Hello. This takes place the day after my other story True Friends Don't Leave.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Haunting Hour episode Fear Never Knocks.
WARNINGS: INCEST
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
-"Brave" by Sara Bareilles
"Do you think Carlos and Mark told everybody?" Jack asked as he pushed the doors to their school open, and the siblings stepped inside.
In a very movie-like moment, all sound in the room stopped, and every student turned to face Jack and Jenny. Some held pitying looks; some looked oblivious and confused. They obviously hadn't heard the various rumors that were surely circulating around the school. But most held judgmental looks.
"I'm going to go with yes," Jenny whispered in return.
Jack and Jenny walked down the hall and watched as everyone stumbled away from them, getting as close to the walls as possible and leaving Jack and Jenny in their own little bubble.
"Freaks," one boy spat, and that started the domino effect. Kids stared screaming horrible insults and throwing trash and punches and even books and binders at the couple. Jack and Jenny received more than a few bruises as they walked down the halls, trying to keep their heads held high.
Jack and Jenny weren't ashamed of their relationship. Far from it. But… words do hurt. Whoever said sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me was a huge liar.
Jenny yelped as a book collided with her head, and Jack, hating to see his girlfriend in pain, picked the book up off the floor and hurled it at the girl who chucked it at Jenny, totally abandoning the never hit a girl rule that most young boys followed.
"If you're going to hit somebody, hit me," Jack snarled at the gathered group of students, "but if you harm a hair on Jenny's head, I will make every single one of you regret it until your dying days!"
Jack and Jenny continued to walk down the hall, their hands intertwined. The students continued to spit at them and send kicks and punches their way, but they mostly aimed physical violence at Jack. They knew better than to harm Jenny now. Jack wasn't violent; it was just in his nature to be kind and loving and easy going, but it was also in his nature to be protective of his girlfriend.
"Jack, everyone hates us," Jenny murmured as they turned a corner and entered a less crowded part of the school. There were only a handful of students in each hallway instead of the dozens of kids in the area of the school they'd just left.
"I know," Jack replied.
"How are we going to survive school?" Jenny asked.
"How we survive everything," Jack replied, gripping her hand tighter. "Together."
Jack and Jenny were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the door to the custodians closet open as they passed it until two sets of hands latched onto their shirts and yanked them into the closet.
Jack and Jenny totally expected fists and feet to begin flying. Wasn't that what they'd been brought in here for? To be beaten up? To be trapped in the closet? To be pranked in some way?
After a brief moment, they pried their eyes open and saw two kids staring back at them.
The two of them were obviously twins, maybe a little younger than Jenny. They each had red hair. The girl had her's in long braids that trailed down her back, and the boy kept his short, but his bangs still fell into his eyes. The girl wore a lovely pink sun dress, and the boy wore a red and navy blue striped shirt and jeans. They both looked very kind, but Jack and Jenny knew that looks can be deceiving.
"I'm Cory," the boy told them.
"And I'm Cassie!" the other girl chirped.
"I'm Jack, and this is Jenny," Jack replied, hesitantly. "What do you need?"
"We want to compliment you on your courage," Cassie responded.
"Courage?" Jenny repeated.
Cory nodded. "You had the courage to tell people about your relationship. Our parents and older brother don't even know. The only one that does is our big sister Brenda."
"So you two…" Jack said, slowly, pointing first at Cory, then at Cassie, then back.
Cory nodded as he gripped Cassie's hand.
"Three years now," he told them. "We were almost eight when we got together, but we were in love with each other way before then."
Jenny nodded. "We know the feeling."
"We need your help," Cassie told them.
"With what?" Jack asked, curiously.
"Going public," Cassie answered. "We want to slowly go public with our relationship. You had the courage to tell your friends, and we haven't even had our first date outside our house."
"That's what we need help with," Cory told them. "Would you two like to go on a double date sometime? That way we can have our first date, and you two will be there to make sure we don't chicken out. Besides, you two look like you could really use some friends right now."
Jack and Jenny exchanged glances before turning back to the twins.
"We'd love to," Jenny replied.
The two sets of siblings exited the closet.
"They think we're brave," Jack murmured. "We're not."
"Why can't we be?" Jenny asked.
Jack stared at her before they both walked into the next room, where kids started screaming insults at them again. Jack and Jenny walked across the room and stood on top of the bench, towering over everyone else, who immediately looked at them in curiosity.
"All of you were our friends before you knew. We were a couple when you guys were our friends. I guess the statement is true: ignorance is bliss," Jack began.
"But I know for a fact that every single one of you has something you're ashamed of," Jenny announced. "Maybe you're bullied, abused, gay, bisexual, transgender, involved in a relationship with a relative, or something else, but all of you have something you're ashamed of, but you don't need to be. You should be able to say these things out loud, to tell people, without it seeming like a scarlet letter pinned to your chest. We are who we are. We shouldn't be ashamed of who we are, and we shouldn't be ashamed of the things we keep secret, the things we go through behind closed doors."
"Secrets don't build us up," Jack told them. "They tear us apart. Maybe you all think we're disgusting, but that's only because you're afraid that you could be standing in our shoes. Everyone might think you're disgusting or weak or a cry baby or just plain wrong. You're afraid of that, and you're afraid people will judge you if you don't bully us like everyone else. Some day you'll realize that fitting in doesn't matter as much as you currently think it does."
Jack and Jenny hopped off of the bench and walked down the silent hallway with their heads held high.
Before they exited the hallway, Jenny turned.
"Jack and I were brave enough to tell you our secret. We were brave enough to stand out, to stand up for what we believe in. Even a little bit of bravery can go a long way. Will any of you be brave enough to stand out?" she asked. Her quiet voice rang through the entire room.
She pressed a kiss to Jack's lips before they exited the hallway.
You could've heard a pin drop.
"What a joke!" Someone finally hollered, and sound filtered back into the room as people made fun of Jack and Jenny, insulted them, mocked them.
But pressed against the walls were the nervous people, the skeptical people. The ones that believed and listened to Jack and Jenny. But they weren't brave enough to stand up to everyone else. At least not yet, but Jack and Jenny were the first step, and hopefully, others would soon follow.
"Even a little bit of bravery can go a long way. Will any of you be brave enough to stand out?"
What did you think? Please leave a review, and have a nice day!
Remember: we all have something we're ashamed of. Mental illness, abuse, transgender, gay, bisexual, bullied; maybe you've been raped or gotten pregnant or gone through a different traumatic experience. It could be something entirely different. We don't need to be ashamed. Our secrets don't have to be scarlet letters, and unless someone is brave enough to stand up for what they believe in, to be different, to stand out, things will never change.
Thanks for reading! Goodbye, everyone!