rising ━━ glee!

one ; mister cellophane.

❛ 'cause you could look right through me,
walk right by me, and never know i'm there. ❜

. . .

Silence lingered in the air of the guidance counselor's office.

Mrs. Pillsbury was lovely. Daniel had known her for a week, and she had already been the only staff member he talked to. Principal Figgins was weird, Coach Sylvester was mean, and Coach Tanaka smelled gross. He'd also heard Mr. Ryerson got fired for being a pedo-pervert. Aside from that, the other teachers seemed to like him, though he did consider himself a teacher's pet. He was only a freshman, but he knew he had to set a precedent for the kind of student he was.

She had been the one to suggest he take more advanced courses when he'd come for registration and told her about his dream of going to Columbia University when he graduated. He'd agreed immediately. He would do anything to prevent the possibility of staying in Ohio, and New York City was the best way out.

"How are you liking your classes? Have you . . . made friends?" was Mrs. Pillsbury's first question.

Even more silence.

He was alone. Invisible. He stared at the floor if people looked at him for too long. He didn't have the gene needed to make friends -- especially not at this school. Everybody had their cliques. The football players and cheerleaders hung out with each other, and the people in the student council hung out with each other, et cetera, et cetera. He was too shy to join any extracurriculars.

Finally, Daniel took a deep breath, licking his lips. "Um. Classes are fun. I think I'm the only one who actually . . . understands what's going on." An uneasy laugh escaped his lips. He didn't talk to anyone, afraid of saying the wrong thing or being snippy toward the wrong person. The guy in Spanish with a mohawk was terrifying. David Karofsky, his so-called partner in crime, was even scarier.

Mrs. Pillsbury seemed to be waiting for an answer to the second question. He didn't answer. He didn't want to be known as the loner freshman either, even if there seemed to be many of those. Instead, he awkwardly smiled and said, "I have a friend. Her name's Tina. I'm . . . sure you know her." He'd known her for a while. They'd met when they were in middle school. "We just don't really talk during school. I'm busy with . . . school, and she has other friends."

"Oh!" Mrs. Pillsbury exclaims. "Well, maybe that could be . . . progress in the friend department. You can become friends with her other friends. Yay! Yay, friends! Making friends is fun!"

She sounded enthusiastic, while Daniel just stared blankly. He scratched the back of his neck and nodded along. "Thanks for the advice, Mrs. Pillsbury." He didn't know if he meant it. He had considered just pushing aside the creepy feelings he got from Tina's friends, but one of them was wearing a fake tail earlier this week. At least he hoped it was fake. Rachel Berry had spoken up about it, refusing to be around whatever roadkill he made the tail from.

"Of course! I'm a guidance counselor. I guide," She offered a sincere smile. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, but has your . . . father gotten in contact with you at all since the school year began?"

An annoyed groan almost escaped him. Instead, he shook his head. "He called the week before school started. It was, like, a five-minute call, so I'm not sure it really counts, but . . ." He shrugged, "He asked about the classes I was taking. He thought they were very impressive, so thank you for that, Mrs. Pillsbury."