FicWad

After announcing my transfer to Dalton Academy to New Directions, I feel absolutely terrible. I mean, I know I tend to leave people speechless, but usually that’s from my comebacks to their insults, which are well-above their level of intelligence. My friends, the very glee club that held me together up to this point, actually could not respond when I told them I was leaving. Finn is probably pissed at me for not talking to him about it at all. Mercedes… I can’t imagine how unfair she thinks this is.

Well, actually, I can.

I still have to tell Ryan.

I know, I know. He should have been the first to know after my family. But, to be honest, he is family, and so is New Directions. It just so happened, what with the circumstance of coming to the decision right before rehearsal, that they were the first ones told purely out of convenience. I’m not procrastinating or avoiding any difficult situations.

Really.

I left the choir room as soon as I delivered the news just for this purpose. I run out to the parking lot, only just catching him as he was climbing into his car.

“I thought you had Glee practice…” he frowned, closing the door and leaning against it while waiting for me to catch my breath.

“I did,” I reply. I compose myself quickly, though I’m still breathing harshly. A few months ago, running the distance from the choir room to here would have been easy. Despite Coach Sylvester’s insanity, being on the Cheerios kept me in shape. “I… left early. There’s something we need to talk about. Can you come over to my place?”

“How about you just tell me?”

“I’m not sure how you’re going to react, so I’m going to preemptively hide you away to protect your dignity.”

“What, are you breaking off your friendship with me? I thought what we had was special!”

“Ryan!” I exclaim. “This is serious. And I’d rather you hear this from me now than from everyone else tomorrow.”

“O…kay? I was just joking around. What’s the problem?”

“Just come over, and I’ll tell you. You’re not going to like this one bit.”





My dad has, in fact, managed to find a house for all of us to live in together, and it really shows that we’re starting to move out. Everything, our whole life, is packed into boxes of all sizes, with the exception of my brand new Dalton uniform, which is lying on my bed. Dad must have taken the liberty of getting it for me after we made the decision.

“Um, what is that?” Ryan asks as he stares at the suit.

“It’s my new school uniform…” I begin, my voice trailing off nervously.

“We don’t have any uniforms.”

“I know, but my new school does.”

Ryan turns to face me. “New school? What do you mean, new school? You’re leaving?”

“Yes, tomorrow,” I reply. My head is bowed; I thought I’d be happier to get out of McKinley, but in reality everything just hurts. “I’m transferring to Dalton Academy.”

“But… why? Karofsky’s gone. Wait, you’re not leaving me for your new friends, are you?”

“No, nothing like that,” I sigh. “The school board decided that since there were no witnesses to the threat, they couldn’t prove that it happened, and as such they couldn’t keep him out of school. He’s coming back tomorrow. So… I won’t be,” I finish lamely, using the same speech I gave to New Directions.

“That’s bullshit,” he says. “How can those bastards do that? It’s not fair! Can’t you tell them about the kiss, charge him with sexual harassment or something?”

“What? No, I can’t do that! I mean, I could, and that would certainly keep him away from the school, but I can’t out another person. You know how hard it is; does anyone deserve that?”

“One would think that after causing all that torture that he should be on the receiving end for once,” he mumbles.

I smile, just a little. “The correct answer was ‘no’, Ry. Revenge would be sweet, but in cases like this it’s always kill or be killed. Sometimes literally.”

I stare at the uniform in the heavy silence. It wasn’t too long ago that Ryan himself was almost another victim of homophobia. There was an awful lot of blood involved. I remember him just barely hanging on to consciousness, the blade still in his hand. There was blood in the sink, the shower, on the floor... not to mention all the cuts, both fresh and old, that covered him. I took him to the hospital and made sure he was taken care of. We all deal with our pain in different ways; Ryan just took the more dangerous route. Still, I made him promise he wouldn’t do it again. If he did… well, I don’t know what I’d do without my best friend.

“Are you going to be okay? Without me around?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’ll never see you again or anything. We can still talk to each other, just not during school,” he shrugs.

The lack of reaction isn’t very comforting, but it’s better than a bad one. “Call me if you need anything, at any time. I don’t even care if they try to confiscate my phone, alright? Even with Blaine and Brendon, you’ll always be my best friend.”

“Good to know,” he smirks. “Hey, Dalton is their school, right? Since you go there, you’re technically allowed to date them now.”

I laugh. “I guess so. I’ll put in a good word for you, if you want.”

“Sure. So, you’re moving out now?”

“Yep. With Finn and Carole, we need a bigger house, especially considering that Finn still refuses to share a room with me. It’s like he can’t get over it, like I have. I know I was too forward, but I seriously doubt I scarred him for life.”

“I don’t know… I mean, you were being kind of creepy.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”