voices heard

This was bullshit.

This entire set-up? Bull-fucking-shit. Did this punk think this was ever going to work? Marina spent day in and day out campaigning, spending exorbitant amounts of time, money, and effort trying to win the people's votes, feeling like she was dying whenever she went to bed and her bones ached and mind screaming sweet mercy, exhausted in more ways than one with her act, and this show. Did people think it was easy being popular? Did people think they can have anything in this world if they believe hard enough? Some nights, Marina cried, begging an end to her misery, sick to her goddamn stomach about everyone, fucking everyone, from her fans and her "friends" to her enemies — all the men that sent her disgusting invasive gifts and sold invasive photos online, and all the other fuckers that want her to be taken down. But she wasn't going to be taken down. Not like this.

And not by this guy. Milo Fucking Constantin, vermin coming out of the woodwork, insulting everything she stood for by being honest and earnest. She expected him to be beaten up and shoved in a locker, humiliated every time he turned a corner, but that wasn't the case. People were receptive.

Why?

When did kindness and consideration for other people become trendy? He wasn't a joke. And when losers stopped being jokes, they became problems. Marina hated him, and how he refused to play the game. Bribing, advertising, emotional manipulation, popularity contests, winning — that was what elections was all about. It was never about the people. She was going to teach him that, right now.

She walked over to his table, and without even a smidgen of hesitation, poured water from a water bottle on his little set-up. "Nice campaign. Maybe try harder next time. Tight budget much?"

Wei was tired.

He'd been in the cafeteria most of the last few days, talking with students and giving them small things to advertise himself, along with talking about the things that he thought could improve the school. The monkey had heard a lot of things, and a lot of students saying what made them uncomfortable and what made them feel good about the school, and how to strike that delicate balance of things being at least primarily okay.

From one of them, a girl he believed was named Ophelia, he'd heard about another up-and-coming candidate who set up a small stand in the hallways somewhere. He actually wanted to talk to this guy--half to air out his own grievances and half to hear about what he'd collected so far.

He stretched his arms over his head, feeling his arms and legs crack pleasantly as he meandered down another hall. As students passed he waved at them, greet most of them by name and asking one of two of them how that problem they'd confided in him about had gone. The monkey boy felt genuine sympathy for the students he spoke to, and the people he represented. He didn't understand why you wouldn't.

At the next fork he kept walking straight and--

Bang!

--right into a wall.

"Ow..." Wei glanced around to see if anyone had seen that. He saw the small set up, where Marina now sat, and trotted over to it. "Hey, you must be.... the new person running. Uh.... Milo, right?" Wei offered his hand and glanced at Marina. She seemed displeased. "Uh.... am I interrupting something?"

What the hell was with this guy? Public humiliation from someone higher up in the food chain usually worked, but this guy wasn't like everyone else, was he? That pissed her off. There was a status quo that people should abide to and respect, because otherwise, what would be the point of any of this?

She didn't know what the point was. But there had to be one, and it was big, and it had to be enforced. The sooner this punk knew where he was in the pyramid, the better.

"I have complaints." She noticed Wei in the background, but kept her eyes on Milo. "But all of them involve how you're a joke. You know you're never going to win with..." She gestured at his set up. "...this, right? People don't want action, hun. They want a show."

Wei was pretty good at reading the atmosphere. There was an antagonistic tension that hang thick like fog between Milo and Marina, something that he was kind of hesitant to get himself pulled into, but this was important to him. The small set up gave the Chinese boy a good feeling. It held and earnestness that seemed to resonate with him, and he was determined to learn something from Milo.

Maybe even befriend him.

A nice handshake and Wei was sitting in another chair, noticeably lower down than the cheer captain beside him, but this seemed to be such a standard state of behind for him that he didn't even register it as being strange. The heel of his palm massaged under his eyes, he smoothed out his skirt, took a deep breath and leaned forward towards Milo, genuinely interested.

"How have things been so far?" He asked, pulling hes legs up to cross them on the chair. "I've heard you've gotten a lot of tra... traff... trah-fuck?" He blinked for a moment before plowing along. "I've been trying to get people to talk to me about their problems too... I was kinda hoping we could talk a little bit."

Marina was disgusted at both of them now. She thought she could respect Wei enough for playing the game but he was actually advocating this, never even considering it made a mockery of his own campaign. Marina was ready to fight Milo, one on one, her own sharp words against his and maybe even resort to violence if necessary, but the sudden barge left her reeling.

She wasn't going to ask Wei to take her side. She knew well enough that nobody actually liked her, that if asked, Wei will either take on a neutral side or turn against her. That was how people like her worked, that was what audience she catered to, all flash and sizzle with no substance.

In the deepest, untouched parts of her, she felt alone.

Little by little, her own ego shattered, an overwhelming but familiar sadness crept into her lungs, her neck, her face, which was now red with the mix of emotions bubbling inside her. But she wasn't going to cry. She still had her pride. She looked at Milo and Wei with nothing but heated anger in her eyes and exited the premises, a sort of urgency mixed with her step. Fuck Milo. Fuck Wei.

Fuck everyone.

Wei watched Marina out of the corner of his eye. He didn't say anything to her. He didn't really know what to say to her. Joining the cheer squad, working under her to make routines and watching her walk around the campus... to him, that had always been inspiring. Her and Sid, the two coolest people he knew, he'd always considered them to be his friends.

But getting to know Marina... not intimately--he wasn't even sure if Marina considered him to be her friend, or if he was just some... kid in her squad, a kid in her way. The anger rolled off her like steam, and Wei balled his fists into his uniform. He'd never really... had someone hate him outright before. He wasn't sure he liked it. In fact, he was certain he didn't like it. The sensation of just. Hatred. Sunk into him like a sickness.

He felt nauseous. He wanted to help. His legs itched to follow her and at least try. But he... he didn't think that would work.

After all, he and Marina weren't close.

His attention shifted from the retreating cheer captain to the person in front of him, and a smile flashed on his face when Milo revealed he was willing to share his findings. Things were kind of cutthroat in the competition, and it saddened him to admit that without some help, Wei didn't think he was going to get too far. He couldn't see himself getting as far as he did last time. Perhaps it had been a fluke.

But if he needed the help of others to get anywhere, then he just had to ask for help with all his heart.

The monkey took the notebook and read the pretty handwriting. Somethings were things he knew--problems with bullying, some prejudices from students to other students, dealing with gender... and other things were things he had never known about--feeling unsafe around teachers, students breaking rules and going unpunished... He looked at each written on page with his eyebrows climbing high, until they threatened to vanish into his own hair.

"Hu~uh.... this is good stuff," he said as he read. "It's been hard for me to get any one on one time with the students while campaigning, but when I had a secretary office I made time for as many of them as I could."

Wei closed the notebook and put it on the table. "Having an office makes things a bit too official though. Some students were still too scared to talk to me."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Personally, I'd definitely like to tackle the bullying aspects and less savory student-teacher exchanges... but that's more from personal experience." As if he realized something, he was quick to amend, "Of-of course that's not to say I wouldn't try to fix everything! But those things are... they..."

ooc: plz forgive this long as hell post