It was always kind of surreal to see the school at night, removed from the daylight and the morning roving packs of students. The sky’s light blue tones slowly darkened, the orange of the auditorium lights cutting through it, painting a pathway from the parking lot. Simone’s car doors opened and out hopped its occupants.

“A-are you nervous, Sammy?”

“Yeah, a bit. Probably not as nervous as you look right now, though.”

Sammy nudged Lane.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

“Hey, kids, which entrance do we go in?”

They were at the auditorium, a blocky concrete building that was a little away from the main campus. Lights illuminated the front door and sign up tables, there was another entrance around back.

“Chaperones go through the front and sign up at that table,” stated Sammy.

Sammy led Lane around to the back entrance, which was for candidates and speakers. Riley was waiting for them inside. She held a piece of paper and read it over and over, mouthing the words to herself quietly.

“Hi, Riley!” 

“What time is it?” Riley said, not looking up.

“It’s seven?”

“Sammy, you need to get backstage,” Riley briefly lowered the paper. “Lane, come with me.”

“Well, alright, I’ll see you two after the proxy speech.”

* * *

“Um, what are we doing? Aren’t the proxy speeches first?”

The bottle clunked against the glass of the vending machine, getting caught at the end of the rotating dispenser. Riley banged on it with her fists. She shouted a word Lane wouldn’t say and kicked the vending machine a couple times. Lane took a step back. Riley tried to levitate the bottle to free it from being stuck, but she couldn’t get it loose. She groaned, leaning with her back to the machine.

“I’m going to tell you something, but you can’t tell Sammy, alright?” 

Lane gulped and nodded.

“I haven’t been sleeping. I’ve been too worried about this,” she said, thumping the back of her head lightly against the glass.

“Sammy really wants to help people, and this whole class president thing doesn’t actually allow her to meaningfully do that. She knows it too.”

“If that’s true, why is she going through all this effort?”

“Because it will prove to her that people care about each other, about something other than popularity.”

Riley sighed, sliding down to sit on the floor.

“I’m really trying, I really need to sell everyone on her, because if that Harper girl wins without any sort of platform, I’m afraid it will devastate Sammy.”

 Lane moved a little closer to Riley, not really sure what to say.

“So now I’m really freaking out, I haven’t slept, I was eating dinner on the way here and I dropped it, and now this stupid vending machine won’t give me my goddamn drink!”

Riley stood up quickly, trying to kick the vending machine again. She lost her balance and fell over, Lane rushed over to catch her. The smaller kid struggled against her weight in their arms.

“Riley, are you okay?”

Riley didn’t respond.

“Riley?”

* * *

Posters adorned the nurse’s office about proper sneezing etiquette, symptoms of a cold, a desperate plea to get students to wash their hands when they used the bathroom and before they ate, and a warning about air jellies and how to treat their sting. Riley lay on one of the three beds separated by thin curtains, Lane paced back and forth at the bed’s foot. They’d never seen her that helpless.

“She’s going to be okay with some rest. She’s just exhausted. We’ll get her to drink some water when she wakes up,” the nurse said, but it did little to calm Lane.

Sammy came running in through the door, panting as she spotted Lane near the beds.

“I came as fast as I could!” Sammy said, making her way to Riley’s side. 

She put her hand over Riley’s. Riley seemed to squirm a little, her fists uncurling slightly and her eyelids loosening.

“Were you pushing yourself for my sake, Riley?” Sammy said, staring downwards. “I should have noticed, I’m sorry.”

Lane stopped pacing and stood next to her.

“Sammy?” a voice called out weakly.

“Riley, are you awake?”

Riley’s sheets rustled softly as she pulled them off of her chest.

“Sammy,” Riley whispered, carefully placing her other hand over Sammy’s. “Can you get me a sports drink from the vending machine?”

“Yes, of course! Right away!”

Sammy dashed out of the room. Lane looked at Riley, eyebrow raised.

“You know, the nurse has those stocked around here.”

“I know,” Riley said, making intense eye contact with Lane.

“Lane, I’m not going to let Sammy miss her speech.”

“She’ll be worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ll make sure she knows that.”

Riley grabbed Lane’s arm.

“She’s not going to let me make the proxy speech, though.”

“You shouldn’t! You might collapse on stage!”

“Well, that leaves us with only one option, then.”

She squeezed a little tighter.

“No… I-I can’t—”

“Yes, you can. You’re the closest person to her.”

“No, everyone here has known her for way longer—”

“She opened up to you in a way she hasn’t with anyone else, I can tell.”

Riley let go, turning away from Lane.

“Just… speak from the heart. I know you can do this, I’m counting on you. Sammy’s counting on you.”

Riley’s grip on Lane’s arm grew stronger. Lane averted their eyes from Riley’s gaze. They tried to imagine themself on stage in front of the audience and just couldn’t picture it. One thought overpowered the uncertainty they felt: Lane didn’t want to let anyone down. 

“Okay… I’ll do it.”

Riley turned back to face them, smiling faintly.

“You should head backstage now, before Sammy gets back.”

* * *

“You’re Riley’s replacement? You’re certainly cutting it close.”

Lane gulped.

“Stand right here, wait for your cue.”

Scattered audience members clapped their hands, half hearted applause muffled through the stage curtain. The stage lights were intensely bright, Lane had to shield his eyes. It was hard to hear what the speaker was saying, she stood a little too close to the microphone, and the sound system was pointed towards the audience. Lane missed their cue, but the teacher tapped them on the shoulder.

This was all happening too quickly for Lane. Sweat dripped down their brow. Lane stood in front of the podium, overlooking an audience small enough that they could pick out individual faces they recognized from class, all eyes watching. Lane pulled the microphone down a little.

There were little bits of chatter in the audience, they were quickly shushed. Simone gave Lane a confused, but supportive thumbs up.

Lane tried to wave back, but their hand didn’t seem to register what their brain had asked of it.

“H-hi, I’m Lane Destroia, I’m giving th-the proxy speech for Sammy Sullivan…”

Lane pulled on their shirt’s collar.

“I j-just moved into town recently, a-and Sammy—”

Someone in the audience coughed. A drop of sweat dripped down Lane’s forehead into their eye. 

“Sammy… Sammy is my fr-friend”

Lane’s stomach churned.

“P-please vote for her—”

Lane’s vision swam. Lane had to leave. They turned away from the podium, the audience murmured, sharing confused glances. Lane walked as quickly as possible offstage, they could hear bits of scattered laughter from the audience. 

Someone was trying to say something to Lane, but they couldn’t hear, Lane had to leave. Lane was busy propping themself against a wall, trying not to throw up. 

Lane had to leave. There was a door. Lane entered, not noticing the makeshift sign taped to it.