𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 [𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚣 𝚅𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛]

9: Difference

Beth POV

I sat in the church with a bunch of other girls around. I woke up by an emergency spam text from Cassandra. I left Grizz to sleep, he needed it.

"Did Cassandra text you too?" A girl wearing a gorgeous green dress.

"Was there a dress code we didn't know about?" Becca said with sass, looking up from her magazine.

"I spent seven hundred bucks on this, and it's not like I'm gonna be wearing it to prom." The girl said and took a seat next to Helena.

"It looks pretty." I compliment. She gave me a smile, as a way to say thanks.

Kelly and Gwen walked in, Kelly handed Helena a box of Tampax.

"Oh.. you're a life saver. Someone must be hoarding these. There was none left at the drug store." Helena said holding the box.

"I try to ration. I only have three boxes left." Kelly said. Helena said a quick thank you, that's when the church doors opened.

In came Cassandra and Allie. We all sat in a broken circle together.

"Boys we thought we knew destroyed those stores last night. And if we don't do something, male testosterone is going to be the end of us." Cassandra started off.

"Is that why it's just girls here?" Helena asked. Cassandra nodded and continued.

"Right now it's just pillage. But how long until someone's raped walking home one night and no one gives a shit because that's just how it is?" Cassandra says to everyone.

It was a scary thought to think about.

"Okay, I'm sorry no one wanted to date you in high school, Cassandra, but this war on men feels a little extra." Gwen said making me scoff.

"Shut the fuck up, Gwen." Kelly said aggressive.

"Everything that kept us safe is gone. There isn't anyone to say no. And when you stop hearing no, you begin to think you can do anything. Women aren't safe in a world that's run by brute force and stupidity." Cassandra said.

I picked at the nail polish on my fingers, it chipped away lightly.

"If we want peace, we need order.
And to get order, we need to exert our power." Cassandra says. I smiled slightly.

We do have power. We have a lot of power.

* * *

I walked out of the church with Gwen. She was talking about how Clarke was bothering her lately.

"Are you gonna break up with him?" I ask, she shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. I met a guy-" Gwen was gonna say.

"Beth! Gwen!" I heard someone yell. I turn around and see Kelly.

"Hey Kels. What's up?" I ask.

"So I talked to Cassandra, since tension is super high because of that night at the hardware store, we decided to still host prom. Lighten the mood since our families are still missing." Kelly says. I smile at her idea, she always was a creative girl.

"So why do you need us?" Gwen asked.

"I want you to be a prom committee. Organize some snacks and drink, some music." Kelly say.

Gwen and I thought about it for a second.

"I'm in." I say. I look at Gwen waiting for her response.

"Yeah, sure, lets do it." Gwen says.

Kelly smiles and claps her hands.

"Great! Thank you, both. Beth, maybe you can get Grizz to join? He's pretty smart." Kelly says. I nod.