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From a young age, Spencer Lawrence had always dreamt big.
“Someday, one day, a smart fella like me would make the next Albert Einstein.” That was what he once told himself, while admiring the moonlit night sky and witnessing a shooting star pass by.
Of course, one could only dream. That was coming from the mind of someone who’s self absorbed and arrogant, yet Spencer Lawrence could not bring himself to admit it. He thought that he himself wasn’t as fame hungry, unlike those TikTokers online that he utterly detested. Boring nobodies who were good at nothing except performing, doing one new shallow dance every week, or some insanely dangerous challenge that brainwashes you.
Spencer frustratedly could not bring himself to keep up with those trends, let alone be a TikTok star. One, his coordination sucked ass. Two, he found no point in it, calling it “unproductive junk”. Three, his arch-rival, Sam Thitivoranan, would definitely be ten times better than him in this aspect, and he could not bear to see himself flop in front of that bastard again.
“Spencer, wanna try out the improv club? I think you’d be good at it.” That day, after the dreaded debate competition, Sam posed him this question.
At that moment, Spencer felt his blood boil. Was this an insult? Sure, Spencer’s final speech towards the end of the competition had the intention of making the audience die of cringe, sure, it ended up comedic and ending up with them snagging a comedic win thanks to the presence of a comedic opponent, but this was no way in hell a theatrical show that he had intended to put up. Yet, Sam, this bloody Sam, found amusement in it.
“I think the one who ought to join improv is you, Sam, since you enjoy seeing people make a fool of themselves so much.” Spencer scoffed, turning his head away from Sam as he quickened his footsteps and went up onto the bus. At last, Sam still caught up with him, and managed to get hold onto an empty seat next to Spencer before an old lady was about to sit on it.
“Sorry, old lady, that’s my friend I’m sitting with.” Sam let out a half-assed apology, and the old lady rolled her eyes as she proceeded to walk away in search of another seat.
“Bloody hell, Sam? That old lady needs the seat!”
“I object. One, there are literally only the three of us in the bus. Two, it takes only a few seconds to walk to the next seat. Three, if you’re so concerned about this, you should stand up and let her have your seat instead.” Sam retorted.
“If you say so,” Spencer stood up and squeezed his way out, “I don’t want to share a seat with you anyway.”
“W-wait, what, Spencer- I was joking!” Sam’s mouth gaped open.
“Old lady, may you take a seat next to my… this random stranger, here? He won’t shut up about how much he desires to sit next to someone, and I need my own space.” Spencer spoke and gestured towards the old lady, before walking towards the back of the bus.
~🕊️~
The following day, Spencer Lawrence walked to school, as usual. He made sure to catch the 7am bus ride and alight at an earlier stop, and have his morning routine walk. His sisters, particularly his younger sister Alice, expressed great admiration towards her elder brother for his dedication on keeping his body fit, and aspired to do the same. Alas, they did not know that that was merely a facade.
“Evelyn, please, for the love of god, don’t tell anyone that I’m doing this because Sam Thitivoranan lives along the same street, and by 7.15am, he would be strolling into the bus at a certain stop, and I want to desperately avoid him. I know, because he recently moved in close and won’t leave me alone in my bus seat.” That other day, Spencer finally made his confession and whispered to Evelyn.
A smirk emerged onto his elder sister’s face. “Wow, look at you, resorting to taking up exercise because of your academic rival. First, him somehow influencing you to take it easy and go ham on that last debate competition, and now this.”
“E-Evelyn, not you too!” Spencer’s sides turned red.
“What’s wrong? Just treat him as a classmate who takes the same ride as you.”
“You don’t understand, Evelyn!” Spencer held his hands over his head, “Sam’s trouble, he won’t leave me alone! He’ll walk up and tease me, asking me why I’m always taking the back seat of the bus and not socialising with anyone.”
“And?”
“And he’ll sit next to me, and ask me to socialise with him.”
“So?”
“I don’t want to! He’ll start bragging about the stupidest stuff ever, or tell bloody cringe jokes. Like oh, Spencer, guess what, I got invited to a birthday party, I had loads of fun! Oh or, hi Spencer, guess what, a fella flirted with me today! I’m studying to be a risk analyst, but look at me, a risk analyst with rizz! Get it, Spencer, because they’re the same pronunciation?”
Evelyn lightly chuckled. “He sounds like a fun guy, actually. I don’t think he’s bragging. In fact, I think he wants to be your friend!”
“But I still don’t wanna befriend him!”
“Well, if you befriend him,” Evelyn spoke, “Perhaps you’ll finally learn what social skills are. Hell, one day he may even invite you to one of his birthday parties.”
“…Over my dead body.” Spencer deadpanned.
~🕊️~
The school day went by swiftly, with Spencer solving statistical probability problems with his eyes closed. It was all too easy.
The moment he stepped into the debate club room, he was greeted by none other than Ara, the debate club president who put him through all this bullshit with Sam.
“Woah, Spencer, relax! Don’t always wear that grumpy face, I heard that the more you frown, the swifter wrinkles will accumulate.” Ara spoke.
Spencer rolled his eyes. What bullshit logic is this? He’s merely 22. The age of youth, the age of early adulthood, the age of being surrounded by fellow young adults who also still did not know whatever the fuck they were doing.
“Ara, how am I supposed to feel good after what happened at the debate competition yesterday? Tell me, was I actually drunk doing all of that but forgot about it?”
Ara chuckled, shaking her head over her peer’s over-seriousness. “Oh, come on Spencer! I’m sure people loved your final speech, even if they did not say it explicitly. Take it easy, life’s not all about perfection and competition, y’know. Where’s fun in life if there isn’t a little chaos?” she tried her best to reassure him, yet while speaking, she was trying so hard to stifle back her laughter from a raging Spencer.
“Well, hate to break it to you Ara, but I think only YOU of all people in that auditorium enjoyed this bullshit. You and Sam, of course.” Spencer retorted, pointing a finger firmly at her, rolling his eyes.
“Woah, so you admit that your performance is bullshit!” Ara teased.
“I-I!” Spencer’s sides turned red.
“Well, that I object!” Ara chuckled as she fished out her phone, showing Spencer the screen with TikTok loaded on it, “Look! You’re famous.”
“Bloody hell?!” Spencer’s mouth gaped open. He dropped his bag onto the floor with a loud thud.
~🕊️~
Spencer took approximately 3 full seconds to take in this new piece of unexpected information.
Sure enough, someone had uploaded a video of him onto TikTok, and it was none other than that final speech. That bloody, embarrassing speech he could not live it down with. He glanced to take a closer look. 365 likes, 67 comments, and 100 reshares. Spencer, the one who absolutely dreaded social interaction, was suddenly trending among his schoolmates, on TikTok out of all places. Nuts.
At that moment, Spencer could not believe his eyes. He felt sick to the stomach, and that his heart was about to pop out of his chest.
“Alright, before you pass out, Spencer, there’s more things I want to show you.” Ara gesticulated for him to stay with her, as she clicked onto another button which loaded some top comments from the reel.
“Bravo, Spencer! Maybe you aren’t always such a boring stuck-up after all.”
“Bro’s making it out of model UN with that one.”
“No, not just model UN, I think he’ll kill it in Theatre or improv comedy.”
“Be my drinking buddy, Spencer~”
At that moment, Spencer swiftly glanced away from the screen, cheeks flushing red. The internet was indeed a scary place, it was why he actively avoided it. Out of all the fancy debate arguments he had ever presented that people could admire and learn from, why did this half-assed attempt at a speech have to be the one that ended up trending? Spencer could not comprehend.
Involuntarily, his body began to shake in fury. The audacity. The irony. It was at that moment Spencer Lawrence realised, that he was living in a world surrounded by idiots.
~🕊️~
“Ara, what do you mean you want me to go on another competition with Sam? No means no. I’d rather continue trending on TikTok for 20 more eons, hell, I’ll even join improv comedy than put up with his bullshit.” Spencer asserted himself firmly. This ongoing negotiation, or rather, protest, had been going on for the past 15 minutes between him and Ara, even when the other debate club members had slowly begun to swarm in.
Meanwhile, Sam sat aside in a corner of the room, reading a book and minding his own business. Yet Spencer knew deep down, that Sam was definitely pretending to read that book, for he had been stuck on the same page for the past 10 minutes, and that he was desperately trying to hide a smirk. This bastard was eavesdropping without a doubt.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Just then, one of the debate club members, Natalia, walked up as she shot Spencer a stern glare. “You need to learn to put your differences aside. If you both were able to clutch that win even while trying to lose, imagine how much you guys can achieve if you properly team up.”
Spencer scoffed. Easy for her to say. Spencer’s ego could not bring himself to let his guard down and view Sam as a friend, let alone a teammate. As his late teacher from fifth grade once quoted, “Only idiots make the same mistake over and over again.” And so, Spencer Lawrence swore that no, he was not ready to make that same mistake of picking Sam as a teammate, not after Sam demonstrated his true colours last round.
“Pfft, don’t be so petty! Y’know what, this calls for an official truce ceremony!” Natalia raised her voice, speaking in a more commanding tone. Even Sam looked up from his book in curiosity.
“Spencer, Sam, come up here. I want you to face each other and look each other in the eye.”
Both parties trudged up reluctantly, shooting death glares at each other.
Right now, the other debate club members were either lightly sighing, or stifling chuckles as they watched this babysitting session unfold.
“Next, Sam, I want you to smile and look friendly. Spencer, you too, I know you’re not the kind to do that, but, still! Rule number 1 of building rapport!” Natalia instructed, fishing out knowledge from whatever she learnt from her Communications class.
Sam easily let out a smile, a grin that seemed all friendly. Yet to Spencer, all the best smiles hid the most malice, and he sure as hell wasn’t trusting Sam yet.
Natalia sighed. “Whatever. Next step, I want each of you to say “I’m sorry, so-and-so, for everything that happened last time. I am willing to put it aside and work together this round.”
Internally, Spencer was on the verge of dying of cringe. What was this pathetic attempt at PR, and what in the world was Natalia even learning in Communications class? How to babysit two young adults like an amateur, 101? There was no way two people were going to magically make up in a matter of seconds. Sorry Natalia, but this isn’t like one of those Disney fairytale stories that you and your besties pitch in Communications class.
Just then, Sam spoke first.
“I’m sorry, Spencer, for everything that happened last time. I am willing to put it aside, and, uhh… I forgot the line. I am willing to cheer you on even when you make speeches like that, I guess…?” His tone was gentle, yet there was a hint of sarcasm.
Spencer’s body shook in fury.
~🕊️~
Right now, all eyes were on Spencer. Internally, Spencer sighed, knowing that he had to put up a front, to avoid coming off as an asshole and wasting everyone’s time.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Spencer spoke, partially rolling his eyes, “…for trying to make us lose. I promise, if you are serious about what you do, I would be better able to work with you. You’ve got a brain, so USE IT.”
Just as he finished his sentence, Sam’s eyes widened, his body flinching a little as he took a step back.
“Woah, woah, Spencer, easy there on that last part.” Natalia remarked, nervously chuckling to ease the tension. There was awkward silence for a few seconds.
Spencer crossed his arms in impatience.
~🕊️~
“Alright guys, bravo! It’s been good progress. You have made your apologies - now shake hands.”
Spencer scoffed and rolled his eyes. What was Natalia trying to do here, win the Nobel Peace Prize? Film and showcase to her Communications class that she successfully got two grown ass adults to talk it out, even while everyone in the room knows that this whole peace treaty is a facade?
“Spencer!” Nura, the debate vice president, sternly boomed. Spencer lightly flinched. Getting onto Nura’s nerves was a bad sign, and he could not bear to imagine the consequences if he were to disobey.
And so, Spencer reluctantly reached out his arm, shaking on it with Sam. False promises and fake apologies filled the air, along with the forced smiles that emerged from both boys. How lovely, these words all coincidentally began with the letter f, the letter of failure. Spencer also got reminded of alliterations in literature class. False, fake, forced…
Fuck you, Sam.
~🕊️~
The day of the next competition arrived. Spencer double checked - no, this wasn’t an amateur competition, Ara wasn’t fooling around. This was serious, and whether Spencer got to keep his 2 year debate winning streak would solely rely on Sam’s performance today. Spencer could not believe it, but his fate laid in Sam’s arms, and somehow, he had to learn to place some faith into Sam, even if the man was an absolute pain in the ass.
“Spencer, I know what you’re thinking,” Sam walked up to Spencer while the latter was adjusting his outfit, “You think I’m going to mess this up. But trust me, I won’t.”
“Huh,” Spencer eyed him skeptically, “What are you, a mind reader? Also, why are you telling me this? We’re now not in public in front of Natalia, there’s no need to act nice.”
Sam let out a sigh. “Spencer, I promise, if we win this round, I’ll treat you dinner.”
Spencer’s eyes widened.
“Woah, so generous?” He questioned sarcastically, “What are you going to feed me, cockroaches? Inject poison into my tea?”
Sam facepalmed. “You really think I’m gonna do that?”
“...Of course not. But tell me what your offer is.”
“Since you’re being so difficult, Spencer, we’re going to go for vegetarian. No meat. To clear the beef between us.”
“Haha, very funny.” Spencer did an eyeroll for the umpteenth time.
~🕊️~
“Don’t you dare fail me, Sam.” Spencer spoke moments before they walked out to the stage.
“I sure won’t.” Sam replied. For some reason, he sounded… sincere? Spencer could not believe it.
“Dinner’s on me, remember that.”
“Yeah. As if I’m going on a dinner date with you. Just order bittergourd, for fuck’s sake.” Spencer deadpanned, rolling his eyes.
“Woah, Spency boy, you’re still not over it? I thought we had a peace treaty.” Sam’s eyes widened.
“Peace treaty my ass, I know how fragile that handshake was. I swear, it almost felt like a fist fight, with you trying to knock me down. What the fuck were you thinking, using such a bloody amount of strength for merely a handshake?”
“Well, I guess you’re just too weak.” Sam smirked.
“Screw you. Y'know what, you better watch out, Sam, and do your part. Or I won’t go easy.” Spencer pointed a finger sternly at Sam. And to clarify, no, that was not the middle finger.
Both parties pouted and walked out onto stage, eyes not gazing at each other.
“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Jade, your host for today. I would like to bring to you today’s debate topic.” The host, Jade Tanko, announced through the microphone.
At that moment, Spencer was on the verge of passing out. Jade? THE Jade Tanko? His favourite podcast speaker who specialised in marine biology and enjoyed doing public speaking talks from time to time? And here today she was, watching and judging HIS performance? Spencer could not believe his eyes.
This was a dream come true, except that his teammate this time was still Sam fucking Thitivoranan. Nuts.
“Woah, Spencer, is that a blush I see? Tell me, are you fanboying over Jade?” Sam leaned forward and patted Spencer’s shoulder, throwing out this remark while wearing a cheeky smirk.
“Shut up!” Spencer buried his face into his hands.
If this wasn’t a debate competition setting, Spencer swore that he would have kickstarted World War III. Some day, there will be a fist wrestling match, him against Sam Thitivoranan. Two statistical probability nerds who fought it out after their pent up anger. Cause of argument? Inability to accept that one of them was better at math than the other.
“Alright everyone! Silence.” Jade gesticulated for the audience to lower their volumes of excitement and settle down, “ Save the energy for later.”
She let out a sigh as she took a glance at Spencer and Sam who were still resuming shooting daggers at each other, “…Anyway, let me bring to you today’s debate topic - Is patience and forgiveness the key to world peace?”
Sure enough, that announcement of the topic was enough to finally catch Spencer’s attention.
Fuck, yes!
Spencer could not contain his excitement and relief. Finally, a sane question, and it came from none other than Jade! Spencer’s photographic memory would serve as an effective tool for this debate, for he had all the statistics memorised.
Without wasting a second, Spencer grabbed onto Sam’s arm, dashing swiftly into the preparation room.
~🕊️~
“Alright, Sam, listen here! I got this in the bag. I have all the facts down. All you have to do is to sit and listen to the part I’ll assign you later.” Spencer instructed, hands gripping onto a fountain pen tight as he scribbled notes all over the pieces of foolscap paper.
“Uh, Spencer, are you sure about that-“
“I’m very sure! I know what I’m doing, and with you following my lead, we’ll win!” Spencer did not look up from the piece of paper. The more he wrote, the more he felt adrenaline pumping through him. This was all too easy.
Spencer did not believe in World Peace. Whoever invented or daydreamed of this bullshit must possess the amount of touch of reality equivalent to those of a toddler’s. If Spencer could not even resolve his ongoing kindergartener beef with Sam, how is peace even establishable to broader groups and regions?
Spencer thought about all the injustices and trends in the world, and felt his blood boil. The fucked up state of the world. The countries, governments and organisations all driven by self preservation. Every news article, every journal headline he came across was just pure rage bait, and he felt like tossing his phone into the water every time he read. The so-called peace treaties were nothing but a facade, and only served the purpose of ensuring that the countries could leech off each other of their goods and land through trade. Politicians that lied through their teeth and shed crocodile tears in rally speeches, where they rambled on a 10 year plan yet did no jackshit. Show patience and forgiveness to them? Fuck no, Spencer would rather trust Rick Astley’s iconic song lyrics to this crap.
“Psst! Spencer! I want to ask you something!”
“Save questions for later. Your role right now is to be my assistant. Go there, and turn up the ac for me.” Spencer pointed towards the air conditioner, instructing in a tone firmer than ever.
“…So much for offering to treat you vegetarian.” Sam folded his arms and scoffed. “Would you stop writing for a moment? I need to tell you something-“
“No, Sam. We need to win this. It’s now or never.“
“This is important-“
“No. You in fact, should-“
“Spencer, we ARE supposed to be arguing for the supporting side!” Finally, Sam raised his voice.
Bloody fucking hell?
Spencer dropped his fountain pen onto the ground.
~🕊️~
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Spencer screamed at the top of his lungs, hands clutching onto his head in frustration. Cold sweat was trickling down his face. “We’re screwed! Sam, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Because you kept interrupting me. Don’t go blaming me.” Sam deadpanned.
Spencer was on the verge of throwing himself onto the ground and just rolling on it, like a mad dog.
“Well, good game.” Sam sat back, folding his arms and crossing his legs, a look of nonchalance on his face.
“HOW ARE YOU STILL STAYING CALM NOW? WE’RE GOING TO LOSE!” Spencer yelled, body shaking in fury.
“I don’t know. Because if I know that if I lose, it won’t be my fault.” Sam replied.
“Screw you, Sam!” Spencer bellowed, shooting him a death glare before turning back to take new stacks of foolscap paper from the table, only to realise that they had… disappeared into thin air?
“Sam, what the fuck! Who took the papers?”
“I don't know. They just disappeared.”
“Sam! I’m serious!” Spencer wailed.
At the moment, tears were about to well up in Spencer’s eyes. Was this going to be the first time in 2 years he actually lost a debate competition? Worst of all, right now he was stuck with Sam fucking Thitivoranan, who seemed to not give a fuck about this situation. Oh, how pitiful, how pathetic.
“Relax, Spencer,” Sam let out a light chuckle as he reached out to the nearby drawer, “I kept them here. And I wrote stuff while you were so caught up in your writing.”
At that moment, Spencer could not believe whatever that had just unfolded. Sam actually being helpful? And being comforting?
No, no, this must be a dream, right? Spencer began frantically flipping through the papers. Sure enough, notes for the supporting side were on there, written and organised neatly.
Spencer wanted to so badly pinch himself, yet thankfully, this wasn’t a dream. His teammate, not only not resenting him for his earlier self-centredness, but also keeping a composed state and preparing their required material.
Gratitude welled up inside Spencer. Perhaps, this bastard isn’t so insufferable after all.
Yet, he immediately also got reminded of that earlier fear mongering from Sam. Hiding away their important items moments before a competition? Who the fuck plays with someone’s feelings like that?
And so, the British boy did the most rational thing that a fellow good teammate would totally do.
“Fuck you, Sam!” Spencer yelled, grabbing the papers and gesturing to slap them onto him, “What were you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!”
And then, all Spencer was met with was his teammate bursting into fits of laughter.
~🕊️~
It was a minute before the debate competition finally began. Spencer took Sam’s arm and walked out, a confident grin written on his face. No Spencer, he uttered to himself, whatever mental breakdown you were about to have earlier, the audience must not know. Just act calm and bullshit your way, like you always do.
“Awww, are you gonna cry, Spencer?” Earlier, Sam had told him while shaking his hand, “Look at you, so touched by my efforts. How does it feel, having your ass carried by me?”
Spencer was on the verge of strangling Sam. The reason he had nearby sobbed was due to stress from the competition, not the fact that Sam saved him at the last minute. Or perhaps, that was actually partially the reason, yet Spencer’s ego refused to let him admit it.
“…And why exactly were YOU thinking about my ass?” Spencer glared at him.
“Pfft, focus on the debate motion, Spencer. See? When you let me cook, I finally cook. So don’t worry so much, okay?”
“…Alright. Um, thanks.” Spencer spoke. It was utterly weird, for his word of thanks this time was actually genuine. “I guess our peace treaty holds for now.”
Sam grinned. “Remember, dinner at the vegetarian restaurant later. We’ll be ordering bittergourd, like what you suggested. Other than that, we can-“
“Focus on the competition, not the food, Sam!” Spencer barked.
~🕊️~
“Alright, here we have Spencer from our supporting side of the motion, bringing us our opening speech!” Jade spoke, gesticulating for Spencer to walk up to the microphone stand, which the latter did.
“Greetings!” Spencer spoke into the microphone while stealing a glance at the audience, only to be taken aback because for some reason, most of the crowd he recognised to be from Theatre and performance clubs, not debate fans. What the fuck?
From the corner of his eye, Spencer could almost see Sam chuckle. Spencer clenched his fists at his sides in fury, recalling the TikTok video. Turns out, these bastards are not here for my debate competition, but for my performance.
Spencer swore that he was not ready to let himself be the butt of the joke again. This time, he will emerge high, showcase his true potential and clutch another win for the team. With the peace treaty with Sam on board, things will turn out fine.
“Let me open my speech. We believe that patience and forgiveness is the key to world peace. We have a couple of reasons to support the point. Firstly, countries and groups will be able to develop greater mutual understanding of each other’s perspectives. Next, forgiveness allows us to put past grudges aside, and being able to work together for mutual benefit. Lastly-“
“Spencer, whattt? Say it louder.” Just then, came a shout from behind. Bloody hell?
Spencer turned around. Sure enough, that came from Sam. Sam did nothing but smirked at him.
What was Sam doing, making a statement like that in the middle of a debate?
Spencer felt his blood boil, yet he shrugged it off. However, heeding Sam’s advice, he raised his volume and resumed reading off the script.
“SO YES, WE BELIEVE THAT PATIENCE IS KEY. THE MORE YOU TAKE A STEP BACK, THE MORE YOU REALISE ABOUT HOW LOUD YET MISINFORMED YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN. SO LET’S EMBRACE LOWERING OUR VOLUMES AND PROPERLY LISTENING TO THOSE VOICES OF OTHERS, BECAUSE IF NOT, YOU’RE JUST AN ASSHOLE.”
Wait, what, what were those last few parts that Sam wrote in the script?
Spencer turned around, and he witnessed a cheeky Sam holding a palm over his mouth, giggling. There were also low chuckles emerging from the audience, as these Theatre kids took out their cameras. Spencer felt his sides begin to flush a shade of red.
Sam, fuck you.
~🕊️~
It was Sam’s turn to speak, and he gave decent substantiations towards the points he instructed Spencer to introduce. A light yet relieved grin emerged onto Spencer’s face. So far, not too bad. Perhaps instead of just bitter gourd, we could also order side dishes of fried tofu.
“Alright, next, back to the supporting house.” As soon as the final speaker from the opposing team finished, Jade announced while giving Spencer a nod.
For a moment, Spencer felt his sides turn red. His idol nodding at him? A dream come true. Spencer swore that he was going to give it his all.
“Let me present to you our next point. I would like to cover a bit about the history of past wars, how countries did their best to put it aside, and how conditions actually improved.” Spencer opened his second speech, and began reading off various statistics written by Sam on the paper. He could not believe it, but Sam might actually be the one who will ensure his winning streak for the second time in a row. Well, we do not talk about that first win.
“Boo, Spencer! You read that part wrongly! It’s 67%, not 65% of resources!” Just then, Sam suddenly called out.
Spencer’s sides flushed red, as he paused and went to double check the sheet of paper. Sam explicitly wrote 65%, so what the fuck? Why the fuck was he calling out randomly like that, to disrupt the competition? Where was OUR peace treaty?
Spencer shot Sam a fiery glare, yet the latter had already gazed back down swiftly onto his own sheet of paper, as if nothing happened.
Spencer was on the verge of crashing out.
I was right, this whole peace treaty was a facade.
~🕊️~
During their short intermission break, Spencer once again dragged Sam into a corner.
“You have some explaining to do,” Spencer gripped onto Sam’s collar as he shot him a death glare, “YOU, the man in the patterned collared shirt, yes, you.”
“…And you have some cooling down to do,” Sam sarcastically retorted, “I was only pointing out your mistake, man in the patternless collared shirt.”
“One, it wasn’t a mistake. I paid for this pair of glasses, my eyesight doesn’t fool me.” Spencer let go of his grip and pointed firmly towards his glasses, “Two, what were you trying to do, humiliate me in front of a crowd?”
“What if I am?”
Oh.
Oh, boy.
“But, WHY? It’s pointless.” Spencer exclaimed, tone laced with frustration. “What about our peace treaty?”
“Yeah. I’m still keeping it.” Sam responded, tone nonchalant as ever. It got onto Spencer’s nerves.
“You’re lying. With the rate you’re deliberately embarrassing me, you’re making me this close to snapping back at you.” Spencer let go of Sam’s collar, then did a closed up finger gesture to emphasise his point.
“So, why not? Just snap back and correct me, it’s okay.” Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“What are you planning?” Spencer eyed him skeptically.
Sam lightly sighed. “Alright, I’ll be fully transparent with you, Spencer. Look at our audience and opponents. Most of them know us from our previous debate, and they know just how much we don’t get along.”
“So?”
Sam facepalmed. “What I’m saying is that, we can keep it that way. Pretend to still hate each other. You are speaking the correct things on the script, stick to it. My intervention or correction isn’t counted in the final judging, but it sure will lower down our opponents’ guard.”
Spencer widened his eyes. Sam was… actually onto something?
“And then, I assume that towards the final parts, we revert back and give it our all?” The British boy questioned.
“Yes,” Sam responded, a devilish grin beginning to emerge across his sides as he rubbed his palms together like a cartoon villain, “They will fall out of their seats. And by the time they try to give it their all again, it’ll be too late.”
“Woah…” Spencer stood still on the ground, taking in whatever Sam just spouted. His eyes lighted up in awe.
Okay, so how the fuck did Sam come up with this idea? Other than it being socially observant, it was actually genius.
Sam appeared to read through his mind.
“Y’know, I watch a lot of spy movies and reality game shows. I learnt that one important tool to obtain victory is to exploit your opponent’s personality weaknesses. Allow them to feel something and get caught up in their emotions.”
Spencer was taken aback. What the fuck. At the moment, he could not believe what he was hearing. Turns out, Sam was tons smarter than he thought, whatever fuckass shows that he had been binge watching, they were surely corrupting his mind. Even Spencer Lawrence had not considered about the exploiting the social aspect to gain victory, but it was mainly because he had always been awful with people.
“So I get to insult you and call you names, and you don’t mind?” Spencer questioned.
“Of course.” Sam smirked, “Bring them in. The more, the merrier.”
“Deal.” Spencer reached out his hand and gave a promising and confident grin. Sam shook on it.
“We’ll act like we’re stupid, but in reality, they don’t know just how much we hide.” Sam spoke, his calm tone laced with mischief.
“Can’t wait for this dumpster fire that we’ll cook up.” Spencer burst into a chuckle.
“W-woah, look Spencer, you’re smiling! Wow, Mr Grumpy finally got his character development!”
“Shut up!” Spencer playfully slapped Sam on the shoulders.
And so, the two boys walked back out, a new common goal in mind. Turns out that when Sam wasn’t being an asshole, he can be an absolute blast to work with. Here he was, implanting a genius idea to ensure the team’s victory. Perhaps, this will be the very first time where the duo’s interaction does not involve them sharing a single brain cell after all.
~🕊️~
“Welcome back, debaters! We shall resume. Sam, you’re up.” Jade instructed.
Sam stood up, proudly walking towards the microphone. Spencer sat back, mind brainstorming on the various types of names that he could call Sam in public.
“I would like to substantiate Spencer’s point,” Sam spoke, resuming reading from his notes, “Earlier he made a ton of mistakes in his speech. They lack substance. So boooring. That’s why I’m here with a couple of examples to somehow help make his argument passable.”
At the moment, the majority of the audience was spotted adjusting their postures, sitting up straight. Bloody hell, were all of them actually in fact just here for a soap opera?
Sam began reciting statistics from his notes.
Alright, time to cut in.
“Sam, like I said earlier, not too many statistics! Case studies! Remember? I told you so many times!” Spencer called out, doing a finger gesture where he pointed towards his own head, “Drill that into your bloody mind!”
Sam glanced at Spencer, and faked an annoyed sound of ‘tsk’. He then turned back.
“Ignoring what my teammate Spencer said, I’m still going to recite all these statistics, because they’re actually useful and not irrelevant like him.” Sam then began shamelessly reading out a long chunk of statistics.
Meanwhile, their opponents eyed the duo, before turning their heads back and eyeing each other, while wearing a facial expression that reads “What the fuck?”
Within the audience, there was the sound of someone spitting out their tea as they broke out into uncontrollable laughter. And of course, none other than the debate club president Ara.
~🕊️~
The fake beefing appeared to be working a little, yet it was not sufficient, for somehow, their opponents lacked a sense of humour. There was not a single shred of laughter that emerged from them. Just…great.
An idea hatched into Spencer’s mind. Time to up the game.
The moment his second opponent returned to their seat, Spencer quickened his steps and proceeded to make his speech.
“Over here, I would like to rebut Lake’s point. You see, patience is a virtue. It is important to treat those around us with care and understand their struggles, because fighting back only causes an unwanted soap opera. It also wastes time. It also…”
“Boo! Spencer, you are wasting time! No need for the mushy bits!” Sam raised his voice. The audience burst into laughter.
Alright, this was the time. The perfect time to rebut Sam, to showcase just how much of idiots we are made of. Time to go ham.
“SAM THITIVORANAN, WILL YOU SHUT YOUR BLOODY MOUTH UP!” Spencer yelled. This time, he did not put away the microphone. Yes, this was Spencer Lawrence screaming his heart out into a microphone just while making a previous statement explicitly emphasising the importance of patience. The audacity. The irony. It was at that moment the surrounding audience realised, that Spencer Lawrence is an idiot.
“Woah, Spencer, relax! I’m just telling the truth, why do you have to damage my eardrums like that? We’re still at the age where we’re at our quarter life crisis, I don’t need hearing aids to be on my to-pay list!” Sam yelled.
Alright, Sam has retorted. Time to unleash some anger. Anything, just anything that comes to the mind at the moment to throw our opponents off.
“So?” Spencer retorted as he pointed a finger towards Sam, “You and your quarter life crisis and go fuck itself. You, always sitting there like a laid back duck, when you don’t really do jackshit. I say good shit, and then you retort, you object. Tell me, is this what a good teammate does? Huh? Have you no manners, manchild? Where’s your patience? Forgiveness? So what if I quoted 65 instead of your favourite number 67? I’m not a TikTok wannabe unlike you, attention seeker. You think you look hot sitting here knocking down my points, but you’re digging your own fucking grave, Sam Thitivoranan. So believe me when I say, let me rest in peace, wait, I mean! Speak in peace.”
Oops, spoke too much.
Spencer Lawrence held a hand over his mouth, not believing whatever he had just spouted. That turned out more intense than he intended. Just… how much pent-up frustration against Sam did that contain?
Silence. And then, a few seconds later, there was a familiar scream that came from a distance away.
“Over my dead body!!” Sam screamed at the top of his lungs.
~🕊️~
Spencer glanced around. The audience looking at him in disbelief? Check. Sam throwing back a retort to keep the beef ongoing? Check. Yet, his opponents and the host Jade remained unfazed. What the fuck?
Spencer thought that he had done a decent job at putting up a shitshow, one that was sufficient to throw off his opponents, and for them to lose focus. Alas, turns out that this trick had been working on the wrong people. Oh and, he himself became the unfocused one, as he was too caught up with scheming as opposed to focusing on the actual debate. Absolute bollocks.
Spencer stood in front of the microphone, wanting to resume his argument, yet suddenly, no words came out. He realised that he had in fact, forgotten what he wanted to say.
His opponents Lake and Rosa stared intensely at him, gripping onto their fountain pens tight, as if awaiting him to make his next point.
“I-I...” Spencer stammered. He then covered his mouth with his palm in disbelief. Spencer Lawrence, the ever so confident speaker, suddenly stumbling upon his words? Oh, how the tables have turned.
Shit, shit, think of something!
“Wow, smoothly done, Spencer.” came Sam’s words of sarcasm.
This time, Spencer could not tell if Sam was still putting up with the fake beef, or inputting a genuine remark. Jeez, why are humans so tough to read?
Just then, Jade walked up towards him. Spencer could feel his heart thumping wildly at the close proximity between him and his idol. Oh shit, he had actually almost forgotten that she had watched through everything. What a shame, with her finding out that one of her biggest fans was in fact nothing like her. Instead of valuing patience, rationality and composure, Spencer was one who operated on chaos, pathos, and stupidity. How bloody tragic.
“Interesting show you put up, Spencer.” Jade spoke, tone deadpan as ever.
“Mmhm!” Spencer nodded, his sides turning as red as a beetroot. “Apologies, my teammate is being a little difficult, I had to tell him off.”
Jade glared at him. “Tell me the truth, Spencer. How many drinks were you on before this?”
“W-what?” Spencer stammered, placing a hand firmly across his chest. “I don’t drink. I, Spencer Lawrence, pride myself in being responsible. I’ll never let myself succumb to the temptations of a singular alcoholic beverage.”
“Yet here you are, acting like a drunkard even when you’re not drunk.” Jade remarked.
Spencer could feel cold sweat trickling down. He had not expected Jade to walk up and make a comment like this. Yet, his mind recalled the main objective - to resume pretending that he was in a feud with Sam.
“It’s all Sam’s fault!” Spencer retorted, pointing towards his teammate, “Do you know how insufferable it is to work with him? I’m making the correct points, yet he had to knock me down! I wish, just for one day where I do not actually have to work with him or tolerate his bullshit-”
“Very well, I can grant your wish. Because you’re disqualified.”
~🕊️~
Spencer stood rooted to the ground, waves of shock crashing over him. Bloody fucking hell?!
Standing a short distance away from him was Jade, his favourite podcaster, shooting him a fiery glare and telling him the one word that every debater dreaded to hear. That he was disqualified. Which also meant that he lost. His 2 year debate winning streak had alas expired right before him.
“But, WHY?” Spencer wailed, “It was just bickering!”
“One, you yelled into the mic. That’s public nuisance behaviour. Two, while debating, you did not have to respond to Sam as he told you off, or calling him names like that. You know that foul language like this is against the rules, right?”
“B-but!” Spencer was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He dropped and knelt onto the ground. Meanwhile, the audience uttered out curious and shocked sounds of “Woooah~” as they watched the commotion unfold.
“I... Fine! I admit, it was all an act, okay? Everything I said to Sam was part of an act. This sounds crazy, but we were pretending to feud!”
Jade eyed him skeptically. “Pretending to feud? What kind of a nonsense idea is that?”
“It’s... uh...” This was in fact, one of the rare occasions in Spencer’s life where he was rendered speechless. He turned around and stole a glance at Sam, begging him with a pair of puppy-dog eyes to back him up, to save him from this situation.
Yet, Sam sat at his seat silently, not uttering a word.
“Tell me,” Jade walked up to Sam, “Was whatever Spencer said true? That you both were putting up an act instead of genuinely throwing such remarks?”
Sam eyed Jade, feigning a look of false puzzlement on his face. He then eyed Spencer, whose puppy-dog eyes were on the verge of tears.
“Say it,” Spencer implored, “Say that we’re friends, Sam! That we’re friends who fooled around and that this is normal behaviour, and get us back into action!”
There was silence for a few seconds. The tension in the air was palpitating.
“...Spencer?” Sam’s tone was laced with nonchalance and feigned confusion, “No, Jade, we’re not friends. He’s just this... random stranger? I’ve never worked with him before this, actually.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK?
Spencer was on the verge of passing out onto the stage ground.
~🕊️~
“...And so, it is to my greatest regret when I announce... our supporting side of the motion, Spencer and Sam, have been disqualified.” Jade spoke into the microphone, “Friends or not, putting up an act or not, that was too far, Spencer. You don’t use that foul language when talking to anyone.”
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
This was the one competition where Spencer had it in the bag, to maintain his winning streak. And right now, it was all ruined.
Spencer hated losing. Every single, every tiny defeat was a big strike to his ego. Throughout his walk of life, Spencer had never failed to clutch a victory, which he enjoyed bragging about to the people around him, which always resulted in everyone shooting fiery glares at him, yet he didn't care, because in his eyes, victory was more important than social connections. Alas, this aspect of his had finally costed him today.
Meanwhile, the audience sat back, in disbelief over the sudden turn of events. The fact that their 20 bucks were gone from their pockets just like that as a result of Spencer and Sam’s petty beef, or rather, the beef they feigned this round, caused them to let out sighs of disappointment. Even the Theatre kids, who hated the fact that their performance was cut short.
“You believe they just did this to each other?”
“Ye, I’d be mad too.”
~🕊️~
“It’s okay, Spencer.” Sam walked up, stretching an arm to help up his distressed teammate while mildly chuckling at their act of ludicrosity, “I’m not mad at you. I know you didn’t mean those words.”
Spencer aggressively slapped his hand away.
“You don’t need to pity me.” Spencer spoke, tone cold as ice.
Spencer then proceeded to stand back up on his own, face darkened. A shiver trickled down Sam’s spine.
“No. Y’know what, Sam? This isn’t over.” Spencer clenched his fists tightly, body shaking with fury. “Momma didn’t raise a quitter.”
“…What the fuck are you planning?”
“I’ll negotiate with Jade, to get us back into the competition. I have one final card to play.”
Sam looked at Spencer, a terrible gut feeling welling up inside him.
“Hey, Jade! I mean it when I say this,” Spencer walked up all mightily and proceeded to cut to the chase, “I believe that you are in fact, being ludicrous. I am a winner in several competitions, I’ve never lost a single match. I’m the valedictorian in my school. To disqualify me that easily just because of a feud that I’m FEIGNING is utter bullshit.”
Jade rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What gives you the authority to speak to your host like that? A loss is a loss. Take it and leave, Spencer.”
“No,” Spencer’s tone was laced with fury, “I’m not leaving without a win. Give me the microphone, Jade. I’ll tell you why I, Spencer, deserve to stay, and I’ll also enlighten the audience with one more supporting point.”
“Go make a fool of yourself if you like, I’m going home.” Jade scoffed, and shoved the microphone into his arms.
Wow, that was easier than I thought.
Spencer walked to the front of the stage, but not before remembering to shoot a death glare at Sam for his earlier act, or what he liked to call top 10 anime betrayals.
“Hello everyone!” Spencer spoke, “I would like to bring to you a new point on why patience and forgiveness, is in fact, the key to world peace, and why I, Spencer Lawrence, deserve to be back in the competition.”
The audience let out sounds of loud squeals, as they waved the name signboards that they held more enthusiastically than ever. Bloody hell, this room is legitimately just filled with Theatre kids.
"I would like to emphasise on the importance of cooperation. Yes, you need cooperation to combine your strengths and work well with someone, even if they’re a total pain in the ass. Let me tell you, my feud with Sam was truthfully an act, to throw you guys off, but I guess our incompetent host here refuses to acknowledge. Fyi, Jade, I’ll be unsubbing from your podcast channel starting from today.”
Jade rolled her eyes.
“And now that we’re gone from the competition, what do you guys get? Nothing! The opponents couldn’t say anything, this debate couldn’t continue because of the imposing of a stupid rule, and you guys all wasted your 20 bucks. Unreasonable of Jade, right? Giving into capitalism and eating up your money like that. And so I would like to say, all of you guys, even you Jade, need to cooperate with me, Spencer Lawrence, for this debate to function smoothly. With no patience and forgiveness from either of you, we cannot continue the world of this debate. Instead, we only have a one-sided battle, which is wholly unfair and antithetical to World Peace."
The crowd was silent.
“Thoughts, anyone?” Spencer questioned, looking towards the audience. Still silence. Turns out, these Theatre kids struggled to process his half-assed attempt at an argument.
Behind him stood Sam, who did a facepalm.
“Security?” Jade called out, “There’s a mad man here who I believe is drunk. I disqualified him, yet he invited himself back to the competition, and spouted this nonsense. If he isn’t drunk, I seriously don’t know what substances he’s on. Please escort him out.”
~🕊️~
And so, this was how the ordeal ended. Spencer landing himself into hot soup due to something that he had in fact, done to himself. This man’s totally unworthy of sympathy.
Spencer sat at the back seat in the corner of the bus, eyeing his backpack placed on his lap. Emptiness welled up inside him.
Like Sisyphus, this is my punishment.
Instead of attaining victory, Spencer flopped hard. Instead of becoming the next Albert Einstein, Spencer’s one step closer to becoming a potential TikTok star, thanks to his capability of acting like a drunkard even while in a sober state. Oh god, I’ve become James Costa.
Perhaps I should have gone into improv comedy, Spencer thought. Perhaps instead of reciting debate political trends in front of the mirror, I would have done better reciting Hamlet’s soliloquy, all while still wearing my schoolboy outfit.
To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer through debate sessions with Sam Thitivoranan, or to take my ass and leave. To die, to sleep...
“Oh c’mon Spencer, don’t look so down,” Just then, a familiar voice rang from a short distance away.
Spencer looked up, and standing in front of him was none other than Sam. Bloody hell, I forgot that this bastard shares the same bus ride as me.
“Go away,” Spencer snapped, “We already lost. No dinner date, if you’re asking.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Sam let out a gentle chuckle, “I played a part in this too, y’know.”
“Yeah. Throwing me under the bus by claiming that you didn’t know me. What the hell were you even thinking?”
“Y’know, it’s just funny, testing your reaction.”
“…Screw you.”
“I’m just surprised that you called me your friend.” Sam remarked, “Tell me, was this part of an act or genuinity?”
There was silence for a few seconds.
“...An act, of course.” Spencer scoffed, “Read the room, Sam.”
“Hmmm. That’s hard to believe.” Sam teased, “Anyway, look over here. I’ve got something for you.”
Curiosity roused over Spencer as he glanced towards the item that Sam had on his palm.
…A piece of candy?
“This is for you, I found it in my bag. Since we lost so badly, I figured I wouldn’t treat you bittergourd, but something sweet.”
“Candies are for kids.” Spencer deadpanned.
“Nuh-uh.” Sam shook his finger, “Admit it, we both acted like kindergarteners today. Here’s a piece of candy for you, my friend, as part of my apology, and attempt to save our peace treaty.”
“Seriously?” Spencer took the piece of candy yet did not proceed to unwrap it yet, “You’re being unusually nice. Tell me, are you planning to poison me with this piece of candy?”
“…Jeez! So skeptical, aren’t you?” Sam replied, “C’mon, y’know this thing is manufactured and wrapped, and there’s no way I can get any poison. Simple logic, don’t you know?”
“…Huh. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Spencer looked back up, “Thanks, Sam.”
This time, there was a slight sparkle visible in Spencer’s eyes.
Perhaps, all this while I had misjudged him, he can be pretty sweet sometimes, actually.
Sam gave the younger boy a cheerful smile, and patted him on the shoulder.
Spencer unwrapped the piece of strawberry flavoured candy, and tossed it into his mouth.
“…Just so you know, this piece of candy’s overdue by one day.” Suddenly, Sam’s initial wholesome grin vanished, replaced with a mischievous smirk.
Bloody hell?!
Instantly, Spencer spit out the piece of candy. It landed onto the ground and rolled towards a corner of the bus.
Without wasting a second, Spencer turned back to look for Sam. To his horror, Sam was already taking to his heels and alighting at his bus stop, but not before remembering to stick his tongue out at a distressed Spencer.
“Sam, WHAT THE FUCK? Get your ass back here!” Spencer barked, face flushing red upon realising that he had been duped, “I’ll sue you. I’LL BLOODY SUE YOU, YOU TRAITOR!”
“Ha! Look at your face. Perfect reaction image, I must say.” Sam pointed towards Spencer, bursting into a chuckle before running off. “See you at school tomorrow! Oh and remember, turn that frown upside down, Mr Grumpy. Frowning too much gives you the wrinkles, y’know!”
Sam Thitivoranan, when I get you!!!