Away matches are not my favorite. They make me nervous. I’m not familiar with the schools, so I don’t know where all the exits are or how to get out quickly if I need to.

“The next category is Amphibians,” says the man whose name I don’t know.

Mia looks over at me. I don’t meet her gaze, though. I ignored her the whole bus ride here, and I know she’s already pretty annoyed at me. The thing is, I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk to her about anything other than wormholes. I used to pride myself on being able to think about multiple things at once. Grams says I’ve always been an excellent multitasker.

But these days, I’ve lost all my multitasking abilities. It’s like my brain is a replicating strand of DNA that just won’t quit. I’m only able to think about time travel.

“The definition of an amphibian is—”

Nora reaches for the buzzer. She’s fast—I have to give that to her. She looks at both Mia and me.

“A cold-blooded vertebrate?” she whispers to us.

“I don’t know,” Mia says.

“That sounds right to me.” I give her a nervous shrug.

“A cold-blooded vertebrate,” she answers.

“That’s correct,” the Streamwood Middle School math teacher announces. He marks down a point for our team. We’re still behind by a lot, but it feels good to get on the board.

The round continues. Nora keeps reaching for the buzzer. Mia sometimes even hits it, too. I never reach out for it. I’m trying really hard to focus, but my brain doesn’t even register the questions.

Coach Pearlman catches onto my slack. He subs back in Peter. I hang my head as I walk over to sit back down at the table next to Owen.

“Are you okay?” Owen whispers. He stretches his long legs out in front of him, the khaki uniform pants inching up to reveal his koala-patterned socks.

I nod. I don’t quite trust my voice.

He glances at me. “You sure?”

It’s not like Owen to push. I cross my arms over my chest. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You seem different. Like not just today, but recently.”

I can’t quite look at him. I’m worried my stomach will go all fizzy, and that would be too much right now.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say.

“Okay. Whatever you say.” Owen turns away from me and puts in his earbuds. Coach won’t be happy if he catches him listening to music during the match, but I guess that’s not my problem.

I sort of want Owen to say something else. But I don’t know what. The not knowing is the worst feeling of all. I look over at him a few times, but he doesn’t look back.

When the match is over, we all line up to shake hands. Some of our team is riding back home on the bus, but the rest of us are going home with our parents, who came to watch. Dad wasn’t able to make it to this one, but I spot Grams at the back of the classroom and head toward her, when Mia taps my shoulder.