Kurt got out of the car and breathed in deeply. New England smelled different from Ohio, fresher somehow. He had driven up himself this year and it felt thrillingly independent and somehow like a little teaser of how his new life as a college student would be.

The gothic buildings of the boarding school where the Engelsworth summer programme were held lay before him and all around students were arriving from all over the country.

Kurt got his suitcase and the garment bag with his suits out of the car, secretly happy that he didn't have to carry his instrument as well. As a singer he lived with his instrument day and night, which was hard work in itself. Never doing anything irresponsible, always getting a good night's sleep and taking vitamins to ward off such dreaded things as the common cold or worse laryngitis. It was a lifestyle by now and sometimes he envied the musicians that could just put down their violin or trumpet and relax, but looking at a tiny girl lugging a contrabass across the lawn he was glad he wasn't in her shoes.

Setting off towards the dorms he tried to covertly study his fellow students. Some he recognised from last year and greeted them with a nod or a friendly hello, others were new and he wondered which ones were the popular music ones. He spotted a kid with a Mohawk carrying a guitar case and a duffel bag, he was definitely one of them. Kurt watched as the guy stopped and admired a girl, with one of the shortest skirts Kurt had ever seen, walking up the stairs to the dorms. She looked like she was of Hispanic decent, with long dark hair and olive skin. The guy was positively drooling. Kurt shook his head in dismay; he had to deal with enough of teenage Neanderthals in school, he didn't want them here to ruin his summer. Last year he had spent most of his time discussing classical music and literature between rehearsals, he didn't want that to change and turn into talk of bro's and chicks, or whatever these people talked about.

"Kurt!"

Kurt turned in time to catch the girl that came flying into his arms. Rachel Berry was one of his best friends from last year and fellow singer. She was one of the people at the programme that he could discuss Broadway musicals with and their voices sounded amazing together. The only problem with Rachel was that she was an amazing singer, and she didn't hesitate to tell you about it. The girl could talk and her favourite topic was her self, which made Kurt want to amputate his ears after a couple of minutes, but Rachel was still one of his best friends.

"This is so amazing. I can't believe we're both here again, not that it should be a surprise with our talent." Rachel beamed up at him. Kurt gave her a bright smile and hooked his arm in hers. "I know. This summer will be the best one yet, and then in the fall, New York." Both he and Rachel had gotten in to college in NYC, he was going to Julliard she had gotten into Nyada. Their plan was to get a small apartment together after living in the dorms the first semester. It might take some getting used to since the only time they spent together was during the summer, but Kurt felt like Rachel was part of his everyday life due to the massive amount of texts they exchanged daily.

Rachel nodded vigorously as they walked towards the dorms. "I'm not sure about the new intake though," she said with a serious expression as they stopped to let a kid in a wheelchair pass them. Kurt was about to answer when a loud crash sounded behind them. Turning, he saw a boy scrambling to pick up several pieces of drum kit that had apparently ripped a whole in the plastic bag he was carrying it in. The boy stood up, arms full of cymbals and whatnot, and looked around sheepishly. Whoa he was tall, and kind of good looking.

"Dibs!" Kurt and Rachel said simultaneously.

"Please Kurt, there's no way he is on team gay," Rachel protested. Kurt shrugged, "You never know. Besides, it's not like you'll ever be able to kiss him without using a ladder," he teased, earning him a playful shove from Rachel.

Kurt felt lucky, he was rooming with Wes, a rather stiff and formal oboe player that he had gotten to know last year. It had only been five minutes since the boys had settled in their room and they were already ranting about the new popular music regime. It was so nice to have someone that understood the meaning of excellence and agreed with him, an ally for the rest of the summer.

Kurt was in full bitch mode when they decided to make their way down to the cafeteria to have an evening meal.

"Can you imagine trying to get any of them to play anything with more than three chords," he stage whispered to Wes as they were walking down the stairs behind two boys carrying guitar cases, making Wes laugh. Kurt could tell that both boys had heard him by the sudden stiff backs in front of him, but none of them turned around to confront him.

One of them had an amazing ass, a perfect bubble butt, not that he cared in the least of course. They were kind of opposites, the one with the ass was shorter and had dark curly hair, the other guy was taller and had a mop of straight bottle blond hair. None of them could dress though; both wore jeans and ratty t-shirts. Never in a million years would he be caught dead in those shapeless jeans. Kurt lived by the mantra 'every day is a day for fashion' and he did his utmost to look good at all times.

When they got outside the guitar boys headed towards the academic building where they would have all their lessons and Kurt and Wes turned the other way towards the cafeteria. Kurt definitely did not turn and look after them, because bubble butt or no, they were still not worth his attention.

Kurt and Wes sat down at a table already populated with seasoned Engelsworth students and of course the topic soon turned to the new students.

"It makes me feel cheap," one of the girls said.

"Why do they need a music programme anyway, it's not like those songs are very demanding, I mean anyone can do that," a viola player called Sebastian chimed in.

"We should write a formal letter of protest," Wes said, only to be shot down by the other teens.

"I don't know about you guys," Kurt said, "but I for one am not taking this lying down. I may not be able to stop the programme including them, but how about we leave no doubt in the heads of those American Idol wannabes about what we think."

Rachel nodded fiercely, "I totally agree. Maybe they will want to leave and then word will spread that this is no place for them. If we're stuck with them this summer, fine. But they won't come back next year." The others around the table agreed.

"Operation Un-popular is on its way," Wes said, banging his fist on the table.