I passed one note with Talia in class. I thought about what to say a lot before I wrote it down. I wrote: How is your poem coming? She wrote back: Killing it. It’s going to be bomb. I gave her a thumbs-up, and she gave me a thumbs-up back.

Mom and I didn’t talk much about NLD. I wasn’t surprised. I kind of thought Mom didn’t want to talk about it. Not because she was scared or uncomfortable or anything, but I think she was worried that if she told me too much, it would feel like reading my horoscope. Like she would be telling me all the things I couldn’t do.

For the same reason, I didn’t look up NLD on the internet, either. At least not yet. I wanted to talk to Mr. Trent Hickman first. In case the internet told me that talking to people like him was something I shouldn’t be able to do.

Finally, the last thing to work out was my travel plan. I still wanted the contest and the money and everything to be a surprise, but I was going to have to tell my mom something. I thought through a thousand different options, but the only way to do it without Mom’s help was lying or sneaking out, and there was no way that was going to happen.

So on the night before The Day, I asked my mom about it.

Mom was smoothing my moon-and-stars quilt across my legs like she did every night.

“Mom?” I said.

“Yeah?”

“I have to ask you something weird, okay? But I’m serious about it. And … and it’s sort of a secret. Like, a surprise. Part of it is, anyway.”

“Do I need to be worried about something?”

“No, no,” I said. “Nothing like that. It’s about that sort-of-secret project I’ve been working on in Ms. Trepky’s class. Now I … I really, really, really, really need to ride my bike to the university tomorrow. Like, in the morning. I know it’s a school day, but it’s really important. And I don’t have any tests tomorrow or anything and I already know what the homework will be for the weekend and—”

“Why do you need to go to the university? Getting your doctorate already?”

“I’m serious,” I said.

“I know.”

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise too much, but this editor guy is coming to campus tomorrow and for the project it would be super, super awesome if I could talk to him.”

Mom put her hand where my knees stuck up under the quilt. “Sweetheart, I get that this is important to you, but campus is a long way away by bike. And I don’t like the idea of you walking around a college campus all by yourself.”

“I already have it planned,” I said. “I have a map, I’ll have my phone, and I won’t talk to anybody except to give this editor guy the thing I have for him, and—”