Kurt walked into school and stopped by his locker. He entered the combination and thought about the conversation he had with Carole and his father last night. It was about the ball. The annual Lima New Year's Celebration was coming up and this year the theme was a masquerade ball.

Kurt had always dreamed of the man of his dreams in a tuxedo and glittering mask, taking his hand, leading him to the dance floor. They would dance the night away, like all the couples did in the movies, and seal their love with a kiss at midnight, as their masks came off. He bit his lip and sighed at the thought. He knew it would never happen. At least, not in Lima.

Besides himself, he could only think of one other gay kid in this town and Kurt wouldn't consider him to be the romantic type. He was the school's bad boy, Blaine Anderson. He was also one of Kurt's best friends. Blaine transferred to McKinley from Dalton Academy and right off the bat the two clashed. After a couple months of banter, Kurt needed tutoring in math. Blaine, completely understanding the subject and the teacher claiming he could be a mathematician, happily obliged to taking on the job.

During tutoring, Kurt realized that Blaine was very sweet and questioned why he had the bad boy persona in the first place. After finding out about Blaine's past (from Blaine's grandmother of all people), Kurt realized that he just put on the act to stop the bullying. Well, it worked. Blaine didn't suffer the torment that Kurt and the glee club had, but Kurt discovered that when he hung around Blaine it was like he was in a bubble that Karofsky couldn't pop even if he tried. And during that time, he and Blaine became closer. It took a little bit of work, but after a while the two became the best of friends.

Anyhow, last night Carole and his dad were talking about their tickets to the New Year's Eve Celebration. As always, all of Lima would be there, so when Burt asked him about going he declined. When asked why, Kurt said he didn't have a date. At that point, Burt and Carole felt sorry for him. They both knew how hard it was for him just being out of the closet. Getting a date was a whole different story, but they supported his choices nonetheless.

He was pulled back into reality when Tina and Mercedes greeted him. “I'm really hoping for a new laptop.” Tina said. It was obvious that she and Mercedes were already swept up in a conversation.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. She could've sworn Tina had just gotten one for her birthday, but she decided not to go into the subject. “Well, I've been lusting over this purse in the mall-”

Kurt smiled. “The one with the gold accents-” He chimed in, barely able to contain himself.

“-and would look so good with that blue jacket she has?” Tina added.

“That's the one!” They all squealed in excitement. They got out for Christmas break on Friday and anything holiday related was on people's minds. From the presents to the food, anything you can name, someone in the school was talking about it.

“So, are we talking abs or shoes today, Ladies?” A voice said from behind them. Mercedes and Tina quieted as Kurt turned around to see Blaine leaning against the lockers.

Kurt rolled his eyes and closed his locker. “Purses, actually. Christmas is right around the corner, you know.”

He scoffed. “Oh, I know...all too well. Plus, my mom keeps going on and on about this stupid ball-”

“The Lima New Years Celebration is only the biggest social event of the year. Well, as big as you can get in Lima.” Mercedes interrupted. “Everyone will be there.”

“In that case, you can sure as hell count me out.” Blaine replied. “I hate this town.”

Kurt put his back against the lockers and stared longingly across the way. “You and everyone else.”

Everyone stayed silent for a moment when Tina interrupted it. “Kurt, I'll assume we'll see you at the ball, right?”

Kurt shook his head and looked at the pair. “No,”

“Why?”

“I don't have a date.”

Mercedes shrugged. “You don't need a date to get into a masquerade ball.”

“It's not that, it's just…” He trailed off, looking for words. “I want next year to be magic and I don't think I want to start it off, looking at other couples sharing their midnight kiss.”

Mercedes and Tina felt sorry for him and gave him sympathetic looks when the bell rang. “We'll see you at lunch,” Mercedes said, when she and Tina walked to their respective classes. Kurt looked to Blaine and the pair started walking to English together.

“Look, Kurt, I'll tell you what we're going to do for New Year's.” Blaine started.

“What?”

“You're going to come over, we're going to make some caramel corn and hot cocoa, we'll put on some stand up shows, laugh our asses off, and by the time we turn on the New Year's countdown you won't have a care in the world. Sound good?”

Kurt sighed. “Ok,” He replied. “I suppose it is better than being alone or at that stupid ball.”

And with that, their New Year's plans were set and they walked into English.