Sleepyhead

[Jonathan Lee]

Hammel Institute's Gay-Straight Alliance had been Jonathan's home since sophomore year. After the discovery of his gender identity and sexuality, Jonathan found himself confused. He had wondered if he was alone, that he was the only one who felt such a way - which was slightly irrational, considering he was aware of the LGBTQ community in his area, a community that was relatively large, really. He was wondering if what he was feeling was wrong. He found the Gay-Straight Alliance at Hammel and that was the real first step to the acceptance of his being bisexual and a form of transgender at the same time. Jonathan was suddenly surrounded by people who supported him and accepted him for who he was or, well, who he wanted to be at the moment - Jonathan or Jane or nobody at all; genderless.

Here he was still, senior year.

He was in no place to graduate and hoping for the best when it comes to his power, but he was now accepting of himself and wanting to help others find the same sort of acceptance for themselves. Jonathan often spoke in this club, encouraging the kids who come through to find comfort in the group - he wanted everyone to feel like this room, whenever the club met, was a safe place for them to express themselves and their feelings, to discuss those things with others as well. He wanted people who joined the group to feel like the group was their ally. Jonathan felt better about just about everything being connected to people with the same "preference" as him, or an understanding of that preference. Jonathan wasn't the leader or president of this group, but he felt fine taking a step up here regardless.

Jonathan was always welcoming of new members. There weren't many, but there was one person who showed up today. They had entered the room, had introduced themselves as asked - introduced as V.K. - then proceeded to get kind of fuzzy in the face as if they weren't really paying attention, then fell asleep. Jonathan didn't feel obligated to wake them, even though he was sitting just a couple seats away from them. If they needed the sleep, they needed the sleep! He totally understood that - sometimes he would nap sitting straight up at his desk. Sometimes he would spend his free period napping instead of practicing his exhibition drill like he should be. If this was their accidental rest period, fine, he would just wake them after the meeting ended.

A good back and forth discussion took place about the progress the global LGBTQ community is making in getting acceptance from their governments - the United States was actually doing a decent job combating homophobia and transphobia currently, with gay marriage being legalized by the Supreme Court recently, making history with the LGBTQ community. Gay-Straight Alliances are becoming more prominent in schools around the country, creating support groups for teens who may otherwise feel targeted for how their sexuality and gender or sex identity. The pride flag was being waved in more places than one and by a mass rather than a very courageous group here and a strong individual over there. Even the United States military is growing more tolerant and accepting, which is a big leap for mankind.

Now it was a matter of getting more people on board the understanding, tolerance, and acceptance train and blowing the whistle.

The club was dismissed after the leader's closing statement, a couple members chatting as they left the club room. Jonathan stood slowly, adjusted his blue backpack on his shoulders, and then stacked all the chairs. He then proceeded to kneel in front of the sleeping individual. He gently poked their shoulder, then shook them by the same shoulder in hopes of rustling them awake. "Hey.. hey. Wake up, sleepyhead. The meeting's over and you gotta get up now."

[V.K Caborn]

V.K had never been indecisive, it just wasn't in her nature. If she wanted to do something, she would do it; wither it was licking a stranger's face or pouncing on an unsuspecting insect. This was both good and bad; the good was that V.K was never unsure of herself, the bad was that she sometimes struggled to see why others disagree or feel uncomfortable with certain things.

She had never realised that she was gender-fluid, V.K had just known she was ever since she was younger. It is difficult to explain, particular for someone who struggles in most subjects. The teen had never known disapproval for her choices, her family were open-minded and literally accepted this fact with a light-hearted shrug and a hug. Admittedly, most people at her school teased her about it; but once they realised that V.K wasn't ashamed of this fact, they dropped the matter and dropped back to their old insults.

Her bi-sexuality was another matter, it was quite the relief for V.K once she realised her sexual orientation. On the days she felt like a boy, she would never know what to refer to herself; gay due to her biological nature or straight due to her mindset. Bi-sexuality relieved her of that. Some people might find her annoying since she was so flippant about these kinds of things, some found it refreshing. V.K was never bothered by either opinion. Mostly because she fell asleep. Like now.

Peter, her brother, had suggested that V.K find some school group at Hammel that would help her. With support and stuff. It sounded good at the time he sent the email but sadly, she was having one of those fifteen-hours-of-sleep days. Thankfully, V.K managed to get to the classroom it was being held all right but a few moments after she sat down, her head had gotten light and the teen was out like a light. 

V.K struggled to rise through the fog of her slumber as she heard a voice. Opening her eyes with some difficulty, the blonde jerked her head back a bit; causing her neck to crack; as a boy was in front of her. Sadly, at these early moments of her awakening; V.K could not remember walking here or discussing anything with her brother at the group. The teen glanced around rather warily, like a cat in a new environment, oh the irony. Hold on, what was the boy was saying something. Using all of her wit and intelligence, V.K managed to summon a perfectly resolvable question for this predicament. "Where am I?"