CHAPTER 7

"So in conclusion, it is predominantly clear that Santa Claus does in fact exist." Ivy bowed her head as the other Debate Team members clapped politely.

"Alright, good work," Gabriela nodded. "Very well stated Ivy and you had a good layout of the facts. Your structure, however, could use some work. I'll go over it afterwards. But all in all, good job. Same to you, Chester," she nodded at Ivy's opponent.

"This is a complete waste of time," came the snide voice of Maximilian Dredden. "I mean seriously, do you honestly think the judges are going to ask us whether or not Santa Claus exists? You should be testing us on real stuff."

Gabriela visibly tensed up. "We don't know, Dredden," she said with presumed gritted teeth. "The judges are known to throw a variety of questions our way. Last year, one of the questions was who played a better Batman, Christian Bale or Michael Keaton. So, yes, we might get questions about foreign policy or judicial law. But we may just as well get questions about pop culture or yes, even Santa Claus. We have to be ready for anything."

"Besides, it's more fun this way," Ivy commented.

"Fun?" Dredden snorted. "What good is fun in the real world? What is the po-"

"Alright, moving on," Gabriela interrupted, all too familiar with Dredden's rants. "Next up, let's have Bokeem arguing for, and, uh, Sumin arguing against."

Sumin stood up and slowly made their way over to the front desks. Bokeem eyed them nervously. "Uh…good luck?" he offered.

Sumin stared at him for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

"Right then," Gabriela continued. "Your question is…how essential is college education?"

"It's very important!"

"Dredden, it's not your turn! Sumin, Bokeem, you have five minutes to prepare. Go."

Bokeem instantly started jotting things down in his notebook, muttering to himself. Sumin, however, simply leaned back, lacing their fingers together. A good, solid question. One, that they believed, appeared on General Debate Topics on the internet, and one (or perhaps something close to it) that stood a good chance of appearing in the decathlon. They began organizing their thoughts, pushing the different reasonings and arguments into specific categories and framing them all into a structure. They thought back to the conversations they'd heard over the years from their parents, relatives, and their older sister who had recently been accepted into college. They drew on the texts they had read, the videos they had watched, even the slightest talks in commercials. Every memory of college education resurfaced, forming into an outline in their mind.

"And…time's up!" Gabriela announced. Bokeem let out a whimper while Sumin opened their eyes, unlacing their fingers. "Ok, who wants to go first?"

Bokeem whimpered again.

"Sumin, how about you?"

Sumin gave a small nod and stood up, clearing their throat. They stared at all the peering eyes, took a deep breath, and began…

"Wow," Bokeem muttered several minutes later. "I-I-I can't do this. That was…it completely wrecked my whole argument. I'm-I'm sorry Gabriela, but I'm done."

"Um…" Gabriela blinked. "Ok, well…um, first off, Sumin, fantastic job as always. No critique here. Just keep it up. Now, Bokeem, do you know why I paired you with Sumin?"

"Because I'm a hopeless failure and you needed a reason to make me quit?"

Gabriela sighed so deeply that Sumin was pretty sure it vibrated their ears. "Do you really think so little of me? Bokeem, Sumin is one of the best debaters in this school. I paired you with them because you have a nerve problem. You're not going to get over it by always going up against easy debaters. You need to know what it's like to be up against the best if you want to continue."

"I'm sorry. I just get so nervous. Plus, their argument was too good! I couldn't argue with that!"

Sumin stood back up and walked over. Bokeem watched with wide eyes as they leaned over, picking up his notebook and going through it.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he asked as Sumin took out a pen and began underlining things.

"Good," Sumin commented, highlighting one argument. "Good. Very good," they emphasized, encircling a key point before handing the notebook back. "Good points. Hard to argue with."

"Uh…wait. Y-you really think so?"

Sumin placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are a good debater. Just nerves. Don't worry. You'll be fine on the team. Worthy addition."

"That's debatable," Dredden said. "Actually why don't we make that our next question? Should Bokeem stay on the team?"

"Shut up Dredden. Look Bokeem, why do you want to be on the debate team?"

"Uh…my mom wanted me to join to get better at public speaking."

"Yes, I know, I received her very blunt email, but why do you want to join? You specifically?"

Bokeem stared at the table surface and didn't move. He was so still in fact that Sumin imagined touching him and realizing he'd been a statue the whole time.

"I…I have a lot to say," he said after a minute. "I…I just have a hard time saying it."

Sumin smiled inwardly before seating themself next to him. "I know that feeling."

"You do?" Bokeem asked. "Because, and really no offense here, you don't talk too much."

"Yes," they agreed. "Too many words are unnecessary. So I say as much as I want and no more." They had once gone a whole month without saying a word. It had been an interesting sensation, to only communicate with gestures. But they had learned a lot about themself from that experience.

"You," they pointed, "have too much to say but cannot. So…" they picked up the notebook which had tons of scribbles throughout across every page, "you say it here. Now just say it," they gestured to their own mouth, "through here. It will take work. But I believe in you."

Bokeem smiled. "Thanks Sumin. That means a lot."

"Yes, well said, well said," Dredden proclaimed loudly, fake-clapping. "Now, if we've moved on from this kumbaya feel-good fest, can we get to the next team please?"

As Sumin walked away, Gabriela muttered a 'good job' and gave a wink as they passed her.

"Alright, nice work everybody," Gabriela told them all. "Keep working hard on those questions, practice when you can and I'll see you all here next meeting."

Sumin felt a clench in their gut as she said that. This was the moment they had been worried about. But, there was nothing they could do to avoid it. As their mother had once said, 'just rip off that damn Band-Aid, it won't hurt that much you sissy!' Of course, she had been talking to their father and it hadn't been encouragement exactly, but Sumin figured it still worked here.

As the others all left, Sumin walked over to Gabriela. "Oh, hey Sumin," she said, noticing them approach. "Nice work with Bokeem by the way. I think you really got through to him."

"It was nothing," they replied evenly. "We need to talk."

Gabriela's eyebrows went up. "Well, those aren't good words. What's up?"

"I will be taking a break from debate."

"Oh," Gabriela blinked. "Um…why?"

Sumin let off a small breath. "It's…personal. A family matter."

"Oh no. I hope everything's ok. I mean, it obviously isn't otherwise you wouldn't be saying as much right now but…I'm just going to stop talking now."

"It's fine," they said. "Just…for now…priorities."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Gabriela nodded. "Alright, well, I hope it all works out."

Sumin tilted their head to the side, unsure of what to say. So they just shrugged helplessly.

"I'll see you around, ok. And you know if you ever need anything, I'm there for you."

Sumin smiled. "Thank you," they said. "Means a lot."

But as soon as Gabriela left, their smile faded and the sinking feeling inside them grew as they imagined what they would find when they returned home.