Rosemary and Juliet

The Day of Silence

Disclaimer: Novi is actually a really accepting community, and students are always welcome to participate in the Day of Silence. This is all fiction.
-Cecil

Rosemary

When the plans for the Day of Silence first came to be, Rose was too excited to keep it to herself. She knew the group that would love it: Amilia and her friends.

"Hey, Rose." That greeting was one of the few constants in Rose's life.

"Hi, Ami! You said last time that we spoke that you were all looking to start leaning towards activism, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes, especially Elysia. She's the one who's really enthusiastic about all of this stuff. She wants equality more than anything, and strives to be the first gay, female, black president," Ami laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I think that if anyone can do it, it's her."

"Well, she has my vote in 2036," Rosemary assured her. "Anyways, you know the Day of Silence?"

"Sure, pretty big day for the LGBT, why?" she asked.

"We aren't allowed to participate because of the murders," Rose explained.

"Same here! It sucks, too, because it was the first year that we were going to participate," Amilia sighed. "I mean, May, Lisa, and I could get away with it because we're so quiet as it is, but the rest of Club? Forget about it."

"I have a solution," Rosemary told her, barely keeping in her excitement. "It has to be kept on the down low, very quietly passed, but we're organizing a peaceful protest, doing our American duty to stand up against injustice."

"A protest?"

"A sit out, specifically. If we can't participate in the Day of Silence in the school, then we'll just do it right outside of the building. A day spent silent, holding up signs that say why, or anything like that. We tell people who we know will be good with it, and then they spread it to others who would be down with it as well. And there you have it, a protest."

"That's an amazing idea," Amilia said. "I can already tell that Club is going to be all over this, and this way we get to honor the lives that were taken from us this year."

"I can see the news now, haha. Two schools in Oakland County unite under a common cause: the Day of Silence," she said in her best "announcer" voice.

"This will be perfect." After a moment of no words, Ami added, "Nathan would be proud of you."

****

"Are we ready?" she asked the GSA the day before the Day of Silence.

They nodded, but when the next morning, came, she had no idea just how ready they really were.

****

"I know, but I just want a status update," Rosemary said on the phone to Ami.

"We are all participating. It's going to be amazing. Two schools, united under a common cause. Lynn should write an article about this, haha," Amilia said.

"Yeah. We're making history, Ami," Rose sighed, flopping down onto the couch.

****

She walked into school wearing a piece of rainbow duct tape on her shirt, seeing her group of friends holding a similar style. They nodded at one another. No one needed say a single word. It was all planned out. The warning bell rang, and they went to the nearest exit, going to sit outside the school in a ring against the building. But it wasn't until a wave of almost every student came pouring out the doors that Rosemary realized just what was going on.