Meet Cameron Grant.
If he could say everything he was dissatisfied about in his life, he would.
If he had the courage to tell his all-time crush Brooklyn Davis that he liked-loved her, he would.
If he could curse and swear so much that nobody would...
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07 | silence is overrated
Mr. Croach paces through the room, full of anticipation.
Everybody sits down, all tense as well. The silence in the room is deafening which is only destroyed by the ticking of the clock on the wall. My hands are sweating. Someone coughs and everybody jumps slightly. My heart beats at the speed of a bullet train and my mouth is as dry as hell. Teddy who is sitting beside me is muttering strings of words under his breath and it adds to the tension in the air which is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
There is a knock on the door and everybody's head turns to it. Mr Croach stops pacing and looks unnerved as he reaches to the doorknob with trembling fingers. As he turns it, you can hear the clicking, metallic sound of the metal. Since I was sitting next to the door, I can feel the cold rush of wind. A woman walks in wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.
I can feel that everybody including me sits slightly straighter and that we all hold in our breath simultaneously. The woman, who has a bun tied tightly on her head, reaches her hand out and says, "I am Jeannette McKoaly. I assume you are Gerald Croach?"
Mr Croach nods his head nervously and says, "Y-yes, I am."
Unexpectedly, Jeannette breaks into a huge grin. "Congratulations, Savages of Grendale, you have officially won the previous tournament in this state! You have moved on to the National Rounds!"
There is a split-second moment of silence before the Debate Team raises up and we all cheer loudly. Jordan flips a table and goes into a screaming fit while Emma is in shock, still sitting in her seat. Tracy and Holton goes into a make-out fest and falls onto a table. Mr Croach engulfs Jeannette in a fierce embrace much to her surprise. Teddy shakes me crazily and I give him the happiest facial expression I can muster. Although there were only five people here, excluding Mr Croach and Jeannette, it feels like the whole school is here.
The rules of debating in my country is extremely different from how it used to be. Every team actually can have five speakers and there is always a reserve member. Reserve members do the same research and also receive all the rebuttal points as well as prompts but we can only participate in tournaments when a member is not present.Since I am a mute, the ministry that controls debate tournaments make an exception for me. Whenever, I go to tournaments and participate in it, I have to type into a laptop and what I type is showed somewhat live on a screen.
The tournament we took part in just happened weeks ago and we ruled. I can remember the faces of our opponents so clearly and just thinking about them sends nice chills down my back. Our club is still screaming as I jump up and down and we all calm down after a while. Fuck yes.
"The Nationals will start in a month. Will this Club be able to come to the tournaments?" Jeannette asks.
"Yes, of course! The Savages of Grendale are going," Mr Croach says enthusiastically while shaking Jeannette's hand.
"We will send you all the details before the tournament. Good luck." With that, Jeannete walks away.
Teddy shakes me again by my shoulders and asks, "WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE THIS HISTORIC MOMENT. Will you come to my house tomorrow night? I will prepare some movies and food and maybe invite-"
I cover his mouth with my hand and nod.
⦿
The hallway is filled with teenagers as I walk through it. Biology period is in five minutes and I do not want to be late. As I quickly got o my locker and take my stuff, I spot the 'cool' herd of our school heading my way. They are the social people and are just really stereotypically mean which is why I hate them.
Kennedy, who is probably the most hypocritical and stereotypical of them all, is chewing gum while she asks me, "Hey, Grant. I am hosting a party tomorrow. Wanna come over?"
I almost fall over in shock. Why is she asking me this? Getting a personal invitation to a party by one of the most stupidest people in this school makes me want to puke. But there is something inside me that glows, like how one will feel when they are a baby and receives some expensive toy which degrades the environment of the world but still makes them happy. But then I remember the party Teddy is having tomorrow and sigh. I shake my head and Kennedy looks taken aback.
"Excuse me? You are not coming to the party? Never mind. I will still be expecting you to be there. Come when you feel free to," she says and walks away.
I roll my eyes. Kennedy is stupid, mean and even worse, the sophomore president. I walk in the opposite direction of them, wishing I am not late. However, Quill has to fucking appear in front of me.
"Hey, Cameron!" How you doing?" He asks and raises his hand fora high-five.
I try to dodge past him but Quill with his soccer skills uses his arms to pull me back. I swipe my phone out of my pocket and type furiously, What the fuck do you want? Suspension's over.
He takes a deep breath and says, "Cameron, I need your help. You were awesome on the field that day-you still are, so I want you to be my wingman."
I give him an incredulous look and type, What the fuck? I don't fucking owe you anything. You are the one who owes me something! I picked you at the field over my brother.
He grabs my arms and pouts. "Come on, Cameron! What about my tutoring?"
I retort, You did not tutor me at all. all you did at my house was steal my instant noodles, you fucking moron!
Quill cries out in mock pain, "Why, oh why, Cameron? Don't you think I deserve better? All you need to do is help me get together with that hot coach assistant. She is really one fine girl."
I type back, Don't be so sexist. Girls aren't for you to verbally harass.
"You know what? I can do something if you help me. I know this guy at the grocery store who owes me something. He is Brooklyn's brother." My heart leaps when I hear her name and I raise an eyebrow. "If you help me with Alicia, I will help you with Brooklyn."
My mind goes into an imaginative state. I see Brooklyn and I hanging out at the nearby restaurant, walking together at the field, sharing a slushie. Zoom into the future and she has grown even more beautiful, we would have a wedding and then comes the kids. I nod subconsciously and smile to myself.
"Great! See you next time!" He slaps me on the shoulder and snaps me from my imagination.
When I get back to class, I see that I am late. Fucking moron.
