Blaine.

*****

I had grabbed my books for math class and was about to close my locker when suddenly, a manicured hand connected with the metal surface and slammed it shut, narrowly missing my fingers. Santana turned to me with an angry glare, a grimace plain on her face.

"You joined the glee club?!" she hissed at me, narrowing her eyes in accusation. "What the hell, Anderson?"

I rolled my eyes and made my way past her down the hall. I really didn't need this crap so early in the morning.

"Schuester caught me smoking after school. He promised not to bust me if I joined. What else was I supposed to do, San?" I paused, and then, "how the hell did you find out I joined anyways?"

"Word gets around quick, and if you're going to be in that stupid little club, you should be a little more discreet about it."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Yeah, whatever. Catch you later San."

She strutted off without a word, and I felt my blood boil. Fuck. What else would go wrong today?

Kurt.

*****

If I thought I had been excited for math class, I certainly wasn't anymore.

I had walked into class and offered Blaine a bright smile, only to receive nothing in return. Ouch. Not to mention that as soon as Mr. Walker had assigned the homework for the day, Blaine had turned around and started talking to some guy named Darren about girls.

I sat there, feeling hurt and confused. What the hell was that? I didn't expect us to become all buddy-buddy just because we were in glee club together, but I had at least expected for him to acknowledge my existence. It was just like the beginning of the year all over again.

Math class seemed to drag on forever. The minutes felt like hours, and I just couldn't seem to focus on the assigned work for the day. For the better part of the hour I doodled on my notebook and daydreamed of a world where I wasn't ridiculed for being gay, and Blaine and I were good friends. I dreamt of a life where Blaine and I passed notes back and forth and flirted openly and it was okay.

When the bell rang and snapped me back into reality, Blaine was gone. The loving, sweet and gentle Blaine I imagined had disappeared in favor of the blunt, cool and "badass" boy who was currently leaving the room. The same boy who hadn't bothered to return my smile. My heart sank a little as I made my way to my next class.

Reality really sucked.

"I don't get it Kurt," Mercedes said to me as we walked to glee rehearsal that afternoon. "Why can't you just talk to the guy?"

"I don't know," I huffed, frustrated with my inability to hold up a conversation with Blaine. "He's just...different. There's something about him that gets me all tongue-tied and reduces me to stutters and I hate it," I confessed. Mercedes nudged her shoulder into mine as we walked into glee.

"Life is too short. Make the most of these two years while you can, or you'll regret it forever."

Just as I was about to retort that there was nothing wrong with making the most of life next week or the week after that, Mr. Schue walked in and Mercedes and I took our seats along with the rest of the glee club. Mr. Schue moved in front of the piano, clapped his hands together and gestured towards a single word written on the whiteboard.

"Duets!" he announced to the class with a smile. "Now you all know what they are, and how they work. For our upcoming sectionals competition, I decided to come up with a little contest."

At these words, the teacher stepped away from the piano to reveal an old-fashioned black top hat. My interest was definitely piqued at this point.

"I've put all of your names into this hat. One by one, you guys are gonna come up here and pick a name, and that name on the slip of paper will be your duet partner. You and your partner can choose any song you'd like to perform, and you will be performing your selection for the group in a week's time. The winners of this competition, voted in by you guys, will perform their number at sectionals."

Excited chattering started up throughout the room. I was definitely excited now. A chance to sing at a competition? There was no way I was giving this up. Now if only I could somehow draw Rachel Berry out of the hat...

Mr. Schue began calling people up shortly after that. So far, Mercedes had drawn Sam, Artie had drawn Brittany, and Quinn had drawn Puck. With only half of the club left, I hoped I was paired up with somebody I could work well with.

"Alright Kurt, you're up!" Mr. Schue announced, and I hopped up from my seat and made my way down the risers. I reached my hand into the hat, grabbing the first slip of paper my fingers touched. I pulled it out, and opened it carefully. I peered down to look at the name and -

Oh no.

Please no.

"Blaine," I read aloud, looking up and making eye contact with the beautiful dark haired boy sitting just a few feet away. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, and it looked as though he wanted to say something, before he simply nodded his head once and turned his eyes down to stare at his lap.

Well shit.

He made his way back to his seat just as Rachel made her way down to the hat, squealing with delight when she plucked Finn's name out of the hat. Mercedes rubbed her hand comfortingly down my arm, sympathy in her eyes. I put my head into my hands and groaned quietly.

Was this a curse or a blessing? I really didn't know.

What I did know was that in about a week's time, I was going to have to get up in front of the class and sing a song with the one and only Blaine Anderson.

Damn. What else would go wrong today?