Who I am Hates Who I've Been

[morbidbubbles]

Who: Tina Cohen-Chang, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones
What: Tina comes clean about her stutter and all the other crap that happened today.
Where: Astronomy Classroom after school, Monday
When: Monday (The very busy Monday of Tina-Quinn showdown and Artie-Tina train wreck)
Rating: PG-13 (Tina might swear

Comments

[singslikeagirl]

Kurt came trudging into the astromy room with his bag dragging behind him, dripping from what felt like face-to-toe in a bright blue slushing mess. He had a handful of paper towels which he just held out blindly to Tina for her help, seemingly not even phased at this point what he was covered in the cold beverage. It was probably slushie #192 of the week.

"Let's not mention the Dior t-shirt. If we do, I'll cry," he warned calmy and started to peel his jacket off.

[morbidbubbles]

Tina immediately slid off the table, snatching the paper towels from Kurt's hand. This was priority. "Got you too, huh?" She asked, carefully dabbing at his forehead and and neck. Then she remembered her stutter, and after a long pause she added. "They g-got me this morning. S-sour watermelon." She moved out his way to let him take off his jacket, biting her tongue about his shirt. "S'ok. I've d-done enough crying today for both of us, probably..S-Seems like a bad day for everyone.."

[aint_no_kelly]

Mercedes flipped her hair over her shoulder with a small huff. This past week had just about as much drama as one of those spanish soap operas, all McKinley needed was someone to get pregnant by their boyfriend's evil twin and they'd be set for a sitcom. The teen checked her phone, re-reading Tina's text to make sure she was moving into the right room before her eyes caught sight of her bff and the stuttering Asian.

"Hey you two," At the slush on Kurt's jacket, Mercedes dug into her back pocket for her emergency stash of napkins, wordlessly starting to wipe at his outfit while Tina worked on the other side.

[singslikeagirl]

"It went down my pants. I may be impotent after this," Kurt stated, ever the drama queen. His usual bitchy bite was absent, though. In all honesty, he felt tired. Even Glee Club hadn't had a decent performance for him to get his teeth into lately, and everyone was getting around so angry and up in each other's faces. It took a lot of energy to maintain.

He was wiping the sticky mess off his face, making mental notes to double his nightly moisturising routine after this. He gave a small huff of annoyance at life in general. "I'm sorry, Teens. Go for it. Offload. C'est la vie."

[morbidbubbles]

Tina tossed the soaked paper towels into the nearest trash bin, wiping her slightly blue hands on her dress. It was already darkened by the green slushie from earlier today, so she was beyond caring. She did cringe a little when pain shot through her hand. "Ow! ...I forgot about that..." she muttered, flexing her wrist for a moment.

She looked back at Mercedes and Kurt. Anxiety built up within her again. Where was she supposed to start? "Um...I, um..." Suddenly, everything came out at once, in random, jumbled order. "IbruisedmyhandinthebathroomIkissedArtieIflippedoutonQuinnFabrayI'vebeenlyingaboutmystutterforovertwoyearsi'vehadareallybaddayandireallyhopeyouguys'llstaymyfriends!"

[aint_no_kelly]

She was about to follow Tina's lead and shoot her own bundle of cold, wet paper into the trash when Tina's string of words pushed into her ears. Wait...what? Mercedes' eyes turned to look at the girl. The only words she had caught for sure had been "Artie", "kiss", "Fabray", "stutter" and "friends". "Woah, woah. T, slow down a little bit here okay? I didn't even catch half of that."

Mercedes squised the napkins in her hand relexively, something was definatly up with her friend and she had to admit, it made her worry. Just what else could possibly be going on?

[singslikeagirl]

Kurt was just leaning closer now, a confused frown on his face as he tried to decipher what Tina had said. He caught none of it, but he did notice she hadn't stuttered once. Maybe talking in Tongues did that to you?

"Did you just abuse us in Swahili or Jedi?" he asked, bewildered.

[morbidbubbles]

Tina bit her lip in an attempt to stop it from trembling. "N-No, though I'm sure you'll want to abuse me once I s-say this...I...I...I'm a...liar." She hung her head down in shame. "I...don't really have a stutter. I've been faking it since the sixth grade." She'd said it. She got the worst part out. If by some miracle they able to get past this, she'd tell them the rest. But if they reacted like Artie...she didn't want to think about that. She wrapped her arms around herself, preparing for their reactions.

[aint_no_kelly]

Mercedes could not believe what she was very sure she'd just heard. Her eyebrows scrunched together, eying Tina up and down before glancing over at Kurt and his own reaction. Tina Cohen-Chang, one of the sweetest girls she knew, had been lying about the thing people constantly made fun of her for? "Wha...Tina...?" For once in a long while, Mercedes Jones wasn't entirely sure what to say.

[singslikeagirl]

Kurt's face had come to be in an expression that could only be described as a WTF facial. He looked like he was about to say something, and went to begin by holding up his fingers, but he ended up just clamping his mouth shut instead to take a few more moments with this declaration.

He eventually pointed to himself. "Just for the record, I'm not faking being gay," he clarified when anything else failed him.

[morbidbubbles]

Tina laughed wryly at Kurt's reaction, but she looked up at them solemnly. "You guys, I...I'm really sorry. I don't have a very good explanation for it...then again maybe that's because I didn't have a good reason for it, I dunno..." She felt the lump in her throat again. "It started before I knew you guys...before I had any friends, really...And I..I really am shy, so I had a tough time talking to people, and...well, with a stutter, people stop trying to pressure you into talking."

She sniffed, fighting off tears because the explanation was reminding her of what happened with Artie. "I just sort of went with it, because in some messed up way I felt like I had..more control or something over who I talked to. God, that sounds so stupid..." She shook her head and tried to compose herself. "Look, I...I know this is big and that I probably don't have a right to ask for your forgiveness, but... things happened today and I could really use some friends."

[aint_no_kelly]

"Girlie girl," Mercedes pinched the bridge of her nose slightly with a small sigh. This was surreal to hear about. So, the stutter was a protection mechinism? From people? A small part of her felt hurt it had taken Tina this long to come clean to them about this but the rest of her felt this was a step towards the chance at a better relationship. With how this school was going, openess and forgiving are what was needed.

"This is a shock and is gonna take me a bit to be okay with it but, y'know, friends are friends no matter what." The shorter girl moved to Tina's side and rubbed the obviously distraught girl's back gently. "And I'm your friend T. Lie or not."

[singslikeagirl]

Kurt wriggled on the spot a little, feeling strange with slushie pants on. "At least you didn't pretend to be a girl. Now that would really screw with my head, but if you were guy, we could totally date, girl," he decided with a smirk. To be honest, he wasn't sure what had caused Artie to have such a problem with it. They all had crosses to bear, each and everyone one of them. The coping mechanisms just varied.

"Does this mean you'll have the balls to try some more solos? How about a duet?" He pointed to himself and then Tina with a wink. "Look, Teens. I was in the closet for sixteen years. I can't see what you did has lying, only... being in the vocal closet."

[morbidbubbles]

Tina looked at them both. They didn't hate her. They weren't abandoning her. "You guys.." She felt her eyes water. "Can I please hug you guys?"

She wiped her eyes, laughing at Kurt's dating suggestion. "Well, I guess genetics really screwed me over on that one, huh?" She shrugged in response to the musical question. "Honestly....I don't even know if I should go to Glee club for awhile...I kind of...put myself at odds with two... members today and I...I'm afraid. I don't want to cause anymore trouble for people...even if I do think one of them deserved it..."

[aint_no_kelly]

A small laugh escaped Mercedes' lips at Kurt's comment. Boy always did know how to make someone feel better. Her brow had raised at Tina's words though. She had been at odds with two Glee members? She positioned herself close to Tina and Kurt with a smile. "Hugs are always welcomed here." Her arm opened to Tina.

"As for Glee, you shouldn't be too afraid T. It's all about standing up and being who you are. And if these peeps you got into it with try something, Kurt and I have your back with it. You won't cause any trouble."

[singslikeagirl]

Kurt waved his hand elaborately. "Oh hell no. I won't let you just walk out. I've lost track of how many of us have had Quinn in their face, and vice-versa lately, so that's not going to be an excuse that cuts it. As for Artie, no matter what happened, even he couldn't be harsh enough as to expect you to walk out on one of the only things in the world that means something to us all. Come, sit in the corner and sulk, but do not abandon us, lady. Or I will get my bitch on," he warned with a nod and a very Mercedes-esque 'Mmhmm' added for emphasis.