Bi The Way

The cafeteria was abuzz with the kind of frenzied energy that could only mean one thing: the weekend was fast approaching. Rodney shuffled through the halls until he came to the cafeteria, plastered wall to wall with Hunter's campaign posters. Each sign promised better lunches, more student events to get them out of class, and so on. Rodney was drawn to one in particular that promised if elected Hunter's parents would provide the school with enough iPads for everyone.

"Hey!" Rodney called out as he spotted Hunter overseeing the operation like a general over their troops. "What's all this?" He pulled the poster off the wall and waved it at Hunter.

Hunter turned, his hazel eyes locking onto Rodney. "It's called a poster Rodney, people use them to spread information."

"Oh ha ha, no I mean what is all of this?" Rodney gestured to the walls practically wallpapered in Hunter's posters. "You can't see any of the other campaign posters."

"That sounds like a them problem," Hunter said, turning away from Rodney. "Besides there is nothing in the rules about covering up other people's posters. So all of this is perfectly fine." He swept an arm grandly at the signs. "I did the school a favor covering up those eye sores."

Rodney clenched his fists. "So, what? You're doing all this just to win our silly little bet?"

"Not at all, I'm doing this to prove a point," Hunter shrugged. "This is high school and it doesn't matter how nice you are or how much to help around the school. All our peers really care about is what they get out of you."

Rodney's thoughts raced—Hunter may have a point. If Hunter was right, then Jordan didn't stand a chance on his own. "We will just see about that," Rodney said through gritted teeth. With that, he spun on his heel and marched out of the lunchroom hoping to find Jordan before the bell rang.

Unable to find him in the school, Rodney decided to check the garden. He found Jordan sitting beneath an oak tree, scribbling into a notebook.

"Jordan!" Rodney approached with urgency. "Did you hear the news? Hunter is running for student council president."

Jordan looked up, their expression unreadable. "I heard," they said simply before returning to the notebook.

"Oh Ok," Rodney said, confused by Jordan's reaction to the news. "I thought you might be worried about it."

"I'm not really worried" Jordan's expression softened, but their eye never left the book. "Honestly I was just running for fun and to get my name out there for next year. I mean Hunter running may make that a challenge but I like a good challenge."

"Oh great" Rodney felt a wave of relief wash over him. "I was going to offer to help you out, but if you are good-"

"I wouldn't mind some help," Jordan admitted, closing his notebook. "Steven is not really into politics and Luke's campaign slogans are... unique."

Neither of them noticed that Madison had been listening in the whole time. She approached them quietly, taking in the information. At first, she had come to talk to Rodney about the bet she had heard rumors about but now she felt invested in helping her friends win.

"Count me in," she declared, startling the pair. "No campaign is complete without a PR specialist. I'm connected to everything at this school, I can make sure your campaign is tailored to our classmates' every want."

"Well how can I say no to that," Jordan said with a smile. With that settled, they canvassed the school, distributing flyers and pinning up their own posters. Rodney felt a rush after each person agreed to take a pin, he felt like just maybe Jordan could win this after all. But that feeling of happiness quickly deflated with one text from Jordan.

Saint's TV, their school's televised announcements, wanted to film a small debate after school on Friday. If Rodney agreed to stay and help Jordan with the debate it would mean canceling the art night with Ally. How could he back out when Ally just started talking to him again? but then again, how could he abandon Jordan when he promised to help him?

"So you will be there, Rodney?" Jordan texted after Rodney failed to text them back right away.

"Yeah, of course" Rodney responded, making his choice. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Awesome, Thank you," Jordan commented, and Rodney could tell they had been nervous.

"Not a problem," Rodney replied. "I think we should stay back after school on Friday and meet up in the drama room to run over your talking points."

"Sounds like a plan," Jordan said. "Thanks to you and Madison, I feel pretty confident about this debate."

"Well Madison did an amazing job finding the issues students care about most," Rodney was proud of their hard work.

"Yeah, though I think we could have guessed they would want more events that got them out of class," Jordan added a little laughing emoji to the end of their text. "Any way we can go over more details tomorrow."

"For sure, chat then," Rodney watched his phone screen fade to black as he realized what he had to do next. He remembered how excited Ally had been about this paint night and now he had to tell her he couldn't go, he didn't want to repeat his past mistake.

Rodney's fingers were restless as he decided whether to text or call Ally, he wanted it to go as smoothly as possible. Finally, he settled on video calling her, it would be more personal that way. He tapped on her photo and a familiar ringtone filled the air until Ally's beautiful blue eyes were looking back at him through the screen.

"Hey, Ally," Rodney greeted, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Rodney!" she beamed, bundled up in a green fuzzy blanket on her couch. "I've seen Jordan's posters all over the school, how's the campaign going?"

"About that..." His voice trailed off, and he couldn't look Ally in the eyes anymore. "We are filming a debate for the school announcements on Friday, after school. It's at the same time as our art night."

A brief flicker of disappointment crossed her features, but it was quickly replaced by understanding. "Oh, I get it. You can't let your hard work go to waste." She gifted him a small. "And hey, they've got my vote."

"Thanks, Ally. I promise I will make this up to you." Rodney's voice was genuine, his mind already trying to scrape up a plan to prove to Ally he meant what he said.

"I know you will," she said, giving him a hopeful smile, "I have to go it's dinner time, Rod. We can think of a new plan later ok?"

"K, goodnight Ally," Rodney said.

"Night, Rodney," And with that Ally ended their call for the night.

---

That Friday, the gymnasium bustled with students setting up the film equipment for the debate. In the corners of the gym, prospective candidates practice their speeches and try to remember their lines. Rodney watched Jordan pacing as they went over their main talking points for the debate one last time.

"Remember, to emphasize that your green spaces and inclusivity events also mean students get out of class," Rodney reminded, as he made sure their cue cards were in order.

"I think I've got it," Jordan said as they were called to the podium. Jordan was focused as he spoke about his campaign goals, and his vision for a school that embraced diversity, funded more than just the sports teams, had classes taught outside and focused on green initiatives. As Rodney listened, he felt good about what Jordan had laid out for the students to hear throughout the next week, They even answered the questions at the end well.

Hunter followed, his confidence radiating as he spoke about all the massive party-like events he would plan if he won, and how he would allow students to come to every game one of their sports teams played. Rodney couldn't help but admire Hunter's charisma, even if he did see Hunter as everything wrong with their school.

The next week was a real nail-biter, with the student body voting at the end of the week. Madison kept them focused on their weaker areas, but going it the vote it could really go either way. When the final tally announced Hunter as president and Jordan as VP, Rodney felt a strange cocktail of defeat and pride.

"We did it! I'm vice president of the student council next year," Jordan couldn't quite believe that they got the second highest amount of votes. They looked over to see the disappointed looks on Madison and Rodney's face. "Pizza at my place tonight?" They suggested.

"Wouldn't miss it." Rodney chuckled, clapping Jordan on the shoulder. "Congratulations!"

Rodney smiled at Jordan, but he was really worried about what exactly losing a bet to Hunter would mean. He wished they had actually outlined what the winner would get when they made it, not knowing only made his anxiety worse. As if summoned by his thoughts Hunter appeared in the hallway.

Rodney shot Madison and Jordan a worried look before walking up to him. "All right, what is it exactly I have to do?" Rodney asked.

"You surprised me," Hunter replied, actually impressed with how close the race turned out to be. He extended a hand. "You put up a good fight, so we will call it even this time."

Rodney hesitated before shaking Hunter's hand, the gesture feeling weirdly anticlimatic. "It was fun competing against you," Rodney admitted.

"Likewise, perhaps we will compete again sometime," Hunter suggested, pocketing his hands casually.

"Are you planning on entering the science fair?" Rodney felt almost eager to feel the thrill of competition again.

"Nah, I have enough science fair ribbons already," Hunter shrugged nonchalantly.

Rodney smirked. "You most people would have just said no or not this year."

"I'm not most people," Hunter said without thinking twice, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah, I got that," Rodney rolled his eyes and he turned back to his friends, He had all the Hunter he could handle for the day.

---

Jordan's pizza invite had grown into a small party by the time dinner rolled around, the air thick with the smell of melted cheese. Rodney sat next to Ally, offering her a slice of veggie pizza. As he glanced around at the event, he could not help but feel pride in what they had all done.

Yet, his mind kept wandering back to Hunter and that smile both infuriated him and maybe exited him a little. He knew he didn't like Hunter but no one had even pushed him that way before. That thrill of competition was something he felt he needed again.

"Having fun?" Ally whispered, noting Rodney didn't really seem present

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Rodney whispered back, squeezing her hand a little tighter, assuring himself more than her.

"No reason, you just kind of looked spaced out," Ally explained, taking a bite of her slice.

"Oh yeah, sorry. It has been a long couple of weeks," Rodney managed, not really wanting to burden her with Hunter drama. His focus returned to the party, deciding it was best to think about the people he truly cared about.

Rodney gazed around the room, his eyes lingering on each friend. There was Jordan, animatedly discussing a scene with Madison; Derek, throwing popcorn into his mouth with practiced ease; Samantha laughing at Luke's exaggerated mimicry of how the voting unfolded. Rodney smiled to himself, these were his people.

"So I was thinking maybe we can do something next weekend" Ally whispered, sensing their friends were distracted with other things. "Just the two of us."

"That would be great," Rodney whispered back, squeezing her hand as reassurance. Yet, inside, he was panicking. Wasn't he supposed to make up for skipping their last hangout? He hadn't really had time to think about how exactly he was going to do that and now he felt like there was a timer counting down on it.

As the party wound down for the night, Rodney's mind was now locked on what they could do next weekend. He glanced down at his phone, his eyes reflecting the dance of light from the screen as he scrolled. There had to be something, some event to impress her and make up for the canceled art night. And that is when he remembered what was happening next weekend.

"Uh Ally, I need to talk to you about next weekend," Rodney said, remembering his family was going to his cousin's wedding. He already was giving himself the third degree for agreeing to plans and canceling them again.

"Ok, what's up?" Ally looked concerned, she could feel Rodney's anxiety leaking out of him.

"Well it's my cousin's wedding," Rodney began, feeling uneasy about canceling yet again.

"Oh Rodney, that sounds like fun," Ally said with a smile.

"It will be, their themed it as candy land." Rodney laughed.

"Sounds great, when should I be at your place, we can get some pictures together before we go," Ally said looking excited. Rodney's heart sank as he realized she thought he had just invited her to the wedding.

Looking at how excited Ally was, he knew he couldn't take that away from her. Besides, he thought, it would be fun to have someone he could actually talk to there, "Yeah come around two-thirty, we have to leave at three." He said, praying he had checked the plus one box.

Rodney raced home after dropping Ally off and ripped open the envelope containing the wedding invitation. The embossed cardstock felt expensive beneath his fingertips but he couldn't care less about that, he needed to see if he could actually bring Ally along. He scanned the invite quickly and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the check on the plus-one box. The moment filled him with excitement and a twinge of sadness, remembering he had checked the box when he was still seeing Parker.

"Mom," Rodney called out, "Ally is going to come with us to the wedding."

Sasha looked from her chair, a look of confusion on her face. "I thought the two of you weren't talking right now."

Rodney's stomach churned as he remembered telling his mother about how Ally broke his heart. From her look, he could tell she remembered it too. "We started talking again. We're just friends now but I kind of accidentally invited her so if she can't come she is going to think I am a terrible person."

"Really?" His mother seemed almost amused by this explanation and relieved. "Well, I can't have Ally thinking my son's a terrible person so of course she can come." His mom said with a soft smile.

"Seriously? Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rodney's voice was filled with excitement, he came around and hugged his mother. "You are the best mom."

"I try," She said softly, she hugged her son back. She lived for moments like these with her kids, and with Marcy heading off to university, she found herself treasuring them even more.