You Drive Me Crazy || Sam Evans

10. Home

Melanie stood behind Kurt and Mercedes in the lunch line, adding tots to her tray.

"Mercedes..." Kurt said sternly, watching her grab a piece of grilled chicken.

"This is healthy," Mercedes argued.

Melanie raised her brows. "Kurt, it's literally chicken breast with a salad dressing on the side. It's as healthy as you're gonna get for a public school lunch," she said, defending Mercedes' choice.

Kurt shook his head, turning his attention back to Mercedes. "You have a week to lose 10 pounds. That's like having to lose one of my butt cheeks. Look at what I'm eating... peeled celery," he said, gesturing to his tray. "And for breakfast, I had Splenda."

Melanie winced as she watched him crunch down on his sad celery stick, while Kurt continued, "Mercedes, now that we're cheerleaders, we're finally part of the in-crowd. We have a place at the table. We don't have to beg underneath for scraps of attention. Don't screw it up," he finished, biting into his celery aggressively before walking away.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him, Cedes. What Coach Sylvester is asking you to do is ridiculous, unhealthy, and unnecessary. You're rocking that uniform as is," she said with a smile, giving Mercedes a reassuring squeeze on the arm.

"Thanks, Mel," Mercedes said, smiling gratefully at her.

Melanie returned the smile before heading over to sit next to Kurt. As she set her tray down, she gave him a light smack on the back of his head. Kurt turned to glare at her.

"What was that for?" he snapped.

"One, starvation's made you grumpy," Melanie said, to which Kurt shrugged, partially agreeing as he took another dejected bite of his celery.

"And two, how could you say all that to Mercedes? She doesn't need to lose any weight." Melanie paused, watching Kurt sulk and nibble sadly on his celery stick. "Oh, for the love of God, Kurt, get a real lunch. You don't need to lose any weight either." She snatched his celery away, earning a groan from him.

"Hey!" he protested, snatching the celery back. "Did you not listen to what I said?" he huffed. "For the first time, we're not at the bottom of the food chain. We can actually walk through the halls with our heads held high. We matter," he muttered, his voice softening at the last part.

Melanie sighed deeply. "Kurt, you already matter, and some uniform isn't gonna change that."

Kurt looked at her for a moment, his brows furrowed. "Yes, it does Melanie. You'd understand if you'd ever been slushied or thrown into a dumpster." His voice grew sharper, frustration spilling out with every word. "I'm so sick of being treated like trash, of being humiliated day after day just because I'm different! Do you have any idea what it's like to show up every morning, bracing yourself for the next cruel prank? It's not just a one-time thing—it's constant."

Melanie blinked, stunned by the anger in his voice, but Kurt wasn't done.

"You just don't get it. How could you? You're too busy pretending to be invisible every day. You hide in the background, keeping your head down so no one even notices you. You don't give people a chance to target you. You don't let them see you at all, He finished hotly.

Melanie stood there, staring at him in disbelief. "That's not fair," she said softly, her voice trembling.

"Isn't it?" Kurt shot back bitterly. "You think you're safe because you don't stand out. But it's not safe for everyone, Melanie. Some of us don't have that option. We can't just disappear and avoid the hurt."

Melanie gaped at him, hurt flashing in her eyes. "Kurt—"

"Don't try to tell me you get it," he interrupted. "You wouldn't know what it's like because no one even sees you. You just...hide."