She couldn’t remember a word Mr. Garcia said, but she could recall all of that in a second.

Marianne pulled up her text messages. The host disappeared.

She wrote to Skyla.

Hey. What if I did join quiz quest

Within a split second a response appeared:

Lololololololol

You said it’s the only time Mr. Garcia has ever offered extra credit, right?

yeah but … wouldnt he be mad if u joined? wouldnt u hate it?

sorry for laughing. ur serious?

just seems like it might not work?

gtg studying with julie youll figure it out with garcia lu xoxo

What would Julie and Skyla be studying together in high school while Marianne sat at home rereading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, getting talking-tos, and disappointing everybody for the second year in a row?

Luckily, it didn’t take a genius to see that she had only one way out.

Marianne knew what she had to do. She had to force Mr. Garcia to give her those points—to give her a chance.

Marianne Blume, the stupidest girl in the eighth grade, had to join Quiz Quest.

3

THE THREE KIDS IN the room grew silent as Marianne knocked on the doorframe.

Before her sat Vi, her posture perfect, chestnut ponytail tight, expression unreadable; a tiny, solemn girl who looked at Marianne as if a platypus had just walked through the door; and a redheaded boy she thought was named Dave or something. She didn’t know him, but she’d seen him in the hallways minding his own business and walking with what looked like two canes attached to his hands. He eyed Marianne with curiosity.

“Hi! Is this Quiz Quest?” Marianne looked around for Mr. Garcia, but he must not have arrived yet.

Posters and projects plastered the walls of the room, which served as a seventh-grade social studies class during school hours.

“Very funny,” Vi said to Marianne before returning to her conversation with the two others. “Look, Addison insisted our problem area was science, so I’ve made a list—”

“It doesn’t matter!” the small girl spat out in a voice so high any dogs nearby would perk up. Emphasizing each word, she squeaked, “We. Do. Not. Have. Enough. People. On. The. Team! And there is no time left! Unless Isaac Newton wants to join us, cross off his name and throw away your list.” She grumbled something inaudible and collapsed her head into her hands.

“Do they have a ghosts policy?” the boy asked. “Maybe apparitions can join.”

“Hysterical,” Vi deadpanned. “I’m glad you’re so relaxed, Dan. Honestly? It’s good to have evidence now that you never did care about Regionals as much as the rest of us. It explains a lot, actually.”

Marianne almost laughed. Vi was such a tyrant.

Marianne’s mom often told her about the Catholic schools she went to growing up. She said the nuns were pretty nice overall, but that when her mom—Granny—was a kid, the nuns used to hit the children’s hands with long wooden rulers when they acted out. She could totally see Vi doing that to the other kids in Quiz Quest.