“We have one day!” Dan grew openly exasperated. “Marianne is our fourth. Deal with it!”

“This is Regionals, Dan,” Vi pled with him.

Marianne wondered if any of them had been friends before they joined Quiz Quest. It didn’t seem like it.

Nina put her forehead down on her desk and started muttering, “Ohmygodohmygod.”

“Vi, wake up,” Dan said. “This school never did well in this game until Addison was here. Because she’s better than we are. So, a big congrats to San Diego’s trivia team, I guess, they’ll do great now. But we wouldn’t have gotten to Regionals without Addison, and we won’t get past it without her, so give up.” He leaned back in his chair, his crutches splayed out on either side of the desk.

Ah, so that was why he didn’t care that Marianne was joining the team. He could see when he had no chance at something, just like Marianne did. She could respect that.

“We are never giving up!” Vi spoke so intensely that Marianne spotted a little spit flying out of her mouth.

An overhead light panel flickered a bit. One of many undependable bulbs in the ceilings at school.

“Wait, I know.” Nina popped her head up. “She doesn’t have to answer!” In her excitement, her tone reached another level of soprano.

“Huh?” Vi said.

“Wha’?” Dan said.

“She can just sit there, kind of like she did today. Right, Marianne? Since you’re new and everything and you probably won’t have time to catch up. We don’t want to overwhelm you, and that way we can zoom in on our stuff we have to focus on? You’re our fourth, but you just … sit there? Right?” Nina’s face brightened, pleased with herself.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Marianne nearly cheered.

“Like an Addison placeholder?” Vi began to pace in front of the class project posters. “No, no, Nina, we need someone who will jump in there and go for it. Points-wise, I don’t know if we can rack up enough wins with only three people answering. But maybe it helps more than it hurts if she’s just quiet the whole time…” She seemed to consider it.

“Nope,” Dan said. “That’s not how a team works, folks.” He plopped a foot on his desk. The other stayed on the floor.

“I know, I know. Everyone has something of value to add,” Nina said, as if repeating someone else’s words, probably Mr. Garcia’s.

Vi continued to pace back and forth in the four feet between the tables.

“No, that’s literally not how the team works,” Dan said matter-of-factly. “A team will be disqualified if each member doesn’t answer at least ten percent of all reported answers. And extension rounds don’t count since they’re collaborative.”

All three girls stared at him.

“Usually it’s not an issue, of course, because most teammates answer often, but…” Dan looked to Marianne. He didn’t want to say what they were all thinking. “It’s okay, it was your first scrimmage,” he said instead.