Kurt is completely surprised when he learns who is behind his kidnapping.
Two muscular men in suits entered Giuseppe Annecchiarico Hall, better known as the round room, and sat at Madame Tibideaux's table, something that took Kurt by surprise since, to his knowledge, no one had ever had the nerve to sit with her.
He took a deep breath and went back to centering himself while Kenneth finished his performance. The assignment for their Midwinter critique had taken him by surprise the week before. He had already chosen "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl For Me" from The Music Man, but when she had instructed them to choose a chart-topping hit from the last two years that spoke to them personally as a song that could also be part of a musical theatre production, his selection hadn't taken long at all.
Penny, who had the stage presence and confidence that everyone in their class secretly or not-so-secretly envied, stood when Madame Tibideaux called out "Next!".
When she finished, Kurt stood when Madame Tibideaux intoned "Next!" yet again. He took his place in front of the piano and made eye contact with his classmates as the intro played. He came in strong, singing directly to his classmates and making eye contact as if he were serenading each of them.
You can be amazing.
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug.
You can be the outcast,
Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love.
Or you can start speaking up.
Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do,
When they settle 'neath your skin,
Kept on the inside and no sunlight.
Sometimes a shadow wins.
But I wonder what would happen if you,
Say what you wanna say,
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave,
With what you want to say,
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.
I just wanna see you,
I just wanna see you,
I just wanna see you,
I wanna see you be brave.
Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down,
By the enemy,
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing.
Bow down to the mighty,
But don't run. Stop holding your tongue.
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live.
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in.
Show me how big your brave is.
Innocence, your history of silence,
Won't do you any good.
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty.
Why don't you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say,
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave,
With what you want to say,
And let the words fall out.
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.
"An apropos choice. Well done. Next!"
Kurt tipped his head just slightly in acceptance of what constituted unmitigated praise coming from Madame Tibideaux, then returned to his seat.
Robby was up next, then Martin was the last of their group of five to perform.
The instant his music came to an end, Madame Tibideaux spoke out firmly. "I need you and Mr. Barlow to remain. The rest of you are dismissed." She stood. "As usual, the critique conference schedule is posted in the hall outside my office."
Everyone stood and left the round room quickly and quietly. Kurt noted that the two men in attendance
rose, but did not leave the room. The instant he stepped outside the room, he headed straight towards Madame Tibideaux's office to take note of his scheduled time so he could figure out who to try to trade with when it was inevitably scheduled when he worked. Before he got to her office, his phone vibrated.
He looked down to read the incoming text.
-The police went to NYADA to pick up the two suspects. Mr. Patel just texted me.
Kurt stopped dead in his tracks.
-Here?
-Yes, love.
-Kenneth and Martin?
-Is that who was arrested?
Kurt doubled back and moved quickly through the halls and made it to the junction where the round room hall met with the hall that led to the foyer. He saw the two men in suits walking with Kenneth and Martin towards the exterior exit about three-quarters of the way through the foyer.
He moved to the side of the hall and leaned back against the wall as if nothing was going on but him being very caught up in the text conversation he was having.
-I can see two men in suits escorting them out of the building through the round room foyer.
-Well, then. I guess the answer is yes. Martin and Kenneth. Mr. Patel didn't name them. Just told me that two NYADA students were being picked up for questioning.
-Alight. I have to go check my appointment time and head to the Vogue office. I'll call you later. I love you.
-I love you too.
Kurt rushed towards Madame Tibideaux's office. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that she was standing outside her office.
"A word with you Mr. Hummel, if you please, as soon as you take note of your time." She turned to enter her office not bothering to wait for an answer.
"Yes, of course, Madame Tibideaux."
He took a photo of the entire schedule and quickly sent a text off to Isabelle.
-MT wants to speak to me right now. I'll leave as soon as I can.
He put his phone in his satchel, not waiting to get a response, and crossed the waiting area and knocked on the open door.
"Come in and have a seat, Mr. Hummel."
Kurt closed the door behind him and did as he was told.
"I'm sure by now you've realized that Mr. Barlow and Mr. Kingston were picked up in connection with the event that happened the evening before the fall musical opened."
"Yes, ma'am."
She nodded. "See to it that you continue to keep the situation to yourself as you have been."
"I would have even without your request. The strength of any potential case relies on keeping the details from becoming rumors. And I honestly thought all this time that it had something to do with my dad's position as a congressman, that someone was going to blackmail him to release me. When I was asked for a list of people with grudges against me personally, I didn't think it would lead anywhere but gave a short list anyway. Martin and Kenneth were on that list."
"I see."
"They were very dismissive of me for not having been selected for fall enrollment last year. Then when I beat Rachel at Midnight Madness, they switched sides quickly and tried to endear themselves to me—"
She nodded knowingly. "Which didn't go well."
"Of course not. They were also prone to saying derogatory things about The Apples."
"Well, be that as it may, I would prefer for all of this to be taken care of by the legal system and for it to remain out of the school rumor mill for as long as possible. The fact that they were taken in for questioning today does not prove their guilt."
"I agree. If a case against them goes to trial, the jury will decide that. For the school's sake, I hope today's meeting with the two of them leads nowhere."
Madame Tibideaux nodded once in agreement. "In light of today's situation, I'm going to give this to you privately." She pulled an envelope out of a stack on and slid it across her desk.
Kurt reached out and took it, immediately recognizing it for what it was. "Thank you, Madame Tibideaux. This is—" He paused. "Unexpected."
She nodded once again in understanding. "I would also like to apologize to you."
Kurt didn't manage to keep the surprised look off his face but didn't interrupt her.
"In my first year as Dean of Vocal Performance, I let myself get caught in the hype of choir directors' recommendations. I let myself falsely believe that their evaluations would be unbiased and accurate. You were not the only student I turned down for admission based on an unflattering letter."
"Mr. Schuester's letter was unflattering?"
"Yes. I'll leave it at that for now. But I wanted to let you know that I amended my procedures for choosing new students last spring. I no longer place as much weight on that particular piece of information, and I added requirements of submitting video recordings from competitions or performances since many schools do not actually participate in the official show choir competitions."
He considered what she had said for a moment. "I think that's a step in the right direction, but you may still be overlooking potentially good candidates. Given Mr. Schuester's penchant for always giving the leads to the same people, performance videos and competition videos may also be skewed. It might be prudent to ask for recommendations from teachers or adults outside the music field, adults who could attest to the student's work ethic and overall attitude towards learning."
She didn't respond immediately, eventually saying, "I see your point. I will take your suggestion into consideration and determine how to best gain more information about the students' work ethic in general."
"I know that many schools require in-person interviews. That might also be a way to learn more about prospective students. And with Skype being an easy option, no one would have to travel for those to happen."
"Another valid point." She paused for a bit. "Tell me why you transferred to another school, then back the same school year."
"Oh." Her request caught him off guard. He took a deep breath and began to explain. "I was bullied along with the rest of the so-called losers at McKinley my freshman and sophomore year. Sophomore year, despite joining the football team as the kicker, helping them win when they had not previously that season, and joining the cheer squad and leading them to win Nationals that spring, I was still a bottom feeder. Joining the two teams at the top of the social ladder at the school did nothing to improve my social standing or to stop the bullying. My junior year, one of the top offenders began to target me personally rather than just as a bottom feeder. I followed some bad advice, which falls on me personally—no blame-shifting—to confront him rather than just take it. I followed him into the locker room and got into a verbal argument with him, during which he outed himself to me in a very scary way. I made another mistake of telling another teen, someone he didn't know."
"The same person who gave you the bad advice," she surmised.
"Yes. He offered to come with me the second time." Kurt pursed his lips and took another deep breath.
"Which caused the bully to panic, I'm assuming."
"Yes, but at the time I didn't put two and two together. I was already covered in bruises and apprehensive all the time. When the bully upped the ante, it just felt like a continuation of the increase that had already been happening."
"I can see how that would seem logical. And by 'upped the ante', what do you mean?"
"He threatened to kill me if I told anyone else."
Her usually stoic face flashed with shock before she composed herself again, remaining quiet this time.
"I transferred to a boarding school 90 minutes from home that my family couldn't afford. My dad used money he had saved to take my new stepmother on a honeymoon with to enroll me. I stayed until the money ran out. The top cheerleader figured out that the bully was gay and blackmailed him into reforming and joining her anti-bullying club."
She tilted her head slightly. "Well, that's a twist I didn't anticipate."
"Me neither. But it worked. He walked me to class, and the other bullies didn't have the nerve to go against the cheerleader, knowing that she could exert her influence over the other cheerleaders and keep them from—" He stopped abruptly and blushed slightly.
"Yes, Mr Hummel. I'm aware of what cheerleaders do with football players. Go on."
"So, I went back to McKinley. The bullies made their opinion known about their inability to openly bully me anymore by humiliating both me and the bully that was being blackmailed at prom by writing my name in as Prom Queen and voting for him as Prom King."
"And that was made public?"
"Our principal announced our names, yes. And then he went on with things as usual, expecting us to dance together. The bully fled, assuming that somehow someone else had figured his secret out."
"But they hadn't?"
"No. It was just done to humiliate him. I didn't see him at school after that. I found out later that he faked being sick and took his finals without returning for the last two weeks of the semester. He transferred to a new school the next fall. Through another course of events, which I won't detail, he was outed at his new school and tried to kill himself. I found out afterwards that his mother would have sent him to a conversion camp if she had found out he was gay before he turned 18. That's still actually legal in Ohio—forced conversion therapy for minors."
"I was not aware of that."
Kurt nodded sadly. "He's attending school in Chicago—a small private college where he got a math scholarship. He and I are on good terms now."
"I see." She looked something up on her computer briefly, staring at the screen for not quite a minute.
"Why is it that I am just now finding out that were the lead singer for the cheerleading squad? I'm curious about why that wasn't listed on your CV and wondering what else did you not share on your application."
"Oh, I was told to list only things that were specifically relevant to a career in musical theatre. As for what else I didn't share ..." He paused to think. "I design a lot of my own clothes. I'm a certified mechanic. I speak French fluently. I'm a good cook and baker ..." He shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're asking me."
"All very interesting things, which would have given me a more rounded understanding of who you are.
Why did you submit 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' as your second audition?"
"I honestly couldn't figure out why you had praised my first audition and then rejected my application. I thought perhaps I was too bold and out there, too much theatricality, too much else going on in the background, so I stripped a song that had been sung by a man originally down to the bare bones in an attempt to show off my voice and my vocal range since I can hit both the low 'jitterbug' notes as well as the high notes without going into falsetto."
She nodded. "I see. It circles back to me not giving you any feedback about why your first application was rejected." She sighed. "I apologize for that. I was busy when you came by and I was dismissive, which was unfair to you yet again."
"May I ask you something?"
"That seems fair given how much I've asked you."
"You told me that my first audition was devoid of complexity and depth."
"Well, piecing what you've told me today together with what I knew then, I was wrong. I made false assumptions about you. Your director's letter portrayed you as a one-trick pony."
"The out-and-loud, campy gay member of the club."
She nodded once. "Yes. With no major acting roles or leads in competition under your belt and your very minimal presence at Nationals, you seemed quite underwhelming as a candidate for the school. But as loathe as I am to admit being wrong, in this case, I was, which is why I still have quite a few things to think about when it comes to amending and improving the process for selecting new students."
"Are you looking for suggestions?"
She smirked and tilted her head a bit. "Go ahead."
"For schools like mine with no real guidance, the process of applying to college is very daunting.
Perhaps just a small write-up in the informational materials about what the school would like to know about the potential candidates. Hobbies, non-competitive interests? I'm not really sure since I'm still not quite sure what would have initially tipped the scale in my favor. But for students with no guidance, we were just in the dark. I filled in what little I had done that was musical theatre-related and left it at that, hoping that my performance at the live audition would be enough to sway you into believing in my talent, but it wasn't. Even the second time, you praised my ability to 'sell a number' as well as my natural talent, but obviously talent isn't enough."
"It's not. Let me apologize for what I'm sure seems like being interrogated. I'm just reeling at the information I heard this morning before the officers showed up to escort Mr. Kingston and Mr. Barlow off to be questioned."
Kurt sat quietly, knowing what she was referring to, having heard the rumor himself, but hoping that it wasn't true.
"Two evenings ago, Miss Berry did not show up to perform. She had called out sick, then her understudy fell during the rehearsal called late yesterday afternoon. Miss Berry was called back to perform, even in her unwell state. It turns out that she was out in L.A. auditioning for a part in a TV show and couldn't make it back to the city in time to perform. Mr. Green called Miss Lopez, the original understudy, who fortunately was in town. She agreed to perform."
Kurt knew that Santana had quit, but he hadn't heard the part about the new understudy's accident and Santana replacing her. "I see."
"From your response, I assume you knew most of that."
"As you mentioned, the rumor mill here is quite effective."
She nodded. "When the officers showed up this morning, I had to ask myself how I had chosen so poorly. How had I let myself be swayed by ..."
"Their ability to appear so sincere."
"Yes, that. But I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't see through their sincerity. This is a school for the dramatic arts. The ability to convince someone that you are someone you are not IS the goal. I just didn't envision myself as the one being snowed. I have a lot to consider. And I am thinking that perhaps
I dodged another bullet when Mr. Anderson turned down the place I offered him for this year."
"He and Rachel are very similar." Kurt stopped at that statement, seeing the slight nod and look of understanding on Madame Tibideaux's face.
She looked over at the stack of envelopes. "This year's Winter Showcase will be different."
"Oh?"
"As Dean of Vocal Performance, my job entails overseeing various styles of music instruction. Next semester, you will be under Professor Morgenstern's tutelage, which will stretch your skills into the classical realm. While I see you as perfectly capable of a lead role, at some point, you may also be interested in taking guest roles with orchestras. I would be remiss if I deprived you of the opportunity to hone your skills as a countertenor to broaden your options as a performer. You will also be taking a 1-credit diction course with him so that you can learn to properly sing in Italian, French, and German."
"That actually seems quite useful."
She nodded once. "You will take it in lieu of the 1-credit keyboarding requirement for next semester based on the fact that it has been brought to my attention by Miss July that you play quite well."
He was surprised to hear the compliment. "Thank you."
"That was something else you left off your application."
"I hadn't taken lessons since I was in the eighth grade. And they weren't directly related to being a musical theatre performer."
"Yes. After you explained your nearly empty CV, I understood." She looked something else up. "You mentioned French, but I see no evidence that you took the French placement exam."
"That's because I didn't. I wasn't even aware of a language placement exam. Over the course of my time at the school, I've slowly realized a lot of things that I wasn't aware of. Usually, when I find out about them, the person mentions having learned it during their freshman orientation, which I never received."
"Another oversight on my part." She sighed. "When you leave, stop by my secretary's desk and ask her for one of the orientation binders for this semester."
"I'll do that. Thank you." He went back to the previous topic. "I don't think I've heard of Professor Morgenstern."
"That's because he's working on a joint program I've created this year. He is a voice instructor at Juilliard. A few of their students will be receiving instruction from me as well."
"Sounds like an interesting idea."
"We'll see how it works out. Back to the Winter Showcase. I'm curating the event by choosing the songs that will be presented this year. I'd like the showcase to have a bit more variety than people just choosing on their own has yielded the past few years."
Kurt nodded.
"The performances will span the last 50 years of musical theatre. I'm asking you to sing 'Into the Fire' from The Scarlet Pimpernel."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Your performance that night will double as your final for my course, which will relieve you of the weight of two vocal performances on your shoulders. This accommodation is only for you since I now know that you're facing a trial during finals week. Since trials occur outside the realm of human control, you will also be allowed to take any written exams that may take place when you cannot be here at a convenient time to you. You will just need to discuss that with my secretary, who will proctor any exam you take.
You'll sit in the small conference room across the hall since it will not be in use during exams."
"Thank you. I had planned to make an appointment to discuss my options."
"While you're speaking with her, please make arrangements to take the French placement exam at your earliest convenience. Depending on your score, you can earn up to 12 credit hours. Also, you will need to make an appointment with Professor Schwartz to demonstrate your keyboarding skills. Once that is done, you will be awarded the one credit for the course."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll schedule those right away."
"Well, then, that's taken care of. Is there any other way that I can be of assistance?"
He heard the finality in her tone. "No, ma'am. I will make an appointment should something arise unexpectedly."
"Very well, then. Have a good day."
"You too." He stood and saw himself out, closing the door behind him.
As he had been directed to do before leaving the area, he stopped and picked up the orientation binder and took down the information he needed to schedule the French placement exam and keyboarding skills assessment. He thanked Madame Tibideaux's secretary once he had everything he needed.
The instant he made it around the corner past her office, he took his phone out and texted Adam.
-I got a golden ticket!
While he waited for a response, he texted Isabelle.
-I'm leaving NYADA now. Details when I arrive.
-That's amazing. You absolutely deserve it. I'm bringing you a surprise to celebrate tonight.
He made his way through the crowded hallways and out of the building, then headed straight for the subway. Before he made it to the station, he got another text.
-Martin is willing to testify against Kenneth for immunity from the felony kidnapping charge.
He didn't have time to respond and make it down to catch the train. By the time he got on the train and sat down, he got another text.
-Whenever you get here is fine.
Kurt's phone rang before he could get it back into his coat pocket.
"This is Detective Mendoza. I need you to come down to the station with your lawyer tomorrow."
"Alright. I'll see what I can do and let you know."
Kurt spent the rest of the ride working out when he and Mr. Edwards could meet the next morning. After getting everything arranged, he finally put his phone away one stop before he needed to exit. He reminded himself to thank Isabelle again for pressing the matter of the in-house lawyer taking his case.
He called Adam on his walk from the subway station to the Condé Nast building, updating him about the text from Mr. Edwards, the call from Detective Mendoza, and the talk he had with Madame Tibideaux.
When Kurt finished explaining everything, Adam said, "Well, for weeks we've talked about how much we need a break in the case, and we've finally gotten one. With Martin willing to testify against Kenneth, this should be a lot easier to win."
"I agree, but I'm withholding my enthusiasm until tomorrow morning when we actually get to talk to Mr. Edwards. Do you think you could come with me?"
"I'll let my professor know and ask permission for Sandra to record the class."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, darling. I have to get back to work now. I'm glad you called. I'll see you this evening with a surprise."
Kurt smiled and stopped a few feet back from the door to the building. "I love you."
"I love you too."
After he put his phone in his pocket, he took a deep breath, then entered the building and made his way up to his office. Before he managed to get his coat off, Isabelle was at his door.
"She gave it to you early, didn't she?"
Kurt just chuckled, realizing that Isabelle already knew. "She did."
"Fantastic!" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I have just the suit in mind."
Kadam Week 2023 Day 7 Prompt
We need a break.