Read Online Total Knockout by Taylor Morris - Free Book Online

a life, Cooper said, “I think it sounds great. Those salty corn chips and candy bars I usually eat with lunch make me feel like puking.”
    â€œWhatever,” Jared said. He rolled his eyes back to me. “I just think you should give us a little more time, that’s all.”
    Boxing teaches you that you always have to be prepared—the moment you’re caught off guard, down you go. I made sure to always be prepared for anything, even for someone to call my bluff and tell me we couldn’t get this done in this time frame. No one did. I said, “I understand, and I apologize for the quick turnaround time. I know everyone is busy, but once our vote goes through, Ms. Jenkins would like to put it on the school-board vote. That’s why we have to do it quickly.”
    â€œWe can do it,” Cooper assured me, and I was so glad he spoke up. Jared still looked put out, and Melanie looked a little bored, but I was hopeful that they’d pull through as well.
    I asked Cooper to please type up the meeting minutes and e-mail them out to everyone. “Tonight?” he asked.
    â€œWell, just so everyone can be totally informed.” I really didn’t want to overlook anything else, since I was already on shaky ground.
    After the meeting, Jared bolted out of the classroom as Mrs. Peoria wandered back in, and Melanie’s sister picked her up for another trip to the mall.
    â€œI think it’s a good idea,” Cooper said as we walked outside.
    I looked at this guy who I’d known as long as I had memory. “Thanks for always supporting me, Coop,” I said. “You always make things easier for me.” I immediately felt embarrassed—we never spoke to each other about our friendship.
    But it didn’t seem to faze him. “You’re my best friend,” he said simply. “That’s what best friends do, I guess.”

The vote went through, just like I anticipated. Three for the new machines, one for keeping the old ones. I won’t even insult your intelligence by saying who didn’t vote for the new ones.
    As soon as the final vote came in—Jared’s, of course, at 11:59 p.m.—I sent an e-mail to Ms. Jenkins and told her to go ahead with putting the proposal on the school-board agenda. She wrote back that she was impressed that I got the vote done so quickly. I noted that we were both up late, working.
    About a week later, Ms. Jenkins came back to me with the great news that the board had voted to try out the new machines. “We’ll be the pilot school for them, and if they go over well here, they’ll consider expanding them to other schools.” I couldn’t believe that my idea—especially one this far-reaching and big—was reallygoing to be implemented. This was the biggest thing I’d done yet, in all my years as president. I breathed a little easier with the realization that the vote wasn’t that big of a deal after all, and everything was turning out fine.
    Instead, I focused on revealing the machines to the school. Ms. Jenkins took care of all the logistics of ordering them, and I was in charge of presenting them to the school. Although all the machines would be delivered at once, Ms. Jenkins agreed to only stock the one by the cafeteria until after I revealed it to the school. The others would be stocked later that day. I knew I needed to get my council involved to help them feel the enormity of this great project. So, I planned a press conference and gave everyone a job. I asked Jared to contact Nicole Jeffries to cover the unveiling for the school paper. I asked Melanie to talk to Lori Anne about taking photos. Finally, I asked Cooper to get in touch with the IT club to have them put up an announcement on the school’s website. I even told him I’d write it up if he could just get it to the proper person, but he said he’d take care of it.
    In my e-mail, I told everyone how important it was