MAE WALKED Henry and she leaned against the locker next to his while he was grabbing his books.
"Hey."
"Hi." he smiled.
She gently grabbed the collar of his shirt to pull him closer as she linked her lips.
"So I was talking about you with my brother the other day, because he really likes you" she said and he smiled. "and he asked if you were going to meet our parents and that made me think because like, where are we? In our relationship, I mean. Like, are we in the meeting-the-parents phase or do you think it's too soon?"
"Well, I wouldn't mind meeting your parents. I mean, I don't know where you think we are but I like the idea."
She smiled. "Okay. Cool. I— I'll talk to them to see when we can plan it."
"Okay." he kissed her. "I gotta go, I'll catch you later. Love you."
★
Mae and her friend were sitting in the library, talking about Sara who just came back to school, when Henry slammed the door open and called out to everyone.
"Hi, hello! Uh, the third years want us to gather in the big hall! Now, so if we could..." he clapped his hands to encourage people to move. "Chop-chop, we have to... we're in a hurry, we gotta go there now. People are already there."
Everyone shared confused looks but stood up and walked over the big hall. Mae grabbed Henry's hand as they stood side by side while Vincent was getting on a table.
"May I have your attention?" but everyone kept chatting. "Hello?"
August clapped in his hands to get everyone attention. "Silence! Listen up. Vincent has something to say."
Vincent cleared his throat. "Okay, uh, I know that everyone in here is as tired as I am of the new rules. And they say that they're there to protect the school, but we have already shown them where we stand. Now it's just a way to try to control us. Through fascist methods, violate our right to our own privacy. And I know that everyone in here can sympathize with what we third years are experiencing right now. That we've been denied our graduation. But now, that has come to an end! We are going to show our displeasure in a way that the school cannot ignore. We're going on strike, and we ask all of you to join us. We're gonna do a sit-in strike for justice." every third years sat with him. "And we will sit still until the principal listens to us."
Everyone started cheering and applauding and some started to sit with them. Henry and Valter sat. Mae followed, her friends too. Everyone was kind of hoping they could get their phones back or remove the curfew. Simon left, but Wilhelm stayed, and sat next to Mae. Henry shook his hand with a smile and everyone started chanting "Hillerska".
They went to get blankets and pillows from the dorms, some people took out decks of cards. Everyone was comfortable. Madison was braiding Mae's hair while Felice's head was resting on her legs. She straightened up when the headmistress entered the room though.
"This is completely unacceptable." Mrs. Hamilton declared. "Return to your lessons immediately, each and every one of you."
No one moved.
"Am I not making myself clear?"
"Miss, this is a peaceful sit-in strike." August told her.
"I want to talk to you in my office, now."
"We're gonna sit here until the school management listens to our points." Vincent said.
"This is nonnegotiable, so those who don't return to their lessons immediately will be given an official warning, and I will contact your parents."
Mae worriedly looked at her friends. "My parents would kill me for this."
"We're open to negotiations." Nils said.
Vincent nodded. "Exactly. Our only demand is that the rules are erased."
The woman smirked. "It's like this. We have former students here today, who have taken their time to come here and hold lectures for you. So you're not only embarrassing the school but also yourselves—"
"And that's very unfortunate, but they studied here when nobody batted an eye at the prefect system or the governing order they had." Vincent declared. "So, are you sure, miss, that they are on your side? Or that our parents are?"
She turned to the housemasters. "If they don't give up, we'll cancel dinner and close the school cafeteria and the kitchen and lock the doors to the dorms, until they give up."
"Is this even legal?" Felice asked as Mrs. Hamilton was walking away.
"I'm not sure."
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— sorry i couldn't post yesterday, my apartment was broken into so i spent most of my last 24 hours at the police station. it was quite an experience ig 🫠🔫
