“So, the dining hall is on Upper Campus, near the dormitories. You will be living in Westborough Cottage with one other professor, who I’m sure will be willing to introduce you to the rest of the staff. You’ve already seen the Arts Building, so you should be fine with finding your office. If you have any questions, I left a list of numbers on your door for you to call. I will see you at the staff meeting on Thursday,” The elderly secretary busily escorted me out of the room, and that was the entirety of my tour. I squinted out into the sun. Lake Vermont had a huge campus, a lot bigger than my old high school. I figured my cottage would be in the same circle of buildings as the other faculty houses, so I walked in the general direction of where I remembered them to be. Sure enough, the brick cottage farthest from me was labeled Westborough. I fished the key out of the manila envelope they had given me and opened the door. The cottage was a town house, so I had the second floor, another professor lived in the basement, and we shared the first floor, where the kitchen and living room was.

I had not met the other professor when I came to sign my contracts because he was on vacation, but I knew a little about him. He was the school’s choir director, voice coach, and a squash coach. Like most teachers, he was also in charge of a number of extracurricular activities.

My moving company had already moved in my furniture, and my boxes were stacked in front of the door. I had yet to look around, so I left them there and scoped out my new house. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and walk in closet. I decided to use one bedroom as an office, and the smaller one as my bedroom. I took a few hours to arrange my furniture and unpack, and then sat down in my office with a glass of wine. I didn’t expect company my first night, so when someone knocked I was in sweatpants and a tank. I ran my hand through my hair, sighed, and walked towards the door.

“Hi! I’m Annabel, I live here too!” The guest was a tiny girl, with beautiful curly brown hair. She looked to be about four years old, and was wearing a bright pink tutu, white frilly socks, and a tiara. As annoyed as I was to be interrupted, the girl was too precious for me to mind.

“Well, hello sweetie. My name is Kurt. How old are you?” I asked. Annabel smiled and ran in the house, plopping down on my office couch. I left the door open, lest an angry mother come looking.

“I’m four and three quarters, but Daddy says I look at least six. Are you going to live here all year? Mrs. Simon lived here, but then she moved to Lewis House, because she didn’t like dogs. Do you like dogs? ‘Cause daddy has a dog, and I got to name it, so its name is Sparkle.” Annabel kept rambling on, and sure enough, I heard footsteps on the staircase. A small, curly-haired man who looked extremely like Annabel knocked on the door.

“Sorry to barge in on you, but have you seen my—oh, Belly there you are.” He blushed, “Hun, I told you we needed to let Mr. Hummel move in, and we could meet him tomorrow. I’m sorry, sometimes she just gets so impatient. I’m Blaine, by the way, Blaine Anderson.” I reached out to shake his hand and that’s when I noticed his gorgeous brown eyes. He smiled sheepishly, showing his dimples.

“I’m Kurt Hummel, and don’t worry, she’s not bothering me at all.”

“See, Daddy! He wanted to meet me. I’m hungry, when’s dinner?” Annabel bounded off the couch and grabbed my hand. “Do you wanna come have dinner? Daddy and I are making pizza, and then we’re watching a movie, but it’s his turn to pick so it’s probably boring.” I laughed, and shook my head.

“That sounds fun, but I’m sure your father would prefer to spend time with just you.”

“No, he doesn’t! Right, Daddy? Can’t Mr. Hummel come over?” Annabel begged.

“If you’re not too exhausted, we would love to have the company. We always end up with too much pizza anyway,” he chuckled.

“Well, I was just going to order out anyway. Might as well meet my new neighbors,” I said, “Especially if that means I get homemade pizza.” Annabel squealed, and led me down the stairs.

“Daddy’s getting the oven ready, wanna see my room?” She asked, and pulled me down to the basement before I could answer. She led me through an identically designed house, only it had three bedrooms instead of two. She pulled me to a bright pink room, with a canopy bed and more toys than she could have possibly used.

“This is my room. Daddy and I painted it last year, well, I picked the color and he painted it. And this is Rebecca, my elephant, and this is Princess Sophia,” She led me around the room, introducing me to each of her dolls. I was surprised that there were toy cars, and other boy toys in her room. Her room was girly to the extreme, yet she was equally excited about her Transformers and Hot Wheels.

“Wanna play with my Pollies?” She asked, pulling a bucket of Polly Pockets out. I readily agreed, and we began to dress the princesses for the ball. I hadn’t played with dolls, or kids to be honest, since my youngest cousin decided she was too cool for ‘baby’ toys, so I was pretty into it. I didn’t notice Blaine until he cleared his throat from where he was standing at the door.

“Annabel, do you want to help with the pizza?” He asked, and Annabel shot up, and ran upstairs. “I hope you don’t mind, she’s not used to having people around to play with. Our last neighbor hated kids.”

“I really don’t mind. She’s precious.” I said, and followed him up the stairs.

“So, what brings you to Lake Vermont? What’re you teaching?” Blaine asked.

“Well, I originally got a job as a part-time improv coach, but then the acting teacher retired, so I’m in charge of the theatre department. This is my first job teaching, but Lake Vermont seems like such a great environment, and I love the idea of being on campus with the rest of the kids.” We reached the kitchen, and the crust was already laid out, and Annabel was spreading pizza sauce out with a spoon. She hummed along to the radio, to what I recognized was Katy Perry.

“It’s all vegan—I hope you don’t mind?” Blaine asked, and I smiled, thinking of Rachel.

“That sounds great, actually. My best friend is vegan, so I’m used to it. So, how long have you been here?”

“Since Annabel was two. This was also my first job, because I had stayed home with Annabel until then. We didn’t move to campus until last year, though. I’m in charge of the music department, as well as some other random things,”

“Oh? Like what?” We finished decorating the pizza with veggies and soy cheese, and Blaine popped in the oven and set a timer.

“Daddy teaches squash, and he’s teaching me, but I let go of my racquet so we had to stop,” Annabel interjected, “Since we have someone here, can I pick for movie night? Please? I promise I won’t pick Barbie Nutcracker again,”

“Fine, but we’re not watching Milo and Otis either,” He sighed, and she hugged him before bounding out the room.

“What’s wrong with Milo and Otis?” I asked.

“Nothing, except she gets nightmares every time we watch. I don’t understand it, I mean, she watches Harry Potter with no problem, but Milo and Otis brings her to tears. It’s been her favorite for so long, and I have no idea why.” He went to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine, much nicer than what I had been drinking. He gestured toward me, and I nodded, accepting the proffered glass.

“It’s nice to have an adult around. Sometimes Annabel can act so grown up, but working with kids, and coming home to one can get pretty lonely.” He sighed.

“What about Annabel’s mother?” I asked, leaning against the counter.

“Oh, Brooke’s never really been in the picture. When my sister, Brooke, was sixteen she got pregnant, and didn’t want the baby to go to a stranger. I was finally settling down, and a baby was the last thing I expected to come my way. I adopted Annabel, and the original plan was for Brooke to be around Annabel as she grew up. But, Brooke’s always been a tad self-centered, and when she got married senior year she pretty much forgot all about Anna. Now, she’s just Aunt Brooke to Annabel.” He sighed, “I hate that Annabel doesn’t have a mother, but to be honest it’s nice to have her to myself. Brooke always tried to raise her for me, which got frustrating.”

“I’m so sorry; I had no idea…” I mumbled, red-faced and embarrassed. Could this guy get any better? Not only was he the utter personification of sex appeal, but he took in his sister’s little kid too?

“It’s fine, really. Like I said, it’s great to have someone to talk to. But, back to you. Where’re you from? I’ve only heard rumors, but the teachers here are so old that sometimes they jumble things a bit.”

“Rumors already? Well, I’m originally from Ohio, but I moved to Boston to live with my grandmother in high school. I graduated from NYU last summer, and now here I am. My dad wanted me to teach at closer to home, so that I could see him more often, but Ohio isn’t exactly my favorite place in the world.”

“I can imagine. I went to high school in Ohio, and even though I lived in San Francisco during breaks it was rough.”

“Where’d you go to school? Have I heard of it?” I asked, wondering why anyone would trade California for Ohio.

“My dad went to Dalton Academy, an all-boys prep school, and so when it came time for me to apply I really didn’t have a say.”

“I applied there! For high school, that is, my sophomore year. They were full though, so I moved to Boston.”

“What year?”

“2010, I think.”

“I was a senior then. Small world, huh?” He grinned, and popped his head out the kitchen archway. “Well, it looks like Annabel’s yet to come to a decision. I’m going to convince her that Fiddler on the Roof is calling her name.” I followed him into the living room, where Annabel had opened the movie cabinet and was shuffling through titles.

“Daddy, I think it’s Finding Nemo.” She grinned, and pressed the movie into his hand.

“But, bugaboo, there’s no singing in Finding Nemo.” He said as he took the DVD from her hands.

“Yes, there is! There’s the swimming song, remember? And, besides, we always watch singing movies,” she whined, “I want to see Dory!” She looked up at Blaine with the cutest expression, and he gave in immediately, but not without a show.

“Fine, just this once. But, if we’re watching Finding Nemo tonight, then next time we get to watch The King And I,” He began to set up the television as the timer beeped. I went to check on the pizza as they bantered on.

It was ready, so I took it out and rummaged through the cabinets until I found plates. I quickly served it up, scurried around until I found napkins, and brought it out. Blaine was in the middle of a conversation with Annabel when I walked in, whispering furiously.

“But why not?” She replied loudly as I set down her plate. Just as I was about to hand Blaine his, she looked up at me.

“Are you gay?” she asked, looking up at me innocently. And really, after that you can’t blame me for what happened next. I dropped the plates in my hands on the floor in shock, and they clattered against Blaine’s wineglass, shattering it instantly.

“Um, I-well, that is—” I stuttered.
Blaine’s was burning up, and he burst out with, “Anna! Room, now!” She started to protest, but Blaine’s glare sent her running down the stairs. I blinked down at the mess, and realized what I had done.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ I began, slightly upset. Here I was, a twenty-five year old man, outed by a four year old, and I had no idea what to do. Blaine, still red, cut me off.

“No, I’m so sorry, I’ll just get a dustpan. Oh god, I can’t believe she… I mean, I’m so sorry.” He ran downstairs, probably to get a broom. I was glad that he was gone, as I had never been so uncomfortable in my life. What kind of kid asked strangers about their sexual orientation? What had Blaine said to her to make her ask? If Blaine turned out to be homophobic these next few months would be dreadful. I took the spilt pizza to the kitchen, cursing my girlishly high voice and slight figure, just as Blaine bounded up the stairs with a broom.

“Um, yeah, so that. I’m going to go now, um, sorry about the glass.” I mumbled, trying to deepen my voice and edged towards the staircase. I really had no idea what had just happened, and I wanted nothing more than to run upstairs and forget tonight had happened.

“Wait! No, um please, I need to…” He cursed under his breath and pulled a hand through his curls, “Look, I’m really sorry if she made you uncomfortable. She didn’t mean anything from it, really. The thing is, a few weeks ago her grandmother made a comment about me being gay, and which Annabel had never known. So she asked questions. Now she pretty much assumes that everyone is gay, because she’s only been around me, so she didn’t realize some people were straight. And, so she asked me if you were, and I told her to let it go, and then she didn’t, and I’m really sorry. She didn’t mean to imply—I mean, she was just curious, and—” He rambled, looking horribly guilty.

I couldn’t help it—I burst out laughing. Blaine looked up at me with a confused expression. “God, I thought you were some sort of homophobe who trained them young...” I said around chuckles.

Blaine smiled sheepishly, “Nope, I just suck at teaching tact apparently. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Definitely, besides it’s not like this is the first time this has happened. Sorry, I totally overreacted.” I sighed, and pushed my bangs out of my eyes. “Can we just start over?”

“Sure, this night has been off from the beginning.” He raised his voice slightly, “And, I think someone has an apology to make,”

Annabel crept back into the living room. I had a feeling she was still confused about my reaction and I felt horrible for reacting in that way. She was only four after all, and I should have known that she wasn’t saying anything out of spite. I really wasn’t used to being around people who weren’t jerks, I guess. Even in college there had been plenty of stupid people.

“Hey sweetie.” I said, “Sorry about that.” She sniffled and edged in the room.

“Can I come back?” She asked, and my heart melted. Her dad nodded and we sat back down to watch the movie. I smiled. It was nice to have a family movie night on my first day at a new place.