Equilibrium Redux - A Binary Stars Collaboration by @marillaanne & @ellievallie

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I.

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When Vincent saw the poster, he knew it was meant just for him.

Student Council President? He was a natural leader. Everybody told him that, and they couldn't all be wrong.

Besides, he had ideas. Real ideas. He knew how to make things better, and this was his chance to act on it.

This election that was about to happen was supposed to be done on slips of paper deposited into a box. Positively archaic. By the time he finished his term, he would have electronic voting set up. Not through the school's intranet, that could easily be compromised, but using blockchain technology. Perfectly secure, open, and transparent.

The Dean might take a bit of convincing, but he could deal with her when the time came. She would eventually come around.

And that was only the beginning. The real push would be to give the students more control. They should be able to do more than just show up, play a sport, join a few clubs, then go home. That’s all that was offered to them - an assortment of options perfectly laid out to be added to the schedule.

Ridiculous. The school was theirs, and they should be the decision makers, not passive consumers of activities. He would pave the way for that change.

Club decisions should be administered by the students. Again, he could bring the technology to get that done. Better than that, he could give them the ability to raise money directly. No more asking parents to donate to the school and hoping it trickled down.

He knew he was getting a great education, but there were lessons to be learned beyond math and literature. Lessons for the real world that could only be taught by experience. As he wrote his name on the list of candidates, he added his campaign slogan on the line below it.

Brilliant Leadership for Brilliant Students.

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II.

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Cynthia laughed when she saw the sheet for Student Council President signups. Four names were listed on the top, one of which had been crossed out. An anarchy symbol with BAN STUDENT COUNCIL scrawled in marker took up half the page, and beneath that were two more names and a tagline about brilliant students.

Brilliant students, indeed. The entrance exam was tough enough to make sure of that. But what were they really doing here?

She barely recognized half of the names on the list. If she tried, she could think of their faces, a class they had taken together, a smile once shared in the hallway. Nothing about who they really were, or why she should vote for them.

That’s just how things were. Everyone stayed segregated in their own cliques and spaces, following the tracks that led down the path to their dreams of success. She could already see the future. Five years, ten years, twenty years later, they would all come back to this building to reminisce about the friendships they never took the time to properly nurture when they had the chance.

It didn’t have to be that way. This school could be so much more than just their training grounds, it could be their community. The tens of thousands of dollars their parents invested in an education couldn’t buy something like that, and it was the most valuable seed they could plant in themselves before the real world treated them as nothing more than lists of qualifications, human products that could be switched out for anyone else with a similar resume.

There were so many people she had always wanted to get to know better, if only she had the chance. This was it. She never imagined herself as an executive, but then again, she didn’t have to be. They would all know what they wanted, they just needed a representative.

Without any hesitation, she added her name to the list. Smiling, she decided to give herself a slogan as well.

Your Voices United.

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III.

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On Election Day, the candidates were all given a space in the lunchroom to set up a table. Vincent came prepared with a presentation. Cynthia brought cupcakes.

He laughed.

“Trying to bribe people for votes?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Trying to bring people together.”

As the students filtered through, they were drawn to the sweet smelling treats. A crowd formed around Cynthia, and she thanked them each by name before they had to move out of the way to let others in.

The table next to the cupcakes offered an interesting presentation. Something about technology, very enthusiastically delivered. They listened as they waited, and stayed to hear the rest of it while they ate.

The votes were cast, and the votes were counted. Vincent and Cynthia both got called to the Dean’s office the next day.

“I have some interesting news. This election ended in a tie. You both received the same number of votes.”

Vincent frowned as he spoke. “Now what? Do we go into a tiebreaker round?”

“No. I thought about that, but it wouldn’t be right." The Dean smiled. "You two ran very strong campaigns, but you were both lacking something important. I need to be fair to the student body.”

The candidates opened their mouths to object, but the Dean cut them off before they could start.

“Let me be blunt. Vincent, you’re very bright, but quite frankly I had no idea what you were talking about. Neither, it seems, did half of the students here. If they had, I’m sure they would have voted for you. They didn’t.”

Cynthia covered her smile with her hand as the Dean’s eyes narrowed their focus on her.

“Don’t look so amused. You had no plan at all. You want to grow school spirit, and I commend you for that, but you fell short of your goal. Halfway short, to be more precise.”

It was Vincent’s turn to laugh. Cynthia bit her lip as the Dean gave her final verdict.

“You’ll serve together, as co-Presidents. Why do you seem surprised? This will look great on your college applications. Now shake hands and get back to class.”

The two leaders sized each other up. Wounded pride from the Dean's words gave way to a bit of respect as they each extended a hand and a smile to the other.

He opened the door for her as they left the Dean’s office.

“Does this mean you get to make me cupcakes?”

She walked past, artfully avoiding his eyes.

“No. It means you get to make me a website.”