Let's Play a Game of Telephone (DISCONTINUED)

What Does That Mean?

"What do we have to study for tonight?" I ask.

"We've got a test in math, a paper is due in English class, Mr. Mac hinted that he'll give us another pop quiz soon, so it's best to add science to the list, and the quarterly exam in history is coming up soon, Mr. Behar said."

"All that?" I groan. "We have to sleep, don't we?"

"Apparently."

"Then why are they making us do all this?" I shout, louder than I intended. I hurriedly lower my voice– you're not allowed to complain or be weak here, unless you like beatings. The walls are "soundproof", but they don't block everything. "Do they not even care whether we stay alive or not?"

"That's the thing, Tony!" Jeff says. "They don't care! They just care about the reputation of themselves and the school!"

"Why do they care so much about the reputation, though?" I ask quietly.

"One word: money," Jeff explains with a sigh. "They're greedy. We're all greedy, when it comes down to it. They want more people to enroll, so they work us like crazy so that we'll get better grades. Better grades equals more suckers that fall for the 'esteemed school that you should enroll your child at' speech."

"That's a cynical look at it," I comment softly.

"I know," John says. "But it's true. Now...." He pulls textbooks out of his bag and throws them onto the table with a little more force than necessary. "We should study."

I sigh and pull out my textbooks, opening the history book first. Best to get the boring stuff out of the way. "Which chapter?"

"Chapters ten to twelve of the history."

Sighing, I flip to chapter ten and read the title. Chapter Ten: Laws and Punishments.

Our world is much more lenient with laws than it was, say, fifty years ago, says the text. In some cases, that's a good thing. People don't deserve to be jailed just because their parents were immigrants, for example. But some laws are infuriatingly lenient. For example, executions for LGB people were outlawed decades ago, even though they most definitely deserve it.

LGB... what does that mean? I think. "Hey, Jeff? What's this acronym stand for?"

"Hm?" he asks. I point to it. "Oh, LGB. It stands for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual."

"I don't know what any of those words mean."

"They're all sexualities," Jeff explains. "Lesbian refers to women that are attracted to other women. Bisexual is when a person is attracted to both males and females. 'Gay' is more of an umbrella term for any non-straight sexualities, but its official definition is men that are attracted to men."

Men... attracted to... men.... "A-ah, I see," I stammer. "W-why have I never heard of this before...?"

"Because a lot of people think that LGB people should be jailed, executed, or at the very least, shamed and ignored."

"That's ridiculous!" I say. "Why would anybody think that?"

"Ask them," Jeff says with a shrug. "I wouldn't know. They rarely give a justification."

"Wait," I say. "How do you know this?"

"Gifted child status equals more access to knowledge," he says with a shrug. "One of the few benefits of being 'gifted'."

He looks back down at his textbook, his hair falling down into his glasses. I'm overcome by a desire to brush it away, but I look down at my book.

LGB, huh...

~~~~~

I hope y'all liked that

Also I'm naming the teachers after the ones at my school

Also did you know that my classmates kinda stalk my history teacher

😊

~ Ira 🖤