And Here's What You Missed on...GLEE

My alarm clock went off at ten the next morning. “Ugh…” I groaned, turning over and shutting it off. My eyes fluttered closed again; I was tired since I hadn’t gone to sleep until three thirty the morning before. Six and a half hours of sleep just wasn’t enough for me.

When I remembered that I had to be up and ready by the time Kurt got there at eleven, I sighed loudly, but I did get up.

After a fast shower and blow-drying my hair, I got dressed in some sweats and sat at the kitchen table. The cup of coffee in my hands was warm, and the caffeine helped me wake up.

At eleven on the dot, a car I wasn’t familiar with pulled into the driveway. With my eyebrows pulled together, I tossed my mug into the sink and went out to greet it.

As I approached, Kurt stepped out of the driver’s side and locked the doors with the remote in his hand, despite the fact that he was literally only a foot away from it.

“Dad gave me my car back for today, just so that he didn’t have to chauffer us around everywhere,” Kurt explained. I didn’t ask why his dad had taken away the car in the first place, since it wasn’t my business.

“That’s cool,” I commented before walking over to the passenger’s side of the car and pulling on the handle to open the door, forgetting that Kurt had locked it.

Kurt sighed and unlocked the door so that I could be admitted. Smiling sheepishly, I got into the seat and pulled on my seatbelt.

“Do you realize what you’re wearing?” Kurt questioned me. I looked down and sighed.

“What? What’s so wrong about this?”

“You’re wearing sweats out. Sweats are for working out and lounging around the house. Not going to the mall.”

I let out a laugh. “I’m not giving up my sweats. I wear sweat clothes about once a week to be comfortable. On Saturdays and Sundays, I usually spend the entire day in my pajamas, so you’re lucky that I’m dressed at all.”

He shuddered a little. “Well, we’re going to have to get you some really nice sweatpants then.”

Grinning at my victory, Kurt finally pulled out of the driveway.

I checked my pocket once more to make sure that the folded bills were still there. Mom had just shoved a whole bunch of bills at me the night before, so I wasn’t even totally positive how much she had given me. That was something that I probably should have checked.

Thinking about it, I pulled the bills out of my pocket and started counting. “Holy shit,” I mumbled as I realized just how much she had given me. “I’m not sure that Mom should have given me this much money…”

“How much?” Kurt questioned, glancing at me for a second. He was driving extremely carefully. Something told me that the car was very important to him.

“She gave me two hundred bucks,” I mumbled, counting again. I must have counted something five times too many or something.

“That’s not that much,” Kurt told me. “A sweater or a pair of jeans could cost that much.”

“No,” I interjected, “I know that I’m going to have to get more fashionable, or whatever, but I’m not wearing top-name designer brands.” Kurt opened his mouth, but I cut him off again. “Which means no items of clothing above thirty dollars each.”

“You’re making this difficult,” he told me, “but I can make it work.”

“Good,” I grinned. “I’m too cheap to spend more money on a single item of clothing anyway. I’m too cheap to shop, usually.”

“Just remember that this isn’t your money. It’s your mom’s.” We pulled into the mall parking lot and climbed out, walking toward the large building.

I hesitated for a second in front of the mall doors. I knew that I was going to emerge a different person, a different Ellie. Was I ready for that?

Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm, starting to drag me ever-closer to the automatic doors. “It’s not going to bite.”

* * *

“No,” I said defiantly as Kurt pulled out some sort of weird peach-colored knee-length sweater with big black buttons going down the middle.

“Ellie, will you work with me here? You’re making this difficult.”

“I know, but…” I shrugged. “These clothes are just not…me.”

“That’s the point,” Kurt sighed. “You’re trying to find a new style because yours is just not working.”

I grumbled, knowing that he was right, and started following him around again. He had already told me three times that I didn’t have to follow him, I could go find my own clothes. That backfired when I realized that I didn’t know my way around the store and kind of got lost.

“Alright, I don’t care what you say because you are getting this,” Kurt insisted, pulling out a dark turquoise v-neck t-shirt. The material was really soft, and I smiled.

“I actually like that.”

“Good.” He draped it over his arm, and we continued to look around the store.

* * *

“Are you sure this looks okay?” I mumbled, tugging on my shirt. I felt so uncomfortable in my skinny jeans and deep purple shirt with a black vest over it. Thankfully, Kurt allowed me to keep wearing my Converse, so my feet felt normal, at least.

“You look hot,” Kurt shrugged. “Don’t look now, but that football player just checked you out.”

I stood up a little straighter with a small smile playing across my lips, feeling a little more confident. “Maybe this won’t be so bad?” I smiled.

As I turned around, I immediately felt a sickeningly familiar cold sensation encompassing my face and dripping down my shirt. Shivering, I wiped my eyes and found myself facing Karofsky (I learned his name after he slushied me the first time).

“Why are you such a dick?” I snapped at him. “Can you be a normal, nice human being for ten seconds?!”

“Hey!” Puck’s voice called from behind me. He came out of nowhere and slammed Karofsky up against a locker, his arm strong against Karofsky’s chest. “What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t slushie her. Ever.”

I stared at Puck wonderingly. Why was he being nice…? Since when was he ever thinking about anyone but himself?

“Like I’m going to do what a fag from Glee Club tells me to," Karofsky chuckled, pushing Puck away from him harshly.

Puck started going at Karofsky again, but I stepped between them. Shivering slightly, I put a hand on Puck’s chest to stop him. “Alright, alright. Cut it out. Karofsky’s a douche, but he’s not even worth the energy of beating the shit out of him.”

“Having a girl fight your battles for you?” Karofsky snickered. “Why am I not surprised?”

Then, Karofsky turned to his buddy, Azimio, and they turned and laughed at Puck and me. They made their way down the hallway, making taunts here and there.

“C’mon,” Kurt started, pulling me down the hallway toward the girls’ bathroom, “we have to get you cleaned up. I brought some extra clothes that I bought for you when you weren’t looking.”

I was about to ask what he was talking about, but I turned back to Puck. “Thanks,” I granted. “That was surprisingly sweet.”

“Karofsky’s just a jerk,” Puck replied with a shrug. Kurt gave another tug at my arm, and I had to follow.

“God, could he stop being in love with you for five seconds?” Kurt giggled as he started running the water in the bathroom, checking the temperature to make sure that it was warm.

“What are you talking about? He was just…looking out for me. We’re friends, I guess.”

“Puck doesn’t really have friends,” he responded. “And he definitely doesn’t look out for anyone.”

Not knowing how to answer that, I just sighed. Kurt motioned for me to bend over, and I did as he said, feeling his fingers working the grape artificially flavored goop out of my hair.