I look down at my lists. The one for pop culture is particularly long. “So many celebrities are out now,” I say. “We can’t include everyone.”
“What if we have the alliance vote for the top five, and include the rest on a list in the exhibit? That way, people can still read it and see all the names.”
“That’s ...a really good idea.”
He snorts. “You keep acting surprised.”
My face heats up, and I stare down at my paper. “Well, you didn’t exactly show you were capable of having them when you ran for president.”
“Well, you didn’t exactly show that you were capable of having a genuine conversation with me, but here we are.”
“Hey!” I glare at him, and he smirks back, spreading his hands wide in a sign of surrender. “God, you’re so fucking annoying.”
“Back at you,” he says, still grinning. The bell rings, and he jumps into motion like a tornado, pulling his hoodie and backpack on at lightning speed. “See you later, Co-President.”
“It’s so early,” Anna mumbles, her eyes still half closed as we head through the halls to the library Friday morning. Here and there, posters for our party are tacked up on the display boards; Jayden and Makayla put them up on Monday. “Remind me why I decided to help set up for the party again?”
“Hey, you live two blocks from here,” I say. “I had to catch the earlier train while you were still asleep.”
“Let’s not compare suffering,” she says dryly, and I burst out laughing. The sound echoes through the still-empty halls; the school buses haven’t arrived yet, teachers just starting to get to their classrooms. Ms. Lundahl waves to us as she unlocks her door, and we wave back.
“I’m so behind on my outline,” I say after we’re around the corner. “It’s due Monday, right?”
“Yeah. We can work on it this weekend. I still need to finish mine.”
“Perfect.”
In the library, we find Riley, Forrest, and the goth freshman who mentioned Stonewall gathered around one of the tables, sorting through decorations. People brought things from home throughout the week, stuffing them into Forrest’slocker, and now they’re all spread out on the table: streamers, sparkly lights, bead curtains, balloons, and a whole pile of Pride flags, including the bi, lesbian, ace-spectrum, nonbinary, and trans flags.
Riley waves to us behind the balloon they’re puffing into. It swells in front of their face, translucent and full of glitter.
“That’s so cool,” I say.
“Nyx brought them,” they say as they tie it off. The goth freshman waves shyly, and I smile back at them.
Mx. Prager joins us at the table. They’re a full head shorter than all of us, their round form swathed in bright yellow overalls, a flamingo-print shirt underneath, with a long rainbow sweater completing the look. Sometimes they’re in a wheelchair, but today they’re using their cane, the length of it wrapped in gold.
“Anything I can help with?” they ask.
“Do you have tacks?” Forrest asks. They nod, and he follows them up to the front.
I join Riley in untangling the strands of lights, and when Forrest returns with a tub of tacks, we grab chairs to stand on and start hanging the lights up around the perimeter of the library. Nyx and Riley get to work on the balloons, and Forrest starts putting up the Pride flags. Pretty soon the library looks like a gay hurricane hit it, lights glowing on every wall, a bead curtain hanging in the doorway, streamers adorning every aisle.
A few of the chess club kids come inside and stop short, gaping at the decorations, and Forrest invites them to come back at lunch for the party. Chatter from the halls seepsinto the library, breaking the quiet of the morning, and Mx. Prager busies themself with students coming in to print papers, turn in books, or hang out.
We finish just in time for first bell. We gather back at the table, collecting empty plastic from the opened packets of balloons, shouldering our backpacks.
“I have to say, this really came together,” Riley says, glancing at me, and I nod along. As much as I hate to admit it, Forrest did a good job spearheading this. The library looks inviting. Now we’ll see if anyone comes.
By the time lunch rolls around, I’m on edge. I want to feel excited, but what if no one shows up except Queer Alliance members? Should I have fought harder for something more meaningful as our first event? I grab my lunch box from my locker and link up with Jayden outside the cafeteria.
“I saw Stef with the cupcakes this morning,” he says, taking a huge bite out of his corndog as we head for the library. “Dayloosohgoog.”
“What?”
He chews frantically and swallows the corndog. “They look so good!”
“Oh. Great! Cool.”
