Diary of a Daughter (Based off of "Moments")

Thirty: The New Club

Throughout that entire weekend, my Dads kept contacting the administration and telling them about what happened at the sleepover Friday night. It surprised me that they were actually responding properly to their questions and responses. Usually things that happen outside of the school is not their problem, but I guess being in a different school, I guess they take things a bit more seriously.

After the call ended, my Dads called me down to let me know what was going on.

"Okay Em, so the bad news is, they really can't do anything about the whole thing with the girls since everything that happened occurred outside of the school." Daddy M said.
"I kinda figured." I responded.
"But the good news is, they are allowing you to eat lunch and have recess in the library." Daddy S said.
"Really?" I asked. "I thought we weren't allowed to eat in the library."
"Well apparently there's a club in the library during recess that allows kids to eat lunch and then do things in that club. I think you might like it." Daddy M responded.
"What club is that?" I asked.
"It's an End Negativity club." Daddy S responded. "It's a club that talks about stuff such as racism, discrimination, homophobia, etc. and how we can end it."
"That actually sounds like something I would join!" I said.
"That's perfect!" Daddy M stated. "We told the administration that if you're interested, to go to the back of the library during your lunch period."
"That's awesome!" I smiled, very relieved. "Thank you guys so much!"

I thrusted my arms around my Dads and they hugged back.
---

8/21/20

Dear Diary,

I thought I wouldn't be safe anymore in school but thanks to my Dads, I am now going to be in a club somewhere else in the school where I can still eat lunch and talk to other people. Hopefully in that club, I can make safe friends without any worry.

Em

---
The next day during my lunch period, I went into the cafeteria to get some lunch. As I walked towards the door of the cafeteria, I noticed Lyndsey, Taylor and Shannon all glaring at me. Except it wasn't a happy obsessive fan girl glare that they gave me at the sleepover, it was more of a death glare. It didn't surprise me though, because I knew they all got in trouble after what they did to me. For some reason, it didn't worry me either, because I knew I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore except for when I enter and leave the cafeteria.

When I made it to the library, I showed the librarian my ID card and they directed me to the back of the library where the club was taking place.

As I entered the small little conference room, I noticed an African American woman and five other kids, two boys and three girls sitting at the table eating. One of the girls had Down syndrome.

"Hello." The woman smiled. "You must be Emily Fischbach." I nodded. "My name is Mrs. Royelle."
"Hi." I said.
"Come have a seat and eat lunch, we will begin our club activities in about ten minutes." She told me.

I nodded and sat next to one of the guys. I recognized him from the sixth grade hallways being bullied by bigger and tougher kids. I've always wanted to stand up for him, but I've always been scared to, because those bullies were bigger than me.

"H-Hi..." The boy said to me.
"Hi." I said, smirking a smile.
"M-My name is Dana..." The boy said. "But I wanna be called Dan..."
"I like that name, Dana." I said. "My name is Emily."
"Hi Emily..." Dana smiled.
"Now now you two, don't be telling about each other just yet. We'll be introducing and talking about ourselves in just a few minutes." Mrs. Royelle stated.
"We've done this already." One of the girls stated.
"Now Marissa, you know we do this every time we have a new club member." Mrs. Royelle stated.

After a few minutes, we threw out our lunches and began our activity.

"Hello, everyone, my name is Shawna Royelle, but please call me Mrs. Royelle." She stated. "I began this club to end any type of negativity around school and hopefully teach you boys and girls how to create a better society. Because when I was your age, I was always bullied because of the color of my skin and my accent. It didn't stop until after I graduated high school. Seeing younger kids being bullied because of the color of their skin today is disgusting and I hope it can end soon."

Mrs. Royelle then looked at me.

"Would you like to go next?" Mrs. Royelle asked.

I nodded and stood up in front of everybody, my heart racing and my body becoming fidgety.

"H-Hi... M-my name is Emily." I began. "A few years ago, I-I was adopted by my two dads, Sean and Mark, w-who I call Daddy S and Daddy M. I've made friends since I became adopted but some of those friends have either made fun of me or have avoided me because I had two dads... I've actually been kicked out of dance class because of it..."
"That's a terrible thing going around in today's society." Mrs. Royelle stated. "Even after gay rights have been approved, people still are treating others badly because of this..."
I nodded in agreement before continuing. "Not only that, but my two Dads do a bunch of things online and have a big fanbase. Just recently, a few kids from this school wanted to be friends with me, but I just found out they were using me to try to get to my Dads, and I really felt like I wasn't safe in this school anymore, until I miraculously found this club."
"I think it's great that you were able to join this club and we're all very happy to have you!" Mrs. Royelle said.

The small group applauded me as I sat down. After I went up, Dana went up and told his story. He talked about how he was bullied because of his name and how small he was compared to everybody else and how his parents didn't seem to care about the situation. Then, the girl with Down Syndrome, Lizzie, went up and told how she was actually made fun of because of her condition, which disgusted me that people would do that. Then the last two people, Kyle and Lauren both went up and explained how they joined the club because it seemed interesting and they wanted to make the world a better place.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do anything else because the bell rang soon after. But I could tell as soon as I entered the room that this was going to be a great club to be in.
---

8/22/20

Dear Diary,

I just got done school and I'm super excited for the new club I've joined. It's a club to end negativity such as discrimination, racism, etc. I really like this club and how nice everyone is. I can't wait to see what we'll be doing throughout the whole week next week!

For once, I actually feel great about being in school!
Em