Sign up for the Belmont High School’s Environmental Activism Club, or the B.E.A.C., and make a difference in the Philadelphia community. Open to ANY high school student, regardless of institution.
First meeting kicks off this Wednesday at 3PM, at Belmont in Room 407. We’ll be meeting every subsequent Wednesday through the summer and into the school year.
Be there!
Leila eyed the flier for a moment before tearing one of them off the wall and folding it into her pocket. Maybe he wasn’t all that bad? That snap and click might have just been his carefree, earth-loving attitude. That was a thing, right? Maybe? In which case, he might be just her type.
Might be.
“WHAT DOES THE FLIER SAY?” Sarika shouted, appearing next to Leila.
Leila spilled what remained of her coffee, the cup hitting the ground with a pang, the cold brew staining the bottom of her jeans.
“YOU HAVE GOT TO STOP DOING THAT!”
THREAD: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
SUBFORUM: PHILADELPHIA-CENTRIC
Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:07PM
Is anyone here a member? Me and Paprika are thinking of joining. First meeting this Wednesday. At least, first of the summer.
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by A Dash of Paprika
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:09PM
Yeah we are!
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:10PM
You are literally sitting right next to me, and replying. Why are you even?
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by BroBoxOne
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:15PM
How do I get in on that? ;-P
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:17PM
WOW. AND BANNED.
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by A Dash of Paprika
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:19PM
PERMABANNED. BANHAMMER 40,000. BANHAMMER OF THOR. STRIKE UP THE BANNED.
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:21PM
OMG STAHHHHP
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by Sage Wisdom
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:30PM
I think it’s good you’re joining a club, sweetheart. It’d be really great for you to get there, meet some new people, other kids your age. Do you like my avatar? What about my username? Do you get it?
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:09PM
OH MY GOD! SAGE I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. GET OUT OF HERE!
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by Sage Wisdom
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:15PM
Hi! But do you get it? Sage, like the plant! And this is environment stuff!
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by A Dash of Paprika
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:17PM
I get it. “Sage” LOL.
RE: Belmont’s Environmental Activism Club?
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 10th, 2017 | 9:21PM
DO. NOT. ENCOURAGE. THIS.
ECO-ACTIVISTS MESSAGE BOARD: PERSONAL MESSAGES [USER: WITHOUTTHEY]
FROM
SUBJECT
DATE
TOOTHLESS
HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
So you’re joining an environmental club at your high school? That’s actually really awesome. I wish we had that sort of thing back when I was in high school.
8/10
WITHOUTTHEY
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
Well you know, we’ll see. It might be a total wash.
Also, back when you were still in high school? How old are you?
8/10
TOOTHLESS
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
Wow that probably came off way creepy. I’m sorry. I’m 19. Not an old creeper on a message board, I swear.
8/10
WITHOUTTHEY
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
Suuuuuuuuure. :-P
8/10
TOOTHLESS
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
I’m not! Here, I’ll send you a pic as proof or something. Is that okay?
8/10
TOOTHLESS
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
Hello?
8/10
TOOTHLESS
RE: HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM CLUBS
Yeah okay I see where all of that went wrong.
8/10
IV
Leila lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling in her bedroom. Despite the fact that she was living in a new home with a new family, the house was far from new. It was an old, built-around-the-founding-of-America, Philadelphia-style rowhome out in Manayunk, nearly three centuries old. The plaster ceiling was cracked, with thin breaks spreading out like spider webs. The lines moved from the ceiling to the wall, and bits of paint nicked out and threatened to fall with the slightest bump. She followed the lines with her eyes, like tracing a maze, trying to ignore what she couldn’t stop hearing as the sun started to creep into her window.
The whispers.
Lay . . . whar . . . y . . . I . . . oh . . .
For whatever reason, the voices decided to be particularly loud this morning; and over the past two days, since hanging out with Sarika in Adam’s Café and going through the motions at Summer Enrichment at Belmont, they’d suddenly become clearer. Every time she stepped outside, she could hear the unintelligible whispering on the wind, rattling in her mind, slowly morphing from multiple voices to what sounded like a single, resolute one. She closed her eyes, trying to push it back out, willing it to leave. It was bad enough that when the weather dipped, as autumn approached, so did her mood.
She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.
Quiet. Soft. Dancing around her ears like a breath.
Lay . . . yuh . . . ter . . . us . . . oods . . .
“Bedroom. Ceiling. Walls. Plaster. Bed,” she muttered, shaking her head.
Lay . . . yuh . . . ter . . . us . . . oods . . .
Multiple voices whispered like the deep exhale of several people after a long run.
“Go away!” Leila shouted, and tossed the sheets off her bed to sit up. The whispering vanished, the dissipation and resulting silence almost as loud as the voices themselves. She heard the sounds of footsteps briskly thundering up the stairs, and she grasped the bedsheets, tossing them back over herself as the door to her bedroom swung open.
“Leila?” Jon shouted, storming into the room with Lisabeth.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Lisabeth asked, sitting on the bed.
Leila feigned sleepiness, rubbing at her eyes and blinking.
“Hm?” she mumbled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a nightmare. Don’t worry, Liz, just go back downstairs, I’ll be down in a minute.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Jon said, patting Lisabeth on the back. Leila tried not to scowl. She wasn’t ready for that word yet, and it wasn’t fair that Jon kept using it whenever he wanted.
“O—okay,” Lisabeth stammered, and Leila could practically hear her eyes starting to glisten. Damn it. The M word always brought her to tears, albeit adorable tears. Leila’s mouth felt like it was torn between frowning and smiling at all of it. On the one hand, she still wasn’t ready for any of that. On the other hand, she had to admit, it was sweet.
But she couldn’t do it yet.
Not yet.
Jon stood aside, letting Liz walk through the door first, and then followed suit.
He peeked down the hallway and then turned back to her, whispering, “She made pancakes and bacon, if you’re up and hungry.” Leila knew it was more him asking her to please join them, and less him just letting her know the deal.
“I’ll be down in a second,” Leila said, and Jon walked out of the room, his footsteps matching Lisabeth’s as they descended the staircase.
_____