Marianne leaned against the wall of the hallway, where her dad stood waiting for her.

“Shall we?” he said.

As they walked down the hall together back toward the auditorium, he threw an arm around her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she said back.

“You’re a great kid. You know that?”

The Ermines and the Lions were evenly matched.

“Who’s winning?” her mom asked her multiple times.

Marianne couldn’t say. It was going too fast.

As they reached the final minute before the timer buzzed, the moderator announced that the two teams were tied.

“Have you ever seen a tie before?” Marianne whispered to Mr. Garcia.

He hadn’t.

The moderator proceeded to describe the rules of a tie game as they went into overtime.

“Can you translate?” Marianne’s dad whispered into her ear.

She tried to speak as quietly as possible while Skyla, Dan, Nina, and Vi conferred, awaiting the start of overtime.

Several others in the auditorium were whispering to one another as well.

“Basically, there are no more extension rounds, just questions given to both teams. Teams can talk to each other for like ten seconds, and then each team captain holds up the answer on some paper.” She still couldn’t believe how much she knew about this game. She remembered Dan explaining every possible scenario to her.

“Like Jeopardy!” her dad said.

She nodded. “Sort of.”

“So the first time one is wrong and the other is right, the team who is right wins?” he asked.

Marianne nodded. She rubbed her palms back and forth across her jeans. The tension was killing her.

She hoped there were some good history questions. She hoped there wasn’t anything too tricky. She hoped one of the answers was “Misty Copeland” or “phosphorus.”

The countdown began.

Both teams knew the Hundred Years’ War.

Both teams knew LeBron James.

Both teams knew Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church.

Both teams knew the Silk Road.

And then:

“Gougères often comprise which portion of a French meal?” the moderator asked in his robot-like voice.

Marianne saw Skyla’s face contort in confusion. Vi mouthed “Gougères?” to her teammates. Nina bit her knuckle, her toe tapping on the floor. Dan lightly hit his forehead over and over, like he could smack the right answer out of his brain.

Both teams brainstormed.

The seconds ticked on. Nothing.

And Marianne knew it. She knew the winning answer.

Marianne almost laughed out loud but put the tips of her fingers to her mouth instead, hiding a smile.

Hors d’oeuvres.

She could still see the picture of them on her poster—the dough puffed up in a little half circle, hiding the creamy cheese within. She remembered the image had made her so hungry. She’d been excited to show it to the class and maybe make some at home one day, though she never did.

“Dessert,” said the Ermines.

“Fromage,” said the Dolphins.

“Incorrect,” the moderator said. “The answer is an hors d’oeuvre.”

Marianne checked in with her parents, who watched, expressions unchanged. They didn’t remember that presentation, that story. They probably didn’t remember what they’d said after, either. To them, that moment hadn’t actually meant very much, had it?