TW: a bit of homophobia
Inspired by the movie 'Inside out'

No one POV
"Outfit?"
"Check"
"School supplies?"
"Check"
"Emergency kit?"
"Check"
"Little knife for assholes?"
"Check- wait what?! No"
"We need to protect ourselves from the bullies. Zoe has to defend herself" Rye defended rolling his eyes.
"I mean...we have an emergency kit in case someone gets hurt" Harper chimed in.
"No one will get hurt cause no one will bring a knife or any weapon in general" Brook said and Rye groaned in disapproval.
"I love you but you're really boring"
"We don't have tears left to cry though" Jack pointed at the rack of memories from last summer that were all a shiny and delicate light blue.
"No one will cry love" Brook smiled as always.
"We will make new memories and this year won't be like the last one" Brook was sure of it.
Last year an asshole started to bully Zoe cause of her sexuality but it got progressively worse every day till the point where she got beaten up.
That's why they moved to another city and Zoe had to change school.
It was a difficult summer for her cause she completely lost herself, she wasn't able to feel anything for the whole break and the control center was panicking.
Each one of the boys had a role, a job to do to make her feel something.

Rye is anger and it's really protective of Zoe.
No one can hurt her or else he will literally kill someone.
Harper is fear, he worries for her, as he's her second father, so he makes sure she doesn't get in trouble.
But Harper is very anxious and this anxiety is reflected in Zoe, she got diagnosed with it last year.
Jack is sadness, the main emotion of Zoe's summer.
They don't decide what emotion Zoe has to feel, it just happens.
It's like a force that pulls them towards the console, that's why sometimes more than one emotion is involved.
Andy is disgust and well he doesn't like anyone except for Zoe and his boyfriends, they are the only exception.
Sometimes his behavior is funny cause he has this typical sassiness that honestly makes your day 10 times better.
Then lastly we have Brook, happiness.
He goes around with a smile on his face 24/7, he can't help it.
He may look like the only positive emotion between them but it's not true.
Every emotion can be both good and bad and all of them are valid and of the same importance, without one of the boys, Zoe wouldn't be Zoe.

"Sometimes your positiveness makes me sick" Andy gagged but Brook kissed his forehead with a smile.
"Ok not to interrupt the happy vibes but I'm starting to feel anxious..." Harper warned but before he could throw himself on the console, Zoe's dad got everybody's attention.
"Zoe! Dinner is ready!"

-the first day of school-
"We need to breathe in and out ok?"
Everyone did as Brook said to help Harper calm down since he was attached to the console since Zoe stepped out of the car.
"We have a plan for all the emergencies also I'll make sure that no assholes will come near us" Rye reassured and it worked, Zoe calmed down even tho Harper was still glued to the console.

Classes weren't that bad and people seemed nice but Zoe kept a low profile, she didn't want any attention on her.
"Perfect, lunchtime!" Brook said excitedly.
"The cafeteria is the most dangerous place in a school" Harper read out loud from a binder called 'school dangers 101'
"I told you guys to bring the knife" Rye rolled his eyes.
"Love, we are gonna be fine" Brook said to Harp.
"And no knife" this time to Rye.
Zoe breathed in then sat down at an empty table, it's just lunch, right?
Everything was ok when a couple of people approached the table.
"Hey sorry, are those seats taken?" A boy with light brown hair styled in a quiff asked.
"Emm no..."
"Why did you do that?!" Harper was about to rip his hair out.
"Harp, baby calm down. Just sit here with me" Jack called from the soft sofa across the room"
Harper gave in and left the other 3 handle the situation.
"My name is Gabe and she's Tiana" the boy smiled.
"Zoe..." she shyly said.
"Your overall is so cute" Tiana said with a warm smile that made Zoe blush.
"Holy shit" Rye couldn't believe it.
"Here we go again...I- no I'm done" Andy looked away.
"Yes! Our girl has a crush!" Brook was over the moon.
But a wave of sadness hit Zoe and Jack slowly got closer.
"Oh no no" Andy expected thousand of tears.
"Hey hey, baby...look at me" Brook cupped Jack's face.
"She seems nice. Let's give her a chance, maybe as friends first" Brook tried to reason cause Zoe couldn't cry, not there in the cafeteria.
Jack slowly nodded and everyone let out a sigh.
"So you're new?" Gabe asked.
"Yeah, it's my first day"
"Oh I'm sorry for you but welcome in this shit hole" Tiana joked, she was funny.
"You can come to the rooftop with us" Gabe suggested and Zoe decided to join them.

On the roof, Gabe lit up a cigarette and walked back and forth while letting out white clouds of smoke.
"I love the pin on your backpack" Tiana said softly.
Zoe looked at her backpack that had a pansexual pin on it.
"I have a similar one too...it just has a bit more colors" she pointed to the lesbian pin on her jean jacket.
"Boys...we did it!" Brook announced and everyone jumped around hugging each other.

-a month later-
"We should do a sleepover this weekend. Like 3 days in a row" Gabe suggested out of the blue while they were studying in the library.
"Yeah, sounds good" Tiana agreed, her legs on Zoe's lap.
"Ok so at my house. My dad is away for work and my mum will be busy with some charity events"
"Perfect"
"Guys you heard our girl. It's pajama party time!!"
Lately, Brook had been at the console a lot, he couldn't help it.
"I hope we won't see any sad movie..." Jack hugged Brook from behind.
"Do we have a book for pajama parties? Maybe I should write one..." Harper thought while looking at the bookshelf.

"Are you Zoe?" A redheaded girl stopped near their table.
Zoe just nodded putting down her book and sitting up straight.
"Oh...well, I hear that you invented a new sexuality, is it true?" She smacked her mouth loudly to chew her gum.
"What?"
"I'm not homophobic don't get me wrong, I have a gay friend but pansexual? Is that a real thing?" She laughed with her friends.
"Sorry but who the fuck are you?" Tiana set in.
"Oh you must be the pan...that's how you identify? Is that how guys call it?" The girl continued.
"Oh hell no, she did not say it" Rye rolled up his sleeve and stood in front of the console.
"Listen you bitch...no one asked for your opinion, no one actually knows who the fuck you are so do us a favor and leave. Also, go and chew loudly somewhere else, it's disgusting"
Andy was by Rye's side now.
The girl didn't know how to reply.
"You heard her...leave" Tiana repeated and Gabe flipped her off with an innocent smile.
"Jesus" Zoe rested her head on Tiana's shoulder.
"All of you should be proud of me for not beating up that bitch" Rye said proudly.
"I'm proud of you baby" Andy kissed his lips.
"Both of you are badass. My best friends are badass!" Gabe almost shout.
"Yeah, thank you for defending me" Tiana said hugging Zoe.
That hug was home, it made Zoe feel safe and then she felt her cheeks wet.
All of the boys turned to the side and saw Jack pressing the tear button but they were happy tears...
"Hey, you ok?" Tiana wiped her cheeks.
"Yeah...it's just-I...last year I got bullied, beaten up and now...it didn't happen" Zoe confessed.
"Yeah no problem Zoe, I got your back girl" Rye said even more proudly.
"God...I'm sorry love" Tiana pulled her back close to her chest and Gabe joined in the hug.
"I swear that if someone else hurts you I'm gonna start a war" Gabe said making the girls laugh.
"I love him" Jack cried.
"Mmmm...he's ok I guess" Andy was still skeptical about the boy but deep down he loved Gabe.
"Are you ok though?" Tiana asked again, worry visible in her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm good"
Tiana nodded and kissed Zoe's cheek to reassure her.
"Aww it's like watching a sad but beautiful romantic movie" Jack was like the Niagara Falls.
Harper handed him a box of tissues and caressed his back to calm down his sobs.
"Ok usually love is kinda gross but I'm gonna admit it, Tiana is cool" Andy admitted.

-pajama party-
"Hi ladies!" Gabe greeted the girls with a neon boa around his neck and a black rope on.
"And you claim to be straight..." Tiana joked.
"She's not wrong tho" Rye commented.
"Zoe do you know that you're my favorite?" Gabe took Zoe's bag and glared at Tiana.

They had a great time that night.
They made cookies, drinks, sheet masks, played just dance, talked shit about the assholes in their school and then watched a movie.
Gabe's room was really cozy, there were fluffy blankets on the floor, fairy lights on the wall and pillows scattered everywhere.
Gabe was on his belly on the bed while the 2 girls were on the floor.
The silence in the room was nice and Zoe always wanted something like that.
Then Gabe went to the bathroom and Tiana intertwined her hand with Zoe's.
They looked into each other's eyes, souls...
And Zoe felt butterflies.
"Bingo! Bingo! Bingo!"
All of the boys were so happy and a new core memory was added to the collection.
They looked at it like it was a rare diamond, like it was the most mesmerizing thing ever.
It wasn't yellow or any other color, it was rainbow...
"It's so colorful and...gay" Rye whispered.
"Never think that you're not normal Zoe. You are truly special, the way your mind works, how you express yourself, everything" Tiana said with the movie still playing.
"I love you, Zoe"
They pressed their foreheads and Zoe whispered 'I love you' back.
"That's gay shit people" Andy clapped.
"If I wasn't already with you guys I would have married Tiana" Jack blew his nose for the 100th time.
"Jackie stop crying or I'm gonna cry too and I never do it" Rye was getting emotional, deep down he was a softie.
"She truly is happy" Harper turned to Brook for confirmation.
"Yeah, she is"
And right after that, Gabe came back from the bathroom and complained about feeling left out so the three of them cuddled on the bed, Zoe in the middle.
That was Zoe's peace of mind.

___________________________________

Note*
Ok I promised an update yesterday evening but I changed it to today evening and there's another story ready to be edited so be ready for tons of updates ahahah.
I hope you guys spent a great Christmas (for whoever celebrates it).
Love u lots.💚