Kurt Hummel waited for weeks for a reply to come from NYU. He hoped that his audition, his portfolio his high SAT score (1530 thank you very much) and his essay would be enough to overshadow dropping out of High School. The abundance of free time afforded to him since leaving school in November, found him working at his father’s garage. He knew that many people thought this was where he would stay, isn’t that the fate of a drop out, to work manual labor or a dead end job for the rest of their life? Kurt wouldn’t let that happen, if NYU didn’t accept him, he would scrimp and save to make it to New York and to make his dreams come true.

888888888

Late April, four months after sending in his application, a letter came. Kurt was just dragging himself through the door after a long day at the garage. He was dirty and tired; in general, he was not in the mood to deal with anyone, least of all his stepbrother, Finn. He had barely made it through the door when Finn rushed up to him like an excited puppy that had been left alone all day.
“Kurt!” Finn exclaimed.

“Finn, sorry, but I am really not in the mood to hear about school today. I just want to go up stairs and shower. Please just leave me alone.” Kurt snapped.
“But Kurt…” Finn tried again.

The other young man spun around again, “What Finn, what could possibly be so important that it can’t wait until after I shower?”

Finn held up a thick package that Kurt hadn’t noticed before. “A letter came for you.” He finished, never losing his smile.

Kurt rushed forward, seizing the package from his hands, ripping it open almost instantly. He pulled out the contents, staring at the top sheet.

“I got in!” Kurt yelled grabbing Finn into a fierce bear hug, surprising his brother, who only took a moment before returning it. “I can’t believe I got in!” Kurt exclaimed once more, the two brothers hopping up and down in each other’s arms.

This is how Burt Hummel found his boys, when he walked in the door. “What has you boys so excited?” he asked with a chuckle in his voice.

Kurt released his brother to turn to his dad. “I got in to NYU! I’m really going!” Kurt told his dad, brandishing the letter.

Once Kurt stopped shaking from excitement, he sat down with Burt at the kitchen table to look over the packet, their showers forgotten. When Carole came home from work, the sight in front of her baffled her, both Hummel men were notorious for cleaning up the minute they were home. Instead they were still grease stained, having an intense conversation around the table.

“What’s going on?” Carole asked, almost afraid of what their answer might be.

“It seems Kurt here, was accepted into NYU, into both programs he was hoping for, on a full scholarship no less.” Burt told her with pride in his voice. “We were just trying to figure out some of the finer details.”
Carole rushed to two of her favorite men, grabbing them into her arms. “We need to celebrate. You two go get cleaned up, we are going out to eat. I’ll go tell Finn.”

88888

The month of planning and organizing seemed to rush by. Before Kurt knew it he was loading the last of his boxes into the back of his Navigator. Or rather in the back of Finn’s Navigator, since he would not need it in New York. The whole family was making the ten-hour drive together to help settle Kurt into his dorm room. Nervous excitement radiated off Kurt as he made his last trip back into the house until at least Christmas break. His father was staring at the computer screen, but looked up when he heard Kurt enter.

“I still can’t believe that this damn screen is the only way I will be able to see you for the next few months.” Burt almost whispered.

“I know Dad, I really wish I didn’t have to go… but we both know I could never do anything but survive here. I need to be able to live, to be myself.” Kurt said, tears building in his eyes. They had avoided this conversation for months, even as Kurt was teaching his father how to use Skype. Neither wanted to admit that this was a bigger goodbye, Kurt would not return to Lima on anything close to a permanent basis. He was leaving home, leaving his family and friends.

Burt grabbed his son into a tight hug, as if he never wanted to let him go. “I am going to miss you, son. You are so brave and strong… you had better call me and talk to me on that computer thing all the time. No matter what, I am here for you, you got that kid.”

Soon after, the family of four loaded into the car, to make the trek to New York. Much as Kurt wanted and tried to engage his family in conversation, the road soon lulled all talk out of the group. Finn fell asleep not long after they made it into Pennsylvania. Kurt followed quickly on his heels.

By the time they made it to NYU, and stumbled out of the car, they were stiff and hungry. Unfortunately, food would have to wait; they still needed to at least unload the car before doing anything else. Carole accompanied Kurt to check in to Hayden hall. He was lucky enough to land a triple suite, so while he would have to share a bathroom with two other boys, he would have a room all to himself. Burt, Finn and Kurt began to unload boxes from the car into the lobby while Carole watched over those already inside. Three trips later, they loaded the boxes into the elevator to take to the tenth floor where Kurt’s room was. With the boxes in the tenth floor hall Kurt began to look for his room, 1042B. There was a small common room with a bathroom to the right. Room A was situated to the right, its door next to the bathroom. Room C was down a short hall to the left. Kurt’s room was straight ahead and in the corner of the building.

Once the boxes were piled into Kurt’s room, they left to grab a late dinner. They offered to let Kurt stay with them at the hotel afterwards, but he declined wanting to start organizing his room before calling it a night.
Kurt stood in the middle of his dorm room surveying the small area that would be his all year. The walls were basic white; he had two windows in the corner of the room giving him a great view of the Empire State Building. The furniture was a light wood, nothing in the room spoke Kurt Hummel, but it was a basic enough pallet that he could quickly mark it as his own.

He started by placing his clothes in his dresser and closet, hating that he would have to iron them before they would be wearable. He hung his ironing board inside his closet door, ready for the next morning. Next, he found his bedclothes and feather topper. Kurt Hummel valued a comfortable bed. The charcoal grey sheets and black comforter looked nice against the crisp white walls. He placed the extra sheets and comforter on a shelf in his closet. All that would left to do in the morning would be to add the personal touches.

The suite was quiet, but the noises outside the building were loud, and everything Kurt had been looking forward to. Horns honking, music drifting over the air from some unknown place, people yelling. It was the perfect New York lullaby.

Kurt woke the next morning to distant voices resounding through his door. Kurt wrapped his robe around him before opening his door and stepping into the common room of the suite. The sight of a blond boy lugging boxes into room A greeted him. The other boy saw him and placed the boxes on the ground before approaching Kurt.

“Hey, I’m Jeff. I’m your suitemate, you’re Kurt right?” He said with a smile.

“Yes, how did you know?” Kurt asked shaking Jeff’s hand.
Jeff had an infectious, almost childlike smile, “One of my friends is sharing with us and I know you’re not him, so I figured you were Kurt.”

Kurt smiled back, “It must be nice knowing someone already. If you will give me a minute to get dressed I will help you.”

“Don’t worry about it, these are the last boxes.” Jeff replied before his parents walked in the hall.

“When is Nick arriving?” his mom asked.

Kurt introduced himself to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson before excusing himself to go shower and dress. Knowing he would have a day of decorating ahead of him, Kurt dressed in simple skinny jeans, button up shirt and vest. Simple yet chic.

Exiting the bathroom, he nearly ran into another boy carrying boxes down the hall. “Oh my god, sorry!” Kurt exclaimed, trying valiantly to stop himself from toppling into the boy, Nick, who merely smiled at Kurt before heading into his room.

Soon Jeff, Nick, and Kurt were chatting around a work table in the common room. It seemed that all three were from Ohio and were in their school’s glee club. Kurt kept the talk mostly superficial, not wanting to share yet his back-story.

At nine, Kurt’s family was back in the dorm, they were going to take him to a late breakfast before heading back to Lima. When they introduced themselves to Nick and Jeff, both boys seemed to remember Finn from Glee competitions last year. Kurt hadn’t attended either, because while he wanted to support his friends, he couldn’t bring himself to watch from the sidelines.

88888

Orientation went well, if not a little lonely. Kurt while maintaining an outwardly confident demeanor was nervous to really let people in. Jeff and Nick seemed nice, but they were still boys from Ohio. Kurt had wanted so much to leave the Midwest mentality behind him, but here they were in his dorm. Kurt felt bad assuming they would be the same as the majority of boys at his school, but he couldn’t help it. He was afraid.

Nick was a business major, while Jeff was pre-law. Kurt had so far neglected to divulge his double major to them. Kurt was talking eighteen hours; English, College Algebra, US History, French I, Drawing the Human form for Design Majors, and Musical Theatre Workshop. He told Nick and Jeff about his core classes but nothing else.

The day before classes were set to start, Kurt heard the boys talking in their common room. He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help listening when he heard a new voice in the mix.

“So, what is your suitemate like?” the new voice asked.
Jeff answered first, “He seems nice, but he’s quiet. We talked a bit the day we moved in, but since then it’s like pulling teeth to get him to say more than a few words.”

“Maybe he is just shy.” The newcomer said.

Nick chuckled, “I don’t think so, I mean he acts more stuck up than anything. I mean, he seems confident. I don’t know, I can’t quite get a reading on the guy.”

“It could all be an act, just because you seem confident doesn’t mean you are.”

“Oh, Blaine, we didn’t tell you, his brother was part of New Directions, you know that Glee club from Lima. And here’s the thing, Kurt told us he was in glee too, but I don’t remember him being at the competitions.” Jeff said.
Hearing enough, Kurt walked out the door and into the bathroom, hoping to stop the conversation. Instead, Nick called to him.

“Hey Kurt, this is our friend Blaine. He’s in a single two floors up.”

Kurt approached the trio of friends finally looking at the new guy. He was a bit shorter than Kurt was with slicked down black hair and bushy eyebrows. Kurt extended his hand to Blaine and shook it firmly.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Kurt Hummel.” He said politely.
“Likewise, Blaine Anderson.” Blaine said with a smile that made his hazel eyes sparkle. “I hope to see you around.”

Kurt raised his eyebrow to the other boy, “Well if you are hanging around Nick and Jeff then I’m sure you will.” Kurt wasn’t sure why he was being so cold to Blaine, he seemed nice, but after hearing the other boys talk about him, he wasn’t really in the mood to be overly polite. He just turned around and headed into the bathroom.

Once the door was closed, he heard Blaine chastise the other two. “He probably heard you guys talking about him. I’m sorry I even asked about him, I wouldn’t have if I would’ve known you weren’t going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just give him a chance… I have to go; I have an eight o’clock class in the morning.”

After finishing in the bathroom, Kurt hurried back to his room to finish his moisturizing routine, not even glancing at his suitemates.

8888888

The next morning Kurt loaded his messenger bag with his books for the morning before heading down to the dining hall on the first floor. He was glad that he was rooming in Hayden because it had the healthiest meal options of all the dorms. Kurt at breakfast alone, before taking off across the park to campus for his English Class. Walking into the lecture hall, Kurt was taken aback by the size of the room. He could see how students could get lost in the sea of faces. Kurt found this comforting. He could blend in to the crowd in this class, another one of the many faces. French and History were the same way, large classes, and too many faces to memorize or know who anyone was.

By noon, Kurt was done for the day so he made his way back to Hayden to enjoy lunch before heading up to his room to do his homework. In his room, he heard Nick, Jeff, and Blaine excitedly talking about their days. Part of Kurt wanted to join them, he wanted new friends, but he didn’t want to put himself out there. Instead, he plugged his headphones in his ears to drown out their voices. Over Lady Gaga he faintly heard a knock at the door, but chose to ignore it.

Not long after a notice pop up on the screen telling him he had an incoming Skype call. Clicking on the icon, he saw it was Mercedes, making his heart leap. Oh how he missed his best friend! Kurt quickly pulled the headphones from his ears and accepted the call. Mercedes face then filled his screen.

“Boo, how are you? How is New York?” she said smiling at him.

A genuine smile crossed Kurt’s face. “Mercedes, I miss you. How are you?”

“I’m hanging in there, school is about the same as always, but it is hard knowing you aren’t just around the corner. But don’t avoid my question, how are YOU doing?” Mercedes gave him a stern face.

Kurt sighed, finally letting his confident fa�ade crumble a bit. “It’s hard. The classes are so big and I haven’t really met anyone aside from my suitemate and their friend. I thought they were nice… but I don’t know. I heard them talking about me, they think I’m stuck up. I know I should try harder to be their friend, but…” Kurt couldn’t finish his thought so he let his voice fade out.
“Boo,” Mercedes gave him a sad smile. “Maybe you should just talk to them. What are they like?”

“They’re from Ohio, majoring in business and pre-law… what do you think?”

She gave him a stern face. “Kurt Hummel, you are doing no better than they are, you are judging them on so little. You need to get out there and talk to them. Get to know them. They may be great people.”

Kurt heaved a great sigh. “You’re right Cedes… but tomorrow, it has been a long day and I am going to head to bed.”

“Alright Boo, let me know how it went. I love you.”

“I love you too Mercedes, tell everyone I said hi.” Kurt said before ending the call.

After finishing his moisturizing routine and dressing for bed, Kurt placed his ear buds in his ears once more to help him avoid conversation once again. He then hurried to the bathroom to brush his teeth so he could head to bed. Before returning to his room, he snuck a glance at the common room, relieved to find it empty.

The next morning Kurt placed his Algebra book, his sketchpad, computer, and a dance clothes in his bag before heading out the door for the day. At breakfast, Kurt grabbed an extra apple water to eat for lunch in the park before his Musical Theatre Class that afternoon.
Algebra was a challenge for Kurt to pay attention, the large classroom and the dull material combined to try to lull Kurt asleep. Just when Kurt wasn’t sure he could make it another minute longer, class was dismissed.
His drawing class on the other hand was more intimate having only thirty people in the class. They worked together on each concept, starting out simply, but Kurt knew that it would only strengthen his raw talent. He was actually sad when the period ended.

He made his way back to Washington Square Park to sit with his apple and eat. The park was pretty even if it was busy. Students made their way back and forth across the path from Campus to Hayden hall. After finishing his apple, Kurt pulled out his sketchpad attempting to finish his assignment. Just as he started shading the man on his pad, a shadow fell over the sketchpad. Looking up Kurt found a vaguely familiar face.