Because You Suck: Chapter 14: Part 4

“My name is Mikey. You might know me because I was vice president of this club during my sophomore year. I also attend every meeting and hung up a lot of the posters you might’ve seen around school.” He switched off the lights, “This year, this club encouraged me to come out to my parents and to have the courage to show you this picture. Some hateful people beat me up, but as you can see, love always beats hate. A lot of people would see this picture of me and my boyfriend, Zach, and be hateful. They might notice that he’s black or that we’re gay, or that we’re Americans--- and they might hate us. But I believe in change. I’m glad that this club has grown so large, and that so many people, like you and me, believe in love and acceptance. The GSA is not just about gays and straights--- it’s about everyday people. Vote me as your Club President, and I’ll continue to further this love and acceptance!”
Mikey strode back to his seat amidst the respectfully applauding crowd.
The meeting-room was packed --- at least thirty people were talking, eating, sitting and waiting. Zach regarded them with a mix of pride and fear--- those posters worked, all right; there had never been a larger turnout. He mutely took his seat and glanced at Mikey, watching him slide the photo out of the projector.
“Great speech.”
Mikey tensed and looked back at Zach, “Oh. Hey. You made it.”
“I did.”
“Didn’t you have that swim team meeting?”
“Nahhh, I ditched it.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, yeah, they were pissed. But this is more important.”
“Right.”
“Are these new people here just because of the posters?”
“Yeah…”
“You know what? I think they’re just for the positions.” he said half-jokingly to Mikey, who in turn gave a curt nod and asked “Are you running, too?”
“Yeah. I’m running for President, but aiming to score Vice President. There are two slots for that---”
“--- Actually, just one is open for running right now. The other one isn’t approved until we get more regular members.”
“Oh. Well, no problem. I’ll hang up more posters. But just vote for me, all right? Hey Casey,” said Zach, “when do I go up?”
“You’re running? I thought you had a swim team meeting.”
“No, I ditched that.”
“Well,” Casey gnawed on his lower lip, then flicked out his tongue and said, “you are late, so you’ll have to go last. Kylie’s up first. Hey Kylie! You’re up.”
Kylie smiled at him, and patted down her skirt as she glided to the front of the room.