Disclaimer: I own nothing.
When his eyes shot open, he saw a dark gray sky and the shadows of trees draped over the boy. He lay on what he could feel was damp grass for a few minutes, trying to regain a sense of where he was and what had happened. The air smelled like rain and the sky above was gradually growing darker. The boy moved for the first time since he awoke, forcing his arm up from his side to touch his stomach. His shirt wasn't wet… wasn't it supposed to be? He remembered water, all around him. But nothing before that. The boy finally attempted to get to his feet but he stumbled a bit; he felt almost as if he wasn't entirely attached to his body, if that even made any sense.
Looking around at his surroundings he realized that he was in a park. Yeah, a small park in the middle of a town that looked very familiar. There were shops and a small restaurant or two and a few cars drove by every couple of minutes. His eyes finally fell upon a miniature sign at the entrance to the park. Lima Parks and Recreation. It sounded so right in his ears. There was recognition in that name.
Then it all flooded back to him.
My name is Blaine Anderson. I live in Lima, Ohio. I am seventeen years old. I board at Dalton Academy…
However, as the gates opened, one memory in particular hit him like a freight train.
He thought he was safe. Dalton was supposed to be a safe haven for him. He had made it a whole year with no incidents. Sophomore year was perfect for him. No bullies, real friends, and of course, the Warblers. He felt loved.
At his old school, the beatings and the swirlies and locker lock-ins occurred on a daily basis. They were almost mundane. After the Sadie Hawkins dance incident, he really didn't think he could take it anymore. Luckily, his parents allowed him to run away to Dalton the next year. Everything was solved. Until two weeks after the start of his junior year.
Blaine had decided to come home to Lima for the weekend. He always loved coming back, even if it meant leaving his safe haven, because it meant he could spend time with his parents. Sometimes he and his dad would have disagreements, but they would usually try to work things out in the end. Blaine was very close to his mother though, and missed her during the weeks he couldn't get away from the heavy workload at school. Family just made him feel whole again and he really needed that.
He didn't have many close friends in Lima. Blaine knew a few neighbors but didn't talk to them unless it was necessary in order to seem polite. And all the kids from his old school either threw him in dumpsters or watched him get thrown into dumpsters, so that was out of the question. But he drove around town anyways on that Saturday night because his parents were getting tired and he was bored, so why not? Maybe he would just park at Breadstix and walk around for a bit in the cool air. He could always catch a movie or browse the comics section in a nearby book store for a while.
As Blaine walked aimlessly down the empty sidewalks for about an hour, he didn't really keep track of the time, he noticed clouds rolling in that looked darker and dreary. It probably meant there was a storm coming. Great. He decided to head back to his car in case his suspicions were correct so he wouldn't get caught up in rain.
Just as Blaine entered the parking lot, he heard laughter behind him. He glanced back over his should to see two guys messing around, shoving each other and joking about something they must have found extremely funny but most likely was not. The taller one caught sight of Blaine staring at them and made a face that looked like he was in deep thought.
"Hey isn't that-? I think it is!" He said obnoxiously loud while elbowing his buddy who pushed him in return.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Blaine realized they must have been talking about him and continued walking a little faster towards his car, scrambling for the keys in his pocket.
"That kid over there, that's gotta be that fag coward. Remember him?" The taller one recalled.
The smaller blonde one scratched his head as they continued to walk in Blaine's direction. "The scrawny one that Jefferson put in the hospital and scared away?"
"Exactly, come on!"
Finally unlocking his car, Blaine jumped inside, desperate to get away. Locking his doors, he fumbled with his keys some more and dropped them on the floor, bumping his head on the steering wheel as he bent town to pick them up quickly. By the time he came back up, the two guys were right outside his car.
The bigger one went right up to his window. "Hey there lady, long time no see huh?"
Blaine felt frozen as the other one kicked the side of his car. Then they both started rocking his car and laughing and why didn't he just drive? His arm wouldn't budge as he tried to reach for the gear shift and he couldn't stop thinking make it stop make it stop make it stop!
Suddenly he heard thunder, and it started to drizzle as he heard an "Oh shit!" and a "Dammit!" and the rain only came down harder. Finally, Blaine took the car out of park and drove out of the lot, all he knew was he needed to be far far away. He kept driving down the road, not even thinking to turn on the wind shield wiper.
He saw the bridge and kept going, even though he knew it was the opposite direction of his house but he couldn't think right for some reason. But Blaine didn't stop driving.
Maybe that's why he didn't see the other car until it was right there. Maybe that's why he swerved to get away get away. As the head lights came towards him, he did, he tried to. Then the rain was just not helping, he couldn't see clear, he couldn't drive straight. His heart beat faster and he felt the impact from the railing of the bridge and water suddenly surrounding him but he just couldn't take it. It was just too dark, and too wet, and he started to forget what was even happening before he couldn't feel or see anything at all.
