The Sweater Girl | LGBTQ+ #JustWriteIt #Wattys2017

34

Clark actually felt happy for Johanna now. Well, of course he felt a tiny bit sad and jealous as usual, but he also felt glad for her. As long as she was happy, he was happy. And she was really happy because of Ember.

"I'll ask her out soon," Johanna told her at school, "maybe in a few days." 

"Don't wait forever though," Clark said as a smile spread across his face.

Johanna nodded before saying, "Trust me, I wouldn't want to wait forever."

She opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it, a frown on her face. Clark didn't know what happened at first, but then realized that Mandy and a few of her other friends were walking to them.

"So," Mandy said, her lips curving into a smirk. "it's the stupid girl lover and her little gay friend." She laughed, her friends behind her repeating her action.

"Leave him out of this," Johanna growled.

"What are you gonna do, huh?" Mandy asked, chuckling. "Hun, there's nothing you can do. You're so stupid, you can't do anything."

Johanna looked at Clark. "Come on, let's go." She said but didn't move.

Clark looked at Mandy. He then stepped in front of Johanna protectively. "Mandy, why are you so against who people love?" Clark asked. 

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Oh come on gay boy, stop acting so stupid."

"Just stop," Clark frowned, "you don't know this, but words actually hurt. And you have no rights to call people 'gay' or 'lesbian' if they're not, or if you're saying it in a bad way."

"Yeah Mandy," another voice said, and then he recognized it as Dara from the Equal Love Club. "you need to stop." Dara came up near Clark and Johanna.

"Oh no, not another lesbian." Mandy made a look of disgust. She looked back at her friends who nodded in agreement.

"You need to realize," Clark looked back at Johanna then to Mandy, "realize that..." He couldn't think of what to say for a minute, but then thought of something. "You need to realize that love is love. You can't change love. There's all types of love; whether it's only a friendship, if it's love for a girl or boy, or just a caring love. But love is love, and you need to accept that." He said. "So, you need to stop. Whether you're just bullying, making fun of people, or doing whatever rude things you're doing. You need to stop."

Mandy looked at Clark with a shocked face. "W-whatever." She went past Clark, walking away with all of her friends.

Johanna stepped out from behind him. "T-that was awesome!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah Clark, that's great what you did." Dara said. 

Clark smiled. "I- I just wanted to..." He shrugged, not knowing the words to explain.

Johanna hugged Clark. "Thanks," she said as she hugged him tightly. "thanks for standing up for me, Clark."

-

Word Count: 482

Next chapter is the Epilogue. Is it weird that I feel so sad? But can I say, thank you to those who have continued reading and those who have supported me. Thank you.