A/N: Heyyy guys. What's up? So, yeah. Sorry for the dissapearance. It just kinda happened. I didn't mean for so many days to go by. So, I am sorry. But a constant thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you consistant reviewers. I've gotten really lax about personally thanking each one of you, so at the end of the story I will be very sure to go back and personally thank each of you for reviewing and reading, and also for letting me share a piece of myself with you. And just because, I've decided to post a little bit of my story at the bottom, if any of you have a moment to read. :) I love each and every one of you so very much. Remember to hang on no matter what your struggle, because it does get better.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Or the characters that seem familiar. BUT! It would be an awesome birthday present since my birthday is in TWO DAYS! :DDDD (I'll be 18 by the way. And I'm really excited.)
I hope this story touches you or makes you think in some way! As always, message me or leave me your questions in a review if you have any! Mwah! :) 3
Never in Blaine's wildest dreams had he anticipated this. Never in a million years had he suspected to be a "very important person." And especially had he not expected to be sitting across the table from the Governor. What had begun as confusion was, well, still a confusion, but now Blaine had the Governor to explain everything.
It had started that night with a simple phone call. Blaine was expecting his diva friend Mercedes, because it was around the time for their nightly call. But rather than his soul sister, it was the governor. Blaine remembered his mouth going dry and stammering over his words, but agreeing to meet with the man the following day. Blaine figured meeting such an important person was means for missing a day of school, not that he was planning on telling his parents about it. No. They'd have to pay the consequences of all their selfish decisions by watching him make one of his own. He didn't want them there. The Governor didn't say exactly what the meeting was going to be about, only that he'd like to meet him. So Blaine gathered his wits about him and arranged the meeting.
And that was how he ended up here, in the capital of all places, seated in the big office across the table from the governor. Blaine smiled and took a sip from his water. Really he just wanted to know why he was there. Hopefully good things, but who knows? The governor folds his hands and lays them on the table.
"I'll get straight down to the point Mr. Anderson."
"Blaine. Please, call me Blaine. Mr. Anderson is my father. I'm Blaine." The man chuckled and nodded.
"Alright. Blaine it is. Well Blaine, would you like to know why you're here?"
"Yes please. I'm not in trouble am I?" The governor laughed, his big belly shaking.
"No sir. Quite the opposite." The man pulled out several sheets of paper and slid them over towards Blaine. Upon flipping them over, Blaine saw first a spreadsheet, then a copy of the front page of the website. Following those two pages, there were printed out copies of every single comment left written on the wall. Blaine had already read several of them, and he noticed that several were circled, particularly the ones where it was mentioned that the page and encouragement had "saved my life." Blaine looked back up.
"These are from my site." He said. The man nodded.
"Yes, yes they are. It seems to be that you are a very influential person. You've helped a lot of people. Strangers to you. What made you start the page?" Blaine paused before answering, waiting to gather his thoughts.
"Well, when I found Kurt's pictures and obituaries in my attic, I knew we were connected. I could feel it. I began looking into it a little. I still couldn't figure it out, but I felt like I had to do something. I made a few calls to his hometown; I spoke to some people who claimed to be his friends. But no one was talking. One girl, Mercedes Jones, was finally the one who opened the door. She told me about Kurt and what he was like, what his life was like. I knew that I couldn't just let his memory, and the message of his life disappear, so I started a Facebook page. I posted his story, and some words of hope and encouragement. I meant for it to be a safe place where kids could come clean about their problems, or talk to someone who would have no previous knowledge of their background or where they came from. I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would explode overnight. Yeah, as I'm sure you saw, I get hate mail. People are always going to try to stop change. But sir, the fact is, the world is changing out there. People are becoming more and more accepting every day. People who are different, their time is coming! But for now, until that change happens for good, I want to inspire people to hang on and to keep living. So that one day, when acceptance is heard around the world, they'll still be alive to see it."
The man stared at Blaine for a moment, his eyes searching the boy's face and expression. Then, a slow smile spread on his features and he nodded.
"I think this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I couldn't have phrased it better myself. Blaine Anderson, may I please shake your hand?" Blaine smiled and reached his hand out to meet the governor's. "Blaine, the reason I called you here today is to ask your permission to push this mission to become widespread across the country. I want to make signs and billboards and commercials. I want every teen in the nation to know that they have somewhere to turn, a safe place to go. I want to create a center where we can field phone calls day and night, with real people that these kids can speak with." Blaine's mouth was wide open. This was a dream. It had to be a dream. But all he could do was nod, so the governor continued.
"You see Blaine, national teenage suicide rates are at an all-time high. This has reached epidemic levels, and it is far past time to do something about it. That's where you come in. We would like to, with your permission, use your website to help all these kids. We want to take it off Facebook and create its own domain. 'The Kurt Hummel Project dot org.' How does that sound?" It was a lot for Blaine to absorb all at once. He sank back down into his chair and let his brain wander. It presented the possibility for so many opportunities with the organization. So many lives could be saved just because of Blaine. What on Earth could stop him from saying yes to all that? His answer was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
So Blaine agreed to do as the governor wished and to let it spread nationwide. For the first time since reading his paper out loud to the kids in his literature class, he felt as if he were on the right path. As if he was headed in the right direction and making the right choices. The center was created and people were hired, after a strenuous interview process. They only wanted the right people for the answerers. They would be the people saving lives. Blaine was kept in the loop of how the numbers changed. And to Blaine's wonder, he watched as the lives saved monitor went up, and the national suicide rate went down. So many calls were coming in constantly that the organization wound up building three more centers, placed in various time zones around the United States.
Blaine continued going to high school and headed over to his small but cozy office in the main building after school. His parents had eventually found out, and let's just say that they weren't too happy about Blaine spending his time saving, "Silly depressed fags," as his father liked to phrase it. But none of that mattered to him anymore.
On this very afternoon he was sitting in his chair working on calculus homework when he glanced up and his eyes caught the picture frame on his desk. After being given his own office, the first thing Blaine added was the framed picture of him and Kurt as children, that way no matter how crazy things got, he could remind himself why he was doing this. Blaine held the frame in his hands and studied the picture. He ran his thumb over Kurt's face. It had been eight months. A mere eight months since that initial web page founding. And Blaine still struggled with the mystery of how he and Kurt were connected. No one wanted to talk. If anything, lips were more tightly sealed than ever before. But tomorrow, Blaine would have to open his, because he was the guest of honor at the Stop Bullying Convention in New York City. He would be speaking in front of many benefactors and important people. It was time for Blaine to speak out about the mission of the company from his own mouth. Because tomorrow, there would be no more hiding behind the figureheads of the company. Sitting the picture down, Blaine turned on his laptop and read over his speech one final time.
So yeah, and that's that. I hope you are still with me despite my constant delays in updating. Love you all! Here's the part where I'm going to add in a little bit of my story. It'll be short and summerized I promise. :)
So I'm Olivia, for those of you who don't already know. I'm 17, but I'll be 18 two days from now on the 24th of March! :) I was bullied my entire school career. The first memories I have of it are in elementary school. I was in third grade. THere were these three girls who made it their personal mission to make my life a living hell. I hated them. They weren't physical, but the verbal and emotional abuse was just as bad. I didn't understand why they didn't like me. And in my mind, this just became the way the world was. If you were different, or smart, or didn't agree with everyone else, you became a target. And it sucked. They made me hate going to school. But that was when I learned not to run. You see guys, you can't run from everything that hurts you, because that's where your strength comes from.
So I continued onto middle school. I still saw these three girls, but since I was in the advanced classes, I didn't see much of them. I thought my experience with bullying was over. But I would be wrong. Kids continued to pick on me. Said that I read too much, or always had my head stuck in a notebook writing. I was always just a little too different for them. So in eighth grade, I began to change myself. I started dressing like everyone else, acting like everyone else, talking like everyone else, but still rumors were spread about me, and who I really was. But somehow or another, in my mind I was on the verge of being popular. The only thing left to change were the friends I hung around. Namely one, named Caitlin. Well, this girl, if I didn't really fit in, she most certainly didn't fit in. But we had struck up a friendship somehow. I knew that she had to change if I was ever going to be able to fit in without losing my friends. So I began to ridicule what she wore to her. I directed her to dress differently too, to try makeup every once in a while, to try contacts instead of glasses. And then when she did, and it still wasn't enough, I ridiculed her for that too. I had become the same person I had despised in those three girls who picked on me. And I felt dirty. Useless. Ashamed. Embarassed. How had I let this happen? Anyways, me and the girl parted ways when high school came. And after a period of self analysis, I learned the second trick. Forgiving yourself. You aren't perfect. You can't hold onto the guilt for every little thing you've done wrong.
A few years later, I'm a junior. And Caitlin appears at the career academy with me and is in my class. I couldn't speak to her. I didn't know what to say. It took me months. But finally I got enough guts to get on facebook and message her. I told her how bad I felt, and how sorry I was. After an hour of sitting and staring at the message screen, I got a reply. And guys, she told me that I was forgiven. She told me that she had already forgiven me years ago. She taught me the third trick. Asking for forgiveness from others. It's hard. Sometimes it stinks. But it has to be done. Now, We're still good friends. We've rebuilt what we used to have, and I've learned that it doesn't matter what other people think of me, or of my friends. It's what I think of myself.
Guys, I don't know what you're struggling wiht. I don't know what battles you're fighting. But as cliche as it sounds, it does get better. But it doesn't happen overnight. You can't give up because sometimes it takes forever. But whether you are the bully or the victim, hang in there. Talk to me if you like. You guys are some of my best friends already, and I've never met you. But at least now you know why this story is so close to my heart. And if you read this far, God Bless You. You're a wonderful person.
Always Remember to Smile,
3 Olivia
