Hey! So, evil plot bunny. Reeeeaaaaaad iiiiittttt. OR don't.
Not mine.
Half of the room was sleeping. The lights were out except for the image that was being projected at the front of the room and in some areas of the gym, snores could he heard over the music.
On screen, a dog dressed up as the Jaws shark swam around an outdoor pool. The few who remained awake would have given anything to leave, but Sue Sylvester manned the only exit and attendance had been mandatory.
Finally credits were rolling, and the feedback of a microphone woke the audience as Principle Figgins stepped forward.
"That was the 5th entry into the McKinley High short-film festival, "My dog" by sophomore Carry James. Thank you Carry."
There was a scattering of one or two claps as the remainder of the school wiped the droll from their chins. Figgins resumed his monotone speech.
"We have one final video today-"
Figgins was interrupted by The whole gym breaking out into cheers and waited until they had quieted down before continuing.
"Our last video is a submission by Mr. Kurt Hummel. Entitled "Day in the life of a F-..."
Without finishing Figgins rushed off stage. The entirety of the school slid forward in their seats as he began arguing with the art director. Eventually he threw up his hands and returned to stage.
"The last video.."
Figgins coughed uncomfortably.
"By Kurt Hummel. Day in The Life of a Fag."
From their spots In the back the glee kids looked around for Kurt in confusion while the football players cheered at the derogatory name, but Kurt was nowhere to be seen. At the front of the room, the screen lit up to an empty chair. Kurt came from from off screen and took a seat.
"Hi! My name is Kurt Hummel. I'm a senior there at William McKinley High. All of you have probably seen me around, and as the only out and proud gay student I'm sure most of you know who I am."
"The truth is I wasn't planning on making this movie. Honestly, I graduate in a few months. My entire goal has been to stay below the radar and to get out as quickly as possible."
"When I saw the posters for the film festival, however, it got me thinking. Sure, I get to leave in a few months, but a lot of people who are like me are going to be stuck there."
"I'm sure right about now my glee friends are looking for me in the audience and my best friend Mercedes is kicking herself over buying that excuse about the strep throat."
Everyone looked over to the glee gang whose faces had gone red and Mercedes was sticking out her tongue at the screen.
Just in time, the Kurt on screen smiled and said "Love you too 'Cedes."
The entire room laughed.
"Now." Kurt's voice on screen interrupted. "This film is entitled 'Day in the Life of a Fag.' If I'm right, at least five football and hockey players broke out into cheers and our art director Miss Philips owes me fifteen dollars. She had more faith in your decorum then I did."
Miss Philips glared down to the football players who had the decency to look slightly ashamed.
"This film is a day in the life, but I'm going to go a little more in depth then that. More of 17 years in the life. In order to do that, I need to que my fancy little slide show. So here we go. Fancy little slide show take ONE!"
Some people laughed and the screen devolved into a picture of a beautiful couple holding a baby wrapped in blue. The girls of the audience and oohed and awed as Kurt's voice resumed over the photo.
"This is me. I know. Cute, huh?"
The audience laughed and he continued.
"This is my mom, Elizabeth, and my dad, Burt. I swear the fact that our names match is a coincidence. My mom loved the sound if music, and named me after her favorite character. Sometimes I wonder If she knew I was gay in the womb."
This time the laughter was louder. Photos of Kurt ages one and two filtered over the screen as the commentary continued.
"I know, I think it's funny too. My dad Burt was a football player here at McKinley. In fact He was the last quarterback to take the team to state. He was just like most of you jocks down there in the audience. It wasn't until just a year ago he confided in me that he STARTED the dumpster toss."
Here, all the jocks cheered and on camera Kurt made a face.
"Thanks dad."
"My mother was kind. She came to the US for a student exchange program from France and fell in love with the place, and with my father. She never left. She loved music, and dancing, and had the beautiful smile."
You could hear Kurt's voice choke slightly as a photo of a beautiful woman with chestnut hair and glowing blue eyes came on screen holding holding a baby Kurt.
"I was a normal baby I guess. My first word was Dada, I took my first step at 7 months, and I tried to pee on everyone who changed my diaper."
The photos ended and the camera once again focused on Kurt's face.
"My first two years were pretty simple. I guess I was like any other boy in that room right now. Things didn't start getting complicated until I was three. Fancy slide show TWO!"
This time a photo of a three year old Kurt came on the screen. He was wearing a Belle costume from beauty and the beast and a tiara. The room broke out into laughter.
"Yes! There I am in all my trend setting glory! This is where important fact number one comes in. I want you all to listen carefully." Kurt's face came back on screen and he paused.
The entire room was smiling and on the edge of their seat. A drastic change from the beginning of the film.
"Are you listening?"
The room waited.
"I said are you listening!"
This time there was a large scattering of yes'.
"Great! You all did so good. Don't be afraid to shout the answer if you know it. Now important part number one. I. didn't. know."
The room was dead silent.
"You can all look at this picture, and you can tell I was different. You may even say you can tell I was gay. But I didn't know. My entire world consisted of my mother and my father. My mother loved me unconditionally. She let me do what made me happy, regardless of it was odd or different and never let ME know it was odd or different. She played tea parties with me, she bought me toy make-up, she let me sing the girl part in Disney movies. She did it because she loved me and It made me happy. My dad, unbeknownst to me, was having a crisis. He was a lot like you lot there in the leather jackets. He'd used the word Fag all his life. He'd tossed kids like me In dumpsters, pushed them in lockers, and now his own son was dressing up in gowns and asking for ballet lessons. My dad had to make a choice. Change me, or change himself."
The photo flashed to one of Burt Hummel wearing coveralls, fixing up an old car.
"This man... This amazing man.. The definition of all that is masculine. He put aside a lifetime of prejudices and chose to love me. He chose to love me, just as I was. For that he's the strongest man I know."
The video went back to Kurt's face as he sat in the chair.
"That's lesson one. I didn't know I was different because the people I loved more then anything in the world didn't let it matter."
The video turned to black and when it came back on, Kurt was walking down a sidewalk.
"This"
Kurt pointed the camera to a building that said "Lima Elementary"
"This is where my world changed. It was my first day of school and I showed up to class wearing a perfectly pressed suit jacket, a scarf, and artfully faded jeans."
You could hear The cheers of a few glee girls as Kurt walked over to the grass by an oak tree.
"This is where everything changed."
He zoomed in on a small patch of grass then set down the camera and moved to that spot.
"This spot of grass has some significance. I sat here on my first day of school. You have to remember lesson number one. At this point, I didn't realize I was different. My parents had always loved me and always encouraged me. The problem was, I didn't interact with many other kids before, so I was shy. Painfully so."
"I sat here, playing with my power rangers. They were about to get married again of course and we're fighting because they wanted both of their colors at the wedding but those colors clashed horribly!"
This time even the teachers giggled.
"That's when a boy came up to me. I didn't get permission to use his name, so let's call him Cazimio Cadams."
Everyone in the gym looked to Azimio and he folded his arms and glared.
"Now, Cazimio didn't like my scarf. I didn't understand why at the time. He was wearing wearing a scarf too, in fact a lot of boys were. The problem with my scarf? It was pink."
Kurt fell silent, and the gym followed suit. Everyone looking toward the screen avidly.
Finally Kurt took a breath and continued.
"Some people may think I deserved it. Some may say I was shoving my gay-ness in his face. Isn't that the reason you all use today, Cazimio?"
A few of the jocks nodded uncertainly and Kurt rolled his eyes.
"I bet a few of you idiots actually nodded. Anyway. The point is that I. Was. Five. I had no idea what gay, flamboyant, or sexuality even meant. I was five. And you, Cazimio, you didn't know either. All you knew was that I was different. I made you feel uncomfortable and you couldn't even pin point why. It wasn't about me being gay, it was about me being different. You, Cazimio, we're my introduction. The first person to make me feel like something about me was lacking. Was off. Was wrong."
Kurt stood and grabbed the camera.
"This is where hell started for me."
He panned across the playground.
"Over there is where Kavid Karofsky broke my lunch box in first grade Because it had my little pony on it. Over there, Finn Hudson told me I was a freak and to go play with the girls, and over there Quinn Fabray told me to go away because boys had cooties."
Kurt turned the camera on himself and continued walking.
"I didn't fit. The girls didn't like me because I was a boy, and the boys didn't like me because I wasn't like them. No one knew what gay was, but still I was alone because of it. Because parents taught their children that different was wrong."
Finally he stopped next to a door.
"Do you remember this spot Noah?"
Everyone turned to Puck who blushed slightly and shook his head as if Kurt could see him.
"Probably not. You may notice I use a few names. That's because I asked if it was okay first. Now this spot"
Kurt zoomed in on the pavement.
"This is where Noah Puckermen first called me a Fag. This is where I BECAME a fag. Now you might ask yourself what I mean by that. Or you might not, honestly I don't care. You have to listen anyway."
"I was eight when I was called a fag the first time. I didn't know what it meant. I went home that night and signed on to AOL and looked it up. I cried myself to sleep. I didn't know what sex was. I didn't know what I liked, what I wanted, who I was.. But because of one word by one boy, I became "Fag".
"Now I don't know if all you jocks went home and looked it up, or if Noah knew and he told you, but that became my new name. It was finally a reason to hate me. There was finally an explanation for why I was such a freak. You could all finally make yourself better by pinning a title to me, even when I was too young to understand."
Kurt turned the camera on himself and slid down the wall behind him.
"It made you all feel better. To finally have a name for what you all dubbed as my illness. My disease. It got worse from there. Fag. Queer. Homo. Princess. Fairy. I was all of these things by age eight. These words defined me before I even had a chance to define myself. I was a freak. That same year my mother died."
Kurt looked away from the camera and took a breath as a tear ran down his face.
"My mother... I'm sorry.. My mother was beautiful. Inside and out, my mother was like my light. But oh, the cruelty of children when Mr. Kavid started the rumor that my mother died to get away from me. Worst of all I believed you. I was eight, and had no OTHER reason so why wouldn't that be true? My mother was just gone one day. She must have just not wanted me, right? Why else would it have happened? Why would she leave me?"
Kurt set down the camera, facing away from himself and the gym sat In silence. Some were looking looking to the floor, guilt on their faces, some were crying, some glaring pointedly toward the seats filled by red jackets.
Kurt picked up the camera, eyed still red and stood.
"Now. Let's move on to chapter three shall we? conveniently it's right over there."
Kurt turned the camera across the street to another building.
"West Lima Middle School! Gotta love small towns."
Despite the mood, there was a scattering of laughter.
"Now this.. This is where I learned to hate myself. The second we stepped inside, I guess some of you decided I was old enough to step up the abuse. You all felt it was your job to teach me what a fag really was. I learned that Fags were child molesters, perverts, we were all out to turn you gay and check out your junk. Isn't that right boys?"
The football team cheered and most of the school glared In their direction.
"Let me ask you something boys, if I'm going to grab the crotch of every man I meet just because I'm gay, does that mean you are going to assault every girl you meet just because you're straight? If gay men should be kept away from little boys because we're attracted to men, shouldn't you be kept away from little girls because you like women? After all, liking women MUST mean age doesn't matter to you anymore."
There were outraged yells and Kurt continued.
"Don't like being compared to a pervert? Well, neither did I. But that's what I heard. Day in, and day out. I was wrong. I was a predator."
Kurt had crossed the street and took a seat next to the school sign.
"It was here that I got my first crush. It was in a boy. Mike Chang actually. Sorry Mike."
Mike actually laughed from his seat and gave a shrug.
"If I know Mike, he was just really cool about that. Tina, give him a kiss, he earned it."
He paused as Tina did as instructed.
"Now my crush was fairly innocent. I wanted to hold hands, I wanted kisses on the cheek, I wanted a dance at the 8th grade formal. Looking back, there was nothing predatory about it. But still I felt like my life was over."
"Sounds silly, huh? It wasn't for me because it meant you were all RIGHT. I was gay. I was a fag. Which meant everything else you said had to be true. I was sick. I was a pervert. I was wrong. I was dangerous. And I was all of these things because I wanted to hold hands with a boy. Lesson two. Your words matter."
The camera shut off, and when It turned on again Kurt was standing outside of the High school.
"I'd like to welcome you all to the bane of my existence. William McKinley High. It was my first day here when you guys all decided that you had to step it up. On my first day, I was thrown into that dumpster right... over... there!"
"Now. I am going to do a run through here. Because if I try to pin point individual spots we'll be here all day and this is supposed to be a SHORT film. I have a time limit!"
The camera must have been on a tripod because Kurt walked away and returned with a huge stack of papers.
"This my friends, is my medical file. From the assaults at William McKinley High, I, the well deserving Fag, have received one broken wrist, three twisted ankles, 73 stitches, 3 separate stomach pumps, 10 broken ribs, and 5 stress related ulcers."
Kurt stood up and pulled off his shirt, turning so his back was visible. Everyone gasped. The entire surface was blue, purple, black, and sickly yellow. Scars were visible all along Both shoulders and the right one had a line of stitches.
"Isn't that pretty? I've been told by the doctor's the ones near my shoulders may not fade for years. The stitches are from being pushed into lockers so many times the skin broke open. That nice long scar is where I was thrown in the dumpster and landed on glass. Thank you guys, but I think if you could have punched the Fag out of me, it would have happened by now."
Brittany jumped up from her place by Santana and run to the trash before throwing up.
Sue took the trash and placed it outside before resuming her place by the door.
"And let's not forget the fine educators of the establishment. Thanks to dear Jacob I have videos of every single on of them walking by and doing nothing as this happened. And let's not forget dear Mr. Peters who likes to sit around and watch."
Kurt turned and pulled his shirt back on.
"Lesson 3. If you are wearing a letter men jacket right now, you're lucky. You were one toss away from a murder charge."
Kurt smirked. "Let's also not forget I could have sued your parents as I have video footage of you destroying over six thousand dollars in clothing. And that's MY wardrobe alone. Thanks Jacob!"
Kurt cut out again and when the picture came back he was under the bleachers.
"Lesson number 4! Get educated!"
Kurt turned the camera and it was showing the football tryouts.
"Football! The staple of this fine establishment and very popular. These are the tryouts."
The camera scanned over the field showing a large amount of students.
"A lot of who who don't like me, don't like me because I'm gay. You want to chase the only queer out of the school. Well guess what?"
Kurt let out an evil chuckle.
"I'm not the only queer."
He faked a gasp as several in the audience let out real ones.
"One. In. Ten."
Kurt said loudly, and then ducked as someone looked over. Much quieter he said "One in ten people are gay, bisexual, or transgendered. One In ten."
He pointed the camera back to the field.
"Now. There are about 70 people trying out today. Oh, There's Finn, Mike, Sam, and Puck! Hi guys! Well, you can't hear me, but still. Nice throw Sam."
From his seat Sam shouted 'Thanks!'
"Now, out of those 70 people out there? About Seven are gay or bisexual. Seven. I'm not the only gay kid at this school. I'm just the only OUT gay kid. Have fun with those showers after tryouts because you can't identify all of us!" Kurt stuck out his tongue.
The screen turned black and everyone but the jocks laughed. The picture came back in and Kurt was sitting in the math room.
"I came here to the math room to give you some numbers while the football players are toweling off. They've got enough gay guys in there as it is."
Everyone laughed again and Kurt smiled and winked.
"In the United States alone, NINE MILLION people admit to being gay. Nine. Million. You may think you can stamp it out. You may think you can run it out of your town. But you can't get rid of nine million people."
"The number one reason listed for gay bullying is religion. I'd like to remind you all that right along side being gay, other sins listed In the same section of the bible are polyester, eating shelfish, cutting your hair, touching pig skin.. Sorry football players! Planting two crops in the same field, touching a woman on her period, working on Sundays, marrying anyone who isn't a virgin, eating fat, eating blood.. I hope you don't like medium rare! Tearing your clothes, even going to church within 66 days of having a baby girl. There are SEVENTY SIX! Seventy six things that are wrong, according to Liviticus, right along side being gay. Just know that I'd you think I'm going to hell because the bible say so, you probably are too."
Kurt sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm about to use some quotes here. Straight from the Internet and everything, so enjoy."
He paused for a moment then began reading from the paper in his hand.
"About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether."
Kurt tossed the paper down.
"This is what you are doing. You are killing people. You are killing people because you are afraid. You're ruining their future and their education because what? You fear for your virtue? Well I'll let you in on a secret. We don't want your ugly ass."
The woman burst out laughing and Kurt continued.
"That's right! I'm gay, and I. Don't. Want. You. Most of you are disgusting, sweaty, uncultured, barbarians and I wouldn't have sex with you using someone else's penis!"
By now most of the room was laughing and the principle was arguing with the art director who was blocking the projector so he couldn't stop the video.
"I have a type, and most of you aren't it. Just like You don't want to screw every girl you see, I have no interest in you and your back zits."
Kurt returned to his seat and picked up the camera before the screen went back again. When it came back on, Kurt was in his room, sitting back at the desk chair.
"I am Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. I am a Fag, a queer, a homo, I am gay... But that's not ALL I am. From age eight, I let that title take over my identity, but I'm MORE then a fag. I'm an eighteen year old student. I'm a mechanic. I'm a dancer. I'm a singer. I'm a gymnist. I'm a friend, a brother, a son, and unbeknownst to you, a boyfriend. People love me, not for how you have all chosen to define me me, but because I've finally defined MYSELF."
"I hope that this video has given you insight. I hope that it will make you think twice before you choose a label over a person. Most of all, I hope it has given some of you courage. Because you ARE NOT alone. Who knows, maybe I'll come back tomorrow and everything will be the exact same. Maybe it will be worse. Maybe I'll finally feel safe enough to kiss my boyfriend of three years in public. Either way, that's tomorrow and this is now. So ends another day in the life of a Fag."
~TBC?~
Please review. Let me know what you want to see, or just if you liked it!