I sat at the back of the hall, keeping to myself, though the crowd shifted and flowed around me, almost like a living being, a single entity made up of what felt like the majority of the town of Reading. Olivia's plan to live stream the event apparently wasn't necessary. No one wanted to miss the debate of the century from the looks of things.

It was hard to read the mood, as intense as the evening had become, with the two sides-Olivia vs. Geoffrey-seemed intent on ...