I'm Fine

Chapter Eleven - Bryson

January

You could tell that everyone was on the edge of their seat. Usually, everyone at club meetings are playful and outgoing, but not today. Mr. McKinley was going to announce the new president of the student council.

Every year, Mr. McKinley runs the student council from August to December. Then he passes the torch to a member for the remainder of the year. For the last three years, Avery has won that title, but this year she has someone running against her, Ava Grace.

I was worried at first at what this would do to Avery. She already takes on so much with dance, academics, and running at least three clubs each year. I admire her drive and determination because I know I could never do what she does and still have time to have a relationship with someone.

When Ava Grace raised her hand, I could have sworn Avery would have gone into full overload on campaigning. But she didn't. She assured me that she was honestly happy to have someone else running this year.

I was delighted too, mostly because I wanted Avery to get a chance to enjoy her senior year and not spend it stressed out about things that won't matter next year. At this point, I'm hoping Ava Grace got it for Avery's sanity.

Mr. McKinley came in and stood at the front of the room. He seemed nervous as well as he gripped tighter on the folded paper in his hand.

"Good afternoon, student council. As you all know, today is the day we are announcing the new student council president. So without further ado..." He paused as he opened the folded paper. "Ava Grace."

I was ecstatic and terrified at the same time. I quickly turned my attention to Avery to check her reaction. But as my eyes met hers, she stood up and started to make her way towards Ava Grace.

I couldn't tell if she was mad, sad, or happy, but I hoped that it was the latter of the three. As she approached Ava Grace, I prepared myself for some form of a catfight. But instead, Avery pulled her in and gave her a congratulatory hug. The rest of the club cheered as they released their embrace, and Ava Grace made her way to the front.

"Wow, thank you so much for this opportunity. I wasn't expecting to win at all, especially going against Avery." Ava Grace stated as she motioned towards Avery. Avery replied with a thumbs up before taking her seat next to me. Ava Grace continued her thank you speech as I tried to dig around in Avery's mind.

"I'm sorry, hun." I whispered.

"Oh, it's fine." She replied quietly. I still couldn't tell if it bothered her or not, so I kept trying to dig a little bit deeper.

"No for real, it's okay if you're upset, I get it." I continued.

"Why would I be upset? If anything, this is great, one less thing to worry about this year." She continued to reassure me, still refusing to take her attention off of Ava Grace.

"Are you sure?" I pried further.

"Yeah, this year is mostly about college and scholarships, I need to focus my priorities on those." She finished as she gave me a quick smile and then turned her attention back towards Ava Grace. She made an agreeable point; this was a win-win for everyone.

Ava Grace awkwardly finished her thank-you speech by staring at Mr. McKinley, waiting for him to take back over. He quickly jumped up and made his way to the front as she promptly retook a seat.

"Thank you, Ava Grace, I'm excited to see all the great things you will be able to do for the rest of the year in student council." As he says every year after announcing the new president. "That concludes today's meeting. I will see you guys in a few days."

The screeching of chairs echoed all around as fellow clubmates took off for the door. Without hesitation, Avery stood up and made her way to Ava Grace. I quickly grabbed my bag and made my way over to both of them, still hoping that some catfight wouldn't break out between them.

Just as Avery was about to approach Ava Grace, Adrianna swooped in before her and gave Ava Grace a congratulatory hug. I couldn't tell if it was an intentional gesture from Adrianna, but the look on Avery's face made it seem like she was deeply annoyed by Adrianna's untimely intrusion.

She stood back, waiting for Adrianna to finish congratulating before approaching Ava Grace. As we waited, I began to rub my hand across Avery's back to calm her down.

However, my gesture wasn't as appreciated as I hoped. As soon as Adrianna began to walk away, Avery immediately stepped forward, not allowing anyone else to block her from her mission.

"Congrats, girl!" Avery said as she again embraced Ava Grace. The two finished their awkward hug and pulled away to continue talking.

"Thank you." Ava Grace said with a hint of nervousness still in her voice.

"You're going to do great things! I can't wait to see what you have in store for the charity drive." Avery continued. Fear flashed across Ava Grace's face.

"Charity drive," she murmured anxiously, "right."

"Yeah, it's the first big thing for the new president to tackle each year." Avery continued to instruct.

"Yes, I have some ideas, but nothing set in stone." Ava Grace awkwardly continued as I noticed her eyes flicker to me as if she was desperately asking for a new conversation.

"I would start on that first; it will be here before you know it. I think we are already talking about it in the next meeting, that's a few days from now, right Bryson?" Avery jeered towards me. I could see the panic building on Ava Grace's face.

"Don't worry about that just this second Ava Grace. Just enjoy this feeling of winning for now." I tried to jump in and save her. I saw her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Bryson. I am pretty excited." She began as she turned her attention back to Avery. "Well, I guess I have to go and start preparing for that charity drive. It was nice talking to you guys." She finished as she started to make her way towards the door.

"What was that?" I snapped at Avery as soon as I realized no one was in earshot.

"What? I just wanted to give her a quick warning that the drive is the first thing that she needs to plan, and it usually is the most complicated thing to do as the student council president." She said sympathetically. I wanted to buy it, but I also still felt uneasy about Avery not winning.

"Let's go." I switched the conversation as I locked my fingers around hers.