Free Winner Takes All by Jenny Santana

wear the red shirt with the glittery stripe down the side that Mari gave you for your birthday last year,” Mami said. “Might be a nice thing to do, you know? Let her know you’re sorry?”
    Just as Celia thought, You’re so right , she turned to the door and smiled, but her mom had already slipped out from the room, leaving Celia to get dressed and to think about her next move.
    “Hooray! You’re here!” Ms. Perdomo shouted as Celia entered her office ten minutes before thefirst homeroom bell rang. The counselor was putting on eyeliner while holding a little mirror in her hand. The eyeliner was purple, but it didn’t look too purple once it surrounded Ms. Perdomo’s eyes—it only made her large brown eyes pop even more. She kept outlining her lids as Celia entered the mango-scented room, her hand steady on the pencil. Her pins today read READ ‘ EM & WEEP ! and YOWZA .
    “You were expecting me?” Celia said, worried that Mari had somehow gotten to Ms. Perdomo first.
    Ms. Perdomo snapped the mirror case shut and clicked the eyeliner back into its skinny tube. She shoved both in a desk drawer and then said, “Well, no. I wasn’t. Not really. I mean, I know it’s your friend Mariela who’s running, but I figured—I mean, I was hoping—you’d come along for moral support. You kids and your moral support. Lazaro has his moral support here this morning, so I figured you’d show up with Mari. Except that Mari isn’t here yet…” Ms. Perdomo bent forward and looked out her door into the main office.
    Celia noticed two book bags on the floor and knew instantly who they must belong to—Laz and Raul. So Raul had come along to watchLaz give his speech? Or maybe he just wanted to get a close glimpse of Mari to start his morning?
    “They’re practicing in the boys’ bathroom. Isn’t that cute? I guess they’ve got some ‘surprises’ planned.” The famous air quotes. Celia guessed by their energetic appearance that Ms. Perdomo was already on her third cup of coffee that morning. “We’re just waiting on Mariela, but don’t worry. There’s plenty of time before the homeroom bell. I guess Mari’s feeling more confident in her speech than Laz is in his.”
    “Yeah, that’s probably it,” Celia said, swallowing hard.
    “Makes you wonder why she needs you for ‘moral support,’ though, if she’s feeling ‘confident.’ Excuse me, I need a ‘warm-up’ big-time.” Ms. Perdomo grabbed her coffee cup and dashed out of the room, taking her air quotes with her.
    Celia tried to think. What was she going to do? Should she make up an excuse for Mari and then hope that she could convince her later to stay in the race? Should she come clean to Ms. Perdomo and risk losing her status as one of the school’s most trustworthy students? Should she leave before Ms. Perdomo came back? She couldn’t just bail and leave Mari to get in trouble for notshowing up; she’d already gotten Mari into enough of a mess, and until they decided otherwise, they were still best friends.
    “You’re here.”
    Celia felt her heart jump. She turned to see Mari standing in the doorway. Mari wore the big silver hoop earrings that Celia had given her last Christmas. She almost never wore them to school because they were too nice—Mari’s mom didn’t let her wear her nicest jewelry to school. Her mom must have made an exception. Celia stood up from the chair and rushed to the door.
    “Mari, I’m so sorry I said—”
    “Celia, I feel so bad for saying—”
    The two girls crashed into a hug, each of them smothering her apology in the other girl’s shoulder. They separated quickly, realizing that Ms. Perdomo could be watching—or worse, Laz and Raul.
    “I couldn’t let you get in trouble,” Mari whispered after looking around the office. “We’re already in too deep, huh?”
    “Probably,” Celia said. “But at least we’re prepared.” She went into her bag and dug out the legal pad with the speech neatly written out