A Talk with Nicki

So, Nicki and I were walking through the kitchen, when she suddenly brought up the upcoming student council elections.

"I don't know if I'm running," I said.

"Whaddya mean you don't know if you're running?" Nicki asked. "You ran last year -- and you won."

"Yeah," I reminded her, "but things are different now. I'm assistant editor of the school newspaper and that's taking a lot of my spare time."

"Don't you think Meredith knows that?"

I shook my head. "Huh?"

"Hales, it should be obvious to you that she's testing you. The fact is, by announcing early, she wants to see if you'll bite."

"Huh?"

"She's trying to stop you from running against her because she knows you can win."

"I'm not sure if I want to go through that again."

Nicki's face lit up. "Aha! So that's it. You had that campaign last year --"

"Yeah, and if you remember, it got nasty. Really nasty."

"And you don't want to go through that again."

"Not really."

"You know, if you let her get to you, she will have won. Someone will have to challenge her. And I know that you're smart enough and strong enough to do just that."

Nicki's going back to Colorado next week, because she starts school the day after Labor Day. When she hasn't been at school, she's been volunteering at the local animal shelter. That is sooo Nicki, so something she'd do. There are times when I like having her around, and then there are times I wish she would just let well enough alone. This is one of those times.

Then suddenly Nicki confessed something else to me. "You know, I actually wanted to keep Sprocket for myself," she said. "I'd really gotten attached to him."

"What made you give him up?"

"I saw that Veronica needed him much more than I did."