Val Meets Rah Rah
I don't own Girl Meets World! I'm skipping World of Terror 2 because I don't think it's necessary to this story.
Cory stuck his head around the doorframe into the kitchen where Val and Topanga were working on breakfast while Auggie sat at the table.
"You know what today is, don'tcha?" Cory asked anxiously.
"Oh, we know what today is." Topanga nodded, exchanging a glance with her eldest "How much do you dread this day?"
"This is the day I dread." Cory shook his head "Maybe the friend can save us."
"Mm, yeah, not likely." Val mumbled.
Her beliefs were confirmed when Maya stomped into the kitchen.
"Were you able to talk her out of it?" Topanga asked hopefully.
Maya snorted "No."
"Then what good are you, lady?" Auggie grumbled.
"I'm no good." Maya said, taking a seat at the table.
"Cheerleading tryouts are today!" Riley bounced into the kitchen wearing the uniform she'd taken after the tryouts last year and promptly missed the single step down and nearly fell "I have better control of my body now, and when my brain tells my arms and legs what to do, they try real hard now. This is gonna be my year, guys."
The Matthews and Maya all exchanged nervous looks.
Riley climbed up onto the couch "Give me a 'Q'! Give me a 'U'! Give me an I-N-C-YYY!" She tumbled off the back of the sofa with a shriek.
Val rubbed her temples and shared a desperate look with Auggie.
Val had gotten a place on the cheerleading squad last year, but had quit when she went to her grandparents, deciding it wasn't fair for her to keep her spot when she couldn't be at the practices. But, she decided to try out again this year, hopefully there would be less drama.
Samantha did a complex routine of flips and cartwheels on the mats, landing perfectly next to Riley and Maya.
"Great job, Samantha." Riley applauded.
"Thanks." Samantha gave Riley a high five as she passed.
"You're the best." Riley gushed but when Samantha was out of earshot turned to Maya "She's the worst one here."
"She's the worst?" Maya frowned.
Val stepped up to the mats and performed the same routine as Samantha, landing with her arms in the air and a grin on her face.
"Samantha's the one I gotta beat to make the team." Riley continued "I'm better than her, right?"
Val and Samantha kicked up into identical handstands and walked across the mats together.
"Explain to me what's the matter with you." Maya sighed.
"I'm for your entertainment pleasure." Riley spread her arms proudly.
"How many years you gonna do this to me?"
"What am I doing to you?" Riley asked, offended.
"Every year I have to tell you that you're good." Maya sighed "You know what? You're not good. You're not as good as Samantha. You're not as good as Heather. You're not as good as any girl with any name, or doesn't have a name, or doesn't exist, or is a rock."
"Well, I don't like that she doesn't have a name." Riley frowned "I would call her Roxie."
Maya looked like she wanted to say something but bit back the retort and instead said "Every year you try out. And every year, Coach Kelly tells you not to come back because she hates you."
"Coach Kelly does not hate me." Riley rolled her eyes.
Coach Kelly stormed up to them "Matthews number two, I hate you. Why would you come here? Why are you wearing that? Why would you come here?"
Riley pointed at the Coach "This is the year I'm going to make the team."
"It's really not." Coach Kelly shook her head "You've been trying to make this team since third grade pee wees, and they don't let me reject anybody in third grade pee wees. It hurts their self-esteem."
"Then why did you get to reject me?" Riley asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"'Cause that's the year we passed the Riley rule."
Riley gasped "I have my own rule."
Maya flashed a weak thumbs-up then rubbed her temples.
"How much rejection can you take?" Coach Kelly sighed.
"Hey, Lebron James was cut from his high school basketball team." Riley tried to argue.
"Lebron went straight to the NBA from high school." Coach Kelly corrected.
"I knew it was something." Riley shrugged "Coach Kelly, I'm gonna win you over."
"Stay out of sports." Coach Kelly almost begged.
"Oh, you." Riley waved her off and went to set her bag down.
Maya had wandered over to the bulletin board and pulled the flyer for tryouts down "Cheerleading tryouts will span three days after school. On day one, applicants will be judged on coordination."
"Do I have that?"
"No." Maya answered not looking up "Day two, tumbling."
"I tumble."
"Not on purpose." Maya reminded her "And if you make it to day three, we will see how you dance with the team."
"That I can do."
"If you make it to day three."
Riley and Maya glanced over to the cheerleaders who were practicing on the mats.
"Give me a 'Q,' give me a 'U,' give me a I-N-C-Y, Quincy!"
Two male cheerleaders lifted Val into the air.
"Quincy, we can fly! Whoo!"
They tossed Val up and she twisted in the air before coming back down and getting caught.
Coach Kelly blew her whistle and everyone got into two lines. Riley shoved her way to the front of one.
"Alright, ladies, I've got 14 trying out." Coach Kelly pulled out the sign up sheet "I need 13. Matthews number two, why don't you make it easy on all of us and quit right now, so we don't have to go through three days of torture?"
"No, thank you." Riley answered promptly.
"Riley." Maya hissed and Riley shuffled over to her.
"Matthews number one," Coach Kelly beckoned Val over "Can you try and talk some sense into your sister?"
"Believe me, if I could I would." Val sighed.
"Just try." Coach Kelly pleaded "If you can get her to see reason then we don't have to go through this try out process which is only happening because she's too stubborn to admit defeat."
"Okay, alright, I'll try to explain your reasoning to her, but if it doesn't work it's not my fault." Val groaned.
Val walked over to Riley and Maya in time to hear Maya say "Know why no one else is even trying out? She already has her team. These girls are the same girls since pee wees. Val got offered a spot every year and only accepted last year. These girls are the reason you don't make the team."
Riley tried to walk away but Val held out a hand, stopping her "No, Maya. Riley, you don't make the team because frankly, it's a safety risk. You're not just accident prone, you're disaster prone. Coach Kelly doesn't want people to get hurt. I know you want to be a cheerleader, but try and understand that joining the squad may not be the best decision."
"Why don't you want me on the team?" Riley pouted.
"I would love if you could safely be on the team. But looking at your track record, that's not likely to happen." Val sighed "I don't want you or anyone else to wind up injured. Just, please, try and think about the possible consequences of your actions for once."
Val turned and went back to the team. Riley glanced at Maya before she skipped back to the lines too.
"May we get started, please?" Riley asked loudly and clearly.
"You heard her." Coach Kelly blew her whistle "Launch, fly, catch. Team, launch. Jenkins, fly. Matthews two, catch." Riley stayed frozen as the girls on the team got into position "Catch."
Coach Kelly pulled Riley to her mark, adjusted her hands so they were in the correct position, and stepped back to watch the epic failure that was coming. Two male cheerleaders swung Jenkins back and forth before launching her into the air.
"Hi." Riley waved as Jenkins fell past her and landed on the ground with a painful thump "Oh, catch." Riley realized too late.
"You alive, Jenkins?" Coach Kelly asked.
"I'm fine, Coach." Jenkins called.
"I'm fine, Coach!" Riley repeated enthusiastically.
Coach Kelly closed her eyes "All right, let's try that again. Matthews two, you fly. Jenkins, you catch."
Riley looked very nervous as she walked over to the launch team "Can I trust you?" She asked Jenkins.
Jenkins stood up "Oh, yeah. I know exactly what I'm gonna do."
Val walked over and Jenkins raised an eyebrow asking silently for permission.
Val sighed "Go ahead."
Riley was launched into the air and screamed "I'm gonna die!"
Val sat in history class, with her textbook open on her desk, despite knowing she wouldn't be using it. On the board was a drawing of a lightbulb.
"Who invented this?" Cory asked the class.
"Thomas Edison, the wizard of Menlo Park." Farkle answered dutifully.
"After how many tries?" Cory questioned.
"Six!" Lucas shouted.
Cory paused, confused "No! Anybody here think he invented it after his first try?"
"I do!" Lucas pointed.
Cory stared "No!"
"Lucas, honey, whatcha doing?" Val asked curiously.
"I was trying something, and now I'm going back to the way things were." Lucas mumbled.
"You do you." Val smiled.
"Why didn't he invent the lightbulb on his first try?" Farkle asked.
"'Cause it was dark!" Zay called then patted Lucas's shoulder "Got your back. Got your back."
Lucas smiled and copied Zay, both of them pointing their fingers at Mr. Matthews.
Riley walked in carrying an enormous bag of ice.
"Did the best I could." The nurse muttered.
"I'm fine." Riley grumbled "Nothing to see here. Go on with your business."
She moved to her seat.
"Uh, but wouldn't the ice work better if you put it on something?" Maya asked.
Riley set the ice down on her chair and proceeded to sit on it.
"I see." Maya nodded, biting back her smile.
"You were supposed to talk her out of this." Lucas groaned.
Zay looked over at Farkle and Val in confusion.
"Every year, Riley tries out for cheerleading." Farkle explained.
"Oh, Riley, you are no cheerleader." Zay chuckled.
Riley frowned "That is a terrible thing to say to me, Zay."
"I meant it as a compliment." Zay shrugged.
Lucas grinned "Back in Texas, Zay had a little incident with a cheerleader."
"It wasn't just a little incident. It was true love," Zay defended "But I'm over it now. VANESSA!"
"Nooo! No no nooo! No no nooo, no no no! Nooo, no no no! No no no no no no no no no no no no no!" Val couldn't help herself as she softly sang the tune.
"Matthews, you're her father." Maya begged "It's your job to talk her out of this."
"Thomas Edison saw the need for a new kind of light source for the home. See, people relied on kerosene lanterns, and he tried a lot more than six ways to come up with electric light without success." Cory continued with the lesson "You know what he said?"
"'I have failed!'" Lucas suggested.
"No!"
"Yeah!"
"'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that will not work.'" Cory corrected.
"But Edison finally succeeded." Farkle said.
"That's why we have light in here." Val nodded.
"Because he never gave up." Cory jabbed his finger at his students for emphasis.
"And neither should I." Riley declared
"Mm, way to put her back on track, Matthews." Maya groaned "Why'd you have to pick today to teach us about Edison?"
Cory nodded thoughtfully "Yeah, that's something, isn't it?"
"Okay, when we were at home, you didn't want her to do this. Nobody did." Maya argued.
"Yeah, because as her father, I've gone through this with her half a dozen times." Cory explained "And it kills me every year."
"Then what are you doin'?" Maya asked desperately.
Cory paused "In this room, I'm your teacher."
Val stood, arms behind her back, spine straight, and chin up as Coach Kelly walked onto the mats. Riley stood next to her, trying to look as put together as the other cheerleaders. She was putting up a valiant effort but her lack of training was clear to anyone with eyes.
"You've made it to day two?" Coach Kelly asked.
"Yeah!" Maya cheered "Whoo!"
She, Farkle, Zay, and Lucas were sitting on the sidelines watching the tryouts. Lucas was there more for Val than for Riley.
"And you brought your own cheering section?" Coach Kelly glared.
"I'm just here to pick up the pieces." Maya shrugged.
"I'm here 'cause I wanna see this." Lucas said honestly.
"I'm here 'cause I believe in Riley." Farkle declared.
"I'm here because I need to show my cheerleader enemies they have no hold on me." Zay tried to sound tough but his darting eyes showed his nerves.
Samantha leaned forward and waved "Hi, Zay."
Zay giggled nervously "You know my name."
Coach Kelly walked over to her small podium and grabbed a large silver bell from it "I hold in my hand, a bell. This is the Riley Bell."
"I have my own bell." Riley grinned.
"When you quit, and you will," Coach Kelly plowed on "You will ring this bell, and this travesty will be over."
"I will never ring that bell." Riley said, decidedly.
"Uh-huh." Coach Kelly rolled her eyes "Day two, tumbling. This is the day we learn what kind of control you have over your bodies."
Maya rang the bell.
"Maya." Riley sounded hurt.
"I want you to live." Maya defended desperately.
Coach Kelly looked back at her clipboard "All right, ladies. Round off, back handspring, yamashida. Stick the landing."
Lucas rang the bell.
"Lucas!"
"Yamashida, man." Lucas shouted.
"All right, ladies. Show her how it's done." Coach Kelly pulled Samantha forward.
The girl performed the routine and landed perfectly.
"Fair." Coach Kelly shrugged.
Val went next, flipping through the air like an artist.
"Decent." Coach Kelly nodded approvingly.
Jenkins was next, but on her back handspring and landing she faltered, it was barely noticeable, but it was there.
"What was that?" Coach Kelly asked, walking up to Jenkins "Hi, there. Did I see a little something?"
"No." Jenkins shook her head.
"You sure, Jenkins? You sure I didn't see a little-"
"No, no, no, no." Jenkins denied. "No, no."
"Give me your foot." Coach Kelly ordered.
"I don't want to give you my foot." Jenkins whispered.
Coach Kelly raised an eyebrow and said something Val couldn't understand in Russian.
"I'm sorry." Jenkins sounded close to tears and ran back to the line of cheerleaders.
"Matthews number two." Coach Kelly called.
Farkle rang the bell.
"Farkle!" Riley scolded.
"Nyet!" Farkle cried.
Coach Kelly gestured for Riley to start but Riley walked over and grabbed the donut on Coach Kelly's podium and used it to powder her hands.
"What are you doing? That's my donut!" Coach Kelly growled "Tumble."
Riley put the donut down and proceeded to do three childish cartwheels in a row before popping up and sticking her arms in the air.
"Okay." Coach Kelly sighed and pulled Riley's arms down "You ready for me now, champ?"
"Yeah." Riley was breathing heavily.
"You get two attempts." Coach Kelly told her.
"That wasn't twice?"
"Wanna show us what you can do, or you wanna ring that bell?"
Riley closed her eyes as she walked back to the starting position, she opened them and looked at Maya, Lucas, Farkle, and Zay.
"Goodbye." She whispered.
"Goodbye." They all whispered back.
Riley turned back to the Coach, set her face in determination, and charged screaming. She tried to copy what the girls before her had done, but her momentum was off and she launched herself through the air, crashing into the cheerleaders. They all groaned loudly. Val sighed, she was at the bottom of the pile.
Riley stood outside Val's door that night, she was bruised and sore but determined. Raising her fist she knocked three times.
The door swung open and Val raised an eyebrow at her sister "Yes?"
"I need your help." Riley pleaded "I need to be a cheerleader."
"You don't need to be a cheerleader, you want to be a cheerleader." Val rolled her eyes "There is a difference between needs and wants."
"Please, Val, can you just teach me the routine I need to know for tomorrow?" Riley begged.
"Riley, I know you're determined, I know you really want this, but Coach Kelly isn't backing down." Val sighed.
"Well neither am I!"
"But her reasoning is for the safety of the squad, the school, and frankly, you." Val pointed out "I told you before, you're not just accident prone, you're disaster prone."
"What's the difference?" Riley groaned.
"Accident prone is where it's normally just you getting hurt. Disaster prone is when people other than you get hurt too." Val rubbed her temples.
"That's why you should start teaching me the routine now!" Riley exclaimed "So I have time to practice so nothing will. go wrong! We have fifteen hours to learn this, please, Val."
Val stared at her "You've had the video instructions for the routine for two months. Why haven't you started learning it yet?"
"I meant to but stuff got in the way." Riley defended.
"And if 'stuff gets in the way' of practice? What then?"
"I'll deal with the stuff."
"Riley, if you somehow manage to get on the squad, you're making a commitment. A commitment to be at every practice unless you have a reasonable excuse." Riley opened her mouth but Val stopped her "Like getting sick or injured. Not because you decided to help some random person you don't even know."
"But what if a friend needs my help?" Riley asked.
"Then you do it on your own time, not the squad's. The cheerleaders are a team because they have each other's backs. They know that if they go flying their squad is with them, ready to catch them. If you miss a practice for no reason you put them in danger because cheerleading can be dangerous. If you drop someone they could get really hurt." Val explained calmly "Can you make that kind of commitment? Can you handle having someone depend on you to keep them safe? Because if you can't, then you won't make the squad."
"Don't you think I can handle it?" Riley frowned "I'm your sister. I want you to trust me."
Val actually almost snorted "You want me to trust you? No, you want me to blindly believe that you can do anything and everything you set your mind to without putting in any actual work."
"I put in work!" Riley argued "I've tried out for cheerleading every year since third grade pee-wees!"
"And have you ever even looked at the practice routines before the tryouts?" Val raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't they just teach it there?"
"Riley, do you have any idea how long it takes to learn a routine?" Val sighed, rubbing her forehead "It can take months. They send out a simple routine for tryouts two months in advance, they expect you to take the time to learn it, practice it, and perfect it, then when you come in to tryouts, you perform the routine and if there are problems they help you fix them. But cheerleading involves a lot of working on the routines on your own time. You can't just show up to practice and expect them to teach you the routine, you need to learn it yourself."
"I've watched the video!" Riley scowled "But it doesn't explain how to do anything."
Val pointed at her sister "See, now I know you're lying."
"I'm not lying." Riley was lying, she hadn't watched the video at all "Why would you say that?"
"Because the video goes into very detailed explanations on how to do the maneuvers and how to do them safely. There are demonstrations, links to other videos, and it shows the routine slower so you can see everything." Val glared.
Riley deflated "So...will you help me?"
Val scoffed and shut the door, leaving Riley standing out in the hallway alone.
Val stood on the mats in the gym waiting for Coach Kelly to start the third day of tryouts. It was strange, usually she would feel guilty about not helping Riley, but she really didn't. Maybe it was because she knew that Riley joining the team would end in disaster and various injuries, or maybe it was because she was finally realizing that she wasn't responsible for everything Riley did.
She had called Annie the night before and her best friend had bolted across the hall to give Val a hug and tell her how proud she was of her. Annie had always said that Val thought about others too much and didn't focus enough on her own happiness, and Val knew that sometimes Annie had a point.
Annie, who was not a cheerleader in any way, shape, or form, as she disliked how flexible they were and refused to do any such activity where she could potentially be launched through the air, had come to the gym to support Val in the final day of tryouts. She was sitting on the bleachers, watching as the cheerleaders filed in.
Riley was the last to arrive, and took a place on the mat, ignoring the vicious glare Annie was sending her way.
"Incredibly, welcome to day three." Coach Kelly looked at the cheerleaders who lined the mats.
Lucas, Farkle, Zay, and Maya rushed in and took their seats on the bleachers near Annie.
"I can't believe this, but how much are you rooting for her right now?" Lucas asked, seeming embarrassed and nervous.
"As much as always." Farkle grinned.
Maya groaned "Guys, you know how this ends. How could we let it get this far?"
Zay glanced at the blonde "Don't you even know your best friend? There's no stopping her."
"Yes, I know my best friend," Maya glared "And I don't want my best friend to get hurt."
"Well, Maya, she's always there for us. It's our turn now." Farkle pointed out.
"Yeah, we shouldn't stop her from doing what she wants." Lucas agreed reluctantly "We just need to be here when she needs us."
Annie smirked, Lucas was clearly thinking of Val more than Riley, his Mama had trained him well to drink his respect women juice every day.
Maya bit her lip "You're right. I know you're right. I just...I don't want her to fail."
"Failure is part of life, Hart. Get used to it." Annie stood up and plopped down next to Lucas "If we don't fail, we don't learn."
"Why are you sitting with us?" Maya scowled "You don't even like us."
"Correction!" Annie cried "I don't like you. Lucas is my girl's love interest, and I am deeply invested in their romance thank you very much, and Zay and Farkle are her friends. And I'm sitting here because you're wrong and I enjoy correcting people."
"How am I wrong?"
"You're wrong in trying to protect Riley from the world. The world sucks. If you try to hide from it, all that's going to happen is it's going to come bust down your door, punch you in the face, and throw you in the deep end." Annie smiled "Failure, rejection, all of it is a huge part of the world. The sooner you learn how to cope with it, the better you get at it. Trying to shield Riley from that is going to screw her up in the real world."
"Well, if she fails-" Farkle started, trying to divert the conversation before a fight broke out.
"Ahem, when she fails." Annie corrected.
"If she fails," Farkle repeated "You'll be the first person she wants to put an arm around her."
"Okay, I'm not going anywhere." Maya said glaring at Annie.
"I'm not saying you should go anywhere." Annie laughed.
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying, that trying to hide from the inevitable failure that will occur today is foolish. But that doesn't mean Riley needs to deal with it alone. Having people, friends, around after something bad happens can be helpful. You just have to let her come to terms with her catastrophic failure on her own."
Coach Kelly's voice echoed around the gym "This is our choreographed routine that we have perfected over all our years together. Newcomer." She turned to Riley "Have you learned the steps?"
"YES, COACH!" Riley's loud voice echoed.
"Liar." Annie coughed into her elbow.
"Wow." Coach Kelly rubbed her ear "I was about to say 'I can't hear ya,' but you got me. Okay, places, everybody."
The cheerleaders moved to their starting places. Riley attempted to follow the movements of the girl in front of her but was clearly watching her feet, her face was blank with no trace of the trademark winning smile all the other cheerleaders wore, and she was several beats behind all the others.
Val and Samantha began doing flips and cartwheels across the floor. Riley was lifted by two male cheerleaders in the back and waved her arms frantically in the air before her weight tipped as the boys were bringing her down and she found herself falling forward. Val had just taken her place in the point of the triangle, facing forward with no idea that her sister was toppling toward her, arms pinwheeling in a pointless attempt to stop herself.
There was a crash and a shout of pain.
Everyone on the bleachers stood up, Lucas and Annie hurrying forward to see if Val was alright.
Coach Kelly stopped the music and hurried toward the pile of limbs "Is everyone okay?"
Riley popped up "I'm fine, Coach!"
"Matthews number one, are you okay?"
Val grit her teeth in pain "I'm fine, Coach."
She tried to stand up but fell back with a quiet grunt. Samantha and Jenkins caught her.
"What hurts?" Coach Kelly asked, helping guide Val back to a seated position on the ground.
"My ankle." Val muttered.
Coach Kelly quickly examined the injury "Jenkins, go grab the first aid kit. Samantha, go get the nurse." She looked at Val "I don't think it's broken, but it's probably sprained. I'm going to wrap it and give you an ice pack for now. You remember what to do for a sprain, right, Matthews number one?"
"R.I.C.E." Val nodded "Rest, ice, compression, elevate."
"Good." Coach Kelly nodded "I want you to rest it for at least two weeks and avoid running or jumping or anything like that for at least up to eight weeks. You should see your doctor to get a more accurate treatment plan."
"Yes, Coach Kelly." Val bit her lip, she had her first dance competition in a week, now she wouldn't be able to compete.
"You should be fine, but I want you to be careful." Coach Kelly ordered.
"Val..." Riley whispered "I'm so sorry."
"Can it, Matthews number two!" Coach Kelly growled "You quite clearly didn't learn the steps, I'm willing to bet you didn't even watch the video, and because of your bad decision your sister got hurt."
"I didn't mean to." Riley mumbled.
"Maybe not." Coach Kelly conceded "But give me one good reason why I should ever let you even try out for my team again."
Riley looked back at her sister, sitting on the mats with Lucas and Annie hovering over her. Annie was glaring at Riley and if looks could kill she'd be rotting. Lucas was anxiously looking at Val, seeming unsure what to do.
"I couldn't make the commitment. I couldn't handle being responsible for someone else's safety." Riley felt the guilty tears well up "I didn't think Val was serious when she said that doing things wrong could lead to people getting seriously hurt. I don't deserve to be a cheerleader. I'm sorry I wasted your time Coach Kelly. I'll get the uniform washed and I'll return it to you."
Riley slumped over to the bleachers, grabbed her bag, and left. Maya hurried after her, sparing a last glance back at where Val was sitting on the mats as Coach Kelly wrapped her ankle.
Word count:4736 words
I'm so sorry this has taken so long to get out. School is kicking my butt at the moment. I'd like to start writing more consistently but times are rough. Thank you to all my wonderful readers who aren't constantly commenting for updates. I love reading you comments but just saying "update" can be a little annoying.
I'd also like to say that I've gotten a couple comments on Wattpad saying that they would like Val and Annie to get together. While I love the idea I don't feel comfortable portraying an LGBT relationship when I am not a part of the LGBT community. I am an ally and I have been questioning my sexuality but at the moment I am more of a supporter of the community.
As I have never even had a heterosexual relationship, and I'm basically winging the romance part of the story, I don't think I can accurately portray a homosexual relationship. I'm sure they aren't that different but I am unfamiliar with the problems they might face. I have not had personal experience with coming out or dealing with discrimination or hate from others based on sexuality or gender identity. I don't feel comfortable writing something that I could write very wrongly or offensively.
If I were ever to write a LGBT relationship/character/story, which I would love to do someday, I would really want to do proper research into the hardships, I would want to talk to people who have come out and hear their stories so I can better understand the fears and the possible fallout, I would want to learn how to write these things in a respectful and appropriate way, and I would feel much better if I could get multiple people from the LGBT community to read the chapters before they are published so I can be more confident that there was nothing in there that might offend a member of the community.
Of course I'm aware that some people will always hate on people who are different. But I believe that love, as long as it's appropriate (not between a child and an adult or not abusive for example) is a good thing. Love is a beautiful thing and as long as it's safe and healthy I support a woman loving a woman, a man loving a man, or a man loving a woman. I support non-binary and transgender people finding people who love and accept them and I support the whole of the LGBT community and I stand with them.
Please don't forget to comment, vote, and add to your reading lists! Stay home, stay safe, wash you hands, and wear a mask! #BlackLivesMatter
Love,
The Author