Walt Disney Academy

nine

(hey okay so there's homophobia in this chapter so if you don't want to read that, you can skip to the next chapter after jessie enters <3)

Tuesday, September 4th

V I O L E T

"Is this seat taken?"

I looked up from where I was scribbling in my notebook and saw Elsa standing timidly beside the empty desk next to mine. I pulled out the chair to show her that she could sit next to me and she gave me a bright smile, setting her bag on the floor.

"Hey, new girl," A voice sneered from the back of the room. I took a wild guess that the voice belonged to Gaston and I turned around to see I was correct. Elsa chose not to react, so he grabbed a pair of scissors from the bench behind him and threw them them our direction.

My arms reached out to grab Elsa's shoulders and pull her into me before she got hit, but before my hands touched her, the scissors were swiftly caught by one of our classmates passing by.

"Nice try," Aladdin told him sarcastically, holding the scissors up in his hands. Elsa looked up at him gratefully and he smiled down at her, taking her hand and placing them in her palm. He closed her fist around the piece of stationery and said, "Think this was for you."

He took the seat beside Elsa and I knew Gaston was scowling at him. Aladdin peered past Elsa to look at me and he gave me a kind smile, showing he saw my attempt to stop the scissors hitting her.

Mrs Lightyear appeared through the door a few minutes later, her fiery braid flowing behind her. She slammed the giant stack of books she was carrying onto her desk and stood in front of the whiteboard, grinning at us happily.

"Hello Juniors, and welcome back to English! I know you're all so thrilled to be here, so let's make a start."

The whole back row groaned, as it was mainly occupied by the people who didn't want to work and... yeah, just the people who didn't want to work.

"I was thinking we could do a quick class debate to get us all revved up for the year before starting to look at something boring, like poems!" Mrs Lightyear said, sitting on the edge of her desk. "Someone shout out a topic."

"The LGBT community," somebody called out from the opposite side of the room.

"Okay, the LGBT community. What do you want to debate, Phoebus?"

"The rights of that community. Like... marriage, and stuff."

"Who wants to start us off?" Mrs Lightyear questioned, glancing around the room. "Take it away, Gaston. One more thing, if anyone uses the F word in this classroom, I'm sending you straight to Principal Mouse's office."

"Why should f- gay people be allowed to marry? It's gross," Gaston announced to the class, smirking. I could just tell that this discussion wasn't going to be very 'short'.

"Why shouldn't people apart of the LGBTQ+ community be allowed to marry? It's a human right and it's your choice who you choose to spend the rest of your life with," Aladdin argued from beside Elsa, glaring at Gaston.

"Like I said – gross. A man should choose to marry a woman and a woman should choose to marry a man. None of this man and a man or woman and a woman shit."

"If your sexuality was a choice, why would any woman choose to be attracted to men?" Tiana questioned, earning the support from a few of the girls around her.

"It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," Jasmine added, flicking her hair behind her as if she'd achieved something.

"Okay, we're getting biblical. Great," Hercules muttered, running a hand through his ginger hair. "I'm sorry if anyone in here is religious and takes offense, but people truly believe that a man walked on water, turned water into wine and rose from the dead after three days but those who are apart of the LGBTQ+ community are considered 'unnatural'?"

"That's easy for you to say, your parents are Gods," Snow snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Regardless, he has a point. A lot of homophobes nowadays hide behind their religion and say that their faith makes them unsupportive of the LGBTQ+ community," Shang explained.

"It's. Not. Natural. Get over it," Drizella sneered from the back of the room.

"It's quite hard to 'get over it' when so many people apart of the LGBTQ+ community have been brutally murdered, beaten and bullied for simply being themselves," Shang cracked, sending daggers at Drizella with his eyes.

I thought to myself for a moment. "It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love," I recited to the quiet classroom. I saw the quote by John Lennon a long time ago and it's one that's always stuck with me. "Why is it any of my business who Alice marries? Why is it any of her business who Jim marries? Why is it any of his business who Aladdin marries?"

"It's my business if the gays are getting married in my country," Gaston retorted, leaning back in his seat. I could just tell that at least half of the class wanted to punch him right in the nose.

"Awa' 'n' bile yer heid. Ye'r juist a narrow-minded, homophobic wee prick. Ye'r th' type o' bloke tae kick a bufty bloke oot o' th' changing rooms fur ye think he'd be goupin' at yer bahookie. Ye dinnae hae an bahookie tae goup at!" Merida yapped at him from across the classroom, gritting her teeth. Her fists were clenched tightly in front of her and I knew if we were outside the classroom, she'd pounce on him like a lion.

Gaston scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I'd never willingly look at a gay, let alone talk to one."

"That's rich, coming from a douchebag that probably watches lesbian porn before he sleeps at night."

That was the comment that silenced the whole class. Even Mrs Lightyear had to do a double take on what Elsa had just said. Her hand immediately went up to cover her mouth and I could see the tips of her ears were turning pink. Nobody knew what to say, not even Gaston had anything to hit back with.

A chair scraped along the floor, and somebody's feet hit the ground. Merida had stood up, and she brought her hands together in a slow clap. And another. And another. She had begun applauding Elsa, standing by herself in the middle of the room. Aladdin pushed his chair out and stood up, joining her. Then Shang did. Then Tiana did. Then I did. The next thing I knew, three-quarters of the class were standing up, clapping for Elsa. Even Mrs Lightyear stood beside Merida, joining in. From behind me, I heard Gaston grunt and stand up, pushing past us to make his way to the door.

"If MAH BURD Moana wis in this class, she wid hae made ye bawl lik' an infant. Marc mah wurds, ye stoatin muckle pile o' cow's dung!" Merida shouted after Gaston, giving his retreating figure the middle finger.

Elsa pulled me into her side, laughing along with everyone that stood around us. Aladdin threw his arm around her shoulders and I gripped Elsa's waist in return, never knowing how much fun English could be. Through a gap in the crowd, I thought I saw Jasmine smiling slightly and clapping her hands under her desk, but when I looked again, her expression was neutral and her arms were folded over her chest.

---

i just wanted to say that this chapter doesn't reflect on my views of the LGBTQ+ community, i believe love is love and everyone is valid <3 wtf is gaston playing at though, throwing scissors at people???

again so sorry for how over-exaggerated merida's accent is. - skate

wordcount: 1341