Chapter 11

Monday Morning, the next week (I know I have skipped the assembly on Friday but it will make sense after reading)

Dave pulled into the McKinley parking lot and sat in his car just staring at the kids filing into school. He wasn't sure what his reception was going be so he wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as he could. His car door suddenly swung open and Azimio's head appeared.

"Are you getting out of there any time soon or what?"

"Okay I'm coming." Dave pulled himself out of the car as Az moved back to allow him to shut and lock the door. He no sooner turned around when he was crunched in a big Azimio hug.

"You're going to be okay. I've got your back." Az whispered in his ear and hugged even tighter. Dave nodded, hugged back and just to be a smart ass, he gave Az a couple of quick pecks on the cheek. Normally this would earn him a "fuck off perv," but Az just chuckled and gave him a kiss on the cheek back. "You wait here while I just go get my stuff okay?" Az said as he ambled back to his car.

Dave smiled after his friend. Az acted like nothing had changed in his attitude, but Dave noticed that his friend had not said one joke about being gay since the whole facebook thing. Their whole comic shtick about trading insults hurling homophobic taunts back and forth had ended abruptly. Dave kind of missed it, but understood that Az had decided that even joking about being homophobic was wrong. Although it was starting to annoy Dave just a bit that Az was treating him like he was super fragile, he couldn't imagine going through this whole facebook shit without him.

Az had stayed by his side, supporting him through the whole mess. He was there when Dave finally come out to his Dad and Mom and showed them his facebook profile. He quietly slipped out of the house to give them some privacy while the family came to terms with what Dave told them, but he was back knocking at their front door that same night with a couple of days' worth of clothes in a bag. "If I you don't want me to stay in the house tonight, Mr. Kay that's okay, I'll sleep in my car in the driveway," was Az's response to Paul's questioning look.

"I hope you at least cleared this with your parents?" was all Paul said as he stepped aside to allow the burly teen in.

Dave and Azimio had always shared one bed for sleep overs ever since they were ten years old. This was the first sleepover since Dave came out to Az and Dave was pretty nervous about Az's reaction. "Um - do you want to sleep in the guest room?" Dave asked awkwardly after all the drama and family talking was finished and everyone had finally retired in the early hours of the next morning.

"What? Do you think, I think you're gonna rape me if we share a bed, moron?" Az scoffed and started to change into his pyjamas.

"No! I've heard you snore man, I'm exhausted enough as it is." Dave grumbled hoping to disguise his relief that Az was okay with them sleeping together.

"Tough man! Wear earplugs or something, I'm sleeping with you and that's final." Azimio stated gruffly.

Before they went to bed, Dave took one last visit to the bathroom. He was brushing his teeth when the turmoil of the day's emotions, bad feelings and thoughts threatened to take over again. He slumped down on the toilet and allowed the dark despair to wash over him. How was he going face the future? How was he even going to get through the next few days? Could he even survive this? He didn't know how long he sat there wallowing in in his own darkness, when he heard a frantic tap on the door.

"Hey Dave, have you fallen in the toilet or something? When are you coming to bed?" Az had tried to sound snarked and casual but Dave could hear the fear in his voice. It dawned on him why Az was so determined to stay in his home and be by his side. Az was on suicide watch.

"Can't I have a crap in peace?" Dave bellowed. And the darkness had already started to lift.

Az had even accompanied them to Sue's office Wednesday morning to discuss the whole facebook cyber bullying issue. He was the one that suggested that he and Dave stay at home until the assembly on Friday afternoon. He convinced Sue that Dave needed the break from school and since Dave's parents both had to work, Az needed the time off to keep him company. He even offered to collect any assignments and homework from their teachers while the Hummel's and the Karofsky's had their meeting. Sue finally agreed and gave them a pass.

Az continued to stay at the at the Karofsky's the rest of the week and came home with them after the assembly Friday and was still there through the weekend. Paul had kept his opinions to himself all this time but finally on Saturday afternoon, while he and the boys were sitting on the couch watching football, curiosity got the best of him and he simply had to ask.

"Az I know now that my son is gay and that's okay. Is there something that you boys should be telling me?"

"Like what ?" asked Az stuffing chips into his mouth.

"Are you gay as well? Are you and Dave…?" Paul trailed off unsure how to finish the question.

"It's cool Mr. Kay. I'm totally straight. But if I was gay…" Az placed his hand on Dave's knee and squeezed, and said in mock serious tones, "Dave would be the love of my life."

The two boys both cracked up laughing out loud at the look on Paul's face. It was priceless! But underneath the joking, Dave knew Az was telling him that they would be true friends for life. It was lucky that he was laughing so hard, otherwise he would have burst into tears of gratitude.

Azimio finally left the Karofsky's Sunday afternoon after he was ordered home by his Mom.

"Man I have to go. I'm supposed to baby sit my little sister this afternoon." Az said after he got off the phone. "But I'll meet up with you in the school parking lot tomorrow morning and we'll go in together. Phone me!"

"Yep." Dave thought to himself while waiting for his friend to come back to his car. Az was an amazing friend and Dave decided that he would totally lay down his life for him.

"So are you ready to kick some ass?" Az questioned as he came back to the car.

oo000oo

Dave settled himself into the chair at his desk in English and sighed with relief. This morning was anti-climactic and he was almost feeling let down. He had expected quite a few jeers; maybe some homophobic whispers and a pitying look or two from the students as Azimio escorted him to his first class of the morning. Instead they got nods of recognition, pats on the back and a few quiet "heys" and "hellos". This one young girl, either a junior or a freshman, came up to him and with a voice shaking with emotion, had told him how brave he was and what an inspiration he was before fleeing in a flood of tears. Even Puck and Finn his two nemeses, didn't bother him, in fact when they saw him, they walked by shame-faced with their heads down and their shoulders hunched up almost as if they wanted to avoid any trouble.

He was stumped. They had had plenty of assemblies before about bullying with inspiring speeches, urgent pleas to respect each other and lots of character building workshops by anti-bullying proponents. But it had never amounted to any change in the general students' attitude. Dave would still be taunted or slushied even before the well-meaning lecturers had left the school. This time it was different however, the very atmosphere of the entire school seemed to have changed.

Dave could only assume it was Kurt's speech that did it. Up until then the Friday afternoon assembly seemed to be just like any other anti-bullying assembly before that. The Glee club would open the meeting with an inspirational song – this time they chose the song 'Born This Way' - Kurt was noticeably missing from the troop. There was the typical gay guy who described his childhood and the bullying that almost ruined his life and how once he got older and out of school, it got better. There was the standard inspirational speaker who spoke of Martin Luther King and Ghandi - what their message was and what their lives meant and how we should all carry that message in our hearts. There was a stupid skit about bullying and how to deal with it by a local youth group and of course a solo rendition of the song "I am Beautiful" by Mercedes that she had sang previously to much acclaim when she was a Cheerio.

The real change in the students' attitudes came when Kurt stood up to give his public apology. David had known the content of Kurt's speech because one of the terms of the deal they hashed out in Sue's office was that Paul and David would be given a copy of Kurt's speech for perusal before he read it out loud to the assembly. David noticed right off when Kurt sent him the first draft that the speech didn't ring true. Oh it was certainly contrite and David could feel how heart felt Kurt's apology was, but it sounded like he was skirting around something.

The problem was that Kurt was trying to apologise for what he did without mentioning Dave's sexuality. In fact at one point he outright lied, suggesting that David was really straight and he shouldn't have said he was gay.

David phoned Kurt up right away and gave him his permission to 'out' him in his apology in order that there would be no lies. Kurt's second draft was so much better once he was able to say what he wanted to without having to avoid the gay issue. It was truthful and raw. He started at the beginning with a brief detailing of how he treated Dave thoughtlessly and rudely throughout the whole year, thinking he was a dork. He then described how when finding out Dave was gay (they decided mutually to omit any mention of the kiss) that instead of supporting Dave like he should have, he bullied him by hacking into his facebook page and humiliating him. He emphatically declared that everything written about Dave's supposed statements and feelings about being gay on facebook were his fabrication and his alone. He apologised to Dave and the football team for suggesting Dave leered at them during their time in the locker room and pleaded with them not to take it out on Dave. When Dave finished reading Kurt's new apology he finally broke down and cried, letting the floods of tears soothe him. He read it over and over again just to be prepared when Kurt spoke it out loud.

It was still amazingly difficult not to tear up when he heard Kurt speaking in the assembly. His dad and Mom, who accompanied him and sat on either side of him sniffled, cleared their throats and stroked Dave's back all through the apology. Kurt was an absolute mess by the time he finished reading it and had to take breaks to compose himself throughout the speech. The effect on the student body was astounding. They were also caught up in the emotion and the naked candidness of Kurt's speech. He did not spare himself one iota of self-pity or rationalization. He figuratively pilloried himself before all his friends and classmates with great remorse. When Kurt finally finished and walked off the stage, there was only silence as the students tried to absorb and make sense of what just happened. The silence grew uncomfortable as Kurt walked to his chair. The only sounds were a smattering of sniffles, murmurs and nervous giggles that cut off abruptly.

Someone had either planned badly or brilliantly, because the Glee club (minus Kurt again) come out to perform right after Kurt's speech. It was apparent from the beginning no one had told them of Kurt's apology beforehand and when the group came on stage after hearing it, they seemed dazed and disorganized as they lurched into their final performance, a supposedly inspirational mashup of 'Lean On Me' and 'When You Need a Friend.' They got it together somehow and did their best but it seemed rather ironic to Dave that this group of social elites - the main culprits of his unpopular standing and the very bullies that made his life a misery - were singing of unconditional support and friendship. It must have seemed quite ironic to the rest of the student body because for the first time ever, the Glee club received boos and jeers at the end of their performance rather than the usual applause and cheers. They ended the mashup quickly and as jerkily as they started and left the stage in disgrace.

As Dave sat in English class and pondered his new found popularity as an out gay teen, he idly wondered what was the fall out of the assembly for the Glee Club?