Naia Higa

I pushed past the other students in the hallway. Once I get to the auditorium I take a seat in the third row, next to some other students and wait for the speech to commence. To everyone’s surprise, a female student walks through the curtain and onto the stage with the manuscript instead of the principal. She clears her throat and begins reading it aloud. 

 “Hello fellow students I am Maddison Wells if you didn’t know already” She jokes                                                                                                                            

  “ I know it’s strange not to have the normal wonderful principal” She gestures to behind the curtain “Or great teachers, but I will try and keep this speech as it normally goes. Silver high…” 

She continues.

 I understand how the speech goes. It thanks the teachers, says the upcoming events, some fundraisers and then an applause. I decided to observe people in the room instead. Some students are already sleeping, others sneaking out of the room to avoid the hour-long lecture. As the presentation gradually went on, I noticed something about the girl on the stage. She looked familiar to say the least. The way she fidgeted with her hair while joking about some pranks that were pulled in the school throughout the year. The way she stood behind the podium so confident. I knew her. I studied her again, just to confirm. It was her. She was the one who denounced me, humiliated me in front of my peers. 3 years ago she had liberated me from my position as president of the student council. Later that day she laughed,

 “It was effortless really. All I had to do was photoshop some things and bam!” She laughed and clapped “No more Mr. President!”

 She continued the rest of the year as student president, her fabled leadership was the talk of the school, and now here she was making a speech for the teachers? I laughed quietly. No, she won’t do this. I won’t allow it. I will obliterate her reputation, her integrity and her credibility as a model student. As she finished her speech the teacher finished up.

 “Wow! Thank you Maddison. What a fabulous job! Can we get a round of applause for Madison Wells!” 

The auditorium  filled with a libreal amount of cheering. I rolled my eyes. All of these students must remember what she did so why don’t they see it’s illogical to applaud her? It’s

ridiculous. I stand up and leave the large space and walk to my next class. While there is a diagram on the board, I look around, until I see her walk through the door and progresses to my desk. She takes the one next to me. Why was she in my class? She wasn’t in this class before was she? I shake my head and turn to her.

“Maddison is that you?” I smile. She looks at me and tries to preserve her surprise.

“Oh hey Silas! I thought I saw a familiar face in the crowd” She smiles back. She’s acting like nothing ever happened. She must remember.

“How was being president of the council?” I say trying to integrate what happened back in her memory. She takes a sharp breath. That means it’s working. 

“Well after you..” She smiles

“Left. It was just uphill from there! Not saying you weren’t a good president or anything but..” She begins to narrate her successes. I clench my jaw. All of my success,  all of my fame was taken by her.

“I am truly sorry you got voted out” She says, less than apologetically . I laugh it off. 

“No worries truly! I’m happy you got voted in and not anyone else” I smile and put my hand on her back to hug her

“But.. What did you did to get there? What I do with you… Might break a few ‘school rules’.” I smile and whisper to her.