Chapter 66: Terrible Idea
The conversation on the way to school, which usually consisted of us arguing about terrible anime tropes or the objective superiority of strawberry cheesecake ice cream, had taken on a much heavier tone.
"They’re not going to do anything, you know," Nina said, her voice lacking its usual bright, teasing quality. "The teachers, the administration, all of them. They’ll just pretend they never saw those videos."
’She’s not wrong,’ I thought, my hands shoved deep into my pockets. It was a cynical take, but after everything I had seen yesterday, it was also the most realistic one.
"It’s easier for them to just let it blow over," I said, agreeing with her completely. "If they actually punish the girls who did it, then they have to admit there’s a problem, which means they’d have to create a solution, and that just sounds like a lot of paperwork."
She let out a frustrated sigh. "But that’s their job, isn’t it? To deal with this stuff? Thea was bleeding, Kofi, and everyone was just filming it like it was some kind of reality show."
I glanced over at her, noticing how her hands were clenched at her sides, a stark contrast to her usually relaxed posture. Yesterday, she was the one being emotional while I was the one trying to be logical, and now it felt like our roles had completely reversed.
"I know," I said quietly. "But from their perspective, it’s just a bunch of teenage drama. They’ll wait until the next stupid thing happens and everyone forgets about this one."
"I don’t want to forget about it," she said, her voice firm, stopping for a second to look at me. "It’s not right that she has to just... deal with that. That we all have to just pretend this is normal."
I kept my mouth shut, but the way she was talking, with this fire in her voice, it wasn’t just about Thea anymore. It was clear that watching someone get ostracized and humiliated while everyone just stood around and stared was hitting a little too close to home for her, and for a second, I could see right through to the girl who cried in the hallway because she hated her own reputation.
"So what do we do?" I asked, my voice much quieter than hers.
She stopped walking and turned to face me, the morning rush of students just flowing around us like we were a rock in a stream.