Kurt was walking down his new school hallway. Everyone had already left for the day, but Kurt had been taking the time to decorate his locker with pictures of him and his friends from his old school. In one he was smiling cheekily next to Katie, both of them decked in their polyester cheerleading uniforms. He smiled, closing his locker and starting to walk to the exit when a shrill voice rung out behind him.

"Hey! Porcelain, come here for a second."

He turned around cautiously seeing Coach Sylvester, who was wearing a hideous track suit and had a laptop balanced on her hip.

Kurt pointed to himself and the woman nodded, motioning for him to enter her office.

Third day of a new school and he was already in trouble?

He followed her, standing in her office doorway. He played with the strap of his bag and waited for her to speak.

"What's your name?"

"K-Kurt Hummel."

"Kurt, I was looking at our competition we will be facing at nationals for cheer this year. They have videos of the other school's routines. I came across a very interesting one, is this you?"

She clicked the play button and sure enough Kurt was walking into the frame in a green and white uniform. He started to sing "Dirty Little Secret", which had been a real crowd pleaser for football games. It sent a pang through his heart to see him and his team mates, his friends, bouncing across the gym floor and tossing each other into the air. They always said they'd go to Nationals together, and they were probably talking about flights to New York this very minute.

"Yes ma'am. That's me."

"You have talent, pale face. Do you know that we have a cheerleading squad?"

"Yes. The Cheerios. Finn told me about them."

Kurt remembered their conversation from the night before about how the cheerleading coach was determined to cut the glee club out of the picture. Finn had been going to McKinley his entire life, but Kurt had gone to Northwestern until just a few days ago. The commute was straining the budget so Kurt had been understanding enough to transfer. Since then Finn had been teaching his brother the ropes.

"I see. How would you feel about joining?" Sylvester crossed her arms and leaned against her desk.

"I'd- That'd be great. When can I try out?"

"Kid, I've already seen what you got. Practice tomorrow at four." She reached behind her desk and pulled out a box, tossing it to Kurt.

"What's this?"

"That's your uniform. Wear it everyday, religiously. You better bring it, Hummel. The uniform is a highly coveted honor. Don't screw it up."

"Yes, ma'am." Kurt exited her office, feeling both excited and terrified.

That night at dinner, in between talks about the car shop and football language between Finn and Kurt's dad, he finally spilled about the squad.

"So, Coach Sylvester asked me to be on the cheerleading squad today.." Kurt picked at the food on his plate, suddenly not hungry.

Carole clapped her hands together, "Oh Kurt, that's so exciting."

"Good job, kid." Burt huffed that out and gave Kurt a pat on the back as he went to put his plate in the sink.

"Awesome, bro." Finn put his fist out, waiting for Kurt to bump it. He did so, smiling a little.

At least they all approved.

Before bed Kurt laid the uniform out on his chair, but not before trying it for Carole, who was dying to see it. He smoothed his hand over the light fabric before walking to his bed and turning out the light.

The next morning after getting ready he stood in front of his mirror. The uniform was quite similar to the one from Northwestern, but it fit him a lot better. He looked at it from all angles, pleasantly surprised with it to be honest. He walked down the stairs, his cheeks brightening with embarrassment at Carole's "Lookin' sharp!" and Burt's "Looks good, bud." Finn just gave a thumbs up as they walked to the car. They didn't talk much on the ride to school, but Kurt couldn't help smiling. There was something fantastic about walking in to school the first day in uniform. He wasn't one for attention, but he did like it when people's eyes followed him down the hallway that morning. He was fairly surprised to see Quinn, the head cheerleader, leaning against his locker. She smiled and flitted to his side, sliding her arm through his like they had been friends for years.

"Hi Kurt. Sylvester filled me in on your addition to the squad. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Quinn." Kurt gave her a smile back, letting her lead him to her locker.

"So, Kurt. How does it feel to wear the uniform?"

"Glorious. It's always fun the first day."

Quinn laughed, nodding and taking a book out of her locker. At that moment he heard loud voices down the hallway.

"Hey Anderson! Hows it going?"

"Anderson, good to see you, man!"

"Blaine, how ya doing bro?"

Kurt's eyes searched the crowd for the source of the ruckus, and he eventually found him. He was short with olive toned skin and black curly hair. He was decked in red jeans, a black button-up, complete with a bow-tie and yellow sunglasses. The boy, Blaine he assumed, returned the high fives and greetings, proceeding down the hallway. Kurt regained his composure and only permitted short glances from the corner of his eye, because this boy was fine.

When Blaine passed him he pushed his sunglasses onto his head and very obviously looked Kurt up and down. There was no way this guy was gay, but he gave Kurt a wink before walking to Quinn's locker to join them. Kurt felt heat creeping up his neck, but he looked to his shoes which had suddenly become more interesting.

Blaine walked behind Quinn, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. She giggled, grasping his hands in the front.

Yep, not gay.

When they separated, Blaine kept one arm around Quinn's shoulders.

"Whose your friend?"

"This is Kurt. The newest addition to the Cheerios."

Blaine removed his arm from her shoulders, reaching out his hand.

"Blaine Anderson. Very, very, nice to meet you Kurt."

"Nice to meet you too, Blaine." Kurt's voice wavered noticeably and Blaine chuckled.

"See you around Fabray." He looked Kurt over once more before continuing down the hallway.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

Quinn laughed, "No, he's gay. He's my best friend."

"Oh..." Kurt trailed off, looking after Blaine who received a lot more high fives and fist bumps before turning down a hallway.

"He pretty much runs the school."

"I can tell."

Quinn arched an eyebrow, "Could you also tell he was shamelessly checking you out?"

"W-what? N-no he wasn't. He just introduced himself." Kurt spluttered, feeling the blush return to his face.

"Oh come on. He was practically undressing you with his eyes." Quinn closed her locker and held out her arm, which Kurt slipped his own through. They walked down the hallway in silence, but Kurt wasn't sure he would even be able to speak.

There was no way that Blaine Anderson had checked Kurt Hummel, the new kid with a unnaturally high voice and nearly albino skin.

Blaine approached Quinn at her locker later that day. He bumped her hip and then leaned against the locker, crossing his arms.

"What's up, B?"

"Can you tell me more about this Kurt kid?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, " Could you have made it more obvious that you were checking him out? What do you want to know about him?"

Blaine nudged her playfully, "Whatever, Quinn. Just tell me what he's about. What does he like to do?"

"Pushy, pushy. He's into singing and dancing. He's done cheer since Freshman year. He also works at his dad's tire shop working on cars."

Blaine's mind was now filled with the image of Kurt wearing a cut-off and jeans, oil smudged across his sweaty forehead. He picture him tugging on something in the car and his muscles moving under his delightfully flawless skin.

That was a nice picture.

"Interesting. How old is he?"

"Junior, like us."

Blaine nodded, noticing said boy walking down the hallway. They made eye contact and the boy's eyes fluttered to his feet. Blaine laughed. "He seems shy."

"He's not shy. You're intimidating, B."

"Mm." Blaine kept his eyes on the boy, who headed to his locker and hid his reddening face behind the metal door.

"I'll see you later Fabray." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, before walking towards Kurt's locker.

"Okay. Be careful, Blaine. Don't come on too strong."

"Yeah, yeah." He made a dismissive gesture with his hand and leaned against the locker, shutting the locker door between his and Kurt's face before Kurt could.

"Hello, gorgeous." Blaine tried his best to smolder his voice, apparently it worked.

Kurt looked behind him and back at Blaine, who refused to break eye-contact.

He stuttered, "H-hello."

"How is your day?"

"Fine. Yours?"

"It's going great. I met this blue eyed angel. His name's Kurt, you heard of him?"

Kurt flushed a deeper red, opening his mouth and closing it a few times before deciding on "Yeah, what, thanks I think." He then walked off, giving Blaine a wave. Quinn looked after the boy, smirking at Blaine.

"That didn't exactly go your way, did it B?"

Blaine frowned, he didn't hit on people a lot, but he shot lines towards girls all the time. It made them smile, and that's what counted. However, Kurt wasn't just a "Good morning beautiful," in the hallway. He was six feet of sex on a stick.

"He's just playing hard to get, I like a challenge."

Quinn started walking and Blaine reached out his hand, intertwining his fingers through hers.

They were touchy-feely friends. They held hands and hugged and kissed each others' cheeks. People didn't question it, it was just known that they were best friends.

"I don't know if he's playing, Blaine. I think he might just be disinterested."

"As I said, Q. I like a challenge."