Episode 23

And She's Buying A Stairway To Heaven

Sara Miller returned to the Heidegger High debate room Monday, placed her trophy in the team trophy case, and was glad to be rid of it.  Third, wonderful.  The weekend had been a wash, as expected, with the usual suspects bringing full armies and full vote totals.  This whole congress thing was bitterly, utterly hopeless.  And yet for some reason, Sara found herself unable to throw in the towel and move to extemp.  Sara would own the extemp world without question.  But she could not part with Congress.

The reason for this was simple, however.  Sara Miller was never voted best in the district.  But once she left the confines of the locals and the inane politics of her district, she entered the national realm.  And there, Sara Miller was a dynamo. Unstoppable.  Revered.  The Reigning Goddess of the Congress Universe.

At a local, Adam was first and Sara was third.

At a national tournament, Adam might make finals and Sara might take home the title.

Such was the imbalance in the force.

There were a number of other things going on in Sara Miller's life that made it ok for her to get third at a local.  She was destined for greatness far beyond the realm of high school debate.  Already a researcher in a local university chem lab and valedictorian of her class, Sara had other things to worry about more important than Adam and Kunjan.

Well, at least Kunjan seemed like a pretty nice guy, she thought.

Sara pulled her thick curly dark hair back into a clip.  She was an attractive girl, in an exotic sort of way.  Or at least, this statement was highly controversial among the gentlement of the Rock Springs debate team.  Unbeknownst to her, the gentlemen of the Rock Springs team took much pleasure in both debating her attractiveness and in creating songs about her awaited demise.

One such song was a Christmas carol. "Deck the halls with Sara's blood, fa la la la la la la la la, I'm so sure she feels like crud, fa la la la la la la la la, and she isn't going to Blake Forest either, fa la la la la la la la la, that's because she's freakin' scared, fa la la la la la la la la."

She was entertainment to them.  Of course, they meant it with very little seriousness and it was all in fun, but nonetheless.  She was worthy of having songs written against her.  She was just that good.

Little did the Rock Springs gentlemen know, but Sara Miller was indeed going to the Blake Forest invitational.  And she was excited in the extreme about attending this tournament.

After all, Marbella was going this year.  Which meant George Schuleman would be there.  Which meant only good things could happen.

She needed one victory, one concrete victory, to begin her ascent in the congress world, to leave behind the local games of Adam and Kunjan, to break out onto the circuit with a bang.  Blake Forest would be her stepping stone, her staircase...

Or at least she hoped with all her might it would be.

Lacrosse practice ended, and Christine Dillard walked out to the Hatch parking lot.  Shifting her blonde hair behind her shoulders, she strode confidently up to a silver Rav-4.

"Hey, we're going to get smoothies, want to come?" the brunette team captain in the driver's seat asked.  

"No thanks, if you could just drop me off at home, that would be great."

"ChristEEEeene! Come on, what are you going to do at home anyhow?"

"I need to do some reading."

"What reading? We have the same classes. There is no reading tonight."

"No, the Economist."

"The what?"

"The Economist.  Its a magazine."

"I've never heard of it."

"It's for debate."

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

"Well, I guess I can stop in with everyone for a little bit."

"Good, I was going to say..."

Christine looked out the window.  This whole routine, the painfully frivolous routine, was getting old.  That's what this whole debate thing was all about, to prove merit, to do something worthwhile.  At least she wanted to be good at something intelligent.

But it would have to wait for the end of smoothies and gossip.

For Christine, debate was it.  Her pathway, her staircase, to a level beyond that she had locked herself into.  If she was meant to get there at all.

She just needed to figure out what NATO was and such before she could begin ascending anything.

Will Sara ever find love with this George fellow?

Will Christine ever get through the entire issue of the Economist?

Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?

The answers to these questions and more as we get online in Episode 24,"Away Messages and the Secret of Life".