Chapter 2

Today is going to be good.

Kurt stood at his locker, with a silly smile on his face, thinking about a boy. A boy whose name he did not know, but every time he thought of him, the smile plastered on his face grew larger and the butterflies in his stomach multiplied. A boy with messy brown hair, and hazel eyes, who had stared at him just a bit longer that normal. A boy who made his heart do back flips whenever he pictured his face, his arms, anything really. A boy that Kurt couldn’t get out of his mind, even if he was a boy whose name he did not know. It was this boy that he had been thinking about ever since practice had been rained out the day before, and he wondered,

Has he been thinking about me too…?

Kurt, still inside his head, thinking about that boy, pulled open his locker, grabbed his hairspray, and began to spray his hair generously. Just when he had built up a decent sized hairspray cloud, he heard a small squeaky cough behind him.

 “Jeez, Kurt! Use enough hairspray?!”

The boy turned his attention to a very short brunette who was wearing a reindeer sweater.

“Oh. Hey Rachel.”

Kurt placed the can back into his locker, shut it, and then leaned up against it. He let out a small sigh as he once again pictured the piercing gaze of those hazel eyes.

“Well you’re awfully smiley today. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just a good day I guess, a very good day”

Kurt smiled at the secret meaning behind his words.

“I guess I’m just looking forward to cheer practice today.”

Rachel couldn’t help but whine,

“Ugh. I still can’t believe you joined the Cheerios, they’re all just a bunch of sluts in tiny skirts. Wait, what’s special about practice today?”

“Nothing. The football team is just also scheduled to practice.”

“Uh-huh. And?”

Kurt turned to face his little friend,

“And what? Are you really surprised that I enjoy staring at extremely handsome boys in tight pants?”

Rachel gave Kurt a stern look,

“Is this about Finn? ‘Cause I thought we agreed that after you two became stepbrothers liking him would be weird-“

Kurt’s nose scrunched up in reply,

“No, ew, it’s not Finn, I’ve moved on to much…greener pastures.”

Rachel looked relieved for a moment then glared at Kurt,

“Okay good….wait…what do you mean ew?”

“Jesus Rachel, don’t tell me you’re still not over him. Didn’t he dump your ass like a month ago?”

“He did not-…so what’s new about the football team?”

Kurt shyly looked down at his hands, trying to avoid looking Rachel in the eye.

“Like I said, nothing. They did get a new running back, but I don’t know he seems a bit….dorky.”

Kurt chuckled, then smiled, then sighed.

Why can’t I stop thinking about him!

They had been friends for a while now, and Rachel saw right through his little façade.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“What? No. I don’t even know the guy! He was pretty cute though.”

The pair giggled like a bunch of giddy 6th graders talking about boys for the first time. Rachel was the first one to get a hold of herself and begin the conversation again.

“Wait, but is he gay?”

“I don’t really know, but I don’t think he is. He seemed to be checking out Santana earlier.”

“Well, everyone checks out Santana, so that doesn’t really say anything.”

Rachel took a second to think about what Kurt had just said and became very excited.

“Wait, you said he may be straight, that means there might be a chance for me! And if he’s as cute as you say he is, he may be what I need to make Finn jealous!”

Kurt just shook his head.

“Rachel Berry you are a truly hopeless case. I’m going to go to class before your blatant insanity starts rubbing off.”

“Well, fine, but don’t get all huffy if he really does turn out to be straight.”

Kurt stuck out his tongue at Rachel before they said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways.

He had gone to his class and though they had been taking notes on the French Revolution for the test tomorrow, Kurt could not stay focused. His notebook was filled with doodles of him, and of hearts and of anything and of everything that reminded him of the boy in the number 42 jersey.

The bell rang, and all of the students quickly rushed out of class, eager to be first in line for lunch. But today, Kurt didn’t care. He dreamily made his way out of the classroom and down the hallway to his locker. He was only about a foot away when a large, hulking figure turned the corner and barreled down the hallway. Students seemed to step to the side to avoid the brutish form making his way through the school. Usually Kurt is more attentive, usually he knows to keep his head down and move out of the way. But then again, Kurt is usually not distracted by an image of hazel eyes.

The figure moving through the halls was the right guard on the football team, Karofsky. And he had a certain, dislike of Kurt, which could not be cured. Karofsky antagonized Kurt every chance he got, letting no opportunity to make some rude comment go unnoticed. And today was no different.

As he passed by Kurt, who was still in his own dreamland, he used the full weight of his body to slam Kurt into the lockers. A feeling Kurt was used to, but today it was different, today it felt like a personal insult to Kurt, and to what he was thinking. What made his feelings especially poignant was the abusive, venom-filled comment that followed.

“Watch it, lady.”

Kurt quickly got up and brushed himself off, hoping that not too many people had noticed. However, today not even Karofsky could knock him off of cloud nine. His thoughts were stuck on the boy with the hazel eyes, and the piercing gaze, and the-

Stop it Kurt, just stop. You don’t even know if he’s gay.

And though he told himself that same phrase over and over, it was no use. And he was counting down the seconds until practice, and until he could see that boy again.