Kurt was not having a good day (and the near daily routine of slushy facials and getting slammed into lockers had not even begun yet). It started with his morning cleansing routine being disrupted and being chased out of the bathroom due to his stepbrother's loose bowel movement – when he told Finn to get rid of the milk, he meant throw it away not chug it all down! Then, while at the café with Mercedes, the cashier had spilt coffee all over him – worse still, all over his new Ralph Lauren cashmere sweater!

So now here he was, on his way to school, dead skin cells accumulated on his face, his skin dry, wearing a non-designer sweater (luckily Mercedes lived nearby and her dad was kind enough to lend him some clothes). If I see so much as one new blackhead on my face tomorrow, Finn is going to pay. He could not wait till he got to school, where his emergency clothes waited for him in his locker, and more importantly, where Blaine was. After all, seeing Blaine always made him feel better. He just had to wait a little while longer.

After changing into something more fashionable, he'd made his way down the halls of McKinley, carefully avoiding the Jocks, looking for his boyfriend. Unfortunately for Kurt, what he saw when he found said boyfriend was not exactly what he had expected.

Beside Blaine stood another boy, and the two seemed deep in conversation. Under most circumstances, Kurt would not have minded the least if Blaine was talking to another boy, but this was different. The boy in question was not dressed like the other slobs in McKinley High, he was dressed in a suit, had immaculately gelled hair, and a feminine quality to him that made Kurt see him as a potential rival when it came to Blaine.

Oh no, first it was Meerkat Face, now it's Gay Midget. Not this time. Plastering a smile onto his face, he marched right up to the two. "Hey there, care to introduce your friend?" Kurt greeted, his hand finding Blaine's, holding it protectively.

Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, his eyes widened. The "boy" was no competition at all! Heck, he wasn't even a boy! He'd been worrying himself for absolutely nothing! Kurt sighed inwardly in relief as Blaine introduced his new friend.

The interior of McKinley was hardly as bad as Franky had originally thought. Aside from a few brightly coloured sticky looking stains here and there, everything was pretty much up to par.

Blaine seemed like a nice enough guy too, with him being a fairly new transfer student, and a fellow outcast, Franky found that she could relate to him. He might even become a good friend in time to come. Friend, Franky laughed humourlessly to herself as memories of her friends in Bristol and even the one in Oxford, flashed through her mind.

After showing her around, talking about whatever came to mind, and finally leading her to her locker, Franky had gotten quite comfortable around Blaine and became a bit more conversable, and the two had gotten to talking about their old schools.

"You see Dalton was…" Blaine was cut off when a fashionably dressed boy came up to him, taking his hand possessively.

"Hey there, care to introduce your friend?" the boy asked Blaine, his eyes widening slightly upon seeing at Franky.

"Oh, hey! Kurt, this is Franky. She just transferred here from Bristol. Franky, this is Kurt, my boyfriend" Blaine responded, doing the introductions.

Now it was Franky's turn to be surprised. Blaine is gay? No shit. She smirked at the revelation; she should have guessed, having two gay dads and all, one would think she'd recognise a homosexual when she saw one.

New Directions was going to lose, Finn was positive of that. Even with Sam Evans, the Troubletones were still going to be hard to beat, and worst of all, New Directions still lacked members! Sure the band geeks could help with the membership count, but they weren't exactly great dancers or singers, worse than that, they weren't real glee members, they didn't even really want to participate. Sure, he had been forced by Mr Schue to join it when he was a sophomore, but he had grown to like it, love it in fact. New Directions was now practically his life. Sadly the band geeks didn't seem like they would be very receptive of glee club anytime soon.

Glee club needed members – members who actually wanted to be there. But who in McKinley would be brave (or daft, depending on how you look at it) enough to actually join it willingly?

Saying her first class was a bore would be an understatement, and she thought the lessons in Bristol were dull enough. Why was she even in a US History class? She wasn't even a bloody Yank. Her classmates themselves seemed not to give a damn either. Those who weren't sound asleep were throwing paper airplanes and stationary about the classroom, and the teacher just went on reading from a textbook, seemingly oblivious (or more likely, resigned) to the state her class was in. Only one person in the class showed any interest in the lesson – a tall, brown haired boy in a green hoodie.

When class finally ended, Franky was surprised to find the boy approaching her, and even more so when he opened his mouth. "So, you're pretty far from home too huh?"

The irony, the only person interested in American history, isn't American at all.

He must have mistook her surprise for confusion for he quickly added in, "Oh right, erm, I'm Rory, Rory Flanagan. It's nice to meet you Francesca!" He grinned widely, waiting for her response.

"Franky" She said quietly, still trying to process the perky Irish guy.

His grin widened, and he went on introducing himself further, following her as she left the classroom.

"… And then I joined glee club. Plenty of nice people there, they don't make fun of you or shove you in lockers and all." glee club, now where have I heard that before? "And it's actually pretty fun. Speaking of which, we actually have a meeting later on." He paused for a while as an idea dawned on him. "Would you like to join us? Or maybe just hang out till the meeting time? I don't really have anything to do right now…"

He gave her a hopeful look that seemed to have a trace of helplessness (then again the guy perpetually seemed to wear a look beseeching sympathy), and Franky found herself unable to turn him down. A new start yeah? "Alright? I guess I'll stay for a while."

A smile even wider than the one he wore earlier broke across his face, and he led her to the choir room.

Rory liked the new girl, there was no doubt about that. Sure, she was quiet and a little withdrawn, but she was polite (well, except for her occasional swearing. But she did seem to treat people decently) and most importantly, she was willing to be his friend. "We usually have our practice and meetings here, though occasionally we do get to use the auditorium."

He smiled when he saw her fiddling with the musical instruments. "The others probably will probably come later. Most of them are seniors so they're kinda busier with school stuff. Do you want to sing a tune?"

"What?" the question seemed to shock her.

"C'mon it'll be fun" He replied signalling to some band members.

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

He gave Franky a friendly nudge, trying to break her awkwardness, before continuing

And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom,

"Let it be" Franky finished the verse and proceeded on, thinking of her friends and taking her first step, though miserably small, in accepting the fact that she's left them.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

At this Rory joined in, glad that she'd gone along with him.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

They finished to the sound of clapping and were surprised to find Blaine walking into the room with Mr Schue.

"I didn't know you could sing Franky!" Blaine exclaimed, recognising her as he stepped in.

"You know, glee club could use more members." Mr Schue added in smiling. "I'm Mr Schuester by the way, the glee club director. We'd be extremely glad to have you, you are quite talented. " He walked towards Franky to shake her hand.

Now, she was absolutely mortified. "I can't," she mumbled in response to both Blaine and Mr Schuester, as she sidestepped the teacher and walked off, not daring to look up.