Chương 26: The Speech

The speeches of the presidential candidates were always scheduled to be held on the Monday of the last week of September. Followed by the debates on Friday and the primaries on the first Monday of October.

I sat beside Leo at the gym during the morning ceremony as usual. Leo was wriggling around, feeling restless. A teacher is currently speaking on stage.

"Are you feeling nervous?" I whispered in a concerned tone.

"No. I'm just so excited!" Leo replied. "I can't wait to go up!"

I rolled my eyes, thinking that I shouldn't have asked.

After the teacher finished speaking, he invited all the presidential candidates to come forward and go up on stage. Leo stood up, winked at me and headed to the stage.

"I really hope he doesn't embarass himself up there." I thought to myself.

***********

There were a total of 5 candidates that is running. Most of them were seniors, with Leo being the only sophomore. Leo was scheduled to be second to last in making his speech.

After each candidate made their speeches, it was Leo's turn. When he arrived in front of the podium and waved, many students started cheering. However, they were mostly women.

"OMG Leo is so cute!"

"IKR he's so adorable."

The women made similar comments throughout the gymnasium.

Leo smiled and tapped on the microphone, making a sharp electrical noise.

"Now, now, ladies, stop staring at me or my husband Hunter is going to be jealous. And remember, I belong to Hunter and Hunter only." Leo looked through the crowd to find my space, then he made an air kiss towards my direction.

The screams of many women emnated throughout the gym.

I instantly want to head up to the stage and knock Leo out.

After joking around on stage to lighten the mood, Leo started addressing the students, "Ladies and gentlemen, the reason why I joined the race was because I wanted to address a main problem that this school have: the blatant favoritism of school seniors, especially those in Grade 12. From Student Council elections to science lab and art space allocations to allocation of the sport fields, the school always put the seniors first."

I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought.

Leo continued, "For the past 5 years, all Student Council members were seniors, there were no exceptions. Most students may think that seniors get more resources because they are more mature, sensible and smart, but is that true? Statistics have shown that the SAT, ACT and AP scores of our student body is dropping year by year. This downward trend actually started 5 years ago as well. Do you think this is a coincidence? I don't think so."

"The main problem is the foundation. A building needs a good foundation before it is built. It's the same with students. The knowledge we obtain in Grade 9 and 10 is the foundation for what we will learn in Grade 11 and 12. But if all the resources are invested on upper year students, how will lower year students get the foundational knowledge they need in order to excel in the future?"

"The upper years even hogged all the resources for leisure activities. We cannot play basketball or soccer without an upper year's permission. We cannot hangout in designated areas without a senior's permission. With the stress that comes from schoolwork, compounded with the lack of academic resources, lower year students needs some way to destress and relax sometimes. But even those destressing instruments were taken by the seniors."

"If you vote for me, I promise I'll fight for our resources that we deserve!"

"Also, ladies, if you vote for me, I'll give you the invitation to me and Hunter's wedding in the future!" Leo smirked.

**************

The cheers were resounding, especially with lower year students. All of us stood up and clapped for Leo. However, the upper year students did not seem very happy, they did not stand up and brooded.

After Leo made his speech, he returned and sat next to me. I stared at him for a while and ruffled his hair. "You did well." I whispered.

Leo made a big smile, acting really contented with my compliment.

The next candidate walked up the podium. Like Leo, he got resounding cheers from the women in the gymnasium. Leo saw the man on the stage and narrowed his eyes in seriousness. I've never saw this sort of seriousness from him before, not even when Leo took Civics.

The man standing before the student body was quite suave. He gelled his hair, making it look spikey. His relaxed demeanour and ruggedly handsome face made him look like a playboy. I could see why the girls would like him.

Leo whispered in my ear, "That's Mike Alexson, from Grade 12, class B. He's been voted as the second most handsome male by the student online forum for the past two years and the most handsome male for the two years before that, when we were not yet in high school."

"What about him?" I replied in order to continue the conversation.

"His grades are as good as yours as well!" Leo continued, "He had a consecutive GPA of 96% in Grade 9, 10, 11, breaking the record for highest GPA in the school's history. Although the record was immediately broken by you a few months ago, when you got a final GPA of 97% in Grade 9." Leo smirked, making a slight jab at Mike Alexson.

"He also led the football team to nationals last year and won the championship!"

"The record of this Mike person is quite impressive," I thought. "But not so impressive to me to be worried over."

***************

Mike Anderson made a slight cough, clearing his throat. His action completely silenced the screaming crowd. "Good morning. It is nice to see you all again. I have not stood on this stage since the opening ceremony." Mike made an arrogant smile.

"Unlike some candidates who only know how to use their appearances to attract votes, I promise that if you elect me as President of the Student Council, I will do my best to uphold the traditions of this Academy."

"The start of the speech might seemed harmless, but he actually not only insulted Leo, he also decided to attack his ideologies as well." I thought.

"The Academy is noble. For example, the allocation slots for the labs and spaces are based on merit. Those with high marks will get priority over those with low marks. The Academy is also just. We made club activities mandatory for all students in order to help them relax and get along with one another."

"My goal as Student Council President is to preserve the nobleness and justice of the Academy while also accomadating students as well. If you vote for me. I will sacrifice my time for you."

**************

Although the speech was somewhat shorter than Leo's, it was welcomed by more people, especially the upper year students. All upper year students stood up and clapped. Some lower year students follow along as well.

When I took a peek at Leo, I noticed that he was covering his mouth with both his palms, deep in thought.

***************

The morning ceremony replaced the first period, so our first class is on second period. When we entered the classroom, our classmates clamoured around us. "Leo, you did so well just now! I'll definitely vote for you!"

"Me too!"

"Now now, settle down students, the class is starting!" The teacher shouted.

Throughout the whole class, Leo seemed distracted. He was jotting down some notes on his notebook but they were completely unrelated to class.

When class ended, Leo and I headed to the cafeteria.

Rebecca instantly ran to Leo and yelled, "Leo that speech was so amazing!" Her eyes were shining.

James also complimented Leo, "Mhm! You did great Leo!"

"Thanks, guys!" Leo made a smile.

****************

When we were eating, Rebecca suddenly said, "Leo, I think you have a problem!"

"What is it?" Leo asked.

"Look!" Rebecca showed Leo her phone. It turns out she was checking on the school online forum. On the thread about today's speeches, conversations between anonymous users were making different comments.

"That was boring."

"Shut up, upstairs!"

"I'm just here licking Mike-sama's photos, don't mind me."

"What? My Leo-chan is clearly much cuter than that slag playboy!"

It was then that Leo frowned,

"WTF! Do u actually like that f*ggot?"

"Yea, that ladyboy may look good, but he's totally a f*cking girl!"

"He makes me puke."

"Whatever, I'm definitely note voting for a gay person."

Homophobic comments started bombarding the forum. Leo stared at Rebecca's phone calmly. However, I felt quite sick looking at those comments.

I immediately went on my phone and e-mailed the moderators, taking a screenshot of those comments.

Leo, who knew what I was doing, made a slight smile.