“So Holden is just acting crazy?” Teddy Boudreaux asked like he needed a safe answer for the test.

“You tell me.” Oglesby smiled. “What’s the difference between acting crazy and being crazy? If he kills himself, is that a sane reaction? Are all the people in mental hospitals somehow sane?”

Rick bit his lip, trying to follow through. “Okay, that’s the worst case. Holden is crazy and may give up. To him the world is crazy, or at least that’s how he sees it, feels it.”

“Good, or what else? What’s really the worst case?” Oglesby swiped his stick across the front row of seats. “Malone knows. Anyone else? Mr. Malone, tell us what’s the worst-case scenario.”

“It’s not either/or. Life is a contradiction. Both Holden and the world are crazy.”

“Right. See how when we read the text closely we can parse this? Remember: the hero always has a personal flaw and an antagonistic universe to overcome. This will be a core question you must address in the Game—is there a way to build a society that can accept a hero like Holden, and that Holden can, in turn, live with? And more importantly, do we want that to be the case? Is the hero’s fate to find contentment or to fight on?”

Oglesby glanced up at the classroom clock—ten minutes left in the period. “All right, gentlemen, it’s time. We have enough grades from the first and second quarters to have our possible fall induction of the first three candidates for Norwegian rat.”

Rob shot Dan a knowing look. You’ve got this, dude.

“Our first Norwegian rat nominee, with a grade average just below the human body temperature of ninety-eight point five, is Mr. Ethan Tsao. Please come to the front of the class.”

“Of course,” Sticky muttered. This was no surprise. Tsao was straight A’s in every subject. He was a silent assassin, rarely spoke in class, always scribbling notes with a bored, tired expression. More machine than man, Dan thought.

“Our second nominee, Teddy Boudreaux, with a grade point average of ninety-six point two.”

A few jeers for the smarty pants, led by Sticky’s “Boo-dreaux.”

“The third and final slot was very close. Mr. Malone . . .”

Dan half-rose from his seat. Oglesby held him back with Diviner. Not so fast. He turned to his grade book, finding his line of marks for Malone.

“So let’s add in the five points you earned today. Also, when it came to the assignment ‘1001 Things to Do with a White Elephant,’ only Malone endured to write a thousand entries.”

“You are such a nerd,” Sticky side-mouthed.