After a summer of hard work – at Six Flags, but that didn't make the work any less hard – and taking part in a summer production at the local community theatre, Blaine was finally confident enough with his resume to attend a NYADA mixer. As soon as he'd heard of the school – almost two years ago now – he'd set his mind on attending it one day. However, he knew that applicants usually needed a killer resume, and while he was part of the Warblers (and in a few other clubs at Dalton, but those didn't have anything to do with performing), he knew that he'd need a bit more. So with some more stuff to put on his resume and the prospect of at least one or two more shows at the community theatre he could try out for, he couldn't wait to meet his possible future classmates.

He was well aware that there wasn't much of a chance that he'd be seeing a lot of them if he got into NYADA, seeing as only about twenty people per year were admitted there. However, it'd be nice to speak with some like-minded people. None of the other Warblers was interested in pursuing music or theatre after school, so Blaine looked forward to meeting people who were.

Naturally, his enthusiasm made sure he was almost half an hour too early, but he didn't let that faze him. He sat down in the lounge and took the time to look around. Maybe he wasn't the only one who was early.

The next group of teenagers came fifteen minutes later, and after a short exchange with one of the people who worked at the venue, they were directed towards a room, and a sign was set up to point people towards where they needed to be. Glancing at it, Blaine wasn't sure what to think of the fact that there was also a gun show that night. Taking a deep breath, he stood up from the couch and walked towards the door the other teens had disappeared behind.

After opening the doors, Blaine quickly slipped inside and glanced around. The other teens were scattered around the room, setting something up. Blaine instantly deflated. Maybe he should've prepared a song as well? Then again, there was always next time. According to the information he'd found on the internet, this NYADA mixer took place every month.

"Hi!" A boy and a girl came running up to him, and even Blaine, who had been wildly enthusiastic for this gathering, was taken aback by their sheer excitement. "What's your name, where are you from, and what are your credits?" the girl, who introduced herself as Harmony, interrogated him.

"Well, I'm Blaine," he started, but before he could say anything else, the boy opposite him was introducing himself (his name was Gavroche and Blaine hadn't needed his little explanation of sorts about where that name came from).

"We're still setting up everything for our number," Harmony told him, wide smile still in place. "We've been preparing it for a little while. Thank god you're here now to watch and give some criticisms – if you can find any. We need to be up to par, otherwise we're never going to make it into NYADA." The two then led Blaine towards a couple of seats conveniently facing the stage, that was apparently still there from a bar mitzvah or whatever Harmony said it was. Before he knew it, he was alone again, as the others bustled around on stage, occasionally glancing at him. Whether they were curious to see if he wasn't running away yet or there was another reason entirely, Blaine didn't know.

By the time the group was putting the finishing touches to their preparation, Blaine had become slightly bored. Yes, he'd expected some singing to be done, but he'd also thought people would just be milling around the room, talking to each other about their dreams and hopes, about what they'd already done, showbiz-wise, and either trying to bring each other down or give tips for future improvement.

These kids, however, already seemed to know each other quite well, making Blaine the odd one out.

At that moment, a quiet giggle came from behind Blaine, and he turned around, only to be met by the sight of a boy and a girl looking around. Blaine strongly suspected that they, too, were new, or at least, not as close to the other people in the room. Then again, at least they knew each other.

Like Blaine had expected, they, too, were immediately assaulted by Harmony, Gavroche, and two others (who named their child Pendleton or Canada anyway?). Blaine watched with great interest as the two newcomers seemed to be caught off guard even more than he had been; that was, until they were dragged over to where he was and sat down on the chairs next to him.

The girl said something about having prepared a number as well, but Harmony ignored her in favour of instructing her friends to take their places, so they could start their number. Blaine would definitely have to get used to making sure he wasn't walked over the entire time if he wanted a chance at getting into NYADA and making it there, he realised. The boy and girl next to him looked pretty uncomfortable, at any rate, and suddenly, Blaine realised that they were dressed in the same fashion as the teens who were now gathering on the stage. Once more, Blaine felt like the odd one out. Oh well. At least he'd dressed in casual clothing, instead of his Dalton uniform.

Blaine had to admit, these kids were good. While he was certain that the performance could be improved here and there, it was still rather impressive, especially in front of a mostly unsuspecting audience.

He was the only one clapping after the performance (so he stopped clapping pretty quickly), as the boy next to him seemed pretty shaken by the sudden fire-or-whatever-it-was. As for the girl, it was as if she was nearly petrified.

"So, Blaine, any criticisms?" Harmony asked, and Blaine could feel over a dozen pairs of eyes on him.

"Not off the top of my head, sorry," he managed to say. "It was… great."

Harmony smirk couldn't have been larger or it would've literally split her face in two. "We're just going to go freshen up," she told them. "We'll see you in a few minutes."

They'd just left when the girl two seats down from Blaine said, "Come on, Kurt. Let's just get out of here."

"You're leaving? Already?" Blaine blurted out as the two got up. "Why?"

"Didn't you see them?" the girl exclaimed. "They were amazing. There's no way we could ever beat them, let alone so many more applicants. I'm surprised you haven't run out yet, you don't seem like NYADA material to me at all."

Blaine narrowed his eyes slightly. "Didn't you just say you didn't know about NYADA before Monday? What makes you think you know who's NYADA material and who isn't? And yes, they were good. Clearly, they're also better than you, or you wouldn't be running away right now. NYADA isn't just about being good at singing and performing. You also need a drive, the right attitude. You have to show that you really want it. And honestly? If you're going to leave now, I don't know if you've got what it takes. Running out now isn't going to make you better. Talking to them and finding out how they got where they are now – that could help you." The girl looked rather affronted, but the boy was eyeing him closely. "If you're planning to run out of auditions the moment someone's on stage who's better than you, you'll never get anywhere. Yes, there'll always be people out there who are better than you, but if you let that get to you, you're going to stop trying at some point and never achieve your dreams."

"He's got a point," the boy told his friend, who crossed her arms and looked away with a huff. After glancing towards the stage warily, he sat back down. "So is this your first time coming here as well?"

"Uh – yeah, it is," Blaine replied. "I first heard of NYADA almost two years ago, but this mixer didn't exist back then. Plus, I wanted to make sure I had a bit of a resume before I came, both to compare it with others and to be certain that this is definitely what I want to do."

"So what's on your… resume?" the girl asked, shooting her friend one last betrayed look before sitting down as well.

"Not too much," Blaine responded modestly. "I'm in my school's show choir and a handful of other clubs, and this summer, I was in a community theatre play and performed at Six Flags a couple of days a week."

"We're also in a show choir," the girl told him. "We even made it to Nationals last year."

Blaine watched them carefully. "That means you're either in Vocal Adrenaline or New Directions, right? Then again, if you really attend Carmel, you're horribly off course, aren't you? And you wouldn't have been so easily intimidated by a group of good performers, because I'd think you were used to having to compete with a lot of others."

"He's good," the boy told his friend, and Blaine felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Are you saying we don't have to compete with others much?" the girl asked him.

Before Blaine could reply, however, the boy said, "You don't. The rest of us do. You only need to storm out or throw a fit and all the solos are yours."

"Seriously?" Wow, Blaine definitely hadn't known that. "I don't know a whole lot about Broadway auditions, but I doubt you'll get roles by throwing fits."

Now, the girl stood up again and stomped off, her friend watching her go worriedly. "I hope she knows she can't actually leave," he commented. "She was my ride here, but I've got the car keys." He patted the side of the bag he'd been carrying around earlier. "Anyway, Mr Show Choir Whisperer, do you have a name, too?"

Shaking his head, Blaine smiled and said, "I'm Blaine. And that term seems a little… weird, here, doesn't it?"

"Good thing I can call you Blaine now, right?" the boy asked, sounding a little bit peeved.

Sending the boy the most charming smile he could muster, Blaine asked, "So what can I call you?"

"Kurt," the boy introduced himself. "What school did you say you go to?"

"I didn't," Blaine said. "But I go to Dalton."

"The Warblers," Kurt said without missing a beat. "I was wondering why you looked so familiar, but you're their lead soloist, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Blaine grinned. After a pause, he asked, "How come you'd never heard of NYADA before? Didn't you want to go into performing arts earlier?"

"Oh, we did," Kurt replied. "I don't even know. We'd had our sights set on Julliard."

"But Julliard doesn't have a musical theatre program," Blaine pointed out, and Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, we heard that on Monday. Don't ask me why we didn't look into that before. If the guidance counsellor hadn't told us, we would've found out while applying, I'm sure."

Blaine frowned slightly. "Okay…"

Kurt just smiled apologetically, but at that moment, the other teens came back in, Harmony at the front, as was to be expected.

"Didn't that Rachel girl say you had something prepared as well?" she asked Kurt.

"She wasn't feeling very well," Kurt seemed to improvise on the spot. "She went to sit out in the lobby for a bit. I don't think we'll be able to perform our song tonight."

"That's too bad," Harmony responded, before turning to Blaine. "What about you, Blaine? Are you going to showcase your talents tonight?"

"I think I'll pass as well," Blaine replied. "Maybe next time."

"So you'll come back next time?" another girl asked, smiling happily – though Blaine wasn't sure if she did that because of his comment or because she liked to smile. Most people here hadn't stopped smiling for more than a few seconds since Blaine had come in.

"Probably?" Blaine answered. "If I've got nothing else planned…"

"Perfect," Harmony butted back into the conversation. "I can't wait to hear you both sing. As a matter of fact – you can even hit the stage now if you want! A good performer is always prepared!"

"Yes, but we only just met," Kurt countered. "We haven't really had time yet to discuss performance options."

She smiled sweetly. "It's okay to be intimidated by us. Well, make sure you can perform next time."

As she finally skipped off (with the others in her wake), Kurt and Blaine exchanged exasperated glances. "NYADA will be an interesting experience if it's filled with girls like her," Kurt muttered.

Blaine nodded in agreement. "I suspect that she'll personally hunt us down if we don't actually go to the next mixer."

"I'm not sure what I expected from this mixer, but this wasn't it," Kurt said. "Most of them already know each other. I wonder if they actually think they can all make it into NYADA."

"That's probably just to trick us," Blaine replied. "They act like a close-knit group in front of strangers, but there's probably a lot of in-fighting."

Kurt chuckled. "Sounds like another group of people I know."

"I didn't think I would get to hear some show choir secrets tonight," Blaine said. "Do tell me more."

"The only thing I could tell you is that we are going to win the Nationals trophy this year," Kurt said lightly, sending a smirk Blaine's way.

Blaine laughed at that. "Oh, I don't think so," he said. "Rumour has it the Warblers are actually even better than last year. We are so going to beat you."

"Dream on, Warbler," Kurt challenged.

"Maybe we should have taken up Harmony's offer and done a sing-off," Blaine mused. "Do you think it's too late for that?"

"Please," Kurt scoffed playfully, "I could beat you with my eyes closed."

"Oh yeah? I could beat you with my mouth closed," Blaine countered, then started laughing as he saw the look on Kurt's face.

"I must admit, you're doing a very nice job at shooting down Dalton's reputation," Kurt told him.

"I would say, 'right back at you,' but…"

"Yeah, I know. McKinley doesn't have a stellar reputation to begin with."

Suddenly realising that they had quickly brushed past the topic earlier on, Blaine asked, "What are your credits, by the way?" he asked curiously. "Besides show choir, I mean."

Kurt sighed. "I guess I don't really have any yet, besides the Glee club," he muttered. "Maybe if there's time and money, there'll be a school musical, but other than that… my resume is painfully empty."

"You've never been in a play before?" Blaine asked. "No other clubs besides New Directions?"

"I haven't been in any play since elementary school," Kurt responded. "As for clubs… I played football for a few weeks during sophomore year… and I was on the school's cheerleading squad for a few months too."

"Cheerleading is performing, too, right?" Blaine asked. "Were you any good?"

"We won Nationals for the fifth time in a row that year," Kurt replied. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "Are you saying I should put that on my resume?"

"You'd be crazy if you didn't," Blaine said. "Maybe you could even ask your old coach for a letter of recommendation?"

"Oh, no," Kurt immediately said, shaking his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Coach Sylvester isn't really a big fan of the arts. You'll know her," he added. "She's on TV a lot. She's running for congress, too, now, and she was actually the coach of Aural Intensity at Regionals."

"The one who punched the governor's wife?" Blaine asked, suddenly feeling like Kurt's idea not to ask her for a recommendation would be for the best. Kurt nodded sagely. "Still, I'd put the cheerleading thing on your resume. It can't hurt, right?"

"Thanks for the tip," Kurt said, smiling slightly. "I'll keep it in mind. I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you in return, though."

"I'll just have to make sure the Warblers beat New Directions at Sectionals or Regionals," Blaine said. "I suppose then we could call it even."

"You'd better come up with something else, because that's not going to happen," Kurt said resolutely. "Oh – " He grabbed his phone from his bag. "That's Rachel. She really wants to go now." He looked up at Blaine. "Sorry."

"That's fine," Blaine replied. "I should get going soon as well. Westerville's still quite a drive away."

After saying a quick goodbye to the others and only waving at Harmony from a distance (before they'd get roped into another lengthy conversation with the girl), the boys walked out of the room. The girl – Rachel, most likely – was already standing impatiently.

"We have to go back next month," Kurt told her before she could say anything.

"Why?" she asked, grabbing Kurt's arm and dragging him towards the exit. Blaine had to walk fast to keep up with them.

"Harmony demanded to hear us sing, and she seems to be a lot like you – not taking no for an answer and able to personally drag us here if we don't show."

Rachel scoffed. "We'll see about that," she muttered. "Where do you have the keys?"

"Right here." After giving Rachel the car keys (the girl instantly walked away with them), Kurt turned towards Blaine. "Were you really planning on going next month?"

Blaine shrugged. "I had a pretty good time. Are you going?"

Kurt seemed to have to bite back a smile. "We still have to give them that performance, don't we?"

"We kind of do," Blaine agreed.

"Give me your phone," Kurt said. "Text me, and we'll figure something out, alright?"

Blaine grinned. "Sounds great. I'll see you next month, then."