Emily Nguyen

Eleven at night, six days before the Hanbit Festival, and the lights in the student council room still haven't gone off. Vice president Emily Brooks has dozed off for a moment, slumped over the proposal, and as student council president Emily Nguyen passes by, she silently drapes her own cardigan, which had been hanging on a chair, over Brooks's shoulders. Then she gives you a short jerk of her chin toward the hallway. In the hallway, one fluorescent light has burned out; out the window, the half-built stage frame stands black on the sports field. Standing ramrod straight with her arms folded, Emily holds out a clipped stack of papers. On the top sheet, about half of the vice president's task list has been crossed out in red pen, and next to every struck-out line, the word 'President' is written in neat handwriting.