Lucy scanned the tables, hoping to see Maddie and Delia. Instead all she saw was everyone training their eyes on her. They probably thought she didn’t belong here—that she was only here because of her mom.

Light-headed from her brisk walk and realizing she hadn’t eaten anything all day, she stared down as many of her competitors as she could as she headed to the snack center in search of spicy tuna rolls. It was there that she found Ryan.

He and Gavin were facing each other, both clasping a Red Bull sideways in one hand. Standing beside them were Gavin’s teammates. On the count of three, each teammate plunged a knife into a Red Bull, and Ryan and Gavin flipped the cans upright, shoved their lips to the hole, and popped the tops. Shotgunning. Ryan Thompson was shotgunning Red Bulls with Gavin Cox.

This was supposed to be her week. But since leaving class this morning it was like she’d entered an alternate universe.

She spun on her heels only to hear, “Lucy? You’re here! Finally got my excuse to ditch these losers.”

The slap of a high five and Ryan’s resulting laughter made Lucy feel like the only loser in the room was her.

She gave Ryan a hesitant smile and started toward the mentor table. She was halfway there when Ryan caught up to her, placing a hand on her elbow. She turned, trying to hide her disappointment at seeing Ryan and Gavin so in sync. But Gavin was tied for first, after all, so why shouldn’t they be?

“This way,” Ryan said. He led her to a door at the back of the study hall space, opening it and ushering her inside first. “Don’t need those brogrammers hearing your killer ideas.”

A metal desk with a chair on either side was crowded by floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with buckets, mops, and industrial-sized jugs of soap. That they were in the janitorial office/closet couldn’t have mattered less to Lucy.

Because . . . “Did you say ‘killer ideas’?”

“Totally.” Ryan smirked before holding his finger to his lips. “But don’t tell the others I said so. Can’t appear to be having favorites, can I?”

Lucy’s mind returned to the night of the club and the way he and Emma were talking. But Delia hadn’t mentioned anything about Eric’s team getting any tips. Maybe Emma had been telling the truth when she’d said they weren’t talking about the program.

Good.

Lucy sat up straighter and read from her notebook, where she kept track of everything Lit and life related. She updated Ryan on her team’s progress. The intensity of his eyes and the bobbing of his head as she spoke signaled how impressed he was.