Project Equality

A Night to Remember

Elysia

"Notebook?" Jenna called.

"Check," Ami replied, holding hers up.

"Sketchbook?"

"Check!" Lisa waved it in the air for a moment.

"Budget binder?"

"Check, but I'm not lifting this shit up because it's heavy," Lynn laughed.

"Composition book we're filling with Club rules?"

"Got it," I assured her.

"And I've got the calendar. Great! Let's get this meeting in session!" She banged a gavel, and I frowned. Who the fuck gave Jenna a gavel?! Why didn't I have a gavel?

"Why don't you ever ask me or May if we have anything?" Hazel complained.

"Because your jobs are different. Look, October is a huge, huge, huge month! Can we please get this show on the road?"

"Go for it, Jen," I said. "We're all ears."

"Here's what I've got on the calendar: the sixth, we're going to talk about coming out day since it'll be coming up. The thirteenth is the second Friday, so that'll be our scheduled support group. On the twentieth, I want to start the election process for the next line of admins, and on the twenty seventh, we're having our second annual group trip to the cider mill. Got that?"

Lisa and Ami both gave her a thumbs up.

"Fantastic. Ely? Our rule book?"

"What about it?" I asked.

"Give it to Lisa, please. I'd like her thoughts on it." When Lisa looked surprised, Jenna added, "You know as well as I that my rules have usually only ever been against you, or just plain irrational. I could use your loopholes and desire to break rules to even out my desire for control and order."

"You got it, boss," Lisa said, taking it from me with a gleam of pride. A gleam of something else, too, as I once again noticed the promise ring on her finger. She and May both seemed happier after it happened, and I was so glad. Not everyone could be me and Lauren, but they still deserved to find their happiness.

It's terrible, as I was Club President, but my mind started to wander off. My fourth anniversary with Lauren was coming up that March, in just five months, and I had so many plans. I'd probably been planning the moment that was arriving quickly since the first time I saw her in the fifth grade. To think I was so lucky to get to be with the girl I'd liked since I was eleven was crazy, but there we were.

"Ely? Ely!" I looked up at Jenna, feeling my face go hot as I wondered how much I'd missed. "Aren't you going to tell us about your Halloween plans for us?"

"Oh!" I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts. "Right, yes. Okay, so on Halloween, I was thinking we could have a proper party. Huge. Spooky. Costume contests, candy, games, baking, everything you look for in a party. What do you think?"

"I, for one, love it," Hazel said.

I smiled. "Great, and the rest of you?" They all nodded, writing or typing in whatever was relevant to them - Lisa doodling for the newsletter while Amilia took some notes, Hazel presumably typing something to put on our social medias, Lynn writing down some numbers, Jenna writing in stuff on the calendar, and May was probably already brainstorming a music playlist. I loved how put together we were at those meetings.

"Ely, I think this will be a lovely last Halloween for us," Jenna said once she was finished.

I hated to think about the fact that we were seniors, and this was all about to be over. It didn't change anything, but thinking about it just made it feel more real. There were plenty of reasons that I was excited to be living my adult life (though I'd already turned 18 that August), but there were also plenty of reasons I was terrified. I enjoyed high school. I was in several clubs, had plenty of electives that I took, and everything felt so in control. I didn't know what to expect once I left.