Work Text:
He knew right from the start that this would be a rough day. Kam didn’t really had any good days lately. He started to receive his first grades and really… It was a disaster. The only “easy” thing going for him was football. Kam was never a bad student, he was actually pretty average. He managed. But to change school -and country for that matter- was hard on him. The school year had started for less than a month but already: he was struggling. He hadn’t passed a single test since September. It wasn’t looking good for him. And he knew it. He tried to dodge any question from his father on that matter, but it was hard. And it would only get harder.
And today, he had to meet the principal in his office, alongside the football coach… And his dad. Kam felt so embarrassed. Luckily, his father couldn’t stick around after their little chat, so he left McKinley quite fast, telling him they would talk later. Kam felt his stomach tie into a knot. This wasn’t looking good for him. He was actually in big trouble. And he had to find a way to solve this before it got out of hand.
As soon as all this was over, Kam texted Stevie. He needed to talk about his situation to someone and it wasn’t like he had a lot of friends. Well… Yes, but he needed his best friend. It wasn’t like he could talk about this with his football mates. He was way too embarrassed for that. She was waiting for him at the cafeteria. Kam sat in front of her, pressing his forehead on the table, sighing very loudly.
“You look like you’re having a shitty day,” she said, frowning.
“You have no idea,” he mumbled. He could feel her hand through his hair. At least, he had come to the right person. The only one who would actually help him and be supportive. Kam left his head back, resting his cheek on his hand. “Just had a chat with the principal, the coach and my dad.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” she pouted.
“My grades are bad. Like really bad.” He could feel his voice starting to shake with anxiety. Saying it out loud made everything so real. And he was already feeling so bad about himself… “And they are considering pulling me out of the football team if I can’t… Get them up.”
“Fuck! That sucks… What did your dad say about this?”
“For now? Nothing, he had to get back to work. I feel like he’s gonna kill me…”
“Let’s hope not.” Stevie grabbed his hands, like she often did whenever she wanted to cheer him up. And she smiled. “What’s your plan?”
“I have no idea… I’ve been working my ass off already. I don’t know what else I can do…”
“How about tutoring..?”
“You’d be willing to do it?” he wondered, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh hell no, I’ve got enough to manage, sorry baby. But I can help you find someone.”
Stevie was being way too nice with him about this. But the tutoring idea wasn’t so bad. It would certainly pack up his schedule, but he could do it… Maybe. For now, all Kam could think of was how bad things were and it was difficult for him to feel any kind of positive emotions.
⁎*⁎
Ben
Can we talk before Glee Club?
That kind of text never meant anything good, right? Maybe Rorie should’ve followed that instinct. At least, he wouldn’t be in the situation he was in now. He stared with glazed eyes at the white board, barely hearing what Miss Berry was saying.
“I don’t think it will work,” Ben had said to him, less than an hour before Glee Club. “We had fun this summer. But you’re.. not what I’m looking for.”
Rorie didn’t know what hurt the most. Having to live that breakup in silence or the fact that, a couple hours earlier, just before the first class of the day, Ben had his tongue down his throat. Had he known then? Did he know it was the last time a little clandestine meeting would happen between them? Did he rehearse the way he would shatter Rorie’s heart while he could still feel his lips against his?
Now, Rorie had to sit there, mere meters away from him, like nothing had happened. Was it really a breakup if no one knew about them? Could he really be heartbroken over someone who was only his in silence and stolen moments? He felt like crying. Why was he even in this stupid club? Sure, he liked the group, so far. They were — mostly — kind and welcoming. He felt at home with them. He also could spend more time with Jessie, which was always a bonus. But he had auditioned for Ben, to spend time with him. What was he supposed to do, now?
“Are you okay?” he heard Jessie whisper to him, shaking him out of his stupor. He nodded, without a word. It wasn’t like he could tell her what was happening. He forced a smile he knew Jessie wouldn’t believe. That was the only thing he could do.
“We used to do this every year, when I was at your place,” Miss Berry said, pointing to the words on the white board. Mash-Up . “I want you to split into two groups. Each group will have until the end of the week to prepare a mash-up of your choosing and present it to the class. Consider this your first assignment of the year.”
Before Rorie could register anything that was going on, he got pulled out of his chair by Jessie, who had taken possession of his hand. At least, he knew he would be with his best friend. He just had to make sure he wouldn’t end up with Ben. And, as if someone had heard his silent prayers, the third new recruit, Stevie, came up to them, her dark ponytail bouncing on her shoulder as she walked.
“Since we’re all new to the team, do you guys want us to stick together?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Rorie simply answered, before Jessie could say anything that would scare her off. He was now one step closer to a group completely without Ben.
“Great! I was lowkey kinda scared of just showing up to people and sounding desperate. Like, I don’t know about you, but I don’t really know who’s friends with whom and I didn’t want to intrude on a friend group. Anyway–”
“Hey Stevie, wanna be with us?” a tall blond guy — Max, if Rorie remembered correctly — called for her, cutting her off.
“I already got some people with me,” she said, pointing to Jessie and him.
“Well, bring them. It’ll complete our group,” he insisted.
“Fine,” Stevie conceded with an eye roll.
And, just like that, Rorie was safe. Sure, he was in a group with three seniors who probably had very high expectations for them, but he could manage that. He squeezed Jessie’s hand, still in his, and addressed her a more sincere smile, hoping it would be enough to reassure her.
⁎*⁎
Truth was, Stevie had ulterior motives to suddenly approach Jessie and Rorie. It wasn’t just because of the ‘new kids on the team’ shtick. Everything was calculated. She knew of them. They had shared some classes the year before and Jessie used to be part of the Trouble Tones with her. That meant she also knew what they were like in school. For lack of better words, they were nerds. Which wasn’t always a bad thing. They had it easy at school. And she had said to Kam that she would get him a tutor. It could certainly not hurt to ask. But, for that, she had to get to know them. Especially that quiet guy, Rorie. So, as Max, Beth and Belle were planning their mash-up, Stevie spent most of the time observing him.
Rorie was a mystery to her. Sure, the guy was part of some clubs — the debate team and the academic decathlon — but his interest in the New Directions seemed like it was coming out of nowhere. He deserved his place, there was no doubt about that. But, unlike anyone else who would usually join the group, he had never been a part of another glee club. He had never even auditioned for one. For most of the meetings the New Directions had so far, he had just stayed quiet in the back of the room, only whispering to Jessie from time to time. Stevie was usually good at deciphering people around her and here was that boy that she managed to analyze but couldn’t really figure out what his deal was.
Most importantly, would he accept to help her — and Kam — if she was to ask him? After all, they didn’t know each other. Not really. They were basically strangers. If he was someone as kind as she thought he could be — from watching the way he was interacting with Jessie and politely talking to the others in their current little group — maybe he would. But, otherwise, she would have to find something to make him accept. One thing was sure, that ‘something’ couldn’t be money. Neither Kam or her were ‘paying tutor’ kind of rich. But she could find something. If only she managed to get more information about him…
“Stevie! Are you even paying attention?” called Belle’s voice, clearly irritated.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, as Max sent her an apologetic look. Maybe this would’ve to wait. She didn’t want to piss off the ice queen herself.
“As I was saying,” Beth continued, her hand on Arrabella’s thigh seemingly keeping her from jumping at Stevie’s throat. “I’m guessing the other group will do something more pop in a traditional way. I am not against some punk inspirations, so to assure that what we’re giving is different soundwise and more noticeable, I’m proposing a mashup of Olivia Rodrigo and 5 Second of Summer. Everyone okay with that?” She waited for a second, but no objections were heard. “Perfect. Max and I will work on the music sheet and I’ll send it to you. Belle will work on some choreography. We’ll meet tomorrow for practice. Please be prepared.”
The three Sophomore nodded, taking mental notes of everything. Soon enough after that, Miss Berry excused them from the rest of the class, so each group could work by themselves. And Stevie was back on her mission. Or, actually, she thought maybe it would be best to approach Rorie right now to ask him. She could find something for him in exchange later, if that was necessary.
“Hey, Rorie, wait!” she called out to him as she saw him walk out the choir room. She walked quickly to get to his height, smiling brightly.
“Yeah?” He seemed suspicious and, looking back at their interactions today, she could see why. After all, there she was accosting him twice when they had never talked before. She really hoped he didn’t believe she was teasing him in any way. After all, she was a moderately popular cheerleader and he was one of those quiet kids others would usually tease.
“I was wondering,” she began, trying to find the right way to ask this. “You got good grades, right?”
“Hm, yeah, why?”
“Would you be interested in tutoring someone? It’s for my friend. He’s been struggling with his classes. He’s new here. And I don’t mean just this school. He’s new to the US too. I don’t want him to have a harder time than necessary. He could lose his spot on the football team if it doesn’t change,” she explained, hoping Kam wouldn’t mind that she had told all of this to a total stranger. “You would save his life and, by association, mine!”
Rorie looked at her, seemingly confused for a moment. But he didn’t seem like he was looking for a way to let her down easy. Which was a start. “Why me?” he finally asked.
“Honestly? You’re one of the only smart people I know. And I figured, why not shoot my shot. If you accept, I’ll owe you. Big time.”
“It’s fine, you won’t owe me anything,” Rorie assured with a soft smile. “Can I think about it? I’ll have to make sure my dad is fine with me doing this.”
“Yeah, no problem. Here, pass me your phone, I’ll give you my number.” As he handed her his phone, Stevie entered her name and phone number in his contact. She soon gave it back to him. Maybe it wasn’t a positive response yet, but it was close enough to make her want to jump around from joy. “You’ll just have to tell me if it’s cool or not as soon as you’re decided. And I’ll introduce you to him then.”
“Alright. See you tomorrow for practice?” he said, ready to leave.
“You betcha! Hydrate a lot ‘til then. Arrabella can get intense sometimes,” she warned him with a laugh. With a small wave, Rorie turned around and sprinted to catch up to Jessie. Now she only had to cross her fingers that he would accept her offer. Just like him, she started walking in the direction of the school exit. She was soon stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned around to face her boyfriend.
“Hey princess,” Max said, putting his arm around her shoulder. She got up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Want a lift back home?”
That was probably one of the best things about dating someone older than her. Max had his own car and was often willing to drive her when she needed it, saving her from the bus. She absolutely loved that. She nodded with enthusiasm, her ponytail jumping on her back. “Can we go get a bubble tea before you drop me off?”
“Whatever you want,” he said simply,
Max had that way of looking at her and talking to her that made Stevie feel like she was floating. As they walked to his car, Max held her hand, making her feel like she was on top of the world. Their relationship may not have been perfect, but they were teenagers. Who — at their age — could have the perfect relationship? They were officially together since the beginning of the summer, but they had been gravitating around each other since the year before. Most of their problems were due to her intense personality and Max’s problems at communicating his feelings, but, according to Stevie, they were worth the effort they had to put in their relationship. Plus, she really did love him.
After Max parked his car in the bubble tea shop’s parking lot, he went to open her door and helped her get out of the car. As they walked hand in hand to the shop, Stevie couldn’t help but smile. No matter the flaws in their relationships, she always had those moments where she felt like she had hit the jackpot. “Same thing as always?” he asked her, as they entered.
“Why change a winning formula?”
“Alright. Go pick a table, I’ll order that,” he said, kissing her hand.
“You’re the best,” she beamed. She went for a table in the corner of the shop, with a great view outside. While she was waiting, she scrolled on her phone. Until she received a text.
Unknown number
Hi, it’s Rorie
I’ll do it 😊
“Hell yeah!” she exclaimed to herself, so happy that her best friend job was successfully done.
“What is it?” Max asked, handing her her cup as he arrived at their table.
“Kam needed some help with school. I managed to find him a tutor,” she explained. “I asked Rorie if he would help him and he just accepted. That means I’ll indeed be cheering for Kam this football season. Thank God! I would’ve been sad if he couldn’t be part of the team.”
“Great,” he said, seemingly bothered. Stevie’s eyebrows furrowed at that.
“You’re okay?” she asked, suddenly worried by his tone.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m spending some time with my favourite girl.” To that, she couldn’t help but blush. He gave her a dashing smile to prove his point and Stevie forced herself to brush off her feeling that something was wrong. Maybe she was reading too much into this. Simple as that.
⁎*⁎
Stevie 🩷
Still alive?
Kam
For now
My dad’s pretty pissed I didn’t tell him before how bad things are…
But my head is still attached to my body
If that’s what you meant
Stevie 🩷
Great! 😁
Because I’ve found you a tutor!
No need to thank me, I know, I’m incredible! 🥰
Kam
You did? 😱
Omg I could kiss you!!!
Stevie 🩷
I know you would! 🥰
I’ll introduce him to you at school tomorrow. He’s adorable! I think you guys can get along pretty well
Kam
Frankly, I don’t care about adorable for now
As long as I can pass
⁎*⁎
This wasn’t going to be easy. But, the next morning, Kam felt more confident about all of his situation. Stevie was really the best. And when they met at school the next morning, he let her know. Kam hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek as Stevie was laughing and hugging him back. Everyone was staring at them, like it was often the case. But Kam didn’t care about it at this point. He got used to it, it’s not like it was going to stop anytime soon, apparently. Kam had never felt this pressure before. He was well known at his old school, because he was in the football team as well, but he wasn’t popular like he was now. Everyone would greet him if they passed him in the hallways. And it was weird. But he was getting used to it.
“You’re the best!” Kam told her as he was letting her go.
“Oh, trust me, I know!” Stevie responded with a wink. “Oh! There he is!”
As she often did, Stevie grabbed Kam’s arm and pulled him in the direction she needed. They stopped next to an open locker. A boy was standing there and he was actually talking with some girl. She was short — shorter than Stevie — and had mid length brown hair with pink highlights. As soon as Stevie greeted them, the girl simply disappeared. Apparently not the people person. And that’s when his eyes locked with the boy in front of him.
Kam felt his heart jump in his chest, rushing like nobody’s business. He even stopped breathing for a second — or maybe he was holding his breath, he wasn’t sure.
Oh…
“Rorie, I introduce you to Kam Darcy.” Stevie’s voice sounded like it was so far away. But still managed to bring him back to the present. “He’s the football player I told you about. You know… The one with the very bad grades.”
“Stevie…” Kam sighed.
“What? It’s the truth,” she shrugged. “And Kam, meet Rorie Bane. We’re in the New Directions together.”
“Hi,” Rorie said.
His voice was soft and warm. Like the prettiest music Kam had ever heard before. No wonder Rorie was in the Glee Club. He probably sang very well, or so Kam thought. Everything about Rorie was… Breathtaking. His dark brown curls framing his face, clashing with his pale skin. And his eyes… Kam felt he’d never seen such nice eyes in his life. They were dark brown, almond shaped, and terribly kind. There was a spark in them. Kam could spend hours staring at beautiful eyes like these… He felt the blood rushing to his face. Was he… Blushing?
Kam felt Stevie’s elbow on his ribs. Bringing him back to reality and pulling him out of his staring. His face regained a normal temperature. He ran his hand to his own hair, as he was stepping back into the conversation and realized he was actually just staring in silence, being rude to this boy who was supposed to help him. What was wrong with him..?
“Hi,” he finally responded. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too!” Rorie’s face carved into a smile. And gosh, of course, he had a nice smile. Kam felt his stomach completely turn around. And he smiled back. Like an idiot. But he smiled back. The bell rang at that moment, saving him from another very awkward moment of him standing in silence. Stevie kissed Kam’s cheek and waved at Rorie before disappearing in the sea of students, on her way to her own class. “You’re heading to English class, right?” he asked and Kam nodded. He was still too struck to speak. “Great, me too! I’ll walk with you, and we could exchange numbers after and start to check when we can meet up after school? If that’s good for you.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
⁎*⁎
Truth be told, Rorie had seen Kam before he actually met him. They shared three classes in total. English, history and art. It was during the first art class of the year, as Olivia — their teacher and Jessie’s mom — was introducing herself, that he made his noticeable entrance. He arrived late and looked like he was lost and confused. Which made him even more stand out. Even if Rorie was still dating Ben at that time, he wasn’t blind. He noticed pretty quickly how handsome this boy was. With his messy strawberry blond hair, his freckles all over his face and his kind eyes, Kam was probably the prettiest boy in all the school. Rorie thought this was where all of this would come to an end for them. After all, he had a boyfriend and, even if the guy was completely handsome, they would never talk, never share the same social circle and nothing could happen between them. And, as a football player, it was clear that he would never be attracted to him in any way possible. End of the story.
But there he was, talking to Kam and getting to know him a little before they could plan how the tutoring would go. He had agreed to help Stevie’s friend without knowing that it was the stupidly handsome new kid who shared some of his classes. For a moment, Rorie wished he was a girl. Maybe even a pretty cheerleader like Stevie. Life would’ve been much easier if it was the case, especially his love life. He could’ve just flirted with this beautiful boy until he was certain if he had a shot or not.
But he couldn’t just do that, because he wasn’t a girl. He had absolutely no chance with someone like Kam. And that was the harsh reality he lived in. He was lucky enough to have found a boyfriend this summer and he wasn’t even able to have kept him for more than a couple weeks after they got back to school. He was destined to be alone for a long time, with those odds. He just had to get over it.
After sharing their numbers and their schedules, their first tutoring session was set for the next day, after Rorie was done with the Glee Club. They would meet in the library for an hour, which was the time Rorie’s dad was allowing him before demanding him back home. Truth was, he was improvising. He had never given any tutoring to anyone. What was he supposed to do? He wasn’t even sure. All he knew was that Stevie — a complete stranger — had trusted him enough to ask for help for her best friend that he didn’t know. Maybe he could be trusted with that task.
He just had to pretend he knew what he was doing for that first session and everything would be fine, right?
As he sat in the auditorium — before he had to join Kam in the library in about half an hour — watching the performance from the other group, Rorie’s eyes were absolutely avoiding the stage. Mostly avoiding to look Ben’s way at any cost necessary. He didn’t want to seem like the desperate ex obsessed with him. Even though he wasn’t looking at their performance, Rorie had to admit it, their mash-up of Fame Is a Gun by Addison Rae and Glamorous by Fergie was good. Very good. They had set the bar high for their performance the next day. But he wasn’t stressed about it.
Arrabella had been ruthless with their rehearsals the day before, but he felt confident enough with the whole thing now. Their choreography was good. Beth and Max had managed to mash-up get him back by Olivia Rodrigo and She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer pretty well. The whole number would be fun. They would crush this.
When Miss Berry told them they could go, Rorie said his goodbyes to Jessie as he went in the direction of the library. At one of the tables of the library, Kam was waiting, looking at his phone. For an instant, Rorie wondered if he was texting anyone. He brushed away that thought. It wasn’t his business, after all.
“Hey,” he announced, before sitting in front of Kam.
“Hey,” Kam said in return, turning his phone face to the table instantly. He gave Rorie a smile that made him weak in the knees. God was he handsome. Rorie tried to mask what he was feeling as he took some pens and a notebook out of his bag. “How was the Glee Club?” Kam asked him, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
“It was nice. We’re divided in groups this week and the other one was showing their performance.” He kept it brief. He didn’t want to bore him with this. After all, Kam was kind enough to ask questions, like it concerned him. He couldn’t take advantage of that. He was just his new study buddy, after all.
“That’s cool!” he exclaimed, making Rorie smile a bit. Of course, he was kind enough to act like he cared.
“So, do you have any class that needs urgent attention?” Rorie asked, changing the subject.
“Everything?” he laughed, embarrassed. “Stevie wasn’t exaggerating, my grades are a disaster right now. But I have a test in maths next week. So, I guess we could start with that?”
“Yeah, okay!” Maths were easy, for him at least. He could manage to help him with maths. And, just like that, he felt a little bit like he could do this. He had this. “Who’s your teacher?” he asked as he was getting his textbook out.
“Miss Porter,” Kam told him.
“Oh, rude! I had her last year. She’s.. not the best.” That was one way to say ‘one of the worst teachers he had ever met’, but he wasn’t about to say that to Kam. With the look he gave him, the opinion on Miss Porter must’ve been shared. “But you’ll manage. Or, at least, I’ll help you. I’m here for that, right?”
“Thank you. For helping me. Especially since we don’t know each other.”
As he looked up at Kam, Rorie could only see sincerity on his face. That’s all he wanted. To help. That would be worth the effort, even if he had absolutely no clue what he was doing. “Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see if we can get you a better score for your next test before that,” Rorie said with a smile.
And, with that, he pushed whatever he was feeling for him in a corner of his mind. He knew he had to forget about all of it, especially if he wanted to actually help him. For the next hour, Rorie just had to drown himself in equations, formulas and different ways to explain them until it was over. And that’s what he would do, again and again, for every tutoring session, until he would forget all about his crush — or whatever it was. It was the only thing to do.