AN: I just want to quickly thank everyone for reading this story, and especially thank those of you who have reviewed it. I promised myself when I started writing that I wouldn't be one of those people who keeps asking for reviews and refuses to write unless people review, but I can honestly say that it was the few reviews I got on the previous chapter that gave me the motivation to sit down and write this one in such a short amount of time. So thanks to everyone :)

Also, while writing this chapter I've realized there is some knowledge that I may take for granted coming from a background of dance and art, so if anyone has any questions about any of the references I make, feel free to ask (or you can Google it...that hasn't really failed me yet XD)! I'll be putting some descriptions at the end, though, so hopefully that will cover it.

I apologize for the slow pace of this chapter...I kind of wanted to get a whole bunch of descriptions of the setting out of the way so I crammed them all in here...sorry 'bout that.

I don't own Glee.

Episode 1: Overture

Part 3

"Kurt, we're back!"

Kurt looked up from where he was sitting on his bed. Apparently his distress from his previous conversation with Blaine was evident on his face, as Quinn was immediately sitting by his side.

"Kurt, what did Blaine do?"

"Hey kiddo, I've got your key!" Burt stood in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. The smile quickly faded as he saw Kurt's face. "Hey, what's wrong?" Burt moved toward Kurt's bed as well.

"Dad...it's about Blaine." Kurt began, about to tell his father and Quinn everything. But before he could, Burt cut him off.

"Oh, Blaine? Your roommate? He seemed like a great kid. And I bet you can't wait to see the rest of the campus. I really can't think of a better place for you to be, son." Burt said in an attempt to cheer Kurt up. "But why do you look so glum? Wait. Did Blaine do something to you? Because if he did I will find that boy and set him straight, you know I will, Kurt. I'll take it up with the Headmaster immediately and we can-"

"No, dad, Blaine's great." Kurt lied. "He just...while you were gone he told me about how homesick he gets, and I'm going to miss you so much."

Kurt could feel Quinn's questioning stare, but he ignored it.

"Aw, Kurt. I'm gonna miss you too, you know. You've never been away from home this long." Burt said as he engulfed his son in a hug. "And I'm sorry for flipping out about Blaine. I'm sure he's great. I just want to make sure everyone's treating you right, especially after what happened at McKinley and all..."

"Dad, I'll be fine. Everything's going to be amazing here, I know it." At this point, Kurt couldn't ignore Quinn any longer. He finally met her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She mouthed from behind Burt.

"I'll explain later." Kurt mouthed back as he broke off the hug with his father. Kurt could already tell he was going to like Quinn, and with her already established hatred of Blaine Anderson, she could probably answer the question as to why Blaine said he hated him.

"Well, I should probably get going. It's a long ride home and you probably want to finish getting settled in." Burt said. "Here's your key." Burt placed a small navy blue card in Kurt's hand, identical to the one Quinn had used earlier to get into the room, except it had Kurt's headshot (he had to submit one when he applied to the school) and name printed on it.

"I really will miss you, Dad." Kurt said honestly as he looked up at Burt.

"I'll miss you, too." Burt replied as he hugged his son once again. "But we still have video chat and that Skyfe thing you set up for me last night."

"It's called Skype, Dad." Kurt laughed against his father's shoulder. "So we can video chat tonight, okay?"

"Will do. I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, Dad."

And with one last pat on the back, Burt headed out the door, leaving Kurt alone with Quinn at last.

"I'm sorry to kill the touching mood, but you have some serious explaining to do." Quinn stood up and faced Kurt, crossing her arms over he chest and sending him a glare that despite only having known her for several hours, Kurt was already getting used to.

There was no use in hiding the truth about his and Blaine's confrontation. Besides, Quinn was the only other person Kurt had officially met at Dalton so far, and aside from her being able to give him the answers he wanted, she seemed like a genuinely good person that he'd want to have as a friend. Kurt told her the whole story, from Blaine's cruel words to his own retaliation, and Quinn listened intently the entire time.

"So why didn't you tell your dad about Blaine, then?" Quinn asked after he'd finished, her gaze having softened from confrontational to sincere.

"I didn't want him to worry." Kurt explained. "He seemed so happy about me being here that I just...I couldn't let him down. Not again."

"What do you mean by again?"

Kurt didn't answer. It wasn't the time to explain everything. He may have trusted Quinn, but he didn't know her nearly well enough to tell her about his past.

"It's nothing." Kurt shrugged, then quickly changed the topic. "But I do have a question: Do you have any idea as to why Blaine said he hates me? Because I just can't figure it out."

"Oh, we know exactly why."

Kurt and Quinn both turned their heads in the direction of the new voice, which came from a short brunette standing at the door.

"Sorry. Nick Duval, your next-door neighbor. I was stopping by to say hello and I couldn't help but overhear you talking." Nick stepped into the room and held out his hand, which Kurt accepted and shook.

"Kurt Hummel." Kurt replied. "So what is it with this Blaine kid?"

"It's not so much what's with Blaine as it is with all the Coles." Nick said as he released his firm grip on Kurt's hand.

Kurt raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The Coles?"

"That's our name for the guys and girls who live in the Jack Cole dorm next door." Quinn explained. "The dance majors."

"For as long as anyone can remember, the dance majors and the ballet majors have hated one another." Nick said. "We don't know where the rivalry originated or how it came to be, but we do know that we can never trust the Coles. Everything we do with them always ends in a disaster."

"So he hates me...because I dance ballet?" Kurt asked.

"Well, not necessarily because you do ballet – the Coles have to take ballet as part of their curriculum too – but because you're a ballet major." Quinn said.

"And you're sure there's no other reason?" Kurt asked. "Because the things he said can't exactly be justified by some silly rivalry-"

"Kurt, this is more than just some 'silly rivalry'" Nick interrupted, grasping Kurt's shoulders. His stare was intense and serious, as if his words would determine Kurt's life or death. It was kind of scary, actually. "The loathing that us ballet dancers feel for the Coles – and the loathing that is reciprocated – is not a matter that can be taken lightly. They do unspeakable things to us, so in return, we do unspeakable things to them."

"Especially when it comes to Blaine Anderson. He's one of the worst." Quinn added.

Kurt was nearly shaking with fear as Nick's hands fell from his shoulders. What was he supposed to make of this rivalry? What exactly were the Coles capable of? Were Nick and Quinn just exaggerating? But there was still one thing he didn't understand.

"Wait. But what about Dalton's zero-tolerance bullying policy? Shouldn't that keep anyone from doing anything bad to one another?" Kurt asked, remembering the numerous pamphlets and articles he'd read about Dalton.

Nick and Quinn shared a glace and chuckled, before Nick spoke up.

"We find certain...loopholes to the system." Nick explained. "Technically what any of us do can't be classified as 'bullying' in any way. Also, none of the stuff is ever really done by an individual or in public. That way, if anything gets too bad – which it usually doesn't, but there have been a few minor accidents – the administration doesn't have any single person to blame. In those instances, they just blame the entire dorm or something."

"You seem to know and awful lot about all of this." Kurt shook his head, trying to imagine the sorts of things the dancers could have done to each other.

"Well, I've been here since my freshman year, and I'm a senior now, so you could say I know just about all there is to know." Nick said proudly.

"But don't worry, Kurt. We just tend to exaggerate a lot. Most of it is harmless, and if anything, it's actually kind of fun." Quinn patted Kurt on the shoulder. "Sure, rooming with Blaine won't exactly be a gallop through a field of flowers, but it's only temporary." Quinn began to sport a sinister grin. "And besides, with you in such close proximity, we might even be able to pull some major pranks on the guy. That'll be fun." Nick gave Quinn a high five as she finished her sentence, and even Kurt smiled along with them. So maybe the rivalry wasn't so bad after all.

A few soft buzzing sounds were audible before Kurt saw Nick check his phone, then turn to leave the room.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but my boyfriend is apparently waiting for me outside the dorm." Nick turned directly to Kurt. "It was nice to meet you, Kurt, and I hope everything with Blaine works out. And if not...well...that's all the more fun for us when we get him back, right?"

Kurt laughed with Nick and Quinn. "Nice to meet you too, Nick. And I'll let you know how it goes."

Once Nick had left the room, Kurt turned to Quinn.

"Is that the same Nick you mentioned before? The one who's dating that guy who ran into me?"

Quinn chuckled. "Yep. That's the guy. The two make a weird pair, but somehow it works. In fact, they're one of the 'power couples' of the school. They've been together since freshman year. It's quite adorable, really."

Kurt smiled. It was strange for him to be somewhere where being gay was so accepted and common. Then again, now he was being prejudiced against for being a ballet dancer, so he didn't really know what to think of that.

"We've spent enough time in this room." Quinn said, grabbing Kurt's wrist and leading him out the door. "I think it's about time you finally get that official tour of the campus."

"Okay." Kurt agreed. It wasn't really as if he had a choice in the matter, though, since Quinn's grip was like a vice.

"And so we start with the dorm..."

Quinn brought Kurt to the many sections of the building that he hadn't already seen. There was another hallway of rooms on his floor – the fourth floor – and two other halls on the third floor. The second floor housed two small dance studios for practice, each complete with a barre, mirrors and a surround-sound stereo system.

"They're open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." Quinn said as she showed Kurt how to hook up his iPod to the stereo system. "They're also soundproof, so you won't have to worry about waking anyone up if you decide to pull an all-nighter."

"Why would you want to stay up all night dancing? Isn't that a bit much?"

Quinn shrugged. "You'd be surprised. Sometimes the choreography is so tough that we need the time to perfect it. Other times we just lose track of time." Quinn walked into the center of the studio and stared at her reflection in the large mirror. "And between you and me, sometimes I just like to lay down in here...there's just something about a dance studio that makes all your problems go away, you know?"

Kurt had a feeling there was more to Quinn's story, but it wasn't the time to pry.

After the studios, Quinn took Kurt down to the first floor, where she took him back through the lobby he'd seen and into a section with a full kitchen and refrigerator. Kurt was excited immediately by all the working appliances, and he couldn't wait to cook and bake again.

On his way out, Kurt also met two girls in the lobby named Melanie and Brooke, who immediately screamed and gave Quinn enthusiastic hugs when they saw her (which caused Kurt to cringe; He wasn't one for unnecessary high-pitched squealing). As it turned out, the two were good friends of Quinn's, and upon meeting Kurt they greeted him with the same enthusiasm. Melanie Richards was a tall and lean brunette, whose dark skin contrasted greatly with her piercing blue eyes. Brooke Harwood was almost the complete opposite. She was extremely petite but muscular, with long, curly brown hair cascading over her wide shoulders. Kurt could tell that he'd be seeing a lot of them, and he could easily admit that he was looking forward to getting to know them well.

Upon leaving the dorm and saying their farewells to Melanie and Brooke, Quinn immediately turned right and led Kurt to the dorm beside their own, which looked identical except for the sign in the front donning the name "Jack Cole".

"Stay away from here as much as possible." Quinn warned. "Paulo, another one of the ballet guys, once had water balloons thrown at him by the Coles through the windows. They ended up drenching all the shoes in his dance bag, and let's just say it wasn't a pleasant experience for Paulo in class that day or for any of us who had to listen to him rant about it for a week afterward."

Quinn then led Kurt to a nearby wooden building. At the door, she swiped her key card and walked through a set of glass sliding doors. The building's lobby was extremely open, with a very cozy-looking sitting area in the middle surrounded by several vending machines. The walls were made of a light wood, and multiple skylights and windows allowed plenty of light to shine in and down on the dark blue carpets on the floor. The sides of the room had many doors, each labeled with number. Looking through the windows next to each door, Kurt could see that each was a studio, some smaller or larger than others. In the back, stairs led upward and downward. Upstairs were more studios, and downstairs were two dressing rooms, one for each gender.

"This is where I like to call home." Quinn said as she flopped down onto one of the couches. "We spend the majority of our time here, between classes and rehearsals. Usually all the studios are packed, but since it's a Sunday there aren't any classes, and there aren't any rehearsals for anything at the moment. Speaking of which, you've heard about the auditions this Wednesday, right?"

Kurt nodded. "For 'The Nutcracker'? Yeah. I'm really excited, too. I've never gotten the chance to perform in an actual ballet before." At his old studio, all he did was go to regular classes all year, then he'd prepare for a final recital. He'd always wanted to be in an actual full-length show, but he'd never had the opportunity.

"Good. It may be mandatory for all the ballet students, but it's also a lot of fun. The teachers do a great job of mixing up the choreography a bit every year so we never get bored. They also add in some contemporary and lyrical jazz stuff in the second act...it's always amazing, no matter what role you end up with."

"What roles have you played before?" Kurt asked as Quinn brought him back outside.

"Well, I'm a junior like you, so I've only done it twice. In my freshman year I was a snowflake, the Spanish dancer and a flower, and last year I was a snowflake, one of the Russian dancers and a flower." Quinn told him. "But repeating a role isn't bad at all, since the choreography is always changing. And now we have reached Dalton's central square."

Kurt followed Quinn into a large courtyard, which was in front of the huge Victorian-style building he'd first seen when he arrived at Dalton. Quinn led him inside and showed him the many administrative offices, as well as the classrooms where he'd be taking his core subjects during the week. The back of the building housed the cafeteria, where stands sold a huge variety of foods from sushi to salads to fried chicken.

"That is one thing I can say I am extremely grateful for here at Dalton." Quinn said as she and Kurt passed by a small coffee shop beside the cafeteria. "There is always good food available."

Quinn brought Kurt back around to the front of the building, then turned and walked until they reached an extremely modern and large white building shaped like a giant cube. Quinn explained that it was the visual arts and photography building, and that the two smaller buildings just beyond it were its two dorms. Both were modern, but the one on the left, the visual arts building, was painted in an array of colors in swirls and lines with "Monet" in large black block lettering along the front. The building beside it, the dorm for the photography and graphic design students, was much plainer, sporting simple plain white walls with black trim and "Nat Fein" painted neatly on the side.

"Yo! Sup, Quinn!" Kurt suddenly heard, and turned to see a brunette boy with glasses quickly approaching them in a wheelchair.

"Hey Artie!" Quinn greeted him with a hug. "Artie, this is Kurt. He's our new ballet major. Kurt, this is Artie. He's in photography and graphic design."

"I also dabble a bit in film" Artie said as he brought his wheelchair to a halt. "So, what brings you two to this end of campus?"

"Just giving Kurt a quick tour. We're only halfway done, so we'd better get going. We have to finish before dinner starts." Quinn said.

Artie mock-sighed. "I will never understand you dancers' obsession with food. Well, have fun, guys. I'll see you around, Kurt."

"It was nice meeting you, Artie." Kurt replied.

Just as Kurt and Quinn began to walk away, Artie suddenly yelled to stop them.

"Wait, Quinn!"

Quinn turned. "Yeah?"

"I finished editing that footage you wanted. You can come by later and pick it up. I can't wait to see what you do with it."

Quinn smiled. "I'll swing by as soon as I can. Thanks again, Artie."

"Anytime." Artie winked, then headed off to his dorm building.

"Footage?" Kurt questioned. From the tone of the conversation, he couldn't help but believe that Quinn had something diabolical in mind.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a bit of embarrassing video of one of the Coles. You'll see it soon enough, I assure you." Quinn gave a wink similar to Artie's from a moment before, then continued to lead Kurt on his tour.

The next building they reached was also very modern, but with many more windows than the visual arts building. According to Quinn, it was the music building, used for band and orchestra rehearsals, as well as some of the vocal rehearsals for the theater and musical theater students. Behind it were once again two dorms in the same style as the music building. Both looked the same, except the left was labeled "Stravinsky" and the right "Duke Ellington".

Finally, Quinn took Kurt to the amphitheater that he'd seen earlier. Just beyond it was another large Victorian-style building, which housed Dalton's large auditorium. The doors to the building were locked because there wasn't a performance or rehearsal going on, but Quinn assured Kurt that it was beautiful and that he'd see it in no time. Behind the auditorium were once again two dorms, the left labeled "Sondheim" for the musical theater students and the right labeled "Arthur Miller" for the theater students.

"All of the building are grouped into pairs, like us and the Coles. So does that mean other sections have rivalries like ours?" Kurt wondered aloud as Quinn brought him back to their dorm building.

"They all do, but not to as great of an extent." Quinn explained. "The orchestra and band kids have little to no arguments, since they practically play in the ensemble anyway. The visual arts kids and the photography kids sometimes have their disagreements over what 'true art' is and all that, but most of them are usually too chill to make a big deal out of it. It's really the performers that have the rivalry issues, since we tend to be a bit...overdramatic when it comes down to it. The theater and musical theater majors are pretty bad, actually, but they don't do nearly as much to each other as the dance kids."

When they arrived back at their dorm, Quinn motioned for Kurt to swipe his card, which granted them access to the building.

"I promised some friends that I'd meet up with them for dinner tonight, so I'm sorry to leave you on your own." Quinn said once they were inside. "But I'm sure you'll be fine. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. You can also ask Nick or whoever the head off your floor is. I think it's Max, but you'll have to double check on that one." Quinn leaned in and gave Kurt a tight hug. "Welcome to Dalton, Kurt. I'll see you later."

Quinn tuned and left the building, leaving Kurt alone in the lobby for the first time since he arrived at Dalton.

"I guess I better get some dinner, then" Kurt murmured to himself before following Quinn's lead and walking out the door.

AN: The dance dorm is named after the choreographer and dancer Jack Cole, who is credited with developing the style of dance now typically seen in Broadway productions and in movie musicals.

The visual arts dorm is named after the artist Claude Monet, who is most famous for his impressionist-style paintings of Water Lilies.

The photography dorm is named after Nat Fein, a prominent press photographer in the 40's and 50's who is most famous for his picture of Babe Ruth in 1948, which won him the Pulitzer Prize.

The musical theater dorm is named after Stephen Sondheim, a composer best known for musicals such as Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Follies, Company and many more.

The theater dorm is named after Arthur Miller, a playwright who is most famous for writing Death of a Salesman, All My Sons and The Crucible.

The ballet dorm (the name of which was mentioned last chapter) is named after George Balanchine, one of the developers of ballet in the United States during the 20th century.