In the months that I had lived at Lake Vermont, I’d gotten to know Blaine and Annabel Anderson rather well. You would think, then, that I would have witnessed a tantrum courtesy of Anna sometime before in those months. However, it wasn’t until early November, that I experienced the terror that is a grumpy four-year-old. I woke up that morning bright-eyed, the memory of kissing Blaine the night before still fresh in my mind. I wasn’t sure what last night’s events meant for Blaine and me, but I was eager to find out. When I went downstairs, I was greeted by the sounds of Annabel in the middle of a tantrum that ranked 6.5 on the Richter scale.

“NO! I said I don’t wanna!” Annabel shrieked, throwing herself off of the couch. Although school was starting in an hour, Anna was still in her pajamas. Her hair was uncombed, and she was flailing on the floor. An equally rumpled Blaine was kneeling beside her, trying desperately to quiet her. His attempts at soothing her seemed to be useless, and his voice deepened in frustration.

“Annabel Brooke Anderson,” Blaine said in a tense voice, “If you do not get up this instant and finish dressing, there are going to be big consequences.” Anna ignored him and continued to cry. Her face was scrunched up as she writhed on the ground, screaming as if she was being burned alive.

“No! I don’t want—“

“Annabel, I do not care what you want. It is time for school, and that is final. Get up now. Don’t make me count to three.” Blaine commanded. I remained in the doorway, as I had not been noticed yet. I felt out of place, like I was intruding on a private moment. When Blaine began to count, Annabel whipped herself up, and stormed down the stairs.

“You’re mean!” She yelled, slamming the door as she left. Blaine, still oblivious to my presence, slumped back against the couch. He held his head in his hands, obviously worn out from the conflict. I walked over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Tough morning?” I asked.

“You have no idea. Sorry you had to see that.” He slowly stood up, turning towards me. “That is why I keep Anna on a strict diet. Too much sugar and she becomes a monster. I was lax yesterday and let her eat a few pieces of her Halloween candy. I should have expected this,” He groaned, and gestured to himself. “I still haven’t had time to get dressed. We’ve already gone through this process three times. I’m going to go finish getting her dressed. You don’t need to wait for us; we’re running late as it is.”

“Want me to make you a cup of coffee to go? You look like you could use it.”

“You are an angel,” Blaine said, squeezing my hand before returning downstairs. Though his words were innocent, I couldn’t fight the smile that erupted on my face. Still, I worried about how Blaine was holding up. He had been having a hard enough week as it was, and now he had a fussy kid to deal with.

I tried to assuage my worries by immersing myself in my work. I had left before Blaine, so I didn’t see him all day. My classes were particularly rambunctious and midway through second period I developed a pounding headache. At lunchtime Blaine, Sebastian, Mike and Brittany had planned to meet with me to finalize the cast list. Just as I was about to walk over to the Dining Hall, however, Headmaster Douglass pulled me aside.

The Headmaster’s office was all the way across campus, so I knew he couldn’t be just passing by. After everything Puck had told me about what he had overheard, seeing Headmaster Douglass head my way made my stomach flip in anxiety.

“Ah, Mr. Hummel. It’s been a while since we’ve talked, hasn’t it? Do you mind if I steal you away for a moment? I’d like to discuss something with you.” Headmaster Douglass was an elderly man, possibly older than Puck, and his height made him even more intimidating. I gulped.

“I was just heading to a meeting with the rest of the department,” I explained. “Do you mind if I text them to let them know I’ll be late?” Mr. Douglass nodded, and I quickly texted Blaine to let him know that they could finish up without me. I placed my phone back in my pocket and followed Mr. Douglass to his office. We made small talk the way there, but it was hard for me to focus. What if this was it? What if he had agreed with Sebastian and now I was going to be fired after only three months of employment? The panic burbled up inside of me. He was a very busy man, why on Earth would he waste his time talking to me unless it was serious?

We entered his office, and I sat down as he walked behind his desk.

“So, Mr. Hummel. How are you liking Lake Vermont?” He began, smiling warmly. I tried to relax my breathing and began.

“I love it, sir.” I begin, and before I know it I’m babbling off about my students. Honestly, I could talk for days. They were all so different, each bringing something new to the table. Working at Lake Vermont had been everything I could have hoped for. I’d just begun to mention the Fiddler auditions when Mr. Douglass cut me off.

“As much as I love hearing about your students, I did bring you here for a reason.” He said, carefully. “When I hired you, I received a lot of flak from the alumni. No one really thought that it was wise of me to hire a first year teacher as a department head.”

He stared at me intently, and I maintained his gaze. Inside, I was quaking, but I kept up the fa�ade of confidence.

“It seemed that some of the faculty was concerned as well. I’ve had people come to me on more than one occasion. But I stand by my decision.” He smiled then, and gestured to the walls of his office. They were covered with pictures of past graduating classes. “I’m here for the kids. We all are, when it comes down to it. I hired you because I believed that you would love these students as much as I do. In the few months that you’ve been part of the Lake Vermont community, you’ve already done more to bring together the students and faculty then the old department head managed to do in twenty years. This play is only the beginning.”

I smiled, about to thank him, when he began again.

“I had a student come to me today. One of your students actually, Valerie Bradley?” He smiled at my look of recognition before continuing. “Valerie came to me to ask if I would allow him to wear the boys’ uniform instead of the girls’. Then he asked me if he could ask the teachers to say ‘he’ instead of ‘she’. Were you aware of this?” He looked up expectantly. I tried to decipher whether or not this had bothered him, but his face was unreadable.

“I knew that Valerie was questioning, but I didn’t know that—”

“I said yes, of course,” He said, cutting me off. “I was most intrigued however, as to why he had decided to come to me now. Do you know what he said? He said that he hadn’t been comfortable in his body for a long time, but that a conversation with you had helped him realize he didn’t need to hide.” He paused after that, but I was speechless. I’d had no idea that anything I said had impacted Valerie that much. I was delighted that he was finally finding the courage to do these things, although part of me worried that Blaine might have been right.

“I invited you to my office today because I wanted to thank you. It’s impossible for me to know every student at this school. As hard as I try, I can’t fix everything. But it gives me so much hope for these students when they come to me, like Valerie did today.”

“I didn’t say anything to him, really.” I explained, “I just listened to what he had to say.”

“Sometimes, listening is what we need the most.” He smiled then, a big grin that exploded off of his face and on to mine. “I’m sure you need to get going soon, but keep me posted, will you?”

I assured him I would before leaving his office. I had missed lunch and my headache had returned, but I was uplifted. Maybe, now that the Headmaster was on his side, Valerie would be safe. Maybe Blaine was wrong, and we didn’t need to worry.

When I approached my classroom, I got stuck behind a swarm of students. They were all crowded around a bulletin board, so I assumed that Sebastian had posted the cast list already. We had made most of the decisions already, so I wasn’t that surprised when I scanned over all of the names. There were only two people that we hadn’t agreed on beforehand, so I quickly searched to see who they had chosen for Motel and Yente. That’s when I saw it.

Motel Kamzoil—Valerie Bradley

I didn’t know what to think. Had Blaine changed his mind? I wanted to track him down and ask what had happened, but a glance at my watch reminded me that class was starting soon. I hurried into my room, which was chaos already. My students had all seen the cast list and were still in the process of freaking out. One of my senior girls, Justine, ran up to me and engulfed me in a hug.

“Mr. Hummel! I did it!” She squealed.

“You were remarkable at auditions,” I replied. “Besides, you were born to play Chava.” I could tell that my students were way too excited to get to work, so we spent the period discussing the show and our rehearsal schedule. Blaine and I had decided to wait until after Thanksgiving break to start rehearsing, but we would hand out scripts later that week so that they could start memorizing lines over break.

The rest of my day passed in a similar fashion, with not much getting done. Everyone seemed to be excited about the casting, and so far we were relatively drama free. I was worried that they would ask why Valerie had gotten a boy’s part, but so far it hadn’t come up. I wouldn’t see Valerie until tomorrow, but I had a feeling that he would be just as happy about the casting.

I arrived home to the smell of something heavenly. Blaine was messing around in the kitchen while Annabel colored at the table. “Kurt?” Blaine called out as I entered the kitchen. “Oh, you’re home. Are you hungry? I made vegan stir-fry,”

This was new. Blaine and I never ate dinner together, except on Fridays when he would make homemade pizza for the three of us. It look delicious, so I quickly grabbed a few plates to set the table with.

“So,” I began, when we were all beginning to eat. “I saw the cast list today. What made you change your mind?”

“I talked to Valerie this morning,” he answered. “He told me that he was planning on telling his mom when he goes home for Thanksgiving. The last time I talked to Valerie he was so shy, so scared. He just seemed so confident today, and I knew he deserved this. And then he said that he talked to Headmaster Douglass today. He’s asking all of the teachers to say “him”. I guess I realized how wrong I was. Valerie needs us, you know? You were right.”

This was even bigger than I’d thought it was. Not only had Valerie asked to change uniforms, but he was planning on telling his mother and already coming out to the school. This was exciting, but Blaine had planted the seed of doubt in me the night before.

“Are you sure? You seemed deadest against it yesterday. I’m just surprised you changed your mind so fast.”

“Valerie deserved that part. That’s what it comes down to, in the end. I just don’t feel right—”

“Today, at school, I got to feed Snuffles!” Annabel exclaimed. She had been waiting for Blaine and I to finish our discussion but it seemed that she had lost her patience. “The snake, remember Daddy?”

“Honey, don’t interrupt,” Blaine scolded gently, smiling at me apologetically before turning to her.

“Sorry,” She said around a bite of broccoli. “But, it was cool! And he ate it in one bite, like this!” She exclaimed, trying to swallow her huge mouthful without chewing.

“Anna!” Blaine yelped, patting her back as she coughed. “Snakes can eat in one bite, but little girls need to chew their food!”

“I’m not little, I’m gonna be five soon!” She whined.

“True enough, love. Oh, and Jesse’s mom called me today. She invited you to his house on Saturday. He’s having a birthday party, I believe. Do you want to go to the store tomorrow to pick out his present before the party?” When Annabel nodded eagerly, Blaine turned to me.

“I was thinking that maybe we could do something,” He said nervously, “While Anna is at the party. If you’re free, that is.”

“I’d love to.” I answered with a smile. “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” He said with a flirty wink, before Annabel dominated the conversation again.