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“You don’t even have to vote for me,” said Angeline. “Just nominate me.”
“Sure, what the heck,” said Philip. “It’s a deal.”
“Okay,” said Angeline.
“Angeline!” said Mrs. Hardlick. “No talking after the bell rings.”
The bell rang.
“It hadn’t rung yet,” said Angeline.
“What did I just say about talking?” said Mrs. Hardlick, trying to cover up her mistake.
Angeline sat up and folded her hands on top of her desk. As long as they were folded, she knew she wouldn’t suck her thumb. She knew she’d never be elected Secretary of Trash if she was caught sucking her thumb again. But who was she kidding? She wasn’t going to be elected anyway.
As expected, Christy and Philip were each nominated for class president and they each had to give a speech. Christy was first.
“I think you should vote for me for class president because I’m very responsible, for example, I always feed and walk my dog, Toby, oh he’s so cute, but for a long time we never had a dog because my parents didn’t want to have to take care of him but I said I’d take care of him, but they said, no you won’t, and I said yes I would too, but they said you say that now but we know you, and something always comes up, but I told them I really, truly would take care of him and then they said, okay, and so two days ago we got a dog, Toby, and he’s so cute, and I always take care of him, except yesterday because I was busy writing this speech, and after all, being president is a lot more important than feeding a dog, and so I promise that if you elect me president, I won’t let my dog interfere with my duties as president of the sixth grade.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
Everyone applauded.
“Very nice, Christy,” said Mrs. Hardlick. “Philip.”
Philip gulped. He hadn’t written a speech. He didn’t know he was supposed to. He tried to think fast as he slowly walked to the front of the room. He said that he’d be a good president because “Um, I don’t live too far away from school, so, um, I could rush right over in case of um, an um, emergency. I, um, live a lot closer than, um, Christy. Um, I don’t have a dog.” He started back to his seat. “Um, thank you.”
Everyone applauded.
Philip and Christy left the room and the class voted. Angeline, as agreed, voted for Philip but he still lost. Christy Mathewson was elected president and Philip was elected, um, vice-president.
They had the elections for the other class officers; Treasurer, Secretary of the Blackboard, Secretary of Balls, Secretary of Windows, and finally Mrs. Hardlick announced, “Nominations are now open for Secretary of Trash.”
Angeline’s heart pounded wildly. She looked at Philip, who was looking down and away from her. “Oh,” she realized. “He’s not going to do it.” She frowned. There was nothing she could do about it either. She had already voted for him. She couldn’t take back her vote. She guessed he had probably planned it that way all along. Besides, he lost anyway. How did he know if she really voted for him? He was out of the room at the time. “Well, I wouldn’t have won anyway,” she thought.
Philip scratched the back of his neck and squirmed in his chair. He raised his hand. “I nominate Angeline Per…Per…” He couldn’t pronounce her last name. “Purple-potamous.”
Angeline beamed.
Mrs. Hardlick stared at Philip, wondering if she had heard right. “O-kay,” she finally said. “Will somebody second the nomination?”
Angeline looked eagerly around the room although she already knew nobody would second her nomination. “Well, at least I got nominated,” she thought.
“I second it,” said Christy Mathewson.
Angeline couldn’t believe it.
She gave her speech. “I think I’ll make a good Secretary of Trash,” she said. “My father is a great garbage collector. He works for the city. He’s the best garbage collector they’ve got. I won’t be as good as he is, but I think I can learn a lot from him.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I hope you give me a chance. Thank you.”
She won!
She was the only person nominated but she won! She was so happy, she felt like she was going to cry.
When everybody else went to recess, she had to stay inside and pick up the trash. “Make sure you pick up every last scrap of paper,” Mrs. Hardlick told her.
She won! She stayed behind to pick up the trash. It didn’t take very long, there were just a couple of pieces of paper and a broken eraser, but Angeline made sure she got it all.
“If only my father could see me now,” she thought. “He’d be so proud.
“I won!!!!!”
