Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The flyers were white with black text. There were no flashy colors or anything that would usually catch the attention of people, but a few students noticed them.

The flyers advertised a new GSA club. ‘Today’, it said, and then underneath that, in smaller text, ‘every Tuesday after that’. The meetings would start at three o’clock, the flyers had added, in room 511.

There had never been a GSA before, and the sort of people the club would attract weren’t even really aware there were others like them. So a little group of six teenagers gravitated towards room 511 when the time neared 3 pm after school.

Christine was there first, right after class. She had greeted the teacher as he was leaving, and the teacher left the door unlocked for the club, making Christine promise to lock it when she and the group left. She even showed that she knew how to do it, to assure him.

Next came the infamous Jenna Rolan, who was best known for gossip. She knew things about everyone in the school. If it was interesting enough, she wanted to know.

Third was well-known Jake Dillinger. Yes, that Jake Dillinger, the one with the very many extra-curriculars, who was also on the team of whatever sports game happened to be in season.

Fourth was the just-as-well-known Chloe Valentine. “Not a word,” she hissed at the others as she sat down. She set her iced coffee down on the desk.

Fifth was a mostly unknown kid wearing a striped shirt and navy blue cardigan, who arrived right at 3. The kid looked nervous, and when stepping inside the classroom, asked, “Is this – uh, where we meet for the GSA club?”

Christine glanced over. “No, this is where we meet for the swim team.” The kid seemed to be ready to leave so she quickly added, “I’m joking.”

The last to come in, two minutes after 3, was another kid who was also mostly unknown, with white headphones and a red sweater that included several patches.

The group of teenagers looked around themselves. “So where’s the leader?” Christine asked, tapping her fingers on the desk she sat at. She had a lot of energy, but letting her fingers and hands do as they pleased helped control that.

Some of them shrugged. “Who was the person who even put up the flyers?” Jake asked as well, now curious. There were no answers. Nobody seemed to know, so Jake took it upon himself to lead the group. “Okay, well,” he said, getting up. “Let’s all sit in a circle and introduce ourselves.”

“Are we in elementary school?” Chloe said sarcastically, clearly finding something wrong with it. But other than that, she said nothing, and the six teens picked up their chairs and put them in a circle.

“I was looking online at some things when I got here,” Jake said, “and someone online suggested we introduce with our names and pronouns. I’ll go first. I’m Jake, he/him.”

“Is saying our pronouns really necessary?” Chloe asked, but then she sighed and added with a roll of her eyes, “Chloe, she/her.”

“Christine, she/her,” Christine chimed in, seeming happy to be there.

“Jeremy, they/them,” said the one in the striped shirt, fiddling with their cardigan.

Jenna was about to take her turn when Chloe interrupted, “They/them?”

Jeremy nodded anxiously.

“But you’re one person. Would that even make sense?”

Jeremy sort of shrunk back in their seat, and Jake quickly said, “Chlo, leave them alone.”

Chloe hummed before deciding to let it go.

“Jenna,” Jenna said when it was certain there would be no more interruptions. “I guess I’m pronoun indifferent. It doesn’t really matter much to me.”

 “Michael, he/him,” said the kid in the red sweatshirt, fiddling with the strings and looking nervous. Jeremy could guess why he was nervous – the boy, who they now recognized from their English class, was outed each time the class had a substitute, who would call the name ‘Maya’, and Michael would have to tell the substitute, “It’s Michael.”

Jake nodded, the introductions over with. “So does anyone know each other? I know like… some of you. Chloe and Christine, and Jenna.”

Some of them looked at each other. Michael and Jeremy shook their heads. Christine mentioned she was aware of the others name but not really friends with any. Jenna said she knew everyone but not to the point of friends. Chloe said she had only been aware of Jake and Jenna.

“Well, now you all know each other,” Jake said, looking pleased with himself. “What were your guys’ reason for being here? I didn’t even know Chloe was interested in this sort of thing.”

“Not a word, I said,” Chloe repeated, glaring slightly. Jake ignored her order, for the most part.

“Well, I thought it would be neat to meet other people on the spectrum!” Christine said, the first one to answer Jake’s question. “I didn’t even know there were going to be others, aside from maybe the person who put up the flyers!” She clasped her hands together. “I was kind of hoping to meet another ace.”

“Oh well, hey,” Jenna said, giving a little wave, and Christine smiled. “Are you aro too, or…?”

Christine shook her head. “I’m not sure yet, but I don’t think I’m aromantic.”

“Well, GSA stands for gender and sexuality alliance,” Jeremy said next, with a slight shrug.

“Same,” Michael spoke up. “Before I researched it I thought it meant Gay-Straight Alliance. Or, well, that’s what it was at my old school.”

“And, well,” Jeremy continued, “I thought it might help me to know that there are other LGBTQ people at the school. So that I don’t feel… all alone.” Jeremy bit their lip and looked down at their hands.

“Well, now you know us!” Christine said pleasantly, and Jeremy gave her a smile.

“Are we all going to come back next Tuesday?” Jake asked, his question once again to the whole group.

The teens were silent for a minute or two.

“I’d like to,” Christine finally said. There were nods of agreement from Jeremy, Michael, and Jenna. The only one left was Chloe, and the group turned towards her.

“Maybe,” is all Chloe said at first. “Though, I want to make sure of something before we leave, even if I don’t come back.”

“Speak your mind,” Christine said.

“None of this leaves this room,” Chloe started. “Specifically and especially the fact that I’m here. If it gets out that I may or may not become part of this little club. That means no gossip,” she continued, directly to Jenna, and then went back to speaking in general, “no mentioning me to anyone – not even in passing. If anyone finds out I will destroy you.” And then she took a sip of her iced coffee, as if she hadn’t just threatened anyone.

Christine looked taken aback by Chloe’s threat for a moment, before glancing around. “I think we can agree that nothing will leave this room, about anyone. I can understand that some of you might want to keep this under wraps.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. “And um,” Jeremy said quietly, “I’m… not out to anyone else except my dad. So… I guess you shouldn’t use the correct pronoun for me outside of this.” They looked unhappy to say that. The others nodded in understanding.

Jake took out a piece of paper from his backpack and wrote something on it. “I think we should have a sign-up sheet,” he explained. “So that we in the club can know who’s here, you know?” With the pen he made a line down the middle, and on the left he wrote ‘name’ where on the right he wrote the number sign often found on phones.

“Oh, maybe I can keep track of what goes on in here,” Christine said. “Like – like a secretary in real club meetings!” She seemed pleased to assign herself that.

Jake passed around the paper, and the group wrote down their names and phone numbers. He also said, “And maybe as individuals we should exchange phone numbers. You know, to make friends.”

The group stood and they did that, exchanging phone numbers with a few people but not all, and one by one they left. First Chloe, then Jenna, then Jake, then Michael, then Jeremy.

Christine made sure to lock the door when she left.

Chapter Text

The club members arrived in pairs this time. Jake and Christine arrived first. They took out papers and started writing on them – Christine to keep track of the meeting, and Jake to make another sign-in sheet.

They looked up when the door opened again, and Christine expected maybe Jenna, or Michael and Jeremy (who were now inseparable), but instead she and Jake were surprised to see Rich Goranski. Christine returned her attention to her paper, not sure what to do, while Jake frowned at Rich. Rich, who sometimes said some transphobic or homophobic things.

Rich frowned back, narrowing his eyes. “GSA?” he questioned.

“Yep,” Christine replied for Jake, because she wasn’t sure how he’d act or talk.

Rich only nodded and took a seat. He drummed his fingers against the table.

The door opened again, and in came Michael and Jeremy, chatting about something that had their full attention. When they wrapped up their conversation, Michael looked around – and his fists clenched when he saw Rich.

“I’m not doing this,” Michael said, and Jeremy looked where Michael was looking and saw Rich.

“Michael,” Christine started, but Michael shook his head.

“No, fuck this,” Michael said, turning around and exiting the classroom, surprising Christine and Jeremy.

“I’ll… go talk to him,” Jeremy said, running a hand through their hair nervously and leaving the room as well.

Jake turned his gaze to Rich. “I’d suggest you apologize to him,” he stated plainly.

“Apologize for what?” Rich said, clearly not knowing about the group chat and what had transpired during the past week. “I didn’t do anything. Dunno what the kid’s mad about.” It sounded like he was avoiding using any pronoun at all for Michael. He frowned and started chewing at his nails.

“One, you’re our age, ‘kid’,” Christine started. “Two, you called Michael some names.”

“How would you know?”

“Michael told me. He’s my friend,” Christine replied calmly. “Now when he comes back, you’ll apologize.” She scribbled something down on her paper.

Rich scowled slightly.

The door opened again, and Jenna and Chloe came in. “Why does Michael look angry – oh.” Chloe pursed her lips upon seeing Rich. She quietly took a seat and Jenna took a seat next to her. Jenna was frowning at Rich. Rich frowned back at her.

A minute or two passed before the door opened again, and Michael and Jeremy came back in. Michael had his arms crossed over his chest, and he took a seat on the other side of Christine. Jeremy sat with him. The group of teens sat in silence for a few moments. Christine reached over and bapped Rich’s hand with her pen.

“Fine,” Rich muttered. He glanced towards Michael. “Sorry, I guess,” he mumbled, his s’s sounding a bit off.

“That’s not a real apology,” Christine argued.

“Well, why do I need to do a real apology?” Rich said. “It’s not my fault Mell can’t handle a word or two.”

Michael’s hands curled. The others noticed.

“Why are you even here?” Michael demanded.

Rich shrugged, sinking in his seat. “Reasons.”

“We can’t let you stay if you’re going to act that way towards Michael,” Jake said firmly. “I would like everybody to feel safe and content here. And I’m pretty sure he won’t feel any of that if you keep acting like that.”

“Fine,” Rich said again. He turned towards Michael. “I apologize for calling you a thing or two.”

Michael’s hands uncurled finally. Before he could really say anything in response, the door opened again. The group looked up at the newest person, a girl with a yellow cardigan hanging off her shoulders.

The girl blinked for a few moments, at everybody staring at her, before sliding into a seat.

“Okay, well,” Jake started. “Since we got new people we should probably do the introduction again.” At his nod, everybody made the chairs into a circle again. Michael stayed far as possible from Rich, the new girl sat next to Chloe, and Jake and Christine were at each end of the circle. “Jake, he/him.”

“Jenna, pronoun indifferent.” Only Jenna noticed that Rich rolled his eyes at that.

 “Michael, he/him.”

“Jeremy, they/them.”

That got a snort out of Rich. Jeremy fidgeted, looking down. Michael pat them on the arm and flipped Rich off.

“Chloe, she/her.”

“Brooke, she/her,” the new girl said pleasantly.

“Rich, and I’m a guy so… he/him,” Rich said.

“Can you stop being an asshole for like, one minute?” Michael snapped.

“Do you need to leave, Rich?” Christine said. Rich didn’t say anything in response. She sighed. “Christine, she/her.” She scribbled another thing down on her paper. “Today I wanted to talk about relationships.” At the others’ inquisitive looks, she clarified. “Like, in general. Friendships, families?” They started to nod in understanding. “Like Jeremy, you said you were out to your dad? How’s that?”

Jeremy rubbed the back of their neck, clearly not used to the attention or going first. “Uh… he didn’t really get it at first,” they started. “But I didn’t exactly explain at first either… I just asked him to start using they/them for me and said that I wasn’t exactly his son.”

“Did he listen?” Christine asked curiously.

“Sort of?” Jeremy replied. “He tripped up a lot at first. I don’t think he fully understood what I wanted or… my reasoning. After a while I explained. He did a lot better after that.” Jeremy smiled slightly. “He even sometimes sends me articles about genders outside the binary he occasionally finds.”

“That’s lovely, Jeremy.”

“Yeah… it really means a lot that he’s supportive.”

“Well, I’m glad someone’s dad is supportive, at least,” Michael commented. The rest of the group glanced at him, and he shrugged. “Simply put, my dad wasn’t. Refused me to call me my name and what I was. I haven’t seen him since I was thirteen though…” His hands curled again and he muttered something about “a proper boy”.

“Do you have a supportive mom, then?” Christine inquired.

Michael immediately brightened up. “Two of them,” he replied. “My Ina and Ma got married when I was… fifteen, I think?”

“My parents think I’m just trying to be special,” Jenna laughed without humor. “I think they would have been able to handle one of them… but being aro and ace at the same time?” She shook her head slightly, her smile turning into a frown. “They don’t think it’s a thing, they say I just need to find a nice boy to settle down with in the future.”

Christine frowned. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“That must suck,” Michael said, fiddling with a patch on his sweater.

“Yeah, well,” Jenna said. “Can’t do much about it.”

It was quiet for a few moments, before Jake said, “My parents are supportive of the LGBTQ community… and wouldn’t mind, but they’re not around all that often.”

“My parents don’t know,” Chloe commented.

“Mine don’t care all that much…,” Brooke said softly.

Christine swung her legs slightly. “My parents are great about it,” she said, in a tone indicating that she felt bad for being the one with supportive parents. “They understand how I’m ace and don’t yet know my romantic orientation.”

Rich had been uncharacteristically quiet during this whole family talk. The rest of the group had forgotten he was there, until Christine glanced across the circle. “Rich?” she said.

Rich took a deep breath and looked up. The sarcastic spark wasn’t there anymore. “Dad doesn’t know…,” he said in a quiet voice no one had heard from him before. “He’d probably beat my ass if he did, though.”

Christine immediately looked concerned. “Shouldn’t you try to get out of there, then? That’s child abuse!”

“I was exaggerating,” Rich said quickly, but it sounded like he was lying. “He’s just kind of homophobic. It’s not like he’ll kill me or anything… I hope.” Rich muttered the last part under his breath.

Christine still looked alarmed.

“I was just exaggerating, I swear,” Rich insisted, his lisp slipping through as a result of him speaking too fast.

Michael looked like he wasn’t sure how to feel about this new development.

There was an awkward silence. Rich stood up to leave, but Christine told him to sit down, so he obeyed. The group was silent again for a few moments.

“This club could be a very good thing,” Christine started. “It’s important to know you’re not alone, you know?” The rest of the teens nodded. “It’s important to have friends to understand… and I hope that’s what this club will be.” She seemed hopeful.

“That would be nice,” Jenna agreed. “This club could be like family, I guess.”

“Sometimes it’s better to choose your family,” Brooke put in. “You all seem like good people to choose!”

Christine smiled and glanced around.

“Let’s make this what that is,” Jake said decidedly. “If… if any of you need anybody or any help, we should be there for each other.”

The group chatted aimlessly about a few things for a few minutes, before everyone stood up to leave. After everyone signed the sign-in sheet, Jake kept Rich and Brooke afterwards get their phone numbers for the group chat.

Chapter Text

The first person to arrive at the classroom where the GSA took place was Rich. He silently slid into his seat, giving a nod to the teacher as he left. He drummed his fingers against the desk he was sitting at.

The second person to arrive was Jenna. She sat down at another desk, tapping away at her phone as if it was something of great importance.

“Yo, Jenna,” Rich started, and Jenna looked up. “You said you’re ‘pronoun indifferent’.” It wasn’t hard to hear the finger quotes in his statement. “Does that mean you won’t get upset if I call you an ‘it’?”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “I know you’re trying to be edgy, but no, I won’t care,” she replied, setting her phone down.

Next to arrive was Christine, who was a little ball of energy like usual. She didn’t really acknowledge Rich or Jenna as she went to the front of the classroom, setting a laptop down at the teacher’s desk. The other two students watched as she connected the overhead projector to it. Then two more students arrived.

“It’s a legit question!” Michael was saying, and Chloe was shaking her head with a roll of her eyes.

“And you’re sure you aren’t high?” Chloe asked, as Michael pouted.

“But like, think about it,” Michael said.

“What was your question?” Christine asked curiously as she finished setting up the laptop and projector.

“Okay, okay,” Michael said over Chloe’s ‘don’t ask, save yourself’. “You know how Chloe’s gay? Well, lesbian, whatever.” Christine nodded. “And she’s fake dating Rich, to like, cover that up because she doesn’t want anyone else to know and whatnot. So does that mean Rich is a ‘beard’?”

The other three students, minus Chloe, stared at Michael in silent confusion.

“Okay, look,” Michael tried to explain. “When a gay guy dates a girl to cover his sexuality and shit, the girl is called a ‘beard’. So is it different if it’s a lesbian doing it?”

Chloe sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re so fucking weird, Michael,” she muttered.

Before Michael had a chance to say more, Jake and Brooke arrived. They sat down and continued their conversation they were having before they came in.

Christine clasped her hands together for a moment and opened the laptop she had brought. She suddenly noticed someone missing, as she glanced at the clock. It was six minutes after three.

Jeremy came in quickly. “Sorry I’m late,” they said, out of breath like they had ran there. “The computer I was using in multimedia crashed so I had to start the assignment over.” They shook their head and sat down next to Michael. Michael greeted them quietly.

Christine counted the number of students in the classroom and seemed satisfied. “Okay, now that everyone’s here,” she said, “let’s get started. I found this neat little timeline online last night!” She opened a web browser and clicked it from the bookmarks. The timeline seemed to be a slide show. “I didn’t have time to look through it, but I thought it might be interesting!” The others settled down and faced the front where the slide show was.

The first slide was mentioned two Egyptian royal servants who had been buried together, and were considered the first same-gender couple in history. The slide stated the time as 2450 BC.

“Two thousand BC? Damn,” Chloe commented quietly.

“Point one for the gays,” Michael said, raising a hand in unnecessary victory as Chloe sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose again. Jeremy smiled.

Christine smiled slightly and clicked to the next screen, which, to her surprise, wasn’t exactly appropriate. She gasped and covered her mouth, eyes widening. “Oh no,” she said.

Michael burst out in laughter. Jeremy had to cover a smile with their hand. Chloe simply closed her eyes with a sigh. The others seemed to find Christine’s mistake of not reviewing the timeline amusing as well. The girl quickly clicked to the next slide, and after that was a slide of how same-sex marriage was largely accepted in the Roman Empire.

Michael placed his head in his hand and his elbows on the desk. “Why is our society less accepting than the Romans?” he asked, not really asking for an answer as Christine clicked next. This one slide was about how a Roman emperor’s favorite lover died, causing said emperor to start a cult that gave the lover the status of a god.

“’Favorite lover’?” Jake questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Forget that,” Michael said, sitting up and waving Jake’s question away. “A cult? Dude got a cult built for him?”

“The ‘mysteriously dies’ sounds a bit suspect,” Jeremy said, tilting their head slightly. “But, what do I know, this was like – a little over 100 BC.”

“I want a cult,” Michael muttered, settling back down as Christine shook her head at him and clicked to the next slide, about Sappho, the Greek poet.

“Finally, some lesbians,” Chloe said, causing Brooke to giggle a little.

“So that’s where Sapphic comes from,” Brooke added softly. “That’s neat. I like that.” She smiled and placed her hands in her lap.

Christine clicked to the next slide, which mentioned a poem written by a Jewish philosopher that could be interpreted as something for trans female identity.

“Finally, some trans content,” Michael whispered, and others gave him a strange look for the stage whisper. He blushed. “Shut up, I was excited.”

“It’s pretty neat,” Brooke agreed.

The room grew quiet when Christine clicked to the next slide. “Oh no,” Christine said softly. They all stared at the screen until Rich spoke up.

“That’s… kind of fucked up,” Rich said. At other’s glances he said, “What? Just because I don’t agree with them doesn’t mean they should be burned alive.” He mumbled a little at the end and sunk into his seat.

Christine continued with the timeline. “Goddamn, history is depressing,” Rich mentioned. Everybody seemed to be in agreement, quiet until the slide that stated that Leonardo Da Vinci was charged with sodomy.

“The gays claim Da Vinci,” Michael exclaimed, and it made Jeremy laugh. Rich rolled his eyes slightly but it wasn’t in a negative way.

Christine smiled and clicked next, to something about another Renaissance artist.

“Renaissance gays,” Michael stage-whispered, and that actually got a chuckle out of Rich. Jeremy, Michael, Christine, and Chloe looked at him in surprise. Brooke, Jake, and Jenna didn’t look as surprised, but still glanced over.

Rich quickly stopped, shutting his mouth, before muttering, “What’re you looking at?” One by one, the teens looked back at the screen.

Christine continued to click through the timeline. Within two clicks they were at the slide of King James.

“Oh, I remember hearing about this,” Brooke said. “It was actually pretty funny. He kept promoting him.” She tapped out something on her phone and pulled up a wikipedia page. She handed it over to Jeremy, who looked at the screen.

“Oh wow,” they said, a smile in their voice. “That’s actually pretty funny.” They showed Michael, and Michael seemed to think it was funny too.

“Can I see?” Christine asked, so Brooke plucked her phone from Michael’s hand, ignoring his indignant sound, and walked to the front of the room where the projector and Christine was.

“Here, just lemme…” Brooke gestured, and Christine moved aside. Brooke momentarily disconnected the projector from the laptop Christine had pulled the timeline up on and, after fiddling around for a few moments, connected it to her phone, showing the Wikipedia page.

“That’s a lot of promoting in eight years,” Rich said after they’d been silent for a few moments.

“They’re right, it is funny,” Jake agreed. He’d been mostly silently watching the slide show.

“Wait, what’s ‘Gentleman of the Bedchamber’?” Jeremy asked.

“Sounds kinky,” Michael joked, and Jeremy covered their face.

Jeremy shook their head and after a moment pulled out their own phone, deciding to search it themselves. “A Gentleman of the Bedchamber’s duties originally consisted of assisting the King with his dressing, waiting on him when he ate in private, guarding access to him in his bedchamber and closet, and providing companionship,” they read aloud.

“So I mean…” Michael gestured. “I’m not sure I’m exactly wrong.”

Jeremy rolled their eyes and gently shoved him. Michael laughed a little.

“I’m just saying it sounds kind of gay!” Michael said.

Christine handed Brooke’s phone back to her, and Brooke went to sit back down next to Jake. Christine reconnected the projector to the laptop and continued through the timeline.

“That’s something strange to think about,” Jeremy murmured, absentmindedly scratching their ear, when they got to the time of the birth of Eleanor Roosevelt.

“What is?” Brooke asked, reading the slide and not seeing anything strange in particular.

“That Eleanor Roosevelt knew Amelia Earhart and vice versa,” Jeremy explained. “Like… people know of all these different important people but forget or aren’t aware that some of them actually lived during the same time.”

“It happens a lot,” Jake said. “But yeah, it is kind of strange to think about…”

Christine clicked next again.

“Oh, this is neat,” Jeremy said, sitting up. “I’ve heard of Two-Spirit. I’ve never properly looked at it though. But I think it’s so cool how even before colonization gender wasn’t black and white.”

The slide show timeline continued.

“A lesbian party would be dope,” Chloe said, reading the slide where a singer was arrested for holding such a party.

At Chloe’s sentence, Jenna started to laugh. “Dope?” she questioned.

Chloe realized what she said and turned red. “Shut up,” she quickly replied. “Michael’s rubbing off on me.”

“I’d count that as a success,” Michael said with a laugh. Chloe flipped him off.

A few slides over was something about a book. “Wait, how does a book ‘spark great legal controversy’?” Jeremy asked. They took their phone out to search the name of the book.

“No, I want to find it this time,” Brooke insisted, so Jeremy silently put their phone away. Brooke pulled up a page on Wikipedia. “’The Well of Loneliness is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928’,” she read. She skimmed the first paragraph and hummed softly. “’The novel portrays “inversion”’ – they mean just being gay – ‘as a natural, God-given state and makes an explicit plea: “Give us also the right to our existence”.’”

It was quiet for a few moments.

“That’s a really strong quote,” Michael said.

“It’s actually really kind of inspiring,” Christine said softly.

“That belongs on a poster or something,” Michael added. “It just makes you stop and think, you know?”

“That some assholes think we shouldn’t exist?” Chloe offered up, almost ruining the moment but not quite.

“Well, yeah, that,” Michael admitted. “But it also kind of makes me want to go to protests and like, actively fight for our rights. So yeah, like Christine said, kind of inspiring.”

Everybody nodded, and it was silent for a few moments more, before Christine finally clicked to the next slide.

“Oh, isn’t her story coming out next month?” Jeremy asked. “As a movie? ‘The Danish Girl’?”

“Yeah,” Michael replied. “But it’s not being very well received online in some circles.”

“Why not?” The person who asked turned out to be Rich.

Michael looked at him, slightly surprised for Rich to be asking, and said, “Mostly because it’s a male actor playing her.” He shrugged slightly.

Rich furrowed his brow, clearly trying to understand. “What’s wrong with that?” he finally asked.

“She’s not a dude,” Michael explained. “So a guy shouldn’t be playing her. It would be better to find another trans woman to play her, even if she’s not well known. Having a cis guy play her just reinforces the idea that trans women are men, when they’re not.”

Rich slowly nodded in understanding, absorbing this information. Christine was a little proud that he seemed open to learning about things he might not agree with, and making an effort. She hoped that with more learning he’d be more respectful to Michael and Jeremy.

A few slides over was the first lesbian rights organization, formed in 1955 in San Francisco. “More lesbians,” Chloe said, raising a hand in victory like Michael had at the beginning of their meeting, causing Brooke to cover her smile.

“Oh worm?” Michael said when they got to a slide regarding the famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech.

“Michael, enough with your memes,” Chloe begged. “Please.”

Michael smirked slightly but he didn’t say it again.

“Oh, the Stonewall riots,” Christine said, surprising everyone with her exclamation when they got to the specific slide. “I wrote a paper on it last year,” she added.

“Did you get a good grade?” Jenna asked.

Christine frowned. “No. The teacher didn’t even give me a reason why he gave me an F. I thought it was a perfectly good paper. It even brought my grade down to a B minus!” She seemed displeased at that, crossing her arms.

“Wait, which teacher?” Rich asked.

Christine glanced over. “Mister Bradbury.”

At that everyone, even Rich, shook their heads. She looked at them confusedly.

“Yeah, he’s kind of a queerphobe,” Michael started. “Wait, is everyone okay with the word ‘queer’?” he asked, glancing at each of the others. They all nodded. “Anyway, yeah, he’s a queerphobe.”

“How disappointing,” Christine said.

Michael was quiet as Christine clicked next. “Oh w –” Chloe shot him a look, so he shut his mouth momentarily. “Reclaiming things is cool,” he amended. Christine clicked the next slide.

“Oh, was that the start of pride parades?” Brooke asked curiously.

“Probably.” Next slide. “They’re so cool,” Michael whispered about Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. “I wonder if STAR is still a thing? I’ll have to look into it later. But these two made like, such a difference.” He stared up at the screen for a few moments more before Christine continued the slide show.

“How do you become your own client?” Jake asked, at the next slide of Lambda Legal.

Michael shrugged. “I like how it’s an organization specifically for gay rights, though.”

Soon they arrived at the 1978 slide that mentioned the creation of the first Rainbow Flag. “Huh, I guess the flag hasn’t been around that long. That makes it…” Michael counted on his fingers, then looked confused, then tried again.

“Isn’t it too many years to count with your fingers?” Christine whispered to him, but Michael waved her off.

“Twenty-seven years?” Michael said finally, but he didn’t sound totally confident.

Jenna calculated it on her phone. “Yep, you have it right.”

Christine clicked through some more slides, up to a 1987 activist group. “Oh, that’s where it’s from!” she said, jumping up slightly. Her sudden movement surprised everyone, causing some to jolt, and they all stared at her in confusion. “Rent?” she explained. “You know, the musical? I have the movie version and in La Vie Boheme and there was a line that goes, “Actual reality, act up, fight AIDS’. I mean, I would assume that’s where they got the idea.” She rambled on for a moment but then stopped. She quietly clicked the next slide.

Soon they got to the founding of the Gay-Straight Alliance. “Wait so is it the Gay-Straight Alliance or the Gender and Sexuality Alliance?” Jeremy asked, sounding confused.

“Maybe it’s both?” Brooke offered.

“I think they adopted the ‘Gender and Sexuality Alliance’ one to make it more inclusive.” Christine replied.

“Do you think any of the teachers even know about this club?” Chloe said.

“Well, Mr. Makorie knows that we have a club, since this is his classroom.”

“Do you think he knows what it specifically is for?”

“Well, if he does then I hope he isn’t against it.”

In 1998, the bisexual flag was introduced.

“Yes,” Rich said, not very quietly, startling the others. “What? Let the bi people have something,” he mumbled. It was the first time Rich had said anything about or given hints about why he joined the GSA.

Christine smiled a little and continued.

In 2006 New Jersey said lawmakers must give marriage rights to gay couples. “I guess New Jersey is good for something,” Michael said. When they got to 2011, specifically the slide about the end of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, Michael furrowed his brow. “Wait, there’s regulations not allowing trans people to serve? That’s dumb…”

2013 was when the U.S. started federally recognizing same-sex marriage. “Took them long enough,” Michael, Chloe, and Rich said at the same time. They glanced at each other but said nothing more.

“Take that…,” Michael said when the Department of Education clarified that trans students were protected under Title IX.

They finally arrived at the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. “Can you believe it took them this long? Honestly, the Romans did it better,” Michael said.

Chloe looked at him. “We’ve been here for over a half hour and you’re bringing up the Romans?”

“Yes,” Michael replied, very seriously. “At least they would let me marry if I was born back then.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but it wasn’t serious.

“This was actually kind of fun,” Jeremy said.

Christine smiled and clasped her hands together. “And educational,” she reminded them.

“And educational,” they agreed, nodding.

Christine looked over at Rich, who looked like he was thinking about something. “Rich? What did you think?”

Rich looked up, clearing his throat awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought it was cool,” he admitted. Christine smiled, pleased. Education is the best way to fight ignorance, she liked to think.

“What did you think, Jake?” Brooke, this time, asked Jake.

“Very educational,” Jake agreed with a nod. “I didn’t know there was so much history, you know?”

Brooke nodded, but then her phone made a ringing sound. “Oh, I have to go,” she said, checking it. “Soccer practice.”

Christine checked the time. “Oh, this took a little longer than expected,” she said. “Have fun at soccer practice, Brooke!”

Brooke smiled and waved to the group before picking up her backpack and leaving the room.

Christine shut off the laptop and disconnected it from the projector, putting everything away. The group chatted amongst themselves before leaving in pairs: Jeremy leaving with Michael, Christine leaving with Jenna, and Chloe leaving with Jake.

Rich glanced around the empty class room before leaving as well.

Chapter Text

Michael was the first to arrive and the moment he sat down at a desk he slumped forward and covered his head with his arms. After a minute or two he moved his arms to hug himself but kept his head resting on the desk.

A few minutes afterwards, Jeremy arrived, sitting next to their friend and looking at him with slight confusion. Neither of them said anything for a minute or so.

“Can I hire someone to kill me?” Michael mumbled.

“Did you know if you Google that you get a suicide hotline?” Rich said, having just arrived and sitting himself down somewhere nearby.

Michael blinked at him, as did Jeremy, and the three of them went silent again. Michael put his head down again. “You don’t happen to have any painkillers, do you?” he asked.

“Nope.”

Michael hummed and kept his head down. He had already asked Jeremy earlier.

Christine and Jenna arrived together. Michael looked up again, though seemed a little less sure about asking them. “Either of you have like, Tylenol or something?” he asked.

Christine started to shake her head, but Jenna procured a small bottle from her backpack and opened it, tapping out two pills before handing them over to Michael. Michael gave a small smile and a ‘thanks’ before standing up and saying, “BRB.” Michael left the room.

Christine frowned at Jenna. “Isn’t it against the rules to carry around medicine?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jenna said with a shrug, “but he looked like he needed it.”

Christine looked like she wasn’t sure if she disapproved of Jenna’s possession of (technically) drugs or not, but she only hummed in the end.

“So you guys going to explain what was up in the group chat or…?” Rich asked, gesturing at the two girls.

“Oh, right!” Christine clasped her hands together in a slightly excited manner. “It’s one of the terms we’re going to be learning about.”

“Terms?”

“I thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about like, the community in general.”

Chloe, Jake, and Brooke arrived next. The girls were each holding a small cup of Pinkberry’s, and Jake and Brooke were talking while Chloe observed. They all took their seats.

Christine tapped her fingers against the desk, deciding to stand up and walk around a little as the group waited for Michael to return. It was already a few minutes after three.

Michael finally came back a minute later, looking like he felt at least marginally better.

“If you’re not feeling well, why didn’t you go home?” Christine asked.

“One, I actually like being here,” Michael replied, gesturing generally. “Two, I should be used to it if it’s like… once a month.”

One by one the girls understood with a soft “oh”, while those without functioning uteruses watched in slight confusion. Brooke offered Michael her Pinkberry, which Michael accepted.

“Anyway!” Christine said. “Anyway,” she repeated quieter when she saw Michael grimace at the sudden loud noise. “I wanted for us to learn more today. Terms and meanings and the like. There’s lots of lists on the internet with terms.” She took her laptop out.

“Is there a term to explain what you said you’d explain from like, Sunday morning?” Chloe asked, as the three who had witnessed what happened waited expectantly.

“Oh right.” Christine glanced over at Jenna, who was sitting next to her. “Well, have you guys heard of a ‘queerplatonic relationship’?”  Everybody except Jenna shook their heads in confusion. “Okay, well.” She pondered on how to explain it to the others.

“It’s more than friends but not to the extent of a romantic relationship,” Jenna offered up, and Christine smiled at her for speaking on her behalf.

“But Christine’s not aromantic, right?” Brooke asked, genuinely curious.

“Correct.”

Jake furrowed his brow. “But if she’s not aromantic wouldn’t she want someone to love her?” he made the mistake of asking.

Even Rich could tell that wasn’t exactly the right thing to say, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Jenna looked insulted. “Just because I don’t love romantically doesn’t mean I can’t love at all,” she said quietly.

“I didn’t – I didn’t mean it like that,” Jake stammered.

Jenna crossed her arms. “I just love a little differently.” Christine took Jenna’s hand.

“I’m sorry,” Jake mumbled.

Jenna glared at Jake for a few moments before sighing and letting it go. “Let’s just get this meeting started,” she said.

Christine nodded, letting go of Jenna’s hand and setting up the projector again. It seemed to have been left out from the last class. She opened up a browser and clicked a bookmark before speaking again. “So anyway, there’s all sorts of genders and sexualities,” she started. “This one link is sort of a ‘crash course’ about orientations.”

“Eight?” Brooke questioned, the words after reading the title.

“Yep!” Christine said, nodding and smiling slightly.

Brooke looked confused, silently counting on her fingers. She only got up to four, and even the fourth she looked hesitant.

Christine started her scroll. Each orientation was defined and also had a flag to go with it. The first was heterosexual and heteromantic, with a flag shape with a gradient that went from black to a light gray. “Everyone knows this one,” she said, not really stopping on it. She scrolled down to the second on the list.

“It’s me,” Michael piped up with a small smile. He patted the rainbow patch on his shoulder.

“And me,” Chloe added, with a small raise of her hand. Michael smiled slightly.

“Now, the third one has some different definitions depending on who’s using them,” Christine said, scrolling down once more. “Some people think being bi is being attracted to only men and women – which can be the case for some people,” she added as Rich nodded slowly to himself. “But others define it as attraction to both the same gender and another. But then there’s another, I suppose?” She nodded at Jeremy, who spoke.

“Some people I know define it more as being attracted to two or more genders, not just the same gender and another,” they said. “So it all just really depends on how the person defines it.”

Christine nodded.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Brooke asked, gesturing vaguely to some of the text. “’A difference between sexual attraction and romantic attraction’?” she read.

“Well, there’s different types of attraction,” Christine explained. “Romantic attraction and sexual attraction don’t always match up.” Brooke furrowed her brow. “You weren’t here at the first meeting, but I recall saying that I’m ace but I’m not aromantic.”

“That’s a thing?”

Christine nodded, clicking for a new tab, and quickly typed something into the search bar of the browser. “Yes. It’s called the split-attraction model I believe.” She clicked on alink. “Very often people’s sexual and romantic orientation are the same, but for some it’s different “It’s often used in ace and aro circles but I think it can be used for others.” She let Brooke read carefully.

“So like… I could use it?” Brooke asked. “And there’s nothing wrong with me?”

Christine paused, looking at the other girl. “Is that how you were feeling?”

Brooke shrugged slowly.

“It’s perfectly normal,” Christine assured her. “There’s nothing wrong with it.” When Brooke nodded, Christine went back to the tab with the different orientations. She scrolled down to the fourth on the list. “Pansexuality, often confused with bisexuality,” she announced.

Jake shifted in his seat. Christine looked over but didn’t comment on it.

“But it’s not the same thing,” Christine continued. Rich furrowed his brow in thought. “Yes, Rich?”

“But… isn’t it kind of the same?” he asked. “It’s not like there’s several genders…”

“There are,” Jeremy informed Rich.

Rich narrowed his eyes at them. Jeremy stared back. “Care to elaborate?”

“Of course,” Jeremy said. “Christine actually asked me to explain some gender terms and the like, for today, but later. Unless she’s okay with me doing it now?” They looked towards Christine.

Christine replied, “I’d like to get through this one first.”

Jeremy nodded and turned back to Christine and the projector.

 “Right, so,” Christine said, clasping her hands together and then gesturing to the pink, yellow, and blue flag. “If you’re panromantic or pansexual you’re attracted to people regardless of gender. Since ‘pan’ means ‘all’. All genders.” When she was sure everyone understood, she scrolled down again, stopping at the flag that contained black, grey, white, and purple.

“Asexuality,” Jenna said, making jazz hands. Christine giggled, smiling at her. “Though, I think there’s a different flag for aromanticism? For some reason.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of like the ace flag, except upside down and green instead of purple.” Christine hummed softly. “I like the purple.” Jenna nodded in agreement. Christine scrolled down a bit more. “Demisexuality. And then there’s a few things with demisexuality too,” she mused.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked curiously.

“Like…” Christine furrowed her brow, trying to think of how to explain it. “It’s kind of like an orientation in an orientation. I’ve heard someone say that they’re bi-demiromantic, like they can be attracted to two or more genders but need a deep connection first.” She scrolled down again. “Demisexuality is on the ace spectrum and so is this.” The next flag was purple, gray, and white, then gray and purple again.

“It’s actually pretty cool that there’s an ace spectrum too,” Jenna said.

Christine nodded and scrolled down more. The next flag was pink, green, and blue. “Polysexuality is attraction to multiple, but not all genders,” she said.

“Could bisexuality also be considered polysexuality?” Brooke questioned.

Christine tilted her head in thought. “I suppose, but it all really depends on how they want to identify, you know?” Brooke nodded in understanding. “Okay. Jeremy?”

Jeremy stood from their chair and made their way up to the front. “You bookmarked the links I sent you, right?” They asked. Christine nodded. Jeremy found and clicked the right bookmark. “Michael, do you want to do this with me?”

“Yeah, sure,” Michael said, moving to stand and walk over to stand next to Jeremy. He seemed pleased that he was being asked to help out.

“Okay, so,” Jeremy started. “Lots of people assume that sex and gender mean the same thing. And in some cases, it does to some people. But sex and gender can be different.”

“Way different,” Michael said with a nod. “Like, way different. Super different.”

“I think they get it, Michael,” Jeremy interrupted with a small smile. “When it’s different, you’re transgender. That’s really all it means; it means you don’t identify with the sex assigned at birth – our sex and gender are different.” Michael nodded. “So I looked around online and compiled a list of terms that sort of relate to gender.”

“Pretty much all of you, the rest of you, are cisgender, or at least that’s what I’m assuming,” Michael said. “That just means not-trans. You identify with the gender you were assigned at birth. That can be shortened to cis just like transgender can be shortened to trans.”

“And most people exist in a binary,” Jeremy added. “The two binary genders are male and female. But gender really exists on a spectrum, and male and female are really just on opposite ends of the spectrum, you know? And then there’s nonbinary, which is neither fully male or female, and then there’s a lot of genders under that umbrella term as well.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier with less?” Rich said.

Jeremy frowned at him slightly, tilting their head. “Maybe easier for cis people and binary trans people,” they said, “but not for others. It’s… better to have other terms. It makes people feel… less like there’s something wrong with them.” They hesitated and looked down.

“Jeremy?” Christine said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” they replied. “I was just thinking about my own experience.”

“Would you like to share?”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Jeremy looked back up. “I didn’t even figure out my gender until last year, honestly.” They hummed softly to themselves. “I wasn’t aware that there were so many more options out there. I thought there was something wrong with me.”

“Why’s that?”

Jeremy looked over at Christine. “Because – well – I didn’t feel like a boy. But I also didn’t feel like a girl. And I knew, absolutely, that I wasn’t a girl. So I had to be a boy, right?” They gave a small shrug. “Still didn’t feel right. And it wasn’t until last year that I discovered there were other options.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Christine said sweetly.

Jeremy smiled a little. “Yeah, well. Anyway.” They looked back at the screen to continue talking about gender. “AFAB means assigned female at birth, and AMAB is similar, but just with male.”

“So they have female and male bodies?” Rich questioned.

Jeremy looked at him, unsure if he was actually interested in learning or being stubborn. “That’s not exactly what we’d say.” They watched as Rich hummed to himself but since Rich didn’t say anything else, they continued. “Binary trans people are trans men and trans women. But there’s also transfeminine and transmasculine, which are not exactly man and woman, but they have a more feminine or masculine gender identity.”

Michael was looking over the list and gave a small laugh, not actually meaning to interrupt Jeremy but accidentally doing so.

Jeremy glanced over.

“Nothing,” Michael said. “Can I explain the dysphoria stuff?”

Jeremy looked back at their list and nodded in understanding. “Go ahead.”

Rich looked slightly uncomfortable, like he remembered that he might have caused dysphoria, as mentioned in the group chat.

“So there’s two types of dysphoria,” Michael started, “Body and social dysphoria.” His eyes flickered to Rich momentarily. “Body dysphoria – that’s obvious. It’s the discomfort you’d feel that your body doesn’t quite match your gender.” Then he paused and looked at Jeremy curiously. “Do you get dysphoria?”

Jeremy nodded. “It’s kind of silly, actually, but it’s actually not. It’s easy to discount yourself, you know? Sometimes it’s pretty difficult to pinpoint because my gender isn’t one that I can actually transition to.” Michael nodded in understanding. “It doesn’t happen often, at least.”

“Social dysphoria,” Michael continued, “is sort of based on how you’re perceived. If you’re misgendered, or deadnamed, that can make you feel uncomfortable.”

“What’s ‘deadnamed’?” Chloe asked.

“A deadname is a trans person’s birth name,” Michael explained. “It’s… considered pretty impolite to use, and rather unnecessary. But sometimes things happen where… you can’t exactly change your situation.” It wasn’t difficult to figure that he was thinking about English class and so many substitutes.

Jeremy glanced at the time. “I won’t be able to go over everything I had in mind, because it’s already been a bit. I guess time flies when you’re learning.” They gave a small grin. “Let’s get started. Like I said, there’s a lot of genders under the nonbinary umbrella. The first one that usually comes to mind, when I think about it, is agender. It’s more of a neutral feeling, I think. It could be defined as lack of gender.”

“That’s a thing?” Rich questioned.

“Yes,” Jeremy replied. “And then there’s bigender, which is like, two genders at once. It can be male and female, but not always.” They scratched their head. “I guess demigender could be considered bigender, if you think about it.”

“What’s ‘demigender’?” Christine asked curiously. She had taken a seat next to Jenna when Jeremy and Michael had gone up to the front.

“It’s where you have only a partial connection to a gender,” Jeremy explained. “Like, there’s demiboy and demigirl, which would be partially, but not fully, boy, and partially girl. There’s sort of a disconnect, you know.”

Christine was silent as she absorbed this information. She looked confused for a moment.

“Chrissy?” Jenna said. “You okay?”

“Hm?” Christine looked up, sounding distracted.

“Are you okay?”

“I was just thinking of what Jeremy said.”

Jeremy and Michael watched curiously. “Does the word demigender strike a chord or something?” Jeremy asked.

“I… think so?” Christine said, uncertainly. “Um, maybe demigirl?” She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Jeremy smiled a little. “Nice.” Christine smiled back, more genuinely this time. When Christine assured them that she was okay now, they went back to the list. “Okay, then there’s genderfluid. It means essentially what it says – that your gender is fluid, and it changes from time to time.”

Rich looked confused but he didn’t say anything.

“Then there’s genderflux, which has more to do with intensity.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Think of it as like…” Jeremy considered something. “Like a light. Sort of?” They furrowed their brow in thought. “Genderflux would be more like… the brightness of a light. Genderfluid would be changing colors.”

“Alright…”

Jeremy nodded to themselves. “Then there’s genderqueer, which is very similar to nonbinary. I heard it’s supposed to be a looser term? I’m not quite sure, though…” They hummed softly. “I think that’s most of it.”

Christine clapped and stood up. She walked back over to the laptop, and allowed Jeremy and Michael to walk back to their seats. She glanced at the others, who seemed to be thinking about what they’d learned today. “We did a lot of learning the past two meetings!” she said happily.

“Yeah, how about we do something else next time?” Rich asked, but it wasn’t in a vicious way.

“We could do a potluck,” Brooke offered.

“Potluck it is!” Christine said pleasantly. Jenna smiled slightly at her partner’s excitableness.

“My Ma makes like, the best chicken casserole,” Michael said.

“That one we had on Friday?” Jeremy asked. Michael nodded.

The group started to disperse, but Christine said, “Rich?”

Rich looked up. He’d been one of the last to leave, so he cast a hesitant glance towards the door before walking up to her. “What?”

Christine told Jenna to go on ahead, so Jenna left the two of them alone. Christine and Rich were the last two in the classroom. “How are you doing?” Christine asked.

“What do you mean?” Rich asked, guardedly.

“I just wanted to check up on how you were settling in.” Christine had already put away the projector and now put her laptop in her backpack. “Brooke’s already seemed to have made friends.”

“I’m… fine,” Rich mumbled, sort of crossing his arms.

“Okay, well. Tell us if you need anything, okay?” She zipped up her backpack and picked it up. She was about to leave when Rich mumbled something. “Sorry?”

“Is there a way I can like… talk to you out of the club and group chat?” he asked quietly.

“Oh, yeah! Let me see your phone, I can put my number in.” When Rich handed his cell phone over, she entered her contact information, then handed it back to him. “Don’t forget to contact me if you need anything, okay?”

Rich hesitated. “Okay.”

Christine smiled at him, pulling on her backpack. She started walking to the door before she noticed he didn’t move from his spot. “Rich?”

“You go on ahead,” Rich replied. “I’ll leave in a bit.”

“I’ll see you later?”

Rich offered her something resembling a smile. “Yeah. See you later.”

Christine walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Christine had arrived first to the classroom. She went over to the table at the side of the classroom. She had, the day previously, explained to Mr. Makorie that the club that took place in his classroom was going to have a potluck, and could they please leave the food there for later?

She scanned the table. She had brought cupcakes that she had made with Jenna’s help. She liked to bake, but often failed without her help. She thought it was funny. They both did. Michael had brought his mother’s chicken casserole, like he’d mentioned in the last meeting. Jake had brought cups and plates, saying that he wouldn’t be able to make anything good, or even edible. She made a small mental note to find some recipes for him later. Brooke had brought some drinks, and Chloe had brought some homemade mac and cheese.

Christine realized that Rich hadn’t brought anything. That was a curious thing in itself, since when she asked him what he thought of the potluck idea, he seemed approving.

Michael and Jeremy arrived together. They were talking about some new game that was going to be coming out in the next year. They greeted Christine, took their seats, and continued chatting. Brooke arrived with Jake. Chloe arrived alone, and so did Jenna, but Jenna took a seat near Christine upon arrival. Christine smiled.

She noticed that Rich was missing. “Jake, Rich was in school today, wasn’t he?” she asked.

Jake looked up, pausing his conversation with Brooke. “Yeah,” he said, looking around and noticing his absence. “I’ll ask where he is.” He tapped out a message or two on his phone and then put it back in his pocket.

When it was apparent that Rich was not going to show up after some minutes, Christine decided to reluctantly start the meeting, silently worrying.

The group of teens got their food and sat in a circle, reminiscent of their first two meetings.

“Hey, we’ve been doing these meetings for a month,” Michael said as soon as he realized the fact.

“Shit, you’re right,” Jenna said, nearly dropping her cup of juice. Christine reached over and set the cup down.

The group continued to chat and eat until the group chat received a text. Christine took out her phone to check it, and made a small, worried sound when she read it. It was Rich, and this sudden text about not wanting to die was… really worrying, to say the least. She quickly texted back, asking if he was okay.

Chloe noticed Christine’s actions and took her own phone to look. She quietly cursed, causing Jake and Michael to check their phones too. The remaining teens that hadn’t brought out their phones to look read over the shoulders of those that did.

Jake tried calling Rich, but his call wouldn’t go through. Chloe also tried, but she got the same result.

“Fuck,” Michael said when he looked at the chat again, standing so quickly he nearly fell. Jeremy steadied him as everyone else looked back to the group chat.

Rich was home, and there was a fire.

“What do we do?”

“We fucking – we go check up on him!” Chloe said, like it was obvious. “You have a car, right?” Michael nodded. “Let’s go.”

Everyone left the classroom, completely forgetting about their food and drinks, and quickly got into Michael’s car in the parking lot. They all piled in, and Michael started driving, as fast as he could, legally.

Jeremy got on the phone with 911, answering any questions they needed to. “What’s the address?” Jeremy asked Michael, or Jake. Michael was driving, so Jake answered. Jeremy quickly relayed the address to the dispatcher, trying to keep the panic out of their voice. They weren’t able too, though, so the dispatcher on the other end said, “I need you to calm down, sir.” Jeremy grimaced, but obeyed best they could as they continued to answer questions, until Michael’s PT Cruiser arrived at Rich’s house.

The house was on fire. The group stood, frozen, before Jake took a step towards the house. He was stopped when Brooke grabbed his arm. He looked at her. “I have to do something!” he insisted, glancing back at the house.

Brooke hesitated. “We can’t have you getting hurt, too,” she said.

Within moments, an ambulance and fire truck pulled up. The group suddenly realized that Rich’s dad’s car wasn’t present. Christine was a little confused on that aspect, but she said nothing.

The teenagers could do nothing but watch the firefighters worked on putting out the fire and finding Rich. Well, only Chloe, Jake, and Brooke were able to stand and watch. Michael and Jeremy had sat down on the curb, eyes averted and on the ground. Christine had hidden her face in Jenna’s chest, unable to watch, and Jenna kept her arms around her, trying to soothe her and unable to watch the burning house as well.

After another minute, Rich was brought out, carried by one of the firefighters. He wasn’t moving. He was covered in burns.

Chloe’s breath caught in her throat as she made steps towards the ambulance Rich was put in, but a paramedic stopped her. “I’m sorry ma’am, we can’t let you ride in the ambulance with him,” she said.

Chloe looked stricken. “Please,” she begged. “I’m his girlfriend,” she added as a last effort.

The paramedic hesitated. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s for his safety.”

Chloe let her hands drop helplessly.

The paramedic looked sympathetic. She informed the group of the hospital Rich was being taken to, and then got in the ambulance. The ambulance left.

Chloe turned back to look at the burning house. “Let’s go,” she said, walking to Michael’s car.

Nobody spoke on the way to the hospital.

They were silent in the waiting room. Michael had his hood up, which he usually did in high stress situations. Jeremy was anxiously fiddling with their cardigan. Jake was scrolling through his phone, to distract himself, when he suddenly said, “Oh.” That got the attention of the rest of the group. He looked up, then back at his phone. “Rich had sent his brother’s phone number on Saturday. In case anything happened…”

It was silent for only another moment before Brooke said, “Do you think…?”

“I think… if I was in that situation, I would have done that,” Michael said slowly.

The others seemed at a loss for words.

“We don’t know for sure yet,” Jenna said, sounding like she hoped this wasn’t the case.

Jake only nodded and called the number. The others watched. “Hi, is this Thomas? Goranski?” Jake asked the person who answered. He was given an affirmative answer. “This is Jake, a friend of Rich’s.” Jake hesitated.

“Is he okay?” Thomas asked.

“He’s at the Beth Isreal hospital,” Jake finally replied.

Silence. Then, “What happened?” He sounded rightfully worried.

“There was a fire. It happened about a half hour ago. They’re still stabilizing him.”

“I’ll be there soon.” Rich’s brother hung up without another word.

The teens continued to wait. Brooke’s soccer alarm sounded, but she silenced it and did not leave. Thomas arrived after a few minutes, and waited with them. He asked a few questions and those around him answered him to the best of their abilities.

It took some hours before they were told anything.

“He’s stabilized,” the person who came out to talk to the group said. “He’s resting. He can have visitors starting tomorrow, but family can visit today.” The teens were disappointed and still quite worried about Rich.

Thomas assured that he’d keep them posted, or at least Jake posted, since he had his number, and followed the person to visit Rich.

The teens lingered for a few minutes before heading back to Michael’s car. Michael drove them back to the school to grab their things. Brooke drove Chloe and Jake home. Jenna had wanted to stay with Christine, but Christine insisted that Jenna go home and she clean up by herself. Jenna was reluctant to leave. Michael and Jeremy were also reluctant to leave her.

“Just go,” she snapped, and then she looked upset that she had snapped. But she had turned away to start picking up the plastic cups.

Michael and Jeremy glanced at each other in slight worry before obeying. Michael drove Jeremy home.

When they had finally left, Christine stopped, dropped herself into a seat, and covered her face with her hands.

Chapter Text

Brooke stood outside of the classroom, hugging her folders and books to herself as she stared at the door. She didn’t go inside.

Chloe arrived next. She offered Brooke a cup of Pinkberry’s as an apology for her behavior in the group chat. Brooke put her things in her backpack before taking the cup. They both stood outside the classroom, not going in.

Michael and Jeremy joined the girls. They had been talking, but got quiet upon arrival. Michael started to pull his hood up over his head, but eventually decided not to, opting to instead fiddle with the strings of his hoodie. The group of four stood outside the classroom, watching the door in silence.

Jake walked up to the group. He hesitated, like he considered going inside, but stopped himself. He frowned a little at the door. The group of five stood outside the classroom, but not one of them went to open the door.

Finally, Christine and Jenna arrived. Christine stopped when she saw that everyone was gathered outside. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“I don’t want to go in,” Brooke said bluntly, finishing up her Pinkberry’s. There were sounds of agreement.

“Understandable,” Christine replied, remembering that the classroom was where they’d gotten Rich’s worrisome text. “We can sit outside, then? Maybe in the field?”

So the group of teens moved and sat down in the field. Christine hummed softly to herself. She had wanted to look at things regarding mental health, but now they weren’t inside the classroom. It might be best to hold off on that anyway, she decided silently.

“I’ve got an idea,” Christine piped up. “We could all go visit Rich! He’s awake now, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, but he can’t really talk much,” Chloe said.

“It might still be nice to visit him,” Brooke volunteered quietly. Jake nodded in agreement. Brooke was sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Chloe narrowed her eyes but said nothing about it.

The group of seven agreed, and they all went to the parking lot. They stopped at Michael’s car, hesitating.

Eventually they all piled into Brooke’s mother’s car. “Don’t get anything dirty,” Brooke was quick to say. She drove over to the hospital.

Christine was barely able to get the hospital to allow more than two of them at a time. “It won’t even take long, I swear!” she’d said, to which the person at the front desk sighed and said, “Okay, four at a time, ten minutes.”

Christine cheered and she, Jenna, Michael, and Jeremy went to Rich’s hospital room first. Rich was awake, looking a little tired. He was still needing time to heal. Michael vaguely wondered how long Rich would be in the hospital.

The group of four surrounded Rich’s bed. Rich bit lip, wincing at his own action, his eyes darting from one person to the other. Finally, he met Michael’s eyes.

“Guys, I think we’re crowding him,” Michael spoke up, glancing at the others. So Jeremy, Michael, Jenna, and Christine backed up a few steps. Rich relaxed noticeably.

“How are you feeling?” Christine asked Rich.

Rich hesitated to answer. He shrugged slowly, not sure how to respond. He supposed he was doing alright, compared to how he was… last week. “Anything happen while I was…?” His voice was scratchy and it seemed to hurt to talk. He trailed off.

“Dustin visited you,” Jenna said with a small smirk, causing Rich to roll his eyes, but he was smiling a little. “Let’s see…” Jenna looked through her phone. “Chloe’s parents didn’t let her stay home on Wednesday, Madeline’s acting like her usual self, we got your letters…” Rich’s eyes averted and he fiddled with some gauze. “… Dustin visited you, Michael’s bio-dad ‘made an appearance’…” Michael scowled, but not at her. “… Jake lost his cat—”

“Sasha?”

“Right,” Jenna replied, nodding, and Rich frowned, looking unhappy at that new development. “I think we all visited you at least once,” she continued, twirling a finger in a circular motion to the group. “Pretty sure your brother visited a few times, and you woke up yesterday.” She nodded, more to herself, before looking back up from her phone. “Think that’s all of it.”

Rich nodded slowly, absorbing the information.

“What do you last remember?” Christine asked.

Rich swallowed. “Fire,” he mumbled. “That’s it.”

Christine bit her lip, glancing at the others.

“Did they say when you get out?” Jeremy asked, changing the subject slightly.

Rich shook his head.

While the first group continued to talk, Chloe, Brooke, and Jake sat in the waiting room. Chloe had her arms crossed, sitting in silence that could only be described as awkward. She refused to look at the other two.

Brooke seemed a little troubled at how Chloe was acting, but she didn’t say much as she sat next to Jake.

Eventually, Chloe sighed and turned to them. “So,” she said slowly. Brooke looked at her. Chloe huffed and turned away, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, holding her head with her hands. “Never mind.”

Ten minutes passed in silence. The first group came out to sit in the waiting room while Chloe, Brooke, and Jake went to visit Rich. Chloe was there first, and she dropped herself into the chair next to Rich’s bed, relieved to be around someone who she wouldn’t have to share awkward silence with.

“Hey,” Jake said to Rich when he trailed in after Brooke.

Rich smiled a little, lifting a hand in something resembling a wave.

“Feeling any better?” Chloe and Brooke asked at the same time. Chloe frowned, but Brooke didn’t seem to notice.

“A little,” Rich was able to say.

“Good,” Chloe said.

When the trio’s ten minutes were up and they got ready to leave, Rich hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something. Jake asked him what was wrong.

“You guys are… going to visit again, right?” Rich asked softly.

Chloe’s face fell for a moment at the idea of Rich being all alone. “Of course we will,” she assured him. “Probably just one or two at a time, but you’ll have visitors. And your brother visits, too.”

Rich nodded slowly, looking much more reassured.

“We’ll see you later,” Brooke said warmly to Rich. “Promise.”

The trio left and made their way back to the waiting room. Michael and Jeremy were chatting again, and Christine was lying down with her head on Jenna’s lap on the floor. Her eyes were closed but she wasn’t asleep.

Jenna gently tapped her shoulder and Christine started, eyes flying open and her body tensing. Jenna looked down at her in worry. “What was that?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Christine said, but Jenna didn’t look convinced. Christine sat up and yawned, stretching her arms. She and Jenna stood and glanced at the others who had come back. “Shall we?” she said, and the group of seven left the hospital.

Christine glanced around as they walked to Brooke’s mother’s car. Once she sat down next to Jenna, she closed her eyes again and rested her head on her shoulder. Jenna pursed her lips in concern.

They arrived back at the school soon and went their separate ways.

Chapter Text

Since they had a week off for Thanksgiving, and the school was closed, the GSA club members had agreed to meet at the Starbucks near the mall. They had agreed to move the meeting to an earlier time since Brooke had to leave to visit family later in the day, so Chloe arrived at the Starbucks at 12:45 in the afternoon.

Chloe ordered herself an iced coffee and found a table outside. She sat down and sipped on her coffee and waited.

Brooke arrived shortly after, getting a green tea for herself and sitting in the seat across from Chloe. They were silent for a few moments. Chloe shifted uncomfortably. She sighed and set her iced coffee down, placing her hands flat on the table. Brooke looked up.

“I’m… sorry,” Chloe forced out. Apologizing was always a struggle for her, but she needed to do this. She didn’t particularly like her own behavior towards the new couple the past few weeks. Sure, she was… upset, but that wasn’t much of a reason to take it out on them. She’d been working on her own attitude ever since she’d joined the club.

“What?” Brooke asked, setting down her tea, though her tone indicated that she knew what Chloe was talking about.

“For my… actions and behavior,” Chloe continued. “You know, in the past couple of weeks? In the group chat?” She leaned back and picked up her iced coffee for another drink. “I didn’t have a reason – well, I had a reason but it’s not good enough because it doesn’t matter what I think about you and Jake.” She was rambling now, and she wanted to stop, but couldn’t. “What I think or feel about your relationship doesn’t matter because it’s not – it’s not my relationship to decide. It’s yours and Jake’s. I get no say. And not that I need a say, I just –”

“Chloe,” Brooke interrupted. Chloe was surprisingly grateful that she had cut her off. Normally that would irritate her, but this time around, she didn’t know if she’d be able to stop speaking if she hadn’t. “I appreciate your apology and it’s okay.” She really was too nice. Chloe’s actions had hurt. “It’s just something we have to work on, right?” Brooke gave her a small smile, and Chloe looked down, deciding to stare at her drink instead of looking at Brooke.

“I – fuck.” Chloe sighed and smoothed her clothing out, a nervous tick she usually tried to control. She still refused to look at the other girl. “I was jealous.”

“Jealous?” Brooke tilted her head a little, hands gripping her cup of tea. Of who? Brooke? Hadn’t Chloe said she was – oh.

“Of Jake. And it’s like, so fucking cliché,” Chloe continued, setting her elbows on the table to properly bury her face into her hands, “that one would have a crush on their best friend. And then there’s that stupid little stereotype of ‘if they’re mean to you maybe they like you’ and I just – shouldn’t have done all that.”

Chloe’s confession was met with silence. Her heart was pounding, but she still didn’t look up.

 “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said.

“Chloe, it’s okay,” Brooke said softly. Chloe allowed herself to look up now. Brooke didn’t look upset or disgusted. She looked more surprised than anything. It was a soft sort of surprised. “That was unexpected, but… it’s not really a bad thing.”

“What, you’re not mad or…?”

“No. I appreciate you being honest with me.”

“Yeah…” Chloe sighed softly. At least she’d gotten that off her chest. She wasn’t sure where to go from here.

She didn’t have to worry for long, though, because Christine arrived with Jenna. The two of them sat down, and Christine glanced between Chloe and Brooke, clearly sensing that something had happened, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Jake arrived next. Jake took his usual spot next to Brooke. He studied the blonde, also sensing something had happened. He couldn’t figure it out either, but he wrapped an arm around her. Chloe looked back down at her iced coffee.

Jeremy and Michael arrived last, apologizing for being late. They had been playing video games together and lost track of time. Christine only smiled softly. She liked knowing people had friends they could spend time with.

“I thought we could do something nice this week,” Christine started. “This last week seemed a little difficult for… all of us.” She was referring to the group chat. “So I wanted to say something nice. And have everyone say something nice. About everyone.”

“About everyone?” Chloe said.

“Yep,” Christine confirmed, nodding. “And I was thinking since Rich still isn’t here we can send the nice things about him to the group chat.” She smiled. Some of the others looked unsure. “I can go first,” she offered, and others nodded. That might be easier.

She sat up in her seat and scanned the group for a few moments, sensing the uneasiness but deciding that it would go away with time.

“I like… that I like theater.” Christine smiled a little. “I like Michael’s friendliness. I like… Jeremy’s cardigan.”

“It’s really soft,” Jeremy said, clearly pleased with it. “Wanna feel?” They offered a corner of the fabric to her.

She touched it and gasped. “That is so soft!” She smiled, and so did they. Christine continued. “I like… Jenna’s really great for hugs.” She grinned at Jenna, who looked almost bashful. “I like Brooke’s kindness. I like Jake’s stamina. Lots of extracurriculars… Chloe, I like how you’re protective of your friends.” Chloe looked like she wanted to say ‘you guys aren’t my friends’, but Christine smiled at her, so Chloe felt she couldn’t.

“I’ll go next,” Brooke volunteered. She looked around the table. “I like how I dress. I like how Michael’s easygoing… kind of carefree.” Michael smiled. “I like Jake’s confidence. Jeremy’s nice. They’re kind. I like Christine’s glasses.” Christine beamed, clearly proud of her choice in glasses. “Jenna’s pretty smart.”

“I’m not—” Jenna started, clearly protesting.

“In your own way,” Brooke told her. “Regardless of how you do in school.”

Jenna settled and looked down in thought.

Brooke continued. “I like…” She glanced at Chloe. “Chloe’s honesty.” Chloe bit her lip.

“Who wants to go next?” Christine asked. She seemed to like all the niceness that was going on. Even if she had to initiate it herself.

“I like…,” Chloe began, just to get her turn over with, “Christine’s enthusiasm. Brooke… Brooke is very pretty,” Chloe continued softly. “I like that Jeremy is reliable. They always do their homework.” She smiled a little. “I like Michael’s resilience. Jenna’s easy to get along with.” Chloe got quiet.

“What about yourself and Jake?” Christine pressed.

Chloe looked lost for a moment. “I like…” She was having trouble. She couldn’t find anything to like herself, but she still tried. “I like… that I joined this club. For Jake…” She looked over at said boy, studying him. Their eyes locked and she thought, for a moment, that he for sure knew the truth. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she looked away. “Jake’s cool,” she said weakly.

Jenna took over, sensing Chloe’s discomfort. “I like Michael’s sense of humor,” she said, looking over at Michael. He gave her finger guns, and she rolled her eyes with a slight smile. “I like how sweet Christine is. I like… my name, I guess? It’s not a bad name.”

“I like your name,” Jeremy offered.

Jenna smiled at them and continued. “I like that Jeremy’s trustworthy. I feel like I could tell them a secret and they’d keep it. I like that Brooke is soft-spoken, and Chloe is complex, and Jake is someone I can talk about sports with, if I feel like it.”

Jake went next. “I like that I’m an active person. I like how Jenna usually knows what’s going on. Jeremy’s organized. Chloe’s outspoken and determined. I like that Christine takes charge with these meetings.” He grinned. “I really like Brooke’s eyes.” He looked at said girl, who blushed a little.

Chloe stood. “I’m gonna get another cup of coffee,” she explained when people looked at her, quickly walking away to the line of customers.

Jake continued. “I like that Michael’s laid-back.”

“I like Jeremy’s taste in games,” Michael said. “It’s fun to play video games with them. I like that Christine’s always positive. I like that Jake usually has pins on his jacket. I like that I’m proud of who I am.” He nodded to himself. “I like… Jenna’s sarcastic way of doing things. I like that Brooke is pretty good company.” He paused and glanced around. “Should I wait for Chloe to come back before I say the thing for her?”

“I think so,” Christine said, “since getting new coffee won’t take too long.”

Within another minute or so, Chloe was back.

Christine nodded at Michael to continue. “I like… that Chloe’s assertive and not afraid to say what’s on her mind.”

Chloe looked surprised that that was a characteristic that anyone liked. She’d been told by her parents that she was too abrasive and bold.

“And that just leaves Jeremy,” Christine said, putting her hands together and pointing at them with her hands.

Jeremy hummed. “I like that Jake’s ambitious. I like Michael’s hoodie.” They poked the pride patches on Michael’s hoodie. Michael laughed a little and stuck out his tongue. “I like Jenna’s sense of humor. I like that Chloe cares.” Chloe shifted, frowning slightly. The others didn’t seem to notice. “Um… I like… that I know how to cook. I like that Brooke has a good heart. And Christine’s pretty cute.” They smiled.

Christine let out a small giggle, leaning into Jenna’s side. “Is anyone doing anything for Thanksgiving?” she asked curiously. “Other than Brooke going to a relative’s.”

“My aunt is probably coming over,” Michael said. “That’ll be cool. I haven’t seen her in ages. Probably some relatives from my moms’ sides.”

“My parents are probably going to go somewhere… they said I could stay home, though,” Chloe commented, resting her head on her arms on the table. “I kind of want to do my own little thing…”

“Are you going to?” Christine asked.

“Maybe.” Chloe looked a little sheepish. “I mean, I definitely would if I knew how to cook.”

“I can help!” Christine looked excited at her own idea.

Chloe smiled softly. “Maybe.”

The group chatted quietly for a few moments before Brooke stood, saying she had to go. She gave Jake a kiss on the cheek and was about to leave when Chloe said, “Brooke.” Brooke looked at her. “Have a nice trip.”

Brooke smiled. “Thank you.” She left.

Jake looked at Chloe and studied her for a few minutes, like he was trying to figure something out. Chloe didn’t look away this time.

Christine quickly broke the awkward silence with more chattering until the group started to disperse.