Those Ocean Eyes

Chapter 20

Two days later, Schwimmer doesn't show up to class, and Cassie doesn't waste any time in cornering Kurt.

"Where's your Siamese twin?" she demands, and he wilts under the intensity of her gaze.

"She has... the flu?" he ventures, and it sounds more like a question than an answer.

"Are you sure about that?" Cassandra says, narrowing her eyes, "Because she seemed just fine and dandy the other day."

"I don't know what to tell you, Miss July," he says, squirming uncomfortably. Cassandra raises a finger, poised to browbeat him into submission, but then she notices the rest of the class curiously watching their exchange. She backs off, and Kurt practically crumples with relief.

Cassandra manages to muddle her way through the rest of the lesson, but she keeps eyeing the Schwimmer-shaped hole in her classroom, and if Muffin Top's crying jag is any indication, she's a little more bad-tempered than usual.

"I told you to cut off a butt cheek, not half of your body weight. Try and find the happy medium between whale and skeleton," she snipes, and Lydia's chin starts to tremble all over again.

When the lesson's finally over, there's a stampede of disgruntled freshman trying to get out of the door as quickly as possible. Kurt tries to escape by disappearing into the crowd, but Cassie grabs him by the scruff of his unitard, dragging him back inside.

"OK, spill it," she says, and Kurt's eyes widen.

"There's nothing to - "

"I've got all day, Twinkle Toes, so you can either quit giving me the run around, or I'm going to make you dance until your legs drop off," Cassie informs him, menacingly. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time: why's Schwimmer cutting out on my class?"

Kurt sighs, resigning himself to the inevitable. "She had an audition," he finally capitulates, "And from what I understand, it didn't go too well."

Cassie frowns. "An audition for what?" she asks him. "She didn't mention anything."

"She didn't want me to tell you," he admits, sheepishly. "She thought that you would be - I don't know - mad, or something."

Cassie remembers how she reacted the last time Schwimmer made some headway on the road to success, and if she's honest, she can't really blame her.

"What happened?" She tries to keep her tone casual, and hopes the concern that's starting to gnaw at her isn't too obvious.

"She wouldn't tell me." Kurt shrugs, looking bewildered. "She just spent most of the night crying, and now she's curled up on the couch, eating a whole lot of ice cream."

Cassandra's mouth sets into a grim line as LeRoy's words come back to haunt her.

"Give me your key," she demands, and Kurt shakes his head, physically backing away from her.

"Miss July, I don't think that's appro - "

"I wasn't asking," Cassandra barks out, regarding him darkly. "Now hand it over, Hummel."

Kurt wordlessly reaches for his bag, pressing the key into her hand.