Freshman for President

by Ally Condie

  As they taxied toward the hangar, Milo could see Spencer, Eden, and Paige already waiting there with Gary.

  He lifted his hand to wave, but dropped it to cover his mouth instead. His stomach was asserting itself. He had broken into a cold sweat and knew he had to try to make it to the Sage Airport bathroom, if he could.

  He couldn’t. And his friends got to witness everything. At least he made it out of the airplane before he plastered the fake insignia of Air Force Fun with the remnants of his most recent meal.

  “Dude, did you just throw up all over Air Force Fun?” Paige asked, trying not to laugh.

  “Yeah.” Milo still felt green. Spencer’s dad looked at him with a mixture of disgust and empathy. “I’ll clean it up,” Milo told him. “I’m really, really sorry.”

  “That’s all right,” Spencer’s dad said. “It’s happened before.”

  “Are you okay?” Eden asked him.

  “I’m okay.” Milo’s stomach was still killing him, but he decided not to say anything.

  Gary lent them some buckets and rags and soap from a storage shed, and Milo, Paige, and Eden cleaned up the puke he had plastered on Air Force Fun. They also had to wash off the insignia itself, which Eden had painted on with removable paint. It took longer than he expected, and Milo was almost doubled over from the pain in his stomach. Finally, they convinced him to sit down for a minute.

  “We’ll take care of your barf,” Paige told him. “You just sit there and make sure you don’t do it again.”

  Spencer’s dad went inside the airport to make sure he was still cleared for his flight back to Haventon. When he came back, he was grinning at them. “I have clearance to make a few short flights. Does anyone want to go up for a little bit?”

  He hadn’t even finished the question when Paige shouted, “Yes!”

  “Nobody else gets airsick, right?” Spencer’s dad asked, looking at Paige.

  “No,” said Eden.

  “No way,” said Paige.

  Spencer’s dad looked over at the car where Maura was sitting. “Do you think your sister would want to go?”

  “Probably not,” Milo said. “Thanks, though.”

  While Paige was flying, Milo decided to wait in the car with Maura. “Come find us when you and Paige are done,” he told Eden, and she nodded. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. He was glad Eden was about to have an adventure of her own, instead of always having to be the one planning them for everyone else.

  Milo felt like an old man as he walked toward the car. He felt frail and feeble and wiped out from throwing up so much, and the pain was intensifying. When he got to the car, he crawled into the back seat to lie down.

  “What happened?” Maura asked, looking over the seat at him.

  “Threw up,” Milo said, closing his eyes.

  “You still get motion sick?” She sounded slightly amused. “Remember when you used to throw up every time we went for a ride in the car?”

  “Drop dead,” Milo almost said, but then he remembered he wasn’t talking to the Old Maura. He couldn’t say that to this New Maura. So he modified it to, “Please leave me alone.” He heard Maura turn around and settle back in her seat.

  “Any letters today?” he asked, a slight hitch in his voice.

  “Not today,” she said, and he relaxed slightly.

  * * *

  A little while later, he heard footsteps next to the car door, but he kept his eyes closed. Maybe if he pretended to be asleep Eden and Paige would feel bad for him and let him have the entire back seat for the ride home. They were skinny. They could share a seatbelt for a couple of minutes. He was being a wimp, and he knew it. He was about to sit up and ask them how their flights had gone when he heard Spencer’s voice instead.

  “Do you want a ride?” Spencer was asking Maura. “Dad says he has time for one more before we have to fly back to Haventon.”

  She didn’t answer right away. Milo was sure she was going to say no, but when she answered, it sounded like she might be smiling.

  “Why not?”

  The car door slammed behind her. After a few minutes, Milo couldn’t resist seeing if she was really going to go through with it. He sat up and watched as the airplane with his sister in it took off into the night. She had done it.

  He suddenly felt a little panicked as he watched the plane’s little light disappear into the darkness of a desert night. He climbed out of the car and walked painfully to the hangar to wait with everyone else. Paige and Eden were both chattering away at Spencer. They turned to see him.

  “Milo!” Eden said. “You still look pale.”

  Feeling like the world’s biggest baby, Milo tried to look less pale. “I’m fine,” he said, but the truth was he felt like puking again. Something had to be wrong with him. “How was it?”

  “Awesome!” Eden said. “I’ve flown in a commercial plane before, but that was boring compared to this! This feels like you’re really flying, not like you’re just sitting in a big car that happens to be up in the air.”

  “Spencer’s working on getting his pilot’s license, too,” Paige told Milo. “Did you know that?”

  “No. That’s pretty cool.” Milo sat down on the hangar floor because his legs felt shaky. Maybe someone had poisoned his food. It was possible. People were sending him hate mail, after all.

  “Are you okay?” Spencer asked Milo.

  “I’m fine. How long is Maura going to be up there?”

  “Just a couple more minutes. We’re supposed to fly back to Haventon pretty soon.” Spencer looked up into the sky. “Good thing the weather was clear tonight. It’s supposed to storm tomorrow morning. If that had happened, we couldn’t have gone on any flights.”

  “It was really nice of your dad to do this,” Milo said. “I didn’t know he could fly.”

  “He wanted to be a commercial pilot when he was younger,” Spencer told them, “but he ended up working for his dad at the ranch instead. When he got older and had a little time, he started taking flying lessons and saved up to buy this plane with one of his friends. It drives my mom crazy, but she’s a pretty good sport about it.” He looked out into the night again. “I think I hear them coming back.”

  He was right. The plane landed and, a few minutes later, arrived at the hangar. As usual, Spencer’s dad stopped right outside the hangar doors. He left the engine on and gestured to Spencer.

  “Gotta go,” Spencer told them. “See you tomorrow.” He started toward the plane.

  “Thanks again, Spencer!” Eden called after him.

  The door of the plane opened and Maura climbed out. She and Spencer talked for a brief moment. Milo wished he could hear what they were saying. Was she yelling “I have a boyfriend” to him over the sound of the plane’s engine? He snickered a little to himself and then felt bad.

  “How did it go?” he asked Maura as she approached them.

  “Great.” For a second, she sounded like Old Maura again. Milo didn’t know whether to be glad she’d come back to life for a moment, or whether it made it worse to be reminded of how everything should be and wasn’t.

  They all stood there for a few minutes, watching Spencer and his dad take off into the dark night. One of the good things about living in a small town was the number of stars you could see. Milo was pretty sure he could see every single one, no telescope necessary. He glanced at Eden, Paige, and Maura, and he could see they all had the memory of flying on their minds.

  * * *

  “Maybe we should take you home,” Maura said, glancing at Milo, who was curled up in the fetal position in the back seat. Eden was squished up against the side of the car, trying to stay away from him in case he puked.

  “No, I’ve got to go to the game.” Milo knew that if he didn’t go, tonight would be the one night Jack actually had substan
tial playing time, and he would feel like a jerk if he missed it.

  “All right.” Maura pulled up next to the entrance of the stadium. “You guys have a way to get home, right?”

  “Yeah,” Eden said. “We’re meeting Jack after the game and can call my dad for a ride home.”

  “All right. Call me if Milo gets worse, though.”

  “Thanks, Maura,” Milo told her, and she drove away.

  Since it was Homecoming, the stands on Sage High’s side were packed. They could only find seats on the opposing team’s side, so they sat as far away from the other fans as they could.

  It was just as well they weren’t in the middle of the crowd. Milo immediately lay down on one of the hard metal benches. He folded his hands across his chest. He knew he must look like a freak, but he honestly felt too horrible to care.

  “You look like an effigy,” Eden told him, sitting next to his head.

  “Just tell me if Jack gets into the game,” he grumbled.

  Eden patted his shoulder.

  “There he is!” Paige said, and Milo sat up to watch Jack run out onto the field. He tried to muster a cheer for his friend. “Wahoo,” he called feebly, and Paige started laughing at him. She and Eden cheered so wildly that the Kingsgate fans started glaring at them.

  Jack caught a pass, but, as usual, no one blocked for him. They always seemed to be two steps behind what was happening. He went down in a pile of purple Kingsgate jerseys.

  “Ouch,” Paige said.

  Jack stood up. There was a huge grass stain across the front of his shirt.

  “Maybe he’ll get a touchdown next time,” Eden said. But it wasn’t meant to be. A few minutes later, the coach pulled him out of the game again. The score was 38–0, in favor of Kingsgate.

  “At least Jack got in the game again,” Eden said.

  “The coach is an idiot.” Milo shook his head, too quickly. “He should let Jack play more.” And then, loudly and impressively, he threw up all over the stands.

  Chapter 21

  October

  Homecoming Night

  Cheers at the Sage High Homecoming game

  The orange and black (clap, clap)

  Are on the attack (clap, clap)

  Go . . . Fight . . . Win!

  SCORPIONS!

  Sting them on the left

  Sting them on the right

  Sting them round and round

  Send them home tonight

  Who’s gonna score tonight?

  We’re gonna score tonight!

  The Scorpions will score!

  They’ll score and score some more!

  Who’s gonna score tonight?

  S-C-O-R-P-I-O-N-S!

  * * *

  Whoa,” said a big, burly Kingsgate fan, looking at Milo. “He had too much to drink?”

  “No. I think he must be sick.” Eden sounded worried. She turned to Paige. “Call Maura and tell her to come get him, as soon as she can. Milo, do you think you can walk to the parking lot?”

  “Milo?” said the Kingsgate fan. “That’s the kid who’s running for president, right?” He started to laugh. “That’s not going to be good for his campaign—being underage and drunk at the homecoming football game.”

  Milo had to defend his honor. He wiped his mouth and stood up as straight as he could, which wasn’t much. “Do I look drunk to you?” He hoped he didn’t.

  “No, not really,” said the guy. There was a different tone in his voice now. “Your stomach hurt, kid? Does it feel like someone’s stabbing you in the side, right here?” He pointed to his own side.

  “Yeah,” Milo admitted.

  “Could be appendicitis. You don’t want to mess around with that. Trust me. You look just like my kid did when he had it. He couldn’t stand up straight either.” He put an arm around Milo to help support him. “Let’s get him down to the field. They’ve got ambulances down there.”

  “An ambulance?” Milo was humiliated. “No, just call my parents. Eden, you have your cell phone, right? Can’t you call your dad?” The last thing he needed, either for himself or for his campaign, was to be driven away in an ambulance with sirens blaring.

  “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this,” Milo told the Kingsgate fan, who hadn’t stopped steering Milo down toward the end zone.

  The guy didn’t break stride. “You really don’t want to mess with this. That appendix bursts and you’ll be in a pile of trouble.”

  Paige flipped her phone closed. “Maura’s on her way with your parents. I’ll run ahead and tell the EMTs you’re coming.” She darted off across the field. Eden stayed with Milo, supporting his other side.

  In the background, Milo could hear the Sage High cheerleaders chanting, “Who’s gonna score tonight?” He could tell Eden was really worried about him because she didn’t once say how much she hated that cheer and that it belonged back in the Dark Ages.

  “I’m probably not going to score tonight,” he said to Eden in a feeble attempt at humor, and she laughed.

  “Don’t worry about that, kid,” said the Kingsgate fan. “Just concentrate on getting in the ambulance.”

  They arrived at the parked blue and white ambulances and two EMTs hurried toward them. “Let’s get you out of here,” said one of them.

  The Kingsgate fan didn’t leave until Milo was hooked up to an IV, laid out on a stretcher, and ready to roll.

  “Thanks a bunch,” Milo told him.

  “No problem,” the guy said. “Remember me when you’re President, okay?” He grinned at Milo and Milo tried to smile back. The door closed.

  Milo looked over at Eden, who they’d allowed in the back to ride with him.

  “No one’s noticing, right?” he asked Eden. The ambulance started bumping off the field.

  “Not at all.” She peered out the back windows. “Everyone’s just watching the game. We don’t have sirens going or anything.”

  “I liked my other exit more,” Milo said weakly. “The one in the airplane. That was more fun than this.”

  Eden patted his arm gently.

  “Hang in there,” said the EMT. “We’re just a few minutes away from the hospital.”

  * * *

  The next morning, when it was all over, Milo discovered that he was a little bit glad that throwing up on Air Force Fun wasn’t as wimpy as it had seemed. Having an emergency appendectomy (the Kingsgate fan had been right all along) was a much more exciting story.

  The surgery itself was laparoscopic, so he didn’t have an impressive scar, which was a little disappointing. But other than that, he decided that he loved his surgery because it had made the pain go away. His stomach was still sore, but nothing compared to what he’d felt earlier.

  There were other things to love about the operation too—his parents had yet to bring up the plane ride over the stadium.

  * * *

  Eden came by to visit later that afternoon. Milo’s mom had gone down to the cafeteria to get something to eat.

  “Hey,” Eden said softly, peeking in the door.

  “Hey yourself.” Milo was glad he was wearing his hoodie, zipped up over his hospital gown.

  “Is it okay if I come in?”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  He noticed Eden was carrying something, a large manila envelope stuffed to bursting. “What’s that?”

  “A surprise.”

  “Another surprise?” Milo tried not to sound worried.

  “Don’t worry, it’s nothing like the last one. No airplane rides.”

  “Good.” Milo saw she was holding something else. “Wait a minute. Is that a camera?”

  Eden looked apologetic. “Paige wants me to take a picture for your Facebook page. She’s updating it for you, and she w
ants to have a picture of you in the hospital for sympathy votes.” She put the camera down. “We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s okay.” Milo zipped his hoodie all the way up to the top. “Only from the shoulders up, though.” He tried to flatten his hair. “How does it look?”

  “About like it usually does.” For a second, Eden looked like she was going to smooth it down for him, but then she held up the camera instead. “Smile. Or look like you’re in pain. Whichever feels more natural.”

  Milo smiled.

  “Perfect.” Eden put the camera away and sat down next to him. “So you’re really coming home tomorrow?”

  “Yup, if the doctors will let me. But don’t even think about putting me to work yet. I’m supposed to take it easy for a few days.”

  “Of course.”

  “So what did you guys do today?”

  “We worked on the packets. You wouldn’t believe how many schools have been requesting them.”

  “Who helped?”

  “Me, Jack, Paige, Spencer, Dane, McCall, Maura—”

  “Wait a minute. Maura helped?”

  “Yeah.” Eden took her jacket off and draped it over the arm of the chair. “It was nice to have her in there. It went pretty well, too. She was talking a little more than usual.” Eden paused. “Spencer really likes her, you know. Really, really likes her.”

  “I know.”

  “We can’t keep telling him she has a boyfriend. Spencer deserves to know the truth.”

  “I know. But Maura really needs to be able to trust me right now.”

  “She needs to be able to trust you to tell a lie for her?”

  “Maybe.” Milo didn’t want to think about the landmine that was his relationship with Maura right now. “So next week is the trip to Phoenix for the debate. It’s all still on, right?”

  “Of course. As long as you’re feeling well enough to go.”

  “I’ll be fine,” said Milo, with the confidence of someone whose pain is being managed effectively with serious medication.

  A nurse came in to check his vital signs. Eden fell silent and so did he.

  “Are you two talking campaign strategy?” the nurse asked, putting a new bag on his IV.