuts or milk or seafood are served, the workers can make special plates for Wes and the other boys. They also have a list of student dorm rooms. If someone could pick a lock or have a key to a room, they could get in and steal an epipen or kill someone's pet bird – "
Kurt's jaw tightened, "I don't want to talk about that."
"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me. All I'm trying to tell you is that you don't have to be scared. There's an explanation for all of this. If someone is hurting you or the other boys, you can come to me, okay? Here's my number."
Kurt closed his fingers around it tightly, "Thank you."
"Oh, and I heard that you Dalton boys are doing a concert tonight. Good luck."
Dew's number was still in Kurt's pocket as he walked away from the classroom. Karofsky was human. Kurt felt a slight weight lift off of his shoulders. There was no reason to be afraid.
But his heart still thudded unevenly when his phone started to ring.
"I saw you. What did you say to her?"
"I didn't say anything."
"What did she say to you?"
"That there's an explanation for everything you're doing," Kurt said, and then, in a rush of bravery, "That you're a coward, and she's going to catch you."
Kurt expected Karofsky to get angry, but he didn't. Instead he laughed, a cold, hysterical, unnatural laugh that sent shivers down Kurt's spine.
"Break a leg tonight, Kurtie."