Sophomore
The first day at a new school was frightening enough at the best of times, but for Nick Duval, it was doubly so, coming as it did at the start of his sophomore year. His family had only moved to Ohio a few weeks earlier, leaving behind the life they had known on the outskirts of Chicago. He had therefore lost all of his friends; and now he was being sent to an all boys school for the first time. Which was really unfair, as when was he going to get the opportunity now to meet a new girlfriend?
Dalton Academy was far grander than the public school he had attended back in Illinois, and as a result, far more intimidating. He had been given his timetable and a plan of the school. Nick was good with geography, so the latter was easy to follow, or would be if he wasn't being jostled by the senior boys hurrying along. 'Never mind,' he thought, 'I've survived the first two periods, now to find English..' His first two classes had been uneventful, and he was gratified to know that he wasn't the only person that felt, or at least looked, scared. There had been that boy in front of him in Math with the overdose of hair gel. Others had of course been here before, like the guy next to him in History - Trent something. He had seemed affable though, so maybe in time he could at least make one friend here…
Then he was at his English class, approaching the teacher to enquire where he was to sit - desk allocation was a tradition at Dalton. His deskmate had not arrived yet, so Nick busied himself in getting out his paper and pens. Then he sensed someone standing by him. He looked up to see a boy with blond hair - dyed blond hair. He was slightly taller. But he had a wide grin on his face, and unlike many of the other guys, he seemed at ease. "Hey, I'm Jeff Sterling. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year." "Nick. Nick Duval. Guess we will, yeah." And that was how the most epic of Dalton's bromances had started. The two had exchanged the odd glance at each other during class - when it ended, Jeff had asked him if he wanted to sit with him at lunch. Nick was grateful, as he had been dreading going there alone. He couldn't help but think back to his old life in Woodstock, Illinois. What his old friends would be up to. He missed them all so much already. But there seemed to be something about Jeff that was drawing him to him. He just felt so at ease with him already.
By the end of that first day, Nick had Jeff's phone number (for homework emergencies, Jeff had said.) They had discovered a mutual liking of music, of corny jokes, and a similar sense of humour. By the end of that week, it was like they had always known each other, and Nick had made friends with Trent (Nixon), who it turned out was a long term cohort of Jeff's and the gel boy, Blaine, who like Nick had only arrived at Dalton that year. He had been badly bullied at his last school and had transferred in. They shared most of the same classes. When the poster went up asking for people to sign up for Warbler auditions, they discovered something all four had in common - a love of singing. Jeff and Trent were already members, and they encouraged their two new friends to sign up. When time came to audition, they had both passed - but Nick had to admit that Blaine had the best voice. So when he was selected as the youngest lead soloist in generations, he was pleased for his friend.
It had been in his second week at Dalton that he had found himself invited, alongside Trent and Blaine, to Jeff's house on Friday night, for a gaming marathon. They had played for hours, but then as the time came near to going to sleep, somehow the chat had turned onto sex. Some would say that with teenage boys, that was inevitable. That night, Nick realised that he was the odd one out in his little circle of friends. He was the straight guy. He would never have guessed from the way they acted. His surprise at the revelation meant that he missed the moment that Jeff's face had fallen as he announced that he was straight. The other two boys didn't. The fact that his three best friends were gay didn't bother Nick one bit. His older cousin, his father's sister's son, had come out a few months earlier. Anyway, he liked these guys, and it meant he had no competition for the girls when he was with them.
By the time his first Thanksgiving at Dalton had come around, it was as if he had never been anywhere else. He had made more than enough friends to keep him occupied at all times, mainly through the Warblers. He was amongst the youngest there, but all of them, from the eldest Wes, who ruled with a gavel of iron (but was a big softy at heart) to the newest, Kurt, really cared for him as they all did for each other. It was the Warbler code. They had to look out for each other, and be supportive when problems arose. It was at only their third Warblers' meeting that they finally discovered why Blaine had come to Dalton. He had told his story with the odd tear running down his cheek, the supportive arm of Wes wrapped around him. Nick had been horrified - he couldn't understand why anyone would beat someone up so badly just because they liked guys. Guiltily he remembered that he had witnessed homophobic bullying at his old school, and had done nothing to stop it. Now, however, he would do all in his power to prevent his three friends coming to any harm.
Kurt's arrival had of course changed the dynamics of his close circle of friends. Blaine had appeared at the last minute for one of their impromptu performances towing Kurt behind him. Nick and Jeff could tell from the look on Kurt's face that day that Blaine had an admirer. Then came a day when Blaine sent Nick a text asking him to cover him as he had to leave school on a mercy mission. He had done so, but never found out what the errand was. A few weeks later, Kurt was back, in a Dalton uniform. A mid-term transfer from a public school. He joined their circle, and Nick quickly realised that he was now even more outnumbered. It didn't matter.
As the new year started, things began to develop in an interesting way. Nick could tell from a mile off that Kurt was in love with Blaine, but his friend seemed totally clueless, more interested in a guy he had met at the Lima Bean once. He wasn't dating at the moment either, although there were a number of girls at Dalton's sister school, Crawford County, that he admired from afar. It was ok because neither Jeff or Trent were seeing anyone either. Trent seemed hung up on working out if there was anyone else in the ranks of the Warblers was gay - so far, he was only suspicious about Thad. As for Jeff, he admitted quietly that there was someone that he liked, but that he was in the same position as Kurt. That made Nick feel so sad…
February came and with it that season of the year when love dominated. Nick wasn't really interested in the whole Valentine's idea. Sure, it was nice to celebrate love and the ideal of being in love, but when you weren't with someone, it kinda sucked. That year, only one of his close friends was in that situation - or so he had thought. It turned out that the guy Blaine liked wasn't interested - to make matters worse, he found this out after he had serenaded him in public. The whole thing had turned into quite a watershed moment - he confided in Nick a few days later that Kurt had confessed to being in love with him, and that scared him. He didn't want to lose a friend, but he wasn't sure if he loved Kurt as much as he loved him. The dynamic of their friendship remained intact, and all of the Warblers had ended up singing at Breadstix on Valentine's Day. A day when Nick had received one card…
Only a few weeks later, however, came a moment that no-one had expected. When Kurt announced to Nick, Jeff and Trent that Blaine had kissed Rachel Berry and was taking her out on a date, there had been a stunned silence. He had always seemed so sure of his sexuality. It was after his date with Rachel that he confessed to Nick that he wasn't so sure anymore. There had just been something in that moment - maybe his sexuality was more fluid than he had thought - maybe everybody's was. After all, was Nick 100% sure that he was straight? The suggestion had not offended him, but neither did it make him rush out to see if he was even slightly gay. To no-one's surprise, but to Kurt's obvious delight, Blaine returned to certainty after a surprise kiss at the Lima Bean.
But the damage had been done to the relationship between them. Something then took place after Blaine had decided that they needed to sex up their routine, and they had performed for a handful of girls from Crawford. That was a frustrating day for Nick, as he watched both Blaine and Jeff being offered phone numbers - but no-one came to him. 'Typical' he thought. 'All of these girls and they all go for the gay guys.' He would never understand women. The day after, and there was an icy chill over their group. Blaine had said something; Kurt had taken umbrage. Although a degree of cordiality was soon restored, the other three in the group sensed that Kurt was fed up with some aspects of Blaine's behaviour.
Then came an unexpected death. The moment that Kurt flung open the doors and stepped into rehearsal in an all black mourning outfit had been a shock - what he announced broke hearts. Pavarotti was their collective mascot - his demise affected them all. The song that Kurt sang moved them near to tears - but caused Blaine to smile. That night, he confided in Nick that he had come to a realisation in that moment - that he loved Kurt, and wanted to be with him. All he had to do now was prove it to him. Giving up a solo for a duet at Regionals was a start, and a decision which they all happily endorsed.
When Blaine finally kissed Kurt, Nick was amongst the happiest for the two of them. Kurt had often seemed so lonely and out of it at Dalton, more hung up on his old friends at McKinley High. Not that he wasn't fun to hang out with at the odd party that was held. He was one of the sweetest guys Nick had ever had the pleasure to have met. Despite everything he had been through, he still thought more of others than of himself. The duet at Regionals had shown to everyone just how strong the feelings were between his two friends - it had even reduced one of the New Directions to tears. It might have been the emotion of the performance that counted against them, and allowed the New Directions to win - they would never know, and to be honest, most of them didn't care. They had Klaine and that was more important than any trophy.
It broke Nick's heart as much as it did Blaine's when Kurt decided to go back to his old school. Jeff if anything felt it more - as he put it at the time, Kurt knew what he was going through. They had made their way en masse to Lima to say goodbye to Kurt at his school. They had all held back their tears, with the exception of Blaine, at the time, but on their way back, Jeff had broken down and ended up in Nick's arms. His departure left a hole in the Warblers line up, not only depriving them of his wonderful countertenor, but also causing Blaine to become increasingly withdrawn. Their were far fewer moments of spontaneous song. Of course, their group of five still hung out together from time to time, but it was obvious that Klaine time took priority for Blaine, and rightly so. They still wondered if Kurt had made the right decision - it gave him a trip to Nationals in New York, but also the trauma of being made Prom Queen. It had taken all of Blaine's powers of persuasion to stop a mass Warbler attack on McKinley. As the year ended, the priority for Nick was to find that elusive girlfriend, and someone worthy for both Jeff and Trent.