with. “The whole ‘we’re going to make this school a better place’ is great! I’m just wondering if maybe I should add some specific ideas of what we’re going to do to accomplish that. You know, like maybe—”
“Stop. Just stop.” Rhiannon looks like she swallowed a habanero pepper. “This is not going to be one of those campaigns.”
“The kind that win?” I venture, and immediately regret saying it when I see the monster flash in Rhiannon’s eyes.
“The kind,” she admonishes testily, “that uses fake promises and impossible changes that are only designed to win votes and that have no hope of ever getting done. This is an honest campaign. Not a popularity contest. We aren’t going to throw around words like ‘pizza’ and ‘karaoke’ just to get a cheer from the crowd.”
I take a moment to glance around the gym. The bleachers are nearly full now as the kids continue to file in. The sea of faces is starting to look familiar. I don’t have to scan the entire gym for Tristan, I know exactly where he’s sitting. He gives me an encouraging smile.
“Just stick to the script, okay?” Rhiannon finishes and I turn my attention back to her.
I shrug. “Okay.”
Principal Yates steps up to the mic and settles everyone down. Instinctively, I look to the front row where Owen sat the last two times, ready to share a conspiratorial smirk with him, but he’s not there. I do a quick scan of the crowd but don’t see him.
Is he even here?
Is he so mad that he decided not to come?
I feel a pang in my chest. Maybe I was too snappy in the hallway. He was probably just trying to help, like he always does. But if that’s the case, why did he attack me like that? We didn’t have a fight yesterday or the day before. Why this time?
Was it because I slipped up and revealed that I had read the book? Did the whole argument escalate because of one stupid comment? Or was that just the key that unlocked the door to something he’s been holding in for a while?
“And now, running for junior class vice president, please welcome Ellison Sparks, Sparks, Sparks.”
Like yesterday, the applause is forced at best. I step up to the mic, gripping the index cards in my hands and continuing to search the crowd for Owen. For some reason, I don’t think I can start this until I know where he is. Until I can apologize with just a look the way only he and I can do.
This is certainly not the first fight we’ve ever had. When you’re friends with someone for as long as we have been, you get into a few skirmishes from time to time. But for some reason, this feels bigger than that. Deeper, somehow.
Is it because of Tristan?
I sweep my gaze across the bleachers one last time but I see no sign of my best friend. My stomach feels like it’s full of lead. He’s not here. He didn’t even come. How could he abandon me like that?
My eyes land on Tristan instead and he gives me a nod and another smile.
That’s all I need.
I take a deep breath, glance down at my cards, and begin speaking as clearly as I can into the mic.
“Fellow students and members of the faculty. My name is Ellison Sparks and I’m running for junior class vice president. It is my great honor to stand up here today as a candidate and a fellow student and I…”
Swap card.
“… am excited about the things that my running mate, Rhiannon Marshall, and I have planned for the upcoming year. This is a great school.”
The room erupts in groans and quiet complaints of dissension. Principal Yates silences them all with a single look.
“A great school,” I start again. “But if you elect Rhiannon Marshall and me, we can make it even better. Rhiannon is the kind of girl who gets things done. She has a vision for what this place can be and she’s not afraid of the hard work and commitment it will take to achieve that vision. When Rhiannon asked me to…”
Swap card.
“… join her campaign, I was overjoyed. The thought of working alongside such a visionary was both inspiring and invigorating.”
I glance toward Rhiannon, standing off to the side. She’s smiling proudly at my words. Or rather her words.
This speech really is awful. It sounds even worse over the speaker system.
And who says “invigorating”? Apart from someone trying to sell