“Oh my God!”

The girl standing in the middle of the cafeteria fell down, her tray tumbling down with her. Chocolate milk soaked her jeans and fries flew in the air. Her ramekin of ketchup exploded on her shoes, the burger splattering on the ground.

“You know, I kind of feel bad for her.” Summer Fitzgerald laughed into her French-manicured hand.

I glanced back at the fallen girl as one of her friends ran up to her and began helping her.

“Who tripped her?”

Summer whispered into my ear. “Cory.”

Her boyfriend, Cory Kingston, shot her a wink as he walked by. She blew him a kiss.

“Is she running against you for student body president?” Lila Everett asked.

“Yeah, there’s no way she’ll beat me.” Summer turned back to her salad, picking at it with her silver fork.

“But she’s super nice to everyone.” Ellison Winefall murmured.

Summer fixed Ellison with a glare. Ellison frowned and pulled out her phone.

“Between me being president, Mille being treasurer, Camden being junior representative, Cory being secretary, and Jackson being vice president, we have the election in the bag.” Summer leaned back in her chair.

“You have a point.” Lila murmured. She pulled out her homework and groaned.

“Also, didn’t someone on the lacrosse team ask her to homecoming?” Diana Everhart looked up from her book at us.

Summer rolled her eyes and tossed her golden blond hair over a toned shoulder.

“Yeah, he did it for a dare. He’s actually going with someone else. I have no idea if she’s even coming to that dance, she has no friends who are going.” Summer shook her head.

Someone touched my waist. I jumped before turning around, realizing it was my boyfriend, Jason Youngblood.

“Jason, don’t scare me!” I slapped his shoulder lightly.

Jason laughed and sat down, tugging me onto his lap.

“What are we talking about?” He murmured, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“We’re talking about how that girl isn’t going to be president of St. Jude’s.” I pointed her out, taking my phone out of my purse.

St. Jude’s was our school, a private coed school with a religious background. We were no longer required to pray for a class period, but if you were very religious, you were allowed a class period to worship God.

“What’s her name?” Jason’s eyebrows drew in. I shrugged.

“No idea. I think she’s new.” I leaned over and grabbed Summer’s last baby carrot, popping it in my mouth with a satisfying crunch.

“Do you want to go home now?” Jason asked.

I nodded.

Jason grabbed my hand and brought me outside. His black Lamborghini was waiting in the parking lot, shining in the late afternoon sunlight. I slipped into the passenger seat. He began driving.

“How are things with Theron and Madelaine?” I asked, taking out my lip balm. I rubbed it across my lips.

Jason was triplets with Theron and Brooke. Theron was the oldest, Jason the middle born, and Brooke the last. Theron and Diana’s cousin, Madelaine Everhart, had been dating for quite some time now.

“Good, they’re fine.” Jason murmured.

He dropped me off at home.

I sat down and began creating the home page for our friend’s election website. I made an individual page for each candidate. Summer’s page was rose gold and pale pink, listing her best attributes with pictures of her helping the community and with her friends. I texted her a picture of the website. She sent back an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Tomorrow was the electoral debate.

I woke up the next day and put on a nice black dress with an intricate cutout in the back. As Summer’s campaign manager, I was expected to wear something semi-formal. I was pulling on cherry red leather flats when I heard a car honk.

I scrambled down the stairs and grabbed my backpack before running out the door. Jason was waiting for me. He lowered the window and waved at me. I waved back before climbing into his car.

“You ready?” Jason began driving.

“Yeah, I’m just nervous for Summer. That new girl is on the debate team and she led her Academic Decathlon team at her old school for a national win.” I muttered.

“Don’t worry about Summer or any of them. At least two members of the people we want on the executive board are going to make it.” Jason assured me, reaching over and squeezing my hand gently.

“You’re right.” I closed my eyes.

Summer was waiting for me in the cafeteria. She was leaning against the wall, wearing a navy blue blazer over a white button-down and black slacks, paired with four-inch fire engine red heels. She saw where I was and walked towards me.

“Hey!” I greeted her.

Summer smiled. That was when I noticed she was wearing makeup. She rarely wore makeup, saying only self-conscious or extremely narcissistic girls wore makeup.

“Good luck today. No matter what, you have our lunch table’s votes.” I promised as I purchased a cinnamon bun from the cafeteria. I took a satisfying bite before Summer nodded.

“I hate that we have two class periods before. I want to get the debate over with now.” she groaned.

“That sucks. But you do have that free period for second period. You can prepare then.” I reminded her.

She brightened. “I forgot about that! Thank you.”

“No problem. You’re going to work that stage.”

Summer threw her arms around me, surrounding me with her Chanel No. 5 perfume. She let me go and walked off to a group of mutual friends.

The bell rang for third period. I walked to the auditorium and entered through a door, ending up behind the stage.

The new girl was with her campaign manager, a timid boy named Eric Shirer. Summer was breathing deeply while Cory was saying something to her. Mille Bass and Jackson Turner were doing their complicated handshake. Camden Kingston, Cory’s fraternal twin, was flipping through his flashcards frantically.

I tapped Cory on the shoulder. He turned and gave me a brief side-hug.

“You will beat her. I know you can do it.” I gave Summer’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

Summer nodded.

“Summer Fitzgerald and Anna Sims!”

I watched Summer and Anna enter the stage from opposite sides on the large monitor on both sides’ backstage. Anna was wearing a frumpy tweed skirt suit and pantyhose, her rectangular black-rimmed glasses perched high on her nose.

“What are your thoughts on the increase of required volunteer hours from fifty to one hundred and twenty? Summer?” Principal Zhou asked them.

“I think it’s not necessary. Lots of us volunteer over fifty hours regularly. This just increases the chance that one won’t be able to complete their volunteering before graduation. Our average of volunteer hours last year for our graduating class was three hundred and fifty. This just proves my point that most of us have done a lot of volunteering, we didn’t need such a large mandatory requirement.” Summer smiled and handed the microphone to Anna.

“I think the increase in volunteer hours was needed. There are so many of us who need that push to help the community.” Anna closed her eyes and opened them, fixating on a crowd of laughing juniors.

“What are your thoughts over taking on a specified meal plan implemented by the current First Lady? Summer?” Principal Zhou questioned.

“I think because our cafeteria was excellent to begin with and this meal plan will work. I know the administration is allowing one cheat day per week on Friday, which I like. The students will benefit from an hour of only being able to eat fresh vegetables, organic fruit, and locally-sourced dairy products, since we aren’t allowed to go off-campus for lunch. That leads to a healthier lifestyle for everyone.” Summer passed on the mic.

The other questions were over how the current AP courses were offered, how the administration should punish students for disorderly conduct, and how the student morale could be improved. Summer answered all the questions calmly. When it came time for her speech, she wetted her lips and began to speak.

“Hi, for those of you know don’t know, my name is Summer Fitzgerald. I want to be the president of our junior class. We all need some time to have fun and be ourselves, which is why I propose a field day and an administration-sponsored car wash. I think we need to connect more and be kind to one another, that’s how we’re going to be one of the best classes that’s ever stepped out from St. Jude’s halls.” She beamed.

There was a roar of applause and cheers when she finished, in comparison to the smattering of claps for Anna.

Jackson went on next, against Jace Carmichael, his best friend.

“Oh my Lord, that was amazing!” I squealed when Summer walked backstage. She blushed.

“Really?” Summer murmured.

“Summer, you’re winning that election.” Camden glanced over at us.

“Good luck, Cam.” Summer smiled.

“Thanks.” Camden went over to Jason, his campaign manager.

“Camden Kingston and Landon Corwin!” “Mille Bass and Quinn Tulimieri!” “Cory Kingston and Evan Hughes! Please come on stage together!” Principal Zhou called out.

Camden took a deep breath before heading onstage. Mille and Cory were onstage with him because they made up the executive board together. They made strong points against the opposition that had people cheering.

“Who do you think will make it through the election?” I wondered.

Summer sighed. “Besides me, Cory and Mille because they’re the only ones with half a brain cell. Camden is mean and abrasive to everyone and Jackson is known to back out of agreements.”

I nodded. “I hope you all make it, though. I want to see you guys making decisions for everyone.”

Summer smiled at me, flashing her laser-whitened teeth. “Thanks, you’re sweet.”

“Of course.” I replied.

“Please consider everyone’s excellent points and cast your votes. We will announce the junior class executive board tomorrow morning.” Principal Zhou said to the audience.

The people onstage came backstage as Principal Zhou gave his closing remarks.

Cory squeezed Summer’s shoulders. “Don’t worry.”

She glared at him. “But I am worried, I can’t help it.”

I woke up to butterflies running around in my stomach and I wasn’t the one running for student body president.

I wore a nice white blouse and jeans over black boots. I hurriedly ate a bowl of cereal before grabbing my backpack, making my way to the front door. Jason was waiting for me in his car.

I broke out into a smile and slipped into his car, buckling in my seatbelt.

“Hey, good morning. You look cute.” Jason smirked as he began driving.

“Aww, thank you. I don’t want to film morning announcements today.” I frowned.

“Summer won’t get mad that you’re helping to record the announcements. After all, it’s not like you know the results as someone else is reading them.” Jason reassured me.

“You’re right. But that doesn’t make me feel any better.” I groaned.

“We’re here.” Jason parked the car. I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his mouth before opening the door and leaving.

I walked through the school before stopping and turning into a film class room. Diana was behind one of the large computer monitors with enormous headphones over her ears. Mille grinned at me while she looked over her script. Jude Green patted the place next to him on a soft green sofa.

I sat down and sighed.

“We decided we’re going to film with the big camera only today.” Jude pointed to the largest camera, the one that focused on the center. There were two smaller cameras angled to the sides of where the largest camera was pointed.

“Got it.” I affirmed. I picked up the big camera and settled its weight on my shoulder.

Diana yelled the start word. Mille turned to the camera and smiled, reading off the screen that beamed out words behind where I was recording.

“I know this is the news everyone has been waiting for since we voted yesterday. Here are the results. These results only pertain to the junior class, sophomore and freshman results have already been recorded. The senior electoral debate is tomorrow and their results will be announced the next day.” Mille gestured to Jude.

“The treasurer is Mille Bass. The junior class representative is Landon Corwin. The secretary is Cory Kingston. The vice president is Jace Carmichael. And the president is Anna Sims.” Jude announced.

I heard Anna’s triumphant cry of victory in the hallway.