Into The Mist - 1
Sam Evans gasped as he woke up with a jolt. He had a ringing in his ears and in that small space between sleeping and being awake, he desperately tried to hold on to the dream he had just been having. But it was no use. The dream was instantly forgotten as he heard Principal Figgins voice rising across the room.
Wait...Principal Figgins?
Sam sat up straight in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He gazed around him feeling slightly shocked and a little embarrassed. He had never fallen asleep in a lesson before, he couldn't believe he had slept in front of an entire classroom. He hoped that nobody had noticed. He scanned the room from his seat at the back of the class. Luckily, nobody was paying attention to him. In fact, all of his fellow pupils looked like they were about to fall asleep at any moment as well.
Figgins was droning on about some remote part of the world and how it is prone to freak weather. Sam was pretty sure the head teacher was making the whole thing up. The usual Geography teacher was off sick so the school board had roped Figgins in through sheer desperation for the last week. Everyone had come to the conclusion that the man didn't know the first thing about…. Well, about anything really. It amazed Sam how he had been allowed to run the school.
He jumped in his seat as the piercing end of lesson bell rang. It didn't usually make him jump so much, but he figured with his little snooze he must be extra tired and sensitive to things today. The bell was so loud to him that he may as well have had his ear up against it when it went off.
He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. He frowned at his desk as he realised he didn't have any books or his bag with him. He must have left them in his locker before the lesson. He probably figured he wouldn't have had to do much work with Figgins doing the lesson so he had obviously left everything behind.
He watched the rush of pupils stampeding out of the classroom, each footstep sounding like a bomb going off in his head. He wondered what the hell was wrong with his ears today. If it carried on, he would have to have them looked at by the school nurse. He checked the wall clock for the time, smiling when he saw it was lunch. He ran to catch up with his best friend Blaine.
Sam briefly wondered why Blaine hadn't waited for him like he usually did, but then he remembered that Blaine and his boyfriend Kurt had just had a huge row and hadn't spoken for two days. Ever since then, Blaine had been in a world of his own.
Blaine and Kurt were solid. Everybody had been shocked when both boys came thundering into Glee club a few days ago and sat apart from each other. Apparently, Kurt had been texting some guy he had met in a record store and Blaine wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Sam could see both sides. He thought that maybe Blaine was over reacting a little bit, but he could also see that if he had a girlfriend who was texting another guy more than she did him, it would blow.
Sam nudged Blaine in good jest , throwing him a toothy grin.
"Hey you. Things still awkward in paradise?"
Blaine didn't even look at him as they walked down the corridor together. Sam sighed and rolled his eyes, nudging his friend again, this time with more force. Blaine frowned and touched his arm as if Sam had just stabbed him.
"Come on dude, talk to me. It's Kurt you are grumpy with, not me. You seriously need to go and make things up with him. You two fighting is like Rachel without her crazy animal sweaters. It's weird. The world feels all out of time."
The boys stopped at their lockers. Blaine let out the biggest sigh Sam had ever heard. He watched as his friend opened his locker and shoved some books in angrily. The sound of the locker being slammed shut hurt Sams ears again.
"Ouch. Take it easy Blaine. You don't want to be on record for destroying the school. It's just an argument. Things will be OK again."
Blaine stared at the locker he had just shut, his eyes cold and empty. Just for a second, Sam watched as he placed his head against the cold metal and groaned. Then he shook his head as if to get rid of all the bad thoughts swimming around and walked off, leaving Sam there on his own.
Sam grunted under his breath as he felt in his pockets for his locker keys.
If Blaine wanted to take it out on him then whatever. He had tried. All he ever did was try. If that was the type of reaction he got back then he couldn't be bothered. It wasn't his argument after all.
He frowned as he realised his pockets were empty. Where the hell were his keys? He needed them to get his lunch out.
He brought a packed lunch every day. His family wasn't exactly well off and he figured that bringing a lunch to school was less embarrassing than claiming the free school dinner. Everybody knew that if you claimed the free school dinner, you were poor.
But right now, none of it exactly mattered. He didn't have his locker keys anyway so he would have to go hungry.
He started retracing his steps back to the classroom. Maybe he dropped his keys somewhere along the way. It didn't help with the amounts of students that were walking down the corridors. He couldn't really see anything let alone a miniscule key.
When he reached the classroom again and had a quick look around the table he had been sitting at , he realised that he may as well give up.
He would just have to go without for today and get a new key at some point. Across the hall in the next classroom, Sam watched as the female teacher scraped a chair back on the floor. The pain that shot through his head at this movement was like nothing he had ever felt. He held on to his ears and groaned out in pain, kneeling down slightly as if to shield himself from whatever it was that seemed to be happening to him. He didn't feel right at all.
He had to get to the nurse. He let his hands fall at his sides and gingerly made his way to the nurses office.
The sight that greeted him when he arrived was almost enough to make him curse out loud, and he wasn't really one for cursing. The line to see the nurse was half way down the corridor but Sam knew that he couldn't risk leaving it. He felt funny, and he knew he had to get it checked out.
He stood behind a girl a few years below him. From what he could gather, she was waiting to see the nurse because she feared her heart had actually broken in two. She was telling the girl in front of her the long tale about how she had found her boyfriend of five days hugging another girl, and she was worried she might never recover from it so she wanted to know if the nurse could do anything.
Sam rolled his eyes at the teenage drama of it all and sat down, his back pressed up against the cold corridor wall. It looked like he was in for some quite some wait.
...
Sam blinked sleepily as the piercing school bell screeched through the corridor. He jumped up on to his feet, looking around him. What the hell was wrong with him today? How long had he been asleep in this corridor? He was the only one left, the place was deserted. He listened as doors opened and floods of students started rushing out from their lessons. He looked at his watch. He had been asleep all afternoon. That couldn't be right? He knew for certain now that he was feeling under the weather.
He had to go home and sleep it off, he had a busy week coming up. His football team had a big game in two nights and the Glee club were performing at sectionals the night after. He had to be feeling better if he was to perform to the best of his ability.
He hit his palm to his head as he realised the time and the day. He should be making his way to Glee club right now. But there was no way he could sit through the session, not when he was feeling this weird. He hoped Mr Schuester would understand, after all, he had never missed a session yet. There was a first time for everything.
He made his way to the choir room, feeling nervous at telling Mr Schu he couldn't join in today. He hoped he wouldn't give him a lecture about pulling together for the sake of the club and how they needed him today because he just really couldn't face it.
He was probably being a little harsh on him though, of all the teachers in the school, Mr Schu was the one most likely to understand. He was the best teacher they had and everybody, including those who weren't even in Glee club , loved him.
Sam took a deep breath and opened up the door to the choir room. Nobody was sitting in their usual chairs , they were all empty and sad looking. Instead, the group all sat in a huge circle on the floor, bowing their heads.
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
Sam frowned as nobody moved a muscle. Each of them sat just as still as statues. Sam moved closer to the circle, smiling as he realised that Blaine and Kurt were side by side and clutching hands. They must have made up this afternoon.
He was just about to go and plonk himself in the middle of the two boys…. (This was a regular thing of his, Blaine and Kurt hated Sam getting in the way which was why he did it all the time. He knew they loved him really.) …..when the group all looked up.
Rachel was sitting opposite Sam and as he stood there watching her, his heart broke a little. She was wiping her eyes. Her face was twisted in pain and grief and it made him want to hug her. He wouldn't though. Of course he wouldn't. Can you imagine what people would say?! He had already been being mocked about how close he had been getting to Rachel just recently. Everybody thought it was hysterical.
The jock and the annoying outspoken girl from Glee club who wears the worlds worst clothes were the talk of the school. To be fair, Sam actually liked Rachels clothes. He liked how she wasn't the same as the other girls in school. He liked that she didn't give a crap despite the fact that people spoke about her daily. He liked…. Well, he liked her.
He watched as her eyes looked up towards the ceiling. He could have watched her for ages yet but his eyes drifted to Blaine who had just let out an audible sob. Sam watched as Kurt clutched his hand and tried to reassure him.
"It's OK Blaine. Everything will get better, you will see. He will always be your best friend, no matter where he is now. It will all be OK."
Blaine nodded sadly and looked down at the floor again. Kurt clutched his boyfriends hand even tighter as Sams head started to spin.
…..always going to be your best friend, no matter where he is?... What the hell did that mean...?
"Not to be a dick when you are all sad but hello? I thought I was your best friend. What, am I just invisible now?!"
Sam started to laugh at his own joke, though he wasn't sure why. He wasn't finding anything very funny at the moment.
Mr Schu looked up as Sam spoke.
"Sam….. We love you."
Sam laughed again. He certainly hadn't expected Mr Schu to proclaim his love for him, all he had wanted was for Blaine to acknowledge that they were best friends and always had been.
"It's fine Mr Schu, you don't need to…."
He was cut off as the teacher started speaking again.
"Just because you aren't here with us right now, somehow…. You always will be. We have to believe that. Because if we don't…. we are going to fall apart. We have to have hope that you are watching over us. It's just… it's so unfair."
Sam jumped as Mr Schu punched the ground as hard as he could. Puck, who had been sitting next to him, grabbed the teacher in a hug to try and calm him down.
"It's OK Mr Schu. Let it all out. It hurts like hell."
Puck sniffed and his eyes were watery, which out of anything, shocked Sam the most. Puck was a rock. He had a heart of steel. Nothing ever affected him.
Sam suddenly felt like he needed to collapse. Everything was wrong. He didn't know how to handle what seemed to be happening right now. What was happening? His stomach churned as he realised he knew what was happening…. He knew it deep down. But it wasn't real. It was a dream. A nightmare. The worst nightmare he had ever had. It wasn't real.
The group stood up and walked over to the rows of empty chairs. Sam walked over with them and sat down, clutching his stomach. He knew that at any moment he was about to throw up. He could feel all the blood rushing to his head. He tried to concentrate on Mr Schu who had just walked over to the whiteboard.
Mr Schu cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure.
"Right gang, I know it's going to be hard but todays lesson is simple. I want you all, if you can, to try and sing a song in memory of Sam."
Sam stood up so quickly that he almost fell over. He looked at Mr Schu with wild eyes, fear gripping every bit of his body.
"What? What… no. No. In memory? What do you mean in memory? I'm right here Mr Schu."
Mr Schu didn't look at Sam. He gazed around the class sadly, waiting for any volunteers. Sam ran over to Mr Schu, he was going to hit him if he didn't listen. Yes, it would mean getting in serious trouble, maybe even being expelled, but it was better than people thinking he was dead, right?
He tried to grab Mr Schu's sweater vest and shake him, crying out when the teacher still took no notice. Sam pulled the material so hard that he was sure it was going to break. But still, Mr Schu didn't so much as glance at him. This was all an elaborate joke. Sam could laugh as much as the next person, but this? This wasn't funny. He bet it was all Pucks idea, but why would the whole class agree to this nonsense? This is enough to screw somebody up for life.
Life. Why did that word just bounce around his brain and stab him in the heart all at the same time?
Sam shivered and when he realised he was getting no response from Mr Schu, he did the only thing he could do. He reached his hand back and swung hard, hitting the teacher loudly across the cheek. He was going to punch him, you know like they did in the movies? But he lost his nerve mid swing and settled for a hit instead, after all…. He didn't actually want to hurt Mr Schu, he liked him.
Mr Schu jumped slightly, a frown on his face as he touched his cheek gently. Then he shook his head and turned his attention back to the class.
"Anyone? I know it's hard but it's what we do. It's how we get our feelings out. Sam would hate for us to all be sitting here like this."
Sam cried out in frustration and stood right in front of his teacher, blocking the rest of the class from his view.
"Will you stop? I'm here! Look, It's me. And you can tell Figgins that I just hit you but I don't care. I will tell him that you have conspired with the rest of Glee club to freak me the hell out. Come on Mr Schu, it's not funny anymore."
Mr Schu sighed and at last. Sam thought he was coming to his senses.
"I understand how difficult it is. How about I kick things off?"
Sam raised an eyebrow as Mr Schu walked over and took a seat at the piano. He started playing a soft tune and burst into an emotional version of Over The Rainbow. The ringing in Sams ears had started up again and he couldn't take anymore. Mr Schu seemed to care about instruments and music more than anything, so maybe if Sam started jumping up and down on the piano, he would stop it.
But he froze before he could climb on the piano and let out a huge gasp. He was staring back at his own face. A huge picture of him in a gold tinted frame was staring back at him. It was a picture from his first game as a quarterback, he had his helmet in his hands and he was grinning insanely at the camera. He always thought he looked stupid when he smiled in photos, but he didn't actually mind this one. He looked at disbelief at the candles and the few scattered flowers surrounding the picture. Mr Schu carried on singing and all Sam could think about was why hadn't he noticed this little shrine before? Any other day he would have. But this wasn't any other day. He had felt weird for hours now. Something was wrong.
He turned to face the Glee club who were all sobbing and clutching on to one another. Sam felt tears sting at the back of his eyes but he knew he had to hold it together. He turned back to the piano, unable to face his crying friends anymore. It was making him feel worse.
As he studied the picture again, his heart felt like it had just been ripped clean out of him as he noticed the little plaque at the bottom.
"Sam Evans. Rest In Peace."
Just underneath that were two dates. The first date was the day he was born. His birthday. The day he had come into the world. And that meant that the second date was…..no. This wasn't happening.
"I'm here guys. Why are you doing this to me? I'm here."
Sam realised he was yelling. Nobody was paying attention. Maybe if he picked up the stupid picture and smashed it, they would all start listening. He picked up the heavy frame, feeling a little bit of delight that he had managed to pick it up. See? If he was…. If he was you know what… he wouldn't be able to pick anything up. He had seen it in movies. He felt nothing but relief as he lifted the picture high and smashed it hard on the ground. It shattered into a million pieces and Sam looked at his friends triumphantly. The triumph soon faded when he realised nobody had noticed.
He looked at the broken picture on the floor then back at his friends in disbelief. How were they ignoring this? What the hell were they all playing at?
Maybe he should get one of the candles and set the place on fire. That is how angry he felt right now. He didn't want to hurt anyone but he needed to do something to break them all out of this trance they seemed to be in. But as he reached for a candle, he cried out.
There, in the middle of the candles and flowers, was his picture. His picture that was unbroken and magnificent, glowing in all its un-shattered glory. Sam gulped and shook his head, looking down at the floor where the broken picture still lay at his feet.
He carefully picked up a lit candle and threw it at the door. He watched as it landed on its wick, blackening the flame immediately. But when he looked back at the piano, the candle he had just thrown was sitting there, its light prettily dancing, tormenting him.
Mr Schu finished his song , stood up, and looked at everyone , a single tear openly falling down his cheek.
"Who's next?"
Sam shook his head again, putting his hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming out.
With shaking legs he made his way over to the door, and even though he opened it and walked out, closing it behind him, the door had remained shut the whole time.
Sam held onto the harsh white corridor wall for support, but when he realised it was offering no help at all, he shouted out in anger and collapsed.
He put his head in his hands while his body started trembling all over. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he knew that he wouldn't. There was nothing to throw up.
Somewhere in the building, a chair scraped noisily against the floor, making his ears throb with pain.
He curled up into as small a ball as he could on the corridor floor . The trembling had turned into an uncontrollable shiver now, and as Sams teeth chattered together through cold, he managed to utter two words.
"I'm dead."