Page 70 of Careless

We all look around at each other in confusion.

“Sounds like fun,” Sonia, a girl with light skin and a pixie haircut, says, a big genuine smile across her face. Her glasses accent the glee in her eyes.

“Really? Won’t we get in trouble no matter what we do?” Willow asks, looking more sad than disappointed, like something really bad has happened, and it's dampening her mood.

“No. Principal Jordan made the ruling. If they don’t like what we do, it’shimwho gets in trouble, not us. Plus, fuck him. It’s dickheads like him that keep women slaves to the patriarchy. He just wants to make it look like he supports feminism and women’s right when he is probably one of those douchebags who cheered whenRowe v Wadewas overturned.”

I blanche at Sonia as the others ignore her like they usually do. I never really thought of that. It was a huge tragedy when the Supreme Court made that ruling, but I feel like we all try to just ignore the truth.

Sonia probably thinks this is the principal's mediocre attempt at pacifying the “feminists” of this school, but she doesn’t hold the male species in high regard, and I don’t blame her. Sonia’s story is one everyone knows and why people avoid her.

Sonia De La Rosa’s father was a big name in sex trafficking. Some even think her mom was one of the girls he was trying to groom to sell, but that he decided to keep her for himself. No one knows if Sonia knew anything about her father’s dealing, but we do know that her mother turned on him and got him arrested. He’s currently serving several consecutive life sentences.

She has looked in the face of evil, hugged it good night, and trusted it to keep her safe.

“We should use it as a lesson,” I say, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“A lesson for what?” Nyla asks, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“The horrors of being born as a woman or transitioning into womanhood. We go through things no man has to go through. I have PCOS and I’ve never heard of a man having too much pain in his junk to have sex.”

It really sucked having to turn down Rian for sex because of the pain from my condition. He was very understanding, but it sucked nonetheless.

“We have to deal with yeast infections, oral contraceptives, sexual harassment, and being shamed for however our bodies look. We’re trying too hard if we get dressed up and put on makeup, but if we go outside barefaced in a hoodie and sweatpants, we’re lazy. No man gets judged the way we do, and we’re supposed to keep our mouths shut about it. It might not change anything, but we should do this as a way to show how hard it is to be a woman.”

I look at Sonia and kind of feel like an asshole. Unlike when everyone tried to ignore Sonia, they don’t ignore me and I don’t know why. They listen. She always has valid points or input. Francine especially avoids talking to her or listening to what she has to say.

What is everyone’s issue with her?

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Sonia pipes in with a big smile on her face.

We come to a conclusion to choose three songs for the performance. Once we have the songs picked, we’ll be able to figure out the choreography. Willow made the suggestion of choosing a girl tosingall the songs, but it just made me nearly gag.

I know I can sing, but I’ve never done it publicly, and now everyone thinks it’s a good idea to make everyone on the team sing a song they prepare to determine who is the best. This whole thing went from an opportunity to a nightmare waiting to happen.

Fuck me.

Everyone gathers up their things at the end of the hour, and Sonia approaches me.

“Hey. Thanks for having my back. Most people just ignore my existence entirely,” she jokes, but I can see it bothers her. My heart hurts a bit for her.

“I completely get that. Half this school acts like I’m Medusa getting ready to turn them to stone.”

Granted, that’s probably Rian’s fault. He did blacklist me, and since we’re not open about our relationship at school, I still look like one of the black sheep of Grove Hill High.

“People are so judgy,” Sonia groans as we stroll off the soccer field.

“You said it, sister.”

“Bye, Sorcha!” I look over my shoulder as Francine heads to her vehicle. “Don’t expect your brother home for dinner,” she jokes as she gets in her car.

I love Francine, buteww. I know what goes on between them when they are together. I roll my eyes. She calls the house on Mason Road home since every time we see each other outside of school, it’s because I’m there. Finn suggested I move in to get away from Dad, because he doesn’t think it should be my responsibility to parent my father but me living under the same roof as RianandFinn is a recipe for disaster.

“Finn is your brother?” Sonia asks, confusion in her eyes.

“Adopted,” I explain. This is the typical response because we don’t look alike, which now makes sense considering we just found out that Finn and I aren’t actually related.

“Awesome. Finn is cool.”

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