Since Columbia, Daisy, along with the school personnel, had high hopes that she could perform well at either Stanford or at the state’s district qualifier for Nats. Alas, for the former, that was not to be, since she was eliminated in triple-octos.
Which left Daisy with the district qualifier, or as people called it in VA-land, NSDA-State, as her only hope for the rest of the season. Speaking of which, she went as far as the semi-finals, and the winner of that game would go on to earn one of Louisiana’s two LD berths at Nats.
“And the winner is…” the head judge for the Lincoln-Douglas semifinal at the district qualifier names Daisy’s opponent, and then the result. “Two to one!”
Damn… I lost that game! It could have been me! Daisy starts to mope, albeit on her own, about the result of the game, which was the most important game of her life as a VA. I came within one game of competing at Nats! She starts crying, and wonders whether her season can be considered truly over. I guess, time to focus on theater after State ends! All year, the Congress players, as well as I, all had to help other theater actors with coursework!
Tweeting about this crushing defeat at the district qualifier is a big no-no, but she knew people would know about this sooner or later anyhow. Especially when Daisy’s teammates, or the coach, would likely submit the entire team’s results to the parochial media.
And yet, on Monday morning, the rest of the student body would know about it. Especially when Chantal is at the principal’s office to deliver the morning announcement:
“The debate team had even better success this year at NSDA-State than last year, since the VAs earned three berths last weekend: Sadie Naath and Joe Glumack-Layton in public forum, Rebecca Tarib and Jarod Wilson in policy and, of course, Chantal Morin in international extemp!”
“Honorable mention to Daisy Pammant in Lincoln-Douglas, who went within one round of a fourth Nats berth for VA!” the principal makes remarks before Chantal returns to class.
Daisy… how could that have happened? She seemed to have done relatively well in inter-state tournaments! NSDA-State was a massive disappointment, comparable to Florence’s heartbreaking loss three years ago. She has one last chance to repair her legacy, and I should meet with the debate coach as well as herself, a principal with a heavy heart sighs, after Chantal left the office.
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When the theater rehearsal is about to start, after school, Paige notices that Daisy is noticeably down, much more so than the other actors playing on the debate team.
“Daisy, you don’t seem to be too well. What is it now?” Paige asks her fellow actress.
“It seems like I let the stress get the better of me last weekend, and I have yet to recover from this tournament”
“Oh Daisy, don’t question your talent on the debate floor!” Paige tries to console her.
“Yeah, none of us Congress debaters came close to winning a berth at Nats either, and we just play without any real expectations” a Congressional debater chimes in.
The theater teacher sees the trio of actors console each other, while also realizing that Daisy is at the center of the problem. Everyone else don’t seem to have any mood issues.
“Daisy, if you don’t feel in the right headspace to rehearse, you can always go home for today” the theater teacher suggests her.
“No, we just need to rehearse the right scenes” Daisy’s stress is reflected in her voice. “Like a scene where despair or anxiety appears”
“All right…”
All 20 actors rehearse their respective lines for the scenes where despair and anxiety appear. However, while that trio of actors had the best performances of despair and anxiety, the other 17 actors feel a little down. Except maybe for Gaston, another Congress debater, for whom despair and anxiety comes naturally because he could then draw upon his own recollections of Congressional debate sessions to portray these emotions.
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But at the end of the emotionally harrowing theater rehearsal, the principal speaks through the PA system to ask for a specific student to come to their office:
“Daisy Pammant is to report to the principal’s office immediately!”
The principal and the debate coach are both in the principal's office, not realizing that Daisy is sweating on her way into it. What did I do to be called at the principal's office? I didn’t commit any violations as far as I’m aware! She ruminates as she enters the office. Once she’s seated:
“Daisy, it shouldn’t surprise you if I told you that we school personnel were all disappointed to varying extents. We all hoped that you would compete at Nats, but out of politeness, we didn’t want to tell you that in front of the other students” the debate coach voices concerns. “There is one last opportunity we might be willing to give you to redeem yourself this season. I propose that you enter Last Chance; you showed some promise, and you beat players already at Nats this season”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“However, if you accept, it’s held the week before the spring play” the principal warns her, while the coach loads Last Chance’s schedule.
“There’s also the matter of judging for Last Chance. Of course, my first choice would be Flo since she judged Last Chance for us last year, but it’s not a given that Flo will accept again. Please look at the schedule” the coach makes Daisy look at the screen.
“Two games each on Thursday and Friday night, five to eight PM. The whole morning, and possibly afternoon on Saturday. For the Saturday games, maybe we could hold a fundraiser for Nats by showing the actual games then?” a bulb flashes in Daisy’s mind.
“I have one question: who would want to watch you debate philosophical questions, even if framed as a fundraiser for Nats?” the principal asks both. “Also, there doesn’t seem to be enough appetite for more than one theatrical performance in a semester”
“One may be questioning why is it that the town’s population would readily throw itself behind the math team, and not do the same for Lincoln-Douglas games” the debate coach asks a question for Daisy. “You would think people might want to support the town’s resident geniuses, but some people might not like mathletics”
“Coach, I know you watched LD games because you judged some, and the townsfolk think debaters are geniuses because they are powerless over debate topics, but winning conditions are much vaguer in LD”
“Daisy, a resident genius?” the principal asks the two. “Townsfolk would instead talk about Chantal and Valerie as such!”
“If Daisy played for Parkway, Ruston or Southside, she would dominate intellectually” the debate coach points out. “However, the main appeal of Daisy would be precisely that she specializes in an area the two girls whom the town consider the resident geniuses don’t. Chantal is the darling of policy wanks, while Valerie is a math whiz. LD doesn’t cover policy ground the way extemp does, but rather, ethics and morality”
“There are two things to consider before you accept: you are on the hook for any fees that arise from the tournament, and you are responsible for installing whatever is necessary to make the game room of your choice operational” the principal warns her.
“Please discuss Last Chance with your parents and return to the next debate practice with an answer” the debate coach instructs her. “Last Chance is free so long as we abide by the tournament’s rules”
Flo disappointed me twice on the debate floor. Whereas Flo had a poor teammate that always gave the first speech, Daisy plays LD by her lonesome. Yet, both lost deep into the state championship, and are players around whom a lot of schools in the state would build their debate teams around. I pray that Daisy accepts, the coach sighs, before the meeting ends.
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When Daisy returns home from the theater rehearsal, she doesn’t hesitate to talk about it to her parents:
“Mom, dad, I know it’s a little early, but it’s about Last Chance. The coach makes me want to play in there for free, it’s in late April, and it takes place online! Thursday and Friday games take place here, but Saturday’s games might be held at school”
“Why hold only part of the games at school?” Daisy’s mom asks her.
“Remember Columbia earlier this season? People didn’t seem inclined to watch the games and yet, I made it as far as the quarterfinals”
“What do you think makes Last Chance any different?” Daisy’s dad asks her.
“I think townsfolk might be more inclined to watch games carrying Nats implications. Technically, at Last Chance, all games do, but I expect the best games to be on Saturday. Columbia was just a tournament like any other regular season one for them, with no stakes outsiders could understand. People would have been able to understand me only at Columbia because it was a progressive tournament, and my opponents always spoke way faster than I”
“It’s competing at Nats that will score you points with colleges, honey, and ideally going deep” Daisy’s mom points out to her.
Why is mom the one to turn the knife in the wound? I know by now that college is the best opportunity I have to leave town, this town is not exactly going well, and I don’t think I could keep doing what I love here, Daisy laments, but keeps to herself.
“And Last Chance is a traditional LD tourney, so speaking speed is not an issue”
“How deep do you need to go at Last Chance to win a Nats berth?” her mom asks, worried that she’s throwing her future away if she performs poorly.
Daisy checks qualification rules on mobile, while shaking in her chair, as well as the current field. Which, for LD, has well over 75 entrants even with the deadline to register for it being a month from now.
“I would need to win double-octos”
“We’ll go watch your games on that Saturday then, and tell people in town about the place once the venue is secured” Daisy’s mom nods.
“Very well, I shall enter Last Chance!” and Daisy then tweets about her plan to enter Last Chance.
“Good luck then!” her dad tries to encourage her ahead of time. “Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself!”
Once the tweet is made, she wastes no time emailing the debate coach about the need to secure a room for the last Saturday in April, for the entire day, so the Saturday games of Last Chance can be held there. And also the need to secure a judge for Last Chance, given the timeslots of that tournament.
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At the next debate practice, the following day, Daisy announces to her teammates that she is entering Last Chance.
“I am entered into Last Chance!” Daisy announce while, technically, she isn’t formally entered until a judge can be secured for it.
“Daisy, until Last Chance, you will be going to practices. Cut additional cards as required, and then you should try to understand the meaning of the new cards” The coach then turns to the Congressional players. “Congress players, from this point, you are released from any further practices”
Damn. There are things I must tell her about Last Chance that are specific to it, Rebecca then turns to Daisy, feeling like there are subtleties she must know about it.
“Daisy, now that you entered Last Chance, there are things you should know about it. Opponents in there won’t be like those you faced at, say, Columbia” Rebecca warns her.
“How so? Other than Columbia leaning prog and Last Chance being trad, I mean, and the tournament will play out accordingly”
“You’re talking about LD-specific items. You think you’re going to have it easy at Last Chance because a lot of the best players you faced at inter-state tournaments are either already at Nats or eschew Nats altogether. However, do you realize the field at Last Chance is going to be massive and the numbers are stacked against you? Policy has a far smaller field”
“Yes, Reb, I know it’s going to be rough, so I think I’m going to need to practice some, if you may excuse me” Daisy then returns to cutting more cards in areas she was lacking in.