At the opposite end of the parking lot a young man was just getting his seatbelt unbuckled as his father parked his ’78 Chevy Truck in a parking space before turning to look at him.

      “Now, Kurt, I know your not very excited about doing this, but it means a lot to me that-“ Mr. Hummel cut off as he made an awkward motion with his hands, trying to find the words to express his emotions, as if they were somewhere floating in the air.

      The young man sitting beside him took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, his posture impeccable. “I know, Dad,” he said giving his father a nod of understanding.

      “You know where to go?” Burt Hummel asked, glad to change the subject.

      Kurt took a quick look in the mirror, his hands flitting around his light brown hair, making sure the hairspray was keeping it in place. He nodded again, “Yeah, I’ve got the map that they sent in the mail.”

      Burt nodded and took the baseball cap off his head, his hands needing something to keep busy with. He twisted the worn hat between his callused fingers; his thumbs traced the thick seams that held the rough fabric together.

      “I know we had that meeting with the principle, but if anyone in the school gives you-“

      “Dad,” Kurt cut in as his hands fell to his lap and he turned to look at the older man.

      “Kurt, I want you to tell me if someone is giving you any trouble, alright?” Mr. Hummel said his eyes sharpening.

      Kurt sighed and glanced at the dashboard before nodding, “I know, Dad. Now can I go? You’re going to make me late, and on the first day too.” He knew his father meant well, but he honestly hated being told the same speech over and over for the past month.

      Fitting the baseball cap back on his head he gave a nod and his mouth lifted in a small smile. “Well, then go on. Have a good first day, Bud. I’ll pick you up when you get out.”

      Kurt leaned over and gave his Dad a quick hug before opening the truck door and stepping out, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder.

      “Kurt,” his father called.

      Kurt turned back.

      “Your mom would have been proud of you,” Burt said.

      Not allowing himself to think about it too much Kurt looked at his shoes for a moment as a distraction, there was a spot of dried mud on the side and he’d have to wash it off when he got to the nearest sink. He raised his head, looking back at his Dad. “Thanks,” he said quietly before closing the truck door and giving his Dad a small wave as he turned to face the school.

      The lithe boy inhaled gradually and exhaled bit by bit, trying to relax the tension in his shoulders. Slowly, he made his way through the parking lot and into the school.

      Burt Hummel watched through the window of his ’78 Chevy Truck till his son disappeared inside McKinley High School. As he made his way back to his newly bought house he hoped this year would be different for his son, for both of them. He prayed that this year would be better.

***

      “Kurt, this story seems to be going in the opposite direction of two months ago,” Dr. Dalton remarked. He slipped his glasses off and took a moment to clean the lens. There were red tally marks that mirrored each other on either side of his nose from where the glasses had rested for many years.

      Kurt sighed and clasped his hands together, “I know it looks that way, but I promise it all comes full circle. I just have to tell you this part before I go… back.”

      Henry nodded, “Okay. So your dad dropped you off at McKinley for your first day. What happened then?” He placed his glasses back on carefully, focusing his gaze on Kurt again.

      Taking another breath Kurt began to recall what had happened his very first day.

***

2 months and 10 days ago

      The hallways of McKinley High School were packed to say the least. Kurt didn’t understand how this many students could be packed in such a small space. And then his mind drudged up snapshot pictures of the drive to Lima from the airport. They’d driven past lots of land and a few small neighborhoods scattered around, but not many schools. Kurt sighed to himself in comprehension; not enough schools for the population.

      Thankful for his small frame, Kurt managed to avoid any odd looks by darting between students and staying relatively invisible.

      The whole student body was buzzing from the beginning-of-the-year hype. It intoxicated the students and sent them flitting from locker to locker, laughing, shoving each other, or gossiping about all the events of the past summer. Kurt couldn’t care less about the cutest couple or who was hooking up. He didn’t know these people and he hoped it would stay that way for as long as possible.

      Finding a small, unoccupied space Kurt dug his schedule out of his pocket and unfolded it carefully. Kurt glanced at the locker number assigned to him before glancing up and noting the throng of people all swarming the hallway, blocking a majority of the lockers. Deciding that he’d just get to school early tomorrow to try his locker instead of that day Kurt looked back at his schedule and checked to see what his first period class was.

      Chemistry.

      Memorizing the room number he folded the paper and slipped it back in his pocket before adjusting his bag so he’d be able to access the outermost compartment where the map the school had given him was pressed next to the keys to his house and a spare eraser. Scanning the sheet of paper he finally found the room number he was looking for. Now if only he knew where he was on the map. Kurt took a moment to take another deep breath and let it out before he stepped back out into the mess of a hallway and tried to find the first classroom he could see clearly, without a mass of people standing in front of it, to get some sort of marker for where he was in the building.

*

      Mrs. Worthington was just about to go over her syllabus in detail when Kurt rushed into her classroom, four minutes late, out of breath and his cheeks slightly flushed.

      His cheeks colored even darker when half of the class turned in their seats to look at him. He could practically feel the judging comments popping up in people’s minds about him as he walked to the front of the classroom.

      “You must be Kurt Hummel?” Mrs. Worthington asked as she looked over the written in name at the bottom of her attendance list.

      “Yes, Ma’am,” Kurt said quietly trying to make sure that he seemed as insignificant as possible. “I’m sorry I was late, I couldn’t find the classroom.”

      Trying to cover her surprise at the young mans politeness she directed him to a seat in the front row next to a brunette girl with what Kurt could only describe as the absolute worst fashion sense he’d ever seen. His eyebrows pulled together slightly as he took in the girl’s skirt with a glance while he was sitting down. Were those kittens?

      The Chemistry teacher snapped Kurt out of his thoughts as she placed the syllabus in front of him and told him to just follow along with the rest of the class. Nodding Kurt examined the paper quickly, noting all the big chapters they’d cover throughout the year. He was just surveying the class rules when he felt an elbow nudge his side gently.

      A little startled and a lot defensive Kurt looked up from the syllabus to see the brown-haired girl smiling at him brightly.

      “Hi, Kurt,” she whispered quietly so the teacher wouldn’t hear. “I’m Rachel Berry-Anderson,” she said proudly, offering her hand for him to shake.

      Kurt could feel his eyebrows shoot up, but he placed his hand in hers and shook it once before taking his hand back. Even if her hand was soft, it didn’t mean she was nice.

      Not sure if he was supposed to respond to her introduction there was a pause of silence, but that was all it was; a pause. And then the girl wearing the horrible skit began to talk. And talk.

      Mrs. Worthington had finished going over the syllabus six minutes ago and since then she’d started to hand out textbooks, letting the class talk amongst themselves.

      After only knowing this girl for ten minutes Kurt already knew more about her then he ever cared to know. Truthfully, he began to zone in and out after the first two minutes of her listing off the various awards she’d won as a newborn. He couldn’t even trace the conversation enough to understand how she hopped from topic to topic. Kurt was pretty sure this Rachel girl was the only person he’d ever met who would just introduced herself and then proceed to tell her life story in a far more detailed manner then Kurt ever imagined was possible.

      The bell rang loud and clear making Kurt practically wilt with happiness. He was collecting his bag and new textbook rapidly when he glanced over at Rachel. She was frowning at being interrupted, but then brightened.

      “Well, Kurt, I’ll see you at lunch, right? And then we’ll continue our chat.”

      Our chat? He asked himself. He’d said maybe five words the whole time. Nevertheless, he gave her a small smile that to anyone else looked more like a grimace. “Well, actually, I’m supposed to go meet with the principal. You know, check in halfway through my first day,” he made up an excuse quickly.

***

      “Kurt,” Henry said as Kurt started to ramble. “Can we get to the part where this boy comes into the story?” Dr. Dalton’s pen lay resting on his clipboard, with his hands folded on top of the small slab of metal while he listened.

      Sighing Kurt gave Henry an exasperated look. “Aren’t you supposed to be listening patiently to me?”

      “I’m sorry, it just doesn’t seem like this Rachel girl fits into your problems,” Henry said.

      “Rachel fit into everyone’s problems. Now, where was I?” Kurt asked.

      Henry sighed and made himself a little bit more comfortable in his chair, “You’d just made an excuse not to go have lunch with Rachel.”

      “Ah yes...” Kurt said before continuing.

***

      She deflated slightly, her shoulders falling. “Oh. Well, okay. Maybe we’ll have another class together!” Her back straightened as she grinned. Is this girl addicted to coffee or something? Seriously, people don’t just give off the impression of bouncing while simultaneously standing still.

      Kurt forced himself to nod and mumble an agreement before saying a goodbye and making his way out of the classroom.

      Moving as quickly as he could away from his Chemistry class he waited until he found another spot devoid of students, this time it was by a water fountain. He dug out his schedule and the map, comparing the two. U.S. history was his next class and according to the map it was just down the hallway from his Chemistry class. Stuffing the papers away he zigzagged his way through the crowded hallways.

      Kurt let out a sigh of relief when he made it to his next class before the bell rang. He moved quickly and quietly to a seat in the back of the room, doing his best not to draw attention to himself. He didn’t want a repeat of another Rachel character in any of his classes.

      Once the bell rang Kurt realized with satisfaction that nobody had chosen to sit next to him. He wouldn’t have to deal with a partner for the year. At least he thought he wouldn’t.

      The class was halfway over when the door opened, interrupting Mr. Denver as he went over the topics they’d be covering that year.

      Kurt, along with half the class, turned and looked at the person sauntering through the doorway.

      Resisting the urge to let his mouth drop open Kurt swallowed dryly as he watched the dark-haired boy amble up to the teachers desk and drop a neon pink note there.

      “Mr. …Berry-Anderson,” Mr. Denver read off the slip as he marked his attendance list. “Why don’t you take a seat next to Mr. Hummel there in the back.”

      Kurt perked up as he registered the boy’s last name. He’d heard it before… and then it caught up with him. The girl in his Chemistry class had the same last name!

      Blaine turned and surveyed the room quickly, deducing who Mr. Hummel was and heading in that direction.

      Kurt lowered his eyes quickly when he noticed the boy looking in his direction. Just from his brief glimpse of the boy he was star struck by his looks. The boy was gorgeous. He had dark, curly locks of hair that tangled and fell over his forehead in disarray. Kurt recognized the resemblance between him and Rachel once he managed to think back to the girl’s appearance. Besides the noticeable hair Kurt noted his clothing first and was thankful that the boy didn’t seem to have Rachel’s trouble with fashion.

      The boy was wearing black jeans, not too tight, not too loose. Beneath his well-used leather jacket was a simple gray t-shirt. Coupled with the cuffed and slightly worn shoes and the overall badass attitude, Kurt knew immediately he was looking at McKinley Highs resident bad boy.

***

      “While I have no problem with you being gay, Kurt. I really don’t think it’s important for me to know what Mr. Berry-Anderson was wearing when you met him,” Henry said, trying to hide his amusement.

      Kurt blushed when he was interrupted and realized he’d been speaking in a little bit of dreamy tone similar the tone he’d heard some girls use when speaking about chocolate.

      “Sorry, force of habit. I notice peoples clothes,” Kurt defended himself with a small shrug.

      “It’s, okay, but for our time frame, lets try and keep the play-by-play on peoples fashion to a minimum,” Henry said before nodding for Kurt to continue.

***

      He could hear the scrape across the floor as the chair beside him was pulled back, but he didn’t look up. All he wanted was to be invisible and getting the attention of the attention-getter was not the way to do it. Silently, he pleaded that the boy beside him wouldn’t—

      “So, what’s your name, Angel?” Blaine asked lightly, but with an undertone of seriousness.

      Kurt’s eyes widened at the pet name, did he do this with everyone? His whole frame was still and against his better judgment he turned his head and looked at the boy.

      With an inward jolt, Kurt realized he’d never gotten a good look at the boys face, but now it was inches from his and Kurt didn’t think his heart would ever stop racing. This boy wasn’t just beautiful; he was stunning in more ways then Kurt could count.

      His eyes were the biggest shock. Strikingly hazel eyes with speckles of green sprinkled in. The eyes drew him in, they managed to be guarded and send an obvious message at the same time. The message was loud and clear: I’m trouble, don’t mess with me.

      A shiver ran down Kurt’s spine as he looked into those eyes and realized he was about to make, possibly, the worst decision he’d ever made in his life.