OOOOO THIS IS IT!

Oh no, this means I actually have to come up with what all goes down.

I got this. Maybe? Don't worry I totally got this haha.

Enjoy! :)

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They all walk into the main office together. True, nine people in that crowded space don't exactly fit, but they're making it work.

Mr. Denton already alerted the people in the main office that this was going to happen.

And so they gesture the group to the principal's office.

And so they all go in. Together.

He's waiting for them.

"You disagree with a decision I make, and this is how you act," Mr. Pulitzer says first, talking directly to his daughter.

Kathryn swallows. "It's not just me you're affecting. It's all of us, all of the GSA, all of the clubs, all of the school."

"Extra, extra," Jack says as he puts a copy of their newspaper on Mr. Pulitzer's desk. "Read all about it."

And just like that, channeling his inner newsie, Jack gains just that tiny bit more confidence.

Mr. Pulitzer glares at him.

Sean pulls out his phone for a moment, probably checking the time or something.

"Isn't that face more proof that this is bias?" Jack asks the principal. "You hate me. And you want to spite me. So you thought you could do this and get away with it?"

Mr. Pulitzer has nothing to say to that.

"If you read the paper, you'll see that we're not alone in this," David suggests. "I've read it myself. Kathryn definitley has a way with words. They are very talented, don't you think?"

Kathryn heard themself be referred to as they. Kathryn averts her eyes as a grin tugs at their lips. It makes them happy to hear it.

"They are, they are," Jack agrees. "See, I don't need to be dating her to know that they're amazing."

Jack even fluctuated between the 'she' and 'they.'

Sarah holds Kathryn's hand. "Jack breaking up with Kathryn just might have been the best thing that ever happened for me, because now I get to date them. And they are the best."

Kathryn smiles at Sarah. If there's any time to officially-officially come out as wlw with she/they pronouns, this would be it.

"I thought you all just came from an English class or something," Mr. Pulitzer says. "Surely you'd know that a singular person cannot be referred to as they."

And there it is.

Right then and there. Unsupportive of them. His own child.

So why would it be so hard to believe that he'd be unsupportive of anyone else with a queer identity?

Jack and Sean exchange glances. Then Jack turns back to Mr. Pulitzer, having one last question to ask.

"So can we agree that this was a direct act of homophobia?" Jack asks. "And hatred towards me? But you covered it up? Because this whole discussion about new lunch rules started when the Delanceys told you that they saw David and I kiss in the hallway. After that, we were told we no longer had GSA. That can't be written off as anything other than blatant homophobia."

"No one will believe you over me, no matter what is true," Mr. Pulitzer tells him. "Remember that this is my school, and everyone has to follow my rules. If I say everyone has to eat in the commons, then everyone eats in the commons. In the eyes of everyone, it will be about accountability, not for shutting down any clubs, let alone your GSA."

Sean pulls out his phone again, suddenly interested in it.

"Put your phone away, Mr. O'Connor!" Mr. Pulitzer orders him.

That's when Sean hits the end recording button. He shrugs. "Fine by me." He puts his phone back in his pocket. "I just needed to make sure I got everything recorded that I needed."

And then it hits the principal. It hits all of them who weren't entirely aware.

Sean recorded the whole thing.

Now they have it all on video.

Jack smiles. They were the two who planned on recording it. He's glad that it worked out better than they thought it would.

"You see, we already had the statistics of how everyone's mental health has been impacted," Tony speaks up. "We got the firsthand accounts. No one's happy. We have it all neatly piled in a paper right there. Read the thing that I wrote; it's really good. But we still had just one piece missing: the homophobic driving factor. Now we have that. Now we have proof of homophobia and transphobia in this school, shown by both staff and students, and you'd be crazy if you thought even for a moment that we weren't going to do something about it."

Tony and Sean grin at each other. They both did great things just now.

That's my boyfriend, they both think proudly.

Suddenly, one of the people working in the main office comes into the room.

"Um, Mr. Pulitzer?" the woman asks. "It's about the Delancey brothers. They can't just be suspended. They need to be expelled."

They all exchange glances, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

"This is working," Nick murmurs, excited. "This is actually working!"

"What were we saying about GSA, Mr. Pulitzer?" Louis asks loudly. "That by taking away our right to sit wherever, you took away our GSA? And so many other clubs? And forced everyone, including the introverts and those who get sensory overload, to all be in one space for lunch? Rearranging where everyone sits? What were we saying about GSA? That by taking it away from us, you affected the whole school?"

And there it is: he did something. He did something good. He's a part of this. Not exactly leading. But they can't do this without him. 

Kid Blink is important.

"Or should we play the recording back?" Sean asks, pulling his phone out again. "We start out with Jack and his bias, then you not accepting Kathryn's pronouns, followed by our fun discussion about blatant homophobia..."

"I get your point," Mr. Pulitzer cuts him off sharply. He looks greatly annoyed. Things are not going his way.

And the door's wide open.

So anyone in all of the main office area could have easily heard every word being said now.

That's when a member of student government pops in, in the office for some reason or another.

That's when they realize this isn't just any member: she's the head of the student body.

The leader of the Mental Health Alliance comes in shortly behind her.

"Mr. Pulitzer, does this mean that tomorrow we get to announce that we can sit wherever we want at lunch?" the president of the student body asks.

"And that we get our clubs during lunch back too?" the Mental Health Alliance leader asks.

All eyes are on the principal.

No one moves a muscle.

Until, finally, Mr. Pulitzer utters one single word: "Yes."

And just like that, thousands of decisions have been made.

The Delanceys will be expelled.

The student president gets to announce tomorrow that they have free seating in lunch again.

The Mental Health Alliance, and all the clubs, get their lunch slot back.

Lunch is going to go back to normal.

Most importantly, for these nine: they got their GSA back.

Okay, so maybe not a thousand things were decided upon.

But it's done now.

"Thank you for your time," Jack tells Mr. Pulitzer in a mock sweet voice. "Hope you have a very pleasant day!"

Mr. Pulitzer doesn't have anything to say. Just glares at him.

They all begin to leave.

Kathryn has one last thing to say. "When I say that I have people that love me and support me, I'm talking about them." she gestures at her friends. "You aren't included in that. It's kind of sad, really. At least it showed me who my true family is, though."

And with that, she's the last one to leave the room, feeling satisfied with themself and what they said.

Once they're all out in the hall again, they can't resist.

The nine of them shout, "WE DID IT!" as loud as they can.

The main office lady shushes them. "There's a class going on still!" But she's smiling too.

And so they all burst out laughing.

"Do you think we should to stay after school in Mr. Denton's classroom?" Charlie asks.

"I think we're fine, seeing as how we got our GSA back," Nick comments. "Or maybe we can celebrate."

"How about we stay just a couple extra minutes to tell him the good news, and give him plenty of hints that he needs to give us snacks tomorrow for our big GSA celebration?" Tony suggests.

That gets a couple of chuckles.

"I like the way your mind works, Tony," Sean tells him as he puts an arm around him.

They all feel exhilarated.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, there are two things that they will never have to worry about again: the Delanceys; or a lack of GSA.

Because this?

They did this.

They had help.

But they were the ones who made sure things actually happened.

They walk back to their classes together, all so, so happy.

And somehow, they all know that the newsie spirits of the past that they carry with them are proud of all that they accomplished.

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I'm grinning.

I never know how well I can write something until I actually write it.

Okay but when I realized that there could be someone recording and I first wrote that Sean pulled out his phone I was like YES!YES!YES! like you all have no idea how excited I am for my own plot twists that I come up with on the spot haha.

So how was that?!

I really liked how that went.

They all defended their demigirl best friend (/girlfriend) Kathryn and they said Kathryn is valid and she/they rights <3

So now, they have everything.

And it's absolutely amazing.

Please, no homophobia or transphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who was exhilarated while writing this)