Author's Note: Consider this chapter my valentine's day gift to you all. Also, Thank you guest for the review you honestly have no idea how big of a smile was on my face from reading it. I'm glad you liked the kick scene since I enjoyed writing it and I'm also happy that you relate to Audrey. I gave parts of my personality to my oc's and Audrey shares my shyness as well as my faith. Don't' worry Jack and Audrey aren't moving with him they're staying with their mother safe and sound in Seaford. As for Sloane getting over Ana anytime soon… let's just say that making feeling disappear are hard.

Now onto the story

SHSTV Newsroom

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Milton shifted nervously in his seat waiting patiently for Eric Hunter to finish up with the weather report so that Rose Tucker can interview him. Today was the interview for all the president candidates to further get a feel of what they stand for and get to know them better then tomorrow is the big debate before voting. The Scottish teen tried to dress to impress, with help from Julie so that he'll look formal and serious, like a proper president. She dressed him in black pressed pants with a tucked in white collared shirt and black loafers. They had a small dispute when Milton wanted to wear a bow tie but Julie shot him down, insisting that he needs to tread the balance of preppy and nerdy very carefully. Wearing the bow tie would tip the balance to nerd which could ruin his chances of being voted so Milton begrudgingly obliged and put the bow tie away.

As soon as he got to school he went into the library and started practicing answering the questions. When Julie arrived he practiced with her for a bit before she was pulled away by Erica to go to a cheer meeting in the gym. Eddie stepped in for Julie and the practiced for a while until he had to leave in order to get to class on time. All the presidential candidates got to miss the first twenty minutes of class since they'll be interviewed during class time. The newsroom seating area eventually filled up with all the freshmen candidates Milton saw Kim sitting a few seats away practicing and dolled up as well. He debated going over to talk with her but decided against it because he could only deal with her passive aggressive competitiveness in small ounces. Grace was dressed to impress as well, sitting with Cara Harrison, a sophomore, and member of The Elite.

If Milton was being honest he was a big fan of Seaford TV or otherwise known as SHSTV. It was the school's news station ran by the journalism class that covered a wide range of topics ranging from school announcements to local Bay County news. The high school News show was better than the middle school, one of the reasons being that Margaret Boark wasn't the head reporter. That role was casted to Desiree Steele but co-anchors with sophomore Rose Tucker, another African American. The news room was much better too, clearly more funds went into it. They literally had their very own news studio with a green screen, backdrop, anchor table, and even two red armchairs. Not to mention the high tech camera equipment but that belonged to the A/V Club which helped out with the production aspects.

Once the bell rang, a few juniors from the A/V club went into action to start setting up their equipment in order to begin filming. Once the task was complete Desiree started with the morning announcements before being switched over to Rose. She started with Grace then went to Kim and now it was finally his turn, but they took a short break from interviews to go to Eric the weatherman. Milton now sat next to Rose in the armchairs fiddling with his fingers, taking deep breaths.

"-So wear long sleeves for protection from the chilly wind. Now back to Rose with the freshmen presidential candidates interviews." Eric finished with a wink, flashing a huge smile

The girl controlling the camera panned over to Rose and Milton, "Thank you, Desiree and last but certainly not least our last freshman candidate Milton Krupnick." The sophomore reporter introduced

"Hey, how are you today?" Milton politely asked the girl, trying to keep his voice even to hide his nerves

The girl in question looked a little taken back at the question but quickly schooled her features,

"Good, thanks for asking." She answered back then looked down at her paper with the questions on it

"So, first question, how involved are you in Seaford High?"

Milton took a steady breath, thinking back to his practice with Eddie and Julie before answering,

"I like to think I'm pretty involved in this school, I'm on the JV football team and in two clubs and if I win the election then this as well I also try my hardest to go to any and all of the school's events that they have like the dances, field day, and the sports game. Though I guess this time I'll be the one playing, for football at least"

Julie and him came to the conclusion that he should just say he's on the team and not say his position since the kicker isn't a respected positon like the quarterback and linebacker,

"Speaking of clubs, what clubs are you involved in?" Was the next question

"A/V club and LARP. Yeah I know the idea of being involved in Live Action Roleplay is very nerdy and makes some people laugh but I love it."

That earned a small smile from the girl,

"I get it, one of my best friends actually is involved in it as well." Rose spilled, Milton was pretty sure she was talking about Cara

Sometimes when they're at LARP and they're not in the ravine behind the school but in school they break character. Cara talks about her friends and the name Roselle slips from her lips time to time.

"But anyway what new proposals for the school do you have?"

Milton eyes lit up at the question,

"I want to start a freshman tutoring program since being thrust into high school curriculum can be very challenging, an anti-bullying program because it's a big issue here still, and a welcoming committee for new students. This school is very big and it has to be since it holds seventh through twelfth grade which makes it very easy to get lost in." The Scottish teen excitedly told her

"Interesting, what ideas would you implement if you were elected?"

The boy in question bit his lip as he thought about how to answer that and which three options were the most important over the others,

"Definitely the tutoring program, that's the top of my list next to the anti- bullying so it's kind of a tie between them."

"What makes you different than the other candidates?" Rose questioned

This question Milton thought long and hard about in the privacy of his room without getting help from Julie or Eddie,

"I'm not the most popular guy some would even say popular at all compared to my competition. I've been labeled a nerd because I prefer studying over hanging out with friends or partying. I think because of this I will literally give my full attention and dedication to this position and trying to make a difference to my fellow friendships. I won't have much of any distraction and can easily choose between my responsibilities over playing around."

"So you're saying that Grace and Kim wouldn't be able to make the call of focusing on the job instead of having fun?" The reporter sought to confirm and Milton's eyes widened at the accusation

"No, not necessarily what I'm saying is that I can focus more on the job because I don't have distractions or well much of a social life to be blunt."

Rose nodded her acknowledgement, not pressing for more

"Okay, why do you deserve the grade nines votes?"

"Like I stated before I will fully commit to this position and this will be my main priority for all of the year. I will listen diligently to any of your complaints and recommendations and do my best to put it in action."

"What would you say to a student who is struggling to be part of this school's community?"

"Join a club, there is a lot of different clubs within this school so there should be something for everyone. Also, if you're athletic then becoming part of a sports team is good, both of those extra curriculars makes it easy to make friends because it'll give you common ground and something to bond over. So, you'll stay or get fit and make friends, it's a win-win."

"Okay last question, if you had the power to make this the best school possible, what would you do?"

"I will follow through with my proposals and create my anti-bullying programs, tutoring programs, and the welcoming committee. After that I'll have the school make a policy that if any student with a GPA lower than a 3.0 it's mandatory they go the tutoring program then have student council create Reward Day which is when students who have a GPA of 3.2 and above they can either go on a field trip to the science museum or have a movie day, or a cook out with healthy food. Also make it mandatory that they have a science fair every year."

Desiree gave him a weird look before smoothing out her features,

"Okay then, thank you for your time Milton and good luck at the debate tomorrow."

"Thanks." He told her while standing up from his seat then reached out to shake her hand; Roselle gave him a puzzled look but reached her hand out to an awkward handshake

"Now you heard from all the freshmen candidates remember that voting is next week…"

Once that was done he sped out of the library to save himself from further embarrassment, a handshake, what was he thinking! He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he blew it out once the library doors closed behind him and leaned against it. The interview wasn't horrible, he thinks it went good. He answered the questions thorough and diligently, was polite and didn't make himself look stupid until the awkward handshake. It was better than he thought so he'll take his victories however small they are.

Milton nodded to himself, repeating that in his head until he'll believed that. After that he pushed himself off the door and headed toward his first period civics, he had his first test today in the class and from what his teacher told him yesterday what he missed already was the review, if he came back now he'll still have time to finish it. He turned a corner then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Jerry with Randy loitering on the steps, heads bent together watching something on Randy's phone.

"Jerry? What are you doing?" Milton called out to him, garnering the Columbian's attention

"Oh hey, what up Milton?"

"Shouldn't you and Randy be in class right now?" Milton questioned

"Yeah we decided to wait a bit before going, Algebra's lame man." The boy in question answered like it wasn't a big deal

"Jerry are you really going to start the year off by being tardy multiple times again? I heard this year if you're tardy more than six times for a single class you'll go to in school suspension for two weeks and if it continues then it can be almost a month of out of school suspension."

Jerry has always been a troublemaker, pulling petty pranks and being tardy multiple of times so much that he nearly missed his big tournament last year. The difference was last year he was in middle school it didn't matter that much but now he's in high school. Grades matter and getting detention could have them go down which could affect his GPA which could mean he won't graduate on time. Sure, maybe he was being a little overdramatic and assuming the worst but he had to, Jerry was one of his best friends and he didn't want anything bad happening. Well he supposes anything worse, what's happening with his parents were awful and despite how much he tries to help Jerry he just gets pushed away.

"And that's a bad thing because…" Randy trailed off

Milton shot him an incredulous look but reminded himself that this was Randy he was talking to, he needed to break it down to him in the most clear way possible.

"Those suspensions mean loss of privilege to sports games, dances, field day any fun events. Also, that puts you way behind in classes which isn't good if you're trying to pass." The Scottish teen informed them slowly

"I'm still trying to find the problem here nerd. You must be a lot of fun at parties." Randy remarked; Milton stopped himself from rolling his eyes

"I saw your interview with Rose, is she hotter up close?" Jerry swiftly changed the conversation after punching Randy on the shoulder

"Do all you seriously all care about is girls and their appearance? You know they have a thing called a personality?"

"Blah, blah you sound like my madre, and the first thing you see when you look at a girl is their appearance, same for guys. That's when you decide if you should talk to them or not." Jerry shot back like it was reasonable and Randy pointed to him in agreement

Sure, in some sense what the Columbian was saying was true but the Scottish teen stands by his belief that personality is the big determination,

"Did you forget I also have a girlfriend?"

"Who got insanely hotter over summer." Randy added

"Yeah she did." The dancer agreed with a chuckle but a quick look at Milton he somber up

"No, no she didn't."

Milton decided to ignore that,

"How do you think of my interview?" The Scottish teen needed a change of conversation or else he'll pull his hair out

"It was very…" Jerry floundered to finish the sentence

"Boring." Randy bluntly finished

"I beg your pardon?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Randy asked in confusion and Jerry gave an equally blank look

Once again Milton forgot who he was talking to, he had to use small words,

"Explain, why do you think that?"

"Oh." Jerry commented

"That makes sense. Randy added nodding

"Well for one you were all about school and tutoring that I tuned out because it felt like I was watching an actual old guy grown up election that my dad loves." Randy explained

Milton nodded, digesting the words which was actually pretty sensible. Guys like Randy didn't care much or any about education.

"Well I wanted them to know what I stood for and how much I care about education." The presidential candidate tried to reason

"Sure, yeah but I'm pretty sure Grace and Kim also care about that but they made it more interesting. They were talking about movie nights and carnivals those are interesting ideas not a tutoring program." Randy argued

Milton had to concede that Randy had a point, Kim and Grace's interview went flawlessly and they had really good ideas for wats to improve the freshman class. Grace's idea for an end of the semester movie night as a way to encourage students to do well on it was brilliant as. Then Kim's idea of a frostival (winter carnival) for the end of the semester event was even better that earned curious looks from the others presidential candidates said a lot, and secretly he agreed that it was a fantastic idea.

"I mean sure those are good ideas and all but where would the money come from? That'll drain a lot of the money from student council funds and then they wouldn't be able to throw any other events." The ginger haired teen tried to reason

"Maybe that's true and all but who really cares? I'd rather have a movie night than a tutoring program, no offense." Jerry elaborated

"No, I get it that's fair, you're entitled to your own opinion." Milton quickly reassured

"And there's also the fact that Grace and Kim are both hot but Kim's hotter so I'm voting for her." Randy added, going right back to his girl obsessed one track brain

Jerry turned to his skater friend,

"You know that Kim has a thing for Jack, right?" The Columbian asked him causing him to scowl

"Yeah, sure but he's not as perfect as everyone thinks." Randy grumbled and Jerry murmured his agreement

The two started swapping stories about some of Jack's embarrassing stories and snickering which Milton took as a sign of dismissal. It didn't matter really anyway, he had to get to class or else he'll won't have enough time to start and finish the test. Plus, he didn't want to spend any more time willingly with Randy because he annoys him almost equally as Albert.

"I'll see you two later, I better get to class before I'm later than I'm supposed to be." Milton told the boys who were now once again looking at something on Randy's phone

"Okay see you later Milton."

"Bye nerd." Randy added

Milton waved over his shoulder as he started walking away, mind going over what the two boys said about his opponent's more interesting ideas.

3rd period Biology

Eddie was half listening to what his teacher was saying, more interested in watching Grace who was sitting a few tables away with Katie and Brody. The girl was talking animatedly to her tablemates with a bright smile on her face, eyes lit up with happiness and Eddie thought he never saw someone look so beautiful. He also felt a little envious at how Brody was able to penetrate their circle of friends so easily despite only being at the school for less than a month.

His thoughts were interrupted from a sharp poke to his arm,

"Ow!" He yelped then turned his head to see Jack holding the offending weapon

"What was that for?" He hissed to the junior black belt

"You weren't listening to a single word I was saying, I had to get your attention somehow." The boy in question answered with a shrug like it was the most rational thing to do

"And you couldn't have simply called my name?" Eddie shot him a glare before looking at the white board for instructions of their assignment

Jack's gave him a look of disbelief at the question before shooting their tablemate a look, "I did multiple times."

This time Eddie gave him a look of disbelief, that wasn't true he would of heard it.

"That is true, he called you three times." Sidney, the other tablemate chimed in quietly

Eddie glared at him which caused the shy boy to quickly look back down at his paper nervously

"Well I didn't hear anything." The yellow belt told Jack who rolled his eyes exaggeratedly while picking up his pencil to write on his worksheet

"Obviously so you got poked, do you have the answer for number three?" The skater addressed the last part to Sidney

"Yeah, a solvent is the liquid that is doing the dissolving of another substance." The band student informed him

"Why isn't solute? Aren't the two basically the same thing?"

"Not really solute is the substance being dissolved in the solute." Sidney explained patiently

"Oh, okay thanks." Jack patted him on the shoulder before writing the answer down on his paper

"Well it hurted, really bad." Eddie whined, bringing the attention back to himself

"Don't be a baby." Jack was dismissive, not once looking up from his paper, focusing his attention on the assignment which was more than Eddie can say. The paper was completely blank.

"Hurted is not grammatically correct." Sidney corrected which irritated the yellow belt

"Nobody asked you Sidney!" He snapped causing the nerd to shrink in his seat

"Hey back off Sidney, stop being a jerk." Jack demanded him with a look of surprise and disgust in his eyes

Eddie bit his tongue, Jack just didn't get it. Talking to Sindey and having him sit at their table is social suicide and will cause him to fall down the social ladder even more. He's a nerd who LARPs and the same thing could be said about Milton but he's also now part of the football team which bumps him up the ladder quite a bit. Eddie on the other hand has no such luck and being associated with Sidney will drag him down farther by default. Jack wouldn't get any of that since he's Jack, everyone likes him and he's popular without realizing it. It doesn't matter who he talks to because he's the type of popular that he can do anything and talk to anybody without it sacrificing his social status.

"No, it's fine Jack I'm used to it." Sidney tried to reassure the taller boy

"That doesn't make it right." The skater insisted, still giving Eddie a look which the boy was pointedly trying to ignore

"I need to find a way to approach Grace again that won't end in me looking like a total idiot like I did last week." Eddie changed the subject, looking back over to the object of his affections who was comparing papers with Katie

The look Jack was giving him showed that he wanted anything but to allow the change of subject. The two. Had a mild stare off but Jack eventually caved after sighing long and hard.

"Shouldn't you be more focused on your band auditions tomorrow?" The junior black belt suggested

Eddie rolled his eyes, "What's there to focus on? I have that all under control."

"Really? Pray tell." At the blank look on his friend's face, Jack further explained

"Tell me what's your plan." At that Eddie's face lit up with understanding

"Oh, I knew that. Well tomorrow Mrs. Harbison allowed me to use the band room for auditions and Milton will be with me at the auditions to help me decide who should I allow in."

"How many people signed up?" Sidney hesitantly asked in a quiet look

"Twenty-three in total, though a good chunk of them are the middle schoolers." Eddie scowled finished with a scowl

"What's wrong with middle schoolers?" The junior black belt questioned curiously

"The answer is in your question, they're middle schoolers! I want the band to be cool and popular and having 12 year olds in it isn't cool."

"If they're an excellent player of whatever instrument they use that is cool."

"It doesn't matter if they're a good player their still basically little kids fresh out of elementary and it'll make the band look childish."

"Sure Eddie, whatever you believe man, it's not my place to judge." Jack backed off, putting his hands up in surrender

Yeah it really isn't, Eddie thought but didn't voice. That was rude and held a bitter undertone and Jack was just trying to help out. Eddie knew that but he just doesn't understand because he's perfect Jack. Everyone loves him, nerds, gamers, theatre freaks, art freaks, religious freaks, and the Elite meaning Grace.

"So, what's your first plan for this band after you choose your members?" Jack continued, oblivious to the growing envy brewing in his shorter friend

"We practice of course, try and learn how to work together and learn at least two songs which I already have written down. Then after that, I plan on having the band perform at Bayview's annual Halloween event for the elementary kids."

"Wow, you actually do have it all planned out." Jack couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice

"Yep, when it comes to things that I care about I make sure I plan things. You should know that by now." After two years of friendship you would think that would be something a best friend would know

"Yeah, you're right." Jack conceded then looked back down at his paper

"Anyway, back to what I was saying, help me find a way to impress Grace please." The yellow belt brought the conversation back on track causing Jack to groan

"C'mon you told me you're were going to try and teach me how to be cool like you, now it's time for you to keep your promise."

"It wasn't really a promise." The shaggy haired brunette muttered but it was loud enough for Eddie to hear

"Jack."

"I also remember telling you that I don't know how I did it either."

"You have to know something, you can't be that oblivious." Eddie pressed

"Hey I can't help it that I'm naturally charismatic." Jack boasted with a flick on his hair and smug smirk

"Now is not time to be cocky, not all people are lucky enough to be Jack Brewer."

"Okay okay, uh well the problem with you is that you lack confidence. When you ask a girl out make it sound like that if they don't go out with you it'll be a major loss to them."

"But I thought I was pretty confident when I ask Grace out last week?"

"How much of that was fake?"

"…All of it." The yellow belt admitted quietly

"It can't be fake or they can tell that it is. That'd just how girls are, they smell weakness like predators."

Eddie soaked in the information like a sponge. That made complete sense in his opinion, girls were the scary but beautiful predators while boys or himself was a small, fragile bait. Grace especially was the intimidating lioness and in order to get her attention or respect he had to be on her level of confidence. She wouldn't be into guys with no confidence so Eddie has to gain some then maybe she'll talk to him instead of laughing in his face. Simple.

"That makes total sense! Thanks Jack!"

"Anytime, just one thing. Since this is dealing with Grace. Your confidence level needs to be through the roof probably in order for her to acknowledge your presence." Jack warned; eyes flicking over to the girl laughing with Brody and his eyes darkened at the sight

"Of course, he sucks up to the Elite." Jack snarled in disgust to himself, Eddie wasn't paying attention with his mind stuck on the brunette girl and the possibilities of how to approach her.

2nd Lunch

Outdoor Amphitheatre

Milton entered the amphitheatre in a slight funk. He managed to get back to class in time to finish his test before the class ended with time to check over his answers if he needed to but he didn't. Once his test completed he brought out his latest book that he was reading, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path. The late poet has always been a personal favorite of his with her dark take on reality and that she wasn't afraid to talk about the truth of life, not sugarcoat it. He was well deep in the book when he overheard two girls near him whispering about the election and who they were voting for. They were torn between Kim and Grace swapping opinions on why the brunette was better than the blonde and vice versa not even considering the ginger haired teen who was sitting two seats in front of them. When they did mention him they quickly dismissed him as a contender because according to them, 'he was a nerd who just wanted to make their lives worse with his terrible ideas.' One of them finally noticed him as their voice was suddenly filled with embarrassment and asked their friend if he was the nerd that was on the TV station. With the answer being a confirmation the two stopped talking for a few minutes before changing the subject Glee that just recently aired their fourth season.

That wasn't the only class that was gossiping about the election, in all of his morning classes students were talking about who they are voting for. He hardly heard his name being brought and even when it was, they were the majority were criticizing his ideas but a few agreed with him. The few who did were the ones were the Swathmore Rejects and the ones who weren't driven by popularity. Last period Albert was talking to Sidney loud enough for Milton to hear to discuss why he chooses Kim over the other two, or more specifically Milton. That didn't hurt him or surprise him at all since it was Albert they were talking about and he was bipolar with his emotions towards him; one day nice the other it's sly jabs hidden underneath 'friendly' smiles. The ginger haired teen was more than happy when the bell rang and he was able to escape the class for lunch where he could focus on eating instead of his impending failed campaign.

Milton enjoyed the fact that the school had an amphitheatre which isn't something most students in the district could claim, including Swathmore students. It came with the school before it was built as it was originally a Greek memorial before they decided to create a high school on the same ground back in the 1900s but it took a lot of persuasion and arguing with the city council members before they made up a deal. They can build the school on the same ground as the amphitheatre as long as the city can use the theatre after school hours for other events like movie nights or live music performances. During the school days though it was mostly used for lunch time seating, school assemblies, or the drama club for outside classes. The only thing was that the built in oversized step like seats were made of concrete so sitting on it for long periods of time ends up hurting their rear side.

The Scottish teen sat on the farther right side of the second to top step that wasn't much occupied then sat his backpack next to him. The step was big enough that his back the step behind him. A few seats down on the farther right he saw Grace and most of her posse who had second lunch surrounding her along with some followers wearing her campaign shirts. There was at least twelve people, and he saw more students wearing her shirts in his morning classes and in the halls which was estimated to be around thirty students in all. Milton was only able to give around twelve to fifteen people his buttons which was a surprise in its self. He was honestly starting to think maybe he should just call defeat for this election, it's just a popularity contest.

"Recognizing defeat I see?" A voice way too close to his ear questioned causing him to jump

Milton turned his head to see none other than Truman next to him wearing a huge smirk. Milton narrowed his eyes at him, the gang hasn't talked to the troublemaker ever since they recorded his tantrum on camera forcing him to leave them alone after he blackmailed Eddie into pulling pranks on them. They saw one another in passing every now and then and shared a few classes but they haven't needed to speak to him and Milton liked it that way.

"What do you want Truman?" The ginger haired teen didn't even try to hide his annoyance; he was obviously going to need another place to sit

"Well that's not a very welcoming tone." Truman noted with an obnoxious smirk

"I only give those to people I like." The taller boy retaliated, and zipped his lunch bag back up and grabbing his backpack

"Ouch." Truman placed a hand on his heart with an over exaggerated hurt look on his face

Milton stood up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder

"I'm leaving." He had enough of the prankster and the idea of sitting with Albert and Sidney seemed more appealing at the moment

"Wait! If you go then I can't tell you how to win the election." Truman called out, using his trump card

That certainly caught his attention,

"Excuse me?" Milton asked, turning around

The smug look was once again on his face,

"I see now I have your attention."

"What are you talking about a way for me to win the election?" As much as he knew that he shouldn't entertain the prankster a big part of him was interested in what he had to say

Truman gestured to the empty steps next to him,

"Sit back down, let's talk like proper gentleman."

Milton snorted at that still standing,

"Give me a break like you know anything about being proper." He practically sneered at the other boy

Truman cocked his head to the side with an almost amused look on his face,

"In case you forgot my dad downs the mall security cameras and my mom owns a successful catering business so I spent a fair amount of my time in the country club, founder's party, and fancy charity events."

That was true, Bobbitt's catering business was booming in Seaford, at almost any event in Seaford was catered by Martha Bobbitt. The women is an amazing cook well loved by pretty much everyone in the city and Kim's mom worked with her, gushing that the woman was an absolute sweetheart. If that was true then how did she birthed someone like Truman?

"Point taken, but why on earth would you want to help me? Don't we both hate each other?" Milton questioned, allowing himself to be lured in and sit back down on the step, placing his backpack next to him

"Contrary to popular belief I don't hate you or your little Wasabi gang at all Milton. None of my pranks are personal they're just for my amusement so don't think I have a vendetta against you or your friends. That happened two years ago I'm over it and as for the video, you said you'd deleted, right?" Truman sought for confirmation, Milton nodded

"Yeah, we did." The boy in question confirmed, unzipping his lunch box and pulling out his turkey sandwich and Snapple tea bottle

"Then why should there be ill feeling?" The way Truman said it was like it was so simple and reasonable, both things the boy isn't

"Something still isn't right, you're never genuinely nice there has to be a catch."

Truman laughed at the question,

"So skeptical, you barely know me enough to make that assumption."

"But I know enough that there has to be something in it for you to even offer this." The Scottish teen shot back

"Let's just say I don't want Grace and Kim to win." The prankster kept it simple, vague

"And why is that?" Milton pressed

"They're not fit for presidency, not like you are."

"And why do you say that?"

"They just aren't and that's all I'm willing to say, now I'm getting impatient. Do you want my help or not?"

Milton worked his jaw in contemplation, the offer was tempting but was still shady. Why does he want to help him? Why now all of a sudden after everything that happened? At the same time though Truman had a point, that he wasn't going to win against two popular girls that have public vote. He bit into his sandwich to stall for time to think even though he already made it up.

Once chewed and swallowed, along with a long sip from his tea he finally spoke.

"How exactly do you plan on helping me win?" The grin he got in reply rivaled the Cheshire cat

"Simple, rumors are a hell of a thing. At this school or school's in general rumors define students, people get judged for rumors about them whether it is true or not and can destroy them altogether."

"Okay get to the point."

"Let's say if your opponents have a nasty rumor spread that makes the students not like them anymore they won't get votes."

That caused Milton to stop chewing altogether as the plan finally hit him,

"Are you saying you want me to spend rumors about Grace and Kim?!"

"Using that AP brain I see." Truman's sarcasm was unmissable

"I can't do that, that's awful! And Kim's my friend." He can't believe he even entertained the thought of trusting Truman

Truman rolled his eyes impatiently,

"Oh come on, that's not awful it's politics, everyone uses them in the adult campaigning world. How else do you expect them to win?" Truman talked to him as if he was a dumb little kid which angered him

Milton placed his sandwich down then turned to face Truman fully,

"By doing it the honest and truthful way, Barak Obama didn't resort to that and he won president."

"Well you're not Barack Obama and he had public favor on his side can't say the same to you Milton." Truman shot back, then had the audacity to reach over and grab his Snapple, uncap it and drink from it! He loved that flavor.

"And this isn't adult politics. I can't believe I even thought of getting help from you, I'm leaving for good now." He made a move to get up and leave but Truman grabbed his arm this time to stop him

"Milton c'mon think for a second, you won't be doing any of the dirty work I will. You don't need to worry about spreading any rumors about your precious little Kim" The last part was said in a mocking manner suggesting more

"Don't say it like that I have a girlfriend that I love. I don't have any feeling for Kim she's just one of my best friends."

"Be honest has she been acting like one of your best friends lately with this election and all? I know a few things about Kim, like how she's very competitive and when she wants something she'll step on anyone and anything to get it. I saw the unreleased episodes of the failed show 'Wasabi Warrior' and how she acted toward you guys just to get the what was it, water rider. It wasn't the actions of so called best friends." Milton tried hard to forget the memory of Bobby's failed reality TV show, he was surprised the network liked it at all

"How in earth did you get your hands on that? Bobby swore that he and the network deleted all traces of that and it never even aired. The network decided not to continue with it."

"I know people." Was the vague reply he got in return

"We all acted out of character it wasn't just Kim." Milton rationalized; he was ashamed of his own actions

"But she was the worst. Lying and sneaking around all of your backs, forming alliances with everyone just to stab them in the back. I imagine how she's acting now is even worse."

Milton knew there was some truths to that, someone defaced his pictures and he saw Kim's snickering later on with the sharpie color in her hand

"And from the look on your face I assume I'm correct." Truman continued

The taller boy bit his tongue to keep from answering

"C'mon you know I'm right. Kim needs to learn what happens when you keep abusing your friendship for trivial things like water riders and freshmen president. I can only assume she did the same things for other petty things besides the things I know. It's called tough love and as for Grace well she's already a bitch and I'm sure a lot of other people will be thanking you for knocking her down a peg or two."

He hated to admit it but Truman had a point, he didn't care at all for Grace she could easily bounce back from it. For Kim, she'll just get a taste of her own medicine.

"If I do this I don't want Kim to know it was me, I don't want anyone to know that I had any involvement in this."

"I can promise you that they won't know, but in order to do that then I'll also need to spread a more tamer rumor about you and send it to SDL."

The Scottish teen have Truman a quizzical look, he never heard of SDL in his life,

"What is that?" This time Truman gave him a look,

"Seaford Dirty Laundry, the schools' gossip site ran by Tj Nixon. Have you been living under a rock?"

"Excuse me for not being invested in petty gossip sites." Milton snapped

"Whatever. But you're doing the right thing Milton."

If that's true then why doesn't Milton feel like he is?

8th period Choir

"Diddy dum dum." Eddie sang along with the rest of his choir class as they ended class with voice exercises

He stood on the risers with the altos on the left side while the sopranos were on the right with the tenor and base in the middle of the risers. Despite his friend's reaction to the news that he decided to join choir and disbelief that he can actually sing, he proved them wrong. He didn't just make choir, but he was part of freshmen select choir which was basically honors choir for freshmen who are vocally advanced over others. The class was small with just a minimum of fifteen students who get to participate with the upperclassmen choir as well and perform at festivals and go on special retreats as well as field trips. Also, in the class was Grace which was an added bonus and saying she could sing really well would be an understatement, she had the voice of an angel. In his opinion at least which was probably biased but he didn't care.

"Good job today class and remember to practice for our fall concert at home. You can't rely on class practices it's your responsibility too." The choir teacher, Mrs. Dane called out to the class as they all hurried to leave the class, and school in general after seven long torturous hours

Eddie was in no such rush, he was one of the last people to make his way to his class's drawer in order to out his choir folder in it. He definitely wasn't dragging his feet because Grace was also still in the class near the drawer talking with Lyndsey, that totally wasn't the reason. He also wasn't taking longer than normal to put his folder in the drawer so he could eavesdrop, why would you accuse him of that?

"He's been so happy like a kid in a candy store, and grinning like a fool at his phone and it's all because of her Lynds. I thought that after all these years and how close we are that something will finally happen between us, I thought he felt the same way but no. He's fallen for some dojo rat and she's all he can talk about." The sleeked hair brunet ranted with a scowl on her face

"Aw sweetie." The darker haired brunette cooed, rubbing the distraught girl's arm in comfort

"How can he fall for someone like that? Some freak loner girl when I'm here and available and known him for basically all of our lives?! What does she have that I don't besides questionable fashion choices and a codependency towards her best friend. Like seriously the two are always together, if I didn't know any better I would think they're the ones dating." Grace practically wailed the last part, her wall that she kept up high completely gone in the face of one of her best friends

Lyndsey pulled the girl into a hug, petting her hair soothingly,

"Aw sweetie she's got nothing on you Grace, Brad is just being experimenting what's it's like to date someone who's not on the wavelength as us. Someone who has the whole 'I'm broken inside, please fix me emo persona.' Soon enough he'll get tired and fed up with her then he'll realize who he's really supposed to be with is you. Just give it time I'm sure by the end of the year you two will be together and the new power couple." Lyndsey pulled back keeping her hands on her fellow brunette's shoulders

Grace nodded, quickly composing herself back into the ice queen,

"Yeah, okay you're right. Thanks, Lynds." She gave her friend a genuine smile then locked arms with her as they started walking away

"Anytime. Now we should be talking about the fall festival next week. We're doing the usual right? Going on the last three days and on Friday sleeping over Ember's for our girl's night and-" The last part of Lyndsey's sentence faded out as the two girls left the choir room together.

Eddie was in quite shock at how seeing Grace's wall down as she showed her true emotions to Lyndsey. She was heartbroken over a guy who apparently is dating someone else, who's does karate that changes everything. He has to change his stance on trying to win her over now having more information on her. That was also the first time Eddie's witnessed the rudeness Kim and Kelsey constantly swore she has but he brushed it off. Grace was hurt so it was only normal for her to lash out and insult the girl that she believes is stealing her crush.

"Mr. Jones unless you want to stay overnight and help me organized this semester work schedule I suggest you leave." Mrs. Dane warned him, bringing him out of his thoughts

Eddie heeded the warning, quickly placing his folder in draw then hurried toward the door,

"Yes m'am I'm going." Eddie assured her

Once he left the classroom he made a pit stop to his locker to swap out his binders that he'll need for homework. The hallway wasn't as crowded as it usually was thanks to it being the end of the day so most of the students were outside. His thoughts trailed back to Grace, he wondered who was the guy she was talking about. She said they've known each other for most of their lives so it was definitely someone in the Elite which left four options Brad, Brett, Tj, and Ethan. Tj and her weren't that close and he was gay so it couldn't be him since the guy was dating a girl, Ethan was a player who never once had a girlfriend, which only left Brett and Brad.

"Eddie just the person I was looking for." Julie's voice drew him out of his thoughts

The boy closed his locker with his binder in his hand, doing a double take at her outfit. Today she dressed in denim high waist shorts with a sheer black short sleeve shirt and black converse.

"Oh, hey Julie." He greeted the girl once he found his voice again

"Remember when I told you that if you wanted me to be co campaign manager you'll need to do something for me in return."

"Yeah." The yellow belt wasn't sure he'll like where this is going

"We'll it's time to cash in that favor."

"What do you want me to do? Give you a foot massage? Do your homework?"

Julie wrinkled her nose at the last suggestion,

"No, I can do my own homework just fine thanks and as if I'll let you touch me. What I want you to do is be the school's new mascot."

"Huh?" Out of all the things he thought she'll suggest, that wasn't on the list

"Be the school's new mascot." The girl repeated herself slowly like she was talking to a child

"Why?"

"Because the school needs one after Harry was fired from the job for his inappropriate comments he made at the cheerleaders, and I think you're the perfect candidate." Julie sweet talked,

Eddie did remember when they firing of Harry finally happened when Kim drop kicked him for saying lewd things through his blowhole. She, as well as a long list of other pep squad members complained to principal Bucketts until finally he was let go of the job as well as getting a suspension for his behavior.

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or flattered." Was Eddie's response

"That's up to you, but go tell coach Marmur that you'll take the position because we can't start off our season without a mascot. He should still be here since Milton said he has football practice."

"Wait, wait wait. Hold on I didn't say I'll take the job."

"Well you have to that's my favor and you said you'll do anything."

"I'm already very busy with choir, my band I'm starting as well as being an explorer scout, and karate. I can't fit that in."

"Well you're going to have or else I'll complain to Milton and I can persuade him to not be in your little band at all. So unless you want that, you should find some space. Ta ta for now." With a whip of her hair the girl walked away leaving a speechless Eddie in her wake. Whoever Julie was before they left for summer she was a completely different person now.

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