"Youre short." A small, Asian lady, presumed to be Tina, said upon his arrival to work.

"Uhm, no. Im Blaine." It was an automated response that flew out of his mouth, because he was tired as all get up. It was in his plan to negotiate a new schedule with Tina that did not involve him waking up uproariously early on a Friday. But, it was his first day, so maybe not yet.

She sighed, clearly irritated. It was thrilling to know that his boss, who he sees almost every morning, is not a morning person. Thrilling. "Youre short, Im short. Jane is tall, but she works part time, because she has to get an education. I say throw a book at her," in her rage, she brandished a book above her head rather violently. Blaine flinched. "And call it a diploma. But, no. Of course thats not how it works. Shes only 17 and has classes all day, and homework, and then shell go to college. Then, all Ill have is me, you and a broken ladder."

"Would you like me to fix the ladder?" It was evident that Blaines proposition had taken her by surprise. It was enough to scare her into ending her rant, which was greatly appreciated by Blaine.

Recomposing herself, she smiled at him. "That would be a start, if you can find it. I saw it somewhere in the storage closet about two months ago. And when youre done, I need you to shelve these." She gestured to a cart of books behind her. Okay, Blaine could do that. Find a giant ladder in a little closet. Reattach maybe a step or two. Shelve some books. This job is easy. "Oh, and, Blaine? If you let the mice get out of the closet, you have to catch them again." Perhaps Sue overlooked a job.

The rats were no joke, neither was that broken ladder. It was literally broken into twos, right down the middle, the rungs splitting apart. His first thought was glue. But, his second thought was the glue not holding and the ladder splitting while someone was on it and the wrath of Tina turning onto him. Then he figured duct tape. However, he vowed once that Blaine Anderson would not become the type of person to fix everything with duct tape. A sort of pride thing. Then he figured probably not duct tape. The best fit solution for Blaine was to buy a new ladder. If his dad taught him one thing, which he didnt, it was how to use money to solve everything.

The hardware store could be better described as a glorified shed. It was maybe a third the size of the average Home Depot, and even saying that was a stretch. Only two employees were required to man the tiny shop, but even they appeared useless. There was a stocky girl, who looked beyond bored as she flipped through a magazine. Next to her at the counter was a guy sleeping. He startled to life when the door chimed above Blaine.

"Welcome to Screwed. How can I help you?" The guy sounded like hed rather return to his nap than help Blaine.

"I, uh, just need a new ladder."

The girl next to him perked up at that. "Is lord Tubbington stuck in a tree again?" Blaine just looked at her oddly. Is this some form of weird slang?

The guy groaned, "God that cat is so fat. Im scared next time the tree will fall before he does." Probably some weird slang, Blaine figured.

"Uhm, I work at the library, so...Tina sent me."

"Oh, that makes sense." The guy lightened up, moving from his napping stool. "Finally shes getting that ladder replaced. Do you know how many times shes called me over to shelve for her?" He complained, leading Blaine to the section of the store with ladders. His assistance was so unnecessary. Blaine could see where everything was before hed even entered the store.

"She never calls me." The girl proclaimed, although with zero heartache. Or any emotion at all.

"Well, Zizes, youre short." It was easy for them to talk to each other from anywhere in the tiny store.

"Im taller than Tina." She shot back. "And him." Blaine didnt like the look she gave him, sizing him up as a sort of challenge.

The man rolled his eyes, then turned to Blaine. "These are all of the ladders," there werent many. "My names Matt. Just let me know if you have any questions."

Blaine nodded his understanding, surveying the small selection. "Thanks." Matt made it maybe three steps, before Blaine called out, "uh, Matt?" The employee nodded eagerly. "I want that one." Blaine extended his finger to the highest placed ladder. He wasnt trying to be difficult. That just seemed to best resemble the old ladder.

Matt fixed Blaine with a rather forced smile and nodded. "Sure thing."

Now, the people at Screwed dont particularly like Blaine.

Tina, thankfully, was in a much better mood when Blaine returned. Since it was a slow day at the library, she found the time to help Blaine shelve the books. She even engaged in a small conversation that wasnt painfully odd.

"So, where did you move here from?" She began, passing him a Lois Lowry book.

From atop their new ladder, Blaine thanked her for the book, placing it on the shelf. "Washington."

"State or DC?"

"Uh, DC."

Tina hummed. For a moment, she was quiet. Just placing books on the shelves below Blaine. Then, she got a little gleam in her as she looked up to him. "Did you ever meet the president?"

Blaine chuckled. "People always ask that."

"Well, have you?" Tina prompted, her intrigue growing. Blaine shook his head no. "Oh." She sighed.

"I did see the First Lady once." Blaine supplied, feeling bad for disappointing Tina.

Her joy was right back to full swing at that. "Michelle Obama?"

"Yeah. Uh, she does a lot of stuff with like kids and the environment, and I had to chaperone an Earth Day thing that my students went to with her." Blaine shrugged like it wasnt a big deal, but Tina was beaming.

"Im so jealous." She said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Is that all of the Ls?" Blaine asked, climbing down from his ladder when Tina confirmed.

"Theres not many Ms, either. So we probably dont need the ladder." Blaine was thankful he wouldnt have to move the darn thing to another aisle. While they wheeled the book cart to the Ms, Tina asked another question. "Did you used to be a teacher?"

Blaine nodded. "I taught music class."

Tina smiled. "Did you like it?"

"Of course. I loved it."

"So, whyd you leave?"

Blaine stalled his response, taking his time to shelve the few books. "I needed a new start." Which, to an extent, was true.

After finishing the Ms, Tina released Blaine for lunch, saying they could finish the other half of the alphabet when he got back. The only problem was that Blaine had no idea what to do for lunch. It was cute what the lunch rush here looked like. Cute. There wasnt a big crowd out, although there also arent many restaurants in the area. So, it kind of all accumulates in one place. It was a little retro diner, called the Dolarian. It was very cute, but Blaine didnt care much to wait behind half of the town for his lunch. Besides, he wasnt very hungry.

Ultimately, he decided on a chai tea and a cupcake from the nice baker at For Heavens Cakes. Her name was Quinn and she suggested that Blaine walk down to the park to eat. She said its surprisingly empty during lunch, and it can be a nice and quiet place to read. Despite working in the library, Blaine had no books currently with him, yet he still decided to pay the park a visit.

As he folded back the liner of his cupcake, a small face popped into his line of sight. "Is that all youre eating for lunch?" The little girl demanded.

"Uhm...well, yes. Yes, it is." Blaine had figured it was best to be honest with the kid, folding his hands protectively in front of his dessert.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She reminded him of some of the older kids in his classes; the ones who acted more mature than they should. There was a certain air about her that, to Blaine, was reminiscent of Matilda. Yet, with her braided back hair and the large glasses, she looked more like Lavender. "Wont you get a tummy ache?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, because Im a big kid."

As if shed been hiding under the table, which was all very possible, another even smaller face appeared. "I wish cupcakes didnt give me tummy aches." She lamented, sighing.

"Girls." The two kids straightened up at the chastising tone carrying from behind them. "Ive been looking for you two." And there was Kurt. Blaine would recognize him anywhere. Upon seeing his not-so-angry grin, the girls started giggling.

"Were sorry, Kurtsie." the first girl cried around her giggles.

"Really sorry, Kurty pants." The second chimed, as they dramatically flocked to his feet, clinging to his legs like prisoners begging for mercy. These two were quite the hams.

"Youll have to apologize to him, not me."

Simultaneously, the two girls turned and began clinging to Blaine, singing their pleas. "Oh, uhm, its ok?" He offered, clearing his throat.

"There you have it. Now, shoo. I banish you to the playground." Kurt commanded, taking part in their game. As the girls scampered away, he added, seriously, "and please stay on the playground.

"Sorry about that." He said, addressing Blaine now.

"Its fine, I dont mind. Are they yours?" Blaine asked.

"No, I just look after them when their parents are busy." In response, Blaine just gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. For a moment, Kurt turned as though he was going to leave, but he turned back. "So, youre still here. He says in a totally not rude and abrupt way."

Blaine let out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah, I kinda live here now. Sorry, if thats like..."

"Oh, no dont be sorry. Why are you sorry? Its good. Thats cool." Kurt nodded. Then, Blaine nodded, so Kurt nodded again. "Well, anyways, I should probably go watch Kennedy and Jules."

"Who? Oh, the girls! Right, yes, go— I mean, ok."

Kurt smiled, "It was nice seeing you." Then, Kurt left, walking back to the playground where Jules was threatening to make Kennedy walk the plank.