Sept. 30, 2012, 5:14 p.m.
0s and 1s: Chapter 1
K - Words: 1,173 - Last Updated: Sep 30, 2012 Story: Complete - Chapters: 30/30 - Created: Sep 30, 2012 - Updated: Sep 30, 2012 997 0 0 0 1
Kurt sighed as he entered his bedroom and sank into a chair. He sat for a moment, just relishing the feeling of being back home. He leant forward to turn his computer on before standing up to grab his bag that he'd dropped at the door. Listening to the sound of the computer's fan kick into action and the hard drive start to spin he took some clothes out of his bag. They were the clothes he had gone to school in, before he had received a slushy facial and been forced to change.
He looked at the red dye on one of his favourite shirts and hoped it wouldn't stain. Checking his monitor he noticed the familiar windows login screen. He quickly typed in his password and while his desktop was loading, he ran downstairs to put his clothes in the washer.
Back in his room his computer had finished loading and was now displaying his desktop. He smiled at the photo he was still using as his desktop wallpaper. It was the photo his glee club had taken for the 2009 year book. Of course it had been defaced in every copy of the year book available in the library, but he still had a copy that was untarnished.
The photo disappeared as a web browser window took it's place. Kurt scrolled through the latest updates of his twitter feed before checking his Facebook. No notifications. Browsing his feed he noticed Rachel had shared a new video she had uploaded to Youtube. He rolled his eyes and scrolled past, stopping at a Link Artie had shared.
" Omegle - Talk to strangers!"
He read the description, a website where you were randomly matched up to chat with strangers. It sounded a lot like chat roulette. He remembered when he had visited that particular site thinking he might find someone interesting to talk to, or just have a nice conversation with someone. He was immediately matched up to a man wearing a wifebeater who winked before moving the camera down. Kurt shrieked and quickly closed the window before looking behind him to double check that his door was closed. He hadn't been back to the website since.
He shook the memory out of his mind and carried on scrolling before he started to recognise the updates as the ones he'd read the day before. He checked his friends list. No one online. He brought up his msn window. One person online, Jacob Ben Israel. Kurt swiftly changed his status to 'appearing offline'.
He opened Spotify and put his WICKED playlist to shuffle. Spinning absentmindedly in his chair, he sighed again. Carole and his Dad were both still at work and Finn was at football practise. He stopped his chair mid spin to refresh facebook. No updates. Clearly everyone else must have better things to do then sit at their computer. Kurt stared at his web browser for a bit before typing Omegle into the address bar.
He noticed there were two options, video or text. Without stopping to think about it he clicked text
"You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!"
Stranger: Sup
You: Hello
Stranger: ASL?
Kurt snorted and clicked the 'next' button.
You: Hi.
Stranger: Hey sexy, looking for some fun?
Kurt clicked 'next' again. And again. And again...
Stranger: Hi!
You: Hello
Stranger: How are you, Stranger?
You: Bored, obviously, why else would I be here?
Stranger: To talk to wonderful people like me?
You: Hm, that must be it.
Stranger: You come on here a lot then?
You: First time actually, saw a link on Facebook.
Stranger: And what do you think?
You: I'm not sure yet.
Stranger: For what it's worth, it's a good site. I've had a lot of interesting discussion on here. You have to 'Next' your way though the trolls and idiots first though.
You: Should I click 'Next' then? ;)
Stranger: Well that's not very nice :(. Maybe I should 'next' you!
You: I'm just kidding. Please don't! You're the first person on here who seems slightly normal.
Stranger: Ok I won't! So tell me something about yourself.
Stranger: You've gone quiet on me.
You: I'm trying to think of something.
Stranger: There's no wrong answer :p.
You: Well you tell me something then.
Stranger: I like Football.
You: Ok, I like scarves.
Stranger: Lol, well I appreciate fashion too.
You: I LIVE for fashion!
Stranger: Really? Do you work in fashion?
You: I'm still in high school. Maybe one day.
Stranger: I see, I'm in high school as well.
You: Isn't it just the MOST fun?
Stranger: I'm sensing some sarcasm.
Kurt hesitated for a moment before reminding himself that he was talking completely anonymously. This person didn't even know his name. He could say whatever he wanted.
You: Being gay and being in high school seems to be somewhat incompatible.
Stranger: Having a hard time?
You: You could say that. I'm out. I'm proud. I've been dealing with the repercussions of that for a year. Recently though it seems to be worse.
Stranger: I actually get how you feel. I got picked on at my old school and it really pissed me off.
You: What did you do?
Stranger: I moved schools.
You: I can't see how it would be different for me at another school. At least here I have friends.
Stranger: It's not like that at every school, but you shouldn't have to move. Sometimes I regret running away.
You: Why did they pick on you?
Stranger: If you asked them they would say it's because I'm gay. But it's because THEY are ignorant and small minded.
You: You're gay? And everyone at your new school is fine with it?
Stranger: I am. And we have a zero tolerance bullying policy here, no matter who you are.
Stranger: You've gone quiet again Stranger. Don't go 'next'ing me!
You: Sorry... that just sounds really nice.
Stranger: It is, but you don't have to run away. Intolerance is just ignorance. You Know why bullies walk in groups of 5?
You: Why?
Stranger: Because they each have a fifth of a personality ;)
You: Lol. That sounds about right :)
Stranger: What's your name?
You: Why do you want to know my name?
Stranger: So when I tell my friends about the cool guy I talked to I can refer to him by name.
You: Lol.. well what's your name?
Stranger: Blaine
You: Kurt
Stranger: I have to go Kurt, but I'd like to talk to you again.
You: How?
Stranger: Do you have msn?
Kurt bit his lip. The point of this was to talk to someone anonymously. This guy, Blaine, seemed nice but he wasn't sure he wanted to give him any personal details. What if he turned out to be a 50 year old guy who liked boys and started stalking him? Kurt was slightly paranoid about online privacy, he had enough of bullies at school he didn't want them to find him online as well. That was why his social media settings were always set to private and he never used usernames or email addresses that could identify him. Kurt reasoned that Blaine already knew his first name, his msn wouldn't give any more information away so he typed his email address into the chat window.
Stranger: Cool, I'll add you when I get back. Talk to you soon!
You: See ya
Stranger: Oh and Kurt?
You: Yes?
Stranger: Courage
Your conversational partner has disconnected