“What the -”

Kurt was tossing his clothes this way and that.  His dorm room looked like a tornado had passed through it and he was sure he probably looked a little psychotic himself.  Quinn barging in and standing there wide eyed in the doorway didn't help his current frame of mind.

“What do you want Quinn?”

“Are you okay Kurt?”

“Can't find….”  He dumped his laundry bin upside down. “... my fucking caffeine pills.”

“Oh jeeze.  Is that all?  Here…”  She grabbed a tiny pill bottle out of her purse and tossed them to Kurt who eagerly caught them and opened them up, swallowing two of the pills dry.  “Honestly.  Calm down.”

“Can't calm down Quinn.  I have three assignments to do this weekend, and, oh, a cheering competition.  There's stunt tryouts on Monday, and the heel came off of my brown, lace up boots.  Calm is not even in my vernacular right now.”

“Fuck Kurt.  Kids are dying in Africa of malnutrition and AIDS and malaria and shit and you're freaking out because things are so good for you that you have time to worry about a damned boot.”

He sighed, closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths.  She was right.  There was so much that could be worse.  He could handle this.  He was a champion.

He just needed to be able to keep himself awake for it all.

So he did.  Popping pills every few hours to avoid crashing so he could finish his school work, practice his dance moves, call his dad to check in, attend cheer practice, go to classes, fix his boot, and work on his balance.

Oh, and somewhere in there he ate too.  Some rabbit food from the cafeteria.  Everything else they served had questionable origins and he didn't want to risk getting Montezuma's revenge before a competition.  

Caffeine pills were Kurt's godsend.  It was everything he needed from coffee without having to waste time drinking it too.  They were legal and everyone he knew used them.  It was the only way to stay on top of things at SCU.  As Quinn would say - “We can sleep when we're dead!”

Saturday they performed their routine after being stuck on a bus for three hours.  As always, it was flawless and full of sex, sweetness, and every trick they could get away with to catch the eyes of the judges.  Usually they didn't bother to watch the Spartans perform, instead spending the time between acts resting and gossiping, but given how the Spartans had been turning things around for themselves the Sirens opted to stick around in the crowd and pay attention to what the Spartans had to offer.

The last competition they had been at was when the Sirens had come in second place.  Their routine was mesmerizing, but thankfully one of their girls had misstepped and lost them points.  Kurt and Quinn had pushed the Sirens hard after that.  They couldn't rely on the Spartans faltering to secure their top position.  Coach Sylvester would have their heads.

“Are they playing….”

“It's Broadway tune.  Fuck.  We're in New York City and one of the judges is a culture critic for the Times and …. shit!  How did we not think to do this?!” Kurt gasped, hands splayed open to either side while Quinn looked at him, lips pursed.

“I think it's fun!”  Brittany said from his other side, bouncing to the beat of La Vie Boheme.

“It's either going to go over very poorly…. or very well…”  Kurt sighed, leaning forward to pay close attention to the moves the Spartans were making.  Had they been tipped off about the judge or were they just lucky?  The Sirens hadn't even sung in this competition and half of the Spartans were singing for their number.  In that category alone they would win points over the Sirens.

“I think everyone likes it too!”  Brittany said as the set ended and everyone got up and clapped and cheered - herself included.  Kurt and Quinn were beyond trying to restrain her, looking at one another with worry.

They were in such shit.

“So, I'm going to be drinking tonight.”  Quinn sighed, turning and walking herself away for the moment.

“Yeah….” Kurt weakly murmured as he looked back and watched as Blaine and his cronies high fived and left the floor so the judges could deliberate.  This was so bad.  The pranks the Sirens had been pulling hadn't done a damned thing to upset the Spartans.  If anything it seemed to make them more cohesive.  Add to that that the Spartans didn't return fire and the Sirens looked like complete assholes.  Tactics needed to be changed.

“Brittany?”

“Yeah Kurt?”

“You like Santana hey?”

Brittany nodded quickly.  “She's so nice… so pretty.  She made such a fuss out of me being Mustardseed in the play and came to all three shows even though those tickets cost so much… I miss her you know.  We all used to be such good friends in high school….”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Listen.  The rule about Sirens not dating Spartans?  Screw it.  You like Santana - go make sweet lady love with her.”

Brittany tilted her head to the side and looked over at Kurt, “Really?  You can decide that?”

Kurt nodded, “Oh yeah.  I'm the captain right?”

“Right… but…”

“Look!  She's over there!”  He pointed.  “Go congratulate her and ask her out!”

“I…. okay.”  Brittany skipped off to intercept his ex-friend and Kurt sighed.  He had no idea where he was going with this scheme, but he knew he needed to take things to the next level of stirring shit up.  

“You did well.”

Kurt blinked and looked over his shoulder, spotting the curly haired Spartan bastard behind him.  When had he snuck up?  No matter…

“Should I be saying thanks?”

Blaine shook his head, taking a swig of water from his water bottle in hand.  “No.  Just wanted to let you know.”

Kurt furrowed his brow, his mind racing but nothing sticking to the front as he looked at Blaine who was looking back at him with those sickly sweet caramel eyes.  

Screw it.

“You did well too.”

That seemed to catch Blaine off guard - his eyebrows both jettisoning to the top of his forehead. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh.  Well then…”

“Competitors!  Please come to the floor for the results!”  A loudspeaker buzzed over them.

“Good luck.”  Blaine offered, walking back through the crowd to stand with the Spartans.

“Do I want to know?”  Quinn asked as she returned to his side and walked along with him.

Kurt shook his head.  “I'll let you know when I do.  Let's just see how we placed.”

“In third place… the Tech T-Rex's!”

A cheer went up and a gaggle of bouncey girls with a pair of more somber looking guys went to accept their trophy.  Kurt made a mental note to never pair teal with silver as this particular team had done.  It was so hard on the eyes.

“In second…. the SCU Spartans!”

Kurt breathed out a sigh of relief, watching Blaine and his group go to graciously accept their award and shake hands with the presenter.  They all looked quite pleased with themselves despite the fact they hadn't managed to shake the Sirens down, which meant…

“In first, the SCU Sirens!”

Kurt put on his show smile and led his team up to take the award.  The rest was a blur.  There had been so many competitions, so many trophies, that Kurt didn't see one win as unique from the others.  Once he knew they had placed first, it was all the same.  Gracious nods to their competitors, handshakes with the dignitaries and judges, holding the trophy up high for a photograph, making a few comments for whatever news media agency had shown up, and then the best part - taking the bus home.

It was the one time and place he could just relax for awhile.  The competition was over and the next one was a whole two weeks away - far enough down the line that he didn't have to stress over it quite yet.  

Except his great, as yet to be finished plan backfired on him.

“Hey Kurt!  Since you said it was okay, I'm going to ride back to SCU on the Spartan bus, but to make room one of their members had to come on our bus.”

Brittany's little announcement had everyone on the team glaring at him, but he wasn't about to freak out or lose face.  “Fine.  Who is it?”

“Blaine.  Such a nice little elf don't you think?  Anyhow!  See you back at the college!”

Kurt groaned, ignoring the fire he was sure Quinn was trying to shoot out of her eyes at him and dropped his face in his palms.  So much for relaxing on the trip home.

FondueForMew
So excited!  Our teams are both doing super mega awesome good!
#SCUSirens #SCUSpartans

KittysKorner
Just you wait Brittany.  Soon we'll be taking the number one spot and you'll be number two!
#SCUSpartans #SirensSuck

FondueForMew
Hey!  I'm not poop!  That's mean!

KittysKorner
Ugh… that's not what I meant.

Quintessential
Was rude regardless.

AuntieSnix
Be nice Kitty.  Brittany's my number one regardless of which team she plays for.