Fic: Day of Silence, Tina
Prompt: Kurt gets the Glee club to participate [in Day of Silence]. Day of Silence, for those unaware, students going all day without speaking to memoralize/draw attention to others in the past who have been bullied, judged for their sexuality, or generally never had their voices heard. Would love to see how the gleekers are affected by the experience.
Genre: friendship
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Enjoy!
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Tina had a really boring day at school.
It was probably one of the most uneventful days of the entire year, minus all the running-around-at-lunch drama that went down. For her, it was just another day. Nothing special about it.
She had perfected the role of silent observer since she had adopted her fake stutter. Her teachers gradually stopped calling on her, most of them annoyed that she couldn't even get out a yes or a no without stammering. The kids that had teased her back in middle school quit once they realized she wasn't going to say anything back. Nobody gave her the time of day anymore, just left her to sit on her own.
Now the only people she talked to were the members of the glee club, and none of them were talking today. It was just like her days had been before the club had started: silent and boring.
So when she got to glee club and was asked to write about her day, Tina looked down at the paper in her lap guiltily. She didn't have anything to write about. Nothing had happened to her. She could write about being worried about Finn at lunch, but Finn was probably going to write about whatever had happened to him. Tina's eyes found the boy and locked onto him. He wasn't writing anything down. Yet.
Tina let her eyes roam around the choir room. It seemed so lifeless, even with all of them there. Everyone was subdued, writing about their days and not letting their minds wander. Some of them wrote quickly, obviously wanting to get things over with, and some wrote slower, wanting to make sure they remembered everything.
Rachel was looking at her notebook as if it had offended her. It probably had, Tina reasoned, because it was forcing her to relive what had happened that day. Rachel's pencil was practically a blur in her hand. She obviously wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. For someone who always saw things through and did things properly, this was a big change. This wasn't the Rachel Tina knew. This was an angry, disappointed, and completely disheartened Rachel who just wanted to run away and hide.
Jesse, who was sitting next to Rachel, had a more solemn and controlled look on his face. His day had obviously gone better than Rachel's. He kept pausing his writing, looking over at the wall for a few seconds, then went back to his notebook. That was the sign of someone trying to find the right words, trying to make something perfect.
Quinn kept pausing while writing as well, Tina noticed. Every minute or so she would stop and let her fingers trail along her swollen stomach, obviously thinking about her baby. Tina didn't blame her; Quinn looked ready to explode, no matter what she said about not being due for a month.
Her eye was drawn over to Mike, who looked very fidgety. That was nothing new, though. That boy could barely sit through their math class without making a trip or two to the pencil sharpener. He was tapping his feet and wiggling in his seat, obviously wanting to get up an move. She couldn't blame him; they were at glee practice and most of the time Mike would be dancing circles around the rest of them in the first five minutes.
Puck and Mercedes and Kurt were all missing, she noticed next. She knew where they were, so that was hardly a mystery, but Tina wished she knew what had happened. The anxiety in the room was so thick she could have taken a bite out of it. Mike wasn't the only one fidgeting. Tina looked down at her own lap, realizing that she was moving one of her legs up and down subconsciously. Artie, who had obviously finished writing and had noticed that she was also distracted, reached over to take one of her hands. They shared a small smile that was more like a grimace.
Mr. Schuester left after a couple minutes, probably to check on Kurt, Puck, and Mercedes. Everyone in the room stiffened at the absence of their teacher. He was the one keeping them safe, in Tina's opinion, the only thing that held authority over the rest of the students. Artie's grip tightened over Tina's fingers, crushing them together. It was uncomfortable, but she didn't let go.
Matt left a few minutes later after asking around to see if everyone was done. He returned with Mr. Schue in tow, who dismissed them with a small nod for the door. He held out his hands expectantly, no doubt wanting to collect their stories. The rest of the club handed them over without thinking twice about it, But Tina held onto her notebook. There was nothing written there, nothing to be proud of.
So she wrote in big letters on a blank page, "Can I stay and read them with you?"
After saying a wordless goodbye to Artie, Tina sat down in the chair next to the piano. Mr. Schue spread the notebooks out on top of the instrument, dragging the piano bench over next to the chair and sitting down beside her. Tina let her eyes wander over the notebooks, recognizing Artie's almost-cursive-but-not-really scrawl and Finn's big, smudged letters, Rachel's neat script and Quinn's slightly neater writing. Tina chose Matt's unfamiliar handwriting to start with, noticing that Mr. Schue chose Rachel's.
They swapped notebooks back and forth, teacher and student sitting together with their heads bent, societal roles forgotten. Tina's eyes blurred while reading Rachel's and Jesse's, noticing that Mr. Schue started sniffing loudly as well. When Tina reached for Finn's, she noticed that Mr. Schue's hand had stopped halfway there, obviously having saved the same notebook for last.
Tina wasn't sure what she expected to find in Finn's. He might not have written about what had happened at lunch at all. It might just be a page full of nothing for all they knew. But either way, they had saved it for last for a reason.
So instead of making Mr. Schue wait to read it, Tina scooted over onto the bench next to her teacher, holding the notebook between them. Eye contact was made for a split second, then they both began to read.
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Artie | Brittany | Finn | Jesse | Matt | Mercedes | Mike | Puck | Quinn | Rachel | Santana | Will | Kurt (1) (2)
Genre: friendship
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Enjoy!
------
Tina had a really boring day at school.
It was probably one of the most uneventful days of the entire year, minus all the running-around-at-lunch drama that went down. For her, it was just another day. Nothing special about it.
She had perfected the role of silent observer since she had adopted her fake stutter. Her teachers gradually stopped calling on her, most of them annoyed that she couldn't even get out a yes or a no without stammering. The kids that had teased her back in middle school quit once they realized she wasn't going to say anything back. Nobody gave her the time of day anymore, just left her to sit on her own.
Now the only people she talked to were the members of the glee club, and none of them were talking today. It was just like her days had been before the club had started: silent and boring.
So when she got to glee club and was asked to write about her day, Tina looked down at the paper in her lap guiltily. She didn't have anything to write about. Nothing had happened to her. She could write about being worried about Finn at lunch, but Finn was probably going to write about whatever had happened to him. Tina's eyes found the boy and locked onto him. He wasn't writing anything down. Yet.
Tina let her eyes roam around the choir room. It seemed so lifeless, even with all of them there. Everyone was subdued, writing about their days and not letting their minds wander. Some of them wrote quickly, obviously wanting to get things over with, and some wrote slower, wanting to make sure they remembered everything.
Rachel was looking at her notebook as if it had offended her. It probably had, Tina reasoned, because it was forcing her to relive what had happened that day. Rachel's pencil was practically a blur in her hand. She obviously wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. For someone who always saw things through and did things properly, this was a big change. This wasn't the Rachel Tina knew. This was an angry, disappointed, and completely disheartened Rachel who just wanted to run away and hide.
Jesse, who was sitting next to Rachel, had a more solemn and controlled look on his face. His day had obviously gone better than Rachel's. He kept pausing his writing, looking over at the wall for a few seconds, then went back to his notebook. That was the sign of someone trying to find the right words, trying to make something perfect.
Quinn kept pausing while writing as well, Tina noticed. Every minute or so she would stop and let her fingers trail along her swollen stomach, obviously thinking about her baby. Tina didn't blame her; Quinn looked ready to explode, no matter what she said about not being due for a month.
Her eye was drawn over to Mike, who looked very fidgety. That was nothing new, though. That boy could barely sit through their math class without making a trip or two to the pencil sharpener. He was tapping his feet and wiggling in his seat, obviously wanting to get up an move. She couldn't blame him; they were at glee practice and most of the time Mike would be dancing circles around the rest of them in the first five minutes.
Puck and Mercedes and Kurt were all missing, she noticed next. She knew where they were, so that was hardly a mystery, but Tina wished she knew what had happened. The anxiety in the room was so thick she could have taken a bite out of it. Mike wasn't the only one fidgeting. Tina looked down at her own lap, realizing that she was moving one of her legs up and down subconsciously. Artie, who had obviously finished writing and had noticed that she was also distracted, reached over to take one of her hands. They shared a small smile that was more like a grimace.
Mr. Schuester left after a couple minutes, probably to check on Kurt, Puck, and Mercedes. Everyone in the room stiffened at the absence of their teacher. He was the one keeping them safe, in Tina's opinion, the only thing that held authority over the rest of the students. Artie's grip tightened over Tina's fingers, crushing them together. It was uncomfortable, but she didn't let go.
Matt left a few minutes later after asking around to see if everyone was done. He returned with Mr. Schue in tow, who dismissed them with a small nod for the door. He held out his hands expectantly, no doubt wanting to collect their stories. The rest of the club handed them over without thinking twice about it, But Tina held onto her notebook. There was nothing written there, nothing to be proud of.
So she wrote in big letters on a blank page, "Can I stay and read them with you?"
After saying a wordless goodbye to Artie, Tina sat down in the chair next to the piano. Mr. Schue spread the notebooks out on top of the instrument, dragging the piano bench over next to the chair and sitting down beside her. Tina let her eyes wander over the notebooks, recognizing Artie's almost-cursive-but-not-really scrawl and Finn's big, smudged letters, Rachel's neat script and Quinn's slightly neater writing. Tina chose Matt's unfamiliar handwriting to start with, noticing that Mr. Schue chose Rachel's.
They swapped notebooks back and forth, teacher and student sitting together with their heads bent, societal roles forgotten. Tina's eyes blurred while reading Rachel's and Jesse's, noticing that Mr. Schue started sniffing loudly as well. When Tina reached for Finn's, she noticed that Mr. Schue's hand had stopped halfway there, obviously having saved the same notebook for last.
Tina wasn't sure what she expected to find in Finn's. He might not have written about what had happened at lunch at all. It might just be a page full of nothing for all they knew. But either way, they had saved it for last for a reason.
So instead of making Mr. Schue wait to read it, Tina scooted over onto the bench next to her teacher, holding the notebook between them. Eye contact was made for a split second, then they both began to read.
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Artie | Brittany | Finn | Jesse | Matt | Mercedes | Mike | Puck | Quinn | Rachel | Santana | Will | Kurt (1) (2)