Game of Love

Chapter Fourteen - The Debate

Emily's POV

After a long week of classes and campaigning, it was finally the day of the student body presidential debate. I left my dorm bright and early to meet Chris at the coffee shop. "Thanks for agreeing to help me out last-minute, Emily. Kaitlyn is still pretty upset about what happened, so I'm letting her sleep in," Chris said.

"No problem. Is she doing okay?" I asked.

"I know she called her mom and talked things over, but she still seems unhappy. I take it you're still not speaking?"

I nodded. "It's okay. She needs space right now. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be so completely exposed to my parents like that. If the best way for Kaitlyn to deal with it is for me to step out of the picture for a while, so be it."

"Wow, Emily, that's very mature of you."

"Yeah well... I hope things work out soon. I miss her. Thanks for listening, Chris."

"Any time, Emily."

He took my hand, lacing his fingers between mine. "Do you think I'm being a good friend to Kaitlyn? Because I'm not sure I am."

"Of course you are, Emily. You wouldn't be so worried if you weren't."

"I guess I didn't think about it that way."

"You mean you don't naturally assume being sad makes you a good person? Glad you've got me to remind you." Chris kissed me softly, lingering for just a moment. I grinned as he pulled away. "Now there's that smile I'm crazy for."

"Thanks. Now can we stop this before you make me blush? You've got a debate this afternoon!"

"You bet I do!"

"You seem confident. You're not worried that Sebastian's going to pull any more dirty tricks?"

"A little bit, but I've been thinking and I've decided the best thing to do is make a point of not insulting him. I'm encouraging people to vote for me, not against him. People want a positive president."

"Good thinking. Now, let's hear that speech!"

Chris grinned and cleared his throat. "Students of Hartfeld, I would like to thank you once again for coming to watch this debate -"

"Hey, Chris! Where were you this morning?" Darren asked.

I turned around to see Darren and Logan coming toward our table. "Guys, what are you doing here?"

"Getting coffee, man. What are you doing here? We were gonna meet at the gym this morning, remember?" Logan asked.

"I guess he decided to 'study' with Emily instead," Darren said.

"Oh, shoot! I'm sorry, guys. It's just, the debate's today and -"

"You've gotta get ready. We know," Logan said.

"We should make you a shirt. 'I can't. I'm running for school president,'" Darren said.

"Hey! Can I have one too?" I asked.

"See? There's a market for these!" Logan exclaimed.

"You think you've got it bad? I went to the movies by myself last weekend while my boyfriend wrote a budget!"

"Seriously?" Darren asked.

"That was one time! Besides, you wanted to see The Flower Girl," Chris said. "Okay, come on, I don't blow you guys off that often! Do I?"

Logan punched Chris's arm. "Nah, you're good," Logan said.

"Just buy us all a round when you win, alright?" Darren asked.