Almost as if his thoughts had called them, Mercedes appeared on his right reaching in to grab the Chemistry book from Kurt's hand.

"You realize the first bell already went off, don't you?" Mercedes asked. Her eyebrows were raised and she was giving him a look that was clearly disapproving.

"We're going to be late if you don't hurry," added Tina, appearing on his other side. Her facial expression was almost identical to Mercedes' and Kurt sighed quietly. It was too early in the morning for them to be ganging up on him like this.

"I'm sorry," he replied, "but Finn's truck wouldn't start this morning so I had to give him a ride. We got halfway here before he remembered he'd left all his football gear at home and we had to turn back." He shared a knowing look with Tina and Mercedes. They all knew how forgetful that boy could be. "Honestly, you'd think with as much time as he spends talking about the new football season, he'd remember something that important."

"Speak of the devil," said Tina, eyeing something farther down the hall.

Tina and Kurt both turned to see Rachel with a vice-like grip on Finn's arm, leading the football player through the halls under a constant stream of chatter. Finn was in a daze, his eyes unfocused and his mouth slightly ajar. Rachel was gesturing wildly and after a second she leaned in close to Finn, demanding some sort of reaction to what she was saying, causing him to jump and refocus on her. He looked clueless and Rachel repeated herself, this time tapping her foot as she waited for Finn's answer. Finn gave a jerky head bob that Kurt took to be a nod, plastered a huge grin on his face, and let Rachel resume dragging him down the hall.

Kurt cringed, thinking that if it was too early in the morning for Mercedes' and Tina's criticism, it was definitely too early to have to hear Rachel when she was in her drama mode. Rachel and Finn rounded a corner and disappeared, but not before the trio saw the return of the dazed expression on the quarterback's face.

"Poor Finn," said Mercedes with a shake of her head. "I bet that boy wishes he had forgotten his head instead. At least then he wouldn't have Rachel talking his ears off."

The three of them exchanged a look and then Mercedes and Tina burst out in laughter. Kurt rolled his eyes, but he smiled briefly nonetheless as he shut his locker and started down the hall towards the Chemistry classroom. The girls were still giggling over Finn's facial expression and doing their best to imitate some of Rachel's wild hand motions. Kurt barely paid them any attention. He'd have to put up with Rachel's own special brand of insanity in the first Glee meeting of the year after school. Why torture himself any sooner than he had to?

As the trio started downstairs, Mercedes stopped suddenly and sucked in a sharp breath of air. Tina grabbed her arm and the two of them started alternating between whispering and staring at whatever it was that had caught their attention. Kurt followed their gaze and was almost tempted to turn around and join them.

Coming up the stairs towards them was one of the most gorgeous boys Kurt had ever seen. His face was handsome with lightly tanned skin and a strong chin that had the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow. Soft pink lips were turned down, as if he spent the majority of his time frowning. A headful of thick, dark curls sat above a pair of brilliant hazel eyes. Or were they green? Kurt couldn't quite decide before his eyes had moved on and were checking out the boy's outfit; a pair of dark jeans with ragged knees that hugged his legs and hips a little tighter than Kurt knew he should linger on, a simple dark jacket, and a red t-shirt with a small logo he couldn't place.

Kurt's eyes were just starting to lower back down, his mind creating thoughts that made his face flush, when he noticed his staring had not gone unnoticed. The new boy had noticed his inspection. He had a strange glint in his hazel eyes as his gaze imitated Kurt's, taking in one of his favorite Alexander McQueen outfits and the careful styling of his hair, before their eyes locked again.

Kurt waited for some sort of reaction. The hazel eyes boring into his made him nervous and he shifted uncomfortably. He had a feeling about this boy, something he'd never felt about a student in the McKinley halls before. He just hoped his intuition was correct. There was no way he could be wrong. Not with those tight jeans and the sultry eyes that were still locked on his own.

Suddenly, the other boy broke the eye contact and ...rolled his eyes as he glanced away.

Kurt felt his stomach squirm as the realization hit him. The new kid wasn't gay like his intuition had led him to believe. He was just another straight addition to an overly homophobic school. There were only a few students that didn't fall into that category and two of them were standing behind him, still gossiping about the dark-haired boy below. He felt stupid, jumping to conclusions like he had. So the boy had tight pants that hugged his legs and hips so perfectly... Kurt bit his lip, effectively ending the newest fantasies his brain had been conjuring. Soft lips pressed against his own as Kurt's hand tangled in those dark curls, their hips coming together.

Enough, Kurt scolded himself. He wouldn't give the other boy the satisfaction of seeing how riled up he was. Kurt started to return the icy stare, but the other kid wasn't looking at him. He never glanced back at Kurt as he continued up the stairs. Kurt noticed, however, that his gaze shifted to Tina and Mercedes and a smile tugged up the corner of his lips. It was almost a mechanical smile in Kurt's opinion, like when a friend tells a bad joke and the automatic reaction is to plaster a fake smile on your face to avoid hurting their feelings. The girls, nonetheless, dissolved into semi-hysterical giggles. Both of their faces flushed and their eyes followed the dark curls upwards until they disappeared.

Kurt was silently fuming, both at the brush-off he'd just received and the fact that Mercedes and Tina seemed unable to get themselves under control. He was about to snap at them, but the warning bell saved him the trouble. The girls jumped apart almost guiltily and followed Kurt as he hurried towards their first block class. They made it inside as the final bell rang. A quick scan of the room showed three seats in the back row and he headed towards them. He slid into the middle seat as Mercedes plopped down on his left and Tina on his right.

"Welcome to AP Chemistry," said a female voice from the front of the room. They all glanced up to see Ms. Wade, the same teacher all three of them had had in Biology the previous year. She was old enough to be Kurt's grandmother, but she didn't look it. A few gray hairs mixed in with the dark brunette of her hair, which was pulled back in a tight chignon, and the slight wrinkling around her eyes were the only betrayers to her actual age. Her brown eyes were warm and she almost always had a smile on her face. She was Kurt's, and probably everyone else's, favorite teacher.

"Some of you might recognize me from last year," Ms. Wade continued, "and I think I see a few familiar faces." She smiled at the class before turning and grabbing a stack of papers off of her desk. She handed the stack to a boy in the front row who grabbed one and passed them backwards. "Please take a copy of the syllabus and, once everyone has one, we'll go over the material."

The papers reached Kurt and he took three, passing the extras to Tina and Mercedes. They grabbed the papers he offered and Kurt passed the rest of the stack back to the front. When he sat back in his seat Mercedes leaned across him to scratch something on Tina's paper. Tina read the note and quickly scribbled her own answer. The two of them passed the paper back and forth and eventually Kurt's curiosity got the better of him. The margins were so full of scribble it was hard to tell what it said, but he was able to make out a few lines.

Did you see his eyes? They were so completely GORGEOUS!

Tina's reply was so messy Kurt could barely read it. Omg, yes! When he looked at me I thought I would faint!

Girl, I know. But if he was looking at anyone it was me! Besides, you have Mike. Leave the hot guy for someone single!

Hey, just because I have Mike doesn't mean I can't think about how utterly hot he was. Especially with those curls and those jeans...

Kurt sucked in a sharp breath as he read the rest of what Mercedes had written. A furious blush colored his cheeks and he looked up, refusing to read one more word on that paper. They had gone into detail on several of the boy's physical traits, from his lips to his legs and everywhere in between. Even if he did share the same opinion on exactly what those lips would feel like pressed against his own, he wasn't going to encourage them.

He focused on Ms. Wade's voice for the rest of the lesson, more than once escaping a stern look as the teacher spotted the note that kept flitting across his desk. Tina and Mercedes continued to pass notes for the rest of the class. Kurt barely managed to make it to the bell without blowing up and he was relieved when class finally ended. He gathered his bag and headed off to his next block class, French IV. The time away from the girls would do his mind some good. He was feeling a little bit flushed and any other thoughts inspired by their back and forth gossip would make it plain for everyone to see exactly what his opinion on the new boy was.

Madame Broussard was his instructor for this year. She was a stern woman with gray eyes. From what Kurt had heard of her she was strict, but fair. Kurt had never had her in class before and was looking forward to it; French was undoubtedly his best subject. Unfortunately, Azimio had managed to pass French III and was in his class, but Kurt decided to make the best of it as the two of them were paired together for a basic review of vocabulary. Kurt took the chance to unload some of his earlier frustration and spent the greater part of the class period insulting Azimio, who never had any idea what exactly Kurt was calling him at any given moment.

After French, the rest of the day passed in a blur. He ended up having the same lunch period as Mercedes, Tina, Brittany, Santana and Rachel. Mercedes and Tina had finally moved on to different topics other than the new guy and, along with Kurt, they spent their lunch period insulting Rachel and debating on what they would do in Glee club that afternoon. When the bell rang the group split up with a few murmured goodbyes. Rachel and Santana had Chemistry and Kurt, Tina, Mercedes and Brittany all had Home Economics.

Brittany sat up front with Tina and Kurt and Mercedes snagged a table right behind them. Mr. Edwards, a balding middle-aged man, with a serious fashion problem in Kurt's opinion, spent most of the class period droning on about safety procedures and proper techniques. Brittany asked so many questions, such as how they were going to bake cakes if the eggs had baby chickens in them, that the bell signaled the end of class before Mr. Edwards had a chance to finish. He dismissed them with a sigh.

"We've officially done it," said an excited Mercedes. "We survived our first day as juniors." The trio had reunited after Home Economics and now headed to their lockers to drop off their books before Glee rehearsal.

"And to think," added Kurt, "none of the Neanderthals decided to slushie us today. At least I'll have one Alexander McQueen that the jocks haven't ruined." Kurt made a beeline to his locker and threw his books inside, pausing briefly to glance at his mirror. He refused to go to the first Glee meeting of the year looking anything less than fabulous.

As he turned around to find Mercedes and Tina he saw a red jacket coming towards him. He barely had time to register it before he received a face full of ice and sugar. Azimio stalked past him carrying an empty slushie cup. He grinned like an idiot and called back over his shoulder, "Welcome to the new school year, Glee boy." He joined Karofsky, who gave him a high-five, and the jocks rounded the corner. Their laughter echoed back to Kurt in the quickly emptying hallway as everyone left for the day.

Kurt stood still for a minute, gasping as his skin adjusted to the icy sensation that was seeping underneath his clothes. He stood there, his white shirt slowly staining blue, until Mercedes and Tina noticed him and hurried over. Kurt waved them off and they promised to tell Mr. Schuester that he was going to be late for Glee rehearsal. He grabbed the back-up outfit he kept in his locker and stalked his way to the bathroom, leaving a trail of blue droplets on the floor. The door closed behind him and Kurt cautiously leaned down, checking under the stalls to make sure he was alone; he was. The last thing he needed was to give Azimio or Karofsky another chance to harass him. Once a day was more than enough. He headed towards the sinks and plopped his bag down on the sink rim beside him.

Kurt leaned down and splashed water onto his face, viciously trying to scrub the sticky liquid from his skin. His face was so numb from the slushie that the icy cold water from the sink didn't faze him. Most of his hair had managed to avoid getting coated in slushie and he was relieved. He turned off the tap and ducked into a stall to change clothes. Even though there was no one else in the room, he knew he'd feel uncomfortable stripping in the middle of the room. A dark pair of trousers, a button-up white shirt, and a gray vest were his backup. Not his first choice, but they would do. He hummed a song from Wicked while he changed, hoping a little Broadway would lighten his spirits. His soiled clothes were balled up and thrown into his bag until he could get home and deal with them.

He exited the stall and started. Standing in the doorway was the dark haired boy from earlier. The slight improvement to his mood might as well never have happened as he looked in those hazel eyes. The boy said nothing to him, just stared with his eyebrows raised. He looked from Kurt's wet hair to the new outfit he was sporting. Kurt just waited for him to say something, almost dared him to. His mood was so low he'd love to have a chance to fire off a witty retort and embarrass the other boy. Kurt knew how to handle bullies.

Instead of doing any of the things he was expecting, the boy strode right past him and into a stall. Kurt put him out of his mind as he walked over to the mirror to check his reflection. His hair was a mess and his cheeks were red from his scrubbing. If everyone in Glee hadn't heard about the slushie incident from Mercedes and Tina, they would all know as soon as he walked in. His cheeks felt like a beacon. Look everyone, I just got slushied by the Neanderthals they seemed to say. He sighed quietly and headed towards the door.

"Not that it's any of my business," said a voice from behind him, "but why are you soaking wet?" The other boy had come out of the stall and was standing by the sink. He didn't glance in Kurt's direction when he asked, just started washing his hands while he waited for an answer.

Kurt just stared at the back of his head. He forgot that he had just been asked a question. The only thing he could focus on was the voice he had just heard, because that voice was the sexiest thing Kurt had ever heard. Smooth and strong laced with the perfect amount of confidence, it had the power to attract attention without trying. Kurt stood there running the voice repeatedly through his head until, from what seemed like far away, the sound of a clearing throat jolted him back to awareness.

"I'm so sorry," said Kurt, his tone apologetic. "I've been a little distracted today. What did you ask me?"

The boy rolled his eyes again and stared down at his hands. "I asked you why you're soaking wet."

The question caught Kurt off-guard. Where was the insult he had been expecting? The boy's tone was curious, not cruel or mocking like he had come to expect from most people in this school. He was caught so off-guard he answered honestly, not even bothering to try and make anything up to save himself the embarrassment.

"A couple of the jocks and I don't see eye to eye so they decided to give me a slushie facial. Happens all the time." He added the last part lamely.

The other boy finished washing his hands and grabbed a paper towel to dry them. He didn't look at Kurt again as he walked past him and grabbed the door handle. Before he pulled it open he paused. "Want some advice? Next time, duck."

Kurt glared at the back off his head as the boy left. Was Kurt imagining things, or had there been a slight smile tugging at the corners of those soft pink lips as the other boy left?