Star Gazers [BXB] [COMPLETED]

Persecution

"More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft in 1692. Twenty were executed. Fourteen women and five men were hanged, one man was crushed to death, and at least five others died while imprisoned. They all faced grisly deaths for things they didn't do. All because some snot nosed little teenager pointed fingers and spread rumors and people believed them," Emma explained, tapping the space bar on the teacher's computer to switch our PowerPoint to the final slide.  

After glancing at the images on the projector screen behind me, I continued with my final part. 

"Unfortunately, we as a society have failed to learned from our mistakes. Persecutions riddle America's history," pictures of everything from Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, lynchings of African Americans after the Civil War, and newspaper articles of atrocious hate crimes flashed across the screen, "and are still present even today. Racism, sexism, and homophobia are just a few examples of destructive mob mentality that are negatively affecting people right now. But if we work together, we can stop the oppression. Don't give in to mob mentality. Be brave enough to be the person who asks when they don't understand, not assaults; who supports those who are different, not suppresses; and who says something to stop harassment, not just sees it. Maybe then perseverance will replace persecution in our society."

Applause erupted from the class, and I felt the tension in my body leave as I realized the presentation was over and I didn't have to stress about it anymore. I looked at Emma, who had just finished exiting out of our slides on the computer. When our eyes met, she gave me a small smile and we returned to our seats.

We were the last group to present today, so all we needed to do was wait for the bell to leave. 

"That was very well put together you two," Mrs. Robinson complemented us as she returned to the front of the room to address the whole class. "Groups 8, 2, and 5, you will be presenting tomorrow, so please come prepared. Groups 3 and 7 will present on Friday. Remember I want each of you to fill out two of these peer review papers and submit them to me on Monday. I expect you to put some thought into your answers, too. Don't just write it was good."

The bell rang.

"I'll see you all tomorrow."

I swiped my folder, notebook, and pencil off of my desk as I stood, heading for the door. I was pretty focused on getting to my next class when a voice sounded from behind me.

"Hey, Cole." I turned just as Emma caught up to walk beside me.

"What's up?" I asked. Our project was done, so I was curious as to what she needed. 

A faint tint of pink crept onto her cheeks as she bashfully spoke. "I- uh. I was wondering if you'd maybe like to go to Prom with me."

Prom? I hadn't planned on going. If I did go, a part of me wanted it to be with Jason, but I knew he would probably fight tooth and nail to get out of it. He hated that type of thing. It was basically just another popularity contest in his eyes. 

I was taking too long to respond, so she nervously added, "Just as friends, obviously. It's just, you only get one Senior Prom, and we could get discounted ticket prices if we went together, and it might be nice to have someone to hang out with instead of awkwardly standing by the wall alone like I usually end up doing. You don't have to, I just figured I'd ask."

Friends. I liked how that sounded. I hadn't had a real friend in a long time.

It would be cruel to let her keep rambling, so before she could start another sentence, I smiled and answered. "Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I confirmed. "Cheaper tickets and a wallflower buddy? How could I say no?"

She laughed at that, and I somehow felt a little more accomplished. She had been so reserved when we had started our history project, but little by little she was starting to open up around me. And I was opening up too. I had spent so long suppressing my real self that I had nearly forgotten who I was. It was the small, genuine interactions like this that somehow made me feel human again. And I wanted more of them. I wanted a genuine friendship again, and I had a good feeling about this one.

"Okay, well," she pushed up her glasses, "we have each other's contact information, so we can figure out a plan later, yeah?"

"Sounds good," I said as we arrived at my locker. "I'll see you in Bio."

She gave me a thumbs up as she continued on to her locker, knowing there was no time left to chat since the breaks between bells were so annoyingly short. 

I smiled softly to myself as I spun in the combination to my locker. Things were looking up. The only thing that could make today better would be seeing Jason, and I already had plans to tonight.

×××
A/N

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