Illusions for our Youth
Kurt awoke to the sound of his alarm clock. The clock said 6AM, but the September morning sunshine was flooding his room. He begrudgingly stood up and walked over to silence the loud buzzer.
Kurt sighed loudly and sarcastically murmured, "Great, another fantastic day of this super fabulous semester."
It was two days after Labor Day, and yesterday had been the first day of his senior year. He could already tell that this school year was "off" somehow. None of his Glee friends were in any of his classes, and he had already had 4 slushies thrown at him; a new record. Kurt rubbed his shoulder, which was experiencing residual pain from Dave Karofsky hip-checking him into the lockers on the previous day. It seemed that the jock had made it his personal mission to make Kurt suffer as much as possible for just merely being comfortable enough to express his sexuality and musical prowess.
After finishing his morning routine, Kurt walked out of his safe abode and locked the door behind him. While fumbling to put his keys into the small pocket of his purple Jansport backpack, two strong arms came out of nowhere and shoved him into his front door.
Before Kurt could register what was going on, he heard the voice of Noah Puckerman yelling, "Karofsky, how dominant of you! So you play on the home team then?"
Kurt looked up at Dave's face, which was turning red from either anger or a natural blush. The hockey player-turned football player punched the door just to the right of Kurt's head, startling the singer. Dave then took a few steps backward.
He pointed menacingly at Kurt while mouthing, "tomorrow your ass is mine" and walked away.
Crippled by a range of emotions, Kurt was forced to sit down where he had stood. His body released its floodgates and tears poured down his face.
Puck approached him, "Man, I don't normally take this route to school, but it's a good thing I did huh?"
He took a seat next to Kurt, but found that he could not find any words that seemed appropriate to say in this situation, so the two sat in awkward silence. After what seemed like a long time, Kurt was able to compose himself enough to say thanks and to tell Puck what Dave had mouthed to him. Puck blurted out an expletive and stood up. Still unsure of what to say, he simply put out a hand in order to help Kurt stand up. Kurt knew that for a guy like Puck, this was no simple gesture, but instead an abnormal glimpse at how caring the football player can be. Then the two walked to school and said nothing, even up to the point when they parted ways to go to homeroom.
At the end of the school day, Kurt let out a sigh of relief and was pondering how fast he could run home. Before he could test that thought, he spotted Finn Hudson who was flanked by Mike Chang and Puck. The three slowly approached, and it was Finn who broke the silence.
"Hey! Um Puck told us what happened this morning and um, during my lunch break, I left campus and gotcha this."
Finn let out an embarrassed laugh and opened his hand to reveal a long, thin, red metal whistle. "It's um a safety whistle."
A rape whistle Kurt thought to himself.
He took the object from Finn's hand and uttered a quiet "Thanks."
Finn did his nervous laugh again. "Kurt... um I got that from the magic shop. OK so like the way it works is if you're in trouble, you blow that and we appear. We just like appear. The three of us."
Finn tried to fake a reassuring smile. Not knowing how to react, Kurt paused and then nodded.
"Great, well thanks. I really need to get home."
Puck finally found his voice and said "These three handsome men will be walking you home today!"
Kurt took a deep breath before he spoke.
"I appreciate that you all want to escort me, but this is making me feel like I'm helpless. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
On the way home, Kurt turned to food for safety. After polishing off a Malley's chocolate bar, he stopped so that he could discard the empty wrapper. He was grabbed from behind and was physically turned around until he was facing a football player who went by the name Duke.
"Hey lady! Aww you didn't save any of that chocolate for me? Ooh I think I see some on your lip."
As the jock moved his face closer to Kurt's, Kurt grabbed the whistle from his pocket and quickly brought it to his lips. Panic enveloped Kurt when he realized that no sound came out of the hollow, metal cylinder. The sunny summer day was struck with a loud thunderclap. Kurt gasped when he saw that Finn, Mike, and Puck had appeared behind his aggressor, who then turned around to see what Kurt had witnessed. Realizing that they were no longer alone, the football player ran off.
Finn smiled and began to sing, "You just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I'll come running, to see you again. Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is call. Lord, I'll be there, yes I will. You've got a friend."
Finn ended the classic Carole King song on that line and awaited a response from Kurt. Kurt's face showed confusion, but after a brief moment, all Kurt could do was get teary-eyed and clap.
"How? How did that actually work?"
"Yeah, wait, how did that work? I was just on my way home and then I was suddenly here. I didn't think that BS was serious. I just figured it would make a loud sound" said Puck.
Finn shrugged and said with a smile, "When you believe in magic..."
His three friends then left Kurt and headed to their houses. Kurt went home in a slow jog that he alternated with a fast walk. His breathing was heavy.
"I'm going to have to start getting in shape" he thought.
The morning after, Kurt rose from bed an hour earlier. His plan was to leave the house sooner, so that Karofsky would not be able to find him if he decided to make another visit. He decided to be extra careful this morning, which included leaving through the back door and taking a different route to school. When he was only two blocks from the school, a dark sports utility vehicle with tinted windows pulled up next to him. Kurt kept walking, but at a quicker pace, and he could start to feel his heart beating within his chest. The vehicle came to a halt and it appeared that the driver was merely parking in front of his house. Seemingly free of danger, Kurt exhaled and thought of how much he hated how paranoid he had become. Then the SUV reemerged and it seemed to Kurt that the driver was playing a game with him. Adrenaline hit the boy hard and forced him to take off into a run. Mid-sprint, he grabbed the whistle and blew.
Three familiar human forms appeared. Finn was wearing a towel and donned wet hair. When he realized where he was, he looked down with embarrassment and quickly held the towel against him on impulse. Puck stood shirtless in tight black boxer-briefs. Upon noticing what had occurred, he stood prouder, posing a bit, perhaps unconsciously. It seemed he felt his athletic physique was nothing to be ashamed of, but instead was something to be worshiped. Mike was wearing red and blue flannel pajamas; his hands were rubbing his eyes. After a few moments, the SUV turned around and drove off. Finn did a thumbs up with his right hand and then took off running toward his house while holding his towel in place. Puck walked in front of Kurt, turned sideways and put an arm out in the direction he had been walking, in order to suggest that Kurt should lead the way to school. Figuring Kurt would be safe with Puck escorting him, Mike waved goodbye and turned to walk home.
Glee club ended after dusk that day, because the teens had to plan out an agenda for the semester. Kurt figured that if Karofsky was waiting for him, he might be waiting near the front of the building. With trepidation, he walked by himself to an exit at the side of the building. As Kurt was cutting across the football field, he had a mental image of Karofsky tackling him from behind, the lights turning on and hundreds of people in the stands cheering for his brutal end. At least it seemed like the universe now wanted his life to end; why else was there danger in every corner throughout the day? It was getting ridiculous, although it was possible that some of it could be in his head or that had he not blown the whistle, no real harm would have ended up happening. There was still no way for Kurt to know one way or the other, and he knew that he was currently in a precarious situation since he was wandering through an isolated area in the dark. Kurt took out the whistle. In the dark, it had no color. He cupped the object in his hand and then transferred it to the other hand where it had the same heft. It just seemed like an ordinary whistle, not like a magical lifesaver. It did not make sense. Nothing made sense anymore. Kurt coiled his fingers around it and continued to walk.
He finished walking across the field and stepped on to the sidewalk, where he was bathed in light from the street lights. The only living thing to cross Kurt's path on his walk home was a rabbit hopping away from him. His father's car was not in the driveway, so he would have to go inside and make dinner for the two of them. Kurt walked up the steps and on to the porch. He was met by Karofsky who he did not see sooner, because the bully had been masked in darkness. The porcelain-skinned youth decided to go with his earlier thought that perhaps he never was in real danger and that he could handle this situation using his words, like an adult.
"Karofsky, can we end this? I'm not sure how it all began, but I'm willing to put the past behind me. Perhaps we can try to be friends? You seem like you're probably a nice guy under the bully exterior..."
Karofsky cut him off there and said, "You talkin' to me? Did I tell you to speak? Let me in your house or I'll bash your skull in. Your little posse isn't around to protect you now."
Without hesitation, Kurt blew the whistle and his friends appeared.
It was now Friday. Kurt turned off his alarm clock, but then decided that it might be wise to just crawl into bed and stay home. He walked across the plush carpet covering the floor on the second story of the house and went into his father's bedroom.
"Dad, wake up. I'm feeling under the weather, so I need to stay home today. It's still the beginning of the semester, so I won't be missing much at school."
Burt Hummel told his son that he would call the school to let them know. For the first time in a few days, Kurt finally felt safe. He had no trouble falling back to sleep. The sound of the door closing behind his father woke him from his slumber. He heard his father drive away to work. The teen knew it was silly, but he decided he better carry the whistle with him like he would his cell phone, even if it was within the safe confines of his house. Kurt went into the kitchen and flipped on the radio. While making pancakes, he sang along to all the songs he knew. He was finally having fun and cutting loose.
During Freedom by George Michael, Kurt sang as loud as he could, "Well it looks like the road to heaven, but it feels like the road to hell. When I knew which side my bread was buttered, I took the knife as well..."
A knock on the front door interrupted his song. Kurt shut off the radio and stove. Then he quickly walked over to look through the peephole in the door. He was relieved to see a delivery man with what he assumed to be a cashmere sweater he had ordered. As Kurt opened the door, the package carrier shoved the door open wider and walked into the house, making sure to push Kurt out of the way and to close the door behind him.
"How could this even be happening" Kurt thought.
He grabbed the whistle from his pocket and blew. The boys appeared, but the delivery man did not notice. Puck ran over and grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling him toward the back exit of the house. The four friends ran out of the house without taking a look behind them. They heard the front door slam shut.
Finn let out a little laugh, "That was scary! You're killing me though with all this teleportation stuff. I'm so gonna miss my math test!"
Puck gasped in disgust, "Dude, that's all you care about? I missed three of those while in juvie last semester. I passed with like Cs and Ds still. Let's stay here with our buddy until his dad gets home."
Kurt replied, "We could have pancakes and watch TV or practice some songs."
Mike smiled and nodded, and with that, the four went back into the house.
The next morning, Kurt asked his father if they could spend the day together. Burt obliged and offered to take him to McDonald's for lunch. Kurt preferred anything but that artery-clogging excuse for food, but he accepted the invitation in order to please his dad. Before leaving, Kurt considered taking the whistle with him, but he recalled Finn's annoyance the previous day and decided against it. He figured that his father would provide all the safety needed. They left the house and five minutes later arrived at the dining establishment. After ordering, the two sat down at a table by a window that had a view of a playground.
"How has your semester been" his father asked.
In order to dodge the question, Kurt excused himself and went into the restroom. After stepping into the first stall, someone pushed him the rest of the way in. When Kurt turned around, he could not believe his eyes. He saw a white face with a big red painted smile and a head of huge red hair. The man was also wearing a yellow jumpsuit with red and white striped sleeves. Kurt frantically dug around in his pockets in an attempt to grab the magic whistle. He then realized it was a futile attempt. Ronald McDonald spun Kurt 90 degrees, so that his back was against the wall.
With his yellow-gloved hand, he began to unzip Kurt's pants while singing, "When you believe in magic, and I hope you do, you'll always have a friend wearing big red shoes. Anything can happen, right before your eyes. Whatever you're expecting, expect a surprise!"
"Kurt! Kurt! Wake up, man!"
Kurt heard Finn's voice and slowly opened his eyes.
He muttered, "You, you guys saved me. But I didn't have the whistle. Wait, where's Mike and Puck?"
"Whistle? That must have been some dream. Mike went home hours ago and Puck is downstairs passed out still. Funny you'd think he would ever save you from anything. He barely considers you a friend."
Kurt was relieved to realize that he had only had a long, crazy nightmare. All was right with the world, even if it did involve Puck always giving him the cold shoulder. Kurt noticed that he was in his bed and that he was not wearing any pants.
"Finn, I seriously can't remember how I got into bed. What the heck happened last night?"
"I wasn't with you for a lot of the night. We were all drinking... a lot, I think. Your party was seriously crashed by most of the football team and their friends, but hey, they brought alcohol! I remember singing some song about bananas while you and some kids I didn't know were laughing in the corner of the living room. I don't remember seeing you after that happened. In fact, I think I passed out drunk at that point. Anyway, I didn't know that you were friends with that jerk Karofsky."
"You mean my nemesis? No, we're not friends."
"Oh, I thought you were. I just came upstairs to use the bathroom, and I saw him leave this room. He told me to tell you that he says 'thanks'."
That is when a memory hit Kurt like a ton of bricks. He had gone to get punch and Karofsky was at the table. Karofsky said that he had just poured a glass, but did not want it, so he handed it to Kurt. He figured that the jock was perhaps a jovial drunk, who was capable of kindness at least while inebriated, so he did not have second thoughts about consuming the drink. That was his last memory before he was engulfed in sleep.
Kurt once believed in superheroes, safety objects, and magic. For now, he believed in nothing.