Beginnings

December 2nd, 1983

Seven textbooks are sprawled around Leslie's desk. Hundreds of loose papers sit in piles around her room.
"Gah! Where's my physics homework!" She says as she flips through a pile on her desk.
Only 3 more months until senior year is done, and I can focus on what I want to focus on. Not dumb physics. She'd already won her scholarships, picked a school, and picked what courses she wanted to try. She felt stuck in high school. Her whole future was out there, and here she was, desperately searching for homework in a subject she didn't care about. A soft knock comes on the door.
"Honey?" Says her mom as she props open the door. "Am I disturbing you?"
"No, mom, you're fine." Leslie says, setting down the bunch of papers she'd been looking through.
"Just wanted to drop this off." Her mom walks in and sets down a magazine on her bed. It lays there, adding to the growing number of old newspapers and previous issues of the same magazine also laying there.
"My political magazine! Thanks!" Her mom nods as she walks off.
Leslie turns her focus away from the missing assignment and looks at the magazine. The cover shows various people who had won various elections from around the US. Typical. It was the first issue since the elections. They take the most interesting stories of people who had won and compile them into one issue. She scans the cover. Most of the portraits show the usual; a person sitting up tall with a flag of the US and/or their state behind them. But one caught her eye. It looked like a school picture. No flag, no suit (a patterned button down shirt), just a boy with wild hair. The boy in it looked really young for an elected office. About her age, she would say. She flipped to the table of contents.
"Boy Mayor Takes Minnesota by Storm - Page 20."
On Page 20, the boy's face looks back at her.
"Ben "Benji" Wyatt, Age 18." She mutters, reading through the article.
That night at dinner, Leslie slouches as she pokes at her spaghetti.
"Everything alright?" Her mom asks, looking at her with wide eyes.
"There's a boy in Minnesota who is 18 and already mayor of his hometown."
"So?"
"So, that means that I could've been mayor already! This guy and I are the same age, and he's already three times as successful as me!"
"Honey, success takes time! You're a hard worker! You'll be successful! Don't you worry."
"But I want to be successful now!"
"Leslie, do you want to be a little successful now, or very successful later?"
"Very successful later, I guess."
"Besides, this boy can't run for president for 17 more years! That's plenty of time to catch up with him!"
"Thanks, Mom." She says, smiling as she starts to eat her food.
After finally finding her physics homework and completing it, Leslie picks back up the magazine. She thumbs over to Page 20 and looks at Benji.
"Not terrible looking." She says, closing the magazine.