The weekend had been rather uneventful for Kurt. He went to cheer, he helped Burt in the shop, he did his homework. Most of all, however, he sang: Kurt practiced for his audition whenever he could. His voice echoed throughout the rooms of his home, ricocheting off of the walls incessantly. Throughout his weekend, he went through phases when he was absolutely sure he'd nail it, and then he knew he'd fail miserably. Regardless of that, he practiced until his voice was raw; he did not practice on Monday, as it was his rest day. He also didn't have any time between Cheerios practice and worrying.

He also took his free time to reflect on his experiences thus far. Much to his dismay, many of his thoughts gravitated towards Blaine. It wasn't about how attractive he was, but rather his enigma. Blaine kept to himself most of the time, which was okay with Kurt since whatever he had to say was negative 99.9-repeating % of the time (which, in math, is technically 100%). He stuck to Coach's side like a dog following its owner. What puzzled Kurt the most was what had transpired in front of his locker on Friday. Coach and Santana had called Blaine gay, but why was he kissing Brittany? Rather, why had hepaidher to kiss him? It didn't make any sense to Kurt, and he knew he was spending a ridiculous amount of time thinking about it. Blaine was simply a conundrum he would never be able to solve, and didn't care to.

Tuesday finally arrived, and Kurt was feeling quite confident. It was his first real audition, even though he'd been forced into it. He was only worried about what the other members of the Cheerios would do: would they purposely bomb it? None of them had reached out to him to explain what their plans were to sabotage the Glee club: it seemed that Blaine had no interest in divulging his plans to the others. Regardless, he wanted to make a good impression. He would try everything in his power to keep the Glee club intact, but needed to figure out how to without being found out by the others, or worse, Coach Sue. He was devoted to both Glee and the Cheerios, mainly because the Cheerios gave him the foundation for a social status (a.k.a, people in McKinley seemed to respect the cheerleaders, no matter what gender), and because he knew Coach would probably deport him to a third-world country if he showed any kind of legitimate emotional attachment to the club.

The nerves were finally beginning to set in as Kurt stood in the wings of the stage after school: the day seemed to fly before him until he stepped into the auditorium. Rachel was still on the stage, giving an emotional audition with "On My Own". Kurt could not deny that she had star potential: her stage presence was exceptional, and her beautiful voice had definitely won Mr. Schuester over. It was very difficult, however, to say whether she was better than Mercedes Jones, who had gone first. Her voice was absolutely breath-taking. They would both be excellent additions to the club, although Kurt could see future conflicts surfacing: Mercedes practically sweated attitude, so Rachel would definitely have a problem with that if they argued over the solos they would receive.

Kurt hoped that he could match them. It was obvious that he was better than Artie and Tina, at least in his humble opinion. They were good, in their own ways, but Kurt knew that he was better. Blaine had been chosen to go after him, then Santana, then Brittany, then Finn, and finally Quinn. He was glad that he was in the bulk of them all, not having the expectation to set the bar for everyone by going first, or bringing them home by going last. Kurt knew that regardless of this, he'd have to give it all he had, and maybe make it seem like he didn't practice as much as he had over the weekend. A performance that looks easy is a good performance.

Rachel finally hit the last note, said her thanks, and flounced off the stage. She got a good amount of applause, but it was most prominent from the back of the room. Obviously Mr. Schue would take everyone who auditioned, since they still didn't even have enough potential members to compete, but Kurt could tell that Rachel would be the leading woman based on how animated Mr. Schue's applause was. He didn't necessarily want to co-captain in leadership, but hopefully the male counterpart in the club.

"Kurt Hummel?" Mr. Schue's disembodied voice called out, and Kurt walked out onto the stage before his nerves could react. Everyone who had auditioned and was going to audition was in the vacated audience, and Mr. Schue was sitting at a table with a pen in his hand. Blaine was not there, though, since he was preparing backstage for his oncoming performance. Not that it mattered to Kurt—he preferred that Blaine not even watch him sing, since he'd probably make fun of him. Kurt pushed him out of his mind and ambled towards the pianist, handing him sheet music.

"Hello, my name is Kurt Hummel, and I will be auditioning for the role of a member of the Glee club," he delivered the line just as he'd practiced when he returned to center-stage. He positioned the microphone in front of him, nodded to the pianist, who began to play. His foot instinctively tapped to the beat, and he slowly felt himself fall into the music. Soon enough, his cue came to sing, and he sang.

The stage was not big enough, the lights too dim: Kurt knew that his performance deserved better. Surprisingly, having an audience encouraged him: it made him feel stronger knowing that people were watching and admiring his talent (they had to be admiring his voice, he was sure they were). He sang as if he was giving an impromptu performance, yet he could still blow them away with little preparation. He made it seem effortless, and it was: it all came naturally.

He hit the high note with ease, letting it ring like a lone bird call in a silent forest. The faces in the crowd were a blur, but he could see Mr. Schuester sitting back in his seat, an impressed expression on his face. He knew he nailed it, but kept his expression somewhat bored, as if he was waiting for bigger and better. The stage inflated Kurt's ego to the max: if it grew any more, he'd be floating towards the ceiling.

The song ended abruptly, and Kurt skipped off the stage, scattered applause following. He took a seat next to Rachel, who was brimming with happiness. She squealed, throwing her arms around Kurt, who hugged her back. He was coming down from his adrenaline rush, but still had a giddy feeling churning in his stomach.

"Damn, I didn't know you could sing, Porcelain, even if you do sound like a girl," Santana commented as she passed him, her Cheerios skirt swishing. Kurt wasn't sure if he should take it as a compliment or insult.

"You did so well, Kurt! I told you, we're going to be the stars of this club. Oh my God, I need to start picking out songs for all of my solos..."

A couple of familiar chords rang out from the piano, which had been pushed to center-stage. Kurt snapped his head to face the front; Rachel fell silent. Blaine was sitting on the bench, crouched over the keyboard; his fingers fluttered over the keys, lightly caressing the alternating ivory and black. He seemed to be immersed in the music, as if he was completely alone, surrounded by the plinking of the piano keys. It seemed so unlike Blaine, a perpetual asshole, to be a talented musician, but based on the grace and finesse of his hands, how it looked like he had scoliosis from the unnatural way his spine curved in his crouched position, how his butt was halfway off of his seat—Kurt could tell that he'd been playing piano for a long time.

"You think I'm pretty without any make-up on," an unctuous tenor voice sounded from Blaine's mouth. Kurt was sure his jaw was not the only one that dropped to the floor. He wasn't sure, however, if anyone else's hearts stopped like his. There was no way that same voice could be so rude, so sarcastic...

Blaine continued the acoustic version of the pop hit, turning it from a club song to a deep, emotional ballad. It didn't matter that the song was basically about a girl letting a guy get into her pants: Blaine made it seem as idyllic asCome What May. His voice was like a waterfall: a smooth river leading up to a powerful crescendo of sound as he reached the last verses. In an attempt to distract himself, Kurt began examining his nails and cuticles, but found he could not do it for long. Although he was sitting on that bench, staring down at his fingers, Blaine's presence was undeniable, and drew the audience in, even Kurt, who was tryingsohard to think about something else.

"Let you put your hands- on me," Blaine turned to face the crowd as he held the note, and for a split second his eyes landed on Kurt's. The look in his them was unnerving. Kurt could see their passion radiating from the stage to his seat. It was some wild fire fueled by the rawness of the song and...something else. The moment, however, finished as quickly as it had commenced. Blaine sang the ending note, smooth as caramel, letting a last chord reverberate throughout the stadia. No one applauded when he finally removed his hands from the piano and got up from his seat, returning to the handful of kids who appeared to be shocked into silence.

"Oh. My. God," Rachel whispered into Kurt's ear. Kurt wasn't sure how to react. All he knew was that he had definitely lost his spot as the leading man of the Glee club. Blaine was one of those people who was good at everything except social skills, since he was an absolute dick. Kurt found that he hated him even more after the audition. He hated how pretentious he was for deciding to strip down the song, showing off his ability to play the piano and sing. He hated the smug look on his face as he swaggered off the stage. Most of all, he hated how he'd made Kurt's performance appear like dirt in comparison.

They got through the rest if the auditions relatively quickly: Santana turned out to be rather talented, which was surprising to Kurt. Quinn and Brittany were decent, so Kurt figured that the others hadn't conspired behind his back to screw up the auditions. Finn was decent as well, but certainly not as good as Blaine. Rachel seemed to be even more in love with Finn as she sat on the edge of her seat, watching him sing with her fists balled in her lap and a dreamy look in her eyes. Kurt rolled his eyes.Could she be more obvious?

"All right, guys, that's a wrap!" Mr. Schue said as they all gathered at his table after the last audition. "You're all very good; I'm glad that we have such a talented group. However, what we'll need to work on is meshing such powerful individual voices together. Glee isn't just about the solos, but trust me, we'll have those," Mr. Schue smiled at Rachel, and then at Blaine. "Our first meeting will be on Thursday. We need to recruit a couple more people, since we still don't have enough to compete with. For those of you on the Cheerios, I spoke with Sue and she said you can miss practice on Thursdays, which is when we are going to have rehearsals consistently. I'll have some more throughout the week for those who can make it. Please encourage your friends to join! I'll see you all in the choir room on Thursday after school; you're all dismissed," Mr. Schue said, and everyone began to leave.

"Hey, Kurt?" He turned to see Mercedes walking towards him. Rachel had left to catch up with Finn; she was probably going to ask him about doing a duet or something. Not really knowing how to greet her, since they'd never really met, Kurt held out his hand for her to shake, and knew that it was a stupid move when she gave him a strange look. She lowered his hand and took him in her arms, much to his surprise.

"Oh, okay," he intoned under his breath. He wasn't used to this sort of greeting.

"Sorry, it's just that you're so cute!" She said, squeezing him harder, and then let him go. "It also looked like you needed a hug. You're good, like, really good. Not as good as me, of course," she flipped her long, ebony hair over her shoulder, "but I like you. I think we're going to have a great year, don't you? Even though we're the, quote, 'losers'," she made quotation marks with her fingers.

"Sure," Kurt replied miserably, watching the other Cheerios leave the auditorium. Maybe it'd be great for a while, but if Coach got her way, Mercedes's dreams of soloing at Nationals (Glee has a nationals too, right?) would be crushed.

"C'mon, Kurt, with voices like ours, we wouldn't need the extra people! Trust me, it'll be great. By the end of the year, the rest of the school will be bowing down to us, not the Cheerios," she spat out the last word as if she cussed. "Oh, sorry, you're on the Cheerios, right?" Kurt had opted not to wear his uniform that day, since he wanted to look presentable. It wasn't necessary, anyway, since they didn't have practice.

"Yeah, I am," he didn't sayyes, and I hate it, oryes, and I love it, because while he didn't hate the Cheerios, he knew he preferred the Glee club. He didn't want anyone to risk hearing him say anything about it, though. He was pretty sure that Sue had bugged his backpack.

"Oh, okay," Mercedes replied, evidently unsure of how to respond. "Well, it's too bad that you have another commitment so you can't practice with us that much. I'm gonna add you on Facebook, is that okay? I think it'd be prudent to consult you in which solos I should do, and what clothes I should wear, because boy, you are a fashionista!" She glided her fingers along his cashmere scarf as she walked away.

Suspecting that he had just made a friend, Kurt trodded in the opposite direction, feeling a smile grow on his face. He couldn't wait to get home and see his dad to tell him about his audition, as well as to get his homework done, but he first had to stop at his locker. Kurt sped out of the room and navigated his way through the labyrinth that was McKinley High School. He was glad to find that he did not get lost on his way to his locker, and unlocked it with ease. As he began taking his books, someone called his name—or rather, "Lady Hummel."

"Hey, we need to talk," Kurt looked up to see red warm-up pants and a Cheerios shirt: Blaine.

"What do you want," Kurt grumbled. While his performance was absolutely amazing, it did nothing to amend the grievances he had caused Kurt: he was surprised that Blaine wasn't making out with Brittany against the locker again, but then remembered it was a farce.

"Trust me, I want to get this over with as quickly as you do," Blaine narrowed his eyes, "but anyway, Coach wanted me to pass on the message that you have to do extra practice for Cheerios." Blaine's arms were crossed, and while he was staring at Kurt's face, he wasn't looking him in the eyes. The fervor in his eyes from the audition was gone: they had their usual glazed, bored look.

Kurt jumped to his feet. "'Extra practice'?! What does that mean?" Tortuous images popped up in Kurt's head.Do I have to go every day? Do I have to stay after and do more push-ups? Will this be with...oh, God no...

"Once a week, from 8:30 to 11:00 at night, I have to go over the routines with you," Blaine stated with an acerbic tone. He seemed as opposed to the idea as Kurt was.

"Why can't Coach do it?!" Kurt knew he was being a jerk, and that it was a stupid question as well.Why would Coach Sylvester take time out of her day for a little freshman like me?

"Wow, Porcelain, I think you know the answer to that," Blaine mocked him. Kurt's cheeks flared in rage. "She has much better things to do than be with you on a weeknight. If you want to go to Nationals, you have to be up to speed with the rest of us, and right now, Coach Sue isn't happy with you."

That did seem a little realistic: Kurt was flattered that Coach wanted to take him to Nationals, but knew that he'd have to bust his ass to make it. Without having any prior experience in cheerleading, Kurt obviously had already proved that he had potential, and Coach recognized it. He just needed to bebetter: amazing wasn't enough to satisfy Coach Sylvester's trophy-hungry ambitions. It did come with an awful price, though: he had to endure two and a half hours with Blaine every week. The thought alone was enough for Kurt to want to punch himself in the face multiple times.

"Okay, when is it?" Kurt inquired, placing his hands on his hips. He needed to get home and do an obscene amount of homework, which he'd been cruelly assigned just in the second week of school.

"Well, I don't know when you're available. Wednesday nights are best for me." Blaine added, and Kurt nodded. Wednesdays sucked anyway, so he might as well have it then to get it over and done with in the middle of the week.

"Fine, fine, Wednesdays it is. I'll see you tomorrow night, then?" Kurt hitched his bag over his back, hoping that Blaine would catch the hint that he wanted to leave.

"Sure. Bye." Blaine began walking in the opposite direction in which Kurt needed to go. Kurt didn't watch him leave: he headed towards the front, where Burt was waiting for him.

Later that night, Kurt was lying on his bed, grateful that the day was nearly over. He'd finished his homework and celebrated his successful audition with Burt at Breadstix. He also told Burt about his extra Cheerios practice, but left out some of the details. He felt that it wasn't important for him to know that he'd been singled out, and that it was just him and Blaine. His father wouldn't understand that it was for the good of the team that he got these private practices, and he'd probably be uncomfortable with the fact that he was alone with a boy, even though Kurt wasn't even sure what sexuality he was. Regardless, Kurt needed to rant about it to someone. He decided Rachel would be his best bet, so he grabbed his phone from his night table and texted her.

(10:12)Guess what.

(10:13) How am I supposed to guess? Tell me.

(10:15)I have to go to extra Cheerios practice every week

(10:16) What!? Why? Does anyone else have to do it? Will it coincide with Glee?

(10:19)No, it's at 8 pm...to 11. I'm not going to get any sleep. Coach wants me to go to Nationals but I kind of suck so I have to do more to get better. I don't think anyone else has to. Except Blaine, because he's going to be overseeing it

(10:21) Omg! That sucks. Actually, maybe you can get him to sing. That would make it bearable. His voice is from heaven.

(10:23)You think I'm gonna ask him to do that? I figured I'm not really going to talk to him, only to ask what I need to do and stuff related to Cheerios. Although...

(10:23)What?

(10:26)Kuuuurrrrtttt tell meeee!

(10:29)Sorry, it took me awhile to phrase this. He's just...really weird. Like, I thought he was gay, but then I see him making out with Brittany, and then it turns out that he kind of paid her, so that makes no sense. Why would you pay to kiss a girl when you're on the other team! Then during the song, he sort of looked at me.

(10:31) Whoah. Drama city over by Blaine town. What do you mean, looked at you?

(10:33)Idk, he was singing the end, and then he looked up at us and I could have sworn his eyes landed on me. Whatever, it's 11, I must be imagining things. I'm about to pass out. Good night, Rach

(10:33)Night, K :)