Lies We Tell ✔

The Eleventh Dance

Her statement was followed, at last, by rapt attention. Twenty pairs of dozing heads snapped to alert.

"I know this is 'Introduction to Biology' and not 'Introduction to Humanity's Stupidity'," Lacey started, "but I think it's important that we have an open, honest conversation about what happened last night." She took a deep breath and pressed her hands together in her lap, leaning against her desk. "I've lived in this country for my entire life. And in that time, I have seen some shit."

"Did she just say 'shit' in class?" some guy whispered loudly from the front.

"Like I said, some real shit," Lacey emphasized, opening her eyes to reflect a fiery gaze. Daring us to make another comment about her swearing. "But for something this disgusting to happen in my first week of teaching? Unreal." Her cheeks and neck were turning redder with each word. "In this day and age, some of us still can't see that we are all made up of flesh and blood. Skin and bone. Head and heart. To label fellow human beings as terrorists simply for being from another country--how does that seem right?" When she finished, Lacey took a huge breath and slowed her breathing until her cheeks had turned back from a brilliant red to a pink-ish color. "Anyway, I just wanted to open the conversation with my impartial thoughts."

"Impartial?" someone muttered.

"Now I want to turn the discussion onto you guys."

At first, the class just looked around at each other, nobody wanting to be the first to follow up Lacey's rant. Then a red-haired girl in the front row slowly put her hand into the air.

Lacey clarified, "Feel free to just chime in. I'm not bothering with any of this name-calling stuff. This isn't high school."

There was a pause, and then the girl said in a small, uncertain voice, "It was a joke, right? Some sicko's idea of a joke?"

"Nobody could be that dense," the blonde-haired boy next to her argued. "These people clearly wanted to cause offense. I mean, they called those international students terrorists."

From the back came a quieter, slightly accented male voice. "I don't feel welcome here," the boy said. I turned around and matched the voice to a face: a chubby Asian guy with even swoopier hair than Parker Jeong. His voice was shaking slightly, and he flushed once he realized all eyes were on him. "I l-left Taiwan believing--believing America would be very accepting toward i-international student. But now...I am not so sure."

Silence hung thick and heavy in the classroom. Lacey had closed her eyes again and was nodding her head. She said softly, "You shouldn't feel that way. You are welcome here, even if some people choose not to believe it."

"So what's the university gonna do about this?" someone piped up. "Don't tell me they're just gonna sweep it under the rug?"

A chair scraped against the hardwood floor before Lacey could respond. I stared at the source of the noise, surprised to see that Chris Ishikawa had pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up.

"They won't be ignoring what happened. Not if I have a say in it."

Lacey just blinked at him. "Your, ahem, passion for this issue is admirable, but--who exactly are you?"

Exactly my thoughts. What could a man-child who went around stealing kisses from innocent girls possibly be able to do?"

"I'm Chris. Chris Ishikawa. Remember that name. I'm running for the freshman chair position on the Central Student Government," he announced boldly. Turning around to face his classmates, Chris kept his expression more serious than I'd ever seen it. "Vote for me in the elections next month, and I promise I'll work to promote social justice across campus."

Twenty pairs of wide eyes stared back at him. I wavered between remaining annoyed and feeling impressed. Settled for slight disinterest.

"Dude, you better promise better dessert options in the dining hall," some guy shouted out from the front row. When Chris fixed the speaker with his now trademarked I'm-running-for-student-government-don't-mess-with-me glare, the guy sunk lower into his seat and added feebly, "But also, yay for social justice."

Chris sat back down into his seat, leaving the class silent. I stared at his profile, wondering what was going on in his head. Since when had Chris, Mr. Pre-Med, expressed even an ounce of interest in our student government before?

Lacey nodded slowly, approval in her eyes. "You see that? Someone who gets involved immediately and puts himself behind a good cause. A man worthy of your vote, students."

Chris stood up straighter, practically inflating with pride right before our eyes. Great. An extra ego boost. Just the thing he didn't need.

I felt my frigid opinion of him melt just a smidgen, though. Chris couldn't be so bad if he cared so much about The West Tower Incident that he was running for student government.

*****

A/N - I love passionate guys hehe! Any guesses as to how Chris will approach his campaign? (Hint: Amelia will be roped into it one way or another, lmao)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next update! :D