Alive [ Gemma Styles Fanfic ]

Chapter I - Drives You Crazy

The bus' windows are steamed up, which gives me something to do while I'm sit on it waiting for my stop. It's nice to doddle on the glass, I would even say relaxing, and relaxing is what I need the most at the moment.

Last night I barely sleep from the thought of my first day at Cheshire High School. I'm not scared of it but I can say that I'm nervous, what if my old friends reject my company or worst, what if they forgotten me?
If any of those possibilities happen my heart will totally broke into micro pieces, and I'm pretty sure I wont get enough strength to make new friends.

After filing with my random drawings every single part of the bus' window I could reach, I bite my lower lip and start fiddling with the hem of my uniform skirt, I can feel people's staring at it making me shiver. I keep telling myself "It's okay, it's okay..."
The skirt brings me to the memory of me and my mom shopping for my school stuff last week.

"Mom why do I have to wear a skirt? The weather is cold, that thing will definitely not warm my legs." I growl pointing at the black skirt my mom just picked up.

"That's why pantyhose and high socks exist, hun." She replies while rolling her eyes.

"I still think it's totally unfair that boys can wear trousers and we girls have to wear this thing," I keep mumbling about not wanting to wear skirts and how it was so sexist for a unisex school. "Which will make us freeze to death."

"Angie..." She whispered already done with me constantly complaining.

"Is true tho..." I say in a low tone to myself.

I haven't change my opinion on the subject, although I did not mention it again in front of my mother since I could not do anything about it just by talking to her, a woman whose mind was manipulated by the sexist society where we live in.

I don't hate skirts, actually I like them even if they make me feel really self-conscious when I do it.

In my last school in Liverpool both boys and girls could only wear trousers to stop with "some distractions" for majority of male students (and professors).

I'm totally in with the idea of equality cloths for all genders, it's clever teaching kids by promoting gender equality and decreasing the scale of bullying but the reason why they are demanding girls to wear trousers is completely wrong. They shouldn't teach girls how to dress and be "less provocative". Instead they should educate the school community to control their thirstiness and keep their own pants.

That day when we got home after shopping, I researched the pros and cons of school uniforms. I didn't find anything related to girls being obliged to wear a skirt, whatsoever I found some articles that say school uniforms promote conformity over individuality, restrict students' freedom of expression, uniforms may have a detrimental effect on students' self-image, it may delay the transition into adulthood and there is even a little evidence that uniforms provide any benefits at all. Schools should be a place where diversity is celebrated, I know that students will always find ways to express themselves, but those might lead to less desirable forms of expression, wearing something that doesn't feel right may lessen the child's comfort level while attending school, so what's the point of doing it? School uniforms might create a level playing field among students reducing peer pressure and bullying but since when does peer pressure and bullying is only about cloths or since when does a piece of textile stop rude people from harm others? Unless it's bulletproof vest or quarantine ball, I don't see how.

"You came to the last stop. Thanks for driving with us." The bus lady voice machine speaks up.

Here's my stop, next move, subway.

I follow the crowd of people with sad faces ending to their first day of work. I swear to god, I hate public transports.