And knew that there was at least one other teacher in the school who was rooting for her.
* * *
A light knock sounded on Lily’s door, and ten pairs of eyes turned toward it.
Their GSA group had grown, and Lily looked forward to Thursdays, to seeing what bright and beautiful ideas they came up with. Were they about to have a new member? Lily called “Come in!” when the door didn’t open.
She nearly fell off her chair when Denny Marshall stepped inside.
“What are you doing here?” Jude’s eyes narrowed when he saw Denny, and Lily didn’t blame him. Denny had been well-behaved since his detention, but Lily knew old wounds didn’t heal easily—and who knew how he was in his other classes? What snide remarks had been left unchecked by Lily’s colleagues?
“I’m interested in joining now the football season’s over.” Denny scratched at the back of his neck, his eyes on the floor, and Lily wondered if he was regretting his decision.
A surprising decision, to be sure. Had her research task had a long-standing effect on him? Lily hoped there was nothing insidious at play.
“Why?” Jude wasn’t the only one who looked confused. Denny, it seemed, had quite the reputation with most of the GSA members.
“I want to help. Spread the word, or whatever. You don’t have to be gay to join, do you?” Denny turned defensive, and Lily wondered if he’d been naïve enough to think there wouldn’t be any pushback. “Doesn’t it stand for gay-straight alliance?”
Denny willingly doing his own research? Unheard of. Lily wished he could apply the same drive in her class—he might be well-behaved, but despite being in her honors class he was still her laziest student by far.
“It does, but we don’t have to accept everyone,” Macie said, glancing toward Jude. “And we have more than one reason not to accept you.”
“Yeah, I know. Look, I know I’ve been a dick.” He glanced toward Lily. “Sorry.”
She waved him off—he was right, after all.
“But when I was in detention with Miss Cross, she opened my eyes to a lot of things I’d never thought about. How much stuff you all go through. How hurtful words can be. And I know I can’t take back all the shitty—sorry again—things I’ve done, but maybe I can help make up for them.”
“I think it’s something we need to discuss,” Macie said, speaking slowly, and several of her peers nodded in agreement.
“I’ll wait outside.” Denny hiked the strap of his bag further up his shoulder and stepped back into the hall.
Jude turned to Lily with wide eyes. “What did you do to him?”
“I gave him a research project. Had him look into the high rates of mental illness and suicide in the LGBTQIA+ community. I thought it would be a fitting punishment. After all, homophobia and transphobia have their roots in ignorance. I didn’t expect it to have this kind of effect, though.” Denny had made no indication of his change of heart in her lessons.
“Do we think he’s genuine?” Macie said.
“He seems it.” Hannah twirled a piece of hair around their index finger. “But it’s a risk if he’s not. This is our safe space. If he goes running his mouth, it could be bad for some of us.” They glanced at Jude. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I feel like we shouldn’t discriminate, but at the same time…” Jude’s eyes flickered to Lily. “Do you think he’s changed?”
“I think he looked contrite by the time I was through with him.” Lily didn’t think Denny was much of an actor. “If you decide to let him in, I can have a word with him if you like. Stress there will be strong repercussions should he cause any of you trouble.”
“I’m happy with that,” Jude said, and several of the others nodded.
“All right. I’ll go and tell him.” Denny was waiting down the hall. “They’re happy for you to join, but there are a few conditions.
“First of all, whatever is mentioned in the group doesn’t leave this room. While it might be public knowledge to some, you don’t talk about who’s in the group with other people. If I hear so much as a whisper you’ve broken either of those, you’ll be in detention every night with me for the rest of the year.”
“I won’t, I swear.”
“The last one—and this an important one—it isn’t their job to educate you, or to tell you how to do better. That’s something you need to figure out for yourself.”
“Okay.”
Lily held Denny’s gaze, checking one last time for some sign of deceit. Finding none, she stepped aside to let him into her classroom. Several of the kids gave him a wary look as he dropped onto a seat near the back of the room.
