Page 2 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove
The timekeeper thumps on his desk. “Time’s up.”
TJ starts a bit; she hadn’t noticed the timecard warnings being put up. She sits. Charlie remains standing, since it’s now his turn to give his speech.
“Honourable judges. Worthy opponents. Assembled guests. Side Affirmative has brought up a number of... curious points.” TJ barely restrains herself from rolling her eyes—last time, she got docked on professionalism for that. “Their pessimistic view of the future relies on what they’ve seen in the past. They’re relying on historical examples and facts to convince you. But the truth is, you can find a fact or statistic to support any claim you want. We on Side Negative understand that numbers mean nothing without context. So let’s look at the context.
“Change doesn’t come easy. It never has. But despite that, our society has overall become more progressive in the last hundred years. And all we need to continue that trend is progressive people moving forward. Those people exist. They’re in our schools, they’re growing up, and they have more hope and drive to make a better, more inclusive future than anyone. It’s because of them that the world will be better off in a hundred years.”
Wow. He didn’t have facts supporting his case so now he’s making a case against evidence. The judges better not give himpoints for that. Hell, “Evidence and Analysis” is one of the columns in the scoresheet.
It’s Simran’s job to cross-examine him, so TJ flips over one of her cue cards and scrawls a note to point this out. She pushes it over to Simran, who reads it and nods. Meanwhile, their opponent has since moved on with his speech, painting Side Negative as a beacon of hope while Simran and TJ are just afraid of change. When it’s his turn for cross-examination, TJ gives Simran a meaningful look, which she hopes communicates her desire for Simran to send him home crying.
Sadly, that’s not Simran’s style. As soon as she stands, the tone of the debate immediately becomes way less aggressive.
“Thanks for your great speech. I do have a few questions, though.”
“Of course.” Charlie’s voice is warm. It’s sickening, really, how nice they are to each other.
“You talked about how healthcare will be better in a hundred years due to medical innovation,” Simran says. “But innovation has actually slowed as our world grows more risk-averse by the day. Do you not agree that the ever-increasing regulations imposed on STEM research will stunt future progress, as can be seen by the drastically decreased rate of drug discovery?”
Charlie has been studying the floor as she speaks, but now raises his brown eyes to Simran’s and smiles. He leans against his desk and crosses one ankle over the other. Gestures that may seem casual to the judges, but TJ knows better. He’s giving himself more time to think about a tough question.
“We of Side Negative,” he says eventually, “would like topoint out that those regulations were added for a reason. To prevent unethical experimentation. So while innovationmightbe a little slower going forward, it willcertainlybe less harmful to its subjects. We would argue the overall societal benefit of that far outweighs any harm.”
Simran hardly blinks. Instead, she continues pressing him on the point, this time going from the angle of bureaucracy smothering innovation. He stands his ground, then deflects when the questions get harder.
Soon enough, the cross-examination time is up. The Speaker announces the usual two-minute period for preparing a final rebuttal. Since Simran’s first Affirmative, that’s her job, so TJ leans back in her chair. The judges are scribbling on their marking sheets, faces impassive. Across the floor, Nate whispers in Charlie’s ear like a soccer coach giving frantic advice to the goalie right before a shoot-out.
When the two minutes are up, Simran stands and walks in front of the desks to deliver her speech, pushing her wire-frame glasses up her nose and looking impossibly calm. While TJ is all fire and dramatics when giving a speech, trying to convince the judges that her way is the best way, Simran is logical and levelheaded, delivering her speeches with a matter-of-fact confidence that must make the judges wonder why there was even a debate to begin with. She and TJ make a good pair—in this arena, anyway.
Simran’s two minutes are up in no time. Nate rises to present the final stand of Side Negative. He flicks a lock of jet-black hair out of his eyes and opens in typical Nate fashion. “There’sbeen a lot of different narratives thrown around in this debate, such as our opponents’ defeatist view of the future versus our faith in future generations based on activism that’s happening now. But perhaps the most consistent narrative we’ve seen is Side Affirmative always being wrong.”
TJ can’t help it there—she rolls her eyes. But the judges smile, eating up his humour as always.
The rest of his speech is just as full of subtle and not-so-subtle digs at them. After Nate’s done, he sits, looking smug. It’s over.
All is silent for the next few minutes, except for the ticking of the wall clock and pencils scratching on the judges’ scoresheets. As they wait, TJ doodles spirals on her notebook. They’ve been debating the same topic for three rounds now, against different teams, switching between arguing Affirmative and Negative each time. It’s hard to tell how this one went.
After what feels like eons, the Speaker gathers all the scoresheets, looks down at them, and announces, “The judges have called this debate a draw. At this time, if any debaters have complaints regarding rule violations...”
TJ tunes out the formalities. Adraw? What a cop-out. She props her chin in her hand and resists the urge to sigh. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she and Simran tied with White-water’s star senior team.
Something on her jaw tickles her palm, distracting her from her thoughts. Frowning slightly, she rubs at the spot. What’s that—?
Ohgod. Instinctively she slaps her hand over her neck. It’s a sudden motion, sudden enough that Simran, her opponents, and the timekeeper all glance her way. She ignores them,hoping they’ll think she hit a mosquito or something. Never mind that it’s December in Canada. Eventually they look away, but she keeps her hand where it is.
It’s just, it’s so embarrassing. There’s a long, wiry hair coming out of a mole on the left side of her neck. Usually, she pulls it out before it can get this visible. But with the busy days leading up to this tournament, she’d totally forgotten.
With her hand still on her neck, TJ looks down at her purse. There are mini-tweezers in her to-go makeup kit, so she just needs a private spot to get rid of it. But god, what if people alreadysaw? What if her opponents saw? What if everyone’s been seeing that hair and not saying anything—?
“You okay?” Simran whispers. TJ blinks to find her partner staring at her. She nods.It’s not a big deal, she tells herself firmly. No one would even see it unless they were up close.
Still, when it’s time to cross the floor and shake hands with their opponents, TJ keeps her left side tilted away from view. Just in case.
∗
“Do you think we did it?” TJ calls to Simran afterwards, while they’re in the washroom in adjacent stalls. She’s sitting on the toilet with her hand mirror and mini-tweezers as she plucks out the errant hair.Finally.
Satisfied, she shuts the mirror as she hears Simran’s door open. “We’ll find out in the cafeteria, won’t we?” That’s where the final, totaled scores of all the rounds today will be announced—both for teams and individual debaters. “If we earned it, we’ll get it.”