Blaine spent first period registering and setting up his schedule. He walked out of the office and looked down at the rectangular slip of paper in his hand (Locker # A29 Combination 2-27-90) and the thin cardboard square in his hand

Period 1 Functions and Trigonometry (rm. 210)

Period 2 Honors World Literature II (rm. 306)

Period 3 Honors Chemistry (rm. 131)

Period 4 AP World History (rm. 312)

Period 5 Lunch

Period 6 Honors French III (rm. 204)

Period 7 Gym (MWF-gymnasium)/Creative Writing (TTh-rm. 304)

Period 8 Glee Club (choir room)

Blaine took a deep breath. That was a lot of schedule.

Coming from a prep school (and with a 3.9 GPA), the guidance counselor, Ms. Pillsbury, had put him in nearly all Honors classes (and one AP). Shed smiled and chirped so brightly (while looking at his transcript) that hed started smiling himself. In fact, shed infected him so much with her optimism and confidence in his ability that when shed asked which club he wanted to join (one was mandatory for club hour – 8th period), hed immediately pointed to Glee.

But now, no longer basking in her sunshine, Blaine started to feel uncomfortable, like his skin was just a little too tight. After Sebastians deception, losing the Warblers (and more importantly most of his friends), and leaving Dalton, he wasnt sure hed be happy joining another show choir. Wouldnt his participation just evoke bittersweet memories? Make him sad like ALL the time? Blaine grimaced as a wave of dizziness washed through him. God! What if he had to compete against his former comrades? Blaine sighed and ran a hand over his face. Glee might be a stupid idea, but he should give it a chance. He could switch out later if necessary.

And Creative Writing? What had he been thinking? The VERY last thing he needed was to express his feelings. All he really wanted to do was to pretend he had none. Be stone. He didnt want to explore what it felt like to be used and lied to by his first boyfriend or cast aside by friends hed had for two years. He wanted to pretend none of that had happened and just be more careful. The last week had taught him, if nothing else, that the only person you could really depend on was yourself and being open, trusting, and generous was a recipe for disaster. He might as well have had a sign on his head: DOORMAT. Blaine groaned. Well, it was just two days a week for a few months. He could just make shit up. No one knew him. That could be fun. Imagine he was David or Wes, maybe, and try to write something they might.

The bell pealed out twice then in quick succession. Crud. Hed have to run (English was on the third floor). He placed a hand on his messenger bag (to prevent bouncing) and took off running. He ascended the stairs three at a time and then sprinted down the hall in the direction the sign indicated 306 was. The hall was mostly empty (the bell announcing the beginning of second period was probably about to ring). He kicked out his knees to lengthen his strides (and thus cover more territory faster). Blaine grinned when he glimpsed the nameplate 306. He grabbed the doorframe and swung around and through the doorway JUST as the bell rang. He started to chuckle, but the laughter died on his lips.

THUD

Blaine had skidded into, knocked over, and fallen onto a solid something, a something that was also kind of soft (he noticed as he faceplanted on it), warm, and smelled especially nice, like vanilla and orange maybe. He popped his head up in alarm and laid eyes on a very red-faced, very adorable, VERY annoyed brunet (Kurt). For just a moment, Blaine was stunned into just reacting. He smiled and looked down sheepishly (even scrunching his nose – Blaine was not insensitive to peoples reactions to him, particularly the reactions of gay guys and straight girls – the head hanging and nose scrunching generally produced a begrudging smile and twinkly eyes – and thats exactly what it produced on his makeshift cushion – Kurt).

This perhaps perfect moment was shattered by sniggering and taunts emanating from three jocks (Blaine assumed – they were wearing letterman jackets) seated on the far left (the desks were in a circle, so there was no back or front). One of them, Blaine wasnt sure which, hissed, "Get a room, fags!"

Blaine could feel Kurt flinch bodily beneath him. He sighed. Back to this then. Hed actually started attending Dalton in his freshman year after some extreme bullying by homophobes at a Sadie Hawkins Dance at his old school. He climbed off of Kurt and offered him a hand. Kurt had started frowning the minute hed heard the mocking laughter. But now, his eyes were wide. His mouth formed a small o. Blaine laughed warmly and wiggled his fingers to encourage Kurt to take his hand. That got Kurt moving. He shook his head, as if to clear it of fog, and gingerly slipped his hand into Blaines. Blaine wrapped his hand firmly around Kurts and pulled him to his feet. His hand lingered (again) over Kurts, as if it had a mind of his own.

The black jock scoffed. "Ms. Betts! Theyre flaming fagginess is warping my fragile teenage mind. I think Ive been traumatized. Can I go to the guidance counselor?"

Kurt wrenched his hand away suddenly and scurried back to his seat.

Blaine looked around the room. Everyone (but the teacher, well, and Kurt) was staring at him then. There was just one desk open, on the far side of one of the jocks. He sighed.

The teacher, a tall slender young woman with straight light brown hair that fell almost to her butt, shook her head in disappointment. She chastised, "Azimio, you know we dont use language like that in here. Im writing you a referral. That makes two. Three strikes and youre out." The teacher smiled at Blaine. Then she looked around. "Thom, can you go sit next to Dave?"

A tall lanky kid with bangs nearly covering his eyes shrugged, collected his belongings, ducked under the desk, and crossed the circle.

Ms. Betts looked at Blaine then. He thought she had kind eyes. "Whats your name?"

Blaine flashed his default charming smile, though he wasnt really feeling it. "Blaine Anderson."

"Great to meet you, Blaine! Im Ms. Betts. We can do the whole go around the room introduction thing tomorrow. For now, have a seat." She flourished toward the desk Thom had vacated – right – next – to –Kurt. Blaine bit back a smile and sat down. He peeked over at Kurt, hoping to get a sense of whether Kurt was happy or unhappy with this change, but his face was a mask. Blaine couldnt tell.

Ms. Betts clapped her hands together. "Alright, today were starting a tale of love, betrayal, and revenge! Hamlet! Yay!" On yay, she lifted her hands in the air and waved them around. She glanced around at the students, eyes wide, grinning, and nodding (as if to say, Awesome, right?). Then she shrugged. "Not excited yet? Well hold onto your seats. Well explore the idea of true love – does it exist? If it does, what does it look like? And perhaps the most important for you … what are societys expectations for men and women? Have they changed meaningfully in the last few hundred years? Should they change?" She handed a pile of papers to the students on either end of the circle. "Take one and pass them. These are opinionaires. They have 10 statements. I want you to read through them and choose the response corresponding to your level of agreement or disagreement. Then I want you to share your responses with the person to your right. So Rachel will be with Santana, Rob will be with Mike, Kurt will be with Blaine, and so on. In your little groups, select two on which you disagree or are unsure and discuss. Ill give you 15 minutes. Be prepared to share with the class."

As the teacher gestured toward the partner groups, Blaine recognized Rachel and Santana from the Lima Bean that morning. Huhn. Despite apparently being friends (they were having coffee together earlier), neither seemed pleased with being partners. They werent making eye contact and they both looked like they wanted to puke. Blaine shrugged and glanced over his paper. He set his messenger bag on the floor and started rifling for a pen, as he read.

"1. You should always stick by friends no matter what."

Blaine rolled his eyes. Should? Yes. Do people? Nope. He circled strongly agree.

"2. The search for self-identity is THE most important quest you can undertake. Everything else (love, family, etc.) is secondary."

Huhn. The romantic in Blaine wanted to disagree. Before Sebastian, hed dreamed of falling in love with someone and then showing that someone his love every single day … serenades, candlelit dinners, slow dancing, cuddling, and deep, deep, passionate kisses … but maybe that was unrealistic. Maybe you should focus only on you. He sighed sadly. He hesitated but then circled not sure.

"3. People can love more than one person in their lives, either consecutively or at the same time. It is a fallacy to believe you have one fated lover (a soulmate)."

Blaine frowned. He wasnt that jaded yet. He circled strongly disagree.

"4. Some things should never be forgiven or forgotten."

Blaine clenched his jaw. He couldnt ever imagine forgiving Sebastian, and his was not even a jail-able offense. What if someone committed murder or rape? Blaine shook his head. He circled agree.

"5. Revenge is often a justifiable way of seeking justice for yourself or others.

6. You can live in an evil world and be unaffected, unchanged by that world."

Blaine tilted his head side to side. He just didnt know. He shrugged and circled disagree for both. Blaine knew like he knew nothing else that he was a different person now, so much different from the person hed been even a month ago. He didnt think there was any going back.

"7. Humans are meant to marry only once. We are monogamous by nature."

Blaine smiled and circled strongly agree.

"8. People who do wrong are always punished, either by a court of law, God, or karmic retribution in life."

Blaine grimaced. He circled strongly disagree. If only that were true. If that were true, Dalton would have expelled Sebastian.

"9. Suicide is always wrong."

A bad idea? Probably always or almost always. But wrong? He didnt know. He circled unsure.

"10. We are ultimately only in control of our own attitudes and actions. We should decide for ourselves (not letting others influence us) and not decide for others (not trying to influence them)."

Blaine groaned. He didnt know. Hed spent two years bending to the will of the crowd at Dalton. Hed learned the importance of collaboration (working together toward a single goal) and the value of shared ideals. When hed arrived there, hed wanted nothing more than to belong. Their vision statement and honor code were inspirational. And until Sebastian, hed never felt anything but liked and supported there. He made a face. Then he circled unsure.

Blaine had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadnt noticed Kurt reading over his shoulder. Until he finished. Then he turned to talk to Kurt and nearly jumped out of his skin. Kurt had scooted his chair closer (most likely to facilitate the reading), so his face was just an inch or two from Blaines (a situation Blaine hardly expected). Blaine jumped a little but tried to act like he hadnt. He didnt exactly mind the proximity, and the last thing he wanted was for Kurt to move back. He played it off by smiling warmly and then looking over at Kurts paper.

He said, dropping his pitch and adding a hum to his voice, "So 2, 5, and 10 …" Blaine swallowed hard. He could feel his face flush. He hadnt made his voice sound sexy on purpose. It was just something that happened when he was around a guy he liked. Which … meant he REALLY liked Kurt.

Blaine looked back at Kurt then. Kurt was smiling, his eyes bright. He breathed, "Youre a romantic." A statement.

"I guess." Blaine shrugged and looked away before glancing back.

"Me, too." Suddenly, Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Have you ever been in love?"

Blaines eyes widened. "What?" Was that a test? Hed indicated on his opinionaire that he believed in committing once and completely. That he believed in soulmates.

Then before Blaine could give any answer, for which he was profoundly grateful, Kurt confessed, "Ive never had a boyfriend."

Blaine tensed up and looked away. He struggled to breathe. He didnt want to lie, but he never, EVER wanted to talk about Sebastian. The situation was humiliating.

Probably reading Blaines reaction wrong, Kurt sputtered, "I … didnt … I mean I didnt mean to assume … of course, you would have a girlfriend …"

Blaine snapped his head back. And because his good judgment had apparently left the building, he acted on a crazy impulse, leaning into Kurt and whispering huskily, so close Kurt could feel the warm puffs of Blaines breath on his ear (causing him to squeak softly and cling to the edge of his desk), "I would definitely NOT have a girlfriend."

That elicited a half-whisper, half-moan. "Oh." Blaine laughed softly. Maybe Kurt was feeling him, too. Crud. WHAT was he doing? He was supposed to be giving Kurt a wide berth. Kurt seemed nice. But then Sebastian had, too. And Blaine felt certain that if he ever told Kurt about Sebastian that Kurt would run as far and as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Fortunately (?) for Blaine (or at least for his will power), what Kurt said then gave Blaine pause. Kurt shook his head. "Wow. Ive never met another person who was out before."

Blaine nodded slowly and sighed. Now that was more like the real world. Kurt wasnt into HIM. He was maybe into the only other gay guy at McKinley. Well, Blaine was done being used. He scooted his chair farther away from Kurt, turning his chair 90 degrees as a pretext to put distance between them. Then all business like, he asked, "What makes you think the search for self-identity matters the most?"

Kurt looked confused, like he realized something had changed, but he wasnt sure what or why. "Oh … uh … well, if you dont know who you are or what you want, what your ambitions are, you wont be happy. You have to make yourself happy, right?"

Blaine shrugged. "Shouldnt the person you love make you happy, too? I mean, suppose you want to be a doctor, but you cant afford to go to school. Does that mean youll never be happy? Even if you meet and start a relationship with your soulmate?"

Kurt frowned. "Huhn. I dont know."

Blaines eyes widened.

Kurt declared, "I want to be a star on Broadway. I dont know what I would do if for some reason I knew that could never happen." He actually looked frightened.

"Let me ask you this … if you had to choose, be with your soulmate or be a star on Broadway, which would you pick?"

Kurt gaped. "Oh. I … I dont know. I guess …" He grimaced. "… I guess Broadway …"

"Wow." Blaine laughed nervously. "Im the exact opposite. Id choose my soulmate. Every time."

Kurt flushed visibly. Blaine wasnt sure why.

Thats when Ms. Betts called time. "Okay, lets come back together and start presenting."

Blaine turned his chair back around and Kurt slid his back to the left. Blaine sighed. Well, just another on a growing list of reasons not to pursue Kurt. Hed really have to start reining in his attraction to the boy. Stop being so obvious and focus on something else. Maybe Glee could be that thing for him.