Roni and Joey: Chapter 40: Things Previously Unseen

PE went by so fast for Roni she almost hadn’t realized any time had passed. Her mind was still on Joey and on the situation as a whole. Roni just couldn’t shake how outright Sabrina was about her desire to own Joey. Was that how it was with everyone vulnerable to Smallara? Walking around in paranoia, always looking over their shoulder to make sure someone they dislike isn’t watching them; waiting for them to change?

“And what about me?” thought Roni, changing in the locker room back into her uniform, “These past few years, I’ve wanted to protect littles, like Joey wanted to. To be a voice of advocacy, to help the world see the value of working with littles, not littles working for them. yet–”

Roni pauses, looking around the busy locker room, her eyes zeroing in on things she hadn’t noticed before: doll sized clothing in some girls lockers, a few of her classmates actually talking with their littles, giving direction, giving praise, or just giving them attention. It just seemed so normal to them, so casual, like the fact that these were once fullsized humans with dreams and ambitions just didn’t register to them.  

Roni lets out a guilty sigh, “I–never actually took the time to notice what’s around me” she reflected, her stomach starting to twist in knots as her own complacency dawned on her at that moment.

These thoughts continued to race in Roni’s mind as she left the locker room and went to her next class. 

For the first time, though, what was once something Roni was only aware of became her primary focus.

A few students she saw were carrying a smaller being in their palm, walking without a care in the world while their little would focus on a tablet or look up to contribute to a conversation. State mandated and Generitech approved little lanes with specially architected fencing that is scaled down in size but, through special engineering and Generitech R&D, was as durable as steel girders, lined the bottoms of the walls at just about 8 inches high. Within them, the forms of smaller figures could be seen walking with their guardians close by, either talking with their friends or focusing on their phone.

It was all so functional, normal, day-to-day in a way that made her feel that much more uncomfortable about herself. This wasn’t all new. These guardrails–physical and legal–the process, the routines, the nonchalant interactions; all of these things have been part of the school for a while. Designed for the littles enrolled in the school and for the  guardians that brought them with them to classes because they could, all in place for a fair amount of time.

Yet Roni had barely noticed. They were all things that only existed to her through ideals and conversations with Joey. 

It sickened her to think how hypocritical she had been until now.

Her dissociation dissipated as she entered AP English Literature, taking her seat quietly near Sophie, Cam and Lauren, taking out her notebook and getting situated.

The three girls sitting behind and side-by-side of her looked to each other, exchanging looks of concern at Roni’s somber , before turning their attention to the front of the room as class began.

When Mr. Ngyuen let the class split up into their test prep groups, Sophie, Cam, and Lauren immediately moved their desks, with Cam leaning in close.

“Okay girl, what is up,” she said quietly, looking at Roni with concern

“For real,” Sophie added, “I know the “Joey” situation is rough, but you’re looking even worse than at lunch.”

Lauren nodded in agreement, “Actually, you looked like you were perking up after the Hive left.”

Roni scribbled idly on her notebook, not looking up at any of them.

“I’m a total hypocrite” she said softly, trying to hide just how ashamed of herself she actually feels, “I’ve spent all this time talking about littles, their rights, their capabilities, but–I’ve just been full of shit the whole time”

Sophie and Cam exchanged confused looks, before Cam finally said something, “uh–can you elaborate? Cause you’ve got me thoroughly puzzled.”

“Ugh,” Roni scoffed, “I meeaannn that all my preaching has just been that-preaching. I haven’t done anything real to help. I haven’t paid attention to the reality of the situation, I didn’t notice the changes to the school for littles and guardians..god if I missed things right in front of my nose, what else did I miss?” 

“Whoa there girl,” Cam interjected firmly, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention, “First, you aren’t a hypocrite. You care. It’s just, well, Joey has had a heavy influence on your ideals is all”

“Cam!” hissed Sophie, “Don’t say that”

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?” Cam retorted, “Look at the facts you guys: Joey’s a huge advocate for littles, he’s Roni’s best friend–now brother on top of that–and, well, if we’re being honest here, Roni you tend to rely on him emotionally”

Roni wanted to say something, her cheeks burning red, but stopped, unable to come up with a strong counter. Cam wasn’t entirely wrong. While Roni tended to be the more outgoing of the two, Joey being around always seemed to boost her confidence. His quiet confidence and unwavering support had been the pillars that kept her resolve from crumbling when she was at her lowest.

However, hearing Cam now made her realize that maybe this was a double-edged sword, that maybe her interest in littles wasn’t completely her own. Roni thought back to all of the conversations she had with Joey or the times she spent on her looking into Littles. She always thought their treatment was cruel, unfair, and needed to be changed, but when she really thought about it, she doesn’t remember a time where she was as passionate about it as Joey.

At least, that was before Joey’s diagnosis.

That just added more fuel to her anxiety and shame. 

Luckily, though, the other three noticed this.

“Roni,” Sophie said quietly, “please don’t read into all of this too much. Even if you aren’t as passionate as you thought, you still cared enough to be more aware than average.”

“Yeah,” Lauren added, “it’s like, if you didn’t care on some level, you wouldn’t have thought about how to help Joey at all, or even would have known where to have started.”

Cam nodded vehemently, mentally kicking herself for her own focus on pragmatism.

“Exactly. You do care. More than the average person, and that says a lot, Roni,” Cam said, making sure to pick her words carefully, “Because of you, it’s basically guaranteed that Joey will have a great life and home. That’s because of you. Period. No discussion.”

Roni looked up at Cam, then shifted her gaze to Sophie and Lauren, who both nodded in agreement before Cam continued.

“Look, this is going to suck, no cap on that Roni,” Cam said bluntly, lowering her voice a little more, “but there’s parts of this that are probably going to change things socially too. Ways that are beneficial to you”

This made the other three look at Cam with mixed expressions.

“Beneficial to me?” Roni asked, clearly not following.

“Yeah, Cam, I’m not following either,” Sophie added suspiciously. “You aren’t about to suggest Roni uses Joey for labor like he’s some kind of servant, are you?”

Cam’s eyes widened immediately and she shook her head.

“No! God no,” she hissed, glancing around the classroom to make sure nobody overheard them. “You know I don’t believe that crap about Littles. Even my parents don’t, and they’re like…super plugged into what’s considered normal back home.”

Sophie still looked skeptical, but relaxed slightly.

Cam rubbed her forehead before continuing.

“What I’m saying is the social dynamic is going to change once people find out about Joey. Like…dramatically.”

The table went quiet.

“Think about it,” Cam continued. “Joey’s already one of the most well known guys in school. Top student, baseball player, literally one of the richest families in the country, all that stuff. The second people find out someone like him was vulnerable to Smallara and is a little, everybody’s gonna obsess over it.”

Lauren shifted slightly in her chair at that, her expression tightening for only a second before she looked back down at her notebook.

“And when people find out Roni’s his guardian…” she added quietly.

Cam immediately pointed toward her.

“Exactly. That changes the board completely.”

“That’s horrible,” Sophie muttered.

“I didn’t say it was good,” Cam shot back. “I’m saying pretending people won’t think like this is dumb.”

Roni frowned down at her notebook. “So what? People suddenly care about me because Joey’s a little?”

Cam grimaced slightly.

“Honestly? Yeah. Some will. People at this school care about status way more than they pretend to.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “God, that’s so messed up.”

“Welcome to Summit Peak,” Cam replied dryly before leaning forward again. “Look, Sabrina basically admitted it already at lunch. The second someone vulnerable becomes high value, people start circling.”

Lauren’s pencil stopped moving briefly.

“Especially if they think they can benefit socially from proximity,” she said absentmindedly, before going quiet again the moment everyone looked at her.

Cam narrowed her eyes slightly at Lauren’s comment, but continued talking.

“My point is this: you guys can’t keep acting nervous and defensive all the time once this gets out. That’s exactly what the Hive feeds on. If anything, you guys need to lean into confidence more.”

“Confidence?” Roni echoed.

“Yes, confidence,” Cam repeated firmly. “Because if people realize your group suddenly has social gravity, Sabrina’s either gonna want in with you guys or she’s gonna stay out of your way.”

“That sounds manipulative,” Sophie muttered.

“It’s survival,” Cam corrected immediately.

That shut Sophie up for a second.

Cam sighed, some of the sharpness leaving her voice.

“And honestly, Roni…” she started more carefully, “this might force you to become more emotionally independent too.”

Roni looked up immediately.

Cam held her hands up defensively.

“I’m not insulting you,” she said quickly. “But you rely on Joey a lot emotionally. Everybody here knows that.”

Roni’s cheeks burned red again, but she didn’t argue.

“You guys balance each other out,” Cam continued. “But once all this happens? Joey’s gonna need support too. He’s not always gonna be the calm one holding everything together anymore.”

Silence settled over the group after that.

Even Sophie didn’t interrupt this time.

Lauren quietly stared at her notebook, her expression distant in a way none of them fully noticed.

Cam leaned back in her chair and shrugged.

“I’m just saying maybe this is the point where you stop hiding behind Joey emotionally and realize you’re stronger than you think you are. You’re already outgoing, you socialize, you don’t hide from giving your opinion, you’re the whole package, Roni. You just need to, you know, stop outsourcing your confidence so much and try it on your own. It’s what’s best for you, and it’ll be what’s best for Joey in the long run.”

Roni wanted to say something. She felt defensive, upset about what Cam had said, but deep down, she also knew there was truth in it. If Joey hadn’t been around, Roni probably wouldn’t have pursued a lot of her past times had she not leaned on Joey for support. Sure she had her parents’ support, but there was just something that Joey had that gave her a nudge to go forward. Maybe it was his friendship, maybe it was the fact that if she didn’t drag him along socially, they would both be the quiet ones, but regardless, deep down, she knew she relied on his support almost to the point of selfishness.

What broke her from her emotional turmoil, though, was the door to the classroom opening and a freshman dropping off a note to Mr. Nguyen, who looked it over before looking up at Roni through his glasses.

“Veronica, please go up to the front office, it would appear you are going home early today with Joseph.”

Feeling a bit of relief to finally get away from such a heavy conversation, Roni nods, packing up her things and saying goodbye to the group, before leaving the classroom for the front office where Joey was most likely waiting.

Her walk there gave her time to really think about everything that had happened today at school. The revelation to the group about Joey’s condition, the deeper truth she told Sophie, the Hive, and the implications of what all she’s realized today.

However, it was a ball of paper that tapped her in the nose that brought her back to the present, followed by a laugh-turned-cough from Joey as he stood by the door to the admin office.

“Earth to Roni! I was saying your name for ever” Joey said dramatically, Roni smiling before laughing a bit.

“Sorry, guess I kinda zoned out. Maybe I’m getting sick too”

“Eww gross” Joey said in a way that faked a lack of self-awareness to his own illness, Roni blowing a raspberry in response as the two began to head to the parking lot.

“Here,” Joey said, tossing the keys to Roni, who was much more prepared than this morning, “We need to hurry if we’re going to get to Arden Fair before we go home”

Roni tilted her head as they walked,

“Arden Fair? What for?” she asked curiously

All Joey could do is sigh before looking over. 

“I want to go to LittleMart….”

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