Chapter 1

He stood there, nervous, nauseous, with his stomach tied up in knots.

I can't do this.

He argued with himself as he ran a hand through his tamed but bushy brown hair.

Yes I can. I just need to relax.

He took a few deep breaths and almost considered going back home.

I could stay home today. No one would care if I missed another day of class. Nothing ever happens, anyways.

But he knew this was his only chance for a truly fresh start. Without another thought, and with a bit of determination, he pushed open the doors and entered the hallways of William McKinley High School.

The smell of desperation, B.O., and overly dramatic teenagers hit his nose like a brick wall as the dim hallway lighting provided a sharp contrast to the sun outside and blurred his vision for a few seconds. Once he was able to see again, he immediately noticed the rows of endless lockers, and the various students rummaging through them as they greeted old friends. A tough guy with a Mohawk and a muscle shirt flirting with a sexy Latina in a WMHS cheerleader's uniform. A pretty blonde girl, with a similar uniform, holding hands with a blonde boy wearing a Letterman jacket as they walked down the hall. A big black girl with an even bigger persona gossiping with a brunette with bangs who seemed to resemble a toddler. There was a feeling in the air. He didn't know quite what to call it, but he knew that it was a good feeling and he liked it.

This was it. A new start, a new chance. So long as he played his cards right, everything would be fine.

Now if only I could find out where the locker room is…

He looked around nervously. Everyone here was so…settled in, so comfortable in their surroundings. He stuck out like a sore thumb and that was the last thing he wanted.

Okay Blaine, you can do this. Just try to blend in. There's gotta be someone around here who-

Down the hallway he spotted a guy in a Letterman jacket standing alone by his locker. He was incredibly tall, especially compared to Blaine's height, and had it not been for the dopey and slightly vacant look on his face, he might have been intimidating. Out of all the students in the crowded hallway, he seemed to be the most harmless.

Well, here goes…

He walked anxiously towards the teenage giant, trying his best to keep his cool.

"Hey, um, my name's Blaine. I'm new here."

"Oh, uh, 'sup dude? I'm Finn."

He took a deep breath before replying.

"Hey. So you wouldn't happen to know where the locker room is, would you?"

Finn chuckled.

"Uh, yeah. It's down the hall and to the right. Can't miss it."

"Awesome. Thanks."

Finn gave him a smile and Blaine descended down the hall.

Okay, that was good. No weird comments, he seemed nice, and I didn't puke, so that's a plus. Maybe this school won't be so bad.

Finally finished dressing out due to his late arrival, Blaine stepped out onto the football field and looked around.

Now where to go?...

The hordes of students were already bunched up into little cliques all over the field. The jocks were already tossing a football around and all of the preppy girls sat chatting about Saturday's party. And then there were the geeks, and the nerds, and the freaks. And Blaine didn't belong in any of those groups, not just yet. So he did the only thing he could think to do and took a seat on the bleachers by himself.

He knew today wouldn't be easy. It was his first day after all, and even before today he had been missing a lot of school. It would take a little while for him to get back into the swing of things, but he knew he would eventually find a way to assimilate. After all, there were much worse things than just being alone.

Breaking out of his train of thought, he spotted a football flying out of the corner of his eye over the middle of the field heading towards a fence. By instinct he shot up from his seat and ran over to it and with very little time to spare, he caught it. The couple of jocks who had been throwing the ball gave a few cheers. Blaine smiled and threw the ball back to them.

"Hey, kid!"

Blaine looked around to try and figure who the football coach was talking to.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. The one who just caught the football. Get over here."

He slowly made his way over to the coach.

"MOVE."

He then quickly made his way over to the coach.

"What's your name?"

"Uh, I'm Blaine Anderson, sir. OH, oh sorry, I meant ma'am"

The coach took a deep breath then began to speak again.

"I'm Coach Beiste, You ever played football before?"

"Oh, well not really. Just a little with my dad when I was a kid, but nothing serious."

"Well you've really got some natural talent there, Anderson."

"Thanks, Ma'am"

"It's Coach Beiste, or just Coach. None of this "ma'am" stuff."

"Oh, well then, thanks Coach"

"Would you be interested in playing football? 'Cause one of my running backs got sacked last week and you run faster than a five legged mouse being chased by a hungry ostrich."

I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about, but this could be my only chance.

"Uh, sure?"

"Good. I expect to see you in the locker room ready to go no later than 2:45. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir- uh, ma'am- uh, Coach."

"Alright everyone! Bell's about ring so go get changed!"

He walked towards the locker room with the rest of his classmates, trying his very best not to smile so much.

I did it. I actually did it. God, wait til' I tell Coop! He's gonna be so excited!

Blaine: Project Just Blend In is going very well.

Cooper: What happened?

Blaine: Made the football team.

Cooper: Seriously? What position?

Blaine: Running back :)

Cooper: Nice!

Blaine: Dad'll be happy…

Cooper: You know I'm still not a fan of this whole thing.

Blaine: idk I kinda find it fun. Being someone else.

Cooper: Put your phone away before you get caught.

Blaine: Deflecting…

The school day had passed quickly, except for the fact that Blaine was alone for most of it. He may have been surrounded by a thousand faces, but he didn't know a single one. Finally it was 2:30 and as the school bell rang, he rushed out of his classroom and down the hall to the locker room, hoping to be the first one there and have a minute or two to get settled, but he had no such luck.

Blaine entered the locker room and descended into a sea of sweaty jocks.

God, these places still make me nervous…

The atmosphere was, in a word, chaotic. Boys were shoving and pushing each other as they changed into their dirty, unwashed football padding. There was almost no room to breathe, not that you would want to, with the stench of sweat and axe body spray seeping into every inch of the room. Guys were joking with each other, play fighting, yelling, and screaming. They were, in simple terms, acting like boys. Something Blaine had yet to master.

To Blaine they seemed more like gorillas in a zoo than a football team. Two guys in particular seemed to like messing with the other guys. Both were rather menacing creatures, big and hulking, dominating the locker room. The rest of the guys seemed to give them a wide birth whenever they were unlucky enough to have to walk by the boys' lockers. Most got by without a problem, but some were not so fortunate.

"Please Azimio. Just leave me alone for one day."

"And why would we do that Mr. Jew Fro?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, you are just so much fun to mess with!" The other one, apparently named Azimio, shoved him up against the lockers with a loud thud.

Those two were indeed a team, in the worst sense of the word. Blaine knew he should do something, anything to help the poor, scrawny little water boy, but his legs could not, would not move.

I want to help, I really do…but I don't want to get on the wrong side of anybody just yet, especially those two.

After only a minute or two, though for Blaine It felt like an hour, the brutes had finished their daily barrage of insults and had decided that today was just not the day to beat the scrawny boy to a pulp, so they let him run free. Blaine let out a sigh of relief.

Thank God he didn't get hurt. I'd better stay away from them…

A voice came up from behind and startled him.

"Hey dude. Looks like you found the locker room okay."

Blaine turned around. It was that dopey looking kid from earlier.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I was a little late to class earlier today, but I found it. Thanks. You said your name's Finn, right?"

"Yeah. Your's was Dane?"

"Umm, it's Blaine, but close enough. So you're on the football team?"

"Yeah. Quarterback."

"Nice!"

The thick laughter of the boy, Azimio, and his friend caught their attention.

"Who are those guys?"

"Oh, them. Well they are the best right and center guards on the team, but they aren't really 'team players'. They pick on that Jacob kid all the time."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that."

Finn just shrugged awkwardly and began talking.

"Yeah. So what are you doing here?"

"I uh-"

Coach Beiste walked into the room.

"Alright boys! Settle down! Eh! Azimio! Karofsky! That means you! Okay, as you all know Johnson's out for the rest of the season. That being said, the new kid Anderson is gonna take his place. Now, he hasn't played much football but he's pretty damn good from what I've seen. Everyone get padded up and we'll do a short scrimmage to get him use to how we play. I expect to see you all out on that field in 5!"

The coach eyed Azimio and Karofsky once more before returning to the football field.

"Oh, so you're Johnson's replacement? Nice! But you've got some big shoes to fill."

"Umm oh, okay cool."

Okay…..great….he was an awesome player, and I've never played a real game of football in my entire life. Super.

Blaine ran out onto the field, along with the rest of the team. As he looked out into the sidelines, something caught his eye. The cheerleaders were practicing, but it wasn't all the pretty girls in short skirts that grabbed his attention. No, what he noticed was something much more…unusual. A boy. A boy cheerleader, with sandy brown hair and gleaming bluish-grey eyes. His flawless, porcelain-like skin that was brought to life by the light blush on his face made him seem almost fragile. Yet, he was so flexible. His high kicks reached almost to his face and his cartwheels and round-offs were to perfection. His smile and energy radiated so bright that Blaine swore he could feel him even though he was a good amount of yards away. He found himself breathless.

Whoa.

He realized that he had been staring a second too long and snapped out of his gaze only to hear a voice call out.

"Yo! Anderson! Look out!"

A moment later he was on the ground with a football lying next to his face. The cheerleaders laughed hysterically. The boy cheerleader covered his mouth and stared in shock, trying his best to hold in his giggles. Blaine looked up and saw two guys standing over him. Both had Mohawks and looked to be twins. At least, until Blaine's vision cleared up and he realized there was only one guy there.

"Yo, dude! You okay?"

"What happened?"

"By the looks of it you got a little distracted by the fine eye candy over there."

Fine eye candy indeed. Oh, no stop it. He's just a boy.

"Some hot chicks, huh? Yeah, they're all over the Puckasaurus."

The guy started to flex his muscles and admire himself. Blaine turned his head and looked back over at the boy cheerleader, who smiled at him. He involuntarily smiled back, then realized what he was doing. Blaine noticed a Latina cheerleader waving and winking at him and he pretended that that's who he was smiling at.

"Here, lemme help you up."

The kid, who Blaine made out to be Puck, reached out his arm. He grabbed it and got off the ground. The coach walked over to him.

"You okay, Anderson?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little sidetracked. Sorry."

"Alright, well don't let it happen again. I don't want to lose another running back. Ok boys! Let's begin this scrimmage!"

They were quickly divided up into two teams, and lucky for Blaine he was put onto Finn's team. They got into formation, the whistle blew, and the scrimmage started.

Everything was a blur; Blaine didn't know where to go, or what to tackle. He was nervous, but maybe, just maybe he was doing good enough to be an acceptable replacement for Johnson.

I have no idea what I am doing. Oh, um there's the ball.

Before he knew what he was doing he had grabbed the ball and was running as fast as his legs could carry him. He quickly glanced left and right to see if anyone was chasing him, and realized that the closest person was at least 20 feet behind him. Blaine noticed that he was only a few seconds from the end zone and that he was about to score a point.

His feet touched the end zone and all he could hear was clapping and cheering.

"Great job Anderson! Some amazing playing! You said you have never played an organized game of football before?"

"No, ma'am nothing."

"Well damn, boy, that was spectacular!"

There was a clap of thunder from the sky above them and without any further warning; rain began to fall in buckets, immediately soaking them to the bone.

"Looks like we'll have to end practice there for today! Good job!"

Blaine walked off the field with his teammates, who kept congratulating him, while on the inside, Blaine was trying to shake the image of that boy out of his mind.

Wow. He's just…oh crap. No. No, Blaine stop. I won't let this happen. I'm going to live a normal life and not worry about that stuff. He's just a boy. That's all. Just a boy…