3 3

By the time I was all ready and was out the door, Nicole was already there, sitting in my driveway in her Ford Focus (which was black, of course). I sheepishly waved to her as soon as she saw me, and hopped in the car.

"Sorry." I started. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"A millennium and a half." she said, rolling her eyes. Across the seats, she gave me an awkward hug. "I've been here for two minutes. Chill, alright?"

I only nodded. She gave a small smile, which faded quickly in concentration as she backed out of my driveway.

"So, ready to give your big speech today?" She asked casually as she drove, making small conversation. Oh, shit. I had completely forgotten about it. I felt a sudden twinge of 'panic pain' in my heart, and judging from Nicole's shift in expression I think the color drained from my face.

"Yyyyyup, you totally forgot about it, didn't you?" she asked, a sly smile forming on her lips. "You know, you were so busy talking to me all weekend anyways – you could have easily invited me over. I would have gladly helped you write one." Noticing my silence, she added, "Hell, even I remembered that you needed a speech."

I blinked twice. "You weren't with me in the office… How do you know I needed a speech?"

"Grade 11." she winked at me and turned back to the road. In my head, I was trying to formulate some kind of speech, some kind of introduction to a speech, some kind of SOMETHING, but absolutely nothing was coming to me.

"When are these speeches again?" I asked her.

"9:30." she replied, eyes forward. "Then right after speech assembly is over, students vote."

God help me.

***

Even though we got to school around 7:50, the time flew by too fast. Some of her time was spent with me talking about what students listened to and why things like articulation and brevity are important, but it turns out she had something important to get to at 8:10. I guess that was why she went to school so early.

I spent most of my time before class just walking through the hallways. I don't do so well under pressure, and this whole situation was kind of getting to me. I think Nicole noticed; she gave me a hug and told me I'll do well right before she left. For a girl so spontaneous and tomboyish, you'd think she was rugged and smelled like motor oil or men's cologne or something, but her touch was actually really soft and gentle, and she smelled like lilac.

At about 8:50, I gave up wandering the halls. It was really nice to have a friend around, because when I was by myself, I felt nothing but overwhelmed. Not even nervous, just overwhelmed. And to think, it wasn't even November yet…

Quietly, I trudged into Mr. Carrozza's science class and sat down at my desk. I was the only one there besides him, since not a lot of students were exactly his biggest fans. As I sat down, the noise alerted him and he looked up from his desk.

"Ah, young master Watson." He looked pleased to see me, or another living soul. "Can I help you?"

"…I'm in your class, Mr. Carrozza." I said slowly to him. I wasn't sure if sleep was never kind to him, or if he was just batty. Frankly, it may as well have been a combination of the two.

"Ah yes, so you are." Mr. Carrozza said, looking back down at his paper. "Well, welcome. If you'd like to get a head start, today we'll be looking at cameras and how light is… Wait a moment…" He slowly looked up from his desk, looking like he had just remembered something. "Adam Watson… There was something that I wanted to say to you today."

I waited for a few seconds before filling in the blanks for him. "Was it about the election?"

"Ah, yes! The election!" His old, dim eyes light up behind his large frames, and his gaze centered on me. "All students running for elections need to be present in the gymnasium before the assembly."

"Oh, really?" I asked him. "And when should I be there?"

"Nine o' clock." Mr. Carrozza said. "You might as well get down there now."

"Good idea." I said, defeated. I pulled myself out of the chair and began to slink to the gymnasium, leaving my backpack behind. Oh well. At least it would all be over soon.

***

Because of the school's population, we had to hold assemblies in the gym since the auditorium might be able to fit a fourth of the school in it, tops. I didn't much like it in there. It was big, echoey, and too bright. It made me feel small.

In a structural sense, though, it looked nice. It had fold-out bleachers as well as a big space to begin with, and even a small stage for small school events to take place during assemblies. Like, say, elections.

As I found out when I got there, it was called the 'elections' rather than the 'election' because grade 10 students were also running for a position at this time, so the stage was filled with preppy people, all looking smug and confident. Then there was me.

I took a look around, trying to see if I could adapt to this unfamiliar environment. Around the stage were people I couldn't recognize, most of them wearing polo shirts and using words like 'totally' and 'bro.' Blondie from my drama class was there too. I guess he was one of the candidates.

After standing awkwardly through the morning announcements, it was 9:03 and we were all graced by a powerful new presence in the room, in the form of what looked like a tall grade 12. He had a bit of a goofy-looking grin on his face, ginger hair, and a striped sweater that clung to him with its life.

"What's up, guys?" he began. "It's great to see you all here. My name's Phil, and I'm your student council president. I'm just gonna be going over a few things before we get going here."

In my quietest and squeakiest of voices, I interrupted. "Phil Love?" I asked him.

He stopped his speech and turned to me, his goofy grin reappearing. "That's me, man." He said as he patted me on the shoulder forcefully. "You get extra points for knowing who I am. I've heard you've been doing research." he winked at me and returned to his speech. Do people wink more now in high school than they did before?

"Alright, now I just need to go over a few basics before we begin." he began. "Firstly, I'd like all grade 9 tryouts over here on my left side. Those in grade 10, on my right." We all shifted to accommodate his instructions. "Great. Now, you all in grade 9, you'll be trying out for grade 9 rep. You will be representing the school, helping out at school events, keeping news stuff organized for the school's website and monthly newsletter, and are expected to attend every meeting on Mondays at 3, starting today if you win."

Oh, crap. If these meetings lasted until past 3:30, I definitely couldn't get in.

"10s, you're going to get a bit more responsibility. You're expected to help at events, organize school dances, help us manage our budgets, and take care of advertising so that everyone knows what's going on when. You all will have to maintain an average of at least an average of 70 in all classes to represent the school properly. If any of you don't want this responsibility, you're in the wrong place. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded their heads, and Phil enthusiastically grinned. "Great. Now it's not all serious stuff. Student council is honestly the greatest thing I ever chose to do here. You're going to have a blast, we'll make sure of it. I've been here for all four years, so take it from me. But to get in, you must win over your people, your classmates, the school. Today, you all will be doing that with speeches that you've spent a good long while preparing, I'm sure."

I swallowed hard.

"Now, I know we're normally supposed to check these speeches of yours, but we decided not to this year, to let you guys feel this is all on you." Phil continued. I breathed a sigh of relief. God was on my side.

"However of course, there are ground rules." he sternly spoke. "First, no profanity, swear words, dirty talk, student council doesn't have room for that. Second, no bashing other candidates. I don't care if he just went up and made a shitty speech – pardon my French – you don't say anything bad about the other folks running. Third, keep it under two minutes. You wanna tell people why they wanna vote for you quick, then stand down while you still have their attention. Don't bore them." He paused to make sure we get it, and was met with a sea of nods.

"Great. You guys are awesome for just trying out, remember that. You're all winners already." Yup, he was a president all right. Filled the cheesy quota and everything. "Feel free to hang around here until the assembly starts and do whatever, but at 9:30 sharp, you're here, at this stage, sitting down on those chairs." He pointed to a corner of the stage where 10 chairs sat. "Alright, are there any questions?"

Naturally, no one had a thing to say, so Phil nodded and went about his duties. Everyone else started practicing or talking to other people, but I just wanted to sit down. I grabbed the closest chair to me, and sat down, putting my head down.

I almost fell asleep, and was snapped out of my trance by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" I heard a concerned male voice ask. I looked up to see that two other candidates have ambushed me, with a guy on my left and a girl on my right. Both of them had blond hair, and while hers was draped over her shoulders, his was just past his ears and sort of waved in one direction. The both of them were wearing glasses, and I could tell immediately that they were siblings.

"Oh, I'm fine!" I said with more enthusiasm than was necessary, to prove my point. "I'm just a little sleepy, that's all. Woke up early."

The boy removed his hand from my shoulder and nodded. "Alright, just making sure. I couldn't sleep myself. I'm Matt." he outstretched his hand and I shook it weakly. He gestured towards the girl. "And this here is my little sister Megan."

I shook her hand too. "Oh, so you two know each other?" I joked. Matt smiled.

"I'm trying out for grade 10 rep this year." Matt explained. "I was grade 9 rep last year, so it ought to be easy. Megan's trying to follow in my footsteps."

"So heredity is on her side." I said. Matt shrugged.

"It's a popularity thing, so it couldn't hurt. Besides, with you playing the door-to-door politician, she'll need all the edge she can get." He playfully punched my arm. It actually kind of hurt.

"May the best candidate win." she said softly, speaking for the first time. I guess she didn't talk much. They were dressed like they belonged in a high school setting – he was wearing a blue polo, with sandblasted jeans and a big watch to complete the set. She was wearing a slightly loose knit sweater with what looked like no t-shirt underneath. She wore a short skirt and good-looking shoes, contrasting Matt's worn sneakers. I suddenly felt very self-conscious of the old t-shirt and jeans I had just thrown on this morning. I guess I should have dressed for success.

Matt and I made small talk, with Megan saying barely a word in between, until we looked up and realized that the gym was full of students. Matt checked his watch. 9:32. "Showtime." he said excitedly. Every emotion I felt at that moment contributed to my desire to throw up.

Phil took to the stage and gave the usual cheesy speech about us starting a journey and how great student council is. After he was done, Mr. Scott, our esteemed principal, took to the stage.

Mr. Scott was great if you ask me. On the outside, he was everything you expected in a stereotypical principal – a cheerful expression, grey hair, a tweed jacket, and a big, loud tie to seal the deal. When he spoke, though, he knew exactly what to say and how much. He knew how to talk to students, not talk down to them, something I respected quite a lot. His speech was more to the effect of why we deserve the students' time and how we'll be representing the school, something to keep in mind during the elections. He then took his seat, and Phil called Matt to the podium. I guess grade 10s were going first.

Then lightning struck me. Shit. I remembered I had no speech prepared. Everything started to fade out. I could hear laughter from Matt's speech, but it became more and more faint. Dark thoughts started to swirl around my head. I had absolutely nothing, I was a failure. I was about to go in front of the entire school, perhaps the most shy guy in school, and I had absolutely nothing prepared. How idiotic could I be? The whole school was going to laugh at me. I would disappoint everyone – Nicole, Phil, Mr. Salvador, mom…

I felt a soft touch on my hand that brought me back to reality. I looked to my hand and found Megan's on top of it, her thumb caressing the skin of my hand. "Are you okay?" she whispered, nothing but concern on her face. "You were breathing really hard there…"

Was I? It sure sounded like me. I was nervous as all hell, and just wanted to leave. Or cry. Or both. God, I was a wreck. I smiled at her. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Just nervous."

She took my hand in hers. Her touch was absolutely electric. Her hands were delicate, yet deliberate, and suddenly my smile felt genuine. "I'm nervous too. It's okay." She held my hand and paused before adding, "It'll be over with soon. Might as well go through with it now we're here, hm?"

My smile didn't fade, and I nodded. I let go of her hand reluctantly and turned my attention back to the podium, where Phil was there again thanking all of the grade 10 candidates. How much time had passed?! He then turned his attention to us and introduced us to the crowd. The crowd, mostly the grade nine section, cheered.

"Great." he said enthusiastically. "Now, you may recognize this next girl by her brother, who made that great speech about the tornado and the science lab."

Matt leaned in to me, a smug expression on his face. "I made that part up myself."

"Let's give a warm welcome to our first candidate, Megan Schneider!�� Phil lead the clapping as Megan timidly took to the stage. She cleared her throat and began her speech, which wasn't half bad. I couldn't concentrate, however, due to my own nervousness. I think I started breathing heavily again as I debated in my head what I was going to do. I think Matt heard me, and empathy must run in his family or something. Next thing I knew, a hand I guessed was his was rubbing my back reassuringly. "Relax, man." Matt said soothingly. "It's all good." After a bit, the rubbing stopped, but his hand remained on my shoulder. It felt nice to have people in my life who actually cared when I was feeling down. I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but this was the first time in my life someone outside of family was helping me when I was down, and it meant the world to me.

When I looked up, Megan was back in her seat and Phil was at the podium. "I think you're up next, man." Matt said, now both of his hands on my shoulders to support me in getting up.

Sure enough, at that moment I heard Phil say, "…And when it comes to the issues this guy has done his homework. Here he is, Adam Watson!"

Matt had no shame in standing up and helping me get on my own two feet until he was confident I could walk to the podium myself. My heart was pounding in my chest. My legs felt like they were made of solid lead. I managed to make my way over to the podium and clear my throat as the cheering died down.

But just as it did, one guy declared, more loudly than he should have, "Hey! That's the guy who asked what we want in the school!" I looked down and could only smile in disbelief. It was Carson, the guy from my math class. He definitely already knew who I was, but I guess he thought this could give me a boost.

The result was instantaneous. As if the cheering had never died down, it erupted for a second time, this time louder than the last. I had absolutely no words for the moment. These students, people I had only met a few days ago, were being so selfless and helping me. I was overwhelmed. So much so, that my throat was closing up. I cleared my throat again, in what the audience took as a sign of me beginning my speech.

"Um…" I began. Stellar beginning. I think I really sold it with the 'm' sound. My heart began pounding even harder than others. My nervousness, surprise at everyone's kindness, past stress and lack of preparation were welling up from within me. I could tell, I was going to cry. How lame would that be? Yes sir, vote for the crying dolt. I had to take some edge off. I needed some sort of release, a joke or something.

I breathed once, and again. "My fellow Americans…" I started, earning a chuckle from the crowd. Well, that was it, filled my joke quota. I needed to follow that up with something serious. I passed the mic to my brain as I began to freestyle, not knowing the words coming out of my own mouth.

"The people of this school… are something special." I began, not knowing why I said that or where it came from. "During my campaign over the last week, I've been asking you what needs fixing, what's wrong with the school. But I'd like to take some time and tell you what's right with it. About a minute ago, I was in that chair, on the verge of a panic attack."

My arms were visibly shaking, and Phil's eyes were going back and forth, not knowing where this was going. Matt got up from his chair and practically ran to my side. "Hey man, you don't have to do this. If you're not okay, you can skip the speech." he whispered, concerned.

I used him coming up to my side to my advantage and pointed to him. "But thanks to this guy, Thanks to Matt and Megan Schneider, I'm okay. They saw I was not okay, and without even really knowing me, without giving it a second thought, they made sure I was okay." I was still shaking. I wasn't sure, but I think a single tear was falling from my eye. What a wimp, I scolded myself. I was crying in front of the whole school. I felt lame beyond the limits of lame.

"A school where people do that is a school I want to represent." I heard coming out of my mouth. "In the past, I've been at schools where people will just as gladly take your lunch money or leave you with a bruise as say hi. I signed up for student council, because thanks to you all, this is a school worth representing."

There was a large pause. It was clear I wasn't done, but I felt the pause was necessary. A second tear was now rolling down from my second eye, despite me telling my inner self to get a grip. Unlike other speeches, no one was saying a word in the crowd. My speech had silenced them. "If you vote for me as your grade 9 rep, I can't promise that I will fix every single thing you've told me. But I remember them, every single thing you've told me. And I can promise that I will fight like hell to make this school worthy of its students. If you guys can show me this strongly why you deserve the best, then you bet I will do anything I can to make sure this school becomes like its students – the best in the world."

It took Phil what felt like two whole minutes to stop half the crowd from continuously applauding as Matt helped me back to my seat. My hands were buried in my face now, and I wasn't happy or confident to admit it, but I was now bawling my eyes out. Was it relief that it was over? Guilt that I was so lame as to cry during a speech? The past stress? I didn't know. All I knew was that was I now had both Matt and Megan supporting me as I produced enough tears to irrigate a rice field, and that Blondie was up. I didn't pay much attention to him – I only learned later that he had bombed. Apparently he forgot his speech. I guess he should have made it up.

***

Since candidates aren't allowed to elect anyways, with Mr. Carrozza's blessing, I spent the rest of the period in the washroom freshening up as everyone else in the school voted. I showed up to his room around the same time as everyone else left.

Some people were congratulating me as they left. Others actually seemed ticked off. Apparently some students saw me crying and thought it was an act to get more votes, that I was faking it. At this point, though, I honestly didn't care anymore. The voting was done, my speech was done, I never had to do anything like that again.

As I picked up my backpack, Mr. Carrozza stopped me. "How did you know in your speech that those two were going to help you?" he asked. "Your experiment was a delightful success, but either you were lying or you were taking a great risk in knowing they would step to your aid if you wrote that on the weekend."

"Between us?" I asked Mr. Carrozza. He nodded. I looked around left and right, before leaning in and whispering, "I never wrote a speech."

"Oh, my my my my." Mr. Carrozza said to himself, collecting his thoughts. "Well I say, on the one hand, very well done!"

"…On the other?" I asked him.

"I mean no offense by saying this, young master Watson, but I expect more responsibility in someone from Student Council."

I couldn't contest that. He was right. I was supposed to write a speech, it was the rule. I'll have to look out for my responsibilities in the future, whether I got in to the council or not.

"Point taken, sir." I said.

He nodded seriously, before adding, "Now run along. And don't call me sir, it makes me feel old."

As I left the classroom, I heard him mumble to himself, "My god, I am old." I chuckled to myself. Some things never change.

I walked down the hallway at a leisurely pace, enjoying my sudden feeling of inner freedom, when I heard a kind of shy "Hey." next to me.

I turned my head to see May. My gaze immediately went to the floor out of instinct, then back to her. "Hey!" I replied, not sure how confident it sounded.

"It was quite something you said today." she said, flashing me a smile.

I scoffed. "Yeah, if you count fake crying as 'quite something.'"

"It didn't seem fake to me. It seemed very real." she replied, softly yet strongly.

"It was, yeah." I said quietly.

"If you ask me, that was really brave." she told me, looking me straight in the eyes and flashing me a smile.

I smiled back. "Thanks." I said, not sure what else to say. I felt like if I talked to her, I might say something out of turn and… I mean, she clearly is okay with me now, I couldn't jeopardize that by talking to her! What if I say something and she doesn't talk to me for a week again? Maybe that's what happened last time. Maybe I offended her. Um, quick, look down at your shoes, I thought.

"What class do you have next?" she asked me, making me look up from my shoes.

"Um, math." I said dumbly.

She nodded. "I have geography."

"Ah, I see." I said quickly, ever-wishing I was more confident. "Well, uh… I hope you enjoy it."

"Yeah, you too." She smiled sweetly. "I'll see you in English?"

I laughed and said the first thing that came to mind. "God, I hope so." I immediately cringed after, and looked at her, seeing a look of disgust on her face.

Oh, never mind, that was my imagination working against me. She was actually just maintaining her smile. "Me too!" she said in a chipper manner. "See you!" She took off down another hallway.

I sighed, then inhaled sharply, catching a whiff of what I could guess was her perfume. I had no clue what it was, I just knew that it smelled absolutely lovely. Even after she was gone, the conversation replayed over and over in my mind, and I was fantasizing about talking some more. About her favorite color, or her grade 8 year, anything…

Wham. Right into the wall. I was lost in thought, I thought as I gingerly rubbed my nose. God dammit, I did have a crush on May.

***

Math class went by uneventfully until the announcement. Mr. Graves gave me a small nod as I entered the classroom, his form of a smile, clearly related to the Student Council incident. Mostly I just thanked Carson over and over for the first five minutes of class. I don't think I could have gotten through the speech without his kindness. He brushed it off and said I'd do the same. God, I hoped I was the kind who would.

The PA system crackled halfway through the lesson, signaling that someone had an announcement.

"Good morning, staff and students. This is Mr. Scott speaking." came the voice. Mr. Scott always began his announcements like that. "I'd just like to tell you that we've counted all of the votes and the results are in!"

"This is it, man, this is it." Carson told me.

"You're so excited about my possible achievement. What about you?" I asked him.

"Well, when I do something noteworthy, you'll be the first to know." He said. He added threateningly, "And you'd better be the first to congratulate me."

We both laughed it off as Mr. Scott continued. "Winning by a landslide, your grade 10 rep for next year is Matthew Schneider…"

Carson blew a raspberry. "Big shock. That guy's been a popular prep ever since he came here."

"Hey, he's a nice guy too." I came to his aid.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Carson fired back.

"And your grade rep for grade 9… Megan Schneider…"

My heart sank. I didn't particularly want the job, but it was something nice to work towards, and after pouring my heart out to the students, it was kind of sad to know that it was all in vain. Still I suppose this was an opportunity for me to see what I've gained from the experience and keep going from there.

"…And Adam Watson tied in the polls, so in an unusual circumstance, we've allowed them to both assume the role."

Well, fuck me. I won. Carson was the first to cheer in an unexpectedly loud fashion, and the other students chipped in to a lesser extent. Mr. Graves sat at his desk, without a smile yet clapping for me. It was the biggest gesture I've seen him give anybody.

***

At lunch time, Nicole texted me to meet her in the main hallway. As soon as I showed up, she burst out of the crowd and gave me a huge hug.

"There's my little crybaby!" she said as she pulled me against her, pushing her tits against me in the process.

I chuckled. "Thanks."

"I'm so proud of you, ya little sap." she continued as she broke the hug, only to kiss me on the cheek. Several passerby raised their eyebrows at that.

"I still can't believe that I did it. I'm in." I said almost breathily.

"You did it, you're in, you're one of the council." She repeated giddily. "Now you know that this means you'll be staying after school for one of their meetings, right?"

Crap. I forgot clean about that. I guess this meant texting my mom when she was done work… at 5. Hopefully these meetings go on for long, because I had the feeling I was going to be very bored after the meeting was over.

"How is it that you could remember when council has meetings and not me?" I asked aloud, damning my own memory.

"Grade 11, freshman." she winked.

"Is 'grade 11' code for 'psychic'?" I winked back.

"I do what I can." She grinned and hugged me again. "Anyway, I've got to get going but I just really wanted to congratulate you. Just don't cry on me."

"Thanks. That means a lot." I said genuinely. She waved to me as she skipped down the hallways, leaving me behind, staring at her ass. Great, I thought to myself. A great ass too. As if I didn't have enough of a problem with staring at her.

***

Despite May's earlier cheerful point, English class went by uneventfully and the only encounter I had with her was a cheerful wave when she sat down at her desk. Otherwise, it was back to To Kill a Mockingbird.

It was drama class which excited me. After the speech, I actually felt a little bit more comfortable in the classroom, even with such a presence as Mr. Salvador looming over us. Today, of course, was no exception to that looming power.

"Hello." he said simply, yet powerfully. "We have a lot to do today, or more specifically, you have a lot to go over today." he snickered. It wasn't uncommon for him to do that at his own jokes. "I have with me ten very different s. I want you all to find a partner. This will be a long-term project, so find a partner you think you'll work well with." He let us go about our business. Being… well, being me, I remained completely still, afraid to make the first step as other people claimed partners.

I heard a familiar "Hey." beside me and turned to face May.

"Hey!" I said cheerfully, and she took a seat next to me.

"Mr. Salvador told us to find someone we work well with, and I haven't worked with many people."

"Oh yeah?" I asked. I was too scared to ask her if she would be my partner.

"Yeah." she softly replied and looked down. "Well, anyways…" she said as she got up and started to walk off.

God dammit, this was about finding drama partners, why was there this tension? I felt like the moment was romantic. I bet she didn't, though. I bet that's why she was walking away. I needed to make it clear to her that I didn't mean any offense.

"Hey, May." I called out, she stopped where she was and pivoted to look at me, nothing but innocence on her face.

"Yes, Adam?" She asked me sweetly.

"Will you be my partner?" Were the words that exited my mouth before I thought about them.

"Sure!" She said, as if the whole scene before hadn't happened.

"Aaaaaand time." Mr. Salvador called out, clearly not amused. "Hanna, how long did that take us?"

"Four minutes, thirty-two seconds." Hanna, clearly an over-enthused drama student, piped up.

"Four minutes, thirty-two seconds." Mr. Salvador repeated. "That took way too long. In this class, I expect you to take initiative, and I expect you to act quickly, on impulse." Rub it in, why don't you. "Next time you'll have your partners by two minutes. Understood?"

A chorus of 'yes' filled the auditorium. "Good." Mr. Salvador said. "Now, label yourselves A and B."

May was A. We went through this before. No words even had to be said.

"B's, come up and collect your ." He reached beside him, and retrieved an upside-down bowler hat.

"Uh, Salvador… that's a hat." A boy with very short brown hair and a goatee piped up.

"Thank you, Callum." Mr. Salvador thanked him. "Your s are in the hat. Come and get them."

I, like everyone else, shrugged and went forward to collect our . I reached into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper that said, "A tree gets chopped down."

Everyone else questioned whether these were s, but I knew Mr. Salvador's game by now.

"All of you have a basic action as your . By this time next Monday, you will have a full, 5-minute piece that shows this action. You're going to be performing as non-human objects, and I want you to make sure you're not a character, you're not living, and you don't look human. It's a challenge, so don't take this task lightly. I want you to make the entire piece interesting. I want the piece to have its own plot. You can talk to me if you want lighting or music preferences, other than that, it's all up to you. If you want me to view what you have so far, I'll be in the room. Come and find me. Go."

Everyone flew onstage to claim their own piece of the aud to work with. May, however, had a different idea. "Follow me." she instructed me. She was really cute when she gave orders.

"Mr. Salvador!" She called out to him.

"You can't show me anything yet. It's too early. Keep working." He told her.

"No, it's not that." she responded. "Could we maybe go outside to look at trees? If we're going to be acting as them, I want to make sure we make it as accurate as possible."

A smile formed on Mr. Salvador's lips. "Absolutely. I'm guessing you got 'a tree gets chopped down'? Just make sure you don't go anywhere other than in front of the school. There are some trees there."

She and I enthusiastically nodded. What a great idea! I marveled at her imagination. I'm glad I was working with May, and not just for the obvious reason.

***

By the end of drama class, May and I actually got a lot done. We looked at the trees from every angle, and tried to mimic them with our bodies. Then we discussed who would be the axe, and planned how that would span five minutes. We figured that was good enough for one day, and sat down on the front steps of the school.

"Are you liking grade nine so far?" she asked me.

I snickered. "If you had asked me a week ago you'd be getting a very different answer." I thought of Nicole, and what we had done in her car only days before.

She grinned. "I don't suppose that had anything to do with me transferring to this class, does it?" she asked with a wink.

I turned pink and looked at my shoes. "Hey." she said after a bit. "It was just a joke! You don't have to answer that."

Feeling the tension, she broke it with "Besides, I'm sure that answer was definitely 'yes.'"

"And what makes you so sure?" I asked her with a smirk.

"Well, what else happened in the last week that made high school so much better?" she challenged me.

For a second, I opened my mouth to give her the answer on my mind, but luckily I remembered that perhaps it would be too crass to mention it like that. I was crushing on May, for goodness sakes. Telling her about my sexual adventures wasn't going to do me any favors.

She took my silence as a victory. "Thought so." She said triumphantly.

"Well, are you?" I asked her.

"Huh?"

"Are you liking grade nine so far?"

"Well…" she started hesitantly. "I've been getting less shy lately, and I actually feel comfortable here now. So I guess that's good."

"Yeah? Have you been making friends?" I asked her.

"A few." she replied, suddenly losing energy. "I guess. I haven't really been connecting with anyone that much since I got here. And we both know how much I suck at showing emotions." she added, referencing last Monday.

"Hey, you were great. I just suck at guessing." I defended her, standing up. "And if you need a friend, I'm right here. If… If you want a friend, that is."

She giggled, which was adorable and brought out her beautiful smile again. She hopped off the steps and hugged me. "Thanks, Adam." she told me. My hands hovered for a second, before embracing her back. Suddenly, I became aware that her breasts were pushing into my chest, and before an awkward situation could pop up, gently pushed her away. Luckily, she just took it as the hug being over.

"Do you have a cell phone?" she asked me. "I might take you up on that offer."

Too happy for words, my heart in my throat, I whipped out my cell phone and we exchanged numbers.

"Great." she said happily. She fell silent, then added with a sly face, "Hopefully your girlfriend won't mind if I text you."

"Girlfriend?" I was genuinely puzzled, until I put the pieces together. "Who, Nicole?"

"The camera girl? Yeah, I've seen her around school a lot. She takes that camera everywhere, it's weird. Anyway, I saw you two during lunch. I thought I saw her kiss you! On the cheek, but still."

Now, I didn't want to lie to her, but this was also my first crush. I didn't want to blow it so soon. "Nah, she's just my neighbor." I said to her with a confident voice. "We've known each other since… I was still using a car seat." It was not technically a lie, since I did sit on her. "But we would never be… No, not like that. She's like a sister to me."

Bleh. Well, I just disgusted myself, but from the look on her face, she bought it. "Oh, okay!" she said in her normal cheerful voice. She played with a lock of her hair, something I never really saw her do before, and slowly started to speak. "So does that mean… Are you…"

"Bell rang!" came the voice of Mr. Salvador through the open school doors. "I hope you two got up to more than just chatting out here."

Despite his powerful persona, May didn't ever seem fazed by him. "We did, as a matter of fact. A lot more." She flashed me a quick smile and headed inside.

I followed, while Mr. Salvador was still holding open the door. By this time, she was already out of sight. "Are you two together?" Mr. Salvador asked me.

Oh, the irony. "Nope." I simply answered as we started walking.

"Oh, good." Mr. Salvador replied.

"Good?" I asked him.

"In drama, two types of groups don't work well together. People who hate each other, and people who love each other. Both types let personal feelings guide their choices instead of what should come normally in a drama piece."

"Hmm." Was all I could think to say. "Does that affect normal lives too?"

He flashed me a quick smile. "Drama is just an extension of normal life."

"Fair enough!" I replied.

"Good work earlier, by the way. You had true emotion behind your words." he told me as we neared the classroom.

"I guess." I simply responded. "People here inspired me. Although a lot of people thought my crying was fake."

"It wasn't." was all he said, like it was an order. Of course, he was a drama teacher. He would be able to tell.

By the time I got to the classroom, May was gone. She must have left in a hurry. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and noted Mr. Salvador on the stage, inspecting the lighting. "Take care!" I called to him.

He didn't say goodbye. I don't think he ever did.