Breaking the Rules
By: Melissa Speed
Tags: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Equality, Lgbtqia, 1990s

Breaking the Rules

Fiction response to P&Pen prompt: Rock the World!

Photo by Theme Photos on Unsplash

It was late September 1994 and sixteen-year-old Jen Harris was in her room talking to her sister, Claire, about the restrictions in school. The girls had shared a womb before sharing a bedroom in the Victorian terraced house that was their family home. They did not, however, share a school.

It had become apparent early in their lives that Jen was racing ahead of her sister (and her whole year group, for that matter) academically. Claire joked that Jen possessed the brains but she possessed the beauty, which of course wasn’t true, being identical. When the time came for their parents to apply for secondary school places for the girls, everyone expected Jen to be sent to one of the selective schools. No such expectations were held for Claire, but she didn’t mind. To Claire, those schools with their strict rules and restrictions were her idea of hell. Jen, on the other hand, felt like she would finally belong.

Now, five years later, as the girls chatted about their respective days, it was evident that Jen felt quite the opposite. Her school — an all-girls school in the city centre, two bus rides away — imposed a rigid uniform policy on all its pupils. Girls at Claire’s school could choose to wear trousers or skirts of varying styles, so long as they were the correct colour and within the acceptable range of lengths. Jen had to wear the one and only style and length available in the on-site uniform shop. It was not the uniform they were discussing this time, though this had been a bone of contention for quite some time for Jen, who found the school leadership team unrelenting on the subject. While Claire got to wear her hair any way she chose, Jen had to conform to one of the standard styles approved by her place of education.

“I’m gonna get my hair done this weekend,” Jen, told her sister, with a flash of mischief in her eyes.

“What — you mean, like, done differently? You won’t,” Claire replied.

“Oh, I will. I’m sick of it, Claire. What does it matter how I wear my hair? My grades are good, I’m punctual, I do everything I’m supposed to and ensure I stay on track…”

“You know they won’t allow it, Jen,” interrupted Claire. “They’ll suspend you, or worse.”

“And that’s fair?” asked Jen, her face full of indignation.

“Of course not, but then nothing about your school is fair, least of all its admissions policy. But you got in. You got in and you need to stay in. You’re smarter than most the teachers at my school, Jen. You need to be in a place like that.” Claire was trying to dissuade her twin from breaking the rules, no matter how much she approved of her motives. Jen fell silent, but Claire knew it wouldn’t be for long.

Jen flicked through her copy of NME magazine to the interview with her favourite singer, Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries. It was no secret to her sister that Jen admired more than Dolores’ music. They both felt pretty sure their parents knew, too. Dolores represented so much for Jen. It was more than an attraction, more than a fan’s adulation — it was respect and admiration too. Jen thrust the picture of the Irish beauty, with her cropped and bleached-blonde hair, towards her sister and declared “I’m going full-on Dolores.”

Claire saw the determination in Jen’s eyes and knew she meant it. “Do it — rock their whole damned world!” she said, a smile forming not only at the thought of her sister shaking up that stuffy old school, but from the realisation that Jen was finally going to take a stand and be true to herself.