The Rivals

9:04 a.m. - Captured a runaway cup with heroic foot skill. The crowd was amazed. One person may have blinked.

I added a tiny drawing of myself wearing a cape. The cape looked like a slice of toast.

Ms. Voss raised one eyebrow. She had eyebrows that could make a whole class remember its homework.

“As you know,” she said, “The Ultimate Student Showdown will run all year. Students will earn points for teamwork, good ideas, care, effort, and school spirit.”

Theo leaned toward me. “That sounds like your plan to win is already in trouble.”

“My plan is never in trouble,” I whispered. “My plan is simply waiting for the correct amount of applause.”

Ms. Voss held up a large blue card. “Our first challenge is simple. Each class must help prepare the hall for the welcome ceremony. We need volunteers to arrange the seats, hang the welcome banner, and check the board.”

I raised my hand so quickly that my notebook flew open and landed on the floor.

“I volunteer to lead the entire operation!” I called.

The hall went quiet.

Not normal quiet. The kind of quiet where you can hear a shoelace being pulled through a hole.

Theo looked at me. “The entire operation?”

I stood taller. “Every important part of it.”

Ms. Voss looked down from the stage. “Max, are you offering to carry out the scoreboard?”

“Yes,” I said.

Then I paused.

That did not sound like the job I wanted.

“I mean,” I added, “I am offering to carry out any task that requires outstanding leadership.”

Ms. Voss nodded. “Excellent. You may carry the scoreboard from the storage room to the stage.”

A few students clapped.

I smiled at them.

This was not the plan. But great leaders often begin with jobs that look very large and very wooden.

Theo raised his hand. “I can check the seating plan and make sure each class has the right row.”

“Thank you, Theo,” said Ms. Voss. “That will earn one point for your class team if you complete it neatly.”

“One point?” I whispered.

Theo looked pleased. “A point is a point.”

I opened my notebook again.

9:08 a.m. - Theo has joined the competition. He appears calm, but this is probably because he has not noticed that I am already ahead.

I drew two stick figures racing. Mine had a crown. Theo’s had a tiny ruler.

Doodle: Max, wearing a crown and carrying a giant pencil. The pencil is larger than Max.

Ms. Voss pointed toward a side door. “The scoreboard is in the storage room. Bring it carefully.”

“I will bring it with dignity,” I promised.

The storage room was a narrow place packed with folded tables, sports cones, old posters, and boxes labeled THINGS THAT MAY BE USEFUL LATER. The air smelled dusty, and one loose banner brushed my cheek.

I found the scoreboard behind a stack of chairs.

It was enormous.

It had two wooden feet, a wide black face, and white number cards clipped along the top. It looked like a giant ruler that had decided to become furniture.

Theo came in behind me. “You need help?”

“I have this.”

“You are standing on one foot.”

“That is part of the carrying technique.”

I grabbed one side. Theo grabbed the other.

“Ready?” he said.

“Ready,” I said, although I was not.

We lifted.

The scoreboard tilted toward me. I stepped backward and bumped into a box. The box made a soft WHUMP, and a pile of paper stars slid onto my head.

Theo started laughing.

“They are decorations,” I said, brushing one from my hair. “I am being decorated because of my importance.”

“You have one stuck to your ear.”

“Important people need sparkle.”

We carried the scoreboard into the hall. It was too wide for the doorway, so we turned sideways. Then we turned the other way. Then we tried going straight, which was the least successful choice.

“Careful!” called Ms. Voss.

“I am being extremely careful!” I called back.

At that exact moment, the scoreboard caught on the doorframe.

Theo pulled gently. I pushed gently. The scoreboard did not move.

A group of younger students watched us.

One of them whispered, “Are they stuck?”

“No,” I said. “We are having a planning pause.”

Theo looked at the top of the scoreboard. “Max, the welcome banner is caught behind it.”

I leaned around the side. Sure enough, the long blue banner had wrapped around one wooden foot. It was printed with the words WELCOME, CEDARBRIDGE!

Except the last part was folded under the scoreboard.

All the hall could see was:

WELCOME, CEDAR - “It looks like the school is welcoming a person named Cedar,” Theo said.

“That is a possible school mascot,” I said.

“We do not have a Cedar mascot.”

“We could. A tree is very calm.”

Ms. Voss walked over. “Max, Theo, lower the scoreboard. We can fix this together.”

We lowered it onto the floor. Theo untangled the banner while I searched for something to hold it flat. I found three paper stars, a roll of tape, and one lonely mitten.

The mitten was not useful, but it was soft.

I pressed the banner down with the paper stars. Then I noticed the welcome board beside the stage had fallen crooked. Its top corner leaned against the wall, and the letters had slipped into a pile.

“I have an idea,” I said.

Theo looked at the board. “A safe idea?”

“A brilliant safe idea.”

I took the letters off one by one. The word WELCOME had six letters. I arranged them in a neat line, then used the tape to fix the corner of the board. Theo held it steady while I pressed the tape down.

Ms. Voss watched.

“There,” I said. “Now it will not wobble when people walk past.”

She tested it with one finger.

The board stayed up.

“Well done,” she said. “That earns the first Showdown point.”

The hall gave a small cheer.

I lifted both arms. “Thank you! I would like to thank my excellent planning, my strong leadership, and the scoreboard for staying mostly still.”

Theo clapped. “We both helped.”

“Yes,” I said. “Your help was a very useful part of my leadership.”

Ms. Voss looked at the scoreboard, then at me. “And since you announced that you would lead every important task, you may now carry the scoreboard to the stage.”

The cheering stopped.

I looked at the scoreboard.

The scoreboard looked back, although it did not have eyes.

“Of course,” I said. “I am delighted.”

Theo picked up his end. “Together?”

I wanted to say no. A champion should carry a giant scoreboard alone while music plays and birds fly in a neat pattern overhead.

In my daydream, the hall became a grand stadium. Students waved flags with my face on them. Ms. Voss placed a golden shoe on my head because I had caught the paper cup. Even the paper stars shouted, “Max! Max! Max!”

Then my real shoe squeaked.

The scoreboard was still stuck near the door.

“Together,” I said.

We carried it the rest of the way. It scraped the floor with a long, scratchy sound. When we finally reached the stage, I was breathing hard, Theo was red in the cheeks, and the scoreboard was leaning slightly to the left.

Ms. Voss wrote the first point on the class chart.

“Max and Theo,” she said, “one point for the welcome-board fix.”

I opened my notebook.

9:22 a.m. - First Showdown challenge completed. Max Calder earns the opening point through clever design, brave service, and powerful scoreboard management.

I glanced at Theo.

He was writing something in his own notebook.

“What are you writing?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

Theo shut it quickly.

I saw one line before the cover closed.

Max tried to walk sideways through a doorway while carrying a scoreboard.

“That is not a victory record,” I said.

“No,” Theo replied. “It is a memory.”

I added one more sentence to my page.

Important note: Theo is now my rival. He is still my best friend, but he must understand that I intend to win everything.

Ms. Voss handed me the scoreboard’s wooden handle.

“Max, please take this to the front of the stage.”

I stared at the handle.

“The whole scoreboard?”

“No,” she said. “Just the handle.”

I picked it up.

Behind me, the scoreboard tipped gently and bumped the welcome board.

The board stayed standing.

The scoreboard did not.

It slid forward with a slow wooden shuffle until it rested against my knees.

Ms. Voss sighed. “On second thought, Max, you can carry the scoreboard.”

Theo began to laugh.

I wrote the final line in my notebook while holding the enormous scoreboard against my legs.

Victory confirmed. New official job: scoreboard carrier.

It was the first point I had ever won that came with wheels, splinters, and nowhere to sit.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters and about 8,919 words in the full book.