It's November but I still want candy canes

Pham Thi Anh Sang

"It's going to all work out, I know it!" Anh Sang wasn't nearly smart enough to be able to explain why out of all of the other candidates she thought she would win. She just felt like she would. It was something completely explainable and if somebody asked, she would have to say that it was just the feel of that semester. Something just felt right.

Was choice of words really so important? Iris seemed to think so, even if Anh Sang hadn't. If that was true, it seemed like she really was in for a bit of work. "Okay, so when I win, then. When."

She took another bite of her apple pie, willing it to start tasting like victory.

Pham Thi Anh Sang

"Well, I guess I'd have to talk to a lot of teachers first thing after," Anh Sang said. It seemed obvious to her that she needed adults to do whatever adult things needed to be done. "Oh, and I'd have to see who gets on the council, too. Big sis Morgan will definitely be there, though!" It was impossible to her that the older girl wouldn't be. After all, Morgan had won last time. Why shouldn't she win a place this time?

She frowned a bit as she dug into her pie. "It seems like an awful lot of talking for a while. What do you think?"

Pham Thi Anh Sang

"Hmm." She sucked on the spoon, puffing up her checks. "At least, it's nice talking to people around the Academy," Anh Sang said. "Everybody's either really nice or really weird -or both! It's so awesome!" If it had been anything else, she would have been bored to tears. So bored to tears that it might have actually overrode the shear disappointment at finding that a magic school did not radiate pure amazing just by sitting there and doing nothing.

"So, maybe I should start now?" The girl looked around a bit. "I've been talking to a lot of people but now that I think about it, none of them have been from elementary like me." And actually, looking around the cafeteria, she couldn't see many grade schoolers around either. She wondered why.

Pham Thi Anh Sang

Anh Sang frowned as she considered her options. What came to find were not-surprisingly small in number. As she had noticed before, there really weren't enough grade-schoolers around in the cafeteria. Most people seemed to be in high school or even college. In other words, people she had already been working really hard to win over because, well. Starting with the hardest ones first was better, right? Then the easy ones would be like a park in the walk! Or was it the other way around?

Well, maybe it would be okay for her just to say something to the few grade-schoolers who were there. Anh Sang got up onto her chair, waving her arms at people around her before cupping her hands around her mouth. "HEY, IF YOU'RE STILL IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, I HAVE THINGS TO TELL YOU, OKAY, PLEASE?" As much as Anh Sang liked to think that she was a presence, the point was that she was still just an eleven year-old girl who didn't really know how to project. She was essentially screaming at the top of her lungs, with her light-forged butterflies swarming around her like a trail of neon signs.

"I'M ANH SANG AND I'M RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! VOTE FOR ME AND I'LL MAKE THE SCHOOL SAFER SO THE DINOSAUR THING DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN!" That, the girl felt, was very straight to the point and exactly what people aimed for in persuasive speeches. Besides, she was only trying to talk to people her age. Smart sounding long stuff was for older people. Her throat was already a bit sore from just that, too. Still, she thought to add, "OH, AND I'LL MAKE FUN THINGS HAPPEN, OKAY? VOTE FOR ME!"