It was the start of Civics class, our teacher was running behind schedule as usual , so I knew I'd have some time to use my phone. I started chatting in a group chat with my online friends after opening the Instagram app.

WriterTony: Y'all this class is nasty asf😭

YourGirlTaysha: Girl we know, them pictures u sent said it all😭

   I cocked my head and smirked. My ten minutes of fun was cut short when my teacher rushed in to start class. She stated that today she would allow us to express our thoughts on a variety of themes, and that anyone who disagreed with another could commentate.

   She took up her chalk and began writing the first topic, finishing with an artistic line beneath it. Homosexuality. As everyone gazed at Dustin and me, the class exchanged stares and faint giggles. This sparked my interest, and I felt compelled to share my point of view with my peers this time knowing its a controversial topic.

"Who would like to begin?" She asked.

   Daren took a step forward. He was raised in a Christian environment, and most of his views are distorted and entrenched in the Bible's biases. He demanded respect if anything harsh or derogatory was spoken about his religion, even though he was incredibly rude to the LGBTQ+ community.

I stared at his small, stout figure, a look of contempt on my face and a few words on the tip of my mouth. His demeanor did not reflect his hard work in school or the innocence on his face.

"Yes Daren, please share your thoughts with the class"

Once he had marched his baby sized legs up front he began.

"Homosexuality is an unnatural concept created by people who have not found God and-"

My hand flew up.

"Yes Tony? I see you and DeeJay still have the same face. Never mind that, do you have something to contribute to the topic?" My teacher asked. Like duh of course I did. And God I can't escape that comparison.

"How is homosexuality unnatural if animals of nature partake in it?" I spiked at Daren.

"Because humans are not animals" Daren replied.

"Really? We aren't? Don't you do science? You should know that humans are mammals"

"Humans are a creation of God and are completely different to animals because of our intelligence"

"You speak of intelligence but can't show it right now" A few people giggled.

"Tony be respectful towards each other" My teacher butted in.

"I'm sorry miss. What I would like to know is why Daren thinks that this Bible that has been on the earth for multiple years couldn't possibly have been tampered with"

"Because no one would dare alter God's word"

"Really? So why was pedophilia changed to homosexuality in... 1983? I think that's the year"

"No the fuck it was not" Daren said aggravated and almost foaming at the mouth.

"Daren! Obscenities won't be allowed in my classroom, go take a walk around the school and come back once you are ready to act like you have left the barbaric ages" my teacher demanded with a furious stare.

As I watched him side-eye me with a deadly attempt, I had a happy grin on my face. Dustin and some others' facial expressions told me that they were proud of everything I said. But the class had only just began.

11:34 a.m.
    By this time Daren had rejoined the class and we were ready to touch our next topic. With a swish of the duster and few strokes of her chalk my teacher had written the new topic. Femininity. I knew this would start an immense amount of controversy among the class so I decided to stay silent this time, plus I wasn't too educated on the subject anyways.

    Mandy took a step forward to speak. Her crimson pleated skirt was adjusted, and she pushed her button up into the skirt. She wore her hair in a kinky afro that sat on her shoulders like it was taking tea with the queen today, aside from the uniform. Strawberry-scented lip balm was smeared across her lips, giving them a pinkish hue.

"Femininity was created to empower women and girls so that we can stop being treated like less than men"

  A couple youngsters clenched their teeth in disapproval, and the pack leader stood up from his creaking plastic chair to offer his worthless two cents. He had cracked teeth, some of which were rotten, cracked lips, a high faded hairdo, and a visage that no one could love. He's one of those boys who, after having their heart broken, decided to rebel against women. When it came to dating, his entire philosophy was to mentally degrade women in order to "put them in their place."

"While I do agree that women and men are equal, some women have turned it into something totally different. They sexualize themselves and their body and expect respect for acting uncivilized. I've realized that they only do this to seek some sort of validation from men. And when we do give it to them they get upset. Ridiculous!" It worried me to see how many people wore faces of agreeance after hearing what he said. Some of which were women. But his rambling continued before I could even do a full turn around the room. "Then they have sex with every man they meet, get pregnant, and expect to still be attractive to us men once pregnancy defiles their body" After this sentence, the entire heterosexual male population of the class erupted in applause.

    Mandy wore an enraged expression and clenched her fist as she watched all these fools applaud on someone who clearly didn't know what he was talking about. His statement kind of made her think. Her stepfather was just riding her mother and using her and probably laughing away with his friends in this exact manner. The teacher eventually settled the class, and Mandy sat down, too enraged to continue talking about it.

    Carson gave us the look. If we disagreed with someone, didn't like them, or just wanted to make fun of them, we would immediately turn to give each other the look. Mandy could tell he wore contour just by looking at him. He wore contour to conceal the fact that the pills had caused bags under his eyes that resembled thick potato sacks to form. Mandy also noted the red in his eyes and the hunchback figure he didn't have a few weeks before. Or was she hallucinating? She flung it away and delved into her backpack for her novel, vowing to shut out the rest of the interminable lesson and be completely absorbed in her book.

"Alright everyone, last topic" began our teacher " Let's end with-" Before my mind did it again, they were the last words I heard. I couldn't concentrate for lengthy periods of time and was often distracted by other thoughts. This happens on a daily basis, and the more I ignore it, the more I feel like I'm locked within a videogame, controlled by Dream or some shit. Was it possible that I was depressed? I don't think I'm sad enough for that, or am I?

   When class finished, Beth was desperate for someone to communicate to. As she moved down the walls, her head was spinning and she felt queasy. To get out of her brain, she clutched her skirt and bit down on her lower lip with all her strength, but she really needed help. So, in her hunt for assistance, she stumbled into the counselor's office, which she had no idea would make her feel even worse at the time.

    Bit the counselor was in the restroom, she sat at her desk for a while. She noticed his chaotic desk, which was littered with papers, pencils on the floor, and a dating website open on his laptop. How is he new and already not doing his job? She got out of her chair and moved around the room to the window, where she stared at the football players warming up for practice as she spoke to Mandy in the room next door. Soon the players began to make sexual jokes and hand motions at them, so she closed the window and sat down again, her throat tight with rage. What the fuck was wrong with men? They can't control themselves and are like wild animals! Shit, even wild animals act more civilized than them.

    Once the counselor rejoined her in the room he closed the door and sat appropriately to speak to her.

"What seems to be the problem today?"

Beth averted her gaze, too embarrassed to look her in his eyes. After a sniffle, her eyes swelled with tears, and she forced words out of her mouth.

"A few days ago" she paused to sniffle once more "We found out that my brother had sickle cells" She began to shake and cry just by uttering these words.

"Are you okay?" The counselor, Mr.Dean, asked with a confused look drawn onto his face.

"Yes... yes sir... I think so-"

    A call came to his phone.

"Oh sorry my dear, that's my... friend we have plans tonight that we have to make sure goes well. Can you leave? We can talk about this later. Sorry about your brother!"

    Beth's head began to spin and disbelief was marked across her face. She paused.

"Did you hear me?" He blurted, breaking her disassociation and bringing Beth back out her mind.

"Um... sure" she said as she gathered her belongings and walked out the door. The counselor didn't even look at her as he answered the phone and began to dabble in a conversation. Beth now felt more alone than she ever had.

7:12 p.m
Carson soon found himself sitting on his bed, working on a project, as the day progressed. He had all of his books splayed across his bed, open to pages about "Electromagnetic Induction." His room was decorated with a blue motif, white wallpaper, and greenheart flooring.

A knock sounded at his door, and his mother entered a split second later. He was a little apprehensive about hearing what she was about to say because he knew she had just gotten off the phone with his swim coach regarding the drug test results. This was the first and only test that he had ever been concerned about failing.

"Hurry with the homework, your father wants to go out to eat"

"Yeah I'm almost done don't worry!"

"Good"

    She began to trail out the door but was stopped remembering what she came to tell him.

"By the way your drug test came back positive" Carson breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his work as soon as she had left the room.

Once he was done he took up his phone and placed it into his pocket but before stepping out he was drawn to his desk. He glanced at the little gay pride flag they had purchased for him a month ago. His mother was the only one who was mildly accepting of his sexual orientation and his father kept it secret because he didn't want anyone to find out he has a gay son. He thought he owed him this secrecy because of how hard he worked to shape him into the person he was today, so he had to put up with everything and turn to drugs for comfort. It was sad, but he didn't mind because he knew no one would ever find out, at least not for a long time.

    He was quite contempt with how everything was going for him right now and took a long hard look at the town as they drove to the restaurant. For once tonight his family was not being toxic and enjoyed each other's company through jokes and car games.

8:00 p.m
Dustin arrived at the location where his aunt was providing culinary services. He had to assist her tonight as she served a five-course meal to businesswomen and men as their boss lectured them. He had previously outfitted the space, and just before seating everyone, he gave it one more inspection to ensure that each napkin was positioned correctly.

    After his aunt served the first two courses at the conference, he went around serving stuffed shrimp with the assistance of a staff member. However, as he was serving, he observed how the manager spoke about several female employees and gave him a disapproving glare. When he got back to where they were stationed, his aunt also noticed, and they started to gossip and make fun of him. And to top it all off, when he stepped down from the podium, Dustin pretended there were no more shrimp, knowing he had requested them specifically for himself, which enraged the boss. If there was one thing Dustin knew, it was how to sting someone in their weak spots.