For her first stop she headed toward where Vi’s mom sat, thinking maybe Vi had stopped to talk with her, but her mom just scrolled on her phone.

Marianne came up to her, anyway.

“Hey, Ms. Cross. Have you seen Vi around?”

Vi’s mom lifted her gaze from the screen and shook her head with a polite smile. “She’s not with the team? Probably in the bathroom or something.”

Marianne spotted a team huddled together solemnly going over their loss and another laughing in the back of the auditorium, seemingly unbothered. She tried not to look too closely at the Morningside Lions in case it seemed like she was listening in to cheat somehow.

She left the auditorium and checked the bathrooms. No Vi.

As she made her way down the enormous hallways, she softly cooed, “Viii? Oh Viii?” like she was calling to Possum.

Finally, inside a classroom toward the end of the hall, she spotted Vi’s high bun through the door window. She sat at a desk, her face indecipherable.

As the door creaked open, Vi saw her and pulled her knees up toward her neck, stuffing her face down between them like a turtle.

Vi’s back bounced slightly. She was crying.

“Vi, what’s wrong?!” Marianne rushed to her side and knelt down on the carpet beside her.

“It’s too embarrassing. I can’t tell you,” Vi whimpered.

The clock above the desks read 2:09. They didn’t have long.

“Hey, you’re talking to the queen of embarrassment here. You think you’ll faze me?” Marianne asked.

No response.

Vi’s flushed face met Marianne’s.

“Fine,” Vi said. She pressed a couple of buttons on her cell, then handed it to Marianne.

On the screen, she saw two names: Addison and Vi.

Vi had texted multiple times over several days, but there wasn’t any response from Addison. Until:

Vi: ok i know youre super busy but we are here! sooo close to getting this done. we are one step away from getting to the finals of finals can you even believe it????

Addison: thats cool

Vi: we did it!!!!!!! ok now you can tune in on the livestream! ill send you the link again. i think youre going to be so impressed w Skyla

Addison: cant sorry

Vi: oh ok

Vi: k maybe itll be up on youtube like regionals.

Addison: honestly i probably wont be able to watch it

Vi: oh

Addison: don’t take this the wrong way but im just way too swamped here

sometimes its kinda hard to respond to everything you write. theres the time difference and then like im just busy here and keeping up w even like my closest friends from back home takes up so much of my time i cant really always respond to everybody and its not like im on the qq team anymore ya know?

but good luck w all of it srsly!

gtg

Marianne put down the phone.

“Did I really think Addison Schuler was my best friend? I’m so stupid,” Vi said, slamming the desk and sitting up.