Maybe she was sexist toward herself. Was that possible?

And was she even really blond? Compared to Vi’s warm brown, Nina’s black, and Dan’s bright orange hair, she might have been. But she always thought her mane was more of a golden brown. One time a cousin of hers who lived in Israel had come to visit and said to her, “You have honey hair, like me,” and Marianne thought about that whenever she thought of her hair.

And there she was, thinking about hair and not Bach, exactly as Vi would expect.

Whatever. She’d rather be stupid than angry all the time, like Vi.

She pulled a stick of Juicy Fruit out of her coat pocket and popped it into her mouth.

As she headed down the hallway to the school’s exit, Mr. Garcia strolled out of the staff lounge.

Should she run?

“Ms. Blume.”

She stopped and stood in place. She’d explain she was done ruining his team, that she’d seen what a bad idea the whole thing had been. He didn’t have to worry anymore.

Marianne could picture the future. She’d do more of her homework this year, under the watchful and teary eyes of her parents, but she’d get a D, maybe a C minus, on the math final. It wouldn’t fix her overall grade much, and it certainly wouldn’t make up the points she needed to pass. Ms. Clarke would call her in again. The seventh graders she saw in the hallways every day would become her classmates.

And even as she repeated the year, she’d still have the same problem: She was a stupid partial-blonde.

“I was, um, surprised by your presence in Quiz Quest today,” Mr. Garcia said.

“Yeah.” Marianne twisted the hanging straps on her backpack into tight spirals. “I didn’t know what it would be like…”

He glanced at his watch and seemed to decide he had a moment to say something further. She waited for a polite, formal version of “Don’t come back.”

“It’s—what was it again?—torture, yes?” he asked.

“Huh?” She dropped the straps.

Then she remembered when she’d spoken to Jalilah—how they’d insulted Quiz Quest together, and how Mr. Garcia had walked around the corner right after. Had he heard them?

“And it’s, um … for kids with no friends? Was that it?” he added, not appearing angry, exactly, but blank-faced. She simply could not figure him out.

Okay, he’d obviously heard them.

“Jalilah said the no-friends thing, not me!” was all Marianne could think to say.

“Now, I actually think this could be good for you,” Mr. Garcia said, moving right along. “Quiz Quest certainly solves some of your problems…”

He must have been referring to the extra credit.

“And it’s true we’re having a bit of a recruitment issue.” She thought she caught a slight grimace flash across his face. “But also,” he went on, “Quiz Quest is its own form of study. Many questions require a review of basics, and…” He paused. “I actually think that’s exactly what you need.”