Ready
“Are you ready?”
“Not really.”
“But you give speeches all the time. This is nothing to you.”
I shook my head. “This is different.” I didn’t know how to explain it to him, but there was a difference between talking in front of my peers and talking in front of both my classmates and their parents. Or maybe it was because now I was more aware of who was out there. I was nervous. What if I mess up? What if I suddenly forget my speech?
Derek firmly gripped my shoulders. “Look at me.”
I did as he asked of me.
“You’ll do fine,” he reassured me gently. “When you go out there, don’t think about what others are going to think. Besides, last time I checked, Tomari Johnston doesn’t care about anyone else’s opinions but her own anyway. Something as small as this shouldn’t really affect you.” That earned him a smile. “You are valedictorian for a reason. You can do this.”
Just then Mario appeared, wearing our school’s ocean blue and onyx black cap and gown. “I found them!” He handed us our honor cords. “It would have sucked had I forgotten them.” When he got to me his lips turned up until all that was left was his signature heart-stopping smile. “Don’t look so scared, Mar. You’ll do great. Besides, since everyone will be watching you-”
“Not helping!”
Now I was on the verge of hyperventilating. Oxygen suddenly seemed really hard to come by. Why couldn’t I breathe? In. Out. In. Out. Come on, Tomari. That’s it. Slow breathing. The slayer threw the witch a glare.
“I managed to get her somewhat calm until you decided to give her something else to worry about.”
“It didn’t look that way to me.” Mario told him with a shrug, which I’m sure pissed Derek off even more. His twinkling electric blue eyes landed on me. Uh oh. I know that look, I thought. That was the ‘I’m going to have fun at your expense’ look. He brought his attention back to Derek. “Besides, I doubt Mr. Third Rank could ever manage to calm her down.”
Derek crossed his arms, his glare intensifying. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Mario smirked. “It means that you should just leave it up to the second best.”
“You upped me by one point!”
I still didn’t completely understand how that happened. Derek and I managed to get all of our projects in on time, and the teachers were nice enough to give each of us full credit since we got it in earlier than what was assigned. When we checked our rankings that Friday, we were back to our original spots. Imagine our surprise the following Monday when we found out that Mario, who was before ranked number three in the senior class, had managed to wedge himself between Derek and I. That was almost unheard of in the IB program.
“Yeah, but here in the IB world, one point really does make all the difference, Mr. Third Rate.” Mario replied nonchalantly.
“I’m going to kill you!”
Derek lunged for Mario, who quickly side-stepped him. Everytime Derek stepped forward, Mario took one back. If one went left, the other went right. They circled each other. Clockwise. Now, counter-clockwise. Another step back. Another forward. It almost reminded me of a dance. And then, suddenly Derek’s hands shot out. Mario moved to his left, but Derek predicted that movement and stuck his leg out. Mario landed on his butt with a loud thump. Derek then took that opportunity to slap him on the back of the head.
