“Not much to tell.” Not without sounding crazy. Lily knew what brand of cereal Elsa ate in the morning, but not her real name. “She takes the whole anonymous thing seriously.”
“Ah, so she’s mysterious.”
“A closed book,” Lily said, although she’d managed to crack open a few of the pages. And she couldn’t deny it being part of the thrill for her. “I doubt it’ll ever go anywhere, but at least it gives me something to do when I’m home alone.”
A loud cheer cut through their conversation as Greenfield scored another touchdown, and Lily smiled, enjoying herself more than she thought she would. She’d rarely gone to her own school’s games when she’d been younger, and while it was strange to be on the other side of things, it was fun.
Starting to lose feeling in her feet, Lily ducked out at halftime, waving good-bye to Mei and Andrew before making her way back to her classroom. Night had fallen, and only a few windows in the school were alight.
Her phone sat where she’d left it, and she felt a stab of guilt when she saw a message had been sent over an hour ago. Lily hadn’t realized she’d stayed at the game so long.
A raccoon would be easier to deal with, I suppose.
Even though it’s angry?
Lily packed away her things as she waited for a reply—her bath was calling out to her, and she’d spent far too many hours in her classroom that week. Her phone buzzed as she was locking the door behind her.
You’d rather have a horde of butterflies flying around your head?
A horde? How many times a day do you sneeze?
More than I cough.
Lily chuckled, drawing her jacket tighter around her body as she stepped outside. In the distance, she heard cheers from the football field—the game must be back on.
Looking forward to the weekend?Lily typed as she made her way to her car. She knew she was. Christmas break couldn’t come fast enough.
The parts I won’t be spending at my desk, yes.
Not for the first time, Lily wondered what Elsa did. It could be anything—there were dozens of jobs that involved taking work home. She could be a lawyer, or an IT expert. Hell, she could even be a teacher like Lily. Wouldn’t that be weird?
Ah, yes, I forgot. A queen’s work is never done.
The response was nothing but a string of middle finger emojis, and Lily laughed as she slid behind the wheel.
* * *
“Don’t forget your essays on the history of the atom are due next week!” Lily called over the rustling of jackets and bags as her students packed away at the sound of the bell. “Late submissions automatically get a zero.”
Once they were gone, she hurried to the teacher’s lounge with her coffee mug, in need of some caffeine to make it to the end of her first GSA meeting after a late night of exam marking. Rainbow posters were plastered periodically along the hallway, reminding people of the date, and Lily wondered what kind of turnout they were going to get.
A relatively small one, by the looks of the group hovering outside of her door when she returned. Macie was at the forefront, and Lily smiled as she ushered them inside. Five in total, but more could be on the way.
Two turned up a few minutes later, flushed and out of breath. “Sorry we’re late,” one of them said, tall with a shock of jet-black hair. “Math let out late.”
“It’s all right, come in, take a seat.” Lily leaned back against her desk and studied the group sitting in front of her. “I’m Miss Cross, for those of you I haven’t met yet. I’ve volunteered my room and my time, but this club is all down to Macie and Sara, and they’re in charge here.” Lily glanced toward Macie, whose cheeks tinged pink. “I can be as involved or uninvolved as you want me to be. I can’t leave you unsupervised, but I can sit and pretend I can’t hear a thing if that would make you all more comfortable.”
A beat of silence, all seven of them glancing at one another, waiting for someone to speak up, clearly not used to a teacher letting them make their own decisions.
“Seeing as our whole message is to be inclusive, it wouldn’t be fair of us to exclude you, Miss Cross,” Macie said eventually, and the rest of the group nodded.
“Okay, then. What would you like to do today?”
“I thought we could start with introductions.” Macie glanced at the folder she’d brought with her, spine straightening. Lily hadn’t thought of Macie as a natural leader, but she seemed to be growing in confidence with every passing minute. “I’ll start. I’m Macie, I’m a sophomore, I’m a cisgender girl, I identify as a lesbian and my pronouns are she/her.”
“I’m Sara, also a sophomore, cisgender girl with she/her pronouns. I identify as bisexual.”
The kid who had come late from math class spoke next. “Mark, junior, cis male, he/him, and I’m gay.”
