The Five.

Towards the end of my junior year of high school, I decided to run for student council vice president for the next school year. I had held leadership positions in my class, and thought it would be cool to lead the entire school. I was up against some of the "popular" girls, and I wasn't too confident of my chances. But, I was also one of those people who was friends with everyone. And lo and behold, I made it past the primary election. They announced it in my 2nd hour English class, that it was between me and a girl named Lauren. Who, by the way, was also in my 2nd hour English class. Awkward.

I campaigned for a few weeks-posted flyers, handed out candy and bracelets.  I also had to make a speech. In front of the entire student body. I worked hard on that thing, trying to perfect my words and to be as genuine as possible. All I really wanted to do was make a difference at our school and to be a role model for the younger girls. After our speeches everyone went back to their homeroom to vote. I had never been more nervous for anything in my life.

I won. I won the freaking election. I was going to be Vice President of Student Council. I remember the cheers breaking out amongst my friends and all the hugs and high fives I got in the hallways. My parents took me out to dinner to celebrate that night, and when the waitress asked if it was a special occasion, my dad proudly said "yes, my daughter is vice president of the student council!".

And guess what else? For the first time, ever, there were five of us on student council. There was a dead tie for secretary position, so they let both of them claim it. So naturally, we began to call ourselves the five.

President- Jessica, better known at Mercy as "Smitty". Smitty knew everyone. She was friendly, goofy, and spirited.
Vice President- Me. I was in the "theatre" group, but also friends with many others. I was quiet in class but loud among my friends, not afraid to show my love for Mercy or for the people around me.
Secretaries- Kalin and Nicole. Kalin was one of those girls who was never afraid to stand up for herself or for what she believed in. She was gorgeous, popular, hilarious, and loud. Nicole was sweet and smart- kind, and fair.
Treasurer-Kelsey. Kelsey was also one of my best friends. She was the smartest girl I knew, athletic, genuine and kind.

Kalin, Nicole, and Kelsey were all juniors and Smitty and I were seniors. We took our roles in student council QUITE seriously- but we also laughed all the time.  Our dean of students, who was in charge of us and led our meetings, would often say we were one of the best groups. We made her laugh and she helped us to become better leaders. The five of us got along so well. We moved as a pack and we looked out for one another. We met frequently to discuss different events at the school and met for 15 minutes every 2nd hour to do the announcements for the school. Smitty's job was to speak, mine was to control the audio controls, and the other three gathered the announcements and birthdays. All of us sang "happy birthday" at the end, celebrating our classmates. In the even that Smitty was absent, I filled in speaking. Those moments always scared me a little, but I had the three other girls behind me, cheering me on. After announcements we would gather in a circle, arms around each other, and tell each other to have a good day. We had such different personalities, and were in different groups of friends, but it worked, and it worked beautifully. I had the time of my life with those girls.

On our very last day together, we cried. We did our circle tradition  this time holding tighter and we each went around and told everyone else what we admired about them. It was especially sad for Smitty and I, because we were graduating and had to leave it all behind.

I will always have a special place in my heart for those girls. Even though we do not keep in touch (I still keep up with Smitty and Kelsey occasionally , and haven't seen each other in years, they are very unique, lovely people who I adore and would do anything for if they asked.

I'm not sure if Mercy has ever had another five person student council. but the selfish side of me hopes that they haven't. I hope we were unique and rare. The Five.