The Sweetest Thing (gxg)

Part 4

As the next week went by, I was finding myself wanting to speak to Vivienne. She would give me little smiles when she saw me in class. And once she told me she liked my jacket. I wasn't getting much of a chance to talk to her at all though.

Yet my feelings that I was experiencing were not going away.

I hated that at night I thought about what kissing her would be like. What touching her would feel like. How good I could make her feel.

She's probably not even into girls at all. You need to stop, Charlotte.

My next chance to speak to her often came in History.

"Alright. It's project time." Mr. Frey said, "To make this easy, and so no one feels left out, I'm just going to assign you to your partner by alphabetical order of last name."

Will I be with Vivienne?

Mr. Frey went down the list.

"Alright, Charlotte and Vivienne, you're working together."

Vivienne looked at me from across the classroom and gave me a small nod.

I felt myself getting warmer.

After Mr. Frey went down the list, he said, "Alright, everyone. Go sit with your partners. I'll tell you about the assignment."

Vivienne motioned for me to come over to her, so I did. The person next to her had gotten up, so I sat in their chair and moved my desk closer to hers.

"Hey, Charlotte." she said to me.

"Hi." I said back to her.

"Okay. There are 10 groups. That's perfect. Each of you are getting a decade in the 1900's, and I want you to choose a significant event from that decade that helped shape the United States. It can be anything you want. We're adults here, we can discuss controversial topics." Mr. Frey said, "You can make a PowerPoint, poster board, even a TikTok explaining your event. Doesn't matter to me, as long as the facts are correct.

Vivienne and I got the 1960's.

She looked at me and said, "Any ideas? I'm not making a Tik Tok. So if you were thinking that, absolutely not."

I couldn't help but to laugh, "No, I don't want to make a Tik Tok. What about the asassination of JFK?"

"Ugh. Boring. I feel like I've talked about that in every single history class since middle school." Vivienne said.

There's that condescending tone again.

"Alright. Hmmm...Woodstock?" I asked her.

"I like that better than the asassination of JFK." Vivienne said, "But did it really shape the United States?"

"The music scene, yes." I nodded.

"I take your point. What about the Stonewall Riots?" Vivienne suggested.

"What is that?"

"The gay liberation movement. Happened in 1969. It started the fight for LGBTQ rights." Vivienne explained, "In a nutshell."

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I can't do a project on this. Hits too close to home. Why is Vivienne even suggesting it? Unless maybe she is in the community.

"I don't know...should we do something less...social?"

"You suggested Woodstock." Vivienne said, in a deadpan tone.

"I take your point. But don't you think talking about the Stonewall Riots is too controversial?" I asked her.

Vivienne narrowed her eyes at me slightly, "No. I personally don't. What, are you homophobic or something?"