Doctor ~ G.Blythe [1]

eighty-two.

+ woman +

I stood against a table, Jane sitting up on it next to me as she played with the gems over her white over dress, almost zoning out from the classroom talk. The news that the school board had censored out paper had spread through the town in a matter of hours, and probably because Miss Stacy was running door to door to tell people. I was gnawing on the inside of my cheek gently, staring at Miss Stacy as she let out an angered sigh.

"I wish I had better news" Miss Stacy said to all of us as she rubbed her hand over her forehead, her hands shaking from anger as she looked over at us. "I think the best option is to play by their rules for a spell, and then maybe down the road they will reconsider" she said to us as we all stared at her, everyone's faces blank of emotion as we all felt absolutely defeated. "No ones forcing them to read the paper" Diana said quickly as she let out a heavy sigh, turning away from the teacher as she rolled her eyes. 

"What are the new rules anyway?" Gilbert asked after a few beats of silence, Miss Stacy picking u a piece of paper as she held it out to the boy. "The weather, hat fashions and farm stories but no references to animal husbandry" Gilbert read from the paper, furrowing his eyebrows at the last one as everyone in the room gave out a collaborative sigh. That list was the worst thing I had heard in relation to our newspaper, because who in their right mind wants to read about hat fashion?

"It's good they fired her" Moody said as he turned around to face the class, everyone looking at him as Diana stared at him with wide eyes. "What did you say?" she asked him defensively, raising her eyebrows as Moody leg out a sigh in reply, looking away from her quickly as her stare could probably burn a hole straight through him. "If Anne we're here, she'd just say use your imaginations and then find some way to ruin what's left of the newspaper" he said as he held his hands out in front of him, almost asking for someone to agree with his point.

"Hold on, let's not forget where this started it started with Billy Andrews disrespecting Josie Pye" Gilbert said to him as he put the paper down on Miss Stacys desk, turning towards Gilbert and crossing his arms. "Anne should've left well enough alone" Moody countered back to him, squaring his shoulders and straightening his back as he  glared right back at Gilbert. I let out a small sigh, closing my eyes for a moment as I crossed my arms over my chest, opening my eyes to look at the two boys again.

"Do you know what it's like to be a woman Moody?" I asked quietly as the room feel silent, my eyes still fixated on the floor as everyone turned around to look at me. "I don't see what that has to do with anything" Moody stumbles in reply as I pulled my arms closer into my chest, the silence in the air thick and heavy. "Do you know what it's like to have a man control your life?" I asked him, my voice soft as I looked up at him to see him shift on his feet, every set of eyes on me now.

"Of course you don't" I said quickly, shaking my head at him before he could reply, his cheeks flushing red lightly. I stood up straight, walking over the to the centre of the room as everyone's stared followed me. "But one day every single girl in this building will be a mans wife" I continued, standing in front of Miss Stacy's desk as i dropped my hands down by my side. "A mans property" I said quieter, shaking my head as I rubbed my lips together gently. "Everything we own will become our husbands" I said more forcefully, pointing my finger down into the ground as I stared at the boy.

"Our father have to give a man money to marry us. It's a deal, we are being sold like cattle" I spat out, my eyebrows knitted together as my frustration was laced in my voice. Everyone was still silent as I shrugged my shoulders, letting out a long sigh as they waited for me to continue. "We all deserve the right to bodily autonomy and to be treated with respect and dignity" I stated, knowing that they were silenced just for me to speak, which I took under my belt and kept speaking.

"We should be able to stay stop and be heard, instead of being pushed to the side and ignored" I said, tearing my eyes away from Moody and looking around quickly, Gilbert staring at me as he leaned against a desk, his arms crossed. The girls stared at me, Diana shifting on her feet as I let out a breath, holding my hands out by my side. "Who in here has been told in their life that a man knows better than they do? Whether it be a brother, father or uncle" I asked quickly, the girls looking between each other quickly.

One by one they raised their hands, Jane shooting hers straight into the air as Tillie, Diana and Ruby followed soon after. I turned around, Miss Stacy looking at me as she lifted her hand into the air, her other one sitting on her hip as she nodded her head at me. I lifted my own hand up into the air, turning around again to see the boys trying to divert their eyes from all of us as we stood tall with our hands in the air. "What do you think Moody? Do you know more about the content of my brain than I do?" I asked him, dropping my hand as he cleared his throat, shaking his head warily.

"No" he replied quietly, his word getting stuck in his throat as we all the girls lowered their hands, making me nod my head at Moody slowly. "Women are not made whole by men, women are made whole the moment they enter this world" I said confidently, my voice not faltering as I looked around the room once again, shaking my head. "You know she'd stand up for any of you, even in spite of what you're saying about her, she'd do what was right" I said quickly, wanting to tie it back into the reason we were all standing where we were.

"Because that's who she is" I added, no one replying as the door opened, everyone turning to see Anne stumbling into the classroom, a stack of wooden boards in her arms as she dropped them to the ground with a clatter. "I know I'm not you're favourite person right now" she said shakily as I smiled at her, Diana breaking into a run as she ran into Anne's arms, almost knocking her off of her feet. "No Anne, not at all" Tillie said as she ran towards the red head as well, hugging her tightly as Anna looked a bit shocked.

"We're sorry" Jane said as Anne looked over at me with a wide smile on her face, making me nod my head at her with a matching smile. "Well I came to say I have enough of these for everybody" Anne said as she pointed down at the ground, hugging Ruby quickly who looked as if she was about to burst into tears. "Well I have a plan" she said as I let out a loud laugh, crossing my arms over my chest as I nodded my head at her. "Good because Miss Stacy plan is terrible" I said as everyone laughed, Diana helping Anne pick up the boards as she walked into the room. "Let's hear your plan" Miss Stacy said with a loud clap as Anne started explaining her plan, setting the bored up on a desk as everyone crowded around her.

I didn't move from my spot as I let out a deep breath, looking down at the ground as I closed my eyes quickly, my heart still thumping. Gilbert walked over to me, pulling one of his hands out of his pocket as he held it out in front of him. I stared at his hand for a moment, not understanding what he meant as I let out a small laugh. I extended my own hand, shaking his gently as he smiled at me, not saying anything as he motioned his head over to Anne before letting go of my hand. We both walked to join the class, everyone listening intently to the red head's plan to reclaim our very own school newspaper.

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A/N: hey guys i'm so sorry for not updating as regularly as we would all like but i'm back with another chapter!
I really enjoyed writing this chapter to show off feminist Kate who we stan and love in this household
please don't forget to vote and comment and i will (hopefully) see you soon