Geography Club, ASSEMBLE!
“Christ, Kjelle, can you blow the product of your cancer sticks in a direction that’s not mine?!”
“Stop calling them cancer sticks and maybe I’ll think about it.”
Noire frowned at Kjelle and gave her a slight pleading look, prompting Kjelle to just put her cigarette out completely. Severa smiled triumphantly, and Kjelle simply smacked her lips as Cynthia said, “My dad smokes sometimes, and he’s fine so far. Brady said he wants to try it.”
“Gross,” Severa hissed. “I hate the smell. If Brady starts smoking, break up with him. Not to mention, your dad might be fine now, but if the cigs don’t get to him, then all of that candy will.”
Lucina looked up from her textbook and gave Severa a troubled look. “I’m afraid to ask what would happen to us if I decided to take up smoking. And...try not to talk about Cynthia’s father dying, please...”
Nah scoffed. “You know that Severa is bluffing. She wouldn’t break up with you. You’re probably the only one who puts up with all of her garbage. The rest of us hardly do.”
“Don’t even think about what would happen, Luce. You would never smoke, and it’ll only harm you to talk about the hypothetical bad things,” Morgan declared.
“How wise of you, Morgan. I guess you’re right...” Lucina flashed Morgan a smile, then turned back to her trigonometry.
Banter like that was common among the small group of high school girls. They had been tight-knit since elementary school, so close to the point where they shared clothes, food, and, at sleepovers, the occasional bath or shower. Some of them were closer than others: Nah and Morgan had been dating for a year; Severa and Lucina had started holding hands and kissing in the seventh grade; finally, Kjelle and Noire had started dating in their freshman year of high school, after Kjelle found Noire shoving love notes into her locker and running away. Cynthia had dated Morgan for a short time, but they turned out to be incompatible and Cynthia started dating Brady.
Kjelle and Cynthia were the only ones who were “out” (Kjelle to the whole school and her parents, Cynthia to pretty much everyone but her parents), so their meetings were quite discreet, and they looked to each other for guidance and help. They always met up on the bleachers before school, and on the weekends, they usually went to the mall and loitered near the fountains or bought a couple of things if they had received their paychecks or allowance. They had few classes together, especially since Cynthia, Nah and Morgan were sophomores and everyone else was a junior. Even the juniors didn’t have lots of classes together. Despite that, they always found ways to hang out, even if they were video chatting until midnight.
“We need a name,” Morgan said, after a couple of minutes of silence. “Something cool. Something witty! Severa, that’s your cue.”
Severa smirked, but Noire spoke up before Severa could say anything: “G-geography Club.”
Severa’s sweet-and-sour duality showed immediately. “What?! We all hate geography! Except for Lucina and Morgan, but...well, nerds don’t count.”
“I don’t like it. I just get an A in it,” Lucina said, shutting her textbook and joining in on the discussion. She was unusually studious, and always tried to get Severa to join in with her, but it was futile.
“I love it! I don’t know about having it as a club name, though.” Morgan turned to Noire. “What brought that on?”
Noire flushed, then said, “Now that I think about it, it’s kind of stupid…”
“Speak your mind,” Kjelle urged. She was always trying to get Noire to be braver, coaxing her to speak up in social situations and defend herself.
“Well...three of the letters in ‘geography’ spell ‘gay’, and, most of us are, so...except for M-Morgan and Cynthia, since they're bisexual, but-”
“It counts, I guess,” Cynthia chirped. “I like the name!”
Everyone slowly came to an agreement that Geography Club was the best choice; even Severa agreed with a grumble, and Lucina bumped their shoulders together good-naturedly. “Awesome!” Morgan shouted. “Now, let’s-”
“Eeeek! It’s eight twenty-two! Class starts in eight minutes and my homeroom’s on the other side of campus!” Cynthia shouted. “Oh, man-my mom’ll kill me if I’m late!”
Backpacks were zipped and goodbyes were said as everyone zipped off to their classes, ready to start their first day as a member of the Geography Club.