Chapter 41

The next day, Kemal came out to visit Wyatt at Harrison. When he came to visit Wyatt, he had a large bandage on his right forearm, but looked perfectly fine otherwise. "Kemal!" Wyatt says when Kemal shows up at his door, "is everything alright at home?".

"Yeah" Kemal says, "I came because I assumed you've heard about what happened last night. I wanted to let you know we're all still alive".

"What happened?" Wyatt asks.

"Did you get a cut on your arm?" Emma asks.

"This?" Kemal asks as he holds his arm up with a smile. "Don't worry about this little thing, it's nothing! I assumed you were worried, so I came to let you know the news. There was a riot out in Durley, and a fire was started. Dad tried standing up against them, saying that he supports whatever his sons support... and, well...".

"Is he okay?" Wyatt asks.

Kemal pauses for a moment and says "He's going to be fine. He's in the hospital with second degree burns and three broken ribs, but the doctor says it will heal. It was nothing major, but-".

"Nothing major!?" Wyatt panics. "Dad was attacked! And- and you! What happened to you? You're hiding something aren't you?".

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm f-" Kemal starts to say before Wyatt suddenly lifts up Kemal's shirt.

When Wyatt exposes Kemals upper body, he could see seven different bruises, and two other large bandages covering what Wyatt could only assume to be a shallow knife wound. "Are you kidding me!?" Wyatt asks.

"I told you" Kemal says as he forces his shirt back down, "I'm FINE. Mom stayed home, and she was safe. Dad is awake and isn't acting weird, and I'm still on my feet. Chill out for a moment".

"But you guys were put in danger!" Wyatt says. "What should I have done if you or dad couldn't have walked out of that alive!?".

Kemal slaps Wyatt on the top of his head. "DUDE, CHILL!" Kemal shouts. "Take it easy for a sec. You always worried more than the rest of the family all the time! That's why I came here to tell you we're all still alive! Knowing you, you would've been panicking about it until you came home! I'm not letting you bail on your college just to come home crying for us. Relax, we're all fine... okay?".

Wyatt groans, then sighs out of irritation. "Alright, fine" Wyatt says. "I'll keep making sure we're taking care of things on our end. But you have to make sure you let me know about everything that happens, alright? That includes what you were hiding under your shirt!".

"Yeah, alright, fine" Kemal says. "I thought I should also let you know, Greenwood, that town next to Durley has openly shown its support lately too... you know, for that bill thing. Also, the police have been on standby everywhere in the city in case of more riots. If anything bad happens, let the professionals deal with it. Don't get involved, Wyatt".

"Okay" Wyatt says.

"Now cheer up" Kemal says, "let me see where that smile is".

"I know where your bruises are" Wyatt says. "I'll punch you".

After Wyatt and Kemal spend some time saying goodbye, Kemal leaves the dorm. "Do you feel any better yet, Wyatt?" Emma asks.

"Yeah" Wyatt says.

"You still worried about everything?" Jackson asks.

"Not anymore" Wyatt says. "Now I'm determined".

"Determined for what?" Jackson asks.

"To stand up" Wyatt says, "that's what. Even if these people do something to the school, I'm not going to let them keep this bill from passing".

"You're not going to do something dangerous, are you?" Emma asks.

"No, nothing like fighting them. I'm not Kemal..." Wyatt says. "I'm not sure what to do yet, but I won't let them do something like that to our school".

The next morning, Monday of January 20th, started off the same as any other morning. The first few classes pass, but midway through the lunch period, a large group of people gathered by the school's front gate. The gate was closed, but the people started holding up signs in protest. The protesters started chanting and yelling at the school. Before long, it became too loud, as their voices could be heard from anywhere in the school. As the protesters showed up, Ryan had already called the police. However, before the bell rang, Wyatt began to walk down stairs from the club spot of the rooftop. The rest of the club members followed after Wyatt in confusion, as they all walked out towards the front gates. The rest of The Rejects stood still and kept their distance from the gates. Wyatt, however, walked up close to the gates and faced the protesters. As the protesters chanted things like "Not a chance!", "Get out of our city!", and "Laibah don't belong!", Wyatt chanted back "They deserve a chance! We share this city!".

The rest of The Rejects stood in confusion, wondering what they should do. Eventually, Jackson steps forward next to Wyatt and begins chanting with Wyatt. After a moment of hesitation, Jessica, Emma and Darren join in. Then the rest of the club steps forward as well. The next classes had already begun, but The Rejects remained outside, facing the protesters. Most of the students who could see the front gates from their classroom watched in awe. Slowly, the students walked out of the classrooms, one by one, and joined The Rejects. After a few minutes, the cops showed up to tell the protesters to leave, but they refused. More of the students kept coming out from inside of the school to join The Rejects. As nearly the entire school stood outside to face these protesters, the protesters slowly grew more and more aggressive. The protesters shouted louder and louder, as if getting ready to charge into war. When some of the protesters in front of the gates started shaking the gates rigorously, the police came in to force the protesters to leave. Most of the protesters resisted, however, more police came.

As the crowd of protesters slowly dispersed, Ryan walks outside and stands next to Rose. "I had prepared for this" Ryan says. "Seeing as how you're out here watching, I'm guessing you already knew that".

"I thought you'd have something for this" Rose says. "But just in case, I was waiting for the time to pull the students away from the gate and have them evacuated into the building. I had the rest of the staff on standby waiting to lock the doors, in case they managed to break down the gates".

"Not bad" Ryan says as he nods. "Good to see you're working better with people now".

"I had Refus do most of the talking" Rose says. "However, some of them are still too stubborn to listen to our newest teacher".

"So you threatened them?" Ryan asks.

"I prefer the word... persuaded" Rose says.

Ryan laughs and says "At least the students are safe for now".

The students remained outside for the time being, celebrating what they called a 'victory'. They felt like they were all able to successfully overcome a harsh battle. The entire school now felt the courage to continue their support as they see fit. They felt empowered now, but more importantly, they no longer felt the lasting sting of their daily fears and stress over the current matter. "That was great, Wyatt!" Emma says as she hugs him.

"I can't believe so many people came!" Wyatt says. "I think the whole school came outside for this!".

"Maybe like this" Aeris says, "this bill might actually gain enough support soon! Non-violent acts of support usually get people's attention. Maybe we'll see some good news soon".

"Maybe we'll find out about what's next sooner, rather than later" Emily says as she points toward Ryan. "Guys, look".

Ryan had ran inside to grab a megaphone, and came back outside with it. Now, he approached the massive group of students standing outside. "Can I get everyone's attention please?" Ryan says over the megaphone. "I would like to say, in terms of showing your support, you were all acting reckless, dangerously, hasty and impulsive". The students began to feel guilty, until Ryan continues to say "Thank you. You guys did a lot, regardless of how dangerous it was. I know you must all be curious, so I'd like to inform you that we have already gotten enough signatures for the proposition of this bill! As of last night, the amount of support required for voting to begin has been reached already, and your continued support means a lot to me. This bill hasn't been announced yet, but I've already received word from the governor that voting will begin on January 31st, but the bill won't be announced for voters until January 27th. I would like to advise you all to stick to your school schedules and focus on your work, rather than worry. Please don't go out of your way to worry or get involved with any unnecessary events. That is all. Please return to your classes immediately".

After the students returned to class, everyone started talking about the bill. "So, is the bill gonna pass?" Jessica asks.

"No idea" Jackson says. "The city still has to vote on it, so we just have to hope that the support we got was enough".

"At least we finally get to see if we're successful or not" Emma says. "We're coming close!".

"We've done what we can for now" Aeris says. "Guess it's back to the usual waiting game for us...".

"I'm bad at this game" Jackson says.

"We know..." Aeris says.

"So... it's not quite over, is it?" Jessica asks. "The issue with the school, I mean".

"No, it's not" Wyatt says. "Only if the bill passes, will it be over. For now though, we just have to wait and see what happens".

"You think everything will be alright?" Emily asks.

"Yeah..." Wyatt says. "For now, at least, I think it will be alright".

The rest of the week passed as students in the halls even greeted any of the members of The Rejects club, thanking them for standing up for the school. Their popularity seemed to increase amongst the school, as plenty of the students seemed to appreciate them for what they've done so far. Although, to The Rejects, it didn't feel like they did very much. They just did what they could, and nothing more. The next week, it was announced throughout the city that voting for the bill was soon to begin. There was plenty of excitement amongst the school, as well as several other areas in the city. However, there was an increased tension from the inner city. People strongly against the bill began to demand other people in the city to make "the right vote" when the bill was opened for voting. As much as many of the people throughout the city tried to intimidate voters to pick their side, many other people throughout the city were adamant on their decision to support the bill. Campaigns for both sides seemed to only increase tensions further, as fights from within the inner city broke out commonly, even before it was time to vote on the bill.

Eventually, February came. Voting for the bill has started and was soon to close. There was only a week left of voting, but several media websites and news stations would keep the public up to date on the status of the bill in terms of support. The support was high and only growing. It was only a matter of time before the bill was passed as a law. As much as this came as relief to many of those in the city, it only came as a burden to many others. Some people only grew more violent due to the status of the bill.

"Gramps" Rose says as she enters the principal's office, Monday of February 3rd, 2020, "Do you have the spare time?".

Ryan sighs and says "Sure".

"You alright?" Rose asks. "You seem worried. Aren't you excited? The bill is doing well! It's only a matter of time before it passes! We've practically already saved the school, Ryan!".

"I'm worried, because there's still a lot going on, Rose" Ryan says. "All over the city, violence has been breaking out. It seems like this bill really is carrying too much of a burden for everyone to bear. Times like these, I wonder if I'm even doing the right thing".

"Gramps..." Rose says as she sits down in front of Ryan's desk. "I believe you're doing the right thing. There's no telling if any one thing can be universally good or bad, but at least those around you support what you're trying to do".

"Yeah, you're right about that..." Ryan says.

"Besides" Rose says, "you still have us here. What could possibly go wrong?".

"Do you really want me to list all of the things I think could go wrong?" Ryan asks with a short laugh.

"On second thought" Rose says, "keep that to yourself".

"That would be for the best" Ryan says.

Suddenly, a knock is heard on the office door. The door opens, and Refus enters. "Hey, Principal Schafold" He says, "Do we have the work for the mock tests in yet? The students are already getting bent out of shape because of the exams coming up, and the mock tests will probably only put them in more unrest about the exams, but the spring festival is coming in about a month. I just figured we'd get the students ready to blow the exams out of the way before they start worrying about the festival".

"They should be in by next week, if not the end of this week" Ryan says.

"Thank you" Refus says. "I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?".

"No, we're actually just done talking" Ryan says.

"Gramps?" Rose asks.

"Don't worry" Ryan says, "I'll be fine. Just get everything on your end taken care of. I'll let you know if I need your help with anything".

"Alright" Rose says. "If you say so...". After Rose and Refus leave, Ryan pulls out another stack of threats mailed to him. The stack has grown even larger than usual, and the last letter he puts into the paper shredder says "We will come for you and your school" at the end. "It'll get worse before it gets better, I guess" Ryan says to himself with a sigh. "I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I am certain that I'll have to put up at least one more fight before I can guarantee their safety".