It could have been the clique-y students at McKinley.
It could have been the glares.
It could have been the pent-up hatred you could feel in the air.
But no, it was the scent of fishsticks cooking in the cafeteria that immediately disgusted Layla Anderson as she walked through the front door of the school. She winced and look at her brother who was next to her.
"Do you smell that?"
"Layla, that's the first thing you have to say?" Blaine turned to her and shook his head. Out of all the things she could possibly say, his sister chooses that to break the ice.
"Well, it smells!" She remarked. Blaine just shook his head and laughed in return. They made their way down the hall together, Blaine made sure that the first place they went to was Kurt's locker, which he knew how to get to after many times of sneaking into McKinley to watch him sing at glee club.
Kurt was standing at his locker spraying back his hair. Layla saw a picture of Blaine in there with the word 'Courage' underneath it. She was curious as to why it said 'Courage' but that was something she'd ask later. Blaine flashed her a smile, looked up at the back of Kurt's head and cleared his throat.
"Excuse me...." Blaine started with a smile, and before he could finish, Kurt turned around, his eyes wide and his smile wider. He threw his arms around Blaine jumping up and down and squealing.
"Blaine! Layla! Welcome to the lovely McKinley high, where all of your wildest dreams are crushed." Kurt said to them, in a sweet loving voice. Blaine let out a dry laugh and Layla looked horrified. "I'm so happy you're both here!" Kurt squealed again and hugged both Layla and Blaine.
"Well, thanks I guess. But we can't stay long, we have to go see Ms.-oh I forget her name-" Blaine said.
"Pillsbury" Layla reminded him.
"Yeah, Ms. Pillsbury to get our schedules. Do you mind showing us the way?"
"It's right this way." Kurt said, leading them down the hall.
Ms. Pillsbury's office was small but undeniably clean. Everything was perfectly organized and had a shine to it. The room practically smelled like a Purell bottle. There were almost a dozen colorful pamphlets behind the tiny, red-haired guidance counselor that sparked Layla's interest
"Does that pamphlet say 'I Think My Sibling Has No Soul?" She whispered to Kurt.
"Just ignore those." He whispered back. "Okay, well, I'm off to French. Good luck you guys! And Blaine, text me after class okay!" And with that, Kurt practically skipped down the hall away from the two Anderson's sitting in Ms. Pillsbury's office.
"So, Blaine, Layla, welcome to McKinley!" Ms. Pillsbury said in an attempt to excite them. When she realized she hadn't she continued. "Okay, your schedules are here and here are your locker numbers." She handed them both sheets of paper with all of their information. Layla looked down at hers, but there was a mistake.
"Ms. Pillsbury, mine says I'm in tenth-grade classes, but I'm only a freshman."
"Well, your old school is more academically stronger then this school, so you get to skip a year, you are now a sophomore." She answered, trying not to give McKinley a bad rap. She suddenly saw a smile on Layla's face for the first time.
"Sweet!" Layla remarked, "I get out of school a year earlier! Yes!" She high fiver her brother did a small victory dance. She was that much closer to leaving Ohio.
"Blaine, I know you were in your schools glee club," Ms. Pillsbury continued. "perhaps you'd like to try out for the New Directions? Kurt Hummel is in the group, I know you two are together."
