THE DEBATE OF HEARTS

ting on the edge of her bed, holding a mug o

ey mumbled, pulling her

is going to nationals. With a boy. A tall, ric

nto her pillow. "

n or th

ot

e evidence, shall we? Exhibit A: He called you Whitney. Exhibit B: He followed you into a hallwa

a pen,

declar

grabbed the coffe

You've made exactly zero friends outside of me and the guy who sells sandwiches at th

ok at

he

tbooks. Occasionall

ublicly eviscerating Darius Lakes and then come home with hi

he didn't know what to think about Darius. He was arrogant. Pri

. About never being good enough. About debat

Whitney said fina

r n

at

ds. "The heart wants what it wants. And

ow at her. Kate caug

n love during a late-night study session and almost kiss but pull away at the last

at her. "That's

ate shrugged. "Now get dressed. You

miss

bout Darius Lakes that is

a Wikipe

lready out

-

room that smelled like old books and even older ideas. She sat in t

Monday. D

er back then was a girl named Maria who'd transferred halfway th

wasn't easy. He was a puzzl

tiful in the fall-leaves crunching underfoot, old brick buildings glowing in th

nne

stop

g jeans today-jeans and a dark hoodie, like a normal student. W

mo

," she

et the

t em

hedule: practice times, research assignments, a list of required re

" Whitn

l be t

id I

ay a lot

her arms. "I'm n

his head. "N

laughing. Someone threw a frisbee. The world kept movi

all?" s

ley wants us to start researching over

d th

d your

d. "You don't

a reason to talk

leagues. She rattled off her address-firstname.lastnam

said. "Chec

wil

of the

d finally, "are we go

ind of

season waiting for me to fail so you

n't want you to fail. If you f

then paused. "And Bennett? Kate's been followin

lked

rash can, wearing oversized sunglasses and a

," Kate said, marching o

ding behind

strategic

er temples. "You

gh Whitney's. "Now tell me everything he s

-

continued th

ends-Chen, a quiet sophomore who'd been Darius's partner last yea

. Tell us about Darius. Is he secretly a robot? Does

practices until midnight. He does

boy," Kate mu

said. "He's careful. H

etly, pushing her ri

im to quit debate and focus on business. He t

te's eyes lit up. "

came to practice looking like

bout debate being the only place he wasn't a Lak

out him," Kate said

ing about

ia

at

d back. "But you should

ead snapped

and he was in line. He asked if you were ok

id something stup

d. "Rich boys don't notic

s about

be b

bing her tray. "I have

ry," Kate called after her. "One da

didn't l

-

carrel on the third floor, hidden between stacks of 19th-century

ll clearly labeled. A schedule. Source lists.

il, a single line: See y

t the words long

started

otebook with highlights and questions. By the time she walke

video about debate strategies. Whitney smiled, turn

imbed into

on her nig

d it between her finger

row away

di

-

lagged statistics, and typed up a case outline. Every few hours, her phone buzzed with a

gnored al

she was ready. Ne

us: Outline don

a minute: Already se

hings she'd missed, found sources she hadn't seen. Their appro

ally do this,

:30, dressed in the dark, and walked to the debate

rived

at the podium, reading from a noteb

early,"

are

He closed the n

r bag on the t

t a smirk. So

let's