Dawn's Acapella (5 page)
“
Wow Rose,” Lucy
said.
“
I know, I don’t get it,”
Rose laughed. “Makes me want a little sister.”
“
She wants to be
you.”
“
Yeah. I don’t know what’s
wrong with her.”
Dawn found her again between classes.
“Hey Rose!”
“
Oh, hey, freshman. Nice
dress. Are you coming to the meeting tonight?”
“
Actually... Tyler and I
are hanging out after school,” Dawn said. “I think he might take me
to prom!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh good. You
can tell him to call off his ‘villain’ friends.”
“
Yeah, like he’d take me
to prom after that,” Dawn said.
“
Well, maybe you shouldn’t
go with him anyway! I mean, he takes the ‘villain’ thing a bit too
far. If he doesn’t stop, the school’s gonna shut down our
club.”
“
I know, I know… But he’s
so…”
“
Cute? Doesn’t seem worth
it.”
“
But Rose! I don’t care if
he likes me or not, I just wanna go to prom! All he has to do is
get me in the door!”
“
That’s not really a
reason to go with someone. What, you’re just gonna leave him after
you’re in?”
“
Are you standing up for
him now?”
“
No, I just don’t think
it’s a good idea.”
“
Don't tell me what to
do!”
“
I’m not! I just don’t
think he’s right for you. You deserve better.”
She sighed. “I know he’s not right for
me, I just... I wanna go to prom.”
“
I know, I do to, but
we’ll get out turn soon. Tell you what. When I’m old enough, I’ll
take you to prom.”
“
What if you have a
boyfriend?”
“
He’ll understand. He can
get his own ticket, and you’ll be my ‘date’.”
“
You promise?”
“
I promise.” They shook on
it. “And I always keep my promises.”
That weekend, Rose invited Dawn over
to study. Well, Dawn had basically invited herself, but Rose agreed
to it and told her what time to come.
“
Boost that biology grade
yet?” Rose asked.
“
Yeah! He let me re-take
the test, and now Dad says he’ll take me to the beach at the end of
the term as long as I keep it up!”
“
Great.” Rose was putting
the finishing touches on her English essay. After that, she had
only to help Dawn with her math, or at least, attempt to. Study
sessions always began so well-intended. Then came the “need” to
have snacks with their work, which always led to further fun and
distractions.
“
Cookies!” Dawn said,
jumping up and down in the middle of the kitchen. “Let’s make
cookies!”
“
Like we don’t already get
enough,” Rose giggled. But that was all the resistance she had to
offer, and soon the whole house smelled like a bakery. Rose’s mind
drifted to all the bake sales, all the fun and laughter and songs
of the Everyday Heroes Club.
“
Dawn?”
“
Yeah?”
“
Do you think what we’re
doing—with the Heroes Club and all—do you think we’re actually
making a difference?”
“
Of course we
are!”
“
It’s just… With the
pranks and such, now it kind of feels like it’s all a game. It
doesn’t mean anything
real
.”
“
And you’re so concerned
with what’s real?”
She giggled. “I know.”
“
Even if it looks like a
game sometimes, we’re raising a ton of money for charity. I’m sure
we’re changing lives, even if we can’t see it. I mean… Has anyone
ever changed your life, but you didn’t tell them?”
“
That’s getting awfully
profound, freshman.”
She didn’t know how it happened.
Something about the calming smell of the cookies, the joyful
atmosphere, and her newfound sense of leadership brought on a
bizarre confidence. Before she knew it, she and Dawn were looking
at her notebooks together, and discussion her plans for her book in
depth.
Rose had told Lucy and Nick the basic
premise for her book, and asked their opinion on tiny details—such
as word choice—but she’d never shared further than that. She mainly
helped them with their works, offered her input when asked, and let
them shine. They often asked about her work, but never pushed too
hard.
But when Dawn asked it was different.
It wasn’t demanding just to be demanding, or, like Lucy, wanting
everyone in the writer-group to have equal speaking time. It was…
Over the top, childlike curiosity. Real curiosity. Not a parent who
asked because they had to ask. Not a fellow writer who wanted to
offer criticism. This was someone who would actually read the book,
and everything she said made Rose feel special.
“
I wish I had naturally
purple hair,” Dawn said.
“
Me too. I don’t know if
I’m more jealous of Eva’s hair or Hannah’s. I love that wavy look,
and you can never get good looking blue from a bottle. I’ve
tried.”
“
If my mom would let me
dye my hair, I’d go for pink! Oooh, does anyone have pink
hair?”
“
A singer in Summer’s
Angels, her name’s Trista…”
And on. It was natural, easy, and more
fun than she’d ever had. But the day had to end, and far too soon,
Dawn’s mom pulled up outside the house.
“
We should do this again
next weekend.” Dawn said.
“
Ha. I honestly don’t
think I could handle doing it again. Anyway, Lucy and I already
have plans.”
“
Oh! What are you
doing?”
“
Oh, nothing big. Just
writer stuff.”
“
Can I come?”
“
Are you a
writer?”
“
Come on, you just said I
give great feedback.”
“
I dunno, freshman, I
think she wants it to be just us, you know?”
“
Oh, yeah, I get it.” She
was still smiling, but Rose saw the disappointment in her eyes. But
she brightened up again quickly as they planned another “study
session” for the weekend after. Rose returned to her room to write,
feeling lighter than air. The only dark thought at the back of her
mind was a tiny, annoying question:
Why
have I never been able to share like that with my best
friends?
A few days later, Rose entered the
school, sipping her tea and waiting for the caffeine to kick in.
She’d spent another night staying up too late with her
notebooks.
“
Rose!” Lucy hurried
toward her. “Rose!”
“
What? What? It’s too
early for this!”
“
They broke into the
teacher’s lounge last night.”
“
Too early!”
“
Rose, wake up, this is
important!”
“
Okay! Okay, what
happened? The villains broke in, and what?”
“
Left a mess and stole
some stuff. The principal wants to see you right away.”
“
Now?”
“
Yeah.”
“
I’ve got class
now!”
“
Rose. Calm down. Just go,
it’ll probably be quick.”
“
Yeah. You said that to
Nick before you killed him in your story.”
“
I can come with you if
you want.”
Rose sighed, shaking her head. “No,
it’s okay, I’ll be fine. See you at lunch.”
She went to the office to discover her
fate. The principal was waiting for her.
“
What happened last night
wasn’t our fault,” she said, before she could stop
herself.
“
I’m sorry,” the principal
said. “I know the Everyday Heroes club is wonderful, but there’s
only one way we can foresee stopping these ‘villains.’”
“
Shutting down my club?
I’ve got another idea.”
“
What?”
“
You could address the
actual problem and punish the people who actually deserve
it.”
“
Rose, I’m sorry, this is
just getting out of hand. We’re going to have to cancel your club
meetings. The Everyday Heroes Club can’t be a part of this school
anymore.”
No more random bursts of
song. No more kind notes dropped in lockers. No more fundraising
for charity. No more superhero names spoken or costumes worn to
school. At lunch, the four oddities sat in silence. Even Dawn had
no words. Every now and then, Rose thought of some encouraging
speech, but it always flickered out before she could say
it
. We can keep the club going in
secret... No, that won’t last... We can move it outside of school!
No, how could be maintain that? We could...
“
Maybe we could start a
new club, and just call it something else,” Dawn said. “I don’t
know how we’d disguise it, but we could come up with
something.”
“
I don’t think they’ll let
us start a new one,” Nick said.
“
We just have to face it,
freshman,” Rose said. “It’s over.”
“
Rose!
Rose!
”
She was slumped at a table, head bent
over her homework, and the sound of that excited little voice and
scampering footsteps was infuriating. “I’m really not in the mood,
freshman, go away.”
Dawn slammed something down on the
table in front of her. The school newspaper. “Just read it!” She
left the paper, and hurried away.
Rose scanned the headlines, uncaring,
until the one Dawn was so excited about caught her eye:
A Letter to the Everyday
Heroes
By Anonymous
I came to this school in
hope of a new beginning. I’d been viciously bullied at my old
school for being gay, and I hoped things would be different here.
In the beginning, I thought things actually were different. But
while the bullying here isn’t nearly as bad, it still exists. I
have been taunted, teased, threatened, and made to feel like
nothing. Like I shouldn’t be alive.
At my old school, I was
depressed. When I admitted to my parents that I was contemplating
suicide, they tried to take action. I started seeing a therapist,
which helped my mental state, but no one could completely protect
me from other students. Finally, we had to move. I never want to be
in that place again, imagining what it would be like to close my
eyes and never wake... I want to be happy. I want to
live.
But there are times when I
falter. Enemies on the outside are hard enough to deal with, but on
top of that, I have enemies inside my own head. When I have a
difficult few days or weeks, it’s hard to see past that. It seems
like the feeling will never go away, that I’ll never be happy
again. And one day, I was slumped in a dark hallway, feeling like I
should be dead. No one would miss me. And there was nothing I could
do to change how I felt.
Then these girls walked
toward me, one looking like a miniature version of the other. One
of them wore black and gray stripes. They were talking, laughing...
a happy, normal pair of friends. What could possibly matter to them
in that moment outside their own little bubble of gossip? But to my
surprise, they stopped for a moment.
“
Here,” one of them said.
“Have a cookie.” I was too surprised to thank them properly, and
they walked away before I could gather myself. I remembered their
faces ever since then. They gave me the strength to stand up, and
go talk to a counselor.
They reminded me that yes,
there are kind people in the world, and there are things worth
sticking around for. Because of them, I started to get the help I
need again. What would I have done if they hadn’t been there? I
don’t want to think about it.
You all know them. Rose
and Dawn, two of the people who started the Everyday Heroes club. I
just wanted to tell you both that you saved my life, and people at
this school deserve to know that. What else have the people of this
school done, in trying to be heroes? How many other strangers’
lives have been saved? How many smiles have we created? How much
happiness?
I am an extreme case. I
was thinking of taking my own life. But I’ve heard many stories of
simpler things. Stressed out students who were able to breathe for
a moment because someone did something nice for them. People with
low self-esteem who now feel better about themselves because of
what they’ve done for others.
Sure, you might think it
was just a cookie. But tiny, simple gestures like that should never
be overlooked. Even the smallest spark of light matters in deep
darkness. Even the smallest spark can be seen, and that’s all it
takes…
None of this should end
because of a few silly pranks by a few so-called “villains.” In my
mind, these villains were heroes too, because all they wanted to do
was motivate us. They didn’t lower my faith in humanity—even the
ones who didn’t care at all for our club. Why? Because they might
have been the “darkness,” but it was darkness through fun. Which is
odd. But odd started all this, right? Aren’t Rose and Dawn proud,
self-proclaimed weirdos?
