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i was following along as my teacher read the last few sentences of the book's chapter. i had already finished the book earlier this week, which is odd because i usually find these pretty boring, but i took a liking to this one because it had some themes that i cared about.
from across the room, i heard bryson and his annoying friends snickering at nothing and inwardly rolled my eyes. i'm not a teacher's pet or anything but i feel like it's just rude to talk while someone is teaching/presenting, especially when they're only trying to help you.
ms. darbus finished up the last sentence and spoke with her soft voice, "ok, so i wanna hear you guys's opinion on this chapter, specifically on a theme that is brought up continuously throughout the book... gender roles."
i saw a couple of hands fly up at that, mostly boys, and i furrowed my eyebrows, interested to see what they had to say.
ms. darbus pointed at a boy sitting at the front of the class, i think his name was julius.
"julius."
i was right.
"well, i think gender roles are kinda stupid. like, it's not fair to expect someone to do something or act a certain way because of their gender. there's plenty of women who do what men do, and men who do what women do." he said.
i smiled at his answer, every now and then i was reminded that every boy at this school wasn't a misogynistic prick.
ms. darbus nodded approvingly at his answer, "i like that answer julius, not many men think that way."
her eyes wandered around the room and stopped at bryson, pointing to him next.
"no offense ms. darbus, but i think women need to stay in they place, y'know?" he spoke with confidence.
i scoffed lowly and shook my head, preparing myself for the nonsense that was about to spill from his mouth.
"they should do the light work while we go out and do the real shi-", ms. darbus gave him a stern look.
"-stuff. especially nowadays, every female be trynna do everything men do and act like us. they needa go back to sittin pretty and cooking and cleaning."
almost every girl in the class looked at him like he was crazy, and frankly, he had to be if he thought that. i wasn't even surprised at his answer, men have proved to me day in and day out that they are dense.
ms. darbus looked like she wanted to say something smart back but she only shook her head in disappointment.
"do any of my girls have something to say?"
once again, hands flew up but this time it was mostly girls.
"go ahead sam."
my head turned to the back and i glanced at said girl. i didn't know much about her except for her name. she was in a few of my other classes and we spoke every now and then, but that was it.
i always thought she was really pretty, and her features were adorable.
she sat up slightly and looked in bryson's direction, "no offense bryson, but it isn't women's job to cook and clean for you, if you want a maid or a butler, hire one. and i don't know who told you that women don't do 'real things' but they lied. y'all aren't the only ones with important livelihoods."
bryson only smirked, "sorry but you don't look like you need to be the spokesperson for women. you look like a nigga."
him and his friends laughed obnoxiously and a few scattered giggles sounded throughout the room.
"that's your problem now...", i spoke lowly to myself and rubbed my forehead exhaustedly.
sam opened her mouth to speak but before she could ms. darbus asked, "what was that leilani?"
damn, she heard me.
"huh?", i looked up and almost everyone's eyes had averted to me, including sam's.
"i mean you don't have to share but i was hoping you had something to add...", and she trailed off, looking at me hopefully.
i nodded understandingly and looked over at bryson. he and his friends were already staring and it made me uncomfortable but i spoke anyways.
"i was saying that that's the problem. the fact that you think women have to look or dress a specific type of way to be a woman. every woman doesn't look or dress the same, and just because she dresses more masculine doesn't take away from the fact that she's still a woman. she was only expressing an opinion, that i'm sure, every girl in this room agreed with. no one said she was the spokesperson for women, and even if she was, you have no say in that because you aren't a woman."
when i finished i could see sam smiling at me from my peripheral. i made eye contact with her and she mouthed a 'thank you'. i returned the gesture, feeling my lips curve into a smile.
i looked at ms. darbus and she only grinned while bryson mugged a hole in the side of my head. i knew he was mad but it's only because he knew it was the truth, and hopefully he'll learn sooner or later that women aren't alive to serve him.
"thank you for that explanation lani, that brings me to you all's assignment!" she spoke enthusiastically.
groans erupted throughout the room but from the look on ms. darbus's face, she couldn't care less.
she grabbed some papers from her desk and began passing them out, "i'm gonna have you guys partner up with someone for a project. you will pick a controversial topic that you wanna discuss, survey people and get their opinions on it. you'll have to write a paper but you won't have to research anything so citing sources won't be necessary, you'll just write your organized thoughts."
she handed me my rubric and i read it over in search of the due date, which was almost two weeks from now. i shoved it in the folder on my desk and discarded that into my book bag.
the bell was gonna ring in a few minutes and i had no interest in being caught up in the hallways.
"i will assign you all your partners. my first group will be leilani and sam since they did so well in today's discussion... ", and she gave us both warm smiles with her thumbs up before randomly partnering everyone else up.
my anxiety rose as i realized that i'd have to work and interact with sam for two weeks straight. not that it was a bad thing because she seemed like a cool person to work with, but i don't know if i could minimize the gay panic i go into when i'm around pretty girls.
people began getting up and speaking to their partners, and i assumed i should get up and do the same until i felt a tap on my shoulder. i turned around and was met with sam's familiar stature.
she's so damn pretty.
"wassup leilani." she greeted me and sat in the empty seat next to me.
"hey sam." i greeted back, giving her my attention.
"so how do you wanna do this?" she asked, presumably talking about our project.
"um, do you mind working at one another's houses? unless you have a free period that we can work on it during...?" i asked.
"nope, my schedules all full. i don't mind working at each other's cribs tho.", sam said shortly.
"... so you wanna work at mines or yours?" i questioned hesitantly.
she played with her palms before answering the question, "uh, i'd rather work at yours if that's ok with you?"
"that's ok.", i replied softly and i held my hand out, gesturing to the notebook she had in her hand. she handed it to me and i flipped to the last page to write my address down.
we both stood up, and it was then i realized sam was a couple inches taller than me. we stood awkwardly close to one another and to prevent myself from staring at her neck, i looked up at her face.
"tomorrow at 5? that ok?", and her head tilted adorably to the side.
i was afraid if i opened my mouth i would say something stupid so i only nodded softly.
we stood staring at one another for a moment. i observed her facial features up close, since i usually only saw them from across a poorly lit classroom. her face was so distinctive and her short braids framed it cutely.
"i like your hair." i blurted out.
her lips curled up into a smile as she stared down at me. i couldn't begin to tell you how nervous i was, i didn't even mean to say that out loud.
"thank you leilani." she said, and i could tell she was genuine.
the bell rung loudly from the hallway, alerting us both that it was time to switch classes. sam looked out into the hallway and back at me, parting her mouth slightly.
"i'll see you tomorrow." and she made her way to the door, my eyes following her until she disappeared into the herd of students flooding the halls.
from the front of the room ms. darbus cleared her throat and i glanced over to her. she wore a smug look on her face.
"what?" i asked.
"nothing baby..." she quickly dismissed it and chuckled lowly, "you better get to class 'fo you be late."
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this chapter wasn't supposed to be that long but i got kinda carried away, oops.
i hope y'all enjoyed this first chapter, and make sure you vote and comment.
if no one has told you today, i love youð¤.