The other two people in our group were Rachel, my brother’s ex-girlfriend, and a guy with a mohawk; his name was Noah but he liked to be called Puck. I was tempted to call him Noah multiple times because it’s a much nicer name, but somehow Puck did seem to fit him better. We only had about five minutes left of class so we all just exchanged cell phone numbers and figured we’d discuss the project later.

Later that night, my dad had prepared my favorite meal; Chicken with mashed potatoes and peas. He did not cook often so when he did I knew to take it with a grain of salt.

“So, Kurt, how was school buddy?”

“It was okay.” My dad nodded without looking up from his plate and continued eating.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I saw Rachel, that was awkward. I didn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch but it was fine I ate by myself,” I said, not realizing how heavily I seemed to be sitting on a pity pot. I really wasn’t, I didn’t have any real expectations for my first day of school.

“All the other kids were probably just intimidated by your white pants.” I smiled. “Since when do you wear white pants anyways?”

“I’m trying to feel good about myself.”

“Tight colored pants make you feel good?” My dad sounded harsh sometimes, but we’ve spent so much time together these past few years, I know he is just always looking out for me.

I ignored his question. “My acting class was fun though, I met some new people. Rachel’s in my group for our first assignment though, awkward again.”

“You’ll do just fine, Kurt,” my dad reassured me. I smiled and believed him.

~

My first week in high school really wasn’t that bad. By the end of the week Rachel was back to her normal, talk-too-much, self-obsessed in a charming sort of way, self which made me feel a little better. If she and I had one thing in common, it was that we both wanted to be stars, she was just more vocal about her dreams. Puck wanted to act as her for the scene, so I asked Blaine if he and I could act as each other.

Blaine was so… overwhelming at times. He was just the opposite of me, but in the best way possible. He was so open and confident; he always had a smile on his face. When we were doing the interview we got off topic a few times talking about theatre stuff; he is a senior this year so he’s been in all the schools’ productions. It was fun to hear about how the drama program works at this school, and he was talking about it to me as if he was selling real estate.

“It’s just the most welcoming, warm, awesome place. It’s my second home. Actually, more times than not I consider it my first home. Everyone is accepted there and…” he rambled on and talked so quickly. I learned that when he gets excited about something, his eyes get really big and his smile gets even bigger. I could see his honey colored eyes brighter than ever before… I took a mental note to make my facial expressions copy his during our scenes. All of his features are so theatrical when he speaks, it’s fun to watch and to listen to. It’s like talking to a really mature five year old boy. He’s so full of innocence and happiness, yet somehow it seemed there was a deeper layer to him. There had to be.

It took me about two minutes to realize he had stopped talking; I was so busy listening to my loud thoughts about him I forgot to listen to him. He was writing stuff down so I must have nodded and said enough “mhm”’s for him to think I was part of the conversation. I wasn’t used to being around such an eccentric personality. I liked it, though.