Chapter Seven
A/N: I may make a few revisions and alterations later on. I apologise for it being a little sparse as compared to the way I usually write. I am very tired but I wanted to get this up. Happy reading and reviewing!
Kurt sat in the auditorium with Jenny as she let him cry on her shoulder. He told her all about what happened with Blaine and they talked it over. Jenny helped him calm down and look at things with a little more perspective rather than feeling.
"I think I know how I can make you feel better." Jenny squeezed his hand.
"How?" Kurt asked, although it seemed impossible to him.
"Well, I know you and Mercedes have plans after school-" She started.
"Mercedes had something weird for lunch and went home sick. We rescheduled for another day." Kurt informed her, although he wasn't sorry. He had had enough bad things to focus on for one day.
"Oh, well that works then! I hope she feels better, but you and I are going shopping after school." Kurt's head snapped up.
"Shopping?" The old familiar sparkle was back in his eye.
"Yep." She smiled.
"I didn't think you could do it, but you really know how to make me feel better. I am so excited! Okay first we will do clothing and then shoes and then we will find you some contacts and cuter glasses, then you can come over for dinner and I can do your hair- oh good Lord, we will have to buy you styling tools and hair product too!" Kurt went silent, deep in thought. The glee club filed into the auditorium, making a lot of noise. Jenny's stomach dropped, she had been trying to avoid the auditorium like the plague, and yet here she was, right in the middle of it.
"Okay Jenny, let's hear what you've got." Mr. Schuester smiled, sitting down at the desk and switching on the lamp. The other members selected seats in the front row beside Kurt and Jenny.
"Well go on!" Kurt smiled, pushing her out of her seat. "Show them how to sing." Jenny mechanically walked up the steps to the stage and took centre. She was panicking, and she knew it. She clasped her hands in front of her to stop them from shaking, her knuckles white. She took a few shaky deep breaths.
"Come on newbie!" Puck called out. "This is already painful, don't draw it out."
"Shut up, Puckerman!" Kurt snapped at Puck as he glared back in return. All eyes turned back to Jenny. Slowly, she opened her mouth.
"I keep on fall-" her voice came in a cracked half whisper, barely audible from nerves and lack of use. She cleared her throat. "on fallin'...in and out..."
"A little louder Jenny." Mr. Schuester coaxed gently as everyone started to snigger and laugh.
"Of..." She tried to sing louder. "Of love with you." Kurt stood up.
"Come on Jenny, I know you can do this. Keep going." He looked confused, he knew she could sing.
"Wow, I didn't think it was possible but even Mike Chang sings better than someone." Santana cracked. Everyone laughed.
"Santana!" Mr. Schuester warned her, but it was too late. Jenny walked off the stage, her face a bright shade of red. She went over to Kurt and picked up her bag and books.
"I'm sorry Kurt, this was a huge mistake. I'll wait by your locker." She made a beeline for the exit.
"Jenny, wait!" Kurt stood up. When she didn't stop, he rounded on his friends. "I am disgusted with all of you. Did you ever think that maybe all she needed was for people to encourage her rather than push her farther into stage fright?" He picked up his bag. "You will have to rehearse without me today." He stormed out of the auditorium and an uncomfortable silence followed.
Jenny barely had time to pull herself together before Kurt came barrelling around the corner calling her.
"Jenny are you okay?" Kurt hugged her.
"Kurt, what are you doing? Sectionals are coming up, you have to go back." Jenny tried to turn him around and point him in the right direction of the auditorium. He just turned himself around again.
"No, if they want to be jerks, they can do it without me. We have more important things to do." He linked arms with her and headed for his car.
"Well then, I'm not going to try and talk you out of it. I want to spend time with you." she smiled as she got in the passenger side. The two friends continued to talk on the drive to the mall and finally, Kurt figured enough time had passed for him to asked about the audition.
"Hey Jenny?"
"Yes Kurt?" She asked back.
"What happened back there? I know you can sing." Kurt asked gently. Jenny sighed.
"Truth be told, I have no idea why I wanted to join the glee club. It was a huge mistake and I had no plans on going to that audition, but then you needed to talk and everyone showed up."
"Why didn't you want to audition?" Kurt asked. Jenny was quiet for a minute.
"Because I haven't sung a note since the day my mom died seven years ago." There was silence in the car as Kurt parked in the mall parking lot. He stared out the windshield.
"I'm such an idiot. I totally pushed you to sing. I'm so sorry." Kurt turned to face her. "I had no idea." Jenny smiled.
"Kurt, don't be sorry, you didn't know. Anyway it doesn't matter. I want to sing again, I just need to do it on my own time to gain confidence." She got out of the car and started walking with him.
"Well if you ever need any help or someone to sing with, you know where to find me." He skipped for a few steps. Jenny laughed and followed suit.
"I definitely do and if I need you, I will for sure ask." They linked arms again. "Ohhhh boy." She stopped and stared at all the stores as they walked through the outside doors. "Where do we start, Oh Shopping Guru?"
"This is going to be so fun!" Kurt was beside himself. "This way!" He pulled her into the first store and immediately started picking things out. "What size are you, honey?"
"Uh..." Jenny had no clue.
"I have my work cut out for me." Kurt laughed, sizing her up with his eyes. "I would say you are size two. You are tiny and short." Jenny's eyes widened.
"Size two? Are you sure? That seems kind of small." Jenny looked at the clothing and then at herself. Kurt stopped and stared at her.
"It's not small, honey, it will fit you. You are just used to wearing oversized ugly hand-me-downs." He dumped a pile of clothing in her arms and continued picking things out. "So how much do you have to spend, because you need...well, everything." Kurt added more to the pile in her arms.
"I've done a few odd jobs so I have a fair bit saved up. Technically it's for college, but I can dip into it as much as I need to. It's my money." She shrugged.
"That's my girl!" Kurt was so proud. "Fashion before college!" Jenny laughed and continued to follow him around through the store. After a few more minutes, she couldn't see over the pile of clothing and was forced into a fitting room as Kurt sat down and made himself comfortable.
After two whirlwind hours, Jenny had a whole new wardrobe. It looked exactly like Kurt said it would: lots of tights, leggings, scarves, slouchy hats, long tops, sweaters, a couple pairs of jeans and some jackets and a lot of boots in all shapes and sizes. They even bought her two new pairs of glasses, contacts and hair products and styling tools.
"I have never been so exhausted!" Kurt laughed as they struggled to the door to Kurt's house with all her purchases.
"Me neither! But I loved it!" Jenny had a bright smile on her face.
"Hey Sport." Burt smiled, closing the door behind them. "Jenny! Hey kiddo! How are things?" He hugged them both, seeing her for the first time since she was little.
"Things have been good." She smiled. "How have you been Mr. Hummel?"
"Please sweetheart, I've known you since you were four. Call me dad." Jenny blinked and her smile faltered. After a minute, the smile was back and wider than before.
"Okay. Thanks...Dad." Her face lit up. Ever since she was little, she always went to bed wishing for a dad who cared as much as him, and now she had one.
"So what did you do? Buy the mall out?" Burt smiled, glad he could make her happy.
"Dad, she needed everything, but she is going to look so fierce! It'll be ridiculous. Although I didn't expect anything else." Kurt shrugged.
"Neither did I." Mr. Hummel smiled.
"Okay, let's go downstairs so I can do your hair and make-up." The pair of them struggled down the stairs to Kurt's basement bedroom with all of her bags and boxes, dropping them at the bottom of the stairs with a sigh of relief. After digging around for the hair and make-up supplies, Kurt sat her down in a chair in front of his mirror. He started plucking her eyebrows, he working on her make-up, explaining everything he was doing. There was a knock at the door and Carole came downstairs with a tray of snacks and drinks
"Hi Carole." Kurt smiled at her.
"Hi sweetheart." She smiled at Kurt and then turned to Jenny.
"Hi sweetie, I'm Carole, Finn's mom and Kurt's step-mom." She hugged Jenny warmly.
"Hello." Jenny hugged her back. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
"Uh oh, all good I hope." Carole feigned anxiety.
"Of course." Jenny smiled. Kurt was staring at Jenny.
"Jenny, what's wrong with your lip?" He asked, stepping closer to look at it. She licked her lips.
"I bit it during my audition. I was pretty nervous." She covered smoothly. She was used to thinking on her feet in situations like that. Carole's smile turned sad. She could see through it. Burt had told her everything about her past. It was pretty clear to her that nothing had changed.
"Anyway kids, I brought you some snacks, just don't fill up on them because dinner will be ready soon." She turned and went back upstairs. Kurt sat Jenny back down and continued with her make-up, still staring at her lip.
"You were really that nervous? You never used to be with crowds. We sang in front of the school together." He began applying a rich chocolate brown eyeshadow across her eyelids to bring out the intense deep blue of her eyes.
"I was pretty nervous. Yes. I guess I just lost all my confidence over the past few years and I haven't been able to get it back." She said truthfully. Kurt smiled.
"Well, this is going to be the answer to your prayers. I'm bringing your amazing personality out so everyone else can see it. So just start letting everyone else see the same things I see in you! Got it!" He threatened.
"Got it." Jenny laughed. "Although I'm pretty sure this won't make a difference, but I don't know since it's not done yet."
"Oh ye of little faith." Kurt sighed. "Trust me." They continued talking, laughing and snacking for another three quarters of an hour when Carole called down to inform them that dinner was ready.
"Perfect timing!" Kurt clapped. He had just finished styling her hair. He started rummaging in her bags and throwing her what seemed to be random items from her bags. "Go into my bathroom and put this on!" He threw a shoebox at her and pushed her into the bathroom.
"Kurt, this isn't a coming out party, it's just dinner...and it's your parents." He closed the door on her.
"Yes and I want them to see what the real you is like. You can't do that wearing your ugly duckling clothes." She couldn't argue that, he had a point. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was wearing a long off white t-shirt with a long black cardigan over top that had a breast pocket and two pockets at the bottom that were sequined, and a pair of leggings. A burgundy eternity scarf circled her neck and a pair of flat distressed grey knee high boots were on her feet. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a loose braid over one shoulder.
"How do I look?" She asked, turning around for him to see.
"I am a genius. A regular Picasso." He smiled smugly. "You look amazing." He hugged her. "Okay, now let's go upstairs and show Dad and Carole." He pulled her up the stairs behind him and told her to stop at the entrance to the kitchen.
"Dad, Carole, Finn," He announced, since they were all around the kitchen table it was easy. "May I introduce to you my favourite person in the whole world, Jenny!" He threw his hands through the air as if he was showcasing something. Jenny stepped into the doorway of the kitchen, giving them a shy smile.
"Hi." She waved and laughed.
"Wow, honey, you look amazing!" Carole smiled.
"Whoa." Finn's mouth hung open.
"Finn, stop drooling, you have a girlfriend." Kurt rolled his eyes. Jenny sat down at the table beside Kurt and they began dinner.
"So how is McKinley treating you so far, Jenny?" Burt asked. Kurt, Jenny, and Finn exchanged looks.
"It's very good. Thank you. Kurt is making me feel very welcome." She smiled.
"Finn too I hope." Carole sensed something was off, glad for her maternal instincts. Finn stared at his peas, looking guilty.
"He showed me what everyone at McKinley was like." She said cryptically. They all continued the conversation until Jenny announced that she had to leave, making an excuse of catching up on homework, although really she was going to be late for work.
"Oh, Jenny, before you go, Burt and I have something we wanted to ask you." Carole introduced the topic, then looked to Burt to finish it. He nodded and turned serious.
"We know it's sort of out of the blue, but we would like you to come and live with us."
"What?" Kurt and Finn harmonized.