“Nina knows this,” Vi announced to the team, but she held up a finger to Amir to indicate they had to wait a second more to answer, and she leaned over Dan and Nina to whisper to Marianne: “Hey. Skyla didn’t see how awesome you’ve been today. The camera’s on us now. Show her.”

Nina hit the buzzer. “Dublin!”

Vi was right. Goodbye, Skyla. Marianne listened in for the rest of the extension round, forcing her mind to stay centered.

She put nearly all of her mental energy into listening to Amir’s questions, but she kept her eyes on her teammates in her periphery. They might need her support.

Remington answered the next three correctly, as well as all the extension round questions but one. They were on a roll, and the Ermines had to end it.

Marianne felt Nina’s foot start to tap over and over, and Marianne put her own foot on top of it.

Flex. Point. Nina went into her dance world and settled.

If Nina turned out to look for her parents, Marianne would physically move her head back toward Amir.

Luckily, Vi got the next question, and Nina’s body stayed relaxed.

On computer-encyclopedia mode, Vi slew every question for minutes.

“East India Company,” she said. “Six-thirtieths” and “Toni Morrison” and “USS Arizona Memorial” and “The height is twelve feet.”

Dan initiated the high fives after Vi’s winning streak, and they cheered one another on.

Marianne answered which volcano was the largest in the world—Mauna Loa. She could swear she heard her parents clap in the audience. Who else could it have been?

And she had to answer more, so she guessed.

She guessed the wrong year for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the wrong author of Robinson Crusoe, and the wrong type of glands in the mouth that assisted in digestion, but she guessed that the hottest region of Earth was the inner core and—hallelujah—she was correct!

“Excellent, yes,” Amir responded, and Marianne remembered he had said he was a teacher at the school they were at, and she was sure he could tell she wasn’t as good a student as the rest of them.

But despite her several wrong answers, they were winning by a hair.

Unfortunately, Remington had a history buff on par with Dan.

She sat about one whole foot taller than the rest of the kids onstage, with a flaxen blond pixie cut and a stare of steel.

Each time a history question arose, Marianne saw the girl lean forward, check out Dan, and beat him to the buzzer more than half the time.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Marianne found herself saying under her breath when any history question or extension round came up.

History Girl had been one of the kids arguing outside the door beforehand. Could Marianne discombobulate her? She thought of their coach, with her severe air of disappointment. Marianne tried to exhibit the opposite of that toward Dan: complete and unconditional encouragement. When he got a question wrong, she leaned past Nina and patted his back, mouthing, “It’s okay, you’re great, you’re the best,” a whole shower of positivity. It may have been her imagination, but she thought she saw History Girl watching. Maybe it would throw her off a bit.