May Parker's Guide to Winning the Election

Epilogue: You Have to Make Your Own Way in the World

"Today is the day." Riley says as I walk into the journalism room on Friday morning. "The day of final speeches." He rubs his hands together, a huge grin filling up his face.

"I told you I was done, Riley, I can't do this anymore." I shrug as I set my bag down.

"May, you can't drop out in the final week of the election." Riley points out with a sigh. After what happened with Trip Monday night, I called him and told him I was turning in the towel. I knew it wasn't fair to him or to the rest of my team, but I was feeling empowered by the prospect of doing what I wanted for a change. There was an uproar from his end of the phone, of course, but I hung up before I could get an earful.

"I'm not dropping out; I just don't care. Trip can have this." I say, looking anywhere, but my fuming best friend.

"What happened to the May who was advocating for everyone to have a voice? What happened to the May who stood up for what she believed in? What happened to the May who had passion for winning? What happened to the May who'd never give up?" Riley says, forcing me to look at him.

"She never existed. The May I am right now is the only May who ever existed. The May right here is a liar and a cheat and a bully. The May right here plays people and uses them and doesn't care who she hurts as long as she gets what she wants. The May right here never had a passion to win this until someone threatened what she thought she could just inherit. The May right now doesn't deserve this election and that's who I am, Riley; it's not going to change." I say slowly with a somber expression.

"Really? 'Cause the May I'm looking at right now is so much more than her shortcomings. You are a sum of your parts. You let the election get to you, sure, but you always carried yourself with grace, no matter what other people did to you."

"But," I try to interject; Riley stops me before I can get more than a word out.

"I've never known you to not finish something, May. You owe this to me, to the voters who have stuck by you and most importantly, to yourself. You have put in so much work to get to this point and I refuse to believe that you don't want this, not even just a little bit. You need to finish what you started. You are going to deliver a speech after school today, you are going to go to the voting party and you are going to find out the results, whether you want to or not. You've made a commitment; we all have and we all deserve to see this thing through."

I contemplate what he's said and then I sigh, nodding my head in agreement. "I'll make the speech, Riley, I owe you guys that much." My team surrounds me in a group hug, the rest of the people cheering for my perseverance. It'll be over soon enough.

~~~~~

I poke my head out from behind the red curtains and find the school auditorium filling up fast; every seat will soon be taken by voters and teachers alike. I pull my head back and close the curtains, coming to stand next to Trip, the only other candidate left in the competition; apparently, the junior couldn't handle the pressure of running against two seniors. Chatter from all corners of the room rises up and echoes in the high ceilings, tying my stomach up in knots. I exhale a deep breath and stare down at the speech Riley wrote for me. With every word I read, the less I want to have to present it. All of the comments sound hollow and empty in my head and after everything else that's happened, I feel like there's more I should be saying than just this.

"Are you ready for this?" Trip asks, his hands in the pockets of his school khakis.

"I'm ready for this to be over." I smile at him taking a few steps closer, thankful for the curtains that block us from the audience.

"You'll do great." He tilts his head, his eyes gleaming.

"Thanks," I say, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.