It was as he lay flat on his back in the dank darkness, eyes wide open and alert, that he wished he lived somewhere else. Somewhere where he could start the day out like a normal person. This wasn't the first time Kurt had made this particular wish, and likely wouldn't be the last. Now though it occurred to him that he had better get a move on because it was already halfway through first period, which meant he'd missed most of AP French, and he would miss Calculus soon. He supposed he was pretty lucky that he had his phone with him this time, otherwise he might well have missed the whole day of school.

As he shifted to find his phone there was a sharp pain that radiated through his left thigh and something sticky dribbled across his right cheek, but he firmly ignored it. Finally managing to wiggle enough to drag his Blackberry out of his pocket; he flipped the slim phone open. The faint light illuminated the tight space and he blessed Buddha and any other diety that was watching over him (or not watching over him) that his phone was still blinking low battery and not dead. He made a mental note to charge it more often than he had been. It wouldn't do to be stuck helpless. Kurt created a new text and did his best in the poor light to address it to Finn, Sam, Rachel and Mercedes- the most likely of his friends to see his message and actually come to his aid.

From: Kurt

-SOS. Stuck again- help? North side of school.

Having pressed send he had little else to do but lay and wait. Folding his arms across his chest he closed his eyes and imagined himself away to a happier time. He hummed slightly to himself.

Tears are forming in your eyes,

Your storm is warring the sky.

The end of the world it seems,

You're bent down and fall on your knees,

Well get back on your feet- yeah.

Don't look away,

Don't run away, baby,

Don't lose your faith,

Don't run away-

It's only life-

He stopped as he felt his phone buzzing against his palm, followed by another short buzz.

2 new messages.

He flipped to the first one and breathed a sigh of relief. It was from Rachel.

From: Rachel

-OMG. On my way; bringing Mercedes and your bag.

Kurt smiled slightly and was briefly thankful that he had friends who were willing to ditch class and come get him. Despite his and Rachel's self-proclaimed "dramatic attitude," she really was a good friend. Well… most of the time anyway. She could be jealous, selfish, and completely obnoxious (not to mention her sense of fashion), but she knew what he was going through. Rachel Berry had been the recipient of much bullying herself- most because of who she was, but some because of who her parents were. It was another thing amongst a growing list that they had in common, and he appreciated her being there for him. He tried to do the same.

He sent another text to the others saying that Rachel had it covered, and waited some more. It would take Rachel at least five more minutes to collect Mercedes and get across the school. He was really hoping she would be quick because he had just enough time to shower and change so that he wouldn't miss all of calculus. Not that he really needed to be there, he had 104% after all. He was hoping to study for his French test though, because he'd missed the review. It was Tuesday, and the test was tomorrow. He'd studied for it vigilantly all throughout the weekend, much to Finn's annoyance. Finn had practically begged him to come out of his room and play Call of Duty with him. Kurt had steadfastly refused. School was the one thing in his life that he had control of, and even though he was beginning to grow more and more attached to his new brother with each passing day, he knew he had to focus on school. Grades were everything if you wanted to get out of Lima.

Kurt really wanted to get out of Lima.

It was also the 28th of October, and he was trying not to think about that. The 28th of October was Wes' birthday and Kurt was feeling especially nostalgic today. He desperately wanted to text him or something, but A) he hadn't talked to his (ex?) best friend in almost a year and a half, and B) what would he say?

From: Kurt

-Wes- Happy Birthday from the WMHS Dumpster. Sorry I haven't tried to keep in contact lately.

Yeah, he didn't think so. It had been almost 2 and a half years since Kurt had been forced into the Lima school district, and a year and a half since he'd said an actual word to either of his former best friends. The distance, new schools and friendships, and activities (and subsequent jealousy on his part) had torn them apart until one day, Kurt realized he hadn't texted, facebooked, or called Wes or Blaine in ten days.

After that, communication began slowing down even more until it was only a text here and there on a birthday or a holiday, or a random "It's been awhile, we should hang out." Kurt had regretted not going to Dalton every day since he'd come to McKinley. He lived through the constant abuse, bullying and slurs thrown his way, but on the inside sometimes he felt like he was falling apart.

Things had gotten better when he'd joined Glee Club last year. Well, better and worse. He lived for Glee Club; he knew that he was headed to the big leagues one day: New York (Broadway). That was his dream, and it didn't matter what anyone said or who tried to put him down. He'd get there, and show them all how much better he was than the petty ignorance that existed here. Maybe that was why he and Rachel got along so well. The homophobic bullies and small town mentality were just one stop on their way to greatness- to freedom.

Although he had a reason to come to school, and mostly felt good about himself, the bullying by Karofsky and his posse of jocks had increased tenfold. He wasn't tossed into dumpsters quite that often anymore, but he'd been unlucky enough to run into Azimio alone on his way into school that morning. Of course he'd managed to make some scathing remark about the boys intelligence, and he'd ended up tossed into the dumpster, and locked in. Where the jock had come up with the idea to padlock the dumpster he would never know. What he did know was that at Dalton, with Wes and Blaine by his side, this would never happen.

But this wasn't Dalton, and he was Kurt Hummel.

Once Rachel and Mercedes had made it to the dumpsters and discovered that he was padlocked in he quickly suggested that they were going to need the help of someone who could pick a lock. That was how Puck ended up hoisting him out of the dumpster and dusting him off.

"Okay Hummel?" he asked quietly.

When Puck was quiet you knew that he was being serious. Serious Puck was a bit of a scary spectacle; it meant that he was upset, or thinking. Both were dangerous situations for all involved. Kurt had a feeling that Puck was a little bit upset on his behalf. It had taken the tough, Mohawk-ed boy the better half of a year to come to terms with the fact that he could be a badass and in glee club, and good friends with Kurt (and sometimes maybe a little more) without falling prey to the same kind of bullying that Kurt had.

Kurt was convinced that it was the Mohawk. The short brown tufts of hair seemed to be a magical power source that enhanced his badass-ness. Puck was his only guy friend (excluding the formerly mentioned) that had never been ashamed to announce that he was friends with Kurt. That is, not since he'd joined Glee Club and discovered he was badass no matter what. But really, those were just minor details. He even occasionally made crude, Santana level comments about him. He had never been prouder to have a friend at McKinley. Even if he didn't necessarily appreciate being objectified, he found it flattering.

"I'm fine," he said in a small voice. And he really was. He'd escaped this encounter with a minimum of bruises. The only thing he was particularly annoyed about was that his shirt was ruined. He looked down remorsefully at the knit Gucci sweater and sighed.

"My sweater appears to have suffered a majority of the damage."

Puck's features were eerily calm. "Good. Go get cleaned up, and get to class. I'll see you later."

He followed it with a wink, but Kurt felt that it had been forced. He was worried about what was going on in that boy's head and what he might plan to do. He resisted the urge to make a "juvie" related comment and put a gentle hand on the well-muscled shoulder. "I'm fine," he repeated firmly.

Puck rolled his eyes and walked swiftly away.

"That boy is going to end up locked in the porter potties again," Mercedes said with a shake of her head as she came to wrap a comforting arm around Kurt.

All three of the remaining glee clubbers shuddered. There was nothing worse than being locked in the porter potties.

"Mercedes…" Kurt started giving her sideways glance, "you know I'm covered in garbage right?"

Mercedes immediately pulled her arm away, wrinkling her nose in pure disgust at the sticky orange goop.

"Gross!"

They walked in to the school through the side door and Kurt was sincerely thankful that no one was in the hall-

"Porcelain, Hobbit, Divalicious!"

Scratch that. This was soooo not what he needed right now. They turned as one and he looked at the ground with a sigh.

"Yes Coach Sylvester?" Rachel asked sweetly.

The cheerleading coach sneered at her. "What are you three doing in the hall during class? 50 points from Glee Club."

The three exchanged a look.

"Erm, coach… this isn't Harry Potter. There aren't any points to take away…" Kurt reminded her.

She glared at him. "But there is funding to steal, and pathetic little hearts to crush. Now answer the question."

They looked at each other again.

"They're helping me get cleaned up," he said finally, gesturing to his clothes. "I got locked in the dumpster this morning."

Her expression turned serious as she looked down at him, as though seeing him for the first time. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

"Porcelain, when this happens, you need to report it from now on. To me. Not to Figgins, not to that over-greased moose that depletes the earth's ozone with the amount of hair product he uses and masquerades as a teacher. Me, understand? Now get out of my sight before I give you detention," she snapped, turning and stalking down the hallway.

He sighed in relief. Thank cheezus that she liked him.

They made it to the girl's locker room and the girls rummaged through his bag and tossed him a towel, promising to have his clothes ready as soon as he had showered. He stripped out of his black skinny jeans and his ruined sweater and started heading for the shower, hoping there weren't any other girls in here already taking a shower. Not that most of them cared- they all knew what he went through, and it was sort of like a way for them to make up for not doing anything when he was being pushed around.

Before he stepped into the shower stall he paused to search for his phone and make sure it was in a place where it wouldn't be damaged by water. He saw an unread text message on his phone and assumed it was from one of the others that he'd texted and he set it back down. He turned to the shower, and hesitated, deliberating on whether he should read it now or wait until after he was clean. Deciding that the text would just haunt him he picked it back up.

He nearly dropped the phone as he made out the name on the message.

Blaine.

What the hell? What was Blaine doing texting him? Oh god- had he texted Blaine when he was in the dumpster? Texted him instead of Finn or someone else? Shit. He opened the message with trepidation.

From: Blaine

-What? Where are you stuck?

Oh great. He sighed and bit his lip. Did he respond? Did he not respond? Did he call Blaine and scream at him because he felt lost and left behind?

"You doing okay in there, Kurt?" Mercedes voice echoed through the room. Realizing he was only in his underwear, he quickly spun around and entered a shower stall.

"Fine, it's just taking a bit longer to get all this gunk off."

Closing the curtain behind him he stared at the phone for another minute. Taking a deep breath he opened a new text and replied.

To: Blaine

-Oops! Sorry, that was meant for someone else Not stuck anymore.

He nodded to himself and set it down before turning the shower on. He stood beneath the scalding drops of water that beat down mercifully onto his taut skin for a few minutes before getting some soap from the bag he'd brought with him and used it to wash himself off. After several scrubs and rinses he finally deemed himself fit for the rest of the day. Barring any slushie facials.

He deftly grabbed his phone and towel as he made his way into the changing area of the locker room.

"You all set?" Rachel asked as she held out a bag of clothes.

"Yeah," he said tiredly, taking the clothes she offered him. He only hoped that there wasn't a need for a third pair of clothes today. Turning his back to them so he could pull his jeans on, he stopped when he heard a squeak.

"Oh Kurt,' Mercedes whispered sadly.

He felt her approach and tensed as her gentle fingers traced his shoulders, a spot he knew had to be practically purple from receiving the brunt landing from the toss this morning.

"It's okay. It doesn't really hurt," he lied without turning around. "I bet by tomorrow it'll be barely noticeable."

He heard a tut-like sound from the girls behind him, but shrugged. What could they do? What could anyone really do? He pulled on a dark grey t-shirt that read "Hummel's Auto Shop" and a pair of old jeans with a few tears. Anyone who knew him would think something was seriously wrong had they encountered him these clothes. However, he just wasn't willing to risk more than one pair of clothes in one day's time.

"Alright," he said with a sigh after peering at himself in the mirror and making sure his hair looked acceptable. "Let's go. We have an AP Calc lecture to not listen to."

They walked in silence to the classroom and Kurt sat down in his seat with a sigh. Mr. Penderton hadn't even noticed them come in late. He'd have to make sure to get the Calc notes from Tina later who had Penderton later in the afternoon for himself, as well as Rachel and Mercedes. A glance at the girls across the room told him that they too were not paying attention. In fact it looked suspiciously like they were passing notes. He rolled his eyes and resigned himself to staring blankly at the clock for the rest of the hour, wishing desperately for it to be Glee time, and then he could go home.

He pulled out his phone discreetly and saw it was blinking still. He would really have to charge it tonight or he might not be so lucky tomorrow if he had another run in with Azimio or the other jocks. He was sure that when Finn found out (from Puck) about what had happened he'd go off on Azimio and he was sincerely hoping that that wouldn't happen. The last thing Finn needed was to be suspended. His grades couldn't take it. Not to mention Carole and Burt would be pissed (about the fighting, not the defending his brother). Puck didn't need that either- he could go back to Juvie.

Ever since their parents had gotten married and Finn had also done a bit of growing up, and gotten over his fears of being seen as something or someone less for being associated with Kurt he'd been all about playing the brother card. All the time.

"Kurt don't walk down this hallway because I saw Karofsky and the jocks down there with slushies." ("Thanks for the heads up Finn.")

"Kurt don't you think it's a little late to go out? It's, like, dark and what if you get attacked?" ("I'm not a girl Finn. Plus I have the brass knuckles and the pepper spray you gave me. Cripes Finn it's only 8 o'clock. I'm just going to meet Mercedes and Tina at the bowling ally.")

"Kurt, if you need to talk about whatever is bothering you, you know you can talk to me. I know the bullying is getting worse." ("Finn, why aren't you ever like this when I bring you warm milk and try to initiate brotherly bonding?")

"Kurt, tell me who did it! I'll kick their ass. Was it Karofsky? Or Azimio? Or, oh god, was it that one really crazy girl who always hides in the boys locker room trying to get a look at the guys who shower?" ("Ummm Finn, I actually just ran into a door. Seriously. Don't kick that girl's ass. She's creepy. Don't even talk to her.")

It got a little annoying sometimes, but overall it was a nice feeling: having someone who was there for him.

When the bell rang he parted ways with the girls so he could make his way toward the home-ec room. Despite his foul mood he was feeling a little excited. Today they would be practicing cooking and he was really hoping it would be something useful to add to his arsenal. Like Cr�me Brule. He'd never been able to make a good Cr�me Brule.

As he rounded the corner he gasped in shock and snapped his eyes shut as a razor sharp icy fire lit upon his face. He could hear the jocks laughing at him as they passed and he fought back the urge to cry, as he wiped blue frozen ice from his eyes.

It was days like these that he really wished he had gone to Dalton.