The Good in People

At Whit's End, Whit treats Olivia Parker and Suzu Rydell to celebratory milkshakes: Olivia has just been made president of the school drama club, with Suzu as treasurer. But Olivia won the job by making a bold promise, that the whole club will attend the drama festival at the State Capitol, something they have missed for the past two years. Suzu, ever the honest treasurer, lays out the problem: the festival is three weeks away, the entry fee is fifty dollars for each of the club's ten members, half is due as a deposit by the end of the week, and the club's treasury holds exactly nothing. Whit gently reminds Olivia that "it's better not to make promises that you aren't sure you can keep," since a broken promise makes people see you as a liar or as untrustworthy. Olivia mentions that she once raised over two hundred fifty dollars for her church's overseas relief fund, money that is now sitting unused at her house because the project was already fully funded, but she and Whit agree the drama club would not count as a proper use for it. Whit offers to chaperone the trip, spread the word, and set out a donation jar by the cash register. After the girls leave, Suzu tells her brother Morrie that the club chose Olivia over Zoe only because Zoe would not commit to the festival, and that raising the money will take a miracle. Morrie chuckles to himself and won't say why.

That evening Olivia gets a phone call from a stranger named Jordan Winward, who claims to represent the Student Project Fund, an organization that helps school clubs pay for educational activities. He somehow knows all about the club's situation, which Olivia finds creepy, but his offer sounds safe: if the club raises half the entry fee itself, the fund will match it dollar for dollar, paying the balance online once Olivia texts him the registration confirmation. He promises not to contact her again unless she contacts him first.

The club debates the mysterious offer. Morrie argues they should ignore a stranger who magically appears with money, but Olivia develops a theory: the caller knew details from her conversation at Whit's End, so the man must be working for Mr. Whittaker, who is famous for helping kids and for encouraging them to take initiative. Convinced they have nothing to lose, the club members throw themselves into fundraising, washing cars, raking leaves, and knocking on doors all over town, and even accepting one neighbor's sock full of pennies. In a week they raise their two hundred fifty dollars, and Olivia submits the deposit and texts the confirmation to Jordan.

Then, nothing. A week goes by with no word from Jordan, and Olivia cannot reach him. She goes to Whit's End to confront Mr. Whittaker, certain the mystery man works for him, only to have her hopes crushed. Whit hands her the donation jar he promised, holding maybe twenty-five dollars in coins, and when she asks about the matching funds, he has no idea what she is talking about. Shaken, Olivia realizes someone has built up the club's hopes just to dash them. With only two days left to pay the balance and no way to raise it in time, Morrie assumes they will have to ask for a refund. But Olivia refuses to break her promise and tells him to spread the word that the club is going to the festival, saying only, "Leave that to me."

Suspicious, Zoe and Suzu show up at Olivia's house. They remember the church relief money sitting in her home and fear she has used it to pay the fee, which Suzu warns would be wrong and possibly illegal. Olivia hands them an envelope: all of the church money, every penny, is still there. She admits she was tempted for about three seconds, but she knew it would be wrong. Instead, she paid the rest of the entry fee out of the college fund she started for herself two years ago, with her parents' blessing, because she made a promise and needed to keep it. She also announces that she is resigning as president, since she has realized she is not right for the job, and asks level-headed Zoe to take her place. Zoe, humbled, apologizes for doubting her.

That night at home, Morrie marvels to Suzu that Olivia gave up her own money and even refused to let the club pay her back; she really practices what she preaches. Then he slips up, casually calling the mystery man "that Jordan guy," a name Olivia never told him. Cornered by his sister's questions, Morrie never quite confesses. Instead he walks Suzu through everything that happened: the phone call motivated Olivia, Olivia motivated the whole club, they raised half the fee themselves, and when faced with real temptation, Olivia chose the harder, honest path. If all of that was good, he asks, why can't Suzu simply think of her brother as "someone who brings out the good in people"? Suzu replies that the answer, then, is yes, he did have something to do with it, and the two say good night, the mystery answered but never quite admitted.