AHS Imagines

9: Debate (Tate Langdon)

A/N: Thanks for the votes! Please comment or send me messages about any requests you have, I tend not to write anything R-rated unless y'all want it

Reader is in high school with Tate and has to do a debate against him in class   (it gets kinda angsty??)

The problem was never really to get in front of the class of idiots, it was having to compete against one of the intuitively smart people in the class. Our public speaking and debate teacher always made the course final a debate on a chosen topic with student pairs that she picked out. I was stuck to compete with Tate Langdon, the guy who missed class decently enough and got into trouble but was actually pretty smart on his own.

I'd spent almost two weeks just writing out what I would say and re-writing key phrases onto notecards for the speech. The topic our teacher assigned us was either very deep or very stupid: is it best to be loved or feared in a position of power? I was on the side of being loved while Tate took the opposing side. He hadn't shown up to the days of in-class work of the last week so I had no idea what I was going up against. 

Finally, on the day of the speech, he arrived right on time for the class and stood at the makeshift podium opposite me. The teacher silenced everyone after the bell rang and signaled for me to begin, starting the timer to see if I would make the speech time limit. My heart was beating faster than usual from nerves and I could feel my cheeks gradually turning redder.

I began with a calm voice while internally feeling anything but: 

"Good morning everyone, this debate is covering the topic of whether being loved or feared is better for a person in a position of power. Now, what do we call the people closest to us? Those who matter most? Loved ones. To gain trust and respect from constituents or subjects, it would be most valuable for them to feel love towards their leader. For example, the charismatic personalities of individuals like cult leaders have, in the past, led their followers to go so far as to kill themselves to prove their love and loyalty to leaders. Fear, on the other hand, has brought the end of tyrannical leaders from civilian rebellions and assassinations..." 

I finished my piece within the following minute before allowing my opponent to speaking on his position. Before speaking, he cleared his throat and seemed absolutely comfortable in front of the crowd.

"Though my opponent makes a good point for the position of being a loved leader, the overlooked detail is that fear makes people obey. Why do Christians describe themselves as God-fearing yet still do whatever their God tells them to do? Because they fear any repercussions their Lord would do unto them. This same mentality can be applied to powerful people; after all, how are the contemporary leaders so different from the Egyptian pharaohs that believed they were part-god? They demand the same respect from the people they're in charge of. Fear drives people to do anything to protect what they love..." 

Tate's speech was so eloquent and brilliant, even without him really seeming like he prepared for it. He didn't need notecards or to ask the teacher any questions about the rubric beforehand, he knew exactly how to stun the class and the teacher with his words. Though his face remained emotionless through the whole thing, the tone he used was so perfectly emphatic he seemed like he could be a politician or lawyer. I couldn't even mentally formulate a rebuttal to his statements. The teacher thanked us for the speech and made us sit back down.

I felt the start of a fire in the pit of my stomach. It took me so long to figure out exactly which words to use and how to use nonverbal motions to the best benefit for my speech, yet Tate could walk in after missing a week of class then ace the whole thing. My eyes darted over to observe him after that debate, noticing that he was just staring out the window nonchalantly to look at a bird perched on a tree. That only made the fire burn further in me. How could he be so unresponsive to something everyone hates and is discomforted by? Why would the teacher pair me with the most difficult student to beat in debates? It was completely unfair.