During the Second Civil War, a new U.S. political party called the Family Protection Movement established The Divide, which separates Normal people from those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Seventeen-year old Serenity Blackwater lives in the normal Midwestern town of Mapleville, but she is not normal. She hacks into an illegal gay chat room and meets Dawn, a lesbian who lives in a gay community less than a mile away. Serenity discovers normal people can bribe their way inside the walls and decides to go, both to meet Dawn and check out what may be her future home. Dawn is even more beautiful than Serenity hoped, and the two soon become a couple. But Serenity only has a few months before she must take the Normal Verification Test, and then she’ll be separated from her family forever. So she joins the Human Equality Organization, an underground group working to end The Divide. Dawn thinks the rebellion is too dangerous, and since Dawn’s ex-girlfriend Malaki is also a member, Serenity doesn’t tell Dawn about her involvement. Serenity reveals to the HEO that her parents are leading a campaign to organize attacks on all Gay Communities. With her help, the HEO creates Project Jericho, in which all Gay Communities walls will implode at once. But after too many delays, and when Dawn discovers Serenity has been spending more time with Malaki than her, Serenity knows she has to start the revolution herself. She heads to D.C. to contact a group of senators secretly against The Divide ... or straight into a trap set by the Family Protection Movement.

Uprising

Dawn leads me to the front of the room. “This is where you belong.”


Applause surrounds me and Dawn lifts one of my arms. I point to her instead.


Dawn sits down, but I remain standing, and finally the room quiets.


“I’m just a dumb kid who ran off on my own and got caught,” I say. “The people who really deserve recognition are the ones who risked their lives to save Hally and I. Sol Harvey, Seth Blackwater, Malaki Cheyenne, Dawn Delgado…and I don’t even know who else. But I want to say thank you.”


I sit as people clap and cheer again. I reach for Dawn’s hand, not caring if my parents see. It feels strange to be in a room of Mapleville citizens and seventeen members together.


I see Mal watching me, her cheeks red, and wonder how I will ever resolve the mess I’ve made.


Sol stands at the front of the room, and all goes quiet again.


Chapter 65