Beyond the Reasons || JUSTIN FOLEY

Six

HO ROOM
IMOGEN'S POV

"I'm just saying... I do think there's a thing where the cameras make it safer around here." I said to the girls as we were in our spot for HO. I did eventually tell Jessica how Bolan asked me to help with security measures and helping people feel safe, but probably after the vandalism, they decided to get cameras to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"It's an invasion of privacy," Ani said.

"Yeah... Okay, but maybe it'll stop bad shit from happening... well anymore." Jessica said.

"And... speaking of our safety, I was actually thinking, what if we went to the dance tomorrow night as a group?" I asked. There's a Valentine's Day dance tomorrow night and seeing that my boyfriend dumped me, I don't have a date, so I would love to go with the girls.

"Yeah!" Ani exclaimed.

"That's a great idea. Strength in numbers. And it sends a good message, you know? We don't have to wait around for some guy to ask us out on a date, right?" Jessica said and all the girls stayed quiet.

"Who's with us?" I asked. The girls only remained silent and avoided any eye contact with either of us. "Wait a minute, you guys all have dates?" I asked. Their silence again answered my question. "I mean, no, that's good for you guys. Sick..." I said as I looked back over at Jessica.

"Well, I don't have a date," Jessica said.

"And neither do I, the three of us can go together?" Ani spoke.

"What about Clay?" Jessica asked.

"Not interested, apparently..." Ani said.

"That's messed up. This whole thing is messed up. I'm the fucking president of the school and Jess is the vice president. We are female powerhouses, and we can't even get fucking dates? Boys suck!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah... but we already knew that."

―

BOYS LOCKER ROOM
IMOGEN'S POV

I was in the boy's locker room with Jessica, Ani, and some of the other HO girls. I talked with Charlie and the coach about speaking to the boys before the dance since a lot of the boys in the school look up to them and take after their actions and I didn't want any incidents to happen.

"Look, I don't have to tell you guys that you set an example for how boys at this school behave. I don't have to tell you...-"

"...-So don't tell us." One of the football players, Luke said and I rolled my eyes.

"Dude, come on. Show some respect." Charlie snapped at him. Charlie was now the captain since Zach didn't play anymore.

"What? She said she couldn't tell us anything we don't already know." Luke said.

"Well, considering you don't know shit, Luke, you might wanna rethink that," Diego said which made all the guys start laughing.

"Come on..." Charlie said while shaking his head and then Diego let out a loud whistle which brought everyone's attention back in.

"Guys! Everybody just shut the hell up and listen to the lady." Diego said and I looked over at him.

"What I can tell you is this. Courage on the field doesn't mean shit unless you have the courage to stand up to each other when you're being fucking dicks. Or when you're bragging about that hot chick you were banging last night. Or calling us 'lady' like you're a gentleman, but really, you're just trying to diminish us. Standing up to that kind of bullshit, that's what it means to be a man." I said.