Chapter 3

The second the bus pulled up in front of Hershey High School, they piled out. The snow had slowed them down again and now there was only an hour before the rally was scheduled to start and they weren't set-up. She stepped out of the bus, the cold air attacking her immediately, and zipped up her coat before heading into the high school gymnasium.

She walked a few feet behind Josh and CJ, knowing enough about him after two weeks to know that she shouldn't stray far when there was even the remote possibility that he'd need her. And she liked that; that he was brilliant and could do anything, but that he trusted her to help him; that he let her be a part of this, and not because he needed her to be, but because he allowed himself to need her. It was different from the way Michael needed her, and although she knew it wasn't a fair comparison to make, she couldn't help making it anyway. Because with Michael, it was supposed to be personal and he treated it like a business deal and with Josh, it was professional, but he treated her like a person.

They walked into the gym where balloons were on the corners of a platform that was set up in the middle of the large lacquered floor, facing bleachers that had already been pulled out. The platform had a large 'Bartlet for America' banner hanging behind the lectern and she noticed a few high school volunteers setting up a table near the entrance with the typical bumper stickers, buttons and flyers while others worked on setting up the sound system behind the stage. "Another gym. I ask you, is there anything tackier in the world than a high school gymnasium?" CJ said to Josh as Donna chuckled from behind them.

Josh looked at her. "Everyone uses a gym."

She shrugged. "We're not everyone. You'd think we could do better."

"Like what? The local 587 with mold on the ceilings and rubber chicken for dinner?"

"You have a valid… no," she gasped, coming to a stop.

"What?"

"The lectern."

Josh looked up at it and then… "Donna!"

"I'm right here," she said casually, taking the last few steps to him.

He stepped in close to her, his aftershave sweet but not overpowering. "The lectern's too tall. We need a shorter one," he said quietly.

She raised her eyebrows as he looked at her expectantly. "Well… maybe it's adjustable?"

"Go check, but be inconspicuous about it."

She nodded and headed up to the stage as Sam and Toby raced by her arguing about the word 'perennial.' Stepping up the three small steps, she quickly crossed to the lectern and placed a piece of paper on it while checking it over. She looked up at Josh who was watching her and shook her head at him before heading back to where he stood.

"Great," CJ said. "He's going to look like a dwarf behind that thing."

"What about a stool or something for him to stand on behind it?" she asked.

Josh shook his head. "That's no good. He'll still be too short walking up to it and away from it; it'll be obvious and then he'll be the candidate who has to stand on a stepstool to be seen."

"Except that he'd never stand on a stepstool," the older woman said.

He turned to Donna. "Can you…"

She nodded. "Just a thought, but we might want to get one made and keep it with us."

CJ looked at her and then Josh. "You went to Harvard and Yale and after thirty of these things, you haven't thought of that?" she said, hitting him on the shoulder.

He half smirked. "I'm a big picture sort of guy." Then he turned to Donna. "Go." She nodded and walked away, hiding the smile on her face.

Heading out of the gymnasium and into the commons area of the school, she noticed a few high school students hanging around. A cheerleader stood against a wall wearing a blue uniform with 'Trojans' written in orange across the bust, flirting with what Donna guessed was a basketball player and she smiled, thinking of herself and Freddie Briggs six years earlier.

She spotted a janitor coming out of a room and followed him down the hallway, finding him in an art room emptying the trash. Explaining the situation to him, he took her to a room off the auditorium where there were extra music stands, some drama props and a few lecterns. Finding an adjustable one, she started to leave with it when she noticed the stage with heavy blue curtains and hardwood floors. She walked out onto it and looked out at the theater style chairs and sound booth in the back. Glancing over at the janitor, she smiled. "Just out of curiosity, is there a reason they didn't set us up in here? Is something else scheduled here for tonight?"

He shook his head. "No. They just told me to set up the stage on the gym floor."

"And if we wanted to move in here…"

He shrugged. "Fine with me. So long as we don't have to move the stage. There's not time."

"What about sound?"

"It's already set up in here. They'd just have to hook up the mic."

She smiled and nodded before leaving quickly to find Josh. She didn't see him in the gymnasium, but CJ was talking to Toby and Donna walked up to them. "Tell me you found a lectern," CJ said as she got close to them.

Donna nodded. "An adjustable one. And there's an auditorium the janitor said we could use if we'd prefer it to the gym. It looked nice from what I saw and moving in there shouldn't be a problem."

CJ's eyes widened. "Come work for me. Forget Josh. He's grumpy most of the time anyway."

Toby glanced up at Donna and then back down at the speech in his hands. "I already asked."

Donna smiled politely and then perked up when she heard Josh yell her name. "I don't yell as loudly as he does," CJ tried again as the two of them started walking towards him.

"Then how would I know you needed me?" she asked with a smile before reaching him.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The next half hour was spent moving the rally into the auditorium, giving them just enough time to get it ready before opening the doors for the public. When the rally started, she stood backstage watching the governor's speech out of one eye and Josh out of the other.

He got into a quiet discussion with Sam and Toby and she watched intently, itching to be a part of it. One of her favorite pastimes over the past two weeks had become listening in and watching as Josh worked. She was certain that if everyone just listened to him, the world would run smoother. He glanced over at her and smiled and she turned quickly and focused her attention on the governor again, embarrassed at being caught watching him work. A few seconds later, he was whispering in her ear. "I need you to research hate crimes."

She continued facing the stage, but whispered back. "What do you need to know?"

He leaned in closer and his breath on her neck made her shiver. "I need to know what schools are teaching and when they're teaching it."

They both paused and clapped with the crowd as the governor hit home on a spot in his speech about higher education standards and affordable college. He started to whisper again when the applause died down but got a glare from CJ and instead led her out the back door of the auditorium with his hand on her lower back. It was nice, she thought, protective and secure feeling, and she knew he didn't mean anything by it; it just came with the close proximity of the campaign trail.

"He's doing well tonight," she said as she reached into his backpack and pulled out a small pad of paper.

"Yeah." His eyebrows reached his hairline as she reached into his suit jacket next and pulled out a pen from his inside pocket.

"Ok, hate crimes," she said, jotting it down.

He looked at her a few more seconds before shaking his head a bit and speaking. "Look for school programs. Schools teaching racial tolerance, racial equality, schools with panels or clubs, conflict mediators… And not just race, but religion and sexual orientation, and find out what grades they're starting?"

She nodded, taking notes as he started pacing in the hallway behind the auditorium.

"Elementary schools have less diversity so it might not seem needed if they aren't inner city. But an average school system for a city of a hundred thousand has 50 elementary schools and those schools feed into twelve middle schools and then six high schools. Are they waiting until they get into high schools to start teaching this stuff?"

"What about the crime?"

He shook his head and stopped pacing, looking at her. "That's not what this is about."

She looked down at the piece of paper she'd just written 'Hate Crimes' on and then up at him. "What's it about?"

Walking back up to her, he said, "Education, Donna. Education."

She looked at him strangely. "Not crime?"

He shook his head. "It looks like crime, but it all boils down to education. All of it."

She put the paper and pen down on top of his backpack and stood upright, leaning against the wall, wondering if he knew how much she loved these little moments when he explained these things to her. "How?"

He stood next to her, mimicking her actions and leaning against the wall himself. "If we fix education, the rest falls in line. Better education means less poverty. Less poverty equals less crime, equals fewer drugs, equals fewer prisons, equals a better America."

She looked over at him and studied his face as he watched her intently. "So it all boils down to education," she said, repeating him.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Which means it all boils down to kids."

He nodded again and smiled as if she'd gotten some amazing secret. She felt like she had. "Absolutely. They need to be our top priority. Pre-school through college. Our top priority."

She smiled at him, at his brown eyes dancing mischievously, at his dimples as he smiled for her, at the way his foot kicked at his backpack, and got lost in it all. She'd never felt more complete in her life, and it struck her as ironic considering that a month previously, she'd had her entire future planned out.

The door to the auditorium stage swung open and hit Josh in the back as Sam walked out of it looking for him. "Hey," he said, looking around the open door at the two of them. "What's going on?"

Josh looked over at him. "Hate crime. Donna's gonna do some research on it. How's it going in there?"

"He's almost done. We need to get out to the reception and smile nicely and be polite."

Josh's eyes widened. "I'm always nice."

Sam chuckled and looked at Donna. "Keep an eye on him."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The bus pulled into the hotel parking lot and Donna glanced at her watch; five after one. Trying to stifle a yawn, she turned to Josh. "Did you need that research done tonight?" she asked, not sure if she wanted him to say yes or no. She was exhausted, but excited to be working on a new project for him.

"Nah, you can start it when we get back to Manchester tomorrow." He pushed the button on the elevator, but turned to her while they waited for it. "There's a bar a few blocks from here. Let's go get a drink."

Her eyes widened and she glanced around at a few other volunteers waiting with them. "Ok," she said hesitantly.

They dropped their things off in their rooms and walked a few blocks down to a small bar. It was quiet outside, far quieter than it had been since she joined the campaign, and she glanced at him around the hood of her coat as he walked quietly next to her. She wasn't sure why she was nervous, but she wished he'd talk, and when out of the blue he did start talking about that evening's rally, her nervousness faded and she shrugged it off. Walking inside, her contacts immediately fought the smoke and she reached into her purse for some eye drops before looking around at a few people sitting at the bar and two men playing darts off to the side. It was empty otherwise and she waited while Josh walked to the bar and ordered a few beers, then followed him to a booth towards the back.

"So what does your family think of you gallivanting all around the country with us?" he asked as they sat down.

"They're just happy I'm not a rock band groupie," she said, taking off her coat. He looked up at her hair with raised eyebrows and she unconsciously smoothed it down.

"Hey, we can be just as rowdy as a rock band," he said with a smirk.

"I'm sure you can be."

It was quiet again while she sat down and took a drink of her beer. "Seriously, what do they think about you out here?"

She shrugged. "My mom convinced me to come. Dad, like all good husbands, goes along with whatever she tells him to. He's just glad I'm not with Michael anymore. In fact, he's a pretty big fan of your nickname for him."

His smiled and looked at her inquisitively. "You tell your parents about me?"

Suddenly she felt like a pathetic school girl telling her mommy all about the cute new teacher and she looked down at her beer bottle wishing she could take the words back. "I just…"

"I mention you to my parents too."

Her eyes shot up as he took a drink of his beer. "You do?"

He nodded and swallowed. "Sure. I told my mom about that salad you made me eat the other day and the way you hired yourself. My dad's…" He stopped suddenly and started picking at the label of his bottle.

"Your dad's sick," she said quietly after a moment.

He looked at her for a second before nodding. "How'd you know?" he asked quietly.

"Yesterday morning I heard you ask your mom how his treatment went. I wasn't eavesdropping, I just…"

He cut her off. "It's ok," he said nodding slightly. "He has cancer. Mom's been stressed." He stopped then and shrugged. "She likes the stories. Gives her something to laugh about."

She smiled softly at him before his words registered and a look of mortification came across her face. "Laugh about? What exactly did you tell her?"

His eyes widened as he looked at her over the bottle that was up to his mouth. "Nothing?" he almost asked, scrunching up his face.

"You told her about the ice, didn't you?"

He shrugged and smirked. "It was a funny story Donna. You were completely underneath that car with only your head sticking out."

"That's not funny!"

"Yes it is," he said laughing. "That lady screamed when she saw you like she was in some sort of horror story."

"They almost pulled out and ran over me."

"Nah, I'd have saved you."

"Sure," she said shaking her head and pretending to be annoyed. "What other humiliating stories did you tell her?"

"None," he said loudly, defending himself. "Well, I might have mentioned how you dropped the three-hole punch on your foot last week and had the little pieces of paper all over the floor and in your hair and had to have a band aid for your pinky toe."

"Josh!"

"She needs to laugh, Donna," he said, defending himself with a cute smile on his face that brought out the dimples she too often found herself enamored with.

"She's gonna think I'm a nutcase!"

"Nah, she thinks you're cute."

She groaned and put her head in her hands. "Sure."

"And she likes that you watch out for me."

She looked up at him and tried to keep the smile on her face from spreading, but wasn't able to. Glancing down at the table, she said, "My parents like that you watch out for me, too."

It was quiet while they looked at each other. Finally he nodded and she bit her bottom lip and looked down at her beer bottle, trying to hide her blush. "So tell me about Madison," he said a few seconds later, breaking the silence. "Did you grow up on a farm?"

She looked at him strangely and shook her head. "No, I grew up in a condo."

"Well, that's not very exciting," he said like a child who'd gotten socks for his birthday.

She stifled a laugh. "No. Tell me about DC."

"DC's DC. What do you want to know?"

She sat forward in her seat. "What's the mall like?" she asked excitedly.

He shrugged. "There's a big statue of Lincoln and a long pool that goes knee deep."

"Josh…" she whined and he chuckled at her.

"What do you want me to say? You've seen it on TV; you know what it looks like."

"That's not the same," she asked with big eyes. "Is it awe inspiring?"

He looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "It's best at night. It's all lit up. It's…" he shrugged. "Neat."

"Really?"

"Yeah. When we win, I'll take you."

She smiled. "You will?"

"Before inauguration. Once we're in office we won't have time."

She chuckled at him. "We won't have time for the mall?"

"We won't have time for anything."

"Nothing? Not even the Mets?" she asked skeptically.

"Donna..." he said in a voice she could swear sounded serious, "Don't even joke about that."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Hello."

"Mom?" she said with far too much excitement for three o'clock in the morning.

She heard her mom chuckling into the phone. "Honey," she said in a sleepy voice, reminding Donna that most of the world was asleep. "You don't have to shout."

"Sorry," she said, still full of excitement and a bit over the top.

She could hear her mom moving around and pictured her putting on her flannel robe and tiptoeing out of the dark bedroom. "How'd it go?"

"It went… it was… Mom, I love it here!" she yelled. She spun around her hotel room looking for something, but in the excitement, couldn't remember what it was she needed.

"I can tell. How'd your rally go?"

"It was amazing," she said in awe as she plopped down on the bed. "There were so many people there, and the governor gave a great speech and Josh kept having me run here and there and write down questions for Friday's polling, and go up and ask Mr… Toby and CJ things. It was non stop from the second we got there. It was…" She couldn't sit still so she stood back up.

"Yeah?"

"And," she said proudly as she passed by the mirror and stopped short as she noticed she could still see. Walking into the bathroom, she pulled out her contacts with one hand as she held the phone with the other. "We were supposed to be in the gym, but I noticed the auditorium, which was nicer, and got permission to use it and then things got even crazier because the doors were opening in twenty minutes and we had to move everything over there, but it worked out and looked so much more professional, and Josh told Ms. Cregg to stay the hell away from me."

"He told who to stay away from you?"

"Ms. Cregg. CJ. You have to know Josh. He doesn't compliment so much as he tells other people they can't have me."

"Ahh…"

"And there was a reception afterwards in the commons and Josh introduced me to the governor and they all talked to people and answered questions, and it was like Josh always knew what parts of the governor's platform to focus on for a specific person. Like he knew exactly what they were thinking and what they cared about. He's…"

"You met the governor?"

"Yes, and Josh let me answer questions I felt comfortable with and I'm really starting to understand things better. And yesterday, he had me sit in on a meeting he had with two congressmen from Pennsylvania. I was just sitting there, listening to congressmen talk. Can you believe that? And Josh was brilliant! I thought he'd have to suck up to them, but he didn't take their crap. He's amazing!"

"So I've heard," her mom replied, chuckling.

"I love it here."

"You've mentioned that."

"And when we move to DC, he's going to take me to the mall and show me around town and help me find an apartment and…"

Her mom cut her off. "When you move to DC?"

"When we win."

"When you win?"

"Yeah, when we…"

"Donna…"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you were coming home in May when summer classes started."

"Oh," she said, stopping and staring at blurred figure in the mirror. "I…" This was going to end?

"Sweetheart?"

"I just…" She took a deep breath and was surprised that tears sprung to her eyes. "He said it like it was assumed I'd be going too and I must've gotten caught up…"

"Donna."

"I know," she said softly, sitting down on the bed and taking a deep shaky breath.

"Donna," her mom said a few seconds later. "There are colleges in DC."

"What?"

"I said there are colleges in DC. There's no law saying you have to go to college in Madison. There is, however, a Moss law saying you have to go."

Suddenly she was smiling and nodding and crying, knowing that her mom couldn't see it but would know it was there all the same. "Deal," she whispered.

"Alright Honey. Go to sleep. It's two o'clock in the morning."

"Three o'clock here."

"Go to bed."

"Kay. Mom?"

"Yeah?"

She was quiet for a few seconds. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Baby."