She crossed her legs and interlaced her fingers tightly. “You still don’t understand,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

A couple of students arrived and he hurried over, opened the door, and told them he needed five.

Marianne went on. “Is that what teachers tell themselves when they call on me and don’t drop it even though they know I’m not going to understand it at all? I don’t want to be rude, but you’re a math teacher. You get it already. Do you always have to push me so hard?”

“Always?” He raised his eyebrows.

True, it wasn’t like he called on her every day. In fact, she never knew when it was coming. It was actually the unpredictability of it all that was part of what freaked her out.

“I dunno.” She surrendered. “I’m sorry,” she added. “I’m wrong.”

“No, no.” Mr. Garcia returned to his seat and leaned back in the chair. “You’re right.”

“Oh.” Marianne felt like she’d stepped out of reality for a minute.

“I don’t always know when to push, when to hold back. I-I don’t always read people as well as I do numbers.” He tapped a pencil against the desk in a way that reminded her of Nina and added, “Just because I’m a teacher doesn’t mean I always have all the answers.”

For an instant, Marianne could have sworn she could picture him exactly as he must have been in middle school. Trying to talk to people in the hallways but clamming up. Answering every question in math class. Maybe someone people called weird.

“That must be really tough for you,” Marianne said.

“Hmm?” Mr. Garcia said, eyeing the clock. It was almost homeroom time.

She paused and explained, “Not knowing something. Because … you like to solve things, right?”

He tilted his head from side to side as if weighing various arguments in his mind. “Right. You’re right,” he acknowledged, sounding surprised.

As the crowd of kids outside the door grew, waiting to come in and sit for homeroom, Marianne stood up, readying herself to leave.

Mr. Garcia stood up, too.

“I’m pretty mad at myself,” she said, twisting a strand of her hair so tightly she made a knot. “About Quiz Quest especially. Ms. Clarke might not let me do it.”

Mr. Garcia walked with her to the door and said, “Look, Marianne.” He put a hand on the doorknob. “I’ll talk to Ms. Clarke. You’re certainly welcome to compete. You’ve become…” He paused, considering his words. “The heart of the team.”

Marianne didn’t know what to say.

“But walking out the other day was careless.” His voice was once again strict. The Mr. Garcia she knew. Like he was preparing himself for the class of kids about to come roaring in. “You have to choose who to be.”

He opened the door and Marianne walked out.

you dont have to worry, Marianne texted the Ermines. i have a plan.

Ms. Clarke said you could do it?????? Nina wrote.