Nina squealed and hugged her.

Skyla blew her a kiss.

Mr. Garcia turned around from the driver’s seat and put the car in drive. “Now that we’re all here, let’s go.”

The halls of the Lansing high school were so enormous that their voices echoed.

“Do elephants attend school here?” Dan asked as they wandered inside.

The six teams arrived two hours before the competition to prepare. After the moderators and administrators showed them around the auditorium and reviewed rules and decorum, they were served sandwiches in the cafeteria. The Ermines claimed a table and dug in.

Marianne eyed the rest of the teams. Lots of blouses and button-ups. They were the only team with T-shirts.

“Love these shirts, Vi,” Marianne whispered.

“I’m starting to think they make us look unprofessional,” Vi said as she texted furiously.

“You should eat something.” Marianne pushed Vi’s tray closer to her.

“I will, I will.”

“Your parents coming?” Marianne asked, fighting the urge to read Vi’s texts over her shoulder.

“My mom, yeah. My dad is on call and he had to run to the hospital,” she said.

“Oh my gosh, is he okay?” Marianne put a hand on Vi’s arm.

“He’s a cardiologist,” Vi explained, eyes stuck to her screen.

Nina snickered. “I love you, Marianne.”

“Andy’s coming today,” Dan said before digging into his chicken sandwich.

“I’m so excited for two Dans!” Nina trilled.

Dan glared. “That’s offensive to twins, please retract your statement. We are individuals.”

“He’s going to see the glories of public school in action thanks to you,” Marianne declared, chomping on a chip.

Another team a table away burst into laughter at something. Two of the girls had their arms around each other. The teacher told a story that every kid listened to. Marianne eyed Mr. Garcia and wondered if teachers ever got jealous of other teachers.

“You were right that it’s kind of, like, intimidating to see that. They all look like best friends who joined Quest together or something,” Nina reported to Marianne with an eye roll.

“Yeah. No one is like us Ermines, though!” Marianne cheered.

She wrapped an arm around Skyla just to emphasize it.

“So, Skyla, what’s your favorite Best Picture winner of, say, the last twenty years or so?” Dan asked her.

As they chatted, Vi remained on her phone, taking bites occasionally, her expression more glum than ever.

After lunch, their parents and family trickled in, and soon the auditorium bustled.

It was weird to see Andy walking around. He looked like a grumpy, more formally dressed Dan, his red hair combed over and slicked back like a politician’s.

“Little Miss Sunshine!” Dan introduced him to the team.

Marianne whispered to Dan after, “He’s going to see you dominate today. Remember—”

“Put his face on every opposing team’s face. I got it.”

“No,” Marianne said. “I changed my mind about that.”

“Oh, now you tell me,” Dan groaned.

“I think it worked, but you don’t need it anymore. You go to the buzzer now. You got this. Just have fun, Dan. You love trivia. And today? You get to trivia!” she said, and she could hear how bubbly and airy her voice sounded, but she didn’t mind it that day. Who cared how she spoke?