Call Me Maybe

Senior year.

It was already off to a good start. Three periods in, and he'd only received one homophobic slur. No slushies, no shoulder checks, no dumpster tosses. And he'd only almost sent a rambling I miss you, school sucks without you, please replace Shue as glee club director texts to Kurt twice.

Maybe being at the top of the heap really did make things easier.

He extracted his brown bag lunch from his locker after fourth period—off-campus lunches were to going have to wait until the jocks settled down and stopped welcoming their classmates back with eggs to their cars—and headed for the choir room, where Artie had called for an emergency recruiting meeting. As he rounded the corner, he bumped into a small body, sending it sprawling to the floor. He immediately dropped his lunch and knelt to help the girl up. "Oh god, are you okay?"

The girl, a fair-skinned dirty blonde with dark green eyes, blushed as she sat up. "Uh...hey, yeah, sorry. D-didn't mean to run into you." She kept her eyes downcast, afraid of angering a possible jock, one of the infamous McKinley Titans of which she'd heard horror stories in middle school.

"No, it was my bad. Sorry for plowing right over you!" He stood and held out his hand, beaming brightly. The girl's eyes flickered upward, surprised by the gesture. She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "I'm Blaine, by the way. Blaine Anderson."

"Ch-Chelsea Nichols." She shook Blaine's hand once and dropped it, a blush creeping across her face. "I should—I should go." Wow he's pretty. No, shut up, Chelsea! He's not interested in you! But he did help me up...no, stop wishing! Chelsea started to rush past Blaine.

"Wait!" At the older boy's call, Chelsea froze and whipped around. "You're a freshman, right?" Chelsea nodded. Here it comes. "You should join glee club!" Well that's not what I expected. "The New Directions!" Did he just say "nude erections"? Not that I'd mind seeing his—god, Chelsea, get a grip! "I mean, I don't know if you sing, and I know glee's bottom-barrel when it comes to social status, but you seem too cool to care about that." He smiled kindly, and Chelsea actually thought she melted into a pile of goo. She didn't realize Blaine—even his name is pretty—was waiting for an answer until he said, "So what do you think?"

"Su-Sure." Anything to spend more time with you.

Blaine's grin widened, and wow you need to stop that because I can't even. "Awesome! Auditions are Friday after school in the auditorium. Sign-up sheet's on the bulletin board in the social studies hallway...at least I hope it still is...Anyways, I'm late for a meeting. See you around, Chelsea!" He waved and walked away, leaving an utterly enamored freshman girl in his wake.

Glee club, here I come.

---

At two o'clock on Friday, the remaining members of the New Directions—Blaine, Artie, Tina, Sugar, Joe, Sam, and Brittany—settled into the audience of the April Rhodes Auditorium. They needed five more people to be at requisite competing number, and according to Shuester's sign-up sheet, only three would be auditioning today.

They were all hoping these contenders didn't suck too much.

"First up," Shuester called from the back of the group, "Chelsea Nichols!"

Blaine sat up straighter in his seat, grinning excitedly. He was glad that Chelsea had taken his advice, and that he had managed to successfully recruit one member.

The freshman crossed the stage to the microphone wearing a short black skirt and a red tank top edged with lace. Artie's eyebrows shot upward in an unreadable expression. "Hello," Chelsea murmured, voice low. "I'm Chelsea, and I'm here to audition for the New Directions." She nodded to the band, and then returned her sultry gaze to the audience. A very familiar tune began, and every New Directions member save Sugar, Blaine, and Brittany bit back a groan.

"I threw a wish in the well.
Don't ask me, I'll never tell.
I looked to you as it fell,
And now you're in my way."

Tina, Sam, Artie, and Joe turned to Blaine in confusion. Chelsea was quite clearly singing to the dapper senior, as her eyes never left his. She was moving in a way that seemed to be an attempt at sexy.

But Blaine didn't appear to notice the girl's affections as he bopped along to the son, still smiling brightly.

"Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me maybe."

Blaine finally became aware of his fellow glee clubbers' stares. "What?"

"Dude, she's totally hitting on you," Artie hissed.

"What?" Blaine scoffed. He searched his four friends' faces for any sign of joking but found none. "What do you mean she's hitting on me?"

"She hasn't taken her eyes off you, man," Sam whispered. Joe nodded gravely. Tina finally lost the serious facade and burst into silent giggles. Blaine looked back up at Chelsea as she sang the last "call me maybe," winking at him as she took a bow.

Blaine sunk low in his seat as the group applauded awkwardly. Blaine had been hit on by girls before, but he charmed them down and never had to see them again. But Chelsea was good, despite her song choice, and was definitely getting into the New Directions. He'd have to see her every day.

He wished he had Kurt to bitch her out and put the situation to rest.

He sat through the next two auditions, a boy and another girl, both of whom were very talented, and threw himself into the discussion afterward, hoping Chelsea would leave campus before they finished. Unfortunately, everyone agreed all three candidates should join the club, so the meeting didn't last long. Blaine slunk from the auditorium, ignoring Artie and Sam's jests and catcalls. He kept his eyes low, so he couldn't stop himself from bumping into someone—again.

"Oh, hey Blaine!"

Blaine cringed, but straightened quickly, not wanting to be rude. "Hey Chelsea! Fantastic audition! I can't tell you how did, though; the results will be posted Monday!"

Chelsea beamed. "Thanks! You know..." She sidled close to Blaine, who took an automatic step back. "I chose that song very specifically." She gazed up at Blaine through her eyelashes and oh god someone please save me.

"Carly Rae Jepsen is becoming quite popular," Blaine squeaked, feigning ignorance.

"That's not what I meant." Chelsea reached into her bag and pulled out a slip of paper. "I know you're an upperclassman, and I'm just a freshman, but...call me maybe?" She held out the paper.

A long pause, then: "I'm taken!"

Tactful, Anderson.

Chelsea's face fell, the hand holding her number with it. "Oh, right. Of course. A guy like you...of course some girl would already have you." Her cheeks flushed. "Sorry for being so..."

Blaine felt like an ass. He placed a hand on Chelsea's shoulder. "Hey, listen. It's not that I don't like you, it's that...a girl doesn't have me. A boy does."

Chelsea looked up, confused. "Oh?" Realization struck her. "Oh. OH!" She blushed redder. "Great, my first high school crush was on a guy who literally couldn't like me back."

Blaine smiled wryly. "If it helps, I've had many crushes on straight guys. It sucks. I hope this doesn't mean we can't be friends. You seem really awesome, Chelsea." Chelsea nodded. "Well, I gotta go—boyfriend's waiting. See you around?"

"See you around." Chelsea left, downtrodden.

Feeling guilty, Blaine turned to head for his car. That's when he noticed the rest of the New Directions crowded behind a bush, recording the entire encounter on Artie's camera.

"We've been spotted!" Sam shouted. "Abandon ship!" The group scattered, Blaine yelling after them, "YOU SHOW THAT TO ANYONE AND THE NEW DIRECTIONS WILL NEED SIX NEW MEMBERS!"

Yeah, senior year is shaping up to be just as long as junior year.