𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 ~ 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲-𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven:
"You're Certainly Not Alone."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Mabel could barely hear herself think over the loud chattering of her friends in the classroom. "Are you serious right now?"

"Of course I'm-" The room silenced as a paper airplane flew through the center of it.

"I believe we've yelled enough about  the incident. How would you like to proceed? My first recommendation is to talk at a level that won't cause deafness." Miss Stacy spoke sternly, her hands on her hips as she examined each one of the students.

"We're arguing about the wrong thing." Gilbert said, gesturing to the people surrounding him.

"Is that what we're doing?" Mabel rose her eyebrows, "Hm. Interesting."

"Yes. This isn't about what Anne wrote. This is about what's fair." He continued, causing Mabel to scoff. She didn't exactly agree with how Anne went about the situation, it felt as if she didn't care how it could affect Josie.. how it could affect her, and affect her it did.

"What's fair? My piece is literally and precisely called what is fair-" Anne said, putting emphasis on what is far

"Anne, it's time to listen. Gilbert, please elaborate."

"I mean.. fairness to us. The team. You could've pitched your idea, and we could've worked on it. Together."

"It might not have hurt.. uh, Josie.. that way." Mabel said slowly, pausing for Anne's reaction.

"I'm sure that there's a way that we can talk about equality without.. ruining a girl's life." Gilbert continued, stepping forward to be in the center of the room.

"Oh, so now you have an opinion on equality?" Anne snapped, crossing her arms.

"It's the same opinion I probably would have had yesterday, had you bothered to ask."

"Interesting! Because at the fair, I could've sworn I saw you negotiating for an attractive new parcel of land. I mean.. a wife."

"Alright, then.. Why don't I tell you my plan before this room spontaneously combusts?" Miss Stacy looked around at the students, "From now on. we will be following a rigid guideline I'd assumed was clear from the beginning. I am the editor in chief. As such, all articles must be met with my seal of approval before they go to print or else they don't go to print. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Wonderful! On the topic of the next issue, please break into groups and begin discussing what you'd like to see in its pages." Mabel sighed, her body slumping as she rested her head on her forearms.

The article that Anne wrote had brought up all the memories that she'd worked so hard to get past.

She felt so dirty. So wrong. She hated it. Mabel hated how she felt. She hated that article. She hated that it had caused such an uproar in the town. She hated that it had hurt Josie more than anything she'd ever hated before, and she hated that Anne was the one who wrote it.

~~

"I wish I had better news. I think the best option is to play by the rules for a spell," As Miss Stacy spoke, Mabel leaned her chin her palm as she tried to blink the tiredness away. She didn't sleep much last night, if she slept at all. Her cheeks were stained with tears, almost as if they were permanently etched into her skin from the amount of crying she had done. Her mind kept replaying what her uncle had done to her. "And then down the road, maybe they'll.. reconsider."