I walk into school on Friday, the typical hum of students' conversations floating down the hallway. My feet carry me to my AP English class and I plop down next to Riley who is typing away on his laptop. I take out my notebook and a pencil before turning to him. "One second," He says. "I'm trying to finish some ideas for your campaign slogan."

"I'm not even in yet, Riley." I chuckle and turn back to face the front of the room where our teacher is busy scribbling things on the board.

"Yes, but everyone knows you're a shoe-in, May, there's no need to waste time." Riley rolls his eyes as he closes his laptop gently.

"Thanks for your confidence in me." I say, punching his shoulder lightly as the announcements come on. Our principal's voice comes over the intercom, immediately silencing all the students in the room. She starts with her usual club announcements and reminders of her strict rules that must be followed. She finally reaches the election news and everyone leans forward in anticipation.

"The shortlist of candidates are posted on the bulliten board by the front office. If you made the list, your first speech is next Friday before the first round of voting; you'll present them at a rally directly after school. Attendance is mandatory for all students, so don't even think about skipping it. That is all for today; enjoy your Friday and your weekend." The principal signs off and class begins.

~~~~~

"May, we already know you made the list. Can't we just sit in the cafeteria and eat like the rest of the school?" Riley whines as I drag him down the hallway to the front office.

"I need to know for sure." I say with exasperation as we reach the bulletin board.

"See, you made it." Riley replies, pointing at my name that's written neatly at the top of the list. "There was no way in hell they were going to leave the Parker legacy off the list. Now, can we go?"

"But look who I have to compete with." I say and point at Trip, whose name is right above mine.

"May, we knew he'd be on the list; he's the captain of the freaking football team and the son of one of the school's largest donors."

"Why does he even want to do this?" I bite my lip and glare at the sheet of paper.

"So, he can knock you off your high horse." I look up and see Trip swaggering towards me.

"You're not even tall enough to reach my horse, pretty boy." I roll my eyes, hiking my bag up on my shoulder.

"I beg to differ, baby girl." He winks and goes to check the list, even though he already knows his name is on top of it. "Looks like we're in business, boys." He high-fives his friends, but his eyes never leave mine.

"Have fun learning the meaning of takeover." I say, giving him a little wave as I begin to walk down the hallway.

"Couldn't we make this a merger instead?" He calls back, an insipid smirk playing on his lips.

"That would imply that we're on equal-footing and I'm obviously the stronger candidate," I answer with a shrug, a grin spreading across my face. "So, this is a takeover."

"Well, I think the two of us merging would be a much more productive use of time." Trip says, his eyes flickering with amusement.

"I'd say 'keep dreaming', but even then that'd be nowhere close to a possibility."

"Well, can we at least make this a hostile takeover?" Trip smirks, obviously enjoying our banter more than I am.

"Never in your wildest dreams." I shake my head, my eyes rolling in annoyance.

"Damn, that would've made this so much more fun." Trip sighs, an amused grin still playing on his lips.

"Oh, this'll be fun; I promise." I smirk and walk down the hallway, Riley's footsteps echoing just behind me. We make our way back to the cafeteria and sit at our normal table in the corner. It's far enough from the popular people in the middle of the room and close enough to the door for us to make a speedy exit. Riley takes out his lunch box and his laptop. He stuffs half of his sandwich in his mouth as he brings up the document of campaign ideas he'd been working on since last night. We work on adding to it until the bell rings for us to go to our next class.

"Meet me at the front office after the final bell." Riley says as I walk him to the front office for his office aid job. I nod and watch him take his post behind the desk before I walk off to my final class of the day: journalism. I take a seat near the front of the room at the desk I'd earned last year by becoming the chief editor of the school newspaper: The Lion Tribune. It's just another honor that has been bestowed on a family member of mine since the position was instituted. I guess it'll serve me well in the election if I control the press... I exhale a deep breath and bring the class to attention.

"It's election season, which means a lot more work for us. I'm going to do my best to remain fair and impartial and I hope you all will do the same. Now, as far as assignments go, I want us to report on the issues we believe are important to the school. I want us to gather perspectives from all levels of the school's hierarchy and I want us to write unbiased articles pertaining to these issues." I grab a marker and begin to write down some general categories on the whiteboard behind me. "Let's just shout out a few ideas to get us started." People begin to shout out things they think are wrong at the school, things they'd like the candidates to change and with every knew idea, I have more ammunition to add to my platform.

~~~~~

The final bell of the day rings and I make my way out of the journalism room and back to the front office. I walk in and find Riley standing behind the desk with a mischievous grin. "I know how we're going to get the upper hand." He says, stepping out from behind the front desk. "Come with me, my friend." I follow him, confusion written on my face. He pulls a key out of his pocket and unlocks the door to the filing room. He pushes me inside and shuts the door behind him before the secretaries in the front office find out. I hear him run his fingers along the wall until he hits the light switch, flooding the small space with bright, artificial light.

"So, what is this mythical strategy?" I ask, leaning against the yellowing wallpaper of the filing room. Riley doesn't reply, but instead, opens up a filing cabinet and pulls out a file with a name scribbled on the tab.

"McCan, Trip. Straight A student, captain of the football team, but an insufferable hot-head with a suspension for a fight in freshman year that injured a teacher." Riley says with a smirk. "May, the only way to win is to know what you're up against."

"No, the only way to win is to mud-sling." I say and grab the file from his hand greedily.

"That too, I guess," Riley chuckles.

"You're a genius," I exclaim as I flip through Trip's file. "Can you get me the rest of the candidates' files?"

"When have you ever known me to half-ass a campaign strategy, May Parker?" Riley rolls his eyes in a good-natured way as he hands me a stack of files. "This comes with one stipulation, though. These files cannot leave this room. You need to take notes on whatever you need in here and put them back."

"Can I get anything photo-copied for evidence's sake?" I ask, plopping down on the ground and pulling out a notebook.

"You can take pictures of it and print it off at home, but move quickly; I don't want anyone to catch us in here." Riley says as he slides down the door, effectively barring anyone outside from being able to come in. He pulls half the files close to him and begins to take notes. We sit there in silence until we have enough to make an army of election-winning campaign ads.

Footsteps interrupt the silence of our work space, pulling me back into reality. I take a few pics of the most important documents in my competition's files before closing them and stacking the pile back the way Riley had it. He puts them back in the metal cabinets and turns the lights off.

 "I'm going out first. I'll knock twice when the coast is clear." He says and then steps out, leaving me alone in the darkness. I hold my breath and lean against the door until I hear him knock twice. I step outside stealthily, following Riley back to the front desk. We wave to the lady behind the desk, acting as if we've been perfectly innocent all afternoon long. I lead Riley to my car and we get in. He buckles himself in and I pull out of the parking lot, driving back to my house for another long night of campaign planning.