Rinah laughs. “It’s pretty good pizza, too!”
Abby looks over but doesn’t say anything. Ugh. I hate this. I want to be her friend even though I shouldn’t. I want to be more than that. Even though I shouldn’t.
The cameraman and the guy from the app make their way around to each one of us for a quick interview. Rinah, Abby, and I are at the back of the group, so we’ll go last.
“Ugh, I don’t want to do this,” Abby says, staring nervously at the person being interviewed just across the lobby.
“Camera shy?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It’s just awkward. It’s not like we’re going to win anyway.”
She shoots a scowl toward Annabel, who is all smiles as everyone fawns over her for being the month’s reigning queen of the competition so far.
I take a step closer to Abby, lowering my voice. “You know we could still say something.”
Her eyes dart up to mine, and instead of her usual contempt, I see… sadness? “I think about it every day,” she admits, lowering her voice so much I can barely hear it.
“So why don’t we say something?” I prod.
She shakes her head, her gaze still at Annabel. “Because I wouldn’t win anyway.”
“You’re in second place,” I say. “If we get her kicked out, you’ll win.”
She shakes her head. “Not for long. You’re only a few points behind me, and I’m exhausted. I don’t know how you do it, Mark.” Her eyes flit to mine. “I’ve been busting my butt for three weeks. I barely sleep because I’m too busy volunteering, or helping, or writing essays.”
“You’re writing essays?” I say, eyes wide.
She shrugs. “Technically I’meditingthem, but everyone sends me the worst possible drafts, knowing I’ll make them much better. All for some stupid kudos. I’m killing myself here, and I can’t keep it up. I don’t even care who wins the car anymore.”
My heart breaks for her. She’s been doing so much more than I have. The volunteering, the free makeup stuff. All I’ve done is talk to more people, leave friendly comments on social media, and volunteer at the animal shelter a few times a week. I don’t know why I’m even in third place. I definitely don’t deserve it.
Before I can say anything, we’re rounded up again for a group photo that will be posted online. There are too many people around us, including Annabel herself. We have to pose for several photos and then answer some questions as a group about how we’ve worked hard to defeat bullying and what we’ve learned so far this month. Everyone lies. We don’t bother saying anything about how all these nice activities are just fake, just ploys to get kudos. Instead, we go along with it, all smiles and friendly words that reinforce the Un-bully initiative.
When we’re finally done, I try to break away and talk to Abby again, but she’s walking with Rinah and a couple other girls. I call her name, but she doesn’t hear me.
Roy walks up, bringing the strong smell of his cologne with him. “You sweet on her?” he asks in a thick southern accent.
“What?” I say, louder than I should.
He chuckles and smacks me on the back. “Well, that answers my question. Definitely sweet on the girl.”
“No I’m not,” I say, glancing around to make sure no one is listening.
He just laughs even harder. “Keep telling yourself that, kid.”
Eleven
ABBY
This competition has me paranoid. Ever since it started, the school has become this different type of ecosystem. Sure, some people don’t care about winning a car or they don’t want to put in the effort to win. Others even thought it would be fun to try to have the lowest score possible. Some students have even been so apathetic about the whole thing that they just go on with life as usual, not caring one bit about the app. But the people who do care have made everything so stressful.
Every morning I wake up and wonder if I still want to do this. I haven’t had five minutes of peace and quiet since this month started. At school, I have to be “on” all the time—giving so much of myself to make everyone reward me with kudos. After school, I’m volunteering, taking my sisters to all their activities, and dealing with their back-talking and general little sister annoying traits. An hour or two (or three) before bed, I’m on social media leaving comments and interacting so everyone remembers to keep giving me kudos.
And the worst part of all? No matter how many kudos I get, Annabel Johnson has about five thousand more. If her score wasexactlyfive thousand more than mine, I’d feel more confident that she was cheating. But it’s not. Every day, it’s some random number more that averages to about five thousand more than mine. Sometimes 4952 more, sometimes 5013 more. But never 5000 exactly. That’s why I can’t risk tattle-telling on her when it might get me in trouble, despite the fact that Janelle’s tip has caused me so much stress I am now walking around feeling like there’s a massive ball of stress in my chest.
It’s Sunday today and I haven’t thought of any volunteer work to do. The animal shelter is closed to volunteers today, I’m all out of lashes and makeup to do free makeovers, and I have no money to buy more, and I’ve fulfilled every homework assignment I agreed to “help” people with. So today is going to be my day to relax. After all, tomorrow starts the final week to win that car, and I’ll be busier than ever.
If I don’t give up first. I’ll just have to visualize that gorgeous red Jeep at the dealership. Earlier this month, the idea of winning a car was exciting enough. I hadn’t even thought of what kind of car I wanted. I thought just any car would be perfect. But then I saw the Jeep. It’s beautiful and sporty and has all these new high-tech features that I didn’t even know cars had. I love it. I want is so bad. That’s why I haven’t given up yet.
