Prologue

"Welcome to the campus of William McKinley High School of the Arts," the woman greeted, giving a bright smile as she gestured to the building behind her. She continued, "McKinley was established September 1992. Since then it's been an establishment full of creative achievement along with academic success. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you on a tour of the inside and at the end I can answer any questions you may have."

"Are you sure about this, Blaine?" Mr. Anderson asked as he scanned over the brochure. "From what I'm reading here, it takes a lot to get into this school. Not that money is a problem—it's relatively expensive, but we can afford it—but there are auditions and you have to keep up your grades. These are some of the highest in the state!"

"I know, dad," Blaine replied. "I can do it. It's basically what Coop did in California, right?"

"Right, but-"

"I can do it, dad. Just trust me on this one."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please walk this way toward the courtyard."

Blaine took the initiative and walked a few feet ahead of his father, gazing around the school appreciatively. From the outside the school looked like any other he'd been to around the area; it had the tiled floors, cement block walls, lockers, sports fields, and a cafeteria, all simply done like a regular, normal public school. It wasn't anything like Dalton Academy, the preppy private school his father wanted him to attend. The only similarities between the two would be their academic success.

No, McKinley was a lot different, and in a good way at that.

"And here you will find the auditorium. Most performances- musicals, plays, dance recitals- are all held here. And when Film Week rolls around, we take the overhead projector and show all of the students' films here as well," the woman beamed, "The auditorium was donated by April Rhodes before the school became an arts institute. It seats over 500 people and, as you can see, features an orchestra pit and also comes with a full light and sound board."

"Phew, that's a lot to take in," said Blaine's father, shaking his head. It was clear he wasn't excited about the school. He'd already had to suffer watching one child take the path of the arts, and though Cooper had turned out to be quite successful, he wasn't so sure he wanted another singing and dancing son. "Blaine, you think you can perform on that stage? You've always had stage fright."

Blaine's awestruck stare slowly found his father. He shrugged. "I don't think I'd have to, dad. The school offers a film course, remember?"

"Ah. Right."

Blaine watched his dad for a moment before awkwardly placing a hand on his father's shoulder. "Dad," he sighed, "if we're going to move to Ohio, at least let me pick my own school. Anyways, nothing is set in stone yet... If I don't pass my audition, I'll go to Dalton, okay?"

George Anderson nodded.

"But for now," Blaine whispered, letting his honey eyes swim back over the stage and the lights, "McKinley is where my heart is."

Dear Sir or Madam,

You will be pleased to know that your son or daughter has successfully passed the audition and is now admitted into William McKinley High School of the Arts.

Your child, Blaine Anderson, will begin school on September 3rd. Further information regarding schedule, location, and requirements can be found inside.

If you need any more information please visit our website or call our administrators at (419)-324-1966.

We look forward to having you in our school!

Sincerely,

Principal Sue Sylvester

"That's excellent, Blaine!" Mrs. Anderson cooed, looking up from the letter with bright eyes and a wide smile. "Isn't it, George?"

"Yeah. Great job, kiddo."

Blaine tried not to read into the simple reply from his father, choosing instead to smile and reply with a, "Thanks," while silently hoping that his father was genuinely happy for him and would get over his disappointment by the end of the summer.

"I guess paying for your flights to go tour schools really paid off," his mother commented, handing the letter back to her son before picking up her sewing once more. "Blaine, are you finished packing? We're going to leave early and meet Cooper for dinner."

"I only have some clothes to put up," he answered. "I'll go do that now."

With that, Blaine turned on his heel and all but bounded up the stairs.

At least there was something good about moving to Ohio.

"Bye, mom! I'll see you this afternoon."

After he waved goodbye to his mother's retreating silver Lexus, Blaine took a deep breath and stepped through the doors of McKinley High. The atmosphere was thrumming with excitement. Clustered here and there were groups of students, and Blaine was surprised to find that a few of them even chanced a wave and a smile at him. There were some, "oh look, a new kid"s or, "I haven't seen him around before"s, but none of them seemed spiteful, as he would have thought.

He glanced down at his schedule. "Film, room seventeen," he read, looking up and glancing around. "I have no idea where that is."

"Need some help?" a voice asked behind him. He turned to find a tall, lean Asian boy smiling at him.

Blaine blinked. "Yeah, some help would be nice. I'm looking for room seventeen."

"Oh, that's right by my class. I'll walk you there," the boy said, "I'm Mike, by the way. Mike Chang."

"Blaine Anderson," Blaine replied, "new kid."

"Well, new kid, I see you're taking film," Mike said, peering over Blaine's shoulder to get a look at his schedule. When Blaine gave a sheepish smile, he continued, "Relax, no judgement here. Anyways, film is cool. I'm majoring in dance."

"Really?" Blaine questioned. "That's awesome."

"Yup. Well, new kid, here's your stop. I'll see you around sometime."

"See ya." Blaine waved goodbye, smiling to himself. I thought making friends would be hard, he mused as he turned and entered the classroom, Guess not.

He looked around. The scene in the classroom was just about the same as it was in the hallway. Among the thirty or so students in the room, most of them were split into groups of four or five and were chatting happily. In repetition of earlier events, a few complete strangers waved hello- he wondered if everyone here was friendly all of the time- though most were using the time before class to catch up on the events of the summer.

"Hey, you must be new."

Blaine turned his head to find a boy walking- no, wheeling- his way over.

"Do I scream new kid or something?" Blaine mused.

"Nah, it's just a close community. Anyways, I'm Artie Abrams, self-proclaimed leader of the film geeks. I make it my business to know anybody and everybody involved in film," he said, extending a hand. Smiling, Blaine shook it.

"I'm Blaine. I moved here from California about a week ago."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." He glanced up as the bell rang, signaling for all students to get in their appointed homerooms. "Why don't you come sit with me and Tina?"

Blaine nodded and followed the other toward the front of the classroom. Artie motioned for Blaine to take a seat as he wheeled up to the side of the table.

"Tina, meet Blaine. Blaine, meet Tina."

"Hi Tina," Blaine greeted, offering his hand and a friendly smile to the quiet Asian girl seated next to him. She shyly grabbed his hand and showed a tentative smile in return.

"Hey, Blaine."

"Alright, class, quiet down!"

A hushed silence fell over the room. Blaine sat back in his seat, watching the kind-looking blonde woman he assumed was his teacher with as much interest as he did the rest of the school.

"For those of you who may not know me," her eyes flickered over Blaine with a knowing smile, "I'm Mrs. Hall and I'll be teaching you film. Since this is how I usually start the school year and this year should be no different, we're going to head outside, play some games, and get to know each other. Sound good?"

There was a collective murmur of agreement.

And as he stood, grabbing his bag and following Artie and Tina out of the door, Blaine smiled.

He could definitely get used to McKinley High.

A/N: Ta-dum! And here you have the long awaited story I've been talking about for months. I'm going to leave the long author's notes until later (don't want to scare off my new readers, haha) but there is one thing I want to say.

A huge thanks to my beta and source of information for most things regarding this fanfiction (and also for helping me with the title), CAStonehouse. :) Go read her stories when you have the time; she's awesome!

Don't forget to leave a review. :)