𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 ⟶ Original

nine.

ANGELICA WALKED DOWN the hall, hearing crying from the bathroom down the way. It was the middle of second hour - the time before in the day had been a mess. The events had started on the Monday of last week and had gotten progressively worse from there. When the school came back from winter break, they saw that someone had put posters up all around the school - everywhere; in the halls, on bulletin boards, outside and inside of bathrooms, in the cafeteria, on the doors of classrooms. You name it, it was there. The papers depicted a picture of Keira Walters and text under it, describing horrible things about her. There was an instant rumor flying on the lips of Bear Claw Academy, and that was how Keira shouldn't be trusted because bisexual. With that on the lips of the whole school, Angelica quickly learned that she lived in a town of homophobes.

When the posters were taken down, the rumors and news didn't stop. Soon enough, the rumors were on the lips of the whole town. It seemed that no one could believe that Keira was bisexual, or really that they were living among someone that was homosexual. It was a thought that struck people and was the talk of the town for the week that past, and in that week, things only went downhill for Keira. She was the center of attention, the name passing from person to person, the person the spotlight followed. None of it was good, though, because she never wanted any of it to happen.

Keira never wanted her secret to get out.

There she was, a week after the posters were first put up, standing in the bathroom at school. They had taken her, Stephanie, Evan, Jen, and Angelica into questioning about the whole situation. It all made sense to her after that - someone had figured out who her closest friends and enemies were, and she knew exactly who spread the word about her sexuality. It was Stephanie, and there was no contradicting that point. Stephanie and Keira had always despised each other, from the moment they met in elementary school and Stephanie tripped her. From that point on, the two had a feud every now and again, but when they reached high school, it got worse. Stephanie constantly tested Keira when no one was around, almost as if she always knew that Keira was different. This, though, was crossing the line. The whole town knew about her homosexuality and she'd already lost so many people because of that. She hadn't been popular before her secret got out, but she knew a fair amount of people. Each and every single one of them besides Evan and Angelica avoided her since the week before. When they saw the posters, when they knew, they chose to turn away, homophobia driving them to avoid Keira. Homophobia was the source of the loss for so many people in Keira's corner, and it all stemmed from the fact that they hated an aspect about Keira.

That she didn't understand. She was the same person, but people were hating her for who she chose to love. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what was happening - it all happened so quickly. It was surreal to her that she'd lost so many over one simple thing, yet it was exaggerated and made into a big deal. It shouldn't have been wrong to be who you wanted to be, but in the world Keira was living, it apparently was.

And it was all because of one thing, one person.

After a week of enduring the stares, the rumors, the talk, the flames, the judgment - Keira cracked. She explained everything that hand happened from November twenty-eighth to that day, December fifth, down to the very last detail. Down to the last person who casted a sideways glance at her as she was walking to the office. She cracked, her facade broken, her will shattered. She looked at herself in the dirty bathroom mirror and sobbed, finally letting her emotions seep out. She finally came to the realization that over three quarters of the school hated or tried to avoid her, and that realization hurt.

As Angelica walked to the source of the crying, she entered the bathroom to meet a strange sight before her. The usually strong, lively Keira was standing in front of a mirror, gripping the sink so hard that her knuckles were as white as the snow falling outside. She was sobbing, the effect of crying so much turning her cheeks red, her breath intake shaky with the stress crying so much had taken on her body.

Angelica stepped forward, footsteps echoing off of the tile walls of the bathroom as tears fell from Keira's cheeks and landed on the sink. The movement Angelica made caught her friends attention, bringing Keira to look straight at her. When she saw it was Angelica, her face softened, but she didn't stop crying. The tears continued to flow silently as Angelica stepped forward, coming within hugging distance of her friend.

"Are you alright?" Angelica asked, her voice reverberating around in the small room.

Keira took in a shaky breath, attempting to sigh, and choked out a few words as she shrugged, "I guess so."

Angelica nodded, understanding where she was coming from, but before she could say another word, Keira spoke again.

"Do you hate me?"

The question caught Angelica off guard, making her raise her eyebrows in surprise. She wondered if she heard Keira right.

"I'm sorry?" Angelica questioned back.

"Do you hate me?" Keira asked, looking her friend dead in the eye, "I want to know if you hate me."

Angelica was utterly confused at what Keira was saying and how she was acting, "Why would I hate you?"

"I'm different, Angel," She sniffed, "I'm different. Everyone knows it, you know it - my secrets out, Angel. Everyone thinks I'm a freak because I'm bisexual, and I don't feel like it's long before you and Evan think that too," A steady stream of tears had started to flow from Keira's eyes as she verbalized her worst fears at that moment, "If you want to leave... go ahead. I won't hate you for it."

As Keira looked down, Angelica was left baffled and struck by what Keira had said to her. It was weird - it pained her to see Keira suffering like this.

"No, Keira," Angelica began with a firm tone, making Keira look up with puffy eyes, "I would never hate you. I wouldn't care if you identified as a chair or a piece of toast, were emotionally attracted to forks, or had the weirdest fetish on the planet. You'd still be you, you'd still be Keira, and you'd still be my best friend. Whoever is shaming you for being yourself can leave, because the Keira I know is the one she's being now, and they're trying to strip that away. They're jerks. All of them. I don't hate you and I would never ever hate you, and nothing anyone can do will change that, alright?"

Keira nodded, stepping forward as her lip quivered. Angelica pulled her friend into a hug, feeling pain for Keira as her tears started to turn into tears of gratitude. She was so grateful to have friends like Angelica and Evan, and she couldn't express how much she loved that they were in her life. She didn't have words to thank them, but a nod as her tears soaked Angelica's shirt was enough.

"Thank you."