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It had been a few weeks since the big game against Huntington meaning Josie had had a few weeks of bliss being Isabel’s official girlfriend. Being Isabel’s girlfriend was even better than Josie had always dreamed it would be. They hung out almost everyday after school whether to study, or just hang out. Either way it usually ended with them making out on one of their beds.
But, Josie had to admit even though it was far from the best thing about dating Isabel, the subtle boost she got to her reputation was nice too. People at school looked at her with respect rather than contempt almost like she was one of the cool kids now. It was a nice change.
What wasn’t a nice change was when she walked into school on Friday and everybody was staring at her like she had the plague. Their looks weren’t of respect or contempt but rather concern, like something had happened that she didn’t know about. Normally PJ would’ve been with her but PJ had texted her that she was coming to school early to help Hazel with a project so she was on her own as everyone silently looked at her like she was. She really needed to find Isabel and get to the bottom of this.
She marched through the halls ignoring the looks she was getting until she made it to the hall where her girlfriends locker was located. She finally spotted Isabel standing just in front of it and she stopped. It was obvious by her demeanor that she was crying. The next thing Josie knew she was wrapping her arms around Isabel and pulling her in close. She didn’t even know what was wrong. At least until she looked at her girlfriend's locker. In bold white letters were written.
FAGGOT #3
That word had been written on Josie and PJ’s locker so many times they had basically stopped caring. But for Isabel this was something completely new.
“I am so sorry Isabel. I know how it feels.”
Isabel pulled away from Josie for a moment and wiped her tears. “It’s not even the name that bothers me. It’s that fact that whoever wrote it doesn’t understand. We love each other just like any other couple in this stupid school. Shit we probably love each other more.” Josie was at a loss for words. Love was not a word the two had used in regards to their relationship yet. And yeah she definitely loved Isabel it was just surreal to hear it from her. Isabel noticed her silence and elaborated, “Sorry if that was too fast.”
“No, no it’s not that, I just… really wanna know who did this.”
Isabel shook her head, “What’s the point? I’ll just get over it.” She let out a sigh before looking back at Josie. “I’ll see you after class okay?”
Josie nodded and gave her one more hug. She could tell she was still upset and she fully intended to do something about it. After finding Ted and explaining the incident to him she marched outside towards her first 2 suspected culprits.
She spotted Tim and Jeff finishing up their early morning football practice. As she crossed over the field she noticed the football players all bowing their heads to her as she passed. Since saving Jeff they had been treating her like some sort of higher being. It was weird to say the least. She finally made it over to the two star players who were sitting on the benches. Tim went to say something but Josie put up a finger telling him to shut up.
“Ok you two, I need some information.” She pulled out her phone and showed them the picture of Isabel’s locker. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this would you.”
Both guys looked at the picture with surprise. Tim spoke first, “We had no idea. We’ve been practicing all morning.”
Josie pointed directly at him, “Which means you got here before anybody else. Perfect access to an empty school. Meaning you could’ve gotten to Isabel's locker and done this as an act of revenge. Tell me what you know or you’ll end up like the Huntington team.”
Jeff’s eyes widened, “You’re gonna kill us.”
Josie thought it over for a second and clarified, “Well I mean... no but I’ll kick your ass at least.”
Jeff shook his head and stood up, “Okay Josie 2 things. First off I don’t even know where Isabel's locker is. She’d always come over to mine, but I’ve literally never been to hers. And second off despite what you seem to think I’m not mad at you or her.” Josie was surprised. Not only was this the longest most comprehensible statement she’d ever heard from the quarterback, but it also seemed genuine. He continued, “Yeah getting dumped by her for you wasn’t great or anything but that doesn’t mean I’d want to hurt her. I still care about her feelings and stuff.”
“So you guys have no idea who did this?”
Tim shook his head, “Like I said we’ve been out here all morning with the team. It wasn’t any of us.”
Josie sighed. She had really been hoping her investigation would be open and shut just like that. But she could tell when these guys were lying and unfortunately for her, this was not one of those times. So she walked back into the school not any closer to figuring things out than she was at the start. She spent the rest of the morning watching for any suspects. Anybody who wouldn’t look her in the eye or maybe someone with a paint splatter on their pants, literally anything that would give her a lead. But no luck. When school finally ended for the day she was still clueless and Isabel was still upset. She claimed that she just wanted to move on and forget about it but Josie was more concerned about it happening again. If she could just find the culprit she could ensure no repeat attacks.
After school as she was walking out the door with Isabel her girlfriend turned to her.
“I think I’m just gonna go home and relax for a while okay. I’ll text you later.”
Josie nodded, “Okay yeah that sounds good.”
Josie had wanted to hang out with Isabel but she understood that she just wanted to be alone. So instead Josie went to find PJ hoping to at least get to spend some time with her friend. She found PJ packing up her things at her locker.
“Hey Isabel and I just canceled plans. Do you wanna hang out tonight?”
PJ seemed surprised, “Really? Picking me over your girlfriend. You do realize you and I aren’t gonna end the night making out right?” Josie rolled her eyes.
“She just wanted some space tonight so I’m giving it to her.”
“I don’t get what the big deal is. It’s just a word, we’ve been dealing with it for years.”
“That’s pretty ironic coming from the girl who bawled for almost an hour the first time it was written on her locker.”
She shrugged, “Yeah but now I’m not so sensitive.”
“Why are you being such a jerk about it? She’s allowed to be upset about this.”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t. I just think she should get used to it. You and I did.”
As she spoke Josie noticed something off. PJ was fidgeting with her bag more than usual and she was clearly struggling to look her in the eyes. Josie didn’t want to believe it, but she felt forced to ask.
“PJ you need to tell me the truth… did you do this?”
PJ stopped fidgeting and looked at the floor. The silence between them felt never ending until finally she spoke quietly.
“Yeah.”
There were a thousand things that Josie wanted and thought about saying but only one word managed to make its way out.
“Why?”
Once again it took awhile for PJ to speak. But finally she did. “I know it’s stupid but I guess I was just jealous. Like you and I had to deal with so much shit for years for being gay and suddenly Isabel comes out and everybody’s just automatically cool with it. Nobody’s writing things on her locker or calling her names or anything.”
“So you thought the right thing to do was commit a hate crime?”
PJ shrugged, “I just kinda forgot how bad it used to make us feel. I didn’t think she was gonna cry. I promise I feel really bad about it.”
Josie shook her head. In a weird way she could understand what PJ was thinking but it didn’t excuse the fact that she did what she did.
“We shouldn’t be mad that other people aren’t getting hate the way we were. We should be happy about it. Things have gotten better around here but if we start turning on each other that’s not gonna be the case.”
PJ nodded, “Yeah I know. I was just so mad about it I wasn’t thinking straight. What do you think I should do?”
“I think tomorrow you should go up and apologize to Isabel. Let her know what you did wasn’t cool and that you’re sorry. Make sure she knows you didn’t mean for it to go so far.”
“Yeah you’re right. I will.”
So the next day that’s what she did. PJ asked to talk to Isabel in private and explained what happened. Josie watched from a distance not wanting to intrude on the conversation but she couldn’t help but smile when she saw her girlfriend pull her best friend in for a hug. Once they were done talking Josie approached PJ.
“So I take it that went well?”
She nodded, “Yeah I just explained everything and she was surprisingly forgiving.”
Josie smiled, “Good, cause I can’t possibly choose between you two so I need you guys to be friends.”
PJ laughed, “Oh please you know you’d choose me every time.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
The two girls continued joking with each other as they walked down the hall. Sure there were bumps along the way, but overall things were definitely getting better for the two of them.