The Carpool to the Tournament

Neve and Lachlan had been rivals on the debate team since freshman year. They were always assigned to opposite sides of every practice argument, always finishing first and second in an order that rotated depending on the week.

内芙和拉克伦从一年级起就是辩论队里的对手。每次练习辩论，他们总是被分在对立的两方，总是一二名，名次随着每周轮流变换。

When the team van broke down the morning of the regional tournament, the coach split the remaining students between two parent cars. Neve ended up in the back seat of Lachlan's mother's car for the two-hour drive.

地区锦标赛那天早上，球队的面包车坏了，教练把剩下的学生分到两辆家长的车里。内芙最后坐在了拉克伦妈妈那辆车的后座，要坐两个小时。

"This should be interesting," Lachlan said, sliding in beside her with his overstuffed folder of evidence cards.

“这下有意思了，”拉克伦说着，挨着她坐了进来，怀里抱着塞得鼓鼓囊囊的证据卡片夹。

"Don't get comfortable," Neve said. "I'm still planning to beat you in finals."

“别太舒服了，”内芙说，“我还打算在决赛里打败你。”

"Noted," he said, grinning in a way that suggested he wasn't taking the threat seriously at all.

“记下了，”他说，咧嘴笑着，那笑容显然根本没把这个威胁当真。

For the first half hour, they quizzed each other on rebuttals, the way teammates usually did before a tournament, competitive but easy. Somewhere around the highway rest stop, though, the conversation drifted away from debate entirely, into subjects neither of them had planned on discussing.

头半个小时，他们互相考驳论，就像队友们赛前通常做的那样，有竞争，又轻松。可是在高速公路服务区附近的某个时候，谈话完全飘离了辩论，转到了两个人谁都没打算聊的话题上。

"Can I ask you something?" Neve said, watching the road rather than him. "Why do you always let me go last in practice rounds? You could ask to go first."

“我能问你一件事吗？”内芙说，眼睛看着路，而不是他，“为什么练习赛里你总是让我最后一个发言？你可以要求第一个上的。”

Lachlan was quiet for a moment. "Honestly? I like watching you argue. I've been telling myself for months it's because I'm studying your technique."

拉克伦沉默了一会儿。“说实话？我喜欢看你辩论。几个月来我一直告诉自己，那是因为我在研究你的技巧。”

"And is it?"

“是吗？”

"Not entirely, no."

“也不全是，不是。”

Neve didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing. It felt safer than admitting she had wondered the same thing about herself for almost as long.

内芙不知道该怎么回答，所以什么也没说。这样感觉更安全，比起承认她对自己也有过同样的疑问，而且差不多同样长的时间了。

They reached the tournament with twenty minutes to spare, and in the rush of registration tables and nervous teammates, the conversation got buried under logistics. But in the final round that afternoon, arguing opposite sides of the same resolution, Neve caught Lachlan's eye across the room. She lost her train of thought for exactly one second, long enough that the judge noticed.

他们在比赛开始前二十分钟到达，在匆忙的报到桌和紧张的队友之间，这场谈话被琐事淹没了。可是那天下午的决赛里，在对着同一个辩题争论正反两方的时候，内芙在房间那头对上了拉克伦的目光。她的思路断了整整一秒，长到让评委都注意到了。

She still won. Barely. And when Lachlan congratulated her afterward, holding the trophy that should have been his, he didn't look like someone who had lost anything at all.

她还是赢了。险胜。事后拉克伦向她祝贺，手里捧着本该属于他的奖杯，他看上去一点也不像是输掉了什么的人。