Girl Meets Changes

Monday morning, 7am. Hero Grantham sat at the kitchen table quietly munching on a piece of toast. Her sister and her sister’s whatever-he-was were moving quickly so that they could get to work in time. It was a dance to a very old and routine song.
When they were gone, Hero finally got the apartment to herself. Although, for only a moment before she slung her backpack over her shoulder and trudged out of the apartment, down the hall and stairs, and onto the streets of New Rome.

Hero rushed down the street, weaving around the citizens of New Rome on their way to work. Today was going to be different, it was the first page of a new chapter. Was she scared? Absolutely. But she could do this.

Diggs was freaking out. Well, his own way of freaking out. He didn't get a wink of sleep last night because he was still full of butterflies from what happened the day before. He was kissed and pulled a Hero - that's right. He ran away. But unlike Jemma's uneasiness and Hero's eagerness, Diggs felt a sense of fear creep into his stomach. He wanted to scream, but his quiet demeanor wouldn't allow it. So that morning he didn't greet Jemma with a big smile, nor Hero, nor Mr. Bauman. He didn't even say anything to the person that kissed him. He sat down in his seat in front of Jemma ad beside Hero's desk, his hands clenched into fists with little daisy stems around his knuckles, and his knee bouncing nervously.

Hero took her seat, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. The thing that sucks about being in a small school is that you can't avoid anyone. Not that she was trying to avoid Jemma it was just really awkward. She had come into school this morning with a plan, but once she saw Jemma sitting there she couldn't do anything. It was the kiss all over again.

Mr. Bauman greeted people as they walked in. And once the bell rang that signaled the start of the day, he wrote something on the board. The great thing about being in a small school that wasn't tied to any district was that he could basically teach whatever he wanted. And he figured that today would be a great day to teach about recent history. So, he picked up the expo marker and wrote one hashtag on the board. #LOVEWINS.

"Who can tell me about the #LOVEWINS?"

Diggs made a face, slightly outraged at Mr. Bauman's choice of a topic. It seemed to be some cruel joke he was playing. Why was he doing this? Did he know what happened over the weekend? He lifted his hand slightly in irritation and looked at the faces around him to see if anyone one was feeling the same way. He looked to Hero first, then Jemma to see if they would say something. He was actually thinking the same thing as Jemma: this topic wasn't even in the curriculum. In all honesty he didn't even mind talking about this topic at all...if it were any other time but now. He just wished that Mr. Bauman's timing was a little better.
So, he sighed and turned his head back to the front. Maybe if he stayed quiet, he could avoid having an opinion about this lesson. He might take a nap like Jemma.