Author's Note: This is just another little something I wrote for school - for my English class to be more specific. The title's lame and the story's not much, but eh I kind of like it. Sort of. Okay, no. Not really at all, haha. :) But it's kind of just a nice little piece and I want to get my fiction out here for people to see, so I'm starting with the worst and working my way up to the best. :) Enjoy!

Middle School Glory

By Fig

I sit in the very middle row of the crowded auditorium, surrounded by my five teammates - all dressed in the same, now somewhat traditional, tie-dyed attire. We are in the eighth grade and, right now, the results of this competition here are all that matters.

We have spent the entire summer reading and reviewing and reviewing and reading the twenty-four books on what has come to be known as "the list." Countless hours spent at the library, quizzing each other, poring over novel after novel – struggling to get through some, whipping through some in less than twenty-four hours. Three of us have read twenty-three, the others a good sum as well. We should know these books better than any other team here.

The moderator seems to drag out the announcement, announcing first the lower scores – eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth. I know before I hear it that we have placed higher than this. Our scores are much too high for that. Two short years ago, when I was in sixth grade, we won third place – a high honor, especially coming from a small, private school that has never had anyone so much as place in this competition. Last year, we received fifth. And this year, we'll win. I can feel it.

I feel my heart beating erratically against my chest as the announcement comes to third place and picks up yet again when it is not us. I know – I don't know how – that it is between us and some other team for that top spot. I can't help but think, at this point, that we deserve it. We have worked so hard, so much harder than some of the other teams here - silly teams that assign each person a different book instead of simply having each team member read as much as they possibly can. This is our last year to compete together. We need to win, or all that work will be for nothing.

I know we have won as soon as the announcer begins speaking. I am not wrong. We have won. Our shouts of joy echo off the auditorium walls and I glance around as we stand to approach the front of the stage, where we will receive ribbons, shirts, and that big stack of books. My English teacher is positively beaming and I can't help myself but grin as well because we, the six of us, have done just what my sister had done the year prior. We have proved that, at least in this competition, strength is not in numbers. Strength is in the knowledge you have. Knowledge is what will bring you glory, the same glory we have just won for our little school, for the very first time.

Please no super harsh flames! I already admitted this isn't my best, haha. :)

Although super positive reviews are lovely! Thanks for reading!

Fig