Just Another High School Story!

Leah had written a beautiful speech for the elections, that was a given and she was confident about orating it. She was really excited, quite contrary to what everyone else was... nervous. Then came the time of the morning assembly, after a couple of announcements, the elections began, the principal invited boys up with a smile and they started giving their opening speeches, Ethan was the first to go, there were only three boys running for head boy, but miraculously, they had backed down right after Ethan enrolled his name in the candidate list, according to them, fighting against Ethan was a losing battle, they didn't wanna work hard in vain. Shawn, Tim, Tyler, Matt were all flocked around Leah, they were talking about the elections and teasing Leah. Shawn said, "When you become Head Girl, please make sure that you extend P.E. Ohhhhhh, and definitely, definitely look into what they put in our chicken. It tastes like meat." Leah laughed at this and Shawn pressed her hand, "Don't worry, you're gonna rock." Then he blew her a kiss and joined his new group which was Monty's group, Monty, Mindy's brother actually, was your typical mean guy, he wasn't nice to anyone except a couple of people, and after Mindy colluded with him, he'd been driving Shawn against asking Leah out, Ethan was the only one whom Monty saw with 'rival' hostility, Ethan refused to hang out with him and tailed behind Leah almost all the time, she was not aware of it, he was protecting her from a lot of dirty tricks that Monty and Mindy were playing. Monty, personally didn't have anything against her but Mindy, the cool girl, hated Leah's guts, she sabotaged a lot of things for Leah, like recently, Leah had ordered lunch, she was allergic to beans, and she always told the cafeteria worker to not put any in her salad, but that day, she got an acute allergic reaction to beans, which came about because Mindy had messed with her salad, putting dried bean powder into her lunch, her only meal of the day was ruined and she felt bloated because she was really hungry. Missing breakfast everyday, and thinking it helped, was one of the biggest mistakes of her life, something, which she realised later.

Ethan came after his speech was over, and sat next to Leah, she was evidently annoyed and he was looking at her speech which she had safely put into a folder. She went to use the restroom and when she came back, her folder was gone. "Where...", she asked as she looked around, panicking, her breath got heavier, she knew what was coming, she was doomed to have a panic attack, she had been having them since she was 13 years old, they never ceased, no matter what she tried, she ran away to the newsroom, the room that the sun never shined upon, a place which, no matter the time of the day, was always empty. She entered and opened the windows, "Huh...", the pain, the not being able to breathe, she gasped for air, exhausted by this daily occurrence, Ethan had quietly followed her, and he rushed into the room when he saw what was happening, he held her tightly, and softly said, "Calm down, it's okay, everything's okay. I'm right here with you, breathe." And as he said this, he was rubbing her hand, warming it, this was the first time anyone had ever witnessed her having a panic attack, and that too, it was Ethan, she could not hate this person right now, when she was having a panic attack, it felt like all the air rushed out from her world, she felt like she couldn't breathe, her surroundings became blurry, the walls caved in, she felt like she got heavier with the weight of her troubles, and all she wanted was to be free from this pain, that pain, though momentary was so haunting that it teased her through the following days after it happened. She thought that she was weak, and this being repeatedly affirmed by her mom was not any better either, having a panic attack was like being in a dream where you're falling perpetually, you don't understand the things happening to you, are they real or not, all you can do is close your eyes and keep falling, until you're startled awake of your dream or jump into another one. After Leah had calmed down, Ethan handed her water and told her to sip slowly, lest she should choke and he be called a murderer, "Teenage boy kills teenage girl in deserted newsroom!" "How's that for a headline?" he asked with a straight face and for the first time in her life, she started laughing, it was not her first time laughing, she fake-laughed a lot, but this time she was really laughing, she felt light hearted instantly and at this moment, it was her turn to speak, she heard her name announced and she decided that she wasn't going to run away, she would say something without the folder. When things of such kind occur, people often question the ones who have lost their material, and say, "Why do they even need it? They've written it. Can't they just say it without looking at it?" But as an orator, she knew that you don't actually look at the paper, it just gives you confidence, you look at the beautifully filled lines and you feel satisfied, it's blissful to look at something in the flesh and say you have created it. This is something everyone can relate to, no matter what it is, for example, if an artist paints a masterpiece or a writer writes a poem, or a musician writes a melody, if they lose these things, the ones created afterward in trying to replicate the ones before, the ingenuity of the work is often lost, and you can never restore the feeling that the first work gave you.

She stepped onto the stage and began after a deep breath:

"Good Morning, respected Principal Sir, all the teachers and fellow students. I'm Leah as most of you may know me, even the wooden planks of this hall, I've paced around so much while rehearsing that this hall must be annoyed, I'm telling you this to define something, to define what being Head Girl really means, I don't want to be a leader." She paused and looked around. "You're shocked, I know, after all 'Head Girl', the compound word itself suggests being the head of something, the tip, the leader. So what do I mean by saying I don't want to be a leader? I simply mean that I want to be a friend, I want to cultivate a free environment in our school, I wanna make it a home for everyone, we, as teens know what we suffer, our problems aren't just phases of life, they're real, be it about relationships, grades, families, freedom, independence, our careers, all these subjects shine like the stars in our minds, and so we see them. We consider them but we don't talk about them, because we're used not to talking about 'it'. Will such a system do? I refuse to believe that it can. It shouldn't. You shouldn't. You shouldn't have to keep it all in, if you have a problem, boy or girl, I wanna be able to help, I wanna be someone that you can rely on, a safe haven, where you can share your problems, I'm going to establish clubs where we can talk about our problems, forums, group chats, you can be anonymous if you want to, I'm going to start a broadcast during recess, where we'll read and you'll hear interesting stories about fellow teens, you'll email suggestions and I'll give advice, I'm going to create harmony; about sports, I love it and there are many that don't, because and I quote 'we're just not good at it', but that's just what sports is about, not being good at it and playing to your heart's content. I'll try to make the school teams inclusive, we learn and grow by making mistakes, we will increase chances of participation.

I wanna change everything, how we've been working until now won't work anymore, let's cut to the chase here, I'm going to try everything in my power I can, to make Wilson's High your home!"

After she finished speaking she politely bowed, and everyone started cheering and hooting, giggling and cheerful voices echoed from every corner of the wall, Leah liked being in the spotlight, it gave her immense pleasure to speak in front of so many people, the anxiety that had almost killed her just a few seconds ago was long gone, all she felt was pleasure at her success, she believed that if you, yourself adored and admired your work, everyone would be bewitched by it, and you would only admire your work if you put work into it. Only in that moment, she had spoken from her heart and it worked.

As she stepped off stage, the principal gave her a thumbs up and looked pleased, Ethan was waiting for her too and he congratulated her; for the first time since Ethan had first met her, she spoke nicely to him.