Chapter 4

Tuesday morning arrived. Blaine parked outside the school and stepped out of his car, putting his phone in his pocket. He walked to the back of the car and got his lacrosse equipment: his lacrosse stick, helmet and uniform. Coach said the lacrosse team would finally be getting their assigned lockers today.

Blaine held on tight to his equipment as he closed the back door and locked the doors. He walked to the school building getting lots of compliments from other students such as ‘good morning Blaine' and ‘good luck this year on lacrosse.' He went up the steps of the school and entered the hallway, spotting Scott at his locker.

“Hey Scott,” Blaine greeted as he walked over to him.

“Hey,” Scott responded, releasing a small laugh as he looked down at his phone.

Blaine looked at him confused. “What's so funny?”

“Okay, just so you know, I had nothing to do with this. Nothing.”

Blaine looked at him even more confused. “Okay, you're kinda freaking me out. What are you talking about?”

Scott handed his phone to Blaine so he could see what he was referring to. Blaine looked at the screen and saw that Scott was on Grindr and was looking at a list of guys and their profile pictures.

“Why are you on Grindr?” Blaine asked.

Scott shook his head with a smile. “I'm not… but look at the first person on there.”

Blaine looked at the first person on the app and to his surprise, he saw himself there.

“Wait, what?” Blaine grabbed the phone to get a better look.

There he was. He was the first person on the app. He was on Grindr. Blaine read his profile name out loud.

Grindr Profile

Mr. Hot Daddy

Lives in Lima, Ohio

Blaine knew right away who was responsible. “Mr. Hot Daddy? I am going to kill Ethan.”

“I didn't think he would actually make it,” Scott said laughing.

Blaine started reading his biography out loud. “Likes lacrosse and long walks down the park. Looking for a nice, charming, romantic and outgoing guy to sweep me off my feet and isn't afraid to try new things.”

“And look,” Scott pointed at the bottom of the screen. “You already have 23 messages. Looks like guys are interested in you.”

Blaine clicked on the messages and read them all, a little flattered at what they said. Some made him laugh knowing how ridiculous people sounded. Hey sexy, want to meet up? That was the similar message he kept reading the most. He looked up from the phone and saw Ethan walking up to them.

“Ethan. I am going to kill you,” Blaine told him.

“I'm guessing you found your Grindr profile,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“Yeah, delete it. I don't want it.”

“Yeah, you do. You have lots of messages and you should respond to one that you're interested in.”

“I'm not responding to anyone. Give me the password so I can delete it,” Blaine insisted.

“I'm not doing that. And neither is Scott,” Ethan said.

Blaine looked back at Scott. “You know the password too?”

Scott took his phone back and looked at the time. “Well, I should get going to class.”

Scott closed his locker and walked away.

Ethan spoke. “I'll let you know every time you get a message. You'll thank me for this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next month. But you'll thank me.”

Ethan started walking away.

“I hate you!” Blaine yelled jokingly.

“No you don't! You love me!” Ethan yelled back as he disappeared into the crowd of students.

Ethan was right. Blaine loved him. He was one of his best friends. He'll find a way to delete his profile. He looked down at his phone. It was almost 8. Drama class would soon begin.

… … …

Kurt entered the Drama classroom and took his seat at his empty table. He was glad everything had been fixed this morning. Finn had given him a ride to school that day and they were able to jump-start his car with the cables their dad had lent them. In a few moments, Kurt's car was good and running.

He opened the class syllabus to see what they would be doing today. Today they would be talking about performing small plays. He looked up from the paper and saw Rachel seating down with a coffee in her hand.

“Hey,” Rachel said with a smile.

“Hey,” Kurt responded back. He looked at her coffee. “What did you get?”

“I got a caramel macchiato,” she said, taking a sip.

“Yum, sounds tasty,” Kurt said seeing the smoke coming out of her hot drink. “Honestly, I've never had that flavor.”

Rachel handed him her drink. “Here try it. You'll love it.”

Kurt took the coffee and took a sip of the delicious, warm drink. And she was right. He loved it.

“Wow that is good. I'll order it next time. What did you say it was? A caramel what?”

“A caramel macchiato. But here's what I do. Make sure when you order it, you add a little cinnamon to it. That's what gives the flavor a little kick.”

Finn, Santana and Quinn arrived and sat at their seats, each one with a coffee drink at their hands. Kurt realized he was the only one at the whole table without a coffee drink.

“Well I feel a little left out. Everyone has a drink but me.”

Finn took a sip of his drink and handed it to Kurt. “Here have mine. I don't want it.”

Kurt took the drink from him. “What'd you get?” he asked.

“Just hot chocolate,” Finn answered.

Kurt handed Finn back his drink. “Hot chocolate? No thanks big bro. I kinda wanted a little caffeine. But thanks anyway.”

The Drama teacher, Mrs. Harris, walked into the classroom, a small folder in her hands.

“Okay everyone, please take your seats,” Mrs. Harris said with a smile.

All the students that were up talking to their friends took their seats. Mrs. Harris put the folder she had on the desk and walked to close the door. But before she could close it, Ethan ran into the classroom. Everyone in class stared at him.

“Am I late?” Ethan asked.

“No, you're early,” Mrs. Harris said sarcastically.

“Really?” Ethan asked, joking back with the teacher.

“Just take your seat, Ethan,” Mrs. Harris said as she closed the door.

Ethan walked over and sat down with Blaine and Scott. Mrs. Harris closed the door, turned around and walked over to open a large, brown box on her desk.

“Good morning, everyone. So for the next couple of weeks, depending on how things work out, you will all be performing a scene in one of these books right here.” Mrs. Harris patted the box.

Kurt could see all kinds of books inside. There was a mix of sizes of books. Some were small while others were big.

Mrs. Harris continued speaking. “What you'll be doing for this assignment is you're going to choose a specific scene in your book and perform it with a partner. You and your partner must focus on the way the characters speak to each other and focus on the movement of the body with each words spoken. Please be wise on the partner you choose.”

Kurt looked to his right and saw that Finn and Rachel were talking, obviously partners. Rachel looked at him. “Sorry love,” she said.

Kurt looked to his left and not surprised, Quinn and Santana were partners. He looked all around him, hoping to find anyone. But everyone seemed to be taken. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He stood up and walked over to the teacher.

“Mrs. Harris, I don't have a partner,” Kurt told her.

Mrs. Harris looked around the room.

“Hmmm,” she muttered as she scanned the room. “I could have sworn when I counted the number of students I got an even number. Everyone should have one partner.”

Kurt looked around the room and noticed that Blaine was standing up from his seat and was walking over to him and the teacher.

“Mrs. Harris,” Blaine said. “I'm sorry but I don't have a partner.”

Kurt looked over and saw that Scott and Ethan were partners.

“Well, now you do. You two are partners,” Mrs. Harris said, pointing at both Blaine and Kurt.

Kurt looked over at Blaine and deep down was hoping, just hoping, someone else would want him. Just anyone. But no. It didn't happen.

“I guess we're partners,” Blaine said with a smile.

Kurt was not one to be rude. He smiled back and nodded. “Yeah, sounds great.”

Mrs. Harris walked away and spoke to the class. “Please sit with your partners as I give you both your further instructions.”

Kurt and Blaine walked back to their seats, gathered their stuff and sat together at an empty table. Kurt looked over at Finn who was mouthing the word, sorry.

… … …

At lunch time Kurt sat outside on the patio table waiting for Blaine. They had agreed to meet there at noon and choose what they were going to do for their project for Drama class. They had chosen, The Hunger Games, Blaine's favorite book. Kurt liked all the books on the list Mrs. Harris gave them, so he happily gave Blaine the choice to choose the book for them. Kurt looked over the book and started reading random chapters to see if there were any scenes he and Blaine could act out.

“Kurt.”

Kurt looked up from his book and saw Finn. Finn shook his head as he sat down in front of him.

“Ouch,” Finn said. “Sorry you got stuck with Blaine.”

Kurt smiled at his brother. “I'll be fine.”

“It's just for this assignment. Just talk to him as little as possible.” Finn leaned closer and whispered. “Oh-oh, guess who's walking this way?”

Kurt looked back and spotted Blaine leaving the school building.

“Don't catch any Blaine germs,” Finn joked as he stood up and left.

Kurt giggled at his brother's childish behavior.

“Hey, Partner,” Blaine said, seating down in the empty seat in front of Kurt.

“Hey Blaine,” Kurt responded with a smile.

Blaine took off his backpack and put it on the floor next to him. He took out a lunch box and set it on the table, opening it. Kurt looked at the lunch box and noticed that it was Super Mario themed.

He smiled. “I love your lunch box.”

Blaine looked at it. “Me too. It's my favorite. My grandmother gave it to me as a gift for my birthday.”

“That's cute,” Kurt admitted with a smile.

“So,” Blaine said. “Be honest, who is your favorite Super Mario character?”

This was no difficult question to answer. “Hands down, Yoshi. He's my number one favorite character,” Kurt responded.

“Yoshi?” Blaine asked. “He's all right.”

“All right? He's better than all right. He's the best in all the Mario games. No matter what game I'm playing, or who I'm playing with, I'm always Yoshi and I always win. I've always relied on Yoshi and he never lets me down,” Kurt said.

“So you always win?” Blaine asked with a smirk.

“Yep,” Kurt answered. “Also because I'm the best.”

“Really?” Blaine said leaning back and crossing his arms. “I doubt that.”

“You doubt it?”

“Yeah, Yoshi is not the best,” Blaine said.

“Well he is. Who's your favorite character?” Kurt asked. “Because apparently your character is better than everyone else.”

“It's Toad,” Blaine answered. “And Toad is way better than Yoshi.”

“Toad?” Kurt asked confused. “Really? Yoshi is way better than Toad.”

“Those are some fighting words.” Blaine leaned in closer. “Kurt, I guarantee you I can beat you with Toad.”

Kurt shook his head. “No, I don't think so. I'm the best at Mario Kart. No one, and I mean no one, has ever defeated me at a game of Mario Kart. I've never lost a game before.”

“Well looks like I'm going to be the one to break your perfect score.”

“You actually think you can beat me?” Kurt asked.

“I don't think, I know,” Blaine said with confidence.

“Okay then,” Kurt said. “There's only one way to settle this.”

“There is,” Blaine commented.

“We need to race each other at a game of Mario Kart,” Kurt insisted.

“I agree. Yoshi VS Toad. Kurt VS. Blaine.”

Kurt leaned in closer to Blaine. “And when I beat you Blaine, don't cry.”

Blaine shook his head. “I'm not going to be the one crying, Kurt.”

Kurt reached out his hand. “Okay, sometime you and I are gonna race.”

“Deal. Bring it, Hummel.”

“You're on Anderson.”

The guys shook hands and smiled. Blaine was out of his mind, Kurt thought. There was no way he was going to beat him. Absolutely no way.