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Ohio.

Of all the boarding schools in existence his dad had picked one in freaking Westerville Ohio. Aka; the middle of freaking nowhere. Even better still, he had decided they would drive there. Probably because Ohio didn't have an airport... there was no other reason Kurt could come up with as to why they would drive.

For three days solid at that.

It had been one very long and very silent car trip. He wasn't speaking to his dad. He refused to. Burt had tried, multiple times. But after about 8 hours of driving, had given up. Kurt refused to say anything. He was better than this. He was so much bigger than a stupid place like Westerville Ohio. Bigger than this... Dalton Academy he was going to.

They stayed overnight in three star hotels. Kurt had grimaced the whole way. He could just feel himself be coated with a layer of grime and dirt as soon as he walked into the rooms they stayed in. He spent the whole time glued to his phone, checking twitter (thankfully no one had quite caught onto the fact he’d been sent away to boarding school just yet. Though, it was only a matter of time), and messaging Mercedes with pleas for help.

It was about midday, day three of their trip they finally pulled up to the school.

"Here we are." Burt said as they drove through a pair of massive gates. In front of them was a huge stone building that just screamed pretentious and boring with it's huge windows, and a vine creeping up one side. Hell, it probably had a spiral staircase. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Come on, kiddo. It won't be that bad."

... not that bad?

Kurt wondered sometimes if his dad forgot he was ridiculously famous. The closest the kids at this school had probably come to a celebrity before was a second rate Elvis impersonator. Kurt was A-List, not a red carpet he didn’t get an invite to kind of famous. He'd be mobbed the second he stepped foot inside. There was a reason he’d started home schooling at thirteen. He followed Burt into the building to the front desk where a bright eyed brunette girl sat talking on the phone. When she was done she looked up and smiled at Burt. Then her eyes slipped over to Kurt and her jaw dropped.

"You're... you." she stuttered.

"Thanks for clearing that up for me." Kurt said deadpanned.

"We have a meeting with Principal Watson." Burt cut in quickly. “He should be expecting us."

"Right, of course." she stood up. "I'll go tell him you're here."

They waited in the office in silence. A few students wandered in and out, not one of them so much as glanced at Kurt.

"Kurt Hummel." a loud, deep voice said.

Slightly stunned Kurt turned around and came to face to face with a man who he assumed was the principal of the school.

"Welcome to Dalton Academy." he held out his hand.

Kurt stared at it for a moment, before reluctantly shaking it.

"Come into my office."

They were seated on a leather couch. Kurt glanced around the room in distaste. Whoever had done the decor had no taste whatsoever. Even with the awful, unflattering florescent lights the room was so dark, with black leather seats, everything mahogany, and dark burgundy carpet. It was hurting his eyes.

"We are thrilled to have you join us here a Dalton for your senior year of schooling." He started; with what he probably thought was a welcoming smile.

He felt far from welcomed.

Kurt tuned out straight away. He nodded politely when he thought he should as the guy went on, and on (and on) about Dalton's 'long' history and every other minute detail he didn't care about.

"So, first we'll show you to your dorm room, and then get you set up with a uniform and books and you’ll be good to start classes first thing tomorrow morning."

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh, and here is Jeff Sterling right now."

Kurt frowned. Who was Jeff Sterling and why was he important?

"Kurt, Jeff here will be your dorm mate for the year, he'll also be your buddy for your first few days, show you around, help you with anything, as you get settled in."

Kurt faced the Jeff boy and... oh... no way. No way in hell was he sharing a room with this kid. In the bleach blonde hair wasn’t bad enough, the side swept bangs were. He had huge blue eyes that Kurt thought were going to swallow him whole, and was grinning like a maniac.

“Hi Kurt.” He said, holding out his hand.

Only because his father was in the room Kurt nodded and shook the boys hand.

“Jeff, could you show Kurt the dorm rooms while Mr Hummel and I finalise the last of the papers.”

“Sure thing Mr W.”

Kurt looked at his father who just grinned at him. “Go along Kurt, things will be fine.”

His eyes narrowed into a glare briefly, before he turned back to Jeff, who was still smiling.

“Right this way Kurt.” He said.

Kurt didn’t make any acknowledgement of Jeff, he just followed him.

It was empty as they walked through the school, class must have been going on, a small fact Kurt was grateful for. The school was big. That much he could admit. The corridors were furnished, and decorated with pieces of art. It was actually a little reminiscent of the Hogwarts set from Harry Potter, which he’d visited once on a promotional trip to England.

His phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket to see.

Mercedes Jones
-Miss you WB. Come home soon ok? Xo

He ignored it, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He didn’t quite feel like being reminded of his life at home.

“So, I guess this is pretty different from your normal life, huh?” Jeff asked.

It took Kurt a moment to realise Jeff had said anything.

“Oh… yeah, it is.”

“What made you decide to come here?”

He shrugged. “It was my Dad’s idea. I don’t want to be here.”

“Oh…” Jeff said, stopping briefly to look at him. “That sucks.” He said sympathetically.

“Yep.” Kurt didn’t know what else to say. He also didn’t really want to say anything else. He didn’t want to make friends here. He wanted to spend a few weeks here, convince the Principal to rave to his about how good of a student he was and then his dad would decide he could come home and things would go back to normal. This… Dalton Academy… would be but a blip on the radar.

“I know how that feels.” Jeff said.

Kurt had to suppress a groan. Sure… this random kid with awful hair knew what it was like for his dad to ship him off for a few late nights out?

“I’m pretty sure my parents just had me because they’re married and they were expected to have kids. They don’t really care about me. As long as I’m out of their hair they’re happy.”

Kurt wished his dad was the same.

“Huh…” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say.

“I suppose it has its perks.” Jeff mused. “They give me money for basically whatever I want. I bet you know what that’s like.” He glanced over at Kurt with a smile (and really, did the boy ever stop grinning?).

Kurt shrugged. “I’m not wanting for anything, I suppose.” Except a few items of the new Marc Jacob’s collection… and to go home and get out of this hellhole.

“Well, we’re here.” Jeff said, stopping abruptly. Kurt was only a fraction of a step away from colliding into him. He looked down the long corridor that looked exactly the same as every other one they’d walked down. “These are the first floor corridors, we’re on the second. The staircase is at the end.” He said.

“Oh… ok.”

As they walked up the stairs his phone buzzed again and he pulled it out quickly.

Rachel Berry
-You’re in OHIO? Why? Why are you in Ohio? I don’t understand. Get back to me.

Just like Mercedes’, he ignored the message and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“And this is our room. 208.” He said, apparently, just in case Kurt was unable to read the large brass numbers on the door. “I tidied up when I found out I was getting a roommate. My old one left last year… military kid.”

Kurt nodded and made a noise to pretend like he cared. He was more interested in seeing what the closet space was like.

“It’s not that big. But you’ll barely spend any time in here anyway. The common room is just two doors down and that’s where we hang out pretty much until curfew, then we all go to sleep. And… don’t worry, I know you’re a little bit of a fashionista. I pretty much only have three outfits, and one of them is my uniform. So… majority of the closet space is yours.”

“Oh, so you do know who I am?” Kurt asked.

“Um… duh. Everyone knows who you are.”

“You were just acting like I was some random person, I thought that maybe you… didn’t.”

Jeff went a little red and looked away from Kurt shrugging. “I assumed that’s probably what you wanted. To… just be treated normally.”

“Oh…” Kurt didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t.

“Anyway, this is your side of the room,” Jeff gestured to the bare side of the room.

There was a single bed, with a navy cover and white sheets and pillow. A desk was seated under the one window in the room, it was completely bare… and that was it. Kurt took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

“There’s…” He gestured trying to find the right words.

“I know. You get used to it though. Trust me… its not so bad.”

“Right.” He nodded. “It’s only temporary. I’m sure after a few weeks I can convince my dad I’ve learnt my lesson and things can go back to normal.”

Jeff clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit.” He said. “And hey, at least we’re in one of the rooms with it’s own bathroom. Way better than communal, trust me. Freshman year I had to use the dorm bathroom… so many questionable stains.”

There was a knock on the door, and both boys turned to see Mr Watson and Burt standing in the doorway, Burt holding Kurt’s bags.

“How’s the room kiddo?” Burt asked.

“Small.” Kurt said shortly. “You can put the bags on the bed.” He said.

“Well,” Mr Watson glanced at his watch. “I believe last period is about to finish up, and I’m sure you’d like to meet some of your fellow classmates, the boys you'll be living with."

He didn't really. He didn't care. He'd be here for two weeks, three tops... there was no way his dad was following through on this completely... no way. But he nodded politely and Mr Watson made an excuse for he and Jeff to leave the room. Letting him say goodbye to his dad.

"It's not too late for you to change your mind." Kurt said hopefully.

Burt sighed. "I'm doing this for you. You need this."
"But why? Why do I need it?"

"You'll work it out soon enough. We'll see how things are at the end of the semester."

Kurt gaped at him. "Semester? But... it only just started. That's months away."

"I'm still your legal guardian. My word is final."

"Whatever." Kurt said, feeling childish as he spat out the word. "Don't expect heartfelt letters and emails though."

Burt rested a hand on his shoulder. "I love you Kurt. One day you'll understand why I've done this."

"Bye." he mumbled.

"Bye." For a moment, Burt looked like he wanted to hug him, but in the end didn’t. As he left Jeff walked back into he room with a grin on his face.

"So, I know it always sucks when you have to say bye, but... all the boys are in the common room and I thought meeting them would be a great way to lift your spirits."

Kurt nodded. He had no interest in anyone here, but he didn't really see a way out of it.

Jeff led him out of their room and down the corridor. The common room didn't really have a door; it was just a big archway that led into a large room. On one side of the room there was a huge fireplace with couches surrounding it. There was a piano sitting in one corner, a few tables and chairs, and on the other side a large flat screen TV, it was currently turned off, but there was a group of about ten boys sitting amongst the couches around it. The room was decorated in the same sort of artwork found around the place and potted plants.

"Gentlemen." Jeff said loudly clapping his hand, quickly drawing the attention of them all. "I have a new friend to introduce to you all."

Kurt rased his eyebrows. Friends? They were barely acquaintances.

"Now, I now he might be a familiar face, but please... he's been here for a total of an hour so don't overwhelm him."

"I'm not a scared, caged animal." Kurt said, and suddenly he had all eyes on him. "I'm Kurt. Hummel, that is. Kurt Hummel." He said.

It looked like some of the other boys were about to respond, but a voice from behind stopped them.

"Hey, so, I don't know how it ended up my in room, but I found the..."

Kurt spun around at the new voice. As he did, the boy who was talking spotted him and stopped in his tracks. He was holding a grey remote that promptly slipped from his fingers to the ground with a thud as he stared, open mouthed at Kurt, who raised his eyebrows.

The boy was short. Not miniature kind of short but was... smaller... had a tan complexion and dark, gelled down hair. Kurt had never really had a 'type' before... but he'd never seen this boy before.

"And this is the one I was most worried about." Jeff said, with a smirk. "Kurt, this is Blaine."

Blaine stared at him for a moment longer and then looked at Jeff.

"Really?" He asked, his voice several pitches higher than it was a moment ago.

"You're not dreaming."

Kurt smirked a little. So this... Blaine... had a crush on him. That was... helpful. Definitely helpful.

"Oh, ok." He said shakily, then looked away from Kurt.

"Um, anyway, I found the remote." He bent down and picked it up, Kurt took a moment to admire the way the grey slacks hugged his legs as he did. "I don't know why it was in my room. Probably Pav."

"Yes, because a bird that weighs about two grams is going to pick up something bigger, and heaver than it and take it all he way to your room." An Asian boy said.

"Well, someone planted it there." Blaine said.

Kurt watched him as he walked past him and set the remote down on the coffee table. Maybe... one good thing was going to come out of this place.