Page 19 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove

There are several people who could have put that prompt in the pot. One of the debaters from another school probably thought it would be funny. After all, both of the meme celebrities were in the room with them. TJ almost wishes Charliehadused it, because then maybe she could confront someone.

“I’m not so sure that’s the only thing bothering her,” her father muses. TJ lifts her head to find him by the door. With his hair freshly buzzed and his special-occasions-only overcoat on, he looks almost as young as he does in the wedding photo behind him.

“Aren’t you going to be late?” she says pointedly. Her mom looks at her dad.

“She wants us to leave so badly. I wonder why?”

“She’s going to throw a party.”

“Or maybe invite a boy.” They both giggle.

TJ laughs weakly, then clears her throat. “I might go to Piper’s. We’ll see. Have fun at the dinner!” She directs this last part at her father. He scowls. They both know he hates work events; he’ll be listening awkwardly and praying for an early exit as TJ’s mom schmoozes.

After her parents leave, she texts Liam.You can come pick me up in 10.

Then she runs to the washroom. With military efficiency, she puts on some makeup. She examines her face in the mirror. No pesky hairs that need to be plucked. Skin gleaming with a little highlighter. Eyes popping with mascara and eyeliner. Her hairstraightened. Tinted chapstick only because, well... kissing.

She runs a mental checklist. Deodorant, check. Perfume, check. Cute underwear—Charlie’s voice pops into her head, and she irritatedly shoves it out—check. All freshly shaved and waxed, check. Well, except for...

Downthere.

Oh well. She’s still glad she skipped the appointment. Shedidpick up some things at the debate meeting, more than she would’ve on her own. Besides, Liam knows she’s not a Barbie doll. There’s nothing to worry about.

Her phone vibrates again. Liam:I’m here.

She exhales and exits the bathroom.

Once she’s bundled up in her cute ski jacket, she leaves the house and walks the extra block it takes to get to Liam’s waiting car. His eyes sparkle when she slides in.

“Hey, beautiful.” He kisses her in greeting. “Ready to make some gingerbread houses?”

TJ sits up straighter. She’d almost forgotten about those. “Finally. Did you buy enough candy?”

Liam grins and reaches into the back seat to show her a plastic bag full of bulk candy. “You think I’d half-ass this?”

Instead of answering, TJ smacks a kiss on his cheek.

When they arrive at his house, Liam turns the fireplace on while TJ enters the gigantic living room and starts an assembly line for their gingerbread, icing, and candy on the coffee table. There’s a lot more candy than she realized. “You really cleared out the bulk section, huh?”

He joins her on the floor. “I had a feeling you’d need it.”

He’s right. Over the next hour, TJ builds an intricate gingerbread castle much larger than Liam’s simple four-walled house, but it partially collapses while she’s still decorating the roof. That doesn’t stop her from heavily decorating the ruins, however. The candy dwindles as the conversation shifts towards graduation. Liam’s in talks with coaches at UBC Vancouver, where he wants to study biology. TJ, of course, doesn’t know what she wants to do yet, so she quickly changes the subject. “Um—any fun holiday plans?”

Not her best segue, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Yeah, maybe. Jake was talking about doing a trip to Whistler. Get some skiing in. Wanna come?”

Thatdoessound fun. But... things will get busy in the new year. Now’s the best time to work on her debate speeches. “Um, I don’t know.”

“Why not? Debate stuff?”

She blinks. “How do you—”

“With you it’s always debate.” He shrugs, popping an M&M in his mouth. “Is this the last tournament?”

Embarrassed at her utter transparency, she refocuses on adding tiny gumdrops to the roof of her castle. “It might be the last official debate association one, yeah.” Technically, there are plenty of other private tournaments, either in Vancouver or across other provinces. They’re usually hosted by universities. TJ’s attended a few, but in recent years, with the Southern Interior debate numbers dwindling, Mrs. Scott has called it quits on those because of the time commitment.

“Might be?” Liam prods.

TJ shrugs. “Unless I qualify for Nationals.” That’sthetournament, going up against the best debaters from each province.