Aelora
April 21, 2012, 5:20 a.m.
Seasons May Change (Come What May): Chapter 6
E - Words: 2,863 - Last Updated: Apr 21, 2012 Story: Closed - Chapters: 8/? - Created: Apr 19, 2012 - Updated: Apr 21, 2012 269 0 1 0 0
Author's Notes: Chapter Rating: PG
“Mr. Schue seems to be in a good mood,” Tina whispers beside Blaine before reaching over to tug on the corner of his blue polka dot bowtie, straightening it slightly. Blue for Monday because, well… it’s Monday, and the colors don’t clash with the sling around his shoulder.
Blaine nods, watching their director hums softly to himself as he writes across the whiteboard. There’s the date of Sectionals, the date for Regionals, Nationals—which is taking place back in New York City this year, and Blaine can’t wait because Kurt, Rachel and Mike have all promised to attend—and then two foreboding numbers at the bottom: eight, the number of members currently in New Directions, and twelve, the number they need in order to qualify for competition.
Mr. Schuester spins around from the board and smiles at them. “As you can see, we currently remain four members away from the total number needed for competition. While we know we have the support of our wonderful band,” he waves toward the band members, all of whom appear to force smiles in return, “if we want to make it back to Nationals this year, we’re going to need a dozen powerhouse voices on that stage at Regionals to bring down the house.”
“I still say a performance during the Homecoming Pep Rally is our best option for drawing in some new voices this year, Mr. Schuester,” Blaine offers.
“And we need to start preparing for that, Blaine,” Mr. Schuester agrees, pointing his dry erase marker toward Blaine for emphasis. “But, for now, I am pleased to announce that this number,” he points toward the eight and crosses it out, “has now become this number!” He quickly scrawls a number nine. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our newest member to New Directions, Ms. Harmony Mason.”
Harmony sweeps into a room with a smile with a smile wider and brighter than a model for a toothpaste commercial. Her entrance is impressively dramatic, arms out swept as if she’s ready to burst into “The Hills are Alive”, and honestly, Blaine wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she did. Beside him, Tina sucks in a sharp breath, and her hand lands on his thigh, nails gripping hard.
“That isn’t—“
“Yes, yes it is.”
She groans. “Well, there goes any chance I had for solos this year.”
Blaine pats her hand, sympathizing, knowing Mr. Schuester far too well to offer up any platitudes that might not come true. On the one hand, they should all be happy—having Harmony’s talent added to the mix will certainly give them an edge over the competition. On the other hand, none of them are clueless enough not to miss the assessing look in Harmony’s eyes as her gaze sweeps over them, clearly judging and quickly dismissing each out of hand as lacking in the kind of talent she possesses. Her eyes linger on Blaine for just a moment, and he stares back at her, torn between wanting to be polite and welcome her to the club, and wanting to make damn certain Tina doesn’t lose her chance to shine this year.
“Hello everyone!” Harmony greets them, tone confident and words somewhat rushed, as if she has more to say than she could possibly fit into a lifetime. “I am so happy to be a part of your delightful show choir! As you all should remember, we competed in Sectionals last year, and while you did beat us, I am certain none of you could have possibly discounted my obvious talent—“
“So what are you doing here?” Artie asks from the front row. “I thought you’d be preparing to win first place this year, seeing as how you’re so talented and all.”
Harmony’s smile falters for only a moment before it brightens once more as she focuses her attention on Artie. “While I had every intention of leading the Unitards on to victory this year, our director was, sadly, in a devastating accident two weeks ago, and won’t be returning for the year. Instead of taking the chance of having a PE instructor put in charge of the club, I requested a transfer to a winning choir.” Her gaze sweeps over them again as she continues to smile. She holds her arms out once more. “I look forward to our victory at Nationals!”
There’s a smattering of applause from Mr. Schuester, Rory, Aaron, Brittany and Sugar. Harmony curtsey’s before them as Tina leans close to Blaine’s ear. “I think she may be worse than Rachel at her most obnoxious.”
“I think you may be right,” Blaine replies, smiling--because it would be rude not to--as Harmony pushes her way through the chairs to the row in front of him.
She reaches out a hand. “Hi, I’m Harmony. You’re the one who sang “Come What May” with Kurt during Nationals. I watched it on YouTube. Brilliant performance. I imagine we’ll sound amazing together.”
“Blaine Anderson,” he says, shaking her hand as Tina sighs beside him. “And thank you.” He’s not quite certain what he should say to her comment about them sounding “amazing” together, so he lets it go.
“I hear both Kurt and Rachel made it into NYADA,” she continues, sitting down and twisting in the chair to face him. “Two students from the same school in the same year making it into NYADA is practically unheard of.” Harmony pauses, glancing around at the members of New Directions once more before smiling back up at him. “I’m sure you’ll be on your way this year, hmmm? And me next year, of course.”
“Of course,” Blaine murmurs with a smile as Tina elbows him in the side. “Oh, uh, Harmony this is Tina. Tina, Harmony.”
“Pleasure,” Harmony says, smiling as she shakes Tina’s hand.
“Okay, Blaine,” Mr. Schuester calls out. “You want to walk us through the pep rally number?”
“Absolutely.”
Grinning as Tina, Sugar and Rose give him a little round of applause, Blaine takes position at the front of the room and begins to explain the masterful idea he and Artie had come up with the other day while running lines for Guys and Dolls. He knows that performances in front of the student body at McKinley haven’t always worked out—either they were less than interested, retaliated in apparent annoyance or some other factor reared its ugly head to ruin the show, i.e. fire alarms. Luckily--and this is a consensus they’d all come to during the first few weeks of school--attitudes seem slightly different this year. The glee club members have actually received a few congratulations from classmates. The Nationals trophy is proudly displayed in the glass case near the front entrance, and there hasn’t been a single slushy incident. While that doesn’t mean potential members are knocking down their door to join up, it at least means they have a little more effectiveness when it comes to recruitment attempts.
Everyone seems excited about the song choice, except for Harmony, but Rose ends up telling her with far less polite words than Blaine would have used that she should just sit back and let the pros handle it. Once they begin working on choreography with Brittany leading them through a routine that thankfully requires minimal shoulder moves from Blaine, he tries to include Harmony in as much of it as possible, but she ends up making a comment that perhaps she should just let the “pros perform this number”. Blaine can’t help but feel that their newest glee club member is going to be less than a team player.
From: Artie (1/)
I got trapped in the hall by Harmony. She gave me a 10 min speech as to why she should be allowed to audition for G&D.
To: Artie
What did you tell her?
From: Artie (1/2)
It wouldn’t be fair and she could try out next year.
From: Artie (2/2)
Thank Joss Whedon I won’t be here…
Like with any high school, Homecoming at McKinley is an important event, not only to the student but to the surrounding community as well. There’s the pep rally Friday morning that New Directions is preparing to perform during, followed by the parade that afternoon, and the game Friday evening, which includes the coronation of the Homecoming King and Queen. The dance will be held on Saturday evening, and Tina keeps dropping less than subtle hints that they should attend. Blaine knows he’ll eventually give in and say yes because he’d be the worst kind of friend if he refused. After all, it’s an opportunity for fashion, and Blaine’s fairly positive that if he doesn’t say yes soon, Tina will drop a hint on Tumblr that Kurt will see, and then Blaine will never hear the end of it.
The classes have already begun choosing their themes, and designing and building their floats. The overall theme involved some long explanation from Figgins about partnering with the library, and Blaine had been excited when he’d first heard of it--excited right up until the point when the classes made their individual choices. When announced, he’d honestly been embarrassed to be a senior because, in someones infinite wisdom (and he just discovered this morning that someone had been Sugar), Twilight had been chosen. Blaine had almost cried when he found out the sophomores when with the Hunger Games--Rose said it had been her suggestion, and her love of the books had garnered her extra brownies points from Blaine. The juniors grabbed Harry Potter, and the freshmen went with Eragon.
Blaine is not entirely certain he will ever find it in his heart to forgive Sugar. He’d texted Kurt, of course, because he knew his boyfriend would appreciate the irony of the situation. Kurt had quickly responded that it was almost enough to make him wish he was still at McKinley, if only to see Blaine’s face. Of course, he’d followed that up with a comment as to what a horrible choice it actually was, since they were basing the floats off of the books and not the movies. Blaine had simply responded that even if they had based them off the movies, Taylor Lautner did not attend McKinley High.
The last week involved nominations for the Homecoming court. Blaine’s interest in filling out the nomination form last week only extended so far in that he thought Aaron and Brittany would make an excellent King and Queen.
“I’m still upset that I won’t be playing in the game,” Blaine laments as he flicks a paper football through the goal posts Aaron has created with his fingers. Punching a fist of celebration in the air as it neatly sails between them, Blaine sighs and leans his chin on his hand.
“Don’t sweat it, dude,” Aaron replies, grabbing the makeshift football from where it landed on his seat. “You’ve done more than your share for the team this season. Coach says we wouldn’t have the standing that we do if not for your mad skills on the ground. Score!” He quietly exclaims as the football pings Blaine on the tip of his nose. “Sorry.”
Blaine laughs and shakes his head a little, glancing toward the front of the classroom before bending to grab the paper from the floor. They have a substitute in Physics that day, and while Blaine had initially attempted to keep up with the lesson plan, he’d finally given up right around the time Mr. Allen had realized only three of the twenty-five students in class were paying attention. Now Mr. Allen is sitting up front, discussing Marvel with three of the students. Blaine can remember when he used to miss the rigidity of Dalton last year; now he finds himself appreciating the ease his senior year appears to be affording him.
“Still, I’d like to be there to give the Indians a lesson in how to play a fair game.” Blaine reaches over his shoulder to scratch at his neck where the material from the sling is irritating his skin. “I still can’t believe those calls from the refs. Could they have been any more blatant in their bias?”
Aaron snorts.
“What?”
“‘Blatant in their bias’,” the quarterback repeats in what Blaine figures is supposed to be a rather poor imitation of him. “I wonder what century you’re from, man.”
Blaine aims the football, flicking it a bit harder than necessary into the middle of Aaron’s forehead. “You were saying?”
“An awesome aim doesn’t change the fact that you’re the weirdest teenager I’ve ever met.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Aaron shrugs. “Didn’t mean it as insult, so why the hell not?”
Blaine catches the football before it flies past his shoulder when Aaron overshoots his mark. “You know, we should probably be running lines, or something. You had some issues with the diner conversation during rehearsal yesterday.”
“Well, who the hell talks like that?” Aaron mutters, reaching in to grab the Guys and Dolls script from his backpack and waving it in Blaine’s face. “I mean, besides you.”
“Oh, ha.”
“Attention students,” Figgins voice crackles over the loud speaker, and some of the conversations die down in the classroom, but not all. Blaine tries to pay attention but Aaron flicks the football into his cheek. “We have the nominees for this year’s Homecoming.” A few more conversations dissipate, and even Aaron suddenly appears interested. Blaine feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and slips it out to see a message from Tina:
From: Tina
Our last high school Homecoming! The LAST one, B.
Blaine shakes his head, smiling a little as Figgins begins running through the list of nominees for the freshman class, none of whom Blaine recognizes the names. He’s hoping to get to know a few after the pep rally, if only one or two would show interest in glee club. When Figgins begins naming the sophomore nominees, both Blaine and Aaron are pleased to hear Rose’s name included.
“That girl’s gonna be wearing tiaras the rest of her time at McKinley,” Aaron whispers, and Blaine nods in agreement. Even though she has the tendency not to censor the things she says to people, Blaine has yet to meet anyone who genuinely doesn’t like the girl. Her red hair and hyper active personality cause her to stand out as well. She’s pretty too, which Blaine figures assists in the ladder of high school hierarchy.
When Figgins finally begins announcing the senior nominations, the classroom around him grows quiet. Everyone in the Physics class is a senior, and these are the only names that really matter. Blaine smiles when he hear Brittany’s name listed among a couple of other cheerleaders, a girl named Alice who’s on the debate team, and Lucie Walters, who’s not only their star swimmer but is also known for speaking four languages fluently. She also makes a mean cupcake--Blaine had accepted one from her last spring, and had complimented her so much that a school week hasn’t gone by since where she hasn’t shown up with one or two, in a variety of flavors, to offer him. His friends tease him that she has a crush but Blaine’s fairly certain that is not the case. She just appreciates that he enjoys her baking skills, and without Kurt around, there’s no one else to make him cupcakes anyway.
Blaine is not the least bit surprised when Aaron is announced as a nominee for Homecoming King. He turns to offer his classmate a polite golf clap, and receives the salute of Aaron’s middle finger in return. Grinning, Blaine reaches out for the paper football, ready to flick it back in Aaron’s direction when he hears:
“--and Blaine Anderson. And that concludes this years nominees for the Homecoming Court. Congratulations, students. And good luck.”
Blaine blinks, opening his mouth to ask Aaron what it was he’d just heard, but he receives confirmation by the way Aaron is grinning at him, and poking him in the arm. Wide-eyed, Blaine turns to look around the classroom, and most of the students are staring--some are smiling, giving him a thumb’s up, a couple of the girls are saying “Congratulations!”, but there are others, too. The ones openly frowning, turning to whisper to friends as they roll their eyes. Blaine feels something he hasn’t felt in a very long time--the overwhelming need to just curl in on himself and disappear.
Swinging his head back around to Aaron, Blaine whispers, “I don’t understand. How did this even happen?”
Aaron’s watching him, as if just beginning to realize Blaine doesn’t seem to want this. “The team, glee... we all thought if anyone deserves it, it’s you. You’ve got a whole lot of school spirit for someone who transferred in, and I don’t know, between football and glee, you’ve done a lot for the school.” Aaron frowns. “I’m sorry. We just thought--”
“No, it’s okay.” Blaine waves his apologies away. He’s focusing on the bad, when it’s obvious there are just as many people who are fine with the nomination. And maybe, everything will be all right.
Still, he’d feel better if Kurt were there.
“Thanks, by the way,” he remembers to add, just before the bell rings. He smiles at Aaron. “It’s really... thoughtful.”
To: Kurt <333
... I’ve been nominated for Homecoming King...
From: Kurt <333 (1/2)
...............................................................
From: Kurt <333 (2/2)
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
To: Kurt <333
Oh shut up.
From: Kurt <3333
But no, I’m proud of you. Really. <3
To: Kurt <333
I’m scared.
From: Kurt <333 (1/2)
Don’t be, bb. Things are better, you know that. You’ll be fine.
From: Kurt <333 (2/2)
Call me after school, k? I love you!
To: Kurt <333
Ok. Love you, too.
Comments
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Awww Blainers... he's so humble. He'd make the perfect Homecoming King. I hope this makes him realize he really does fit in and really does have talent and really is amazing.Sorry, I may be projected by Darren Criss love onto the lovely and adorable Blaine. :)