Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

12. Twenty People

Sheldon

The classroom looked like every other classroom in the school.

The only major difference was there was a small cardboard statue of the Eiffel tower. There were also posters on the different conjugations and phrases in French. If I had to take a guess, the classroom was used for French studies.

The moment Haresa and I arrived at the classroom, they told me to sit anywhere and made a beeline to the nearby teacher. The two began to chat about what sounded like future club activities and I sat there waiting for more people to arrive.

This was probably a situation where people would be scrolling through their phones.

"Hello there, are you here for GSA?"

A peppy voice snapped me out of my daze. A girl smiled brightly at me as she waited for my answer. She had warm beige skin and her black hair was pulled into a ponytail. I noticed she had a notebook sitting on her lap as she sat comfortably in her wheelchair.

"Mm," I nodded.

"It's great to see that you're joining us today. I'm Mia, the GSA president." She held out her hand.

I reached out and shook it. "Sheldon."

"Well, we'll be a little disorganized today since it's the first meeting so apologies in advance. Don't be afraid to ask me or Haresa over there." She leaned forward and pointed at Haresa. "She's vice president of the club."

She?

Mia rolled away to join Haresa and the teacher. Haresa took a step back and gave a meek smile towards her. Blush tinged their cheeks yet their eyes seemed almost sad.

It looked like I was witnessing the B-plot romance arc to Haresa's heroic tale.

More people began to fill up the classroom and started to become more and more uncomfortable. Everyone seemed to know each other and were having fun talking while I just sat there quietly. It felt almost isolating just to sit there. By the time everyone settled down, there must've been at least twenty people in the room.

"Alright, alright. I can see we have some new faces joining us today, thank you for coming. I'm Mr. Dunson and I oversee the GSA. I also got some snacks if anybody needs them and they'll be sitting in this bowl on this desk here." He lightly tapped the plastic bowl on the desk. "Anyways, I'll let Mia and Haresa take over here."

Mr. Dunson made his way to the teacher's desk and all eyes were on Mia and Haresa.

Mia held up a hand before she spoke. "Hi, everyone. My name is Mia and I'm the GSA president."

"I'm Haresa and I'm the vice president."

Yes, could we speed this up already?

"Since this is a new semester and we have some new faces around here, I'd like to go around and have everyone give short introductions. Now, I want to be clear that allies and those questioning are more than welcome here so don't feel pressured to say you're gay or bi or anything. This is a safe space for everyone and we're just here to have a good time." Mia clasped her hands together. "I'll introduce myself first and then we can go in a circle to the left, alright? So, I'm Mia. I identify as lesbian and I go by she/her pronouns."

Mia presented her hand to Haresa. Haresa gave a blank stare before realization hit their face. "Oh, right! It's my turn."

A small burst of laughter erupted from behind me but I paid it no attention.

"I'm Haresa and I'm nonbinary, demigirl if you want to be specific. I identify as pansexual and please use they/them pronouns for me. You might hear other people refer to me with she/her pronouns but that's because I gave them permission."

"I'm Rudra, identify as gay and I go by he/him pronouns."

Haresa looked nervous. I wasn't sure if it was more than usual but it was obvious by the way their eyes kept darting towards Mia that something was on their mind. Well, someone to be more specific.

The introductions continued until it was my turn. I noticed everyone staring at me and I slowly exhaled.

"Sheldon. I'm a biromantic demisexual trans man and I use he/him pronouns. I guess I'm demiromantic too? I never had to say all my labels all at once before so I don't... really know how to say them. It just feels like a mouthful..."

"No judgement here, it's your labels and everyone here respects that. Thank you for sharing with us." Mia opened her notebook. "So, before we move on does anybody have any questions?"

"Um..." A meek voice said. "I don't know if we're allowed to ask this but... what's the difference between pansexual and bisexual."

I lifted my head only to accidentally make eye contact with the hare.

"Well." Haresa waved their hands as they spoke. "Pansexual liking anyone for their personality and not necessarily their gender."

"But bisexual," I interrupted. "Means being attracted to more than one gender."

We stared at each other for a moment, neither willing to speak.

"Before we get into any arguments, I would like to put my two cents on this seeing as I am the old gay of the group here." Mr. Dunson spoke up. "Language evolves a lot especially when things are new and slang hasn't been solidified. Like how moving pictures are just called movies today."

I nodded my head slowly despite half-listening to what he was saying. I was certain I had read all this somewhere before.

"So," he continued. "Bisexual was the term that was originally coined and later on when the internet became popular, so did the term pansexual."

The room was silent and I rubbed my hand on the back of my neck. I didn't expect to learn this when I signed up for GSA.

"Pan and bi may not seem very different to some people but it may for others and we should respect everyone for whatever labels they decide to use because in the end, labels are just labels. It doesn't change what's on the inside." Mr. Dunson folded his hands together and looked at the room.

The meek voice let out an understanding sound.

"Yeah, I agree. When I was trying to figure out myself the label bisexual didn't feel right to me but pansexual did. The fact that the flag has yellow probably helped with my decision. Since uh... It's my favourite colour." Haresa dramatically waved a hand over their clothing which garnered a chuckle or two.

A few eyes looked to me and I licked my teeth. Looked like people wanted me to speak. "I hate yellow."

"Which is very valid," Mia said quickly.

"Mmhmm, good discussion. Also, you two," Mr. Dunson pointed at me and Haresa. "Don't you argue about which being better in my classroom. Got that?"

"Ah, you don't have to worry about that, Mr. Dunson." Haresa let out an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, if we fight it'll be because the last straw had been broken and I need to let my emotions out somehow." My words were dry and I could feel the stares of everyone in the room.

Suffice to say I don't think I made a great first impression.

Before anyone could say something, there was a loud blare. Haresa quickly looked down at their phone and their eyes widened. "There was a bank robbery on Johnson Avenue, I have to leave. Sorry everyone."

They reached into their pocket and before I could fully process what was happening, their bracelet fell to the ground. They held a card in one hand and quickly put it away.

"Alright, be sure to stay safe Haresa!" Mr. Dunson called out.

Just like that, they jumped out of the window.

I sat there sitting in shock and confusion as I continued to stare at the window.

Why the hell did they have something to unlock their bracelet?!