Word: De Facto

de facto

[ dee -fak-toh, dey ]adverb, adjective

 

1. in fact; in reality: Although his title was prime minister, he was de facto president of the country. Although the school was said to be open to all qualified students, it still practiced de facto segregation.

 

2. actually existing, especially when without lawful authority (distinguished from de jure).

noun

3. Australian. a person who lives in an intimate relationship with but is not married to a person of the opposite sex; lover.

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               The group looked at Kyle. He looked at each of them in turn. He squirmed under their gazes. He hated being the center of attention.

               “What is everyone looking at me for?” He asked.

               “He wants to talk to the party leader. That’s you.” Said Jeff. The others nodded in agreement.

               “What? No I’m not. Since when am I the leader?”

               “Since none of us want to do it.” Cindy said. Another round of nodding.

               “What? I don’t want to be the leader either.”

               “Too bad.” Jeff said. “We all decided it, so you’re the leader.”

               Kyle looked to each of his friends. They all had the same look. The “glad it’s not me” look. He had not been a part of this discussion. He had no idea they had chosen him. He also had no idea why they had chosen him. He was probably the least qualified person among them to be the leader. He was indecisive, unopinionated, and tended to let others talk for him.

               All this came out in a single word: “Why?”

               “What do you mean, why?” Cindy asked.

               “Why would you pick me? And without telling me. I mean, that’s just not a good idea.”

               “Yeah, but you weren’t around, so we picked you.” Jeff said. “So, go and talk to the guy so we can move on.”

               “And what if I don’t? What if I don’t want to talk to him? You all made me the leader, right? So, what if I don’t want to.” He said and crossed his arms.

               If they wanted to play that kind of game, he would just not play along. He would not be roped into being the party’s de facto leader, simply because he had not been able to refuse the position. The others looked at each other, and then to him.

               “But you have to. Otherwise we won’t be able to get anywhere.” Cindy said.

               “Well then someone else can be the leader. Someone who will talk to the guy, because I’m not doing it.”

               Now the others were starting to get worried. If Kyle was not going to go and advance the plot, then one of them would have to step up and do it. And whoever did was stuck with the leadership position.  None of them wanted that. It was why they had stuck the job on him.

               “What if you just become, like, the leader in name only?” Cindy eventually said. “Like, we call you the leader, but it’s just an empty title. What we actually do is more democratic. That way you don’t have to actually do anything except talk to some people every now and then.”

               Kyle mulled her suggestion over. It sounded alright. Better than being a full leader and making all the decisions on his own anyway. He still did not like having the title at all, but if it was mostly ceremonial, he could live with it. More or less anyway.

               “Okay, fine.” He grudgingly said. The others looked immediately relieved. “Let’s go talk to some guy about some quest to find some thing.”

               He stood and headed off to start the game.

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Yeah, I'm not sure I like this one. I'm a little tired and almost completely forgot to write it. So yeah, sorry if it's a little...meh.