Second Chapter! Ow, ow!

Why Is It So Dark In Here?

There's Linens, Too!

My first class is one of the few courses of my entire high school career that is useful sometimes and useless other times. Yes, math. Pre-Calculus, this year, to be more exact. Sometimes, we learn something I might actually need to know for something other than a test. Other times, I may as well catch up on my sleep.

Today, we're learning about inverse functions. Criss-crosses line the board, with numbers and letters and things I don't really need to know. Oh, yes, I'd say I could stand a quick nap. As could about half the class. As I drift off into fairy land, the door whooshes open and clunks shut.

"And where were you when I began?"

"Sorry, sir. I'm new and very lost," A voice like honey explains. The aisle next to my seat is invaded and, sure enough, there's Kairi sitting down and taking out a notebook. She gives me a smile that I tentatively return.

When the teacher goes back to his lecture and I go back to dozing, a piece of paper emblazoned with one of Amy Brown's infamous fairies manifests itself on my desk. I look up just as Kairi puts the top on her pen. She motions for me to open it. Thank God for the back row. I open the note under my desk.

"Sora's dropping the GA (No 'S', apparently.) application off at the office today during lunch. Then we're going to Cid's for pizza after school to celebrate. Wanna come?"

Do I want to go? On one hand, I can stare at people milling around without looking completely crazy. On the other hand, I'll look crazy anyway if I'm watching people. I decide to base the decision on chance. If the next thing written on the board is a letter, then I'll go. If it's a number, I won't go. If it's part of a graph, then I'll wait for a letter or a number.

A few minutes of lecturing and he puts a 'y' up on the board. Looks like I'm going.

"Okay. What's a GA/GSA?"

Kairi opens the note and writes before passing it back.

"I'll tell them you'll be there. And a GSA is a Gay-Straight Alliance, so Sora wants a GA, or a Gay Alliance. Like a club."

A Gay Club? The idea echoes in my mind all period and all of period two. A Gay Club. Like a Bible Club, French Club, Drama Club. Gay Club. The idea makes me giggle and I decide that I like the idea.

Lunch is usually irritating for me because I have nowhere to sit and no one to sit with. So I usually just eat outside or find some excuse to eat outside the classroom door and wait for the teacher to unlock it.

Today, though, Tidus and Riku intercept me coming out of English and steer me towards the office. Sora is standing outside the office, annoying the secretary and holding a sheet of paper in his hands. About seven or eight people are with him.

When Riku and Tidus join the fairly large circle, Sora launches into a speech. "'Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!'" Sora flourishes the paper dramatically.

"Gays, Queers, Homosexuals, lend him your ears," Riku grinningly deadpans.

"With this application, I, Sora Sendole, and your elected co-president, Riku Mainger, will plow forward in the name of equality and free rights and-"

"Son, if you're turning in that application, hand it over now," the secretary growls in a way that I didn't know secretaries could growl. Sora makes a squeaking noise and hands it over. To spare Sora a scrap of dignity, no one laughs until we round the corner.

Kairi giggles and leads me over to the vending machines. "He's funny, isn't he?"

"Yeah." The word tumbles out of my mouth as Kairi feeds the machine a dollar. Sticks the landing though, because I continue the conversation. "You seem to know the area and people really well…"

"I have family up here." Kairi selects an apple from the machine. "My grandparents. My mom wanted to move up here to be with them, so I came along for the ride."

I don't think I even have grandparents. I nod like I understand the whole thing though. Even though Larxene had asked her the same exact question this morning, I still ask it. "Do you like Hollow Bastion so far?"

"I love it." She bites into the apple and starts walking. I walk with her. "I mean, it's so much louder here. And there's more people and more to do. There are two high schools, aren't there?" I nod. "And Sora's just been a family-friend since forever. Lives right next door to my gran."

I nod. The exchange stalls. "Hey, I've got to get to the cafeteria. You should sit with Sora and Riku and I."

And I do. I sit with them and I eat my food and I laugh and talk and I'm really close to asking Kairi if we're friends.

After school, I would usually get on the bus, go home, draw, do homework, eat and sleep. But today, as I should have learned the instant I woke up, is Upside Down Day. Kairi comes towards me, and I'm excited to see her burgundy hair because that means that she's my friend and I haven't had an actual open-up-to-you type friend since middle school.

Kairi looks angry when I get closer though. Her countenance is something I want to draw, it's so mad and pretty. Her energy is palpable, pulsing off her before she's ten feet away from me. "There's a problem," she grits out between her teeth.

"I'm sorry," I reply automatically. Why? Because every time something goes wrong with Larxene, there's always a good way to pin it on me, that's why.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything." She sighs, a long suffering sigh. "Come on." Kairi takes my wrist, her warm hand making the skin tingle, and leads me out to the parking lot. "The Gay Alliance got rejected," she sneers. "They said it was too controversial." Kairi growls.

Inside, I'm kind of growling too. That's not fair. I voice it. "That's not fair."

"No. It's not."

I'm led to Riku's infamous minivan. Sora looks angrier than I've ever seen him. Tidus is sulking against the side of the van. Riku's glaring at Larxene was calm gazing compared to the look he's giving the pavement.

Sora is the first one to actually look at me. Even though he's mad, his eyes look dead. "Hi Namine."

I nod. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Hasn't happened yet. We can still get this overturned, I bet." Riku mutters. "Everyone get in."

Sora takes shotgun and Kairi sandwiches herself between me and Tidus. Riku revs up the engine and we take off.

"This is completely unfair. 'Too controversial.' 'Too closed off.' 'Open membership to other students.' So that they can lynch us, right?"

When Kairi had said, that we were going to Cid's pizza, I expected that we were going to that diner that we drive past every morning in the car, but I've never actually eaten at. Instead, Riku drove past Cid's, off to a residential part of town that I've never been in before. The van stopped in front of a sea-foam green house that Riku opened with a key; We're at his house.

"It's completely… Just… Ugh!" Sora isn't as eloquent at conveying the injustice of the situation, but he makes up for it in enthusiasm.

"We should do something," Kairi says. Tidus nods. "Make some kind of statement. Get people involved. Maybe get the decision overturned." Tidus snorts. "What?"

"You make it sound like tactics for a war or something. Very intense."

"Well, why not? I call a Gay Revolution." Sora and Riku smirk and Tidus leans back into the couch.

I like the term, "Gay revolution," much like I liked the term, "Gay club." I doodle on the sketchbook cover, Kairi in an army suit with a striped (meant to be rainbow) flag. Once I start drawing, the conversation melts into a murmur around me, then there's nothing. Wait, there's literally no one talking. I look up and the boys are staring at me. Kairi is staring at my notebook cover.

"Is that me?" I blushingly nod. Oh, God, why did I have to start drawing? "That's really good. Okay, guys, Namine is the official Visual Propaganda Executive in the Gay Revolution."

"What?"

"While you were creating that piece of artistic genius, we've been assigning roles for the revolution," Kairi explains. "Riku is the Head of Operations, he's going to tell us what we're doing. Sora is going to talk to people to get them involved, Tidus is going to do write ups for newsletters and newspapers, and you're drawing up posters, with our help, of course."

"Aside from helping Namine with the posters, we haven't decided what you're doing, Kairi." Riku isn't really accusing her so much as trying to help the process along.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" She points to my doodle of her that I really want to cover up because it's terrible. "I'm the poster girl."

This causes a small stir of activity. Riku bites down on a thumbnail and Sora looks concerned. "Kairi," Sora starts slowly. "You're not even out at school yet."

Out? Kairi's gay? I mean, she was sitting with Sora and Riku, but I just figured they were friends before. Kairi's a lesbian? "So?"

"You want to attract that much attention your first week here?"

"Why not? The closet is getting damp and stuff. I want out." Closet? What?

"This isn't Destiny Islands, Kairi. No one really tries to get to know you, and there's so much homophobia here."

"Well, I want to come out and I may as well do it for a cause."

Sora looks like he wants to argue and Tidus has his mouth open for a retort, but Riku says, "Fine, Kairi. You're the poster girl of the revolution." Then he turns to me. "Namine, I hope you like drawing Kairi."

Truthfully, that's what I've wanted to do from the instant I saw her, so being told to do it isn't a bad thing. But I've never been around a lesbian before. What do I say? What do I do? And is it perfectly reasonable to tell her that I've never been more fascinated with another girl in all my life?

The ending gave me a humungous headache, but I like where this will be going. I like to think that the hard part is over, but...