Melanie
"So, who are you guys going to vote for for class president?" I asked during a lull in our lunchtime conversation.
Jana Morgan raised her eyebrows at me over her cream cheese and jelly sandwich. "Do you think we'll have much choice? Shawnie Pendergast is the only one running."
"So far," Katie Shannon pointed out.
"Get real, Katie," Beth Barry laughed. "Tomorrow afternoon is the deadline. There's not much time left for someone to enter."
"I still can't believe Curtis Trowbridge isn't going to try to get nominated," I giggled. "The way he talked at the dinner dance last June, I thought for sure he'd enter."
Christie Winchell shook her blonde head. "He's on too many other clubs to get involved in something so time consuming as class president. I don't know how he gets everything done as it is."
"Well, I still don't think we should count out anybody else. Wasn't there another girl running? I don't remember hearing about her dropping out," Katie insisted, her green eyes flaring. I smiled to myself. Katie never liked it when people got off track, even a little bit.
"Oh, yeah!" Beth said, snapping her fingers. "I remember now! Kelly or Kally or something, wasn't it?"
"Kelsey Talbot," Jana corrected, taking a sip of milk. "She's in my homeroom and 4th period math. She's very nice. Shy, but nice."
Now that I thought about it, I knew who Kelsey was, too. She sat in front of me in science, and never ever raised her hand or tried to join in before-class conversations. I shook my head. I certainly couldn't imagine someone like that leading discussions at meetings or stuff like that. Shawnie on the other hand was very confident and a good talker. Plus she was a lot of fun and had a lot of good ideas. And besides all that, she was a good friend of mine. I knew deep down that even if someone else entered the race, I'd still probably vote for Shawnie.
I reached for my banana and noticed that Katie was talking again.
"If someone else does enter the race, I'll vote for her." Katie gave us all a superior look. "I like to support the underdog."
"What if Laura McCall enters? Or Melissa McConnell?" Beth giggled. "Would you really vote for one of them?"
"Of course not," Katie huffed over our snickers. "The candidate would have to be of good character."
"And we all know Laura and Melissa don't fit into that area!" Christie laughed, and the rest of us joined in.
I definitely had to agree with that. Laura McCall and Melissa McConnell are two of our worst enemies in the world, and two of the snobbiest, meanest girls at school. They are members of our rival clique, The Fantastic Foursome. Funny Hawthorne and Tammy Lucero are also in the group, but Funny isn't so bad. She's really good friends with Jana, and the rest of us like her, too. She's so cheerful and bubbly it's hard not to.
"Well, anyway," I said. "Anybody who nominated Shawnie should probably vote for her in the real election, too. I mean, that's the nice thing to do."
"I agree," Jana nodded.
"Yes, but I didn't nominate her," Katie said quietly.
We all looked at her in disbelief.
"You mean you didn't sign her petitions?" Christie gasped.
"Yeah," Beth chimed in. "You mean you actually turned her down when she asked you? What did you tell her, that you were waiting it out for a better person?"
"No," Katie said evenly, "I didn't have to do anything like that. She just never asked me. So many people signed her petitions that she didn't need my vote, I guess."
"So, if someone else decides to run and asks for your signature, you'll do it?" Jana asked after a moment.
"Yes. If she has good principles and all that. Shawnie is one of our good friends, and she's a very good speaker, etc., etc., but she may not be principled enough to hold such a high position. Remember when she served wine at her party last year? That's not what I call making very good decisions. You see, I believe..."
Oh brother, I thought, exchanging looks with Jana across the table. Here we go again.