My Cardboard Balcony

The Votes Were In by Belinda Roddie The votes were in, and Caitlin was the new class president, though her rival, Marshall, was so unhappy that he nearly threw a hissy fit once he heard the results. Caitlin had work to do, but Marshall's friends tried as hard as they could to undermine her ideas and efforts to amend some school policies. They even designed a propaganda smear campaign. At last, the principal stepped in and almost bit the boys' heads off with his verbal whiplash. "Caitlin deserves to be president. It is immature to bully her. Marshall, this hate is why you didn't win at all."

It was an atrocious odor of biblical proportions, and Arvey had to hold her nose as she stepped around the bayou. The territory was nothing like the terrain the group had crossed before - while travels prior had been rattled by wind, ice, and snow, this swampland was sickeningly warm, and Barkelee was visibly perspiring. Quinoni, of course, didn't seem perturbed by the heat at all.