𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 . . . 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝

𝟏𝟒. 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬

14. sick truths

season three, episode five: nobody's clean

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Nessa had absolutely had it today. The news about Bryce was spreading like a wildfire, she and Alex had shared a pretty volatile and intense conversation earlier, which only left her feeling more guilty. Her locker had been searched, which she felt was a bit unnecessary considering she had nothing to hide, but everyone else's had been as well.

And now, she and Jessica were sitting side by side in front of Principal Bolan again, talking about the horrible posters that members of their group had put all across the school.

"Do you two think that given the circumstances of his death, that this kind of protest is appropriate?" the agitated man asked as he fumbled with the posters on his desk.

"Well, he was a rapist." Nessa said casually as she slumped down in her seat.

"He was also a child whose family is mourning his death." the principal fired back at her.

"And we're reminding them what he did when he was alive." Jessica tried to defend actions that weren't even their own, but they somehow still ended up in the limelight for them.

"Miss Davis, Miss Dempsey. We've supported your group, we've given you all access to meeting rooms, school resources, but this...this does not feel like activism. This is a vendetta. It's personal."

Nessa sighed, pressing herself up back into a straighter sitting position. "The group decided, not us, if that makes it any better. I was actually very against this, considering my past friendship with him."

"But it's all personal, Mr. Bolan." Nessa finished.

"The personal is political." Jessica added, and Nessa nodded in agreement.

"I don't suppose you girls would believe me if I were to tell you that...I'm a feminist." Principal Bolan told the girls, and Nessa cocked her head.

"Yeah, not seeing it." she said dryly, and Jessica agreed.

"No, not really." she muttered.

"Well, I am." the man said to the students in front of him. "And I value activism. I was arrested for protesting apartheid. I've walked these picket lines three times as a teacher. So, I would like both of you to ask yourself if your ends justify these means."

"We believe in our cause." Jessica tried to say, but Nessa didn't. If their cause was inhumane acts like protesting a funeral, she didn't believe in that. Not a single but. She believed in supporting the survivors and shutting down the rapists, not this.

"So do I." Principal Bolan said. "Until you do this. It's a troubled time girls. Think hard, before you make it worse."

Jessica and Nessa both sat in silence as they thought about what this could do, not only to them and their friends, but to their club as a whole. It would make them a complete laughing stock to everyone, and that wasn't what either of them wanted.

"Well, I can tell you one thing, Principal Bolan." Nessa said as she gathered her things, Jessica doing the same. "We can't stop enraged and empowered women from doing what they want to do, but I can tell you that we won't be a part of it. Have a good day."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Nessa sat in her room, engulfed in her homework when a phone call interrupted her train of thought. Well, her attempted train of thought. Statistics made no sense to her.