The iCandidate (32 page)

KYLIE

This is a call three weeks in the making. I have dreamt of pressing send ever since Blake showed up at my apartment in the pouring rain. He ruined my perfect night with Michael, and then made my day each of the nineteen that followed.

The phone calls from Madison ceased about two weeks after the election. Her desire to rub her ill-gotten victory in my face succumbed to the realization that I would never pick up the phone. In truth, we had other plans that needed be executed before I spoke with her.

Things like this take time. There are a lot of moving pieces to be accounted for. A lot of things have to happen when playing the game at this level.

I knew where I needed to be at the exact moment the lights dim and the curtain goes up on the next great political scandal of our era. It was a lot of work, but Michael supported me every step of the way like I imagined the man of my dreams would. With all the pieces finally in place, I press send on my phone.

“Kylie?” she says, answering on the third ring.

“Hi, Madison.”

“I didn’t think I would ever hear back from you. I called a few times after the election.”

“You called a few dozen times, actually,” I say without exaggerating. I know because I sent her straight to voicemail for most of those calls.

“Well, I was pretty excited
, as you can imagine.”

“Of course.”

“Oh, Kylie, don’t sound so glum. It’s not like you didn’t see this coming. I told you I would beat you.” Not yet. Reel her in a little more.

“Yeah, I suppose you did.”

Madison actually squeals in delight. “Well, it was very brave of you to face me in defeat like this. Even if it took you this long.” Almost there, just a little longer.

“Yeah you won, even if you had to lie and destroy people’s lives to do it.”

“Don’t be like that, Kylie. The ends justify the means, or didn’t you read Machiavelli in college?” Now.

“Sorry, I must have missed that class, Madison. But since we’re
speaking in clichés, have you ever heard the phrase ‘he who laughs last, laughs loudest’?”

“Yeah, but so what?” she scoffs derisively.

“Well, tune into CNN and you’ll find out exactly what. There’s about to be some breaking news you’ll be interested in.”

“What?”

“Five minutes, Miss Roberts,” a newsroom producer announces to me.

“Who was that?”

“All glory is fleeting, sis. And so is gloating. I’d say have a nice day, but after this, I know you won’t. And I would say have a nice life, but I doubt that will be much fun either.”

“What are you talking about?
Who was that?” she demands.

“Just get to a TV. Goodbye, Madison.”

CHELSEA

“Turn on CNN!”
Brian yells from fifty feet away.

We all look up and turn our heads when we hear a commotion on the other side of the lunch room. Brian is almost sprinting between tables on his way over to us, Amanda in tow, and several faculty members in hot pursuit. He is almost out of breath by the time he reaches us and starts pointing emphatically at the TV above us.

“Quick! Turn on CNN!” he gasps.

“Calm down
, bro,” Vince scolds. “Take a deep breath and tell us what’s wrong.”

“We’ll show you!” Amanda barks, equally excited. “Change the
damn channel!”

By now the teachers have come over and start reprimanding Brian for running.
He mumbles something to them about leaving him alone, as Emilee reaches up scroll through the channels on the television above us. After only a few stations, she reaches CNN. We read the headline and gasp as Emilee cranks the volume.

A pretty
, dark-haired anchorwoman is seated with a breaking news graphic on the bottom of the screen. The text beside it makes my heart flutter:

Grand Jury I
ndicts Congressman Winston Beaumont on Conspiracy, Bribery

“As we have been reporting, eight-term
Democratic Congressman Winston Beaumont and three of his staff have just been indicted on eleven federal charges of conspiracy and bribery by a federal grand jury,” the anchorwoman reads off her teleprompter. “The grand jury was convened in secret by federal prosecutors after compelling new evidence was brought forth that extensively outlined the congressman's dealings with several prominent financiers.

“
The indictments spell more trouble for the embattled Connecticut congressman who narrowly won the election in against Michael Bennit, the high school teacher whose student ran his campaign almost exclusively on social media.”

As I watch, I slowly become aware that the normal roar of the cafeteria has become only a soft buzz.
Students, and faculty alike, all congregate around this one television and strain to listen in. Being at the center of the campaign, I sometimes forget that almost the whole school supported the effort in one way or another.

Everyone got caught up in the frenzy and wanted to be a part of it. I thought that it was just because it was the cool thing to do.
But as I notice my peers intently watching, I can’t help but think maybe they were more invested in it than I thought.

“
The indictments were passed down after the damaging testimony by Blake Peoni, a long-time aide to Congressman Beaumont and the man instrumental in his reelection,” the CNN anchorwoman continues. In the upper corner of the screen, a picture of Blake taken during the campaign is flashed.

“
It is being reported that Peoni, in exchange for clemency, also has turned over files containing hundreds of documents implicating Beaumont in illegal dealings with a prominent New York financial company, the Lexington Group. Also indicted for obstruction of justice and interfering with an investigation are Chief of Staff Roger Bean, Office Manager Deena Blightly, and Press Secretary Madison Roberts.”

I turn to Brian, my
curiosity having got the best of me. It looks like he has finally recovered from his sprint down here. “How did you know?” I ask him.

He shows me his phone and smiles.
The screen is lit up with alerts from numerous news sources about the scandal. He must have had it on in class, breaking one of the principal’s cardinal rules.

“You know that you’re not supposed to have that with you
,” I tell him with a smirk.

“You can add it to the list of my transgressions today.
Right after getting up and bolting out of English,” he says as we turn our attention back to the news.

“
To answer the question what this means for Congressman Beaumont, and for the man he narrowly beat in the last election, we turn our New York studio and Kylie Roberts, who extensively covered the Bennit campaign. Good Morning, Kylie.”

And with that introduction, I now understand.
There’s a collective reaction of everyone around me at Kylie’s familiar face. Only a few of us will ever know how events of this year have now come full-circle. We were told after the election about the story, how she was fired over it, and why it brought her to our campaign, bent on revenge. While the article may forever remain an unpublished Word document on her laptop, she got the final source she needed, and ultimately the last laugh.

“Do you think
Mister B is watching this?” Peyton asks, speaking over the anchorwoman asking her question.

“Oh, somehow I doubt Kylie would let him miss this
,” I add, giving the others a knowing smile. I learned more about chemistry watching them than I ever did in junior year science class.

“
With these indictments, Congressman Beaumont will be forced to resign his seat before he even takes it,” Kylie says into the camera. “Unlike a Senate seat that can be filled by appointment from a governor in most states, a vacancy in the House requires a special election. Since the parties will have to hold primaries, the election probably won’t be held until early spring.”

“What were you saying about sleep, Vince?” Vanessa asks playfully.

“It's highly overrated. Sleep is for the weak. No human needs more than four hours of sleep a night.”

“Nice spin
,” Xavier says, leaning over to him.

“Hey, i
t's what I do,” Vince responds with a broad smile.

There is no means of
stopping, or even suppressing the tears welling up in my eyes from spilling out and down my cheeks. The weeks since the election have been so hard to deal with. Worse than the lies and shady politics was having to accept that we lost because of them.

But that’s not why I’
m crying. I knew I would do it all again if given the chance. I would sacrifice sleep, a social life, and the activities of normal teenager to once again have a purpose outside of just graduating and moving on to the next chapter of my life. But I didn’t know if the others would join me. Maybe Vince and Peyton would, because they loved the attention so much. But I didn’t know about the others, at least not until now. I know in my heart that if Michael Bennit runs, we are all in. And we all know he’ll run.

“
What does that mean for Michael Bennit?” the anchorwoman asks.

“
Simply put, given his name recognition and no need to survive a primary battle, the iCandidate will be an early favorite to claim the seat.”

“Will he run another campaign on social media, or will this one have more substance?”

“He is a principled man of ideas and strong convictions who made bold sacrifices to prove a point to America,” Kylie exclaims. Yeah, she is totally falling in love with him. “This next campaign could be the new standard for which all others are judged.”

“
And what about his staff made up of high school students?”

Kylie stares directly in the camera, almost leaning forward.
She may be talking to the world, but at this moment in time, I feel like she is talking directly at us. She smiles broadly.

“
I hope they didn't make any big plans for the rest of their senior year.”

My sincerest thanks go to you, the reader, for investing your time into reading this story.
The iCandidate
has been years in the making, starting off as a full-length motion picture screenplay and evolving into the novel you just finished. It has been a long road to travel for these characters, and I hope you enjoyed their journey and will recommend it to others.

Writing is a labor of love, and many a long night was devoted to bringing these characters to life. For that, I would like to thank Michele for all her love, support, and most importantly, patience throughout this process.
I simply could not have done this without her. I also would like to thank my parents, Ronald and Nancy, and my sister, Kristina, for all the encouragement they provided me in bringing this story to the world.

Special thanks go to my editor, Caroline,
her husband Gary, and to BubbleCow for the excellent job they did. Their thorough edits made this a better story. I also need to give major credit to Ranilo Cabo for his excellent image design. With scant guidance, he managed to provide a front cover that was exactly what I was looking for, but couldn’t articulate.

Many people ask where the ideas for my characters come from, so
I wanted to share with you a little explanation. Chelsea, Vince, Amanda, Peyton, Emilee, Xavier, Vanessa, and Brian were not inspired by any single person. However, during my time as a substitute teacher, I had the opportunity to meet and mentor some wonderful students. While the thought of teenagers working on a campaign may seem far-fetched, I know that any number of them could easily have done this had they been afforded the opportunity. I wish them all the best of luck in all their endeavors.

Michael Bennit is a compilation of nearly every military man
with whom I have ever had the privilege of serving, mixed with every great teacher I ever had the opportunity to work with. He was a fun character to create, and one who’s continued journey I look forward to writing about.

Jessica Slater’s character cannot be attributed to any one person, but I can thank a host of ex-girlfriends for their contribution
s to her persona.

Although
The iCandidate
is a work of fiction, several of the characters were inspired by real-life people. Michael’s department chair and mentor, Chalice, shares a name with my ninth grade English teacher, whom I hold in the highest regard. She pushed me, challenged me, and gave me the only detention I ever served in high school. After becoming a department chair herself, she recently retired after a long teaching career. I cannot thank her enough for her impact on my life.

John, the vet Blake meets and gets the pin from, is a nod to a respected colleague of mine who
served two tours in Vietnam and was injured during the Tet Offensive. The inclusion of this in the book is my way of paying respect to both him, and to a generation of soldiers who never got to feel the appreciation for their service to our country military personnel enjoy today.

Bill, Kylie’s friend
who sends her the link about the iCandidate and meets her later in the city, is named after an old army buddy of mine and close friend for fifteen years. To Chris, another close friend and fellow comrade in arms, don’t worry buddy, your time is coming in the next book.

Every other character in the novel sprang straight from my imagination
, including Kylie who was so much fun to write about in this story.

I would be remiss not to point out that
Chelsea’s desire to go to Marist College is a homage to my alma mater. Being the Student Body President there sparked my interest in politics, and I would not trade my four years there for anything.

As a final note,
to my knowledge there is no coffee shop named The Perkfect Buzz. Michael’s love affair with coffee developed from my own love of espresso. If I were to ever run for office, I would want to do it out of a coffee shop too.