“Pretty good,” I say back, matching his casual tone.
The others filter in, and Mr. Harrison pops his head out of his office, making eye contact with me and Forrest for a thumbs-up that we’re good to go. Then he disappears again, and it’s just us and the rest of the club. It’s still early in the year, so the turnout from last week is holding.
“All right,” I say when everyone’s seated. I have the perfect idea for an event, one that will show everyone why they should stick with me when it’s time to revote. “So, October is coming up. It’s LGBT History Month and we usually do something for National Coming Out Day on the eleventh. I don’t think we should pressure people to come out, but it would be great to do something educational around what it means to come out and how to make the school a place where people don’t have to come out, they can just be who they are.”
The freshmen are nodding. “Maybe, like, an assembly?” one of them says in a soft voice.
“We did an assembly last year,” Forrest says.
I smile at the freshman. “That’s true, we did, still a good idea though. Maybe something similar to that?”
“Like a speaker?” Riley says.
“Oh yeah!” I turn to them. “That’s a great idea. We could even do a panel. Maybe from one of the local nonprofits?” Across from me, Stef scribbles in her secretary notes.
“I have an idea,” Forrest says. His voice rings out even louder than normal, and when we all turn to him, he’s looking right at me. “We should have a party.” He grins. “A Coming Out Party.”
I open my mouth but Riley beats me to it. “Like a themed party?” they ask.
“Yeah!” he says. “We could have it in the library, and have cupcakes with colored frosting for all the flags, and a supergay playlist, and games where you have to like, I don’t know, name the queer celebrity or something—”
“How is that going to make a difference at the school?” I ask, and the room goes totally silent.
Forrest raises his eyebrows. “It’s ...fun? And having fun is nice? We shouldn’t have to be educating people all the time.”
“Why don’t we do both a panel and a party?” Riley says, chewing on their bottom lip as they look back and forth from me to Forrest.
“That sounds—” Forrest starts.
“Expensive,” Anna interjects. She’s on her laptop, tapping rapidly. “I have the spreadsheet for our club income and expenses here, and we can’t afford both.”
“Nonprofits aren’t gonna charge a school to send out some panelists,” Forrest says. “And someone can make cupcakes at home.”
“It’s not that simple,” I say, keeping my voice calm, even though I want to scream. “We should have vegan and gluten-free cupcakes to be inclusive of dietary needs, and we should reimburse whoever makes them if we want to be really fair about it. And not everyone wants to eat cupcakes, so we should have some other options too. That will add up quickly.”
“OK, but that’s the only thing,” he says. “We can print posters using school tech and put them up ourselves. We can make decorations or bring stuff from home. All of that is free.”
“Have you ever set foot inside a grocery store? Do you even know how much food costs?” I ask.
“Are we seriously that broke?” he says. “I bet we can get all the food we need for less than fifty dollars.”
Everyone turns to Anna, whose eyes widen, then jump down to her screen. “We have ...ten dollars,” she says.
“Huh,” Forrest says. “Well. We could ask places to donate food?”
“Do you think every single business is just dying to give high schoolers free stuff?” I ask.
“Are you always this negative?” he snaps back.
“Guys—” Jayden says, but the bell rings. The freshmen stand up, murmuring among themselves as they head for the door. Riley catches my eye and grimaces in solidarity.
Or in irritation? Maybe they’re mad that I got into it with Forrest today? I can’t tell. My heart is pounding, anger and anxiety surging in my chest. Our first meeting, and Forrest completely derailed it. Just like I was afraid of.
“Hey, Sidney—” Forrest says, but I slide out of the desk, grabbing my bag.
“Congratulations on getting us nowhere,” I say. “Co-President.” I glare at him and head for the door before he can say anything else.
On Saturday afternoon, I go over to anna’s house to study. That’s another thing Mom made me start doing after last year’s grades fiasco: studying with my friends on weekends. She called everyone’s parents, told them what happened, and set up a rotating schedule of weekend study dates for me. It was horrifyingly embarrassing. But I love being with my friends, and I do get more done when I’m with someone else.
