The sound of the keys clacking beneath my dancing fingers soothes my soul. Usually. It’s hard to hear the sound of typing over the shouts coming from a few feet ahead. I fidget with one of my many braids as my fellow council members argue before me.

“Maybe if you weren’t a prick, Sam, we’d actually get something done in here!” The president, Alyssa, hisses towards our veep.

“Well, _you’re_ the one who hired such a klutz for a treasurer!” Sam spits back.

“You take back those words right this second!” Mariah interjects, coincidentally knocking over the metal box that holds all of our funds. Sam widens his bespectacled eyes in bewilderment. He makes some sort of gesture towards Mariah as she picks up her mess.

This is what happens when you put a bunch of white girls with perfect hair in a room and expect them to get along.

And I just sit there taking notes all the time, not saying a word.

“Do-do you remember what we’re even here for?” I ask quietly. My voice squeaks and fizzles out like a candle.

“Shut up!” Alyssa snaps. She turns back to Sam with a scoff. “Can you even believe her. Why did we agree to take such a daft-“

She leaves her mouth open for a few seconds, like she’s thinking of what to say.

“Such a daft _what_?” Sam inquires.

Alyssa closes her mouth and shakes her head. I know what she’s thinking, but she doesn’t dare say it out loud.

Right in front of me! She said it right in front of me! And I didn’t say anything. I just let it happen. Staying quiet.

There’s no way to make someone not judge you by the color of your skin.

….……..………………………………

A stand in front of the building where we hold our meetings, the local high school. It’s locked at night, but I learned how to pick locks five years ago.

The art room is one of the first in the school. I pick open the door with one hand, holding the black bag in another. The kiln is hidden away in the back, but luckily, it’s the secretary’s job to observe.

I crank up the heat on the kiln and lift up the lid. I dump everything in. Scraps of rubber, old rags, even the plastic trash bag itself.

And then I run.

I run and seek refuge in the front office, and I watch as smoke starts billowing out.

I was quiet, but I was not blind.