The Goth Club

The Goth Club: The First Meeting

            “So,” Jeff said, “what do we do in this club, anyway?”

            Lyra sheepishly looked away. She hadn’t exactly figured that part out yet.

            “Well, why don’t we do one of those get-to-know each other games first?” Jae chirped.

            “Yeah,” Teresa agreed, with a sly glance at Jace. Yes, Jace. After learning that there were only three other members so far, he had agreed to attend the first meeting of The Goth Club. Plus, Lyra had begged him to come so that Jeff wouldn’t feel awkward as the only boy and leave.

            “Ok, everyone in a circle!” Jae ordered cheerfully.

            The five pushed a couple of desks around in the empty classroom where the slip of paper Lyra had received from the principal a week ago had assigned them to meet until there was a rough circle in the middle of the room.

            “Okay! First question: what makes you Goth?” Jae practically sang as they all settled down on the floor, sitting criss-cross-applesauce.

            Lyra almost winced; Jaes’ constant happiness and optimism was a bit hard to get used to.

            She realized everyone was staring at her, and fumbled to answer. “Well, uh, I listen to goth-y music, like Evanescence and stuff, and I really love gothic architecture and stuff...and I’m kind of…depressing, sometimes, I guess…and I love gothic books more than any other subgenres…and just a lot of goth type concepts, you know, like fallen angels and things like that.”

            Jeff, Teresa, and Jae looked at Lyra curiously. Jace just looked bored; he knew all of this already, and could probably think of even more examples.

            “I’ll go next,” Teresa suddenly proclaimed. “I’m goth because I write poems about internal pain and stories where the characters all die. Apparently that’s goth. That’s what everyone tells me, at least. I’m not sure whether my make-up counts—some people say it’s emo, but some say it’s goth, so I don’t know.”

            Lyra shifted nervously. This wasn’t really going the way she had expected.

            Jae clapped her hands eagerly. “I’m goth ‘cause I wear gothic fashion. Like this dress I’m wearing now!” Everyone studied the beautiful black dress, with hints of deep red in the skirt. The dress ended about knee-length, but black leggings with a rose pattern continued the look all the way down to the red and black plaid rain boots. A black headband with a white rose on top of Jae’s thick brown hair (pulled back into a loose bun) completed the look to perfection.

            “I make all of my clothes myself,” Jae added, glancing down modestly. “I love using black and showing the beauty of darkness, even though others don’t always want to see it.” It was then that Lyra noticed that some of the red on Jae’s dress was blotchy, as if someone had dumped ketchup down her front and it had dried there. Lyra glanced up sharply at Jae, but she was already smiling at Jeff. “Your turn, Jeff,” she said in a bright voice, though Lyra noticed she wasn’t quite as loud anymore.

            Jeff looked startled at being called on. “Uh…well, I guess I like reading gothic books, like Lyra said, and, um, I’m pessimistic and stuff. Jace?” Jeff shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he quickly turned the pressure onto to someone else.

            Jace looked around at the four people waiting for his answer with an unreadable expression. “I’m goth because I’m angry,” was all he said.

            Jae cleared her throat. “Well, how about now…how about our greatest fears? I’m always scared that my little brother is going to get into an accident. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

            “I’m scared to die alone,” Teresa piped up from behind a curtain of her dyed-black hair, looking pointedly at Jace.

            “I’m afraid of going insane,” Lyra admitted. She had always been the ‘crazy’ one, but on the inside, she feared nothing more than actually being crazy.

            “Making the wrong choices,” Jeff muttered.

            Once again, everyone looked at Jace. He stared back. Finally, he looked towards Lyra and she saw an apologetic expression for a split-second before his face hardened into his usual, angry mask. In one fluid motion, he stood up.

            “Forgetting,” he said as he strode out of the door without looking back.

            The club members faced the door in a shocked silence. Even Lyra hadn’t expected that sort of reaction from Jace. Eventually, Jeff stood up. Slightly red in the face, he cobbled together something about a swim team meet before darting away. Jae and Teresa weren’t far behind with their various excuses and mumbled apologies before they disappeared.

            Lyra sank to the ground and thought about how terribly wrong the first meeting of The Goth Club had been.

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So how do you think it's going? I know this one was a little short, but hopefully the next chapter will clear up some questions.

Also, sorry it's been about a week, but I was on vacation. I'll try to upload more often, now that I'm back.

I love you all for reading! Thank you so much!