Love and Family | Port Orthos 4

chapter 16: harlow's satisfaction

chapter 16: harlow's satisfaction

~harlow~

       I wait outside of the principal's office for my poppa to finish talking to the principal. Dad was going to meet up with her too, but he got caught up with work in Port Orthos. 

       I really hope Poppa is somehow able to convince her that the way she's handling the list is not working and that she should be doing something else.

       I know the list was made online so there's technically nothing she could do about it that way, but she can still, I don't know, punish anyone who's talking about the list and agreeing with it. It's only contributing to a lot of people's insecurity and I hate it.

       I'm afraid if Poppa isn't able to convince the principal to do something else, then no one can. She's already ignoring all of the students asking her to do something else. If she won't listen to a parent who has donated a lot to the school, then we'll likely just have to deal with it our way like we have been doing.

       It feels like forever but eventually, Poppa walks out of the principal office. "So?" I ask. "Is she going to do something about it?"

       "She said she will," Poppa says. "She just didn't know that the list is affecting people a lot more than she thought. She also said she's disappointed that a lot of guys are taking the list as some kind of word of wisdom."

       "Yeah, it's so stupid," I say as the two of us start walking to the front of the school to head home. "Just yesterday, Kiro told me that after his and Fern's performance in their music class, someone complimented Fern by saying her song was so good, but then he followed up by saying it's a shame she's not in the top ten."

       "Seriously?" Poppa asks. "So what, because she apparently isn't pretty enough, she's not worthy?"

       "Welcome to the world of a teenage girl," I say. "We're  never good enough for people no matter what. That's why I want this list gone. It's sexist and really hurting girls who already have a low self-esteem."

       "Well, I hope Mrs. Bender really does something about the list," Poppa says.

       "You and me both."

       Poppa heads to his car and I head to mine. He's going back to work whereas I'm heading home. I would go hang out with Emmett, but he's at school right now and then he has to work after. I wish I had more time to spend with him, but I don't want to take away from his study time, not when he's working so hard to be a nurse. I'm so very proud of him.

       And it's probably why I get annoyed at the fact that Kiro is always over at my house. I don't actually want Kiro to leave, but if I can't spend time with my best friend-slash-boyfriend, then Fern can't spend time with her best friend-slash-hopefully eventual boyfriend. It's all jokes, though. I'm happy Fern has a best friend who cares for her as much as Kiro does.

       It's no surprise for me to see Kiro at my home when I get there. "You might as well move in at this point," I say as I take off my shoes. "You're here more than your own home."

       "I would, but my dads won't let me," Kiro says. "Maybe when I turn eighteen. Then they can't stop me."

       "But I will," I say, walking over to the living room and sitting down on the chair. "Go away."

       "No, thank you," Kiro says.

       "Did Poppa talk to Mrs. Bender?" Fern asks. She's crocheting a blanket right now. She has been working on it for a while, but it looks like she's close to finishing it. Poppa told her she's not allowed to buy anymore blankets because she had way too many, so she found a work away around it and decided to make one instead.

       Before that, she would get around the ban by getting Kiro to buy her blankets, but then Poppa banned him from that too.

       "He did," I say. "She said she's going to do something else about it and didn't know that it was as serious as it is."

       "I don't know how she didn't know that," Kiro says. "It's all everyone is talking about."

       I shrug. "That's what Poppa told me. Anyway, we'll probably find out tomorrow what she's going to do about it. If she doesn't do anything, I'm going to start a protest. Like a walk out or something. I know some people might just use it as an excuse to walk out of class but hey, the more, the merrier."

       "It will still catch the staff's attention," Kiro says. "Even if some people aren't walking out for the reason you want."

       "That's true," I say. "But again, it just depends what Mrs. Bender does about it. I know there's no much she can do because the list is posted on a social media account, but come on, just telling people about the list?"

       "How is your investigation going?" Fern asks. "Did you come up with anyone who might be behind it?"

       I sigh. "No, not yet. Our plan is working a bit. People have been talking about Kiro wanting to kill whoever is behind it."

       "What?" Kiro asks. "I'm not going to kill anyone. Did you get the cheerleaders to say that?"

       "Oh, no, I was just exaggerating," I say. "I went with what we agreed on, how you just want to find the person who's behind it to give them some... friendly words."

       "Good, because the last thing I need is for the teachers and principal to turn on me because I'm 'threatening' people," Kiro says.

       "Don't worry, I'm not going to change our plan," I say. "But yeah, I haven't really heard or seen anyone be afraid because of the rumour we spread. Just people saying they're glad they aren't the ones behind it." I wish I could have just ignored the list, but I can't. I need to get it taken down, and I'm not going to stop until it is.

_______________________

i've been missing marius and fawn a lot :( i miss writing their story, but alas, it had to come to an end. at least they're not completely gone.