That clumsy fall just now was so embarrassing, my gosh. And I'm an expert on embarrassing myself.
I sigh as I tell Mayumi about everything that has been going on.
Mayumi's eyes widen and she stops chewing her food. That means she must be really surprised.
"You?" She says, unbelieving. I don't blame her.
"I had no choice. I just hope I don't get elected," I tell her.
She resumes chewing. "Well, Misaki will really want you to win, though."
Ugh.
----
It's campaign day in Miyabigaoka. The sun is shining and the fountains are bubbling merrily. But I'm not merry.
I remember what Misaki taught me. I have to make everyone think I'm at least borderline confident. I wince as I remember the day she came over, yelled at me and started training me like mad for the stupid campaign.
"Appearance is important too," Suzuna added. She was sitting on the floor filling up forms for prize contests when she said this.
Misaki stopped her rant and nodded. "They say you can wear anything, right?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to wear the uniform..."
Suzuna stopped me. "Let me look at your clothes."
So here I am. Dressed in a blue dress that flows to my knees. Suzuna even braided my hair. I had no choice in the presence of two very scary girls.
Mayumi runs up to me. "You look so cute!" she says.
Yuki appears at my side, wearing a pastel pink dress with white flowers on it. "Yeah, you do."
I smile at her. "Same to you, Yuki."
Yuki pouts. "Why does the treasurer have to campaign? It's not like this role is important. Plus, there's no one who wants to be treasurer anyway! I'll definitely be re-elected!" She whines.
"What's you speech about?" I ask, hoping to distract her.
"That's just as bad! I wrote a speech saying how good at handling money I was and how I would spend the school's money properly!" Yuki wails.
Mayumi covers her mouth to stop laughing. I have to admit that sounds pretty sad. "Cheer up, Yuki, you look amazing and you'll be great,I promise," I say to her.
She sighs and sniffles. "Let's go," she mumbles.
----
Oh shoot. It's time for the speech. I walk up and down backstage trying to remember it. I can't remember the front part. And I left my script with Mayumi! Damn it.
Then they call my name, and I walk out to a cheering audience. Yuki gives me an encouraging smile as I pass her in the curtains.
"Good morning, I am (Y/N),(L/N)." I say slowly. The audience immediately quietens down. Everyone is waiting for my next word.
My mind is blank. I still can't remember my speech. So I decide to speak from the heart.
"I am very honoured to stand here today. I never imagined that I would be here, talking to you. I am campaigning for the role of Vice-President. I would like to explain why..."
Soon my horrible speech is over and the audience claps. I sigh as I head backstage. How could I forget my speech?
I feel someone behind me.
"Great job."
I spin around and find myself face-to-face with Tora.
I shake my head. "I messed up."
"They were all charmed by you. And besides, everyone knows that you are my favoured person now."
"What?"
He smirks. "Never mind. You did a great job, and you look pretty today."
"Thanks," I mutter.
Then I think of the other opponent guy running for V-P. He's a junior, same year as Tora, but a year older than me. He's tall and loud and confident. I heard him earlier, he was a crowd favourite. He was constantly cracking jokes in his speech, making people laugh. Do I stand a chance? Me? A sophomore forced to campaign?
"Don't worry about Takeshi. He's been trying every year, but there's always not enough votes for that guy," Tora says, almost reading my thoughts.
I nod and walk away. "Thank you," I say, then head to get changed.
Tora calls "Wait!"
He hesitates, then asks "I heard that you sing?"
"How did you know?" I ask, surprised.
"Go and sing to them later. They'll love it," he says.
"No thanks," I protest.
Tora shakes his head sadly. "Please. Then you'll win for sure. I can tell you, if Takeshi wins, the school will be in a mess. You don't want that, do you? He's going to implement these new rules, and it'll ruin the school."
I fall silent as I think about it. I know Tora is speaking the truth. I get a bad feeling when I look at that guy, like he's secretly a gangster. Or a monster waiting to pounce.
Then I decide that he's right. I don't want this school to be ruined. I realise that I love this school. It's a school I would come back to to visit after I graduate. It's a school I'd want my children to go to. Sure, everyone's so rich you sometimes want to crawl in a hole and hide. But most of the time, it's an amazing school.
I can't just leave this school to be destroyed by that ape-guy.
