*BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ*

Kurt cracked his eyes open and reached over to his night stand where his phone was. He turned off his alarm and saw the time. 6.30am on September 6th. He was relieved he didn't mistakenly snooze his alarms. Today was his first day of Junior year and he was actually feeling good about it! He had spent the summer helping his dad with admin for the family business (Hummel's tyre and lube), shopping with his best friend Mercedes Jones and attending a few cheerios practices. 

He tugged his phone off charge so he could text Mercedes to let her know he'd pick her up at 7.45am for coffee. He then rolled out of his comfy king size bed and glided towards the bathroom. He turned on the cool shower and stepped into it, starting to cover his hair in shampoo and conditioner. He then reached for his favourite vanilla bath and bodyworks shower gel and lathered it up, taking in the sweet scent. Finally, he started washing his face, feeling his smooth skin under his fingers. Kurt was 16 year old, 17 in a few months and had not grown any facial hair (to high delight). Kurt took great pride in his flawless, porcelain skin, investing in the best skincare to keep it perfect. 

After rinsing off, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a soft, white towel and wrapped it around himself. He brushed his pearly white teeth and applied his vanilla deodorant (which matched the scent of his body wash) before walking back through his basement bedroom and sitting at the vanity on the far side of the room. It was lit by the window that sat about 2 meters up and stretched the length of the wall to let in a good amount of light. Kurt popped the lid off of his La Mer moisturising cream and began massaging it into his face and neck. He then combed through his eyebrows with a tiny brush and applied some lip butter to his light pink lips. Once satisfied with his skin, he headed to the adjoining wall where his clothing rail was, displaying all of his fabulous outfits. He picked up his freshly dry cleaned cheerios uniform and slid it on his now dry body. There was a homecoming assembly today which Kurt and Mercedes were performing in. Kurt gave a quick spin in the mirror to make sure he was happy with how he looked and headed back to his vanity to begin his hair. 

Kurt never did his hair before getting dressed. He had his hairstyle down to a science by now and pulling a top or sweater over it was far too risky. He started by spraying some sea salt spray then blowdrying to give it some texture. He then warmed up a small amount of wax in his hand before shaping his hair info a perfect coif and finished if off with a generous amount of hairspray. It may have seemed excessive to most but everyday, Kurt was either dancing in glee or cheerios so he needed that extra support to keep everything in place. 

Once he was finished, he checked his phone. 7.25am.

"Shit" whispered Kurt. He grabbed his cheerios satchel which he had pre-set the night before with all hi school supplies, including a spare outfit in case of an emergency. He jogged up the stairs and opened the door into the hallway before moving into the kitchen, where his Dad, Burt Hummel, was sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Morning Dad!" Kurt said happily.

"Morning Kurt, you ready for today?" Burt said as he shovelled a mouthful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Kurt nodded and eyed his Dad's choice of breakfast, trying to see if he had added extra salt or seasoning. Burt must had noticed.

"It's just eggs Kurt, I'm not even having hot sauce with it today!" Burt said defensively. Kurt raise his eyebrow at his Dad. Burt had a heart attack last year that resulted in him being in a coma for 3 days. Having lost his Mum at such a young age, Kurt literally could not fathom life without his father. Though he looked intimidating, Burt was the most kind-hearted man you would ever meet. He would always do favours for friends and family, even if it meant putting himself out for a while. Kurt may come across as controlling sometimes when it came to his Dad's diet choices and exercise but it was out of pure love for his father. 

"Just checking! Anyway, I've gotta run. I'm picking up Mercedes early so we can get a coffee and catch up before school."

"Catch up? You just saw her 4 days ago." Burt chuckled. Kurt rolled his eyes and smiled at his Dad before slipping on his white trainers and grabbing his car keys from the hook by the front door.

"I'll be working late at the shop tonight Kurt so you can either cook yourself something or I'll leave you some money for take out, ok?" Kurt smilled, nodded and gave his father a peck on the cheek before saying "Love you Dad!" and heading towards his car. 

Kurt had a beautiful black SUV that his Dad had bought him as a gift for his 16th birthday. Kurt was very proud of his car and he cleaned it weekly. His dad made sure he knew how to service his own car so he was able to do all the work to it himself, keeping it in tip-top condition.

He turned the key and rolled out of the driveway, heading towards Mercedes' house. She only lived a few blocks away so it took him all of 5 minutes to get there. Kurt pulled over and texted Mercedes to say he was outside and as if on cue, she opened her front door, beaming at Kurt. Mercedes was a beautiful girl. She was plump, chocolate skin and had opted for a high ponytail with black, bouncy curls. She too was dressed in her cheerios uniform, ready for the homecoming assembly. 

"Damn we look good today boo." She said brightly as she climbed into the passenger side seat, slinging her backpack into the footwell. 

"Don't we always?" Kurt smiled and pressed the gas to head over to the drive-thru of The Lima Bean coffee shop. 

"I have such a good feeling about this year Kurt. We're cheerios, top of the food chain! Aaaand, nationals are in New York this year! Did you hear that Vocal Adrenaline got disqualified after taking a sponsorship?" Kurt turned to her in surprise. Vocal Adrenaline was the glee club that had come in first at their regionals last year, closely followed by The Warblers. Maybe this year they would have more of a chance?

"I mean i don't want us to win by default..." Kurt said cynically.

"It's not default! They did this to themselves Kurt, they don't deserve a spot in the competition if they wont follow the rules!" Kurt thought about this and ended up agreeing. The kids in Vocal Adrenaline were vile anyway, they would always try to psych out their competition by breaking into their schools and defacing their property and stealing sheet music. 

As his car pulled up to the drive-thru window, Kurt ordered his usual non-fat grande mocha and ordered an iced caramel latte for Mercedes. They decided they had a little more time before they had to be in homeroom so they drove to the school parking lot and sat in the car gossiping for another 15 minutes or so until it tuned 8.10am and they headed towards their classroom. 

As they walked in, they were greeted by Tina Cohen-Chang, a pretty asian girl from glee club who had (thankfully) changed up her look this year. Kurt remembered last year that she wore gothic clothing and was partial to a smokey eye. This year however, she had gotten honey highlights in her beautiful long hair and was wearing a cherry red gogo style dress that flattered her much more. 

"Tina! You look beautiful. I love what you've done with your hair." Tina smiled and gave a little twirl, clearly happy with her style choice as well. She beckoned them over to 3 desks in a small triangle she had saved for them and they sat, catching up on their summers. Tina had told Kurt and Mercedes that she and Mike Chang had started dating over Summer. They knew each other from glee club and had even danced together before but spending a lot of time at Asian camp had clearly brought them much closer. 

"Shut up! No way? You two will have the cutest little babies!" Squeled Kurt.

"What about you? Any summer flings Kurt?" Tina asked teasingly.

"As if." Kurt sighed. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only openly gay guy in all of Ohio." Kurt said 'openly' because he had it on good authority that football player, Dave Karofsky, was gay seeing as he had force-kissed Kurt in the boys locker room last year. Kurt shivered at the thought. Thankfully, the bullying had subsided once he joined cheerios and had Sue Sylvester, the terrifying cheerleading coach, in his corner. 

"Morning everyone! I hope you all had a great summer and feel refreshed!" Their homeroom teacher, Ms Saunders, spoke happily. She was a short, muscular woman who taught girls Physical Education. She was firm but fair and generally very popular with the student population. 

"Ok, let's do the register, get you guys sorted with your class schedules and then cheerios and band, you'll be heading to the gym to get ready for the assembly!" She chirped.

"Right let's see...Blaine Anderson." Kurt raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name and looked around the room to check for new faces. Nope, no on new here.

"Blaine Anderson?" Ms Saunders repeated a little louder. But no response came. She shrugged her shoulders and moved on down the list of names, signing everyone else in. Once she was finished, she walked around the room, giving everyone their schedules for the year before heading back towards her desk and standing in front of it. 

"Cheerios and Band, pack your things away and make your way to the gym, we'll all be -" She stopped talking abruptly as the classroom door flung open. Kurt was facing Tina and Mercedes at the time, who were both looking at the door, their eyes widening quickly. Curious as to what could have the girls looking so stunned, he spun round the look. There was a figure in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. Kurt felt his own eyes widening as he inhaled sharply at what he saw. 

A well built guy with a messy mop of curly hair which had been cut shorter on the sides was scanning the room, smirking. Kurt's eyes wondered up and down the boy as he took in his outfit. It certainly wouldn't be Kurt's choice of clothing but oddly suited this kid. He had on worn black boots, tight black ripped jeans and a Rolling Stones top that looked like an authentic concert tee. He also had a black denim jacket slung over his shoulder. Usually Kurt never approved of double denim but he was too distracted by the dark features on this boys face to even care. 

"You must be Blaine Anderson." Ms Saunders said politely, and gestured him to come in and take a seat. Blaine, as he was apparently called, nodded his head at her and swaggered in. He gave one last glance around the look and his eyes landed on Kurt. He winked at Kurt before sitting down. Kurt felt a hot flush come over him before quickly looking away and towards Ms Saunders. Kurt could still feel Blaine's dark eyes burning on him. 

"As I was saying, cheerios and band, off you go. We'll see you shortly!" Kurt shot up in his seat and grabbed Mercedes' hand, pulling her with him. Whilst Kurt kept his head up, Mercedes was giving her best flirty smile, looking at Blaine but her flirting quickly turned into realisation when Blaine didn't stop looking at Kurt's ass. As they got out of the classroom and quickly walked towards the gym, Mercedes walked in front of Kurt and stopped to face him.

"What?" He asked as his heart was still racing from his brief encounter with the new kid. 

Mercedes broke into a huge grin and started laughing.

"Boy did you not see how that new kid was looking at you?" Kurt looked flustered and faked bewilderment. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said and moved passed her. 

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! And if you don't try then I totally will." She teased. 

"Mercedes, we don't even know him. Besides, did you see his outfit? He looked like he hasn't gone shopping since the 90s and grunge is way out of style now." Mercedes rolled her eyes but dropped the matter for now.

They entered the gym and were met with all the cheerios excitedly beginning to stretch and warm up. 

"LADIES." The sound of Sue Sylvester calling into her megaphone rang around the echoey gym. "I hope you haven't used Summer to become lazy, sloppy babies. I expect a full out run before the assembly. PLACES!" 

Everyone rushed to their opening positions whilst Kurt and Mercedes ran off to get their microphone packs clipped on and taped to their face. Kurt grimaced at the thought of the sticky residue but quickly got over it when he remembered he had cleansing wipes and a small pot of moisturiser in his bag. 

He and Mercedes started on opposite sides of the gym, out of site until the music kicked in and they strutted their way to meet in the middle. They were particularly excited for this number as it was 4 Minutes by Madonna and they were the featured soloists in it. 

After a full run through of the number and numerous "constructive" insults from Coach Sylvester, they were ready to begin. They all waited under the bleachers, out of site of the students that were now trickling into the gym and taking their seats. Once everyone had sat down, Principle Figgins walked out and took the standing microphone with him to the centre of the gym.

"Quiet down, children. Quiet, please..." He waited a good 5 seconds before continuing. 

"Welcome back to William McKinley High School. An announcement; the boys bathroom on the ground floor has now been successfully fumigated and is no longer riddled with cockroaches. Students are encouraged to eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the population. Thank you. Now, please welcome the William McKinley High School Cheerios and Marching Band." He finished and the students applauded as he cleared the standing mic and the cheerios uniformly walked out and took their places. 

Coach Sylvester started the track to 4 Minutes and Kurt and Mercedes came strutting out, stepping in time with the music. They began the choreography and started singing. Kurt looked out to the bleachers and his eyes got stuck on a head full of dark curly hair and tanned skin. Blaine. He was eyeing Kurt hungrily and smirking. Kurt quickly turned away and carried on with the number. He didn't intend to but Kurt noticed himself shaking his hips a little more and adding some extra sassy moves and every time he caught Blaine looking at him he smiled.

The number finished and Kurt and Mercedes finished in their pose, hands on hips with one foot beveled in front of the other. The gym erupted into applause and the cheerios cleared the floor, heading out to the halls to debrief with Coach Sylvester.

"Outstanding." She said with a sly grin on her face before turning sharply and walking away towards her office (or trophy room as she called it).

Kurt and Mercedes smiled at each other before parting ways so Kurt could remove his mic tape in the bathroom and redo his skincare after sweating. 

He turned the corner in the corridor and walked a few more meters towards the boys bathroom and to Kurt's delight, it was vacant due to everyone being in the gym. He pulled out his facial wipes and cleaned off his face then gently rubbed on some more moisturiser. Just as he was screwing the cap back on and popping it back into his bag, the door opened. Kurt was finished anyway so he wasn't that bothered. Until he saw who it was.