this early on a Saturday isn’t going to help me get any memorization done later today. I have to get ready for next week.”
“That’s the spirit,” Celia said. “As far as the big debate on Friday goes, I think we can have you totally prepped and ready to roll by Thursday night for sure.”
Mari stopped dead in her tracks, her feet suddenly cemented to the gum-stained sidewalk. “The debate? It’s on Friday? As in this coming Friday?” She grabbed at her stomach and said, “Oh, Celia, no.”
Celia had to take six or seven steps backward to return to Mari’s side. “Of course it’s on Friday,” she said. “Friday morning, right before everybody votes. Don’t you remember from last year? The debate’s the last big thing before the voting. It’ll make or break us.”
Mari stuck her thumbnail in between her top and bottom teeth and began to chew. From across the street and a little ways down the next block came the laughs and shouts of kids—way too many kids—from the park’s basketball courts. Between the trunks of the palm trees surrounding the park and the courts, Celia thought she saw a lot of people her own age.
“This is bad,” Mari said. She hadn’t taken a single step forward.
“I know, it sounds like there are a lot of people there already.”
“No, I mean about the debate on Friday.” Mari put her hands in her hair again and started tugging at her roots, her thick hair cascading through her fingers. Mari was usually able to keep herself calm—it was normally Mari convincing Celia to chill—but it was starting to look like she was on the brink of some kind of panic attack.
“Don’t freak out,” Celia said, placing her hand on Mari’s shoulder over the straps of the light purple tank top she wore. “Like I said, I’ll totally have you ready. I promised you, didn’t I?”
Mari pushed her hand off—a very un-Mari-like move—and said, “No, Celia, you’re not getting it. The play—our first official run-through is a week from yesterday, meaning this Friday. ”
Celia swallowed hard, finally getting it. Two big performances on the same day, all those lines, jumping off one kind of stage, only to hop onto another; no wonder Mari was being so not herself. How could Celia put her best friend through all of this? Celia stopped thinking about the election and about her own dreams of winning and said what she was really feeling at that moment: “Okay, first off, I’m really sorry everything is happening at once. I really am.”
Something about the sincerity in Celia’s voice made Mari come out of panic-attack mode. Her hands unclenched themselves from her hair and fell to her sides. Celia put her hand on Mari’s shoulder again, and this time, Mari put her own hand over it and gave Celia a weak smile. They heard squeaks and the repetitive thuds of a basketball bouncing against the ground. They both turned in the direction of the courts.
“Laz or no Laz, I really don’t have time for this,” Mari said, sounding far away.
Laz. Was it him that Mari was coming for all along? Celia was worried, but kept her hand under Mari’s.
“We’re already here,” Celia said with a shrug.
Mari turned and looked back at the row ofhouses they’d just passed. Far off they heard Poochie, Celia’s neighbor’s Chihuahua, barking his brains out. How such a little dog made that much noise, Celia could never figure out. She sensed Mari’s wavering and said, “Man, that dog is almost as annoying as Laz.”
Mari let out a nervous giggle and said, “You’re so mean. He’s not that bad.” Celia glanced at her and saw Mari’s cheeks turning red.
“Are you blushing?!” Celia asked, shocked.
“No, it’s just hot out here. Let’s get to the courts already.”
Celia bit down on her tongue to keep from betraying her own true feelings about Laz. She’d convinced Mari that she saw Laz as nothing but the competition, but if Mari liked Laz, then she knew she had no chance with him. And
“That’s the spirit,” Celia said. “As far as the big debate on Friday goes, I think we can have you totally prepped and ready to roll by Thursday night for sure.”
Mari stopped dead in her tracks, her feet suddenly cemented to the gum-stained sidewalk. “The debate? It’s on Friday? As in this coming Friday?” She grabbed at her stomach and said, “Oh, Celia, no.”
Celia had to take six or seven steps backward to return to Mari’s side. “Of course it’s on Friday,” she said. “Friday morning, right before everybody votes. Don’t you remember from last year? The debate’s the last big thing before the voting. It’ll make or break us.”
Mari stuck her thumbnail in between her top and bottom teeth and began to chew. From across the street and a little ways down the next block came the laughs and shouts of kids—way too many kids—from the park’s basketball courts. Between the trunks of the palm trees surrounding the park and the courts, Celia thought she saw a lot of people her own age.
“This is bad,” Mari said. She hadn’t taken a single step forward.
“I know, it sounds like there are a lot of people there already.”
“No, I mean about the debate on Friday.” Mari put her hands in her hair again and started tugging at her roots, her thick hair cascading through her fingers. Mari was usually able to keep herself calm—it was normally Mari convincing Celia to chill—but it was starting to look like she was on the brink of some kind of panic attack.
“Don’t freak out,” Celia said, placing her hand on Mari’s shoulder over the straps of the light purple tank top she wore. “Like I said, I’ll totally have you ready. I promised you, didn’t I?”
Mari pushed her hand off—a very un-Mari-like move—and said, “No, Celia, you’re not getting it. The play—our first official run-through is a week from yesterday, meaning this Friday. ”
Celia swallowed hard, finally getting it. Two big performances on the same day, all those lines, jumping off one kind of stage, only to hop onto another; no wonder Mari was being so not herself. How could Celia put her best friend through all of this? Celia stopped thinking about the election and about her own dreams of winning and said what she was really feeling at that moment: “Okay, first off, I’m really sorry everything is happening at once. I really am.”
Something about the sincerity in Celia’s voice made Mari come out of panic-attack mode. Her hands unclenched themselves from her hair and fell to her sides. Celia put her hand on Mari’s shoulder again, and this time, Mari put her own hand over it and gave Celia a weak smile. They heard squeaks and the repetitive thuds of a basketball bouncing against the ground. They both turned in the direction of the courts.
“Laz or no Laz, I really don’t have time for this,” Mari said, sounding far away.
Laz. Was it him that Mari was coming for all along? Celia was worried, but kept her hand under Mari’s.
“We’re already here,” Celia said with a shrug.
Mari turned and looked back at the row ofhouses they’d just passed. Far off they heard Poochie, Celia’s neighbor’s Chihuahua, barking his brains out. How such a little dog made that much noise, Celia could never figure out. She sensed Mari’s wavering and said, “Man, that dog is almost as annoying as Laz.”
Mari let out a nervous giggle and said, “You’re so mean. He’s not that bad.” Celia glanced at her and saw Mari’s cheeks turning red.
“Are you blushing?!” Celia asked, shocked.
“No, it’s just hot out here. Let’s get to the courts already.”
Celia bit down on her tongue to keep from betraying her own true feelings about Laz. She’d convinced Mari that she saw Laz as nothing but the competition, but if Mari liked Laz, then she knew she had no chance with him. And
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