Kurt Hummel seems like the perfect boy. Hell, person. He’s extremely intelligent, ranking at the top of McKinley’s Class of 2012 every year. He’s personable and friendly, well-liked among his peers, admired by his fellow honors classmates. He’s a singer, and everyone agrees he has the voice of an angel. He’s also modest, considerate, polite, and always eager to help. He’s the school’s resident fashionto, always up to date on the latest fashions and trends. Yes, Kurt Hummel would be the perfect person… if all that were actually Kurt Hummel.

It’s not that he isn’t some of these things; he’s just not most of them. The real Kurt Hummel is rude, manipulative, moody, and self-centered. He’s smart, but he studies for hours upon hours every night to maintain his high GPA. He loves fashion, true, but at home, he’d much rather just laze around in sweats. He realized in middle school that, on top of his being flamboyantly gay (although he didn’t realize that at the time), that these characteristics did not a popular student make. So, when he entered his freshman year at Lima, Ohio’s academically renowned William McKinley High School, he vowed that he would simply put on a fa�ade. He was an actor, after all, so it was simple. He would just act the part that he knew people would like. And it worked.

Now, it’s his senior year, and he’s been quite successful. No one suspects a thing. The only people who know his secret are his family (which now encompasses the over-motherly Carole and dimwitted Finn) and his best friend, Rachel Berry, whom he trusts his secret with because she believes it to be “Tony-worthy.”

He and Rachel have an interesting history. Their freshman year, they were paired up in History class for an assignment. Rachel found him to be witty, smart, friendly, and, of course, beautiful, and fell absolutely in love with him. After multiple failed attempts to woo him, Rachel finally confronted Kurt about her feelings, and Kurt finally came out. Rachel took the rejection in stride, and the two quickly became inseparable friends.

So, Kurt leads a double life, and he’s quite fine with it. He finds it hilarious how well it works, actually. He gets to be himself at home while also easily obtaining the greatest reputation known to man. Others would kill to be Kurt, and he knows it.

Yes, life is perfect for the perfect Kurt Hummel.

But just one person threatens to destroy everything Kurt’s worked hard for.

-----

Blaine Anderson is a strange bird. The black sheep, if you will. While everyone in his family has beautiful, blond locks, Blaine has unruly, curly black hair. While everyone in his family is tall and lean, Blaine is short. Although he’s nothing but kind and polite, it seems everyone looks down upon him for things he can’t control.

He’s accepted his place in his family, and although he always feels different, it doesn’t bother him quite as much anymore.

Blaine was raised to be dapper, a gentleman. He must mind his manners at all times, and he mustn’t ever be rude or impatient.

He’s naturally smart and very talented. He barely has had to work at all to maintain his place at the top of Dalton Academy of Westerville’s Class of 2012. He was playing the piano before he could put together full sentences, singing before he was speaking, and asking for violin lessons before he finished elementary school. Blaine doesn’t exactly have to try to be perfect, he just is.

He does try, however, to make his parents proud. Because of how the rest of the family views him. Because he’s incredibly different. His father is stern, hard to please, while his mother is passive and indifferent. So Blaine tries hard to put a smile on their face. It seems that no matter what he does, it never works.

Blaine doesn’t exactly do friends. He was transferred to Dalton in the middle of his freshman year due to extreme bullying and he just never fit into a group there. He was the lead singer of their show choir, The Warblers, and he got along well with his fellow club members for the most part. However, anytime they would go out to celebrate or to just hang, Blaine always politely declined their invitations.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like them, per se. He loved performing more than anything else, and he loved performing with them. There was just always something to do: a new online class at the local university to take, a new instrument to learn, a new language to master. Something that would eventually put those wide grins on his parent’s faces. But it never did. Nothing was ever good enough.

So, it is with a disinterested heart when his parents inform him that they are moving due to a job transfer, and Blaine must leave his place at Dalton Academy for public school a few hours away in Lima.

----

Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. When Blaine walks through the slightly rusted doors on the first day, he immediately adjusts his bow-tie with shaking fingers and shoots the people around him a friendly smile. All he receives in return are cool glares and skeptical glances. Well, he certainly isn’t at Dalton anymore.

He wanders around, looking for his locker, gnawing at the inside of his lip when he finds it. Or what might be it. There’s a group of female students in the way, laughing and talking. They’re wearing short red skirts and flipping their ponytails excessively, and one is smacking her gum so loud, it makes Blaine cringe. He clears his throat and when they look over at him, he grins.

“Excuse me, but I do believe my locker is where you are standing.”

The girls all shoot each other a glance before bursting into giggles. Blaine frowns and shifts on his feet, trying to politely catch their attention with more throat clearing.

“Cool it, hobbit,” one of the girls, a slim Latina, snaps at him. “We’ll be done gossiping in a second, and you can have at your precious locker.”

Blaine can do nothing but stare at her with wide eyes, completely taken aback by her behavior, and she smirks at the look on his face before returning to braid a taller blonde’s hair.

“Santana, darling,” he hears a high voice behind him say sternly. “Stop picking on the new kid. “

The girls immediately quiet down, shooting the person behind him sheepish smiles. The Latina girl, who Blaine guesses as Santana, rolls her eyes but leads the group away. Blaine immediately turns around to see who helped him, and he inhales sharply at the beautiful, Elfin-like boy standing in front of him. He’s dressed to the nines, despite being at a disgusting public school where girls wear Uggs with shorts, and his hair is coiffed perfectly. His face is glowingly flawless, and the smug look he wears is one of extreme confidence. Blaine is only half aware that he’s gaping and moving his mouth something akin to a fish.

“No need to thank me,” Elfin-boy teases and gives a tinkling, musical laugh, and Blaine’s positive it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. It snaps out Blaine out of his reverie.

“Thank you, really. I-I’m sorry, you caught me off guard,” Blaine quickly explains, smiling at the boy in front of him. He holds his hand out, like a proper gentleman, and introduces himself. “Blaine. Blaine Anderson.”

Elfin-boy raises his eyebrow in interest as he takes Blaine’s hand and shakes it. “I know. I’m Kurt Hummel, senior class president. I’ve known about your impending transfer for about a week or so now.”

Blaine furrows his brow in confusion. “But it’s the first day of-“

“Hurry and put your stuff in your locker. I’ll escort you to Principal Figgins’ office,” Kurt interrupts smoothly, with a gentle smile, and hurry Blaine does. He tosses his books in as controlled as possible while moving quickly, not wanting to upset Kurt; the boy was extremely intimidating.

He trails behind Kurt on his way to the principal’s office, smiling softly as he takes in his surroundings. It’s certainly no Dalton Academy, and the florescent lighting is a bit harsh, but Blaine can definitely see himself being happy here. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll finally make an impression on his parents.

----

Kurt throws the secretary a bright smile, and looks through the glass into Principal Figgins’ office. The older Indian man has irritation etched all over his face as he reads large handbook. Kurt knocks swiftly, a musical pattern, and immediately walks in, gesturing for Blaine to follow him.

“Principal Figgins, I’m so sorry to interrupt-“

“Kurt, my boy! Nonsense, nonsense. Come in, please!” Figgins booms, looking proud and excited, all traces of annoyance immediately disappearing from his face. Kurt inwardly gives himself another victory; faculty is too easy. On the outside, however, he shoots the principal a timid smile and lets Blaine into the room after him.

“This is Blaine Anderson, our new student. I thought I would bring him to you, so you could get him academically situated,” Kurt says brightly, biting back at smirk at the awe-struck look on the curly haired boy’s face.

“Ah, always looking out for his fellow students! Of course. Mr. Anderson, welcome to McKinley! Now, let me just pull your records up, and we can get you a schedule.”

Blaine nods sharply and quickly sits down. While Figgins whistles something that Kurt recognizes as a hymn and clacks on the computer, Kurt looks over at the boy, taking in his appearance for a brief moment. His outfit screams nerdy, wearing suspenders and a bowtie is a bit much, and his curls are gelled down like a helmet. He’s obviously extremely nervous; his fingers twitching to the point of looking neurotic. Despite all this, though, Kurt can’t deny that Blaine’s extremely attractive. He’s got the whole Old Hollywood/Cary Grant thing going on. Kurt bites his lip; he’s thinking it certainly wouldn’t hurt to befriend this new boy when Figgins gives a strange giggle that makes him sound like a Gremlin. Kurt and Blaine share a questioning glance before Kurt plasters on his best winning smile.

“Sir?” Kurt asks politely, moving closer to the desk. “Is something wrong?”

Figgins gives another excited laugh before answering. “Oh, this is something. Something, indeed. It seems that Mr. Anderson here is quite the academic. With your cumulative GPA from Dalton Academy, you and Mr. Hummel are both tied for first in the class!”

Blaine turns to him and gives him a huge smile, Figgins is still giggling happily like a proud parent, and Kurt’s smile is frozen to his face and he makes a strangled noise before gargling out, “How interesting.” The bell rings just in time and Kurt quickly excuses himself, avoiding eye contact with the now enthusiastic Blaine. He practically bolts down the emptying hallway to his locker, seething despite the smiles he throws to his classmates.

No. No, no, damnit no. He worked too hard for this. He worked his ass off for the past three years to get where he is today and damn if some short, nerdy wonderboy was going to just waltz in here and ruin everything. He refuses to stand for it. He will not stand for it, because Kurt Hummel is not one to take things lying down. He will not let Prep School Halfling with a Horrible Fashion Sense knock him off of his throne.

He slams his locker and smoothly turns on his heel, eyes burning bright with revenge. Kurt refuses to lose, and he’s ready for whatever Blaine Anderson has to give.