“What?!” Vi shrieked.

“Um, excuse me? No, that’s not going to work.” Nina attacked a new fingernail. “Ohmygodohmygod.”

Dan didn’t say anything. Was he disappointed? It’s not like he’d been trying, either. Had he?

“No. Absolutely not,” Vi said. “I’m going to talk to Mr. Garcia. You lied to him. This isn’t fair.” She nearly galloped to the door.

“Wait!” Marianne jumped in front of it. “Don’t! What do you mean, I lied to him?”

Vi froze and took Marianne in. She searched her face, like she was trying to gauge Marianne’s sincerity. “You didn’t get the message, did you?” she asked, to which Marianne could only respond by widening her eyes even further and shaking her head.

“Didn’t you hear him the other day? In the hallway? ‘This is not a participation trophy.’” She checked in with Marianne to see if she got it. No. She went on. “He said you need to prove you’re really trying. Real proof. Tangible proof. Or no credit.”

“Can you just say what you’re trying to say?” Marianne pleaded. “And thanks for eavesdropping, by the way.” She could hear how whiny she sounded, but she felt like she couldn’t keep up.

“If we don’t win the final trophy, you don’t get the extra credit!” Vi nearly shouted. “That’s what he was saying!”

The rest of the team, including Marianne, said nothing, taking this in.

“And,” Vi added, crossing her arms, “I know you need it to pass the year.”

Marianne felt her peachy face turn raspberry.

“I put two and two together,” Vi explained.

Marianne backed away from the door and returned to her seat.

“We have to win. You have to win.” Vi wouldn’t let up.

And Marianne drifted.

Like a zombie, she pulled out her strawberry lip gloss and spread it on her mouth, over and over, on repeat, tasting the chemicals.

She stared at a liquid-shaped stain on the tile floor. What had that person been drinking? Had they gotten in trouble for spilling it? Did Mr. Woodsman, the custodian, have to clean it up?

She felt a hand on her back.

“You okay?” she heard Nina ask.

“Yup! Fine!” She answered like someone had pressed the “I’m fine” button on a Marianne robot.

She felt all three of them crowd around her.

Marianne nodded to the floor. “Did someone die there or something?”

She couldn’t see their faces, but she imagined they had no idea what she was talking about.

“I should probably go,” she said breezily after a moment. Her face muscles went slack, unable to force a grin, but she kept her voice light. Leaning over slightly, she grabbed her backpack, but she couldn’t make herself sit up.

If Vi was right about what Mr. Garcia meant—if Marianne had to win—it was all over.

“Aw, come on,” Dan comforted her. “It’s not so bad.”

“You don’t get it,” she whispered. She squeezed the top loop on her backpack as tightly as she could.

“We can help!” Nina said.