Free The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

Separate Peace by John Knowles. What you have in common with them is they, either in part or in whole, are set at private prep schools, usually boarding schools,” he adds.
    Oh. Well, that is a bit more interesting.
    “And I want you to look for yourselves in these school stories. Boarding school in particular is an unusual experience. You live away from home in dorms with your friends. You’re given all sorts of freedom but even more responsibility. What do you do with that freedom? What do you do with your responsibility? What did your fictional counterparts do, and what does that say about truth in fiction? That will be the overarching theme of this semester—truth in fiction. And perhaps then we will better understand what John Knowles meant in A Separate Peace when he wrote, ‘When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you.’”
    He holds up the paperback, then adds, “In this context, it was about war. Which is why you should never take things at face value. Because Knowles wasn’t just talking about the experience of being a teenager. He was talking about teenagers getting ready to fight a war. A war the adults would only watch. ‘When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle, finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future, fighting for them. You do not foresee it,’” he reads. “As you can see, context is everything and nothing at the same time. Words both stand alone and with each other.”
    When class ends, I notice Theo leaves with Anjali. They fall quickly into what looks like a deep conversation. Maia and I leave together.
    “That was a headfake if I ever saw one,” Maia says, and it’s clear she approves.
    I look at her out of the corner of my eye. “A headfake? You mean because he set us up to think he was talking about teenagers, and then it turned out he was talking about war? And then it was as if he was talking about the first thing again?”
    “It was bloody brilliant. I am totally going to use that strategy in my next debate. It’s like your opponent thinks you’re going one way with the football,” she says, then demonstrates by turning her head to the right, “then, boom! You’re off and running the other way.” She finishes by turning her head to the left.
    “Did you actually just refer to football, as in American football ? I thought you had a long-standing practice of spitting on American football.”
    “I still spit on American football. The headfake is an English football strategy too, my oh-so-American roommate. And besides, it’s properly known as footy in the homeland,” she says as we walk across the quad to our next classes. “Speaking of the homeland, did I tell you Ms. Merritt wrote to me this summer about the Elite? Several times actually, asking if I was prepping for it yet, if I was going to be ready, if the other debaters would be ready,” Maia says.
    “Creepy. Did you delete her messages?”
    “Yes,” Maia says proudly. “Though I finally relented two weeks ago and answered one of them. But get this! I made it seem as if I hadn’t received the ten other e-mails because I live in London, hence the homeland connection. Like the Internet doesn’t work there or something. I told her I had spotty Internet access at our country home, and I was so dreadfully sorry I hadn’t replied to her notes.”
    I laugh. “You don’t even have a country home!”
    “I know. That’s the irony of it.”
    “But you know, she loves thinking you do.”
    “Oh, she ate it up. I’m pretty sure the next e-mail she sent was to my parents asking for a donation. She probably figures they’re lords. ”
    “Shall I call you Lady Maia, then, in front of her?”
    “Oh, please do. In fact, I command you to as my royal subject.”
    “It’s all because of that stupid J. Sullivan James Award. She made it pretty clear she’s pretty much dying for me to get into