I can’t believe I almost fell for it.
Ten
MARK
Abby and I don’t speak for the next two weeks. I think I catch her looking at me during accounting class a few times, but every time I try to smile or get her attention, she looks away. Every morning I wake up and check the app. Both Abby and I have slipped down and risen up in the scoreboard multiple times over the last two weeks. Everyone in school has changed their position on the board. Everyone except Annabel. She’s still in first place and hasn’t left that spot since the first day the app opened. And no matter how many good things I do, or how many free makeovers Abby gives in her cosmetology class, Annabel remains about five thousand points in the lead.
I can’t stand knowing that a cheater will win this contest. I also don’t want to make Abby hate me forever by going behind her back and telling the principal about the cheating freshman. But time is running out, and we need to do something. I keep hoping for a way to find Abby alone and talk to her again, but she avoids me at every turn.
This weekend marks exactly one week left to win the competition. On Friday, I get called into the office with nine other people, including Abby and Annabel. At a quick glance I can tell we’re the top ten people on the current scoreboard. The principal introduces us to some dude wearing the same polo shirt the guy from the Un-bully video had worn. Luckily, it’s a different guy and this one isn’t as cheesy when he talks to us. He gives us all permission slips and tells us that the top ten students on the scoreboard are invited to visit the car dealership that’s giving us a car tomorrow. The permission slips are for the cameras. Apparently they want content of us picking out which car we’d get if we won so they can use it for future promotional videos and put it on their social media.
I really want to go, if only to spend time with Abby at a dealership, but that means I have to tell my parents what’s going on. I head to the restaurant just before the dinner rush to tell them about the contest, the app, and the prize.
Mom’s curiosity is piqued when I mention the car. “Can you sell it for cash? Or just take the cash instead of the car?” she asks.
“The rules say we can’t get cash instead, but I guess once it’s ours we can sell it.”
“That’s good,” Mom says. “But what makes you think you’ll win?”
I think of Annabel and her five thousand point lead. I’m currently around twenty-five thousand points and Abby is not too far ahead of me. But Annabel is at thirty thousand. Everything Janelle said has been true—never once has Annabel slipped in the ranks, but everyone else has.
I shrug. “I might not win. But I’m in third place right now.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen my parents as excited as they are when I tell them the news. Luckily Julian is busy waiting tables so he doesn’t hear this conversation. He’d no doubt find some way to insult me about the achievement.
“So can I go to the dealership tomorrow?” I ask, handing over the permission slip. “It’ll mean I have to miss the lunch rush at work, but—”
“Of course you’re going,” Mom says. She swipes the paper from my hand, signs it quickly, and then shoves it back at me. “You have one week to win this car so we can sell it. The money will help us tremendously.”
“Or I could just keep the car?” I suggest.
My parents both roll their eyes. Dad gets pulled away by his assistant manager, leaving my mom to answer. “Your car is better than some cheap free car,” Mom says. “You’ll win the free car and we’ll sell it for cash.”
* * *
When I arriveat the dealership, I see Abby getting off at the bus stop across the street. I wish I had her phone number so I could have offered her a ride. All of this not talking and carefully avoiding each other sucks. I’m trying to tell myself it’s because we’re competitors and we can’t be friends because of it, but I laid out my feelings in that storage closet and she just ignored me. I told her that under different circumstances, I’d want to ask her out. That’s a big deal. I guess it’s not so big to her.
That same guy from the other day at school is here along with one cameraman. We each get partnered up with a salesperson who walks us around the lot and helps us choose our dream car, the one we’ll get if we win. My salesman is a gray-haired man named Roy who looks about as old as my grandfather. He spends the first ten minutes telling me about how he’s worked here for forty years and he knows everything about cars. I wish I could tell him that it doesn’t matter what car I get—that the only thing I’m interested in is the resell value of the car. But of course, I don’t, because that would be awkward.
We make our way around the dealership. I really like a black Toyota truck with black wheels, so I decide that’s the one I want. It looks more fun than my Lexus. I didn’t even get to pick out my Lexus because my parents chose it for me, saying they wanted me to drive around in something nice that represented the family. The cameraman comes around and films me talking to the polo shirt guy (I forget his name) about the truck I’ve chosen. It’s so weird talking with a camera in my face, but I think I manage to get through it without saying anything that makes me look stupid.
I keep an eye out for Abby and I finally find her standing next to a red Jeep. Casually, I make my way over there and eavesdrop on her conversation with the polo shirt guy.
“So what made you choose this car?” he asks, pointing his microphone at her.
“It’s beautiful,” she says, glancing adoringly at the Jeep. “Plus it’s big enough to haul around my three younger sisters.”
“Wow! You havethreesisters?” he asks.
She nods. “And they have a million places to go. Winning this car would mean not taking public transportation anymore.”
“The good news is you’re in second place,” he says, turning to smile at the camera. “Keep practicing kindness and you’ve got a good chance to win the car of your dreams from the Un-bully team!”
Abby’s fake smile fades away as the guy talks. Can’t say I blame her. As long as Annabel is cheating at this competition, Abby will never be able to win.
After our individual interviews next to the car we choose, we’re all brought into the large lobby with glass walls and fancy sports cars parked on shiny marble floors. We get to meet the owner of the dealership and some of the top ten students are star struck. This guy is on TV commercials after all, and his dealership is the second largest one in the state. I think it’s a little lame, and like he’s parading us around his dealership just to make himself look good on social media. But I am a fan of the free pizza they give out.
I grab a slice of pepperoni and meander my way toward Abby, who is eating cheese pizza and talking with Rinah, who is currently in sixth place. “If we don’t win a free car, at least we get free pizza,” I say with a smile.
