One More Chance
DISCLAIMER:
Hello I am E. , author of this FanFiction.
I composed the idea of this story a long time ago and have only recently come across it again. It revolves around the characters Kurt Hummel and Dave Karofsky, while including other Glee characters as well. I planned this before the end of season two, and it follows the path in which I want, rather than how Glee actually panned out. This is a story of regret and guilt while still containing a small fantasy element.
I do not own Glee and this is purely my imagination, and is not intended to offend, bore or copy ideas off of any other writer.
Also, this is my first FanFiction that I have written, please be nice. And feel free to leave any reviews and follow me on Tumblr: blog/crackersandme
Chapter Two: Doors Open, Mouths Closed
Brown, weathered, cold; William McKinley High School stood exactly as it always had. The ominous grey clouds threatened the spring day with rain. The trees danced sideways to welcome the water to quench their thirst, however, the students of the school rushed inside to avoid any approaching storm.
As David Karofsky set his dirtied sneaker on the pavement of the road, the scent of rain was upon him. His mind automatically flashed back hours to the treacherous storm of his past. Or is it more accurate to say it flashed forward to the treacherous storm of his future?
David was early; he had rushed from his home in a frenzy of panic at his sudden déjà vu. Uncertain on anything at all, David sat himself in the library. The school library was the only reliable room in the school for numerous reasons; it was warm in winter and cool in summer, it was quiet at all times for Mrs Brennan, the librarian was quite peculiar at the decibel level of her abode, and finally, if a person wished to study or sit around in safety, the school library was sure to be rid of athletes.
A particular corner caught David's eyes. Behind the Ancient History book section and quite near the heater, was a corner hidden from the view of much of the library. Sitting down, David pulled out a book on Cleopatra of Egypt. Although it's incredibly unlikely he'd admit it to his friends, David Karofsky loved reading about history for fun. He loved to read of the heroes, the villains, the victims, the bullies, the power and the destruction.
"I can't today, maybe this weekend?" A high voice spoke above the dull murmurs of the gentle atmosphere.
Such a voice pierced the ears of David Karofsky. He knew the song of his former victim and searched his area to find him. David's eyes trailed between the dusty shelves of the Ancient History row and rolled over the tables placed on the other side of his sanctum.
Finally, his eyes rested upon his ever-longing person. Kurt Hummel had meandered into the library, his hair ever as it was, his eyes were just as gratifying blue and his skin as soft and pale as the snow as it had always resembled. There was something else though, something David had not noticed before, tiredness. Kurt Hummel had purple rings encircling the blue of his eyes, his lips were chapped from the cold of the oncoming winter and his face was sunken, completely deflated with exhaustion.
"I'm not feeling well lately Mercedes," Kurt continued to his accompaniment, she cocked her self-assured, yet uncertain head towards her friend.
"Why not? Are you getting the flu?" She asked.
"No, it's just..." Kurt trailed off for a moment, scanning the area for onlookers, not seeing his tormenter, "It's Karofsky and his gang. I'm getting so sick of them and I'm just tired. I can't handle much more."
"Maybe you should talk to someone? Like Mr Shuester or Ms Pillsbury? They'll try to help you, it's their job!" Mercedes cried out.
"I want to, but nothing will happen. They get me when there's no one around, or no one watching. I can't prove that they're pushing me around. And the worst part is, I'm not frustrated because of the bullying, I'm terrified because I don't know what they might do next. I just can't handle not being able to turn corners in this school." Kurt let a breath of air release from his lungs; he had spoken so quickly and so softly that he had no time to breathe.
David's stomach felt as though it had a boulder placed within it. Never had he considered to the extent that his bullying had affected Kurt Hummel psychologically. Accompanying the guilt was the sensation of his organs twisting and weighing down his body, but also, unexpectedly, David's forearm twinged with a stinging near his elbow.
Rolling up his sleeves, David's eyes dropped down unto his arms, the letter C was becoming more prominent. As of the morning, it looked as though it was a scar faded for months, but with the guilt, it burned his skin red hot. But a moment of pain had changed the colour of the skin so dramatically that as David looked upon it, he could have sworn it looked simply days old.
David glared up to the ceiling, yet looked beyond it. He clenched his jaw to the Gods residing, ever-watching above him.
"You brought him here to make me suffer," David spoke in such a whisper that it was inaudible, even to him. "You're punishing me," it was not a question.
David had had enough of what he believed torment by the Gods. He slid the book resting gently on his lap roughly back into its allocated position of the shelf. Pulling by his knees, David stood up. Though, simply by standing, a sudden realisation dawned upon David. The only exit of the library was placed two feet from where Kurt and Mercedes were seated.
Swallowing his fear and overcoming his recent pain, David walked strongly toward the door. Kurt Hummel froze in his padded chair, his mouth dropped open and his eyes bulged. The once safe haven of the library was now swarming with the enemy, it had appeared. David couldn't help but glance to his left, finally seeing Kurt up close. Unfortunately, seeing the look settled upon Kurt's face stung David like his forearm. The fear plastered to Kurt reminded David fully of his deeds and what he must fix in order to help not only himself, but Kurt.
Soon after leaving the library, the bell sounded for homeroom. After a tiresome ten minutes of gazing out the window upon the ominous dark clouds threatening the day, the bell sang to David once more to meet his next class.
First lesson of the day was football for David. Once a lesson he had looked forward to each and every fortnight, it now appeared as his worst nightmare. Though he would have striven to have avoided Azimio and the other 'jocks', it was clear from the beginning that with football and various other classes together, the feat was impossible.
"Hey buddy," Azimio called as David entered the change room to get into his sporting attire. "Where were you this morning, you know we were getting those glee freaks."
Finn, Sam, Mike and Artie whom were both in New Directions and the football team, glowered at Azimio's comments.
"I came late to school, sorry." David lied.
"Hey, no you didn't, we saw your car!" Another footballer, Jason, exclaimed. Eyebrows among the locker room were simultaneously raised. Artie whispered something to Finn and the look, such a look of confusion and suspicion flashing over Finn's otherwise dull expression, caused David's stomach to drop.
"Apparently Kurt saw David stalking him in the library," Finn said throughout the silence. Eyes returned back unto David. Turning red, David thought quickly, he wasn't ready for the onslaught of hate from his old friends; he wasn't ready to relive the trauma of that moment.
"Fine, I was in the library studying history because if I fail my exam today, Mrs Simmons will fail me and my parents will ground me." It wasn't completely a lie, from his remembrance of this day previously, he did in fact fail the exam and his parents did in fact ground him for that. The footballers seemed to accept this excuse, for, as most of them had been in the same position more than once before, it was positively believable.
The brutality of the next hour was unbelievable. For the Gods had not yet shed a tear upon the day, football practice was held in the usual slippery, dewy grass setting. Paired up against one another, each man threw himself violently at his counterpart. David unceremoniously looked up towards the grey heavens each and every minute. He could feel their eyes, watching his every move.
Teamed against Finn, David was thrown towards the ground in a tackle often. Though Finn was taller, David was larger, yet he was so unfocused that he had not made a single tackle for entirety of their practice. Nearing the end of the hour, David attempted a tackle on Finn, who jumped aside at the last second with the pointed ball. To protect himself, David forced his left arm in front of his face to soften the fall onto the slick and muddy grass. His weight rested unintentionally upon the scar formed upon his forearm.
David grunted in pain and pulled his still hot arm from beneath him. The pain still twinged and it was clear to David how the scar was not simply a mark unto his skin, but in fact, a deep gash, a reminder of his guilt and his misdeeds burned forever more within his pale flesh.
The practice ended there with David grasping his injury in his right hand.
"Man, did you crack a bone or something? You weigh a ton man, the smart thing to do would be to not fall on yourself and break a bone." Azimio was mocking David, yet underneath, he was still worried for his friend.
"I'm fine, I just wasn't paying much attention." David said, letting go of his arm and beginning to put his regular clothes back on.
"You're really worried about this exam huh?" Azimio said, not really asking a question. David had forgotten entirely about the exam. He needed at least a 97% to make up for his previous dismal result in the first assessment task of the year. From his memory, the Gods had punished his lack of effort, his bullying and his partying with a simple 45%. David was ashamed. The incessant yelling from his father was nothing compared to the humiliation that bubbled within David at the time of his result's reveal. In addition to his dismal behaviour and lifestyle choice, David could not even pass a simple history exam.
David spent his morning thinking of a way in which he could approach Kurt, though he found no way he could get Kurt to even stand near him, let alone talk to him. David became noticeably airy throughout the morning.
The Gods watched with worried eyes. It was a day such as another for David Karofsky; he was not yet making amends, nor achieving any actions from his regrets list. The Gods had given him his warning for the day, the reminder of the guilt as he understood Kurt's stance on his bullying ways. The Gods though, knew David well, they knew his thoughts and they understood his wants. They knew it would take time for him to fix his regrets and save his own soul.
It was fourth period when David saw Kurt once more, yet it was also the hour for his history exam. The questions came familiar to David, as he had attempted them poorly once before. However he knew not the correct answers this second time either, for David had become so overcome with humiliation and disgust at receiving a 45% the first time, that he had stuffed away his exam, never reading upon his mistakes again.
David tried his hardest throughout the exam. He finished his final question as Mrs Simmons called "pens down". He knew immediately, that once again, he failed his history exam. Kurt turned and smiled at Rachel, his only friend within that class. It was clear by his expression that he had gone well in the exam. Many factors could have told a bystander that though, for Kurt had scribbled and whipped his hand across the paper with lightening speed, he needed not to consider any question as he knew them all. He, along with Mike Chang, was one of the first completed.
David felt envy for Kurt; it was not the first time in his life, yet it was for it was David's second life.
"Excuse me, Mrs Simmons." David asked at the end of the lesson as the other students filed to lunch. She looked up in shock; it was the foremost time in which David had addressed her politely.
"I know I did terribly on that exam. I didn't study. I really regret that now. Please, please can I have another chance? I promise that I won't mess up again. I'll try my hardest and I won't slack off in class." He pleaded. Mrs Simmons looked over David with confusion for a minute, before finally settling on a decision.
"You did rather poorly in your first assessment. You need a very high grade to make up for it for your report card." David nodded in agreement. "I'll give you one chance, but you really do have to apply yourself. You can come back tomorrow and retake the test."
David thanked her and left for lunch. He was getting second chances within his second chance. He knew that the Gods had played a role within Mrs Simmons as she would most likely otherwise never have given a student the opportunity to retake an exam worth a quarter of the grade. The Gods were happy, because they knew progress was being made and David would see them not as punishing him, rather than loving and helping him.
David made his way to lunch next. He had missed a few minutes as he had stayed back to talk with Mrs Simmons, but he still had another twenty minutes to eat the appalling cuisine of William McKinley High School. Two double doors stood guarding the cafeteria. There was something about them that always reminded David as a fortress or dungeon entrance. From the outside, the silence of the isolated hallway swallowed David's trudging journey along to the cafeteria. Yet, the moment the double glass doors were opened, even the slightest crack, the ferocious screeching of the feeding teenagers within surrounded David entirely.
As David opened the door, the reflection showed a figure sprinting up the hallway, with another group shortly behind him. Kurt ran to the safety of the cafeteria whilst David's so called friends brutally chased him like a pack of dogs. This time in David's first life, he shamefully was included in the vile brigade, as he, in his first life, didn't remain back to speak with Mrs Simmons for those few minutes. The sickening memory sprouted in David's mind, after catching Kurt shortly before the very doors he stood at, the football team dumped three slushies on him, vulgarly insulted him and one promptly spat upon him also. David, feeling appalled at his past deeds once more, remembered in the smallest of seconds the note given to him by the dove before he left school – "A selfish man holds no doors open for anyone but himself"
David was no longer the selfish man he was before. He pushed the door and stood by it. Kurt, seizing the chance, ran through quickly and darted out of the maze of students and into the abyss, surely to hide amongst the man hallways of McKinley. The lockers only had but few dents in many lockers to acclaim their differing attributes. David promptly stepped through and let the door behind him, trying his hardest not to turn and face his friends. The double-doors slammed in their faces and caught them up, leaving them completely unable to pursue their target.
"What the hell Karofsky?" One asked; it was Jason again.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there," Karofsky said, his voice monotonic.
"You haven't seen a lot today. Get focused!" Jason commanded. The other footballers agreed with their expressions. They had noticed David's dismal performance in football training, and also his absence in their recreational bullying activities.
"Sorry," Karofsky said again. Jason scoffed.
"Well faggot's gone now. Probably off to sniff our uniforms in the change rooms. Thanks man," Jason added sarcastically. David looked into the faces of the other footballers. All of them, including Azimio had expressions of disappointment and frustration toward David. They walked in the other direction, giving one last filthy look at David. David shrugged and moved on to eat his lunch in solitude. Kurt did not appear again until David had finished eating and made his way to his locker to retrieve his books for the final class of the day.
The hallways were frozen by the winds seeping into the school from the cracked open windows lying at the end of each and every dusty hallway. Walking through, David's mind wandered and he shivered to his feet, he thought of how to resolve his problems and get away from his bullying friends. Not seeing where he was going, David turned a corner quickly and collided straight into Kurt Hummel. Being the larger of the two, David remained unscathed, whereas Kurt was thrown of his feet. The phone which was clutched within his hands smacked against the ground and slid away to the locker. David froze, shocked at the moment. The hallways were filled with the noise of silence and the lockers stood darkened by the ever-glooming sky out of the window. Lunch was still in session and the hallways were deserted. With eyes bulging, David watched a pained Kurt open his eyes and glare at his terroriser. The glare turned into complete dread as Kurt's mind registered just exactly the man standing above him.
"I –" David began, but Kurt had jumped to his feet suddenly and backed down the hall at large paces.
"Stay away from me David Karofsky!" Kurt demanded. Shell shocked, David did as he said and remained still as Kurt sauntered down the halls and out of sight.
Still feeling an imprint of the impact, a sudden memory occurred to David. It was the exact day of his and Kurt's kiss. It was the exact day in which things had changed. Yet, in his second chance, a chance of change, everything had remained exactly so it had been before. There was no kiss, David was still closeted, and Kurt still feared his tormenter; David felt saddened that he was wasting his time.
He had a list at home ready for his misdeeds, yet he had not yet fixed a single one.
David was ready to dully get his books and wait silently in the cold and dreaded rain for his final class, but before leaving, he saw something which was of greatest importance. Kurt had run off so quickly that he had forgotten his phone. Knowing the dangers of lost property at McKinley, David picked it up, happy to have an excuse to approach and speak with Kurt.
However, the Gods had decided that David would need to wait before conversing with Kurt, for they had separated the two boys from the moment of their crash. David took the phone and kept it within his bag for the rest of the school day, and then, still not locating Kurt Hummel, he brought it home with himself.
David never liked his house. He had entered houses of other people. They were not nearly as large as his house, yet, with that, they were also not nearly as empty. Though his house physically always had at least one person residing within it, whether it was his mother, his father, his cleaner or his gardener; yet no matter how full, one was always lonely. The white bricked, greyed by the shadowing skies, was never inviting to those who looked upon it, but rather, cold and tired. The interior was the exact same, the furniture was perfectly aligned, the picture frames evenly spread, the surfaces scrubbed down and the floor swept neatly; it never felt warm, cosy or family oriented. David truly envied those with houses smaller and messier than his own, for they were the true homes.
"Hello Davey," his mother called as she heard the clear audible squeaking of the door opening.
"Hello Mom," David called back. He felt a pang being called Davey; he sorely missed the days when his mother gently labelled him as her son and family member. Feeling a push by the Gods of family and love, David entered the living room where his mother read.
"I love you Mom," David said, not caring for anything else.
"I love you too Davey," His mother replied slowly, "Is something wrong, you still look sick?"
"I went badly in my history exam today," David said truthfully.
"Again?" His mother asked. David nodded before realising that she was referring to his previous history assessment of the school year, rather than his previous life.
"I'm sorry, I spoke with Mrs Simmons, and she said I can retake it tomorrow, so I guess I'll study tonight." David said.
"I'm proud to see you taking initiative on this David, it's truly an improvement." His mother said glowing. David smiled weakly. "I hope you know that I'll always be proud to have you as my son David, because I know that deep inside, you're a good person and although you've slacked off for the start of this year, you can pull yourself right back up. I love you Sweetie," his mother said as she was overcome with the sudden change in David's attitude. For the past year or so, his grade had been slipping and he had not cared in the slightest. His mother was disappointed for those years.
"I know Mom," David said. This was a lie because he knew that the moment she found the truth, he would no longer be her son. The thought brought pain once more to David's heart, but also, to the Gods above. For they also understood how not all were capable to love each other for any and all of their mistakes. David looked above his mother's head to the window. It had finally started raining. The Gods let their tears shed on the words of Mary Karofsky.
David excused himself and went upstairs. He pulled out his history book and began to find the chapters in which he had to revise. A sudden vibration occurred from within his open schoolbag. He pulled out Kurt's phone and a message had appeared from Blaine Anderson.
"Trust can rely exactly where you want it not."
David found it strange to have come from Blaine Anderson. It sounded like nothing a teenage boy, even such a flamboyant one, would say. Thinking it over, David checked to see if he had read it properly.
There was no new message from Blaine Anderson on Kurt Hummel's phone.
