Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 87

Mercedes and Tina walked up to the group, both looking extremely stricken. "What's up, ladies?"

The two looked at each other, both clutching their phones. "Guys..." Mercedes said slowly. "It's all over social media. Dave Karofsky just tried to commit suicide."

For a second everything was silent. Ryan stood there frozen, reeling from the news. Soon everyone else was on their phones, checking their social media accounts. "W-what happened?" he asked.

Tina shook her head. "They don't know yet. It was... It happened yesterday evening, and they took him to the hospital. He's still there."

Ryan just stood there, numb as the others continued the discussion in hushed voices. He remembered seeing Karofsky at Breadstix just a few short days ago. Sure, he had been acting a bit strangely, but Ryan hadn't paid attention, and he'd forgotten all about Karofsky until right now. He wondered what had happened to push Karofsky to do it.

He suspected he knew though, and it was confirmed a second later by Mercedes.

"He was talking to Kurt on Valentine's Day," she said. "Apparently... Karofsky's gay. And someone from his school overheard and told everybody."

Well, that would do it. Ryan swallowed reflexively, mind automatically imagining just what Karofsky had felt. He'd been on the verge of panicking when Ryan had revealed that he knew his secret last year, and he could imagine the despair Karofsky would have gone through now that he was forcibly outed. Involuntarily his mind cast back to freshman year, when he'd been the one bullied by Karofsky and the rest of the school, remembering just how dark and hopeless it had been. It had been horrible, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone, even Karofsky. He was all too aware though of just how much pain Karofsky had to have been in to have attempted what he did.

He'd almost done it too after all.

"Ryan? Are you okay?"

His eyes refocused at Quinn's voice, and he looked at her in confusion. He hadn't even realized how lost he was in his own thoughts. "What?"

"The bell just rang," Quinn repeated. He looked around, and sure enough, the rest of the group had scattered to their respective homerooms. "What are you doing?"

He glanced down to see his right hand rubbing absently at his left wrist, just brushing over the thin scar that resided there. He pulled his hand away immediately. "Nothing." He shook himself. "We... we should get to class."

Quinn looked at him for a moment before nodding, and they headed to class.

..

Later that day Shelby sighed softly as the bell rang, dismissing her last class. She picked up her things and headed back to her office as soon as the kids left. The whole school was buzzing with the news of Dave Karofsky's attempted suicide. The faculty had been briefed, and the students informed that Miss Pillsbury was available if any of them needed to talk.

She'd overheard quite a bit though, and public sentiment was negative towards Karofsky and his newly revealed sexuality. At its core, this school was still homophobic, and it showed.

More than that though, she was concerned about Ryan. Knowing his history, she wasn't sure how this news had affected him. She'd seen him earlier, but he'd been quiet, and they hadn't had more than a few minutes before they both had to go to class.

She passed Sue Sylvester's office, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the cheerleading coach reclining in front of her desk, looking out the window. Shelby paused, leaning into her office. "You okay in there?"

"Hello, Broadway," Sue acknowledged. She swung her gaze at Shelby, gesturing at the seat opposite her. "Sit a spell."

Shelby paused for a moment before complying, sensing something off with the other teacher. "Sue, are you crying?"