on the map//spencer 'spider' white

19

"Okay. Well done, Spencer, if you'd like to..." Woodsy starts.

Spider stands up on his chair, big pink dildo in hand like a microphone. "Do you feel forgotten... unseen, left behind, or worse, do you feel... like you can't even breathe... for fear of getting canceled?" He hops up on the stage and points the dildo at Sasha. "People like Sasha So have made me feel like I'm responsible for the world's problems for far too long now."

"It's disrespectful," Sasha says.

"And I'm sick of it," Spider continues. "People can say what they want about me. But what you see is what you get. So I say, it's time for us, the canceled, to take back the power." Sasha scoffs. "It's time to be unapologetic about who we really are."

Harper boos Spider.

"So vote for me, Spencer White, if you want a real leader," Spider says.

Ant and a few of their fellow fuckbois cheer Spider on.

"Okay. Thank you so much, Spencer," Woodsy says.

"If Spider gets school captain, we're all doomed," Harper remarks.

"I don't know if I feel any better about Sasha being elected to be honest," Darren states.

Amerie stands up. "I'm gonna run too."

"Dude what?" I ask.

"Am, what the hell?" Harper asks.

"Amerie," Woodsy says.

"Maybe this is it, Harps. This is what I put my energy into," Amerie explains. "Making it up to everyone."

"Okay, well, this is unexpected," Woodsy admits.

Amerie climbs up on the stage and takes the pink dildo from Spider. "Uh... Um... I doubt many of you would want to vote for me. And I get it. I've let a lot of people down. Even in the last day, I think I've pissed off about 20 of you but I think that's what makes me the best candidate because I wanna be better. I want to make it up to you all and I will work five times harder than anyone else to do it. I will prove that I can be a good person. Plus, who'd want these two dickheads as school captain? They don't want this for you. They want this for themselves, for their own egos. So... vote one. Amerie Wadia. Hartley High's biggest fuck-up. Let me make it up to you."

Quinni and Darren stand up and cheer. I laugh as I do the same.

"Thank you, Amerie. Everybody, our three candidates for school captain of Hartley High," Woodsy states.

I feel someone grab my arm. It's Spider. I pull my arm away from him.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

Spider looks around before pulling me into an empty classroom.

"Spider seriously," I remark. "What are you doing?"

"Just wanted to talk to you," Spider tells me.

"About your run for school captain?" I ask. "Or your stupid little club? Did you really name yourselves the cumlords?" Spider laughs. I shake my head. "Voss is a psycho. People need to talk about their feelings, not just throw tires around."

"He thinks I'm a leader," Spider tells me.

"You are," I agree. "But right now, you're leading your little club into some dumb shit. Good luck with your campaign. You're gonna need it."

Amerie, Darren, Quinni, Harper and I walk out into the courtyard.

"So, we'll be your campaign managers, but you're gonna have to choose a vice," Darren tells Amerie.

"I was thinking Quinni," Amerie states.

"Seriously?" Quinni asks.

"I reckon you'll be amazing," Amerie tells her.

"How's the look on those two rockjobs when you got up?" Harper remarks.

"What the hell?" Amerie remarks. We all look at a picture on her phone. It's from the assembly and the words "You don't get to be the hero" are written on it.

"You don't get to be the hero. Bird Psycho," Quinni reads.

"Bird Psycho?" Darren asks.

"Did this happen just now?" Quinni asks.

"Wait, so they're after you now?" Harper says.

Amerie shakes her head. "No. No, they were always after me. The ibis that was on my bag, the one that I lent you, it's got my name on it. Then the mynah bird, that was my house. Whoever this is, they wanna bring me down."

"So it really isn't Chook," Harper states.

"It can't be," I reason.

"No, we would've seen him in the hall," Quinni says. "Whoever sent this was in assembly just now. Bird Psycho's out to get Amerie. And they go to this school!"

Phones around as start to go off.

"Who at Hartley hates me this much?" Amerie asks.