Monday had passed far too quickly for Kurt's liking and once school had ended, he found himself hiding in the back of his car, parked far away from where any McKinley or Crawford student would find him, frantically changing into his makeshift uniform. When he would usually be cheerfully socialising with his fellow glee members, he found himself scrambling in the back seat, looking for his tie.

Once dressed and had fitted his wig, Kurt made his way back to the front seat to check his appearance in the mirror. After flattening and securing his hair once more, he began the application of his makeup. He soon finished and checked himself out in the mirror once more and couldn't resist pouting his lips as he inspected his female face, somewhat pleased with how good his disguise was. Okay, so maybe Kurt wasn't as opposed to this as he had initially been, granted he did feel like slightly idiotic pretending to be a girl, but no one would realise he was boy, right? Let alone recognize him as Kurt Hummel.

Just as Kurt had started up his car to be on his way again, a blue sports car drove by, blasting R&B at an obnoxious volume. The guy in the passenger seat wolf-whistled in his direction as the driver, a muscled Jock-type from the looks of him, slowed the car down to check Kurt out, grinning smugly. The guy could certainly make use of some lessons in subtlety.

Kurt was in the right mind to yell back a snarky response yet stopped himself before any words came out. These two guys had been completely fooled by his disguise to the extent that they would actually hit on him. Maybe he might just get away with this after all. Besides, this sort of attention from guys wasn't entirely unwelcome in Kurt's opinion. Instead, he smiled winked at them before pulling away, feeling an odd surge of confidence.

---

Wow.

Kurt was speechless, though he had nobody to express his utter astonishment to at the school before him, he would not have been able to conjure up words even if he had. Getting into the school was easy, and no one batted an eyelid at Kurt as he strolled the halls with purpose as if he owned the place. In reality however, he was entirely lost. The hallways were so vast that it was difficult to interpret them as belonging to a school rather than a palace. Each leading to a row of classrooms, or a further string of corridors.

Yet 'school corridors' was hardly a befitting name for the hallways of Crawford Country Day. The polished wooden floors echoed Kurt's footsteps as he traversed, looking in vain for any sign of a glee club. The walls were a soft brown and several portraits hung upon them, framed immaculately. At the far end of the corridor hung two, long, shiny black plaques framed in gold, taking up almost the whole wall space. Above both plaques was a third with the title 'Senior Prefects of Crawford Country Day' and listed in flawless gold cursive was a series of names, one after the other with a date next to them dating all the way back to 1922. Kurt scanned the names, admiring the history of the school when his eyes stopped on one particular name.

1982-Elizabeth Moore

Mom?

The letters seemed somewhat more golden than those of the other names, gleaming prominently against the plaque. Kurt trembled, his mother had attended Crawford? Much less had been a senior prefect? He reached out and pressed two fingertips against her name. How was it possible to know so little about her? The boy was suddenly overcome by a wave of guilt. Had she been in their glee club during her days here? He was aware that she had had a passion for musical theatre that would rival his own so it was more than possible. Was Kurt about to spy on her legacy? He gazed at her name sadly and whispered a delicate apology before turning to find his way again.

Crawford's final period finished a little later than McKinley's, leaving Kurt just enough time to hurry to the former before any after-school clubs began. The final bell was about to go and Kurt braced himself for the tsunami of students that would thus hit him. However when the classroom door to his left opened, Kurt was much surprised as a group of girls left the room, giggling and chatting quietly. Many more students emerged just as calmly. There was no shoving, no yelling, everyone was merely headed to where they needed to go in what could only be described as an orderly fashion. Was Rachel serious? Kurt was finding it extremely difficult to believe that these girls were as troublesome as she made them out to be.

Hesitantly, Kurt approached a group of girls who were lingering outside their classroom. A tall brunette appeared to be in mid-conversation with a much shorter dark haired girl. However once closer, it became apparent that they were in fact having a quiet dispute. Was this place for real? They even argued politely. Kurt felt as though he had stepped into an alternate universe and silently admired the superiority the school had over McKinley.

"Um, excuse me..." He said nervously, gaining the girls' attention, raising his voice a semitone higher than his already high-pitched tone. "I was wondering if you knew where the glee club rehearsals are held?" He asked expectantly. Several of the girls stared at him incredulously, the brunette even laughed spitefully and Kurt immediately came to the decision that he had asked the wrong girls. Perhaps the students were just as tolerant to the glee club here as they were at McKinley. The dark haired girl was about to offer an answer but was interrupted swiftly by the brunette who took a step towards Kurt.

"Clearly you're new here, we don't have 'glee' at Crawford" She replied smugly, eyeing him with a cunning grin. Kurt frowned, had Rachel sent him to the wrong place? How was he supposed to spy on a school that didn't even have a glee club? "Unless of course you were referring to the Crawford Cantata, and if you were, we really would appreciate it if you wouldn't call us 'glee'. We're not a bunch of happy misfits who sing for the sake of it, we take show choir seriously and the school takes us seriously. We sing to win."

Kurt returned the Brunette's glare just as intensely as he immediately decided he disliked her.

"Well if you could kindly show me to your rehearsal room, I'd love to audition" Kurt replied with a faux smile.

"Whatever." The girl answered unkindly, as she rolled her eyes. "Catherine will show you the way I don't have time for this." She said before marching past him without bothering to indicate which of the other girls was Catherine. Two of the others followed after her leaving only the dark haired girl and an annoyed looking blonde who stood beside her. Kurt sighed, finally understanding Rachel's prejudice towards these 'rich preppy girls' as she had described them.

"That would be me," The dark haired girl said somewhat gloomily, walking past him after offering what may have been a friendly smile, though Kurt was anxious to interpret it as so after his first encounter with a Crawford student. Yet he had no choice but to follow her and the blonde as they led him through the maze of hallways.
"Sorry about Amy," Catherine continued once Kurt had caught up. "She's what some may label as a sociopath and what most would describe simply as a bitch." She and the blonde laughed softly whilst Kurt remained silent. "I'm Catherine, though you already knew that, and this is Steph." The blonde gave a small smile as she tagged along behind them both and Catherine looked at him in anticipation for an introduction. Kurt opened his mouth to speak before he froze, how could he have neglected to come up with a name? Struggling to pluck just one simple name out of his mind, he realized the two girls were still looking at him worriedly.

"Kurr..sty." He said lamely. "I'm Kirsty, I just transferred." Kurt mentally slapped himself for his spectacular failed attempt at naming himself as suddenly a swarm of better suited girl's names flooded his mind. Well, at least Kirsty was easy to remember, though arguably too obvious a name choice.

"Nice to meet you!" Catherine smiled warmly, allowing Kurt to feel a little more at ease "I have to warn you though, if you're serious on joining the Cantata, it's definitely no walk in the park. I only stay because of my love for singing. Though, Steph…" She paused, looking sadly at her friend.

"I quit just now." Steph finished bitterly. "I'm absolutely sick of that club, by the way, thanks for sticking up for me back there Cath."

"Anytime, though if Kirsty hadn't approached us I'd have probably gotten myself kicked out with you." She laughed sadly, "Amy does not appreciate people quitting the club."

"So she hates me for wanting to join and she hates you for quitting? I'm guessing there's no pleasing this girl?" Kurt prompted, attempting to learn more about this Amy in order to report back to Rachel.

"It's not that she hates you for wanting to join, It's just that so many people audition and most don't get in, regardless of how good they are, she seeks perfection and she won't acknowledge you unless she deems you good enough. Now with sectionals coming up, her attitude has only gotten worse" Kurt nodded as he committed the information to his memory.

The three continued in silence until they reached a large classroom which Kurt presumed was the rehearsal room.

"I'll see you back at the dorm tonight, good luck in your audition Kirsty!" Steph waved goodbye as she departed, seemingly happy that she was able to walk away from the rehearsal room. Catherine offered another smile before opening the door.

The first thing Kurt noticed was how much bigger the room was than what he was used to at McKinley. On the right was a sleek, black grand piano amongst an array of other instruments, polished to the point where they looked unused. On the opposite side of the enormous room was a small stage at which Amy sat surrounded by the rest of the girls, resting her head on her hand and generally looking bored. Three leather sofas were placed in the middle and several stacks of wooden chairs were gathered by the window though they also looked relatively unused.

There was a clear separation between the band and the singers. Whilst the members of The Crawford Cantata were warming up their voices, the band members sat amongst the instruments, tuning and chatting quietly to each other, both groups of girls keeping to themselves.

Upon seeing Kurt and Catherine enter, Amy stood and the others immediately fell silent.

"Take a seat girls, we have another audition, we'll get started right after." She said with a tone that demanded obedience from the other girls as they did as they were told. "Well, the stage is yours newbie, I sincerely hope you don't waste my time."

"It's Kirsty." Kurt remarked before turning on his heel towards the stage. "And I'll be singing 'Don't Cry for me Argentina' from Evita." Kurt faced the group of girls and took a deep breath. All of his efforts so far would be ruined if he wasn't accepted into the club. This audition mattered. He released a breath that he was unaware of holding before beginning softly. The clubs full attention focused solely on him.

It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see is the girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

Kurt felt at ease once he had gotten through the first verse, his muscles relaxing as he fell into the lyrics. His confidence boosted at seeing some of the girls smiling slightly.

I had to let it happen, I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun

So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to

The band members looked at each other knowingly as they picked up their instruments. The harpist gave a nod as they accompanied Kurt's voice with a rush of music. The added effect only built Kurt's confidence further as he was completely engulfed by the song.

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know that
Every word is true

Kurt allowed the band to finish before taking a bow as the group applauded him.

"Another Contralto" Amy remarked, though she was visibly impressed by Kurt's performance. "Okay, you'll do, we were in need of another member anyway." She smiled, and it wasn't a sarcastic or spiteful smile that Kurt was accustomed to, this seemed genuine. "Welcome to The Crawford Cantata!"

---

"Wow Kirsty! You were absolutely amazing!" Catherine gushed as they left the rehearsal room. Kurt merely smiled; he never really was too worried about getting past the audition stage. "No seriously, even Amy was impressed! And nothing impresses her! With you in our group, Sectionals is a sure win!"

Kurt almost found himself feeling bad. Catherine had been nothing but helpful and he was giving her false hope for the upcoming competition. If it wasn't for girls like Amy and the majority of the Crawford Cantata, which he had discovered were all minions of Amy's, he would have surely reconsidered his actions.

"So do you dorm here or live off campus?" Catherine continued, smiling brightly at Kurt who couldn't help but smile back.

"I live off campus, I drive up from Lima" He replied

"Oh cool! I'll walk with you to the car park!" She decided cheerfully. "I dorm here but I'm meeting my brother today, we used to be so close before I came to Crawford so we try to meet up as often as possible." She explained as the two walked together.

They chatted the whole way to the car park, finding a common ground to discuss was relatively easy, though Kurt usually found this to be the case when talking with girls.

"You're really cool Kirsty! Maybe we should meet up after school some time?" Catherine asked as the emerged from the school, though Kurt had ceased paying attention. Instead his focus was entirely directed towards the curly haired boy who leaned against his car, checking his phone, seemingly out of place at an all girl's school.

"Kirsty…?" Catherine asked, stopping outside the front entrance.

"Huh…wha?" was all Kurt could manage for a reply as the girl followed his gaze to the same boy.

"Oh my god, please don't tell me you have the hots for my brother as well?" She laughed. "That's pretty much everyone I know here, Including Steph!" She seemed highly amused by the whole ordeal as Kurt tore his gaze away, his cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"No…I was just…"

"Don't even try to lie!" Catherine laughed again "but he's unavailable anyway, sorry!" Kurt wasn't surprised though he couldn't say he wasn't disappointed.

"So he has a girlfriend?" He asked, trying to mask his disappointment.

"No," She replied nonchalantly, "he's gay."