being alive | glee

1. MISTER CELLOPHANE

CHAPTER ONE |
mister cellophane

***

JASON MORENO WAS WALKING ALONGSIDE Jeff and Nick to the Senior Commons where the Warblers would be performing yet again for all of Dalton Academy to see. Jason always loved days like these when he could sing and dance with his best friends and just have fun. Still, there was a certain amount of pressure that came with being the superstars of their high school. They didn't have any room for error, but Jason didn't really have to worry about. It wasn't like he sang lead or anything. That honor went over to his best friend, Blaine Anderson.

He and Blaine had a bit of a tumultuous friendship. They had been neighbors ever since they were little which basically made them best friends by proxy. Neither would have sought out the other in the guise of companionship, but now that they were, they managed to stay friends. Jason was the one who managed to get Blaine to transfer to Dalton and maybe that was where their rivalry began. Before Blaine, Jason used to be a regular soloist within the Warblers. Now it was just the Blaine show and as much as he loved the guy, he was sick of it.

He threw his messenger bag onto the sofa when they got to the commons and he moved to stand next to Wes, getting into formation. They were singing yet another Katy Perry hit. Lately, it was all they ever sang and he was getting slightly tired of it, but his opinion didn't really matter anymore. He was used to fading into the background now.

His shoulders were slumped as he was making conversation with Trent who was standing to the right of him and asking about the Biology homework. They were all still waiting on Blaine who was nowhere to be found and as if by mere thought he appeared, holding the hand of a boy Jason had never seen before.

And suddenly he stood up straighter and looked at him more intently. He had on a red tie, but instead of a Dalton blazer, he wore a leather knee-length jacket. He was small. Fragile. He towered over Blaine, but that wasn't a hard feat. It seemed fascinated as his eyes searched the room. They were a cerulean blue and it felt like Jason was just looking into the ocean. It was warm and inviting and for just a moment, those blue eyes met his brown eyes and he sent over a soft smile, the smile growing brighter when the boy grinned right back at him. And then his eyes settled on Blaine and he remembered just how much someone like that boy would prefer someone like Blaine over him. He'd never compare.

Jason tried to pull himself out of his wonder towards the unnamed boy and envy towards Blaine as he began singing the backing vocals to another bubblegum pop song.

"Before you met me, I was alright, but things were kinda heavy. You brought me to life. Now every February, you'll be my Valentine, Valentine."

Jason wasn't focused on his teammates or even his lines. He could do this routine in his sleep. His eyes stayed trained on that boy and the excitement in his expression. He knew he wasn't looking at him, but it didn't matter. He was singing directly to him. He didn't know why this boy had struck such a chord in him, but he seemed unforgettable.

He was broken out of his trance by David slapping his shoulder in part of the choreography. He chuckled awkwardly, going into the snapping motion they did in the breakdown. Blaine turned his head and winked at him and he returned the best smile he could muster despite the fact that he was insanely jealous the boy was way more into Blaine than he could ever be in him.

Jason put his hands behind his back as they sang the last line in unison, dropping their heads at the end of the song. The room erupted into applause and cheers that usually he would indulge himself in, but he was brought out of his adrenaline by Blaine beckoning him, Wes, and David over to the boy he was dying to know the name of.

"Guys, this is Kurt." Blaine introduced the boy and suddenly it was like the world stopped spinning. Kurt. It suited him.

Jason was the first to speak which was a new feat for him because he generally never tried to bring attention to himself. He was one of those severely shy people with a performer complex. Singing was the only time he ever tried to be noticeable and seeing Kurt, he wanted more than anything to make an impression on him.