Author's Notes: I own nothing!
Chapter 5
History class passed uneventfully. It didn't take much for Kurt to autopilot his way through the hour whilst trying to figure out how Cheerios practice would go.
The bell rang, echoing through Kurt's thoughts, waking him into the cruel reality of what he was about to face. Kurt packed his bag slower than normal, but not too slow as to cause suspicion.
"Hummel! Move your ass!" Santana was slouched up against the class room door, arms folded, looking utterly bored with waiting. "You looked like someone kicked your puppy."
"Yeah, well..." Kurt didn't have the motivation to snipe back, his voice tailing off with disinterest. It was true, he felt depressed by the situation. "Let's just go."
Kurt's footsteps were sluggish as he walked with down the hall with Santana. He didn't want to do this. He wanted to go home, curl into a ball and cry.
"Can you just pull it together?" Santana cried, twisting Kurt to face her. She was a lot stronger than she looked, Kurt made a mental note to never get in a cat fight with the girl, because a black-eye was not a good look for Kurt. "You're about to tear up because some guy thinks he can walk in and take over. If he thinks he's better than you, why don't you just prove him wrong? Show him you are better than he is and he's going to have to earn his place at the top the same way you did! Christ, Hummel. Sort yourself out. Please?"
She had a point, unfortunately. Kurt didn't like other people being right about him and now it had happened twice in one day. Kurt wasn't about to give anything up to a guy he didn't even know.
"You're right." Kurt looked her in the eye. Santana gaped. That wasn't something she was used to hearing.
"I know." She turned and flicked her ponytail in his face, swishing away down the hall.
Kurt thought back to the conversation he'd had with Rachel, he had no idea why, but the thought of being left alone, even for just a second was terrifying, not that he'd ever admit it out loud.
"Santana?"
"Lady lips?" She turned on her heels, sneakers squeaking against the polished floor.
"You're a good friend." Kurt smiled at her fondly. Santana Lopez, well, she wasn't too bad.
"I know," she repeated as Kurt jogged to her. "Let's show this guy what we can do!"
Kurt grinned, showing his teeth. This wasn't going to be so bad, he thought, hooking little fingers with Santana and walking into the gym.