Universe of Soulmates

"Death of a Coward"

"Class, tomorrow we will be having debates over the various scenes of Julius Caesar I've assigned you. This is worth ten points in the gradebook, which is two percent of your grade. Your argument has to be at least two minutes long, and the rebuttal another minute. I'm not grading you based on whether you win, but on the rubric in front of you." As a seasoned debater for Jefferson Middle School, I'm going to win. But, Luciana Arbuckle, my rival and fellow debate team member, is my opposition.

"Alright, go on to lunch." Mrs. Teller, my English teacher and avid Shakespeare lover, lets us go to lunch, a full two minutes after the bell rang. Not to be rude, but those two minutes are the difference between getting a good table and a crappy one in the cafeteria.

She trips, knocking half of my things off of my desk, and all I do is scoff at Luciana, packing up my things to head to the cafeteria, where my friends are all waiting for me. We've never actually spoken a word to each other, but I have nothing good to say, so I say nothing instead. I may be a seasoned debater, but I leave those skills for when I actually need them, not for petty arguments with people I don't like.

I have plenty of reasons not to like her:

Reason Number One

She's so shallow. I've heard her talking about how much money her parents make. Bragging about how many yachts her parents have, bedrooms in her house, the fact that she has a horse she can ride whenever she wants. And, of course, how pretty she is. Not to say I don't like the fact that she embraces her natural beauty, but it's a little annoying when she compares herself to the rest of us.

Reason Number Two

Luci spends more time on her social media than focusing on schoolwork. Okay, that might be a bit of a hyperbole, but she spends so much time on Instagram, I get more notifications from her account a day than problems I'm assigned in math a week. And we're assigned a hundred problems a week—which means we only have to do fifteen or so a day—assigned on Monday, due the following Monday.

Reason Number Three

If there's anything I don't like more than Luciana, it's gossip. And she's always at the center of it, either spreading or is the subject of it. If she's spreading it, it's the nastiest rumor out there that nearly ruins another person's life. On top of it being horrid, it's never true. On the other hand, if it's about her, it's usually about who's her newest boyfriend or what friends are in "her circle". Despite the fact that she's not a cheerleader, she's pretty enough to be one, and everyone—aside from yours truly—wants to be in her circle. On the top tier of middle school society. Lucky for them, one spot changes from month to month, so there's always new people in the "in crowd".

If she didn't have her shallowness, wasn't attracted to gossip, and didn't spend her life on Instagram, I don't think she'd be too bad. But, she does and it doesn't make me like her all that much.

"So, what scene did you get?" My best friend, Peter, nudges me with his shoulder.

"The scene where Caesar decides not to go to the senate because of Calphurnia's dreams." I explain, and I'm sure Peter remembers what I'm talking about. We've been reading the book for the last week, analyzing every letter of every word. It hasn't been the most exciting thing—the analyzing part, at least—but the book is actually quite interesting. "I'm against the infamous Luciana Arbuckle."

"Ooh. That's going to be a good debate. I might even bring popcorn just for that." As we drop off our books and grab our phones and lunchboxes, I start to think about how heated that could get in a matter of a couple minutes.

"Oh, she's going to lose. Plus, I heard Mrs. Teller saying that the side that does win the debate gets some extra credit towards the test." I can hear Luciana behind me bragging to her so-called friends about the debate tomorrow. "There's no way Reina is winning."