Leo Torres @LeoTorres2002 • 2h
Replying to @AskanAngel
We can’t be part of the conversation without a voice. It starts here. #RedBlueVioletProtest #AcediaHigh
#FrankengirlsNoMore #Walkout #ElectionRights #VotingRights
Maxine @MaxineChenontheCliffs • 2h
Replying to @AskanAngel
In. Who’s with me? #RedBlueVioletProtest #AcediaHigh #FrankengirlsNoMore #Walkout #ElectionRights #VotingRights
Nat @NatGberg • 2h
Replying to @AskanAngel
Me. #RedBlueVioletProtest #AcediaHigh #FrankengirlsNoMore #Walkout #ElectionRights #VotingRights
Dipti P. @drp98 • 1h
Replying to @AskanAngel
Me. #RedBlueVioletProtest #AcediaHigh #FrankengirlsNoMore #Walkout #ElectionRights #VotingRights
BakedBaker24/7 @Josh Baker • 30m
Replying to @AskanAngel
Getting out of physics? 100%
Jay Choi Is Tweeting @J_Choi • 10m
Replying to @AskanAngel
THERE for it. Join me rallying for write-in votes to count!
Acedia Charter School @AcediaCHSMA • 4m
Replying to @AskanAngel
This is not a school-sanctioned event. Participants will be subject to disciplinary action.
Jay Choi Is Tweeting @J_Choi • 3m
Replying to @AskanAngel
Eh, make me a maybe.
38
When Cat Protests Just Enough
THE DAY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ELECTION DAY
THE DAY THAT IS OPERATION RED, BLUE, AND VIOLET
The bell signaling the end of third period rang. Cat shot out of her seat like she’d been stung by a bee. The whole government class looked at her, and she almost sat back down. Then Ms. Lute gave a barely perceptible nod.
Cat took a deep, shaky breath and returned the same gentle acknowledgment of what was about to happen.
What Cat hoped was about to happen.
She exited the room, her mind abuzz. Ravi was waiting for her, just as they’d planned. He looked as anxious as she felt. As they passed the newsroom, she considered peeling off, dragging Ravi inside, and hiding out until it was all over. Let Angeline and Leo handle it. They were the stars of this anyway. Cat had done her part. She’d come up with the idea, used social media to spread the word. They didn’t really need her.
But she’d roped Ravi in.
And she wanted to see it through.
Not for a story or an award but for herself. She didn’t only want to report on the world, she wanted to be a part of it.
“Think it’s going to work?” Ravi asked.
They watched Leo leading a group of male students toward the side exit. After the meeting with Principal Schwartz and his parents, Leo’s suspension had been lifted pending a complete investigation—one that Cat’s hunch, Maxine’s hacking, and Slothy’s camera might end.
“Something’s going to happen,” Cat said. “What? I have no idea.”
“Well, we’re in it together,” he said.
Cat stole a glance at him, those dark eyes she could get lost in, which scared her as much as it intrigued her.
“All together,” Angeline said, meeting them at the exit. She’d layered her red Acedia short-sleeved tee over a long-sleeved white one. Her jeans were dark blue, and a purple ribbon secured her long braid. A beach rose, the last from the plant in their room, was tucked behind her ear. Cat had borrowed a blue sweater but wore her own khaki skirt.
Behind them, feet shuffled and murmuring spread. A collective shift as if from a gust announced Principal Schwartz’s arrival, his too-large suit jacket making his shoulders seem broader. Cat wondered if that had always been his goal, to appear more imposing than he actually was.
The first bell for fourth period rang, silencing conversations and gluing everyone in place. Ravi brushed his finger against Cat’s, hooking it around hers, not pulling her back but also not urging her forward.
She didn’t look at Angeline. She simply laid her hand on the door and pushed.
Students followed, slowly at first. Maxine, Sonya, and Riley, who’d coordinated to each represent a color: red, blue, and violet. Then came Natalie Goldberg, Dipti Patel, Josh Baker, Chelsea Anders. And Emmie. Emmie came. She didn’t have to. That wasn’t part of their deal.
They were all juniors and seniors, and more of their classmates made up the first wave. It wasn’t long before sophomores and freshmen joined. Soon, the green grass was obscured by students wearing red, blue, and violet. Red was the most popular, with many in their Acedia-issued red athletic tees for gym. But as Cat looked around, the picture became the one Ravi had drawn, the one she’d seen in her head. Down to the poster painted by Sonya announcing the Red, Blue, and Violet Protest, hung over the marquee by Grady.
Angeline and Cat stood on the concrete mound beneath it. Leo came to Angeline’s side, Ravi settled a step behind Cat, and Emmie was before her, her blue eyes anxious but determined.
Seventy, eighty, maybe even a hundred students filled the lawn, turning in unison at the rumble of one news van, then another. Cat gave a silent thanks to Grady for sending her note, in which she’d asked the reporters to delay their arrival as long as they could. Though the administration would see the activity on social media, she didn’t want it to realize just how big this might become.
As it was, Principal Schwartz had had time to prepare. He claimed a spot by the flagpole, megaphone in one hand, watching as students trickled out of the building, probably waiting so he could saddle as many as possible with disciplinary action.
Cat nodded to Maxine, who’d added protest streaks of red and violet to the already blue tips of her hair. Before homeroom, Cat, Angeline, and Leo had downloaded an app that would turn their phones into mics. Maxine had tested it using Cat’s phone. As Maxine pressed the power button on the Bluetooth speaker in her hand, a light glowed green and through the tiny holes came: “Now connected to Cathleen Quinn’s phone.”
And everyone looked at her.
Her.
But it was Angeline who was supposed to speak. Not Cat.
She went as rigid as a rabbit caught in an open field. Angeline whispered, “Give me your phone” just as Grady shouted from the far edge of the lawn, “Go, Chief!”