On a late Wednesday morning, most of the highschool had to do their attendance in the amphitheater, more than eight classes, because attendance was mandatory. The event was held for the candidates that wanted to participate to have a chance to become the president of the student council. The candidates were from the ninth grade, because for the tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade, there were already students for each year.

After an hour or so, it was time for Ilinca to get on the stage in the looks of everyone. She was excited but nervous as well, with that many eyes looking at her at the same time. 

She was wearing a microphone on the end of her shirt’s sleeve, right in the middle of the stage-light. While talking, Ilinca was walking slowly in different directions, towards either the left side of the crowd, or the right side of the crowd, and never with her back towards them.

Her voice was gentle and slow, seeming very calculated with every word spoken.

“Good Morning Glo-lo High School. First, I want to thank my colleagues, the candidates for their beautiful speeches and very heart touching, can we get a round of applause for them?”

Everyone applauded and whistled

“Ilinca!!”

“Good girl!”

The shouting voices from the back of eleventh and twelfth graders who were kind of making fun of her with whisperings and laughs, but it did not bother her at all; she had to focus on her speech.

Ilinca looked around with a slight awkward smirk, waiting for the applause and whistles to stop, and then started her original speech.

“One of the most violent errors of humanity in our school’s society is bullying. Can anyone tell me what bullying is?”

A boy from the way back raised his hand and answered with and responded with a shout

“Yes, the boy in the back”

“When a student beats the hell out of another guy for no reason”

“Mmm… that could have been said a little bit more… sugar-coated”
The teachers of the one that responded looked behind them and argued a little bit with him, looking annoyed at him, and his colleagues near him started laughing.

“But yes, bullying is when a student hurts another student for no typical reason”

She stopped on place and looked down for a few seconds

“What if I could say that I can stop the bullying in school?”

There were lots of whispers going on

A man with a white suit and shoulder-length black hair and glasses has raised his hand, standing up near other parents and students in the back of the amphitheater

“Yes, you, the man in the back”

“How can you help?”

“If I do get chosen as the student council president for the ninth grade, I can make a petition to create a “parental program”, where the school will hire personnel from the police department or from the bodyguard program, where these personnel would roam every hall. Some would just walk around to make sure everything looks good and safe, and some would be put inside the classes that have more violent students in it”

The whispers stopped and loud applauses were going on, combined with cheers from everyone.

“If I am chosen as the president of the students council, I will make a petition to create a program where every student can focus on their dreams. If you like art, the program will make sure that you follow art more throughout highschool. If you like sports, same thing, if you like psychics, same thing. This change can be put in motion from next year in our highschool”

“The last thing on my list will be free meal tickets for the students that have over two point zero gpa. I think this will be a good way to motivate the students of the highschool to study, I mean who wouldn’t like a free meal every day, am I right?”

She chuckled

“This was all. Please vote me, Ilinca Adam”

The entire amphitheater went crazy with whistles and applause, as well as shouts from the boys in the back, calling out her name, but Ilinca already left behind the curtain, in the backstage.

In the backstage there were the other candidates from different years and classes, staying on their phones or talking between each other.

One of the eleventh graders went up to Ilinca and hugged her, telling her that the idea about the meal tickets was really good.

“Thank you Stacy, you know, you got to be open about things and motivate everyone to do what they should focus on, which is studying. Of course I can’t move mountains, but I can start climbing it”

“NOW PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR WINNER!”

Was heard, muffled from over the curtain.

“You are way too mature for a ninth grader, Ilinca Adam”

Said a student, checking her out, not believing her.

“I am, heh… he, if you believe it or not”

Some of the contestants were already preparing putting down their phones or stopping whatever they were doing, and just stood in front of the curtain, ready to make their entrances

“Ooh, already?”

“Yes, come on Ilinca, you need to be ready for this”

“Coming, coming”

“The winner chosen as the president of the student council of the ninth grade, Ilinca Adam!”
Exclaimed the director with the microphone in his hand, while reading the winner from his phone. 

The entire crowd applauded and most of the boys from the back whistled at Ilincaa

“WITH 224 VOTES!”

The crowd went even crazier with applause. More started cheering now

Ilinca looked at her friend with a confused expression and she was told to go, while being gently pushed in front

“Go, go!”

Ilinca went over the curtain and looked straight into the big light, blinding her for a moment, continuing to look left and right, with a progressive smile that would get wider and wider as she realised the moment she was in, the moment of victory where everyone was cheering for her win.

On her way home, in her parents car, Ilinca was covered with gifts. Her mother and father were in front of her as well.

“And there were cheers and shouts for me and everything, and then everyone applauded, it was crazy”

“Wohoa, honey, it seems like you had a good time sweetie”

“It was nice, it was nice”

“Look at all those gifts, huh, where’d you get all of those?”
Asked the father in a funny tone

“I got most of these from older boys”

The mother and father locked eye contact, curiously

“Do older boys like you Ilinca?”

“I don’t think so, maybe?”

“You know you need to find someone your age. You know it’s forbidden to date someone way older and someone way younger than you”

“Yes dad, I know…”

“Good, good”

“Did you get something for winning, Ilinca?”

“I got a diploma with my name on it, and a coupon for three free meals at Willy’s pizza’s. They are somewhere here but I can’t move my hands from all of these boxes and flowers”

Late in the night, inside her room, Ilinca had a folder on her desk, with the title “President of the student council”, and the front cover was covered in different girly stickers.

Opening the folder, Ilinca had many ideas written down, plans, schedudles and many more, with the important ideas highlighted beautifully with lime-green marker. 

Ilinca closed the folder with a slight smirk on her face, while she also closed the light of her lamp, leaving the entire room in the light of the moon bathing the window and most of Ilinca’s room in natural night lighting.

She jumped on her bed, inhaling deeply and exhaling the same way, hugging her duck plushie and instantly fell asleep with it between her arms.