As I speak, I'm surprised by my own acting or rather, diplomatic skills. There are moments in life when these things are necessary to protect the interests of the most vulnerable. This is my moment, my big moment.
Juan enters the stage:
"It lasts twenty minutes and gives a very real insight into what Fátima is going through. I'll project the video myself."
"It must have taken a lot of courage to propose recording the video to Fátima, and even more for her to do it. Thank you," says Gonzalo in a rare kind gesture.
"All right, boys and girls, well, that's all for now. We'll see you next Thursday. You can count on our full support."
After the meeting, Juan and fill the rest of the group in via WhatsApp and, in the end, I find myself asking one final question.
Judith: Are you sure you want to go ahead with this? I just want to remind everybody that both the school board and a city councilor will be there.
Juan: We can't back out now. They made it all so easy.
Judith: Yes, but I still have this little niggling doubt, so I just want to make sure.
Juan: I say let's do it.
Fátima: Go for it.
Diego: I'm more sure than ever. Finally, the big day arrives.
The auditorium is packed to the rafters, people can hardly breathe with all the pent-up excitement. Some of them are there because they really care about a classmate in a tough situation; the rest have come because everybody else is there so it'd look bad if they didn't.
The event begins as planned. The monarchy and its court shine out from the stage, all fake smiles, words of welcome, catch phrases, applause, pledges of solidarity, more empty words, forced laughter, commotion with the documentary, more applause and then, the moment for the grand finale arrives. Juan is in charge of the projection on our behalf. There is a deathly silence. Everybody wants to hear and see Fátima; after all, that's why we're there.
The credits appear first and slowly rise out of sight, creating even more suspense:
WE WANT TO GIVE A VOICE TO THOSE WHO NOBODY LISTENS TO. AN UNCOMFORTABLE VOICE, A PROVOCATIVE VOICE.
DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE?
The whole auditorium shouts loudly in unison:
"Yesss!"
The credits keep rolling:
WE ARE PROUD TO BE THE UNDERDOGS.
ALL WE WANT IS TO BE AUTHENTIC
There is a certain unease in air, but the last sentence grabs everybody's attention and an enthusiastic round of applause fills the hall.
And then, in even larger letters and to the sound of triumphant music, the following words appear:
WE ARE THE UNPOPULAR ONES
AND FÁTIMA WOULD LIKE TO SAY HELLO.
Total silence. Fátima appears on the screen. She's sitting, her face covered by a veil, in a very simple room. She looks haggard.
"Hello, friends. I say friends because it's what I feel you are to me. You can't imagine how excited I was when Juan and Judith told everything you've organized for me. I'm speechless and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for you support and solidarity. As you know, due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to move to my home country and I can't carry on studying with you. It's a difficult time for me, but with your support I will get through this and I'm sure I we'll see each other soon. But I'm not the protagonist here today. I want to shine the spotlight on a friend of mine, a friend that also had to leave school because of an injustice nobody talks about, that nobody asks about and everybody keeps silent. I believe he also deserves recognition. I'm talking about Diego."
YOU ARE READING
Unpopular
Short StoryThis book is about those who nobody talks about, about those who go unnoticed in class, those who receive criticism, so much criticism that they are silenced. We are the Unpopular, and we're here to share our story, with its lights and shadows, but...
