Chapter 4: Partners, Indeed

Thursday, July 15, 1982

Our Thursday rounds were ... better. Not amazingly better, but both of us were learning. Christopher had become much more tolerable. I could tell that it surprised him by how well I was doing. To his credit, he listened to the feedback we received from the judges rather than shrugging it off.

I still thought he focused too much on ‘winning’ and not enough on self-improvement, but I figured I’d cut him some slack there. Winning is fun; of course he’d want to win, even in meaningless practice rounds.

I got beaten up a fair bit by our judges myself. Speak faster — and speak more clearly. Be more organized — and get more content out there, even if it’s a bit confusing. Lean on the evidence — and lean on logic and reason instead of quotes. Conform a bit more — and never be afraid to stand out.

Some of these conflicting comments even came from the same people. And, to be fair, I’d seen people who could manage some of them. The two I’d debated at Isidore Newman, for instance. Both of them could speak both faster and more clearly than I could. Both of them were more organized and could get more out there.

It was a lot, but I’d do my best to follow it. Couldn’t hurt. I was already decidedly better than I’d ever been my first go-round. Some of that was simply being much more mature than I’d been my first go-round, some was having a better partner, and some was having a better team to learn from.

Friday, July 16, 1982

We made it through the first two rounds Friday with little drama. I’d been working hard at incorporating suggestions. Again, to his credit, so had Christopher, who’d improved quite a bit. I had little against the guy by now. He worked hard, and I had to admit that either he wasn’t as condescending as I’d thought, or he’d figured out that it wasn’t working for him.

The third round, though ... well, I’d wondered if this might happen and, sure enough, it did. Cammie came through the door and nearly stopped when she saw me, then shrugged and headed to the other table. Carla, who I still just barely knew, followed her in, wearing a scowl.

Christopher nudged me. “You know her?” he said, nodding to Cammie.

“You could say that,” I said.

“Good?”

“She is. Not sure about her partner.”

“Let’s see what we can do.”

We were affirmative. I’d done considerable tweaking to the case and could deliver it faster, with more clarity, and with additional evidence. We weren’t at the level of the best teams nationally, but we were going to give Lizzie and Janet a challenge — if they hadn’t improved just as much at their program. Odds were, they had. Redlands is a damn good program — almost certainly better than Indiana — and they were pretty driven. Unless they were getting up to a lot of mischief in the dorm, odds were we’d have a friendly rivalry all year.

I got up and delivered the case, Cammie smirking just a tiny bit and Carla frowning. Cammie got up and asked some damn good questions. No surprise there, given how well she knew our case, but she didn’t know some of the evidence we’d accumulated. I thought I handled it pretty well.

When I sat down, Christopher whispered, “Damn, she’s good.”

“I said she was.”

“It’s like she knew the case. I’m impressed.”

We shushed because Carla had gotten up, so I didn’t have to deflect. Carla tore into our case. To her credit, she was crisp, organized, and had good quotes. On the other hand, she was sharp, abrasive, and made everything sound personal. While she didn’t say the word ‘idiot’, you could hear it lurking just under the surface.

The round went on, back and forth, and ... it went well. Giving Carla credit where it was due, she was going to win a lot of rounds for good reason. I thought she could be formidable, but not the way she was coming off now. A better me might have tried to help her, but I knew Cammie had tried and failed. So ... not this time.

When we were done, my perception was that we’d won, for whatever good that did. Carla said something to Cammie, then stomped out. She had some reason; the judge gave her some rather pointed comments. At least she didn’t argue with him.

Cammie shrugged, came over, and hugged me as we were packing up our evidence. “Good round, Steve. See you at dinner?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Good.”

“Cammie, this is Christopher.”

“Hey, Christopher. Nice to actually meet you. Of course, I’ve seen you around.”

“Hi, Cammie. Same. A pleasure, really. You’re pretty good.”

“You, too. All the best next year, unless we’re in the round. Maybe we’ll see you at Nationals.” She grinned and headed off.

“Huh,” he said. “Obviously you do know her.”

I chuckled. “She’s my partner back home.”

“Oh! You could’ve said something!” He was smiling, though, and clearly not upset.

“I figured I’d let her make her own impression.”

He bit his lip a second. “You and Cammie would make a strong team. I guess I got off on the wrong foot.”

I shrugged. “It happened. I know your program really is good. The thing is, ours is, too.”

“How good?”

“A year back we had the Nationals Extemp champ. This year we sent four to Nationals.”

“Four?!”

“One CX team, one Extemper, one in LD.”

“How’d they do?”

“Our CX team and LDer lost in quarters, and Amit, our Extemper, was fifth in semis.”

“Damn! I really put my foot in my mouth. How do you two match up to that team?”

“They’re a bit better. We’ve both won tournaments against each other. But, then, they’re a grade ahead of us.”

He shook his head. “I’m giving you a lot of points for putting up with me. You had every right to slap me down.”

“Nah. For what it’s worth, it’d be cool to meet at Nationals.”

“It would!”

“Guess you and Cammie will be partners next week?”

“I imagine so.”

“So unfair! But, of course, you’ll be that much better prepared for the year, and that’s why we’re paying the big bucks. Or, our parents are, anyway.”

“Yup.”

“OK. I’m going to run back to the dorm before dinner, so ... see you at the dance, if not before.”

“See you then!”

We shook hands. Parting as friends, or at least solid acquaintances, was a good thing, and unexpected after the rough start.

Cammie and I met at the cafeteria, both still with our evidence cases.

“That was fun,” she said. “I was wondering if we’d get to do that.”

“Me, too. I’m glad it happened at the end, not early on. It was a good bridge towards airing some things with Christopher that were better off waiting.”

“Know what the most fun was?” she said, grinning.

“Um...?”

“Last round with Carla!”

I chuckled. “I see your point.”

We went over the round for about fifteen minutes until Angie turned up, limping slightly.

“What happened?” I said, giving her a hug. Cammie quickly followed with a hug of her own.

“I slightly turned my ankle,” Angie said, grumbling a little. “It hurts! It’ll be fine, I think. They wrapped it and said it was okay for me to come here, but once I get back, rest and elevation. And I’ll take some ice from here for it. They gave me something to put it in.”

“Ouch!” Cammie said. “Can you dance tomorrow?”

“I ... well. A bit. Maybe slow dances, I think. I shouldn’t bounce around too much.”

“Is it a sprain?” I asked.

“They said no, that it didn’t hit that level.”

“What about the show?” Cammie said.

“Um ... day to day? I may just sing. Really, this is all because we’re doing this so fast. Someone bumped me a little and tripped me. Not bad, but...”

“Enough,” I said.

“Yeah. Enough. So ... how’s your day been, both of you?”

“It was my last day paired with Carla,” Cammie said. “It was great!”

I chuckled. “Christopher and I had a good talk, and I got to debate against someone really good and highly interesting.”

“Oh,” Angie said. “Do tell.”

I nodded towards Cammie.

Angie giggled. “Oh! Yeah, she is really good and highly interesting.”

“I am, if I do say so myself,” Cammie said with a grin.

“Let’s get some food. I shouldn’t just stand here and talk. Besides, I’m hungry!”

We went over the round in line. Angie seemed very interested in how it’d all played out. By the time we had food and had found a table, we’d exhausted that line of conversation.