The next 3 days passed in a blur. Interviews, photo shoots, press conferences… The whole world (or well, at least the whole country) wanted to know who the 14 “chosen ones” were. Blaine was quite overwhelmed with all the attention he was getting, so giving interviews and answering questions was definitely something he’d have to work on. He just didn’t know what he should or shouldn’t tell, especially when they started asking him more personal questions. Others, however, like Aylin, Lily and Charlie, were naturals and Blaine couldn’t help but be impressed at how they answered every single question like they had done this a thousand times before.

After those 3 days, Blaine was exhausted. It was only 8pm, but he was so tired he excused himself and went to the giant bedroom he shared with the other male candidates. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. About 30 minutes later, he woke up to the feeling of someone sitting on the edge of his bed and going with their fingers through his curls while whispering “Wake up, sleepyhead!”. He cracked one eye open and saw it was Nellie. He liked Nellie. Over the past couple of days, he’d gotten to know all 13 other contenders a little bit better, but Nellie was definitely the one he got along with the most. They both seemed to be the most quiet and shy ones of the bunch. He sat up, which caused Nellie to drop her hand from his hair, and rubbed his hands over his face to wake himself up a little more. His voice rough from sleeping, he asked her “What’s up? Something going on? Why’d you wake me up?”. She smiled apologetically and said “I’m really sorry, I know you’re tired. I am too. But this guy just arrived and he’s gonna explain us a little how things will go from now on. You know, with the competition starting for real tomorrow… Thought you’d wanna be there.” “Oh, okay, thanks. Gimme a minute, I’ll be right there. Are there any cameras?” “No, no, it’s just some kind of info session. No cameras. You can come out in your PJs and with your bedhead,” she chuckled, and with one last pat on his leg, she got up and went back to the living room. “See you in a few!”.

The info session itself only took about 20 minutes and was, just like Nellie had told him, the crew member explaining how things would go from there. Tomorrow morning at 9am, they had to be up, dressed and presentable because Robert (yes, the guy from the audition was definitely called Robert, and Blaine now knew that he was the casting director of the show) would be here with a bunch of cameras, so they could get their very first homework assignment. They would also get to know this week’s theme. They’d all get lyric sheets, and they’d have to divide the lyrics themselves. Which, Blaine thought, would be very interesting to see, because there were quite a few divas in the house. There was always a chance they’d have to do something more than once if the camera didn’t catch it, but the guy told them they would always try to do it in as few takes as possible. They then had until 2.30pm to practice the song and come up with a choreography until they’d have to go to the choir room and perform the song for Robert and a mysterious guest star (a couple of times, so the camera could film it from different angles). The guest star would pick a winner and tell them what the song for the music video would be, and immediately afterwards there’d be the one on one mentoring session. All the while, a camera would be present. That would be it for tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, there’d be choreography with Zach and Brooke in the morning, and in the afternoon they’d record the song in the studio with Nikki. And then finally, the day after that, the music video would be filmed and edited. The elimination would happen the same night. They’d get back to the house, get some time to eat, and then they’d have to appear in front of Ryan. The bottom three would have 2 hours to practice their song for their last chance performance (the only thing they would most definitely never have to do more than once), and Nikki, Zach, Ryan and Robert would pick the loser as soon as they could. The goodbyes would be filmed the same night, but the loser could stay in the house until the next morning so he or she had time to pack his bags. And the next morning, if they were lucky enough to still be here, the whole circus would start all over again and they’d immediately start filming for the next episode with the exact same schedule.

Blaine’s head was spinning with all the information he just got. He’d watched the show, of course, but he never imagined the schedule would be so tight. The crew member left and the contenders were, once again, on their own.

“So hey, guys, GUYS!” Aylin shouted to get attention. “Who do you think will be the mysterious guest mentor tomorrow? Oooooh, I hope it’s that Noah Puckerman guy. He’s so hot!”. “No, they probably won’t give us a really major actor in the very first episode,” Mario thought. “I’m thinking maybe Sam or Tina. But if we’re talking about hot actors – Santana Lopez is smoking hot!”. Blaine doesn’t mean to say anything, but suddenly Charlie’s flopping down next to him on the couch, nudging him with his shoulder and saying “And what about you, Blaine? You barely speak up here, say something man! Who’d you think will come? Or who would you WANT to come?” “Erm…,” Blaine blushes, “I don’t really know. Honestly, I don’t have a clue who will come tomorrow, but I just- erm- I just hope that- that I’ll still be around when Kurt Hummel’s here. He’s- he’s kinda my idol.”. “Ooooooh,” Ali squeals as she wheels closer to where Blaine is sitting. “Someone has a cruuuuuush!”. Everyone starts laughing, and Aylin yells “Are you serious? Come on, Ali, Blaine is totally straight! I can tell, I have an awesome gaydar.” But Shanna kicks her lightly in the shins and smiles “Don’t listen to her Blaine, I think it’s cute.” Blaine was already blushing a little, but now he can actually feel the heat spreading. He tries to think of something to say in return, but doesn’t find the words. It’s Abraham who saves him. “Hey, I feel you, man. That Hummel guy is a genius. His character’s my favorite and he seems like such a great guy. I really hope I’m still around to meet him too.” “I think maybe we should all just go to bed,” Nellie says to the group while grabbing Blaine’s wrist and pulling him off the couch. “We’ve had some busy days and tomorrow will be another one, so…” The others quickly agree, and soon they’re all heading to the bedrooms.

Blaine follows, but then changes his mind and goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He’s thinking about nothing in particular, but still doesn’t see Nellie sneaking up on him until he feels her ruffling his hair. “Hey, boo. Did I mention I love your hair? It’s so curly and fluffy. But anyway - you okay? Listen – don’t think about what Aylin or Ali said, okay? If you don’t wanna tell anyone you’re gay, that’s your choice. I won’t tell them, I promised you.” “I’m okay,” he says, not because he is, but because he wants her to stop asking. “I know you won’t. And I’m totally fine. Just a little nervous about tomorrow, that’s all.” “Alright then” and after giving him a quick hug and a whispered “goodnight”, she walks away to the girls’ bedroom. He just sits there, enjoying the peace and quiet. The group is great, he knows he’s really lucky to experience this adventure with these people, but Blaine isn’t really a people person, and being with 13 people around him all the time has drained him already. So he just sits there alone, in the kitchen, with his now empty glass. He hears some shuffling and turns around. “Oh, hey man, sorry – I didn’t know you were still here, I thought everyone had gone to bed,” Abraham says. He continues to take a banana from the fruit bowl and peel it, before walking around the counter until he’s right next to Blaine. “I know what it’s like, you know. I mean – I don’t know if you’re gay or not, and I honestly don’t care, but what people are doing to you right now, speculating… That’s what was happening to me to before I decided to come out of the closet. So I don’t know if you really have a closet to come out of, but just know that if you have, the best advice I can give you is to just get it over with. No one will judge you here. We’re all messed up in our own way.” He chuckles after the last line. Blaine smiles. For a minute, neither of them says anything. Then Abraham says “You know, you’re kind of the quiet one in the group. You barely say anything, you just speak when you’re asked something and you just do what you’re asked and never propose anything yourself. You really shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. This is a competition. We’re here, living together, hopefully for a couple more weeks. You can talk. We’re all in this together.” Blaine laughs and, for the first time since he entered the room, looks at Abraham. “Did you just quote High School Musical on me?” Now Abraham’s laughing too. “Well yeah, it worked to get you to talk to me, didn’t it?” And then “You know Blaine, you’re alright. Seriously – speak up more, let people get to know you. Everyone’s gonna love you, even though you probably think they won’t.” And with that, he drops his banana peel in the trash and leaves.

Blaine puts his glass in the sink and decides to go to bed as well. It still takes him a while to fall asleep. He knows that tomorrow probably won’t have one of the show’s most famous actors as a guest mentor for them, but he can’t help but hope in his heart that it’s Kurt. Maybe he does have a little crush, just like Ali said. And with that thought, a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach and a smile on his lips, he falls asleep.