Love and Family | Port Orthos 4

chapter 10: harlow hates everyone and everything

chapter 10: harlow hates everyone and everything

~harlow~

       A few days after that stupid list was posted on the drama page, the principal finally did something about it. She can't do much since the page isn't school run, so the only thing she did was send a letter home to let everyone know about it and to encourage whoever is behind it to either come forward or delete the page.

       Nothing has come out of it so far. In fact, the letter seemed to have made everything worse. Not everyone knew about the list since not everyone is all about drama. There were people who were fortunate not to know about it, but now they do because of the letter.

       Now, it's all everyone is talking about. And it has been making me even more mad. Why are people entertaining the list? No one should care about how they rank on a list created by some neanderthal. 

       And as someone who is both a girl and a bisexual, no girl should have be ranked based on their looks. I'm attracted to girls, and I would never do that. I think everyone is beautiful in their own way.

       I can't even focus in my English class because of the two guys sitting behind me. All they're doing is talking about that stupid list. We're all working on an assignment, so it's not like I can use the teacher's lecture to tune them out. I'm trying to tune them out, but I can't.

       Eventually, I get fed up with their conversation, so I turn to them and say, "Can you please shut up about that list?"

       One of the guys snickers. "Awe, are you sad you didn't rank high enough?"

       "No, I never even looked at the list to see where I ranked," I say. "It's stupid and sexist."

       "It's just a list," he says.

       Part of me wants to tell him that I'll create a list of my own ranking guys and put him at the bottom, but something tells me that he won't care. Yes, some guys wouldn't want to be judged on their looks but in the end, girls are the ones who are constantly judged for their looks. 

       So I decide to hit him where I know it will hurt.

       "Yeah, you're right," I say. "It is just a list. So I assume that you wouldn't be mad if I create a list ranking every guy's dick energy and put you at the bottom of the list, right?"

       He glares at me as the guy who sits beside me, Viktor, snorts a laugh. "That's different," the guys says.

       "It really isn't," Viktor says.

       "What? So you would be fine if she does that?" he asks.

       "Considering she would only be doing it to combat your sexism, as well as the sexism of whoever created the list, yeah, I would," Viktor says. "If you don't want a girl judging your dick size, then I suggest you shouldn't judge her looks."

       The guy scowls and goes back to working on his assignment, as does his friend.

       "Thanks," I say to Viktor.

       "No need to thank me," Viktor says. "I agree with you. The list is dumb and reeks of an early 2000's teen movie."

       "At least someone thinks like that," I say. There actually are quite a few people who would agree with me but unfortunately, some that do agree are also paying attention to the list to see where everyone ranks. It's best to just not give the list the engagement.

       And even more unfortunately, it seems I can't go anywhere in the school without hearing someone talk about it. I just hope the interest in it dies down soon, but I have a feeling it's not going to happen. In fact, I'm worried that whoever posted it will even update the list in a week or two.

       After school, I have cheerleading practice, so I head to the gym. But like everywhere else, someone is talking about it. Three girls on the team are talking about how happy they are that they've at least made it in the top twenty.

       Thankfully, as soon as Kaylee walks into the gym and hears the conversation, she says, "Girls, I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about that sexist list during practice."

       "Oh, come on," one of them says. "Aren't you at least a little bit flattered you're ranked in the top five?"

       Kaylee sighs. "I didn't want to know where I ranked on the list. And no, I'm not flattered. Want to know why? Because there is someone at the bottom of the list who is probably hating themselves right now and wondering why they're not pretty enough to rank high."

       "Oh. I... didn't think about it that way."

       "Just... no more talking about it," Kaylee says. "Please."

       No one talks about it anymore, so I guess cheerleading practice will be safe from it now.

       After practice as everyone is getting ready to leave, I notice Kaylee sighing heavily as she sits on the bottom row of the bleachers. I sit down beside her. "Is everything okay?" I ask.

       "Not really, no," Kaylee sighs. "At lunch, I walked into one of the bathrooms only to find a girl in the ninth grade crying because she was ranked low on the list. I mean, it's her first year of high and she was already hit with a shitload of insecurity. And we're only in November."

       "That's awful," I say.

       "Yeah, it is," Kaylee says. "She even told me that she was struggling to make friends to begin with, so this just made things even worse for her. She was wondering if no one wanted to be her friend because she's ugly. And the thing is, she isn't even ugly. I mean, I don't think anyone is ugly, but this girl is so pretty. I've been thinking about her all day and I really want to do something to help her. To help anyone who is feeling insecure because of the list."

       "I want to help them too," I say. "We'll think of something."

       "I hope so," Kaylee says.

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we haven't seen that many side characters yet, but kaylee is probably my favourite <3 (kiro doesn't count lol. he's probably a main character, just without a pov). she spent the entire lunch with her boyfriend to make the poor girl feel better <3