They live in a world where they are not allowed to follow their heart's desire. The government is homophobic and has deemed anything related to LGBTQ+ a crime, and not everyone is accepting.
Alex
They are gender-fluid and bisexual and is constantly...
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I'll do my best to become a better sister. I'll do my best to be myself. I'll do my best to think about others rather than just a fleeting reputation.
I watched Mark leave the room with a newfound happiness. We made pinky promises to each other to become better siblings and better people. I smiled to myself.
I laid back down on my bed and went on my phone to see Ava had been texting.
Ava: wanna go out tonight?
Lila: where?
Ava: some guys from soccer and girls from volleyball are gonna teepee jenna's house
If I don't go-
Stop.
A voice in my head spoke up. It was demanding and clear.
You wanted to do your best to think about others, didn't you? Think about how Jenna must be feeling. You should go and try to stop them instead of standing in the corner.
What if I decided not to go at all?
That's even worse since you decided to be a bystander with the knowledge of what they were going to do.
I knew what I had to do.
I shakily typed a reply to Ava.
Lila: see u there?
Ava: nah, we were thinking about coming to your house first
Lila: i can't explain why a group of students are outside our house
Ava: fine
Ava: we'll see u there
Ava: bring some tissue with you
Lila: k
Lila: i will
Jenna's house was an old-fashioned, victorian home which was a stark contrast to the grounded, modern houses in our neighborhood. The lawn was neatly trimmed with small skinny trees scattered on it.
"Lila! Hey!" A guy called out to me from the soccer team as I smiled and waved at him. I had to hurry this up, so I could meet up with Mark and the others.
I brought a small, brown, nondescript bag full of paper towels.
Ava sauntered towards me and draped her arm over my shoulder as I gave her a bright smile. "Hey!"
She returned the smile. "I'm glad you came."
"I'm glad I came. We need to show her what her place is, don't we?" My words were dipped in venom, and I wished I didn't have to say it.
It wasn't too long ago that you used to say things like this all for the chance to stay popular.
