to McMann didn’t leave me with the same fuzzy feeling, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“There’s no way you’re winning this election.”
“There’s still a month between now and Election Day,” he said. “A lot of time for secrets to come out. Secrets that might tip the election one way or another.” McMann clapped me on the shoulder and smirked. His eyes were cold and blue and dead. “I’m willing to bet you have some secrets, don’t you?”
McMann brushed past me, walked into his room, and shut the door.
What had he meant about secrets, and why had he looked at me that way when he’d said it? There was no way he could’ve known about me and Dean. There wasn’t even much to know yet. All he could know was what everyone else knew unless he had tiny cameras mounted on tiny drones following us everywhere we went, and that was ridiculous. The stuff of bad movies. But still, there was something in the way he said it that worried me. And what had he meant about Dean having a girlfriend? McMann didn’t seem like the type of person who did anything without having a reason; I just couldn’t figure his reasons out.
“Dre, there you are.” My mom came around the corner and waved for me to follow her. I wanted to find Dean and tell him about McMann. I wanted to know more about his supposed girlfriend, because, yeah, even though I trusted Dean and we had potentially bigger problems, I was still a little jealous. But it’s not like I could run from my mom. All I could do was wait and hope Dean and I could find a way to see each other after the debate.
Dean
THE NOTIFICATION COUNTER on my Promethean app was growing, and I couldn’t get away for five minutes to check the messages. I should have explained Mindy to Dre while we were in the closet, but I’d been so happy to see him and all I had wanted to do was kiss him that I’d let the opportunity slip away. And then I’d seen the jealous glint in his eyes when he’d spotted Mindy sitting beside me. Mindy might not have wanted any more to do with me than I did with her, but she had certainly played it up for the cameras. Or possibly just for her parents. Either way, I needed to explain the situation to Dre and reassure him that there was nothing going on.
Doing so, however, would require finding a way to sneak out of my parents’ suite in the hotel.
“It didn’t go very well, did it?” Mindy asked.
“Not unless your name is Jackson McMann,” I said.
The debate had been something of a disaster, and McMann had been the clear victor. Everyone who worked for my mother was doing damage control from the hotel where we’d gone after leaving the debate. Nora was juggling multiple phones, Mom’s communications director was working on a statement for her to release, Dad was fetching Mom tea and possibly something stronger if she needed it, and Mom was standing in the center of the storm, a little battered and bruised, but still in control.
None of them were paying attention to Mindy, Tamal, or me, but they were my guests, so I couldn’t just leave them.
“How was that even a debate?” Tamal asked.
“It wasn’t.”
Mindy snorted.
“What?” I asked. “McMann didn’t answer the questions. At least, not the questions that were asked.”
“Just because he didn’t perform the way you would have, doesn’t mean he didn’t crush it,” Mindy said.
Tamal’s expression was somewhere between appalled and impressed. I didn’t think he liked Mindy, but he definitely respected her willingness to speak her mind. “You don’t actually like the guy, do you?”
Mindy shrugged. “He’s a narcissist and possibly a sociopath, but at least he’s interesting. Besides, maybe it’s time we elect someone who doesn’t play by the rules.”
Not only had McMann not played by the rules, but he had seemingly not even bothered to read them. He had laughed at them and set them on fire. “Okay,” I said. “I understand you might think it’s cool that he’s not like other politicians—”
“Because he’s not one,” Mindy said.
“Right. But have you actually listened to some of his quote, unquote, solutions?” I gave Mindy a chance to withdraw her support for McMann, but she said nothing. “School shootings,” I said. “Rosario would probably ban guns if he could, my mom has a detailed plan for better mental health training for school counselors,