Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! Please review! I appreciate all reviews, good or bad. We're all human and I would love to hear your opinions.
Kurt slid his way through clumps of people standing in the hallways of McKinley High School. He had his sights set on the glee-club sign-up sheet, and nobody was going to get in his way. He had to make sure that he wasn't the last one to sign up for the glee club. If he was the last one to sign-up, it might make him look bad, and he was not going to risk that. He couldn't risk it, he couldn't afford to. The glee club might be the only thing to offer him happiness in the cruel reality of high school. If he didn't get to that precious sign-up sheet before everyone else, it might look like he didn't really want to be in glee club. It might look like it wasn't his first choice, but he didn't really have another choice, Kurt's passion was singing, and surely glee club was where all the best and most respected performers congregated...surely.
As he got to the sign-up sheet he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Instinctively, he shrunk down a bit, perhaps even ducking the obvious blow that would be heading his way. He spun around to lock eyes with Azimio, who's fist was clenching at his side rather than by his face.
"So you're gonna sign up for the glee club, Hummel," his voice bellowed in his ears. Kurt wasn't sure if this was a question, but he decided it was best to answer anyway.
"Y-yes," he stuttered, mentally slapping himself for sounding so vulnerable. Being vulnerable meant that the bullying would only get worse, and he wasn't sure he could handle much worse than being thrown into dumpsters and being berated by his peers with degrading insults, if they even were his peers. Kurt would not put himself into the same category as all the idiots and dumb sweaty-jocks. They may be the same age as him, but he was definitely not their peer.
"What are you a homo?" The jock towered over him.
Kurt knew he was gay, he had for a while, and he wasn't ashamed in the least, but given the position he was in, he felt it best to avoid the question. Either way, he could feel that this would not end well.
"Just because I want to be in glee club doesn't mean I'm-I'm that. I'm s-sure your friend with the d-dumb Mohawk, wouldn't appreciate you calling him that," Kurt said, lacking the confident tone that was usually present in his voice. He felt like every time Azimio, or Karofsky came around, his confidence decided to take a vacation. He and his confidence would need to have a little talk later.
"What are you goin' on about, Hummel?" Azimio asked sharply, grabbing Kurt by the shoulders and slamming his back into the lockers. His gaze drifted to the left of Kurt's stiff body.
"What the hell?" He spat when his gaze landed on the name 'Noah Puckerman' printed across the bottom line of the glee club sign-up sheet. His eyes went wide and his grip tightened on Kurt's shirt. He gave him a quick look that probably meant 'this isn't over' and proceeded to drop the trembling boy to the floor. The taller boy then ran off down the hallway somewhere, everyone making a pathway for him as he went.
Kurt sighed and stood back up warily, brushing himself off. If he had gotten used to one thing over the years, it would be getting back up after he was pushed down. He scribbled his name down, dismayed to find out that someone else's name was already occupying the first space. She must have been waiting by the exact spot on the wall where the paper would be posted, Kurt was sure of it. He was only there a few minutes after the sheet was placed there, and he would've been sooner had it not been for Azimio. 'Rachel Berry', he read before spotting the gold star placed proudly beside the cursive. Someone thinks highly of themselves, he thought, rolling his eyes.
"Hi! It seems you've noticed my name. I'm Rachel Berry, I'm the lead female vocalist of the group," she said quickly before offering Kurt a hand. He glanced over her outfit, a plaid skirt and kitten sweater. He visibly winced before his eyes traveled back to her face.
Kurt put on a fake smile and reluctantly shook her hand.
"Kurt Hummel," he said, trying to mask the annoyed tone in his voice with a wider smile.
"I can teach you how to make sure that you have good circulation so that you don't pass out when you have to sway in the background. I mean, I don't have much experience with that, but my dads taught me everything that I might ever need to know just in case someone like you showed up needing help," she said, genuinely smiling. Kurt grunted with a little laugh.
"Obviously your dads didn't teach you how to dress. I can't even decide whether you look like a grandma or a toddler, it's ridiculous," Kurt said, flashing her his best bitchy smile.
She scoffed but proceeded to make conversation with the flushed boy, "I look forward to seeing you at auditions. I was going to offer you advice on what song would best suit your vocal range but..."
"Mr. Cellophane. Of course that song is not autobiographical, everyone notices me," secretly he wasn't sure if this was a good thing, but it was true.
"Are you sure that's the best song for you to sing? I'm going to be singing 'On My Own' from Broadway's Les Miserables. It is perfectly suited for my voice, and I've practiced it every day of summer vacation, regularly updating my Myspace with videos of me singing, all to prepare myself for this audition," she said, seemingly proud of herself.
"Good to know. You know what, I think I'm good, but thanks for the offer," he said stepping away from her.
"I look forward to seeing you at the auditions then," she said smiling overenthusiastically.
"Me too," he lied. If this is what he had to deal with every day of glee club, he had his work cut out for him. No matter, he would make her shut up once he sang at his audition. Oh what a beautiful sight it would be seeing a completely amazed Rachel Berry sitting in the audience, and he looked forward to it.
He smiled satisfactorily before starting to walk off down the hallway. He felt himself fall to the ground, he didn't know why, but he was definitely on the ground.
"Hey queer kid, we have a little present for you," Karofsky boomed. Kurt blinked his eyes a few times before catching sight of the circle of jocks in Letterman jackets around him. Karofsky, Shane, Azimio, Blaine, and Puck were standing tall, all with different colored slushies in their hands.
"W-what?" Kurt stammered, suddenly feeling very scared. He felt his back hit the wall as the circle of jocks closed in on him, all with devious smirks on their faces.
"You wanna be a fag, huh? Well now you're gonna look like one too!" Karofsky shouted, his smile growing larger as the group extended their cups towards the shaking boy.
He wasn't sure what was worse, actually being slushied, or the embarrassment he was dealing with just sitting there with his back against the wall, surrounded by a bunch of jocks with rainbow-colored slushies.
"Get him," Puck snapped. All at once, their arms extended and Kurt was soaked in freezing cold ice from the rainbow slushies. He felt his hair get sticky, and his face, his face! He tried to calm himself breathing deeply. He tasted grape on his tongue briefly before wiping off his face.
An eruption of laughter was all he heard. He didn't open his eyes until it faded out and he knew that he was alone.
His body wracked with sobs as he brushed more of the icy liquid off his face. He curled in on himself, shivering. Suddenly, he heard a loud voice coming from the end of the hallway.
"Room 206," the voice sounded, but he didn't have time to see who it was, he just had to scurry into the bathroom before he embarrassed himself further. He did just that, leaving a rainbow trail of liquid behind him as he went.
--------------------------------------------------------
Puck ran towards him, anger clear on his face. "This queer kid told Azimio that I joined glee club!" He shouted, slouching against the locker beside Blaine's.
"And?" Blaine asked closing the door to his locker and turning to face Puckerman. He smiled internally; he knew exactly what must have happened. After all, he was the one who put Puck's name on the sign-up sheet. He warned Puck that he would get him back after he spread around school that Blaine had contracted crabs.
"And? And I ain't no homo! Azimio practically exploded! I'm going to kill this kid," Puck said, half to himself, and half to Blaine.
"Then do it," Blaine said, starting to wonder why Puck was even telling him. It wasn't that they weren't friends, but they were constantly pissing each other off, and Blaine really didn't want to see the guy's face around him.
"I have an idea for this kid though, and I need your help," Puck said, a smirk finding its way onto his face.
"What do you need me for?" Blaine asked, running his tongue over his lip piercing and a hand through his dark curls.
"I bought slushies, all different colors. This kid's gonna look like a freakin' rainbow once we're done with him," Puck said, feeling proud of himself for coming up with this idea.
"Fine, whatever, just give me purple," Blaine said beginning to walk away.
"Wait, bro! We're getting him right now, the rest of the guys are waiting downstairs," Puck said, grabbing Blaine by the shoulder. Blaine whipped around, whacking his hand off.
"Don't touch me," he said, his voice quivering slightly.
Puck gave him a confused look before nodding his head. "Alright, man, calm down," he mumbled, as they walked towards the staircase.
Blaine grunted.
When they reached the other guys, Puck gave them all proud nods before handing them the rainbow slushies, making sure that Blaine had gotten the purple one.
"He's moving. Do it now," Puck said, as Azimio led the way over to the kid, smiling down at his drink.
Karofsky said something, like he always did before they beat someone up or slushied someone. Blaine rolled his eyes, it was becoming monotonous. He knew that the intimidating tone to Karofsky's voice was intended to make the kid's knees to buckle, and it usually worked, but it didn't annoy him any less.
There was a sharp thud as the boy's body hit the wall behind him and he stuttered something. Obviously, Karofsky's technique had worked on this kid too.
"You wanna be a fag, huh? Well now you're gonna look like one too!"
Karofsky's loud voice made Blaine's head jerk up. He saw the terrified expression on the boy's pale face, his lips quivering slightly...his lips.
He redirected his gaze to the boy's fearful eyes and smiled, reaching out his hand so the boy could get a better look at his "present".
"Get him," Puck said simply.
Blaine lunged his arm forward, the contents of the cup pouring out onto the boy's coiffed hair, and his face, and seeped into his lips...those lips. He barely had enough time to smile at his handiwork before the boy was splattered with 4 other colors of ice. The boy whimpered and shrunk in on himself, soaking in a puddle of color.
He laughed and walked off, the others following closely behind him. He sneakily circled off behind them and rounded the corner to look at the boy again. "Room 206," was all he shouted, before walking away again.