Black Mirror

Interlude 7 - Not The Worst Thing You've Caught Me Doing

Fionna couldn't sleep a wink. Even knowing how close by Alex was, the street felt like such a yawning, unbridgeable gulf between them.

Unseasonable warmth on this March night left her almost stuck to her bed with sweat until she forced herself, with a grunt or two of exertion, to get up and cross over to the window. Her parents might have heard that and thought it was the sound of Alex sneaking in, fucking her, coming...

Let them believe what they wanted. Even if she and Alex had slept together by now, she wouldn't feel an ounce of shame over it.

She shouldn't.

Of course, try telling that to Mom and Dad after they'd walked in on the two of them having a tickle fight in her room. They were still so overprotective of her - hell, when she'd first started dating Alex, Mom had been repeatedly dropping in to give her attempts at "the talk," and Dad had actually taken up nutcracking - not with the Christmassy-looking kind of nutcracker, but with simple two-handled metal levers - the better to build up his hand strength and crush Alex's hand when he shook it for the first time.

One thing they'd both done, however, was express considerable concern at her ability to handle the emotional load of a relationship. Long story short, they didn't believe in her ability to do so, and she didn't exactly blame them, given her struggles with depression.

But how could they let her prove she was getting better if they kept on bubble-wrapping her? She was Chinese, not a china doll.

Luckily, even if Alex wasn't actually aware she had issues, he sensed that it was best to take things slow with her. He respected her boundaries, and never pressured her for anything remotely sexual. He admitted that he'd been burned before by trying to screw on the first date - it was how he'd lost his virginity, in fact, and he wished he could change that.

Now all Fionna could think about was losing hers to him.

It filled her with momentary joy, that fantasy, but of course it couldn't last.

She rested on her bed again, wishing she could feel him in her for real.

It would happen, someday.

Just not today.

There were too many times she'd told herself that in the last month or so. Virtually every day, unless she was mistaken.

And she usually wasn't.

It certainly didn't help that lately, Alex had been pretty unusually distant with her. He usually took such an interest in her, but in the last month or so, he'd turned more and more taciturn. Even on edge. She wondered what that was all about, but he wouldn't say. He wasn't known for talking about his own problems, and in fact, on the rare occasion she asked what was troubling him, he always refused to stick to that subject.

Funny, he'd been so open about his feelings before, but not now that they were together. Was it his way of sucking her into starting a relationship?

One of these days, she'd really sit him down and have him open up all over again, because that was what made her like him in the first place. After a fashion.

She drifted off to sleep slowly, but she did manage to lose consciousness with only a couple of hours to go before school started. So in the morning, she had to go for the actual caffeine-rich coffee, not the decaf Mom insisted she stick with on school days. Not that anyone would notice, hopefully. Except Kevin, who kept side-eyeing her as he waited for his s'mores Pop-Tarts to toast. She could only hope that he wouldn't snitch, the stinking little beast.

Half an hour later, she left the house, half-expecting to see Alex and Gabe walking out their own front door across the street. But no such luck. She texted them both to get an idea of what was going on, but received no response.

Finally, she discovered the truth. The second she walked into the building, she heard the sounds of her classmates walking around the central rotunda, and saw them carrying signs and chanting like it was Spirit Week or something. Except Spirit Week had come along in October, before she'd moved to town. Today, it wasn't really to prepare for Homecoming, but more for warlock pride, if the slogans - and the massive displays they were circling, also very Spirit Week style - were anything to go by.

It didn't take long before she spotted Alex and Gabe in the procession, their voices ringing out distinctly in the ongoing chant: "We! Are! Normal too! We! Are! Normal too!"

Now Fionna understood. It wasn't as if she could avoid the news that, with the forthcoming election, the Republicans were going all-out in their usual campaigns against anyone who wasn't a Christofascist WASP like themselves. But lately, warlocks had been a particular target of interest, with many in red states now being the victims of hate crimes.

And even in the Bay Area, where Jay, Evan, Harris, and their friends were almost used as guinea pigs for some local CEO's warlock-killing weapons, if the rumors were true. One of them - Rachel, Fionna believed her name was - had even died.

Alex and Gabe weren't particularly close to that group of warlocks, but as warlocks themselves, they must have figured it was about time they joined the fight.

As the whole group completed another circuit, Fionna spotted Jay, Evan, and Harris leading the group. Hearing the chant again, Fionna started to feel uncomfortable, because she'd always thought of herself as a "Normal" for not being a warlock. Only now, however, did she realize just how demeaning that word was to warlocks. Even though all her warlock friends used it, she couldn't help but feel, especially now, like they secretly meant it derisively, the way she saw many anonymous SJW's on the internet (especially on Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) say "white people" or "straight people" as if they were dogshit on the soles of their Doc Martens.

Everyone had prejudices, she guessed. Even if they were unconscious.

Alex and Gabe caught sight of her, and they both waved to her and signaled her to join them. Her first instinct was to back away, fearing that she wouldn't be welcome in this mini-parade, even if two Ice boys had invited her in. But as those around Alex and Gabe saw they wanted to make room for one more, they moved their positions to do so. Sure, they jostled each other, and one or two signs almost fell to the floor, but Fionna's way in was clear.

She took that route, walked in, and stood on tiptoe to kiss Alex's cheek before holding his free hand while he raised his sign. Though she didn't join in the chant - it wasn't exactly for her - she felt good, being there to support those who needed it.

After all, no matter what race, gender, magical power, state of mental health...everyone present was human.

No better time to stand up and be counted.