Chapter 2

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the debate tournament slipping through my fingers. Diego Castellano fumbling through a cross-examination. The judges' disappointed faces. The prize money vanishing like smoke.

By the time I dragged myself to school the next morning, I'd rehearsed seventeen different ways to tell Coach Dax that Diego couldn't be on the team and we'd be better off forfeiting than letting a football player who thought debate was "easy" represent us at the elimination round.

None of them sounded convincing, even to me.

The debate room was tucked in the back corner of the humanities building, far from the gym and the cafeteria and anywhere the popular kids had reason to be.

Posters of Supreme Court justices lined the walls. A whiteboard covered in argument flows from last week's practice stood in the corner while the tables were arranged in a circle, and my team, my family sat waiting.

Except for Lila's chair.

"She texted me this morning," Jamie said before I could ask. He pushed his glasses up his nose, his dark skin creased with worry. "Still super sick. Doctor said at least two more weeks before she can even think about coming back to school."

The elimination round was in three.

"Damn." Mia twisted one of her blonde braids around her finger. "So we're really doing this? Taking on a newbie right before the biggest tournament of the year?"

"We don't have a choice." Raj leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his broad chest. "Five members or we're disqualified. Coach made that pretty clear."

"Who is it?" Carmen asked. She was our team captain, a senior with sharp eyes and sharper arguments. "Coach wouldn't tell me anything except that they signed up yesterday."

The door swung open before I could answer.

Diego walked in first, his letterman jacket slung over his shoulder, looking like he'd stumbled into the wrong classroom. Behind him came Troy and Rex from the football team. Madison and two other cheerleaders followed next.

"Yo, this is it?" Tyler looked around, his lip curling. "This is where you're spending your afternoons now?"

Diego smirked. "Told you it was pathetic."

My hands clenched into fists under the table.

"Wait." Mia stood up slowly, her eyes moving from Diego to me. "Please tell me this is a joke."

"Diego Castellano?" Jamie's voice rose. "The Diego Castellano who threw a football at my head in gym class last year?"

"That was hilarious," Diego said, grinning at the memory. He dropped his jacket on an empty chair like he owned the place. "Relax, man. It's just debate. How serious can it be?"

"Okay, okay." Carmen held up her hands, and I could see her patience slipping. "Everyone calm down. Diego, I assume you're our new team member?"

"Unfortunately." He sprawled in the chair, his feet up on the table. "Coach said I needed an extracurricular. This seemed like the easiest option."

"We needed a debater," Raj said, his voice hard. "Do you even know what policy debate is?"

"It's arguing, right?" Diego shrugged. "I argue with people all the time. Can't be that different."

Madison laughed from the doorway, her phone pointed at us. "Oh my God, I'm recording this. This is going to be gold."

"Are you staying?" Carmen's tone could have frozen fire.

"Wouldn't miss it." She leaned against the doorframe. "I want to see my boyfriend pretend to be smart for once."

"Your girlfriend needs to leave," Carmen said firmly.

"She's fine where she is." Diego didn't even look at Madison. He was scrolling through his phone, clearly bored already. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal," I took a sharp breath, "is that this is closed practice."

He glanced up, noticing me for the first time since he walked in, then his smirk widened. "Oh, look. The babysitter has opinions."

Troy and Rex snickered.

"Get out!"

"Make me," Madison challenged.

"I'm not talking to you." I stood up, my chair scraping against the floor. "I'm talking to them. Your entourage needs to leave. Now."

"Or what?" Troy leaned forward. "You gonna cry about it?"

"No." Coach Dax's voice cut through the room. He stood in the doorway with a frown on his face. "But I will personally escort you to the principal's office for disrupting an academic activity. Your choice."

"Whatever." Tyler stood up, knocking the chair back. "This is boring anyway. Come on, let's bounce."

"Diego stays," Coach said.

Diego rolled his eyes but didn't move while Madison shot me a venomous look before walking out, her friends trailing behind her. Troy clapped Diego on the shoulder. "Have fun with the nerds, bro."

The door clicked shut.

Coach Rodriguez surveyed the room. "Anyone else have something to say?"

No one moved.

"Good." He pulled up a chair. "Diego, welcome to the debate team. These are your teammates: Carmen, Mia, Jamie, Raj, and you've already met our best speaker, apparently" He nodded at me. "though I don't think you two have been properly introduced in this context."

"Oh, we know each other," he said, his eyes finding mine. "She works for my family."

The way he said it made my skin crawl.

"Wonderful." Coach's tone suggested it was anything but that. "Then let's get started. Diego, have you ever watched a policy debate round?"

"Nope." He leaned back in his chair. "Didn't see the point."

Mia dropped her head into her hands.

"Do you know what a constructive is? A rebuttal? Cross-examination?"

"Do I look like I know?"

Carmen's jaw clenched. "So we have three weeks to teach someone who's never seen a debate round how to compete at the elimination level against teams who've been doing this for years? For five thousand dollars and a slot at nationals?"

"Sounds like a you problem," he said casually and the room erupted.

"Are you serious right now?" Raj stood up. "We're supposed to just accept that you're going to tank our entire season?"

"I didn't ask to be here," Diego shot back. "Coach made it mandatory. Take it up with him."

"Maybe you should take it seriously then," Mia snapped.

"Why? It's just talking." He pulled out his phone again. "I talk all day. Not that hard."

"Put the phone away" Coach ordered.

He sighed dramatically but pocketed it.

"Here's what's going to happen," Coach continued. "Carmen, you're going to work with Diego on the basics while the rest of you, keep prepping our case files. We can't afford to lose momentum."

"Coach." I hadn't meant to speak, but the word came out anyway. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

He studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Everyone else, get started. Diego, grab a pen and paper. You're going to need it."

"I don't have any," he replied.

The silence was deafening.

"You came to debate practice without paper or a pen?" Carmen was livid.

"I told you, I didn't know I needed it." he looked around. "Someone got a spare?"

Jamie threw a notebook at him. It hit Diego's chest and fell to the table.

"Thanks," he replied, not sounding thankful at all.

I followed Coach into the hallway, my heart in my mouth.

"Let me guess," he said before I could start. "You want to tell me this won't work and Diego's going to drag the team down and that we should forfeit instead of embarrassing ourselves."

"Yes," I breathed. "All of that. Coach, he doesn't care. He thinks this is a joke. He brought his friends to mock us..."

"I know." He leaned against the wall, suddenly looking tired. "Believe me, I know this isn't ideal but it's this or forfeit, and I'm not ready to give up on you kids yet."

"We've worked so hard." My voice cracked. "This is everything. Harvard, the money, nationals..."

"Which is exactly why you can't give up now." Coach's expression softened. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to be brutal. Diego's starting from zero, and you've got three weeks but you're the best debater I've ever coached. If anyone can pull off a miracle, it's you."

"You want me to train him?"

"I want you to save your team." He pushed off the wall. "Carmen's got her hands full managing everyone else. Raj and Jamie are working on research. Mia's prepping rebuttals which leaves you."

"I can't work with him." The words struggled on their way out. "Do you know what he's put me through? What his girlfriend does to me every single day? And he just sits there and lets it happen?"

"I know," Coach's jaw tightened. "But right now, he's your teammate and if you want that prize money, you're going to have to find a way to make this work."

I wanted to argue and scream that it wasn't fair, but Coach was right. This was my only shot.

"Fine," I said. "But if he doesn't take this seriously, if he wastes my time..."

"Then you tell me, and I'll kick him off the team myself." Coach opened the door back to the debate room. "Now get in there and show him what real work looks like."

Inside, Carmen had Diego at the whiteboard, trying to explain the structure of a constructive speech. He was slumped in his chair, not taking notes, looking at his phone every thirty seconds.

"...and that's just the first speech," Carmen was saying, her patience clearly wearing thin. "Then the negative gets their constructive, then we go into cross-examination, and Diego, are you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah. First speech, then another speech, then you argue." He waved his hand dismissively. "Got it. Sounds super complicated."

"You have to deliver them in eight minutes," Jamie added. "The writing happens now. Weeks of research, condensed into a case that..."

"Weeks?" He looked up. "For one speech? That's insane. Just wing it."

"You can't wing policy debate!" Mia's voice rose.

"Why not? I wing presentations all the time." He leaned back, arms behind his head. "Just talk confidently and no one knows the difference."

"That might work in your English class," Raj said coldly. "But judges at the elimination round will destroy you in thirty seconds."

"Then I guess you guys better write me a good speech." He smirked. "That's what teammates do, right? Help each other out?"

The audacity was breathtaking.

"Okay." Carmen set down her marker. "Let's see what you've got. Pretend you're giving a speech. Topic: schools should ban junk food in cafeterias. You have sixty seconds. Go."

Diego didn't stand up. "Junk food is bad. Kids are fat. Ban it. Done."

"That was ten seconds," Raj fumed. "And completely worthless."

"Still counts as a speech." Diego pulled out his phone again. "Look, I showed up and I'm here. Isn't that enough?"

"No," my voice echoed. "It's not."

Diego looked at me, that infuriating smirk still on his face. "Sorry, did the help have something to say?"

My nails dug into my palms. "You don't get to call me that."

"Why not? You babysit my sister for money. That's literally what you are."

"Diego," Carmen warned.

"What? I'm just stating facts." He shrugged. "No offense, but if you can't handle the truth, maybe you should find another job."

That was it. I grabbed my bag.

"Where are you going?" Coach asked.

"Home," my voice shaking with fury. "Because I'm not wasting my time on someone who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."

"Wait..." Carmen called but I was already out the door, my vision blurring with angry tears.