Total Knockout by Taylor Morris

district. We could be the leaders of this movement.” She looked interested in that, so I pressed on. I told her about the long-term risks of obesity, like high blood pressure and poor self-image. “Which is why, in the long run, it’s best to invest now.” Realizing that was a nice little sound bite, I decided to repeat it. “It’s best to invest. Now.”
    I sat back and waited for her reaction. I knew she would have a ton of questions about logistics and comparison prices, but instead she dropped the handouts on her desk and sighed.
    â€œThe truth is, Lucia,” she began, “I’ve been wanting to do something like this for some time. I just haven’t had the time to come up with a solution.” She smiled. “Or maybe I just haven’t been creative enough.”
    My heart raced the fluttering beat of success.
    â€œOkay.” Ms. Jenkins clapped her hands. “I’ll look at these and make sure they’re the best ones for our school, especially with pricing. Did your council vote on this?”
    My heart caught in my throat. “We’re going to,” I quickly said.
    â€œI’d like to get this on the agenda for the next school board meeting, at the end of this week. Let me know once you’ve got your votes—you need three-fourths approval, correct?” I nodded.
    Before I left her office, Ms. Jenkins said, “Lucia? Nice job on this one.”
    Here’s the thing: I knew the bylaws of the student council better than anyone. I was even on the special committee in sixth grade that helped write some of the amendments. So I knew that what I’d promised was almost impossible because of two things:
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    Article IV, Section 4:
    The student council shall meet onlyduring regularly scheduled meetings as outlined by the advisor at the beginning of each semester. Unscheduled meetings may be called only in an emergency-type situation, with reasonable discretion.
    What that meant, but what wasn’t explicitly written, was that emergency meetings would be called only in a disastrous situation, like post tornado or school shooting. Like, a for-real emergency. And vending machines were not considered an emergency, I’m pretty sure.
    The second thing I knew about the bylaws was:
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    Article VI, Section 2:
    Any council vote in which money is involved must have a one-week (seven days) research period between presentation of item and vote. Approval is at the discretion of the principal.
    And it was clear Ms. Jenkins didn’t know this. But I didn’t say anything because, honestly, at the time I was too excited about my presentation going so well. I’dspent all summer researching those machines, and in one five-minute meeting I got Ms. Jenkins’s approval. That felt amazing. I guess I just thought I’d figure out the other stuff later.
    The excitement of my mission accomplished faded quickly as I walked down the halls, my dilemma sitting like a brick in my stomach. I couldn’t get the vote if I took the rules literally. There wasn’t another school board meeting until next semester, and by then it’d be too late. The machines were supposed to be my big finish to an amazing three years as council president. If no one knew about the rules and I didn’t tell anyone, was that cheating? Considering no one cared about student council, I told myself not to worry about it.

The second I got home I raced to my computer and set up our first student council meeting for the very next day.
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    Welcome, Team, to the eighth-grade Angus Junior High Student Council!
    We have a lot of amazing tasks to tackle this year, so I hope you’re ready to buckle down and work!
    We’ll have our first meeting TOMORROW immediately after school in our fearless leader’s classroom, Mrs. Peoria’s, room 245.
    I have a great surprise for everyone, so make sure you arrive on time.
    Humbly yours,
    Lucia
    The more I thought about