The Westdentia auditorium hummed with anticipation. Velvet curtains framed the stage, and rows of academy students and faculty filled the seats, murmuring amongst themselves. The regional champions, the Reinhardt-led team, had earned a reputation. Most of the school was sure they were going to dominate the state qualifiers, and their entrance was met with polite applause and a few whispered cheers.
Leina walked in beside Malvern, folder clutched tightly to her chest, her eyes scanning the audience. Her brothers had texted her good luck messages earlier, and Levy had even snuck in a protein bar with a handwritten note: "For the brain gains." She smiled faintly at the thought.
"Ready to melt faces with logic?" Malvern whispered.
"I don't know about melting," Leina murmured. "More like gently persuading with reason."
The teams took their seats on stage. The topic was announced:
Resolved: Governments should prioritize climate change mitigation over economic growth.
Perfect. They had prepped for this one.
Leina was first to speak. She stood, notes in hand, and launched into her opening with calm, confident cadence. Her voice didn't waver, and her amethyst eyes were steady as she laid out the team's structured arguments. The opposing team looked slightly rattled.
Malvern beamed with quiet pride.
Then, as she flipped to her second cue card—her expression faltered.
Her handwriting was wrong.
The text didn't match her structure. Entire points were missing. One card quoted an unrelated philosopher. Another cited a fictional statistic. Her pulse quickened.
From the audience, Jessica and Emily exchanged a subtle high-five.
Susian, sitting beside them, looked more nervous than pleased. She hadn't meant for it to go this wrong. She had only swapped out a few cards to cause minor confusion—not complete sabotage.
Leina's voice hesitated for a beat. A beat too long.
Gasps rippled through the audience.
On stage, Malvern sat up straighter, sensing something was off.
Leina's gaze flicked to him. She saw the panic in his eyes mirroring her own.
Then, like a snap, she straightened her spine.
"I apologize," she said smoothly into the mic. "I seem to have a corrupted set of notes. But that's alright."
She walked to the table, dropped the cards, and turned back.
"Because climate change doesn't wait for clean formatting, and neither should we."
The crowd murmured. A few teachers smiled.
"I will continue, from memory."
What followed wasn't her polished speech. It was something sharper, rawer—honest. She drew on the recent flood near the coast, on air quality issues affecting nearby towns, and even touched on policy shifts they'd studied in class.
Malvern watched, jaw slightly slack. She was crushing it.
When she finished, the room was quiet for a moment.
Then applause. Loud. Sustained.
Susian sat frozen in her chair, cheeks red. Jessica muttered, "I thought you said she'd stumble."
"She did," Susian whispered, more to herself. "And then she flew."
As the team walked off stage, Leina collapsed onto a bench. Malvern handed her a bottle of water like it was sacred.
"You okay?"
Leina nodded, exhaling. "Barely. But I think I just invented freestyling for debate."
"You were brilliant."
Leina gave a weak smile. "I'd still like my real cards back, though."
In the hallway, Susian stood quietly, guilt tightening in her chest. Maybe Leina wasn't just lucky. Maybe she was... a force of her own.
And the game had only just begun.