February 1, 2005

Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to Gray Eyed Fighter and mimic91 ! I love you guys, and I hope we can keep emailing for a long time to come!

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love getting emails from readers, so feel free to email me, and we can talk about Simpsons, or Yu-Gi-Oh (my secret obsession!), or just about anything.

Hmm… it's been more than two months since my last update. I will try to get Chapter 15 out in a much more timely fashion. (This chapter was giving me soooo much trouble. It took me forever to figure out how to make everything work out properly, and then it was so hard to write it out in a way that wasn't completely stupid.)

I just could not decide on a title for this chapter, so it will simply be Chapter 14. I tried a bunch of things, but none seemed to work. I might come up with one later, or if you have any suggestions…?

The next time I update this story, it may be with the brand-spankin' new Chapter 1 (which desperately, desperately needs to be improved) or Chapter 15. Just giving the head's up. Also, I am contemplating a possible Simpsons one-shot that I might do in the not-too-distant future. Add in a new fic in another category, and I have a lot on my plate. Time to get crackin', I guess!

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O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Spinning for Hours

-O-

by Sir Mocha

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

-

Chapter 14

I walked hesitantly onto the charter bus, clutching my daypack to my chest tightly. My eyes scanned for seats available. Being one of the last on the bus, I didn't have very many choices left for a seatmate. And there was one person in particular that I needed to make sure I sat next to for the three-hour bus ride.

I guess I was lucky that day: my eyes saw the person, sitting by himself, staring out absently through the bus window. I made my way toward him.

"Hey Lisa!" said a voice from my right. I turned my head, and saw Needa pointing to an empty seat next to her. "You wanna sit next to me? We can play Pictionary all the way down!"

I loved playing Pictionary with Needa, and for a moment I was tempted to take her up on her offer. But the corner of a manila envelope, poking into my stomach, reminded me that I had a much more important task to complete on the way down. And as much as I regretted it, I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Needa, I can't. I have work to do on the way down. We can play Pictionary on the way back, ok?"

"Oh," was all she said. "Well, you're still welcome to sit here, if you want."

I said uneasily, "Well, I really need more… more quiet, to get my work done." I glanced over at the seat I needed to sit in. "We can sit and talk on the way back, is that okay? And there's going to be a lot of free time today, too. We can gossip and draw there, ok?"

Her face fell. "Well, all right," she said uncertainly.

I gave her a halfhearted smile, then walked away. I could practically feel her eyes on my retreating back, which only made me feel worse. I did want to sit with her, I really did; I didn't want to hurt my friend with my refusal, but I could see no way around it. The task at hand was imperative, if I wanted to keep the friends I had made.

At long last, I reached the empty seat. I plopped down into it, and shoved my bag under my feet. When I righted, Martin was staring at me inquisitively. "To what do I owe this honor, Lisa?" he asked me. "I would expect that you would want to sit with your friends."

"You are my friend, Martin! What's the harm in catching up with an old friend?"

He gave me a Look that said plainly that he wasn't buying my excuse.

"Ok, ok," I said, a touch exasperated. "I need to sit with you. I'll explain in a few minutes. Also, do you think I could have the window seat? I really don't want anyone seeing what I'm up to."

I could see curiosity, as well as skepticism, on his face. Finally, he said, "Well, if you want the window seat, you'll have to get out so we can switch."

I smiled. "Thanks, you have no clue how much you're helping me!"

He raised a brow. "Well, I expect to be told in a few minutes."

I didn't want to launch into my entire explanation while the bus was sitting here idly, and people around could overhear. I figured it would be wiser to wait until the bus was running; it would be louder, and people would be paying less attention to me.

While I waited to get going, I looked at my right upper arm, which bore a new decoration. Earlier that day, Soapy had pulled me to one side, and had proudly bestowed on me the black armband with the fancy gold lettering, proclaiming to the world that I was indeed a CAPTAIN. He, Celia, and Theo were wearing identical bands, and I was happy to put it on, and ascend the ranks from a mere competitor to a captain, overseeing my team of faithful Corvids. Then, after Soapy had left, I reflected on my newfound pride, and decided that it was rather silly and irrelevant. Still, I couldn't completely rationalize all the pride I felt, and as I looked down at the band again, I felt a small glow of satisfaction.

I then transferred my gaze to my hand, and its new addition. That morning, before heading out to the buses, Mrs. Finch had asked us to listen to her for a minute, because she had something important to say.

-

…Flashback…

"Before we go, I wanted to firstly say that I have total confidence in your abilities to answer any question they throw at you. You have all worked very hard, and I expect our school to perform very well today.

"Secondly, I need our cute little freshmen to come up, because I have something to give you all."

I looked around at my classmates, who were smiling at us knowingly. I realized that this was a bit of a ceremony, like the first day of school had been. Feeling an odd sense of deja-vu, I led my teammates up to the front of the room, and stood in front of my teacher, who was holding a small velvet box.

"Freshmen," she said, "until now, you have been a member of the International Brethren and Sisterhood of Corvids, but you have had nothing to show for your efforts, and nothing to set you apart from the rest of the populace.

"However, it is custom that each Corvid receives a small token that identifies them as a member of the Brethren and Sisterhood. When you wear this, other Corvid will recognize your elite status, and you will receive assistance or benefits that you would not normally receive."

She opened the box, and I peered eagerly inside. Nestled in the wine-colored velvet were seven highly polished rings. Each was made of silver, and the highly distinctive bands were in the shape of two talons. The talons held a shining faceted black gem which shone brilliantly, even in the dim light of the classroom.

Mrs. Finch picked up one ring, and handed it to me. She handed it to me with her left hand, which I thought was a little odd, considering that she was right-handed. But then I saw the black gem sparkling on her finger, and I understood.

"So I'm guessing," I said quietly, "that it goes on my left index finger?"

"Naturally," she responded. "And just so you know, when two Corvid shake hands, they shake with their left hands. It's an age old custom, and you know how much Corvid love customs." She smiled at me.

I turned to walk back to my seat. As I walked back I noticed, which I hadn't before, that all my classmates had identical rings on. I slid mine on, and Needa, across the aisle, smiled at me.

Well, I wasn't big on jewelry, and especially not on rings. But wearing the ring that sparkled from all my friends' fingers helped reaffirm the strong camaraderie I felt. It also put into a new light the duty I had to my fellow Corvid. It was my duty to help them win the Knowledge Bowl, through any means necessary.

…End Flashback…

-

And a few minutes later, as the bus was heading past the Tire Fire, I pulled my bag out from under the seat. I looked around, making sure no one was paying especial attention, before I pulled out the manila envelope. I just held it for a moment, staring at the brown paper that covered the answers that would save me from failure at the Knowledge Bowl, and from losing my friends, who depended on me to know this stuff. Then, slowly, I undid the prongs that sealed the envelope, and withdrew a thick sheaf of papers. Printed very clearly, on the cover sheet, was CONFIDENTIAL – ANSWERS.

I looked furtively over at Martin, who was looking away. He caught my eye, then looked casually at the papers I held in my hand… and the usually stoic Martin had a true jaw-dropping-eyes-popping moment.

He looked around conspiratorially at the students across from him, then turned in his seat to face me. In a whisper, he asked, "Are those what I think they are!"

I bit my lip, and nodded.

"Why do… how… where did…" he seemed to be at a loss for words, but I got the general gist of his question, enough to answer them.

In an equally inconspicuous voice, I explained what had happened. "I was gone all weekend, Martin. I had zero time to study, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to answer any of the questions they asked! I didn't want to let the team down, so I figured I had to do something! Bar—um, I mean, I knew that your boyfriend was really good at getting answers to tests, so I sought him out for help. Incredibly enough, he was able to get these answers for me, and now I have to memorize the American History ones before we get to the competition, so I'll be able to answer the questions I'm supposed to, so I can help the team, so we can win."

He was silent for a moment, trying to register what I had said. Then he remarked, "Wow Lisa, that's not typical behavior for you. I only remember one other time you got the answers to a test, and you nearly went crazy with guilt."

I winced, remembering the one time in second grade that I had cheated on my Wind in the Willows test. True, I got an A-plus-plus-plus, and no one suspected, but I hadn't been able to live with the knowledge that I had bought the answers. I blurted it out in front of the entire school, as well as my teachers, nearly ruining the chance for Springfield Elementary to receive the funding it sorely, desperately needed…..

…..But this was different. Before, it had been a personal unwillingness to get a bad grade that drove me to cheating. This time, it was a much bigger competition, with much higher stakes. More importantly, everyone seemed to be so gung-ho about the contest, practically swearing in blood to get first place over the other schools.

Martin continued. "And I'm just wondering something… why did you decide to sit with me?"

"Well," I started, "everyone is so enthusiastic about winning this Knowledge Bowl and beating the competition. Personally, I don't really care about winning… and I don't think you really care either. You're the only one who doesn't really care, so I assumed that it wouldn't matter to you whether I had studied or not. And you seem like the type who wouldn't be averse to a little cheating."

He smiled a devilish smile, reminiscent of Bart in his younger years. "You're right. I think this whole competition is pretty stupid, and I think it would be better if everyone cheated. It would make things more interesting, at least. Nah, who cares if you studied or not? You have the answers right in front of you; I say use every "study aid" available.

"Just make sure you don't get caught. You'd get in serious trouble, and I'd go down as your accomplice because I knew you were cheating and let you get away with it. Hah, that would suck for me, wouldn't it?" With that, he faced forward, and jammed a pair of headphones over his ears. He started humming tunelessly along to what I could only imagine to be heavy metal.

I refocused my attention on the answer book. I knew it was wrong. I didn't want to cheat; it was against all my strongest principles. I hated cheating…

…But sometimes it was necessary.

I slowly and hesitantly turned the cover page away. Then, more readily, I flipped through until I got to the section labeled World History. A small subheading underneath read, "American History."

I read the first question, and then had to read it again to understand what it was asking of me. This isn't too bad, I realized. With that revelation, I calmed down slightly, though still with every intention of studying for the next three hours.

-O-

"Lisa… Lisa…" I woke to the sound of my name being called softly, and to gentle prodding on my shoulder.

I slowly opened my eyes, wincing at the bright light that flooded through the large bus window. After my eyes adjusted, I could see outside the bus a large marble building, ornamented with soaring columns and robed statues and that kind of neoclassical ornamentation. I figured that we had reached the Capital City Conference Center at long last.

I turned my head to the left, to see who had so gently woken me up. I saw a black sweater over a blue collared shirt, and above that a sandy blond head and large eyes behind thin wire-framed glasses. These eyes were currently regarding me suspiciously, and the mouth below was twisted inquisitively .

"Is there a problem Theo?" I asked, my heart fluttering stupidly at the name. Of all the people to wake me up from my nap, it had to be the guy I had an infallible crush on. The way he tapped me so gently to wake me up… the way he called my name so gingerly, so tenderly…

"Um," he said, sounding hesitant for the first time since I'd re-met him, "no, there's no problem." But he was still looking down uneasily at me. Or rather, he was looking down uneasily at my lap…

THE ANSWER PAPERS! Holy shit, I had forgotten all about them! I must have fallen asleep while I was studying them, and there they were, lying open on my lap for the whole world to see! Lying there for one of my friends, and fellow Corvids to see. Theo was smart; there was no doubt that he did not know what lay on my lap. Hopefully I could convince him that it was just a study guide, not the real thing.

"Wow," I said, trying for false confidence, "I must have fallen asleep studying for this Knowledge Bowl. I've been so worried, all weekend. I even went online and found a copy of the questions from a previous year, and I've been studying them. It's a bit out-dated, but it's helped me, I think." I hoped that the lie would suffice for an explanation. It sucked having to lie to Theo, but any alternative was worse.

"Ah," he said, a hint of doubt remaining on his handsome face. "Well, I was worried last year too, it being my first year and all. But the questions were a lot easier than I had been expecting." He smiled at me, but his eyes flickered back to the pages on my lap before flickering up to my face.

I looked away from those large eyes, unable to hold his gaze after the lie I had told him and the shame I felt from it. I looked quickly away, and around the bus. "So," I asked tentatively, "where is everyone?"

He smiled again. "Everyone was looking for you. We got off the bus about fifteen minutes ago, and I guess no one realized that you were still here. Mrs. Finch sent me up to check the bus again, and lucky me, I found you."

"Ah," I said absently. I noticed that Martin had left his bag, as well as his CD player, on the seat next to mine. Thanks for not waking me up, pal, I thought sarcastically. I looked around at the other seats, and noticed that most people had left their belongings as well. "Are we not allowed to bring our bags in?" I asked.

"You are," he explained, "but you have to take them through metal detectors, and x-ray machines, and have them inspected by the security guards. All the smartest students in the state are in this convention center; they're taking every precaution to make sure nothing unfortunate happens to result in our untimely deaths." He grinned.

"Of course," I replied, shoving the answer packet into my daypack. I definitely did not want my bag to be searched; that would be disastrous. I had my misgivings about leaving it here on the bus, but I didn't see any alternatives.

"Well," I said, getting up and stretching. "It sounds like everyone is looking for me, so I guess we don't want to keep them waiting." I crawled over Martin's seat, and stood up in the aisle, Theo ahead of me. We walked out of the bus, up the steps of the monstrous marble building, and through the large wooden doors. I looked up to the painted ceiling arching high overhead, a bit awed by the grandeur of the establishment. I didn't want to risk losing Theo in the meandering crowd of students, though, so I looked back down, and followed him to where my class stood, huddled in a corner near a statue of the first governor of the state.

"Lisa! There you are!" yelled Anna. "What kept you?"

"An amorous tryst with your secret lover Theo?" asked Lee, a roguish grin on his face.

"Ha ha," I said weakly. "I know you're jealous, Lee."

He was about to make some smart-mouth retort, but was interrupted by Mrs. Finch saying loudly, "Well there you are! Where were you, Lisa?"

"Heh… I fell asleep on the bus," I answered sheepishly. Behind my teacher, I could see Martin staring at me worriedly, as if to ask, "Did anyone find out while you were asleep?" I merely rose my eyebrows in response, and his eyes widened considerably.

"Well, now that we're all here," continued my teacher, unaware of the nonverbal communication going on, "I say that we should proceed to our common room. We'll be resting there while we're not in a testing session."

As we walked down the halls, Martin sidled up to me, and asked in the barest whisper out of the corner of his mouth, "WHO saw the answers?"

I sighed, and said quietly, "Theo found me on the bus, and I was asleep, with the answers on my lap. I told him they were from a past test I found online, but I think he was a little suspicious."

"Shit, Lisa," he replied, all traces of earlier merriment gone from his serious countenance. "You're going to get caught, and you're going to get me in trouble too."

"Well," I whispered back scathingly, "if you had woken me up when we got off the bus, he wouldn't have seen me! And anyway, Theo wouldn't turn us in, even if he knew that they were the answers. He's too nice for that."

Martin thought for a moment, then whispered, "I sure as hell hope you're right." With that, he walked off to talk to Lee, and left me following the group by myself.

A minute later, we reached our common room. In this huge building of marble and velvet, it was a bit of a surprise to see a rather comfortable room filled with small four-person tables surrounded by pleasant-looking chairs, several overstuffed couches, and a large fireplace like the one in our classroom.

It was also a surprise to see the other students in the room. Our common room was the room for the Southwest region of the state, which included towns like Ogdenville, Shelbyville, and of course, Springfield. Roughly six other schools were in this room with us, and as soon as we walked in, all the chatter and noise stopped.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Montgomery Burns Corvids, back again for another year and another try at that championship title you try so hard to win," said a loud, patronizing voice from one corner. All the eyes in the room turned to a tall, slender brunette with a superior smirk on her face. "Fringe Finch, how nice to see you again."

"Sylvia, ever the pleasure," said Mrs. Finch coldly back, a glower barely concealed on her hard-set face. She turned to us. "For those of you who don't know, this is Ms. Mellon. She is the teacher of the Corvids at The Enriched Learning Center for Gifted Children."

Aaah, I thought, so this is the teacherat the rival school. From the way the Learning Center Corvids were glaring at us, and the way my classmates were glaring back, I could tell that the rivalry was not merely between the teachers, but also between the students. From the way the other schools were silent, and watching with quite an interest, I could guess that the rivalry between our two schools was a well-established fact.

Ms. Mellon glanced at us. "New Corvids, I see?" she asked smugly. "I'm sure they're good, Fringe, but they're going to be disappointed when they see that my freshmen are in a class of their own."

"Sylvia, you know as well as I do that your students won last year by the slimmest margin ever. This year, my freshmen are going to be the ones that will put us ahead in the end. Then, I'm afraid, you and all your students are going to be very disappointed." She smiled a mocking smile, which Ms. Mellon duplicated on her face.

"I guess we'll just have to prove which school is the better, won't we?"

"I guess we will."

As if those were the magic words, all the Burns Corvids filed quietly over to the area on the opposite side of the room from the Learning Center students. As soon as we sat down, conversation slowly started up throughout the room eventually achieving once again the volume it had had before the interruption.

"Wow," I said to Needa across from me. "That was a little intense."

She smiled at me. I took it as a sign that she had forgiven me for the bus thing from earlier. "Every year the two schools put on a show of false bravado. It's almost as if it's expected from us; it would be strange not to have it."

I sighed. "Wouldn't it make more sense for the two Springfield schools to work together to beat the rest of the schools in the country?"

"You'd think," she replied, "but every year the Learning Center manages another miraculous win, and our school is getting a bit tired of it. What Mrs. Finch said is true; we're an excellent school and we're getting closer and closer each year to beating the Learning Center. Last year we got second in the finals, which is incredible. And yet, all the school that participate in the Bowl are longing to see the Learning Center beaten, and that includes us. They may be our neighbors, but they're definitely our biggest rivals."

With this, Needa had provided me with even more insight to this whole super-competitive aspect to the Corvids. I understood a little better why everyone was so determined to win; I had felt the exact same thing when I had first met Alex (one of my best friends until she moved away three years ago). Alex had done everything I did, except she was so much better at it than I was; she was smarter, younger, prettier, and a better sax player than I. You can imagine how frustrating this was, when I was so used to being the best. I was willing to take desperate measure to beat her in one contest, and only common sense had stopped me from doing something mean and vindictive. (Later on, we became friends, but I was always a little jealous of her talent.) I understood the desire to be the best, and the desire to do anything to accomplish this.

This certainly was confusing.

I was pulled out of my mulling by a crackle from the loudspeaker, followed by an official sounding voice. "Welcome to the one-hundred sixty-seventh Albert Einstein National Knowledge Bowl! We are pleased to welcome all the gifted high school students from across the state, and we wish you the best of luck in today's competition.

"Before we begin, we'd like to give you a rundown of the day's schedule. At ten o'clock, we will begin the first session of testing, and this session will continue until eleven-thirty. From eleven-thirty to twelve-thirty will be lunch, which will be served in the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Memorial Dining Hall. Twelve-thirty to two will be the second session of testing, with a half-hour break following in which refreshments will be served in the North Wing Reception Room. From two-thirty to four will be the third and final session, and score tabulation will take place from four to four-thirty, with the results announced at quarter to five.

"While not in testing, please feel free to relax in your assigned common room, or you may wander the Conference Center in the designated areas. Please be punctual to each testing session. Once the test has started, no one will be allowed in the room until the testing period is over. Any further announcements will be made over the announcement system during the course of the day. Thank you, and have a wonderful and exciting day."

I stood up, and looked at my watch, which read 9:17. "We have a lot of time before the first session starts," I said to my friends. "You guys wanna go look around the place, see our competition? We're going to be sitting all day; we might as well get some exercise now."

"That sounds like a good idea, Lisa," said Akila. "Only, before we go, we should get our room assignments from Mrs. Finch, and we should figure out where we need to be at ten. You heard them; they're not going to let us in if we're late."

"Good idea," I agreed, walking towards Mrs. Finch. I got our room number for the first round, and after she wished us luck, we headed for the door.

Unfortunately, we would not escape the room unhindered. At one table near the door sat a group of students who looked to be our ages. On their fingers glittered the telltale black gemstones of Corvids, and on their faces were looks of the utmost contempt. One tall girl with frizzy hair stood up, and walked over to stare down at me. It was then that I noticed the black-and-gold armband she sported, similar to mine. "I guess you're the freshmen," she said, sneering.

I smiled up at her, a mocking smile. "There's no need to get angry. We're all friends here." I realized, in one part of my mind, that I was actually into this competition. I was into winning. I was into beating the pulp out of our rival school.

"Who's angry?" she replied. "Actually, it's more pity I feel right now. I really feel sorry for you all, because you're going to go home crying after we kick your sorry asses."

"Tsk, tsk," I said snidely, delighting in the growing anger I could see on the girl's face. "Must you resort to profanity? With your supposed intelligence, I would assume that you had a vocabulary that showed that you have a brain in your head. What a shame it's lacking." I reached up and patted her on the head, as one would a small child or a dog.

I think I had taken it too far. The girl, red in the face, clenched her hands into fists. I think she wanted to beat me, and she probably would have if some of my friends had not interceded.

"Woah, Lisa, calm down," said Martin quietly, grabbing my tensed shoulders and steering me away from the enraged girl. "I thought you weren't into this whole "violently competitive" thing."

Some of the smoke cleared from my eyes (so to say, of course). "Well… I…" I sputtered. Suddenly my actions a few moments ago seemed overly dramatic, and uncharacteristically cruel of me. I was supposed to be a Buddhist, for goodness sake! I was supposed to advocate peace, and cooperation… I wasn't supposed to goad people into fighting me for something as trivial as a school competition!

And yet, I definitely wanted to win. She was not the first person I had seen all day who was aggressive and unpleasant and arrogant for no good reason. She and those like her did not deserve to win, and I wanted to see that she didn't.

Geez, who realized a bunch of nerds (myself included) could get so worked up over something so stupid?

I don't know how my friends managed to get out of there unscathed. (I assume it was largely due to Lee's fast-talking charisma, and Amaryllis' all-around good-natured persuasion.) I do know that I was steered out into the hall and down it a ways, until I was far enough away to calm down. And for thirty-five minutes, I regained my composure as my group of friends toured the halls of the Conference Center, admiring the stately paintings of past governors and the artistic paintings of the state's scenery, the elegant marble statues of mythological and historical heroes, and the vivid tapestries depicting historical events.

We were in the middle of observing a burnished brass statuette of the Marquis de Lafayette, when the familiar crackling emitted from the loudspeaker a few feet away. And following it was the seemingly-innocuous announcement that would change the rest of my life.

"Would all Montgomery Burns Corvids please report to the common room immediately."

Martin and I immediately exchanged ominous glances. I think we were both hoping that this sudden and immediate summons was for something other than what we feared. I think I physically shivered at the thought that maybe, just maybe, someone had found out about our cheating.

No. There's no way they could have found out. Only a few people know…me, Bart, Martin, Nelson… Why would any of them tell? Did they find the answers? How could they? I left them back on the bus…

Faintly I could hear someone asking, "Why are they asking us to come back now? It's almost time to begin Session One!" I nodded a bit numbly, still trying to convince myself that I was getting all worked up over nothing. The odds were a million to one…

Dutifully we headed back towards our common room. Along the way we passed small groups of students who were wondering about the unusual announcement. It seemed that everyone knew that something was up.

Twenty feet away from the common room, I wondered, Holy shit, what is going to happen to me?

Fifteen feet away, I thought, You're crazy, Lisa. They have no clue what you did.

Ten feet away, I worried, They can't prove it was me! I'll lie if I have to… goodness knows I've done enough of that already, and a little more won't hurt.

Five feet away, I decided, It's good news… they're going to give us good news, like we're so smart that we automatically advance to the finals, or something…

As soon as I walked in, I was faced with an empty room save for my classmates, my teacher, and several of the largest, sternest, sourest adults ever. I knew now that this was not good.

They made us sit down at several of the tables, and then one security guard stepped forth. In his hands, he held…

…my daypack…

I looked at Martin, whose eyes were wide and fearful. I have no doubt that mine were the same, or worse. I directed my gaze back to the guard, who had begun to speak.

"After you all exited the bus, we directed the driver to park in the garage, underneath the conference center. As protocol demands, we had to do a thorough search of the bus, and its contents, before allowing it under the building."

"All the smartest students in the state are in this convention center; they're taking every precaution to make sure nothing unfortunate happens to result in our untimely deaths." Theo had said this earlier on the bus. Of course they would search the buses. I should have realized that.

A stocky woman strode forward, holding in her hands a familiar looking manila envelope. She concealed no emotion; her outrage and disgust were evident. "We found these in the bag of one student from this school. Frankly, I am completely shocked that students of such a reputable school would result to… to… cheating!" she spat. She shook the envelope. "This is completely unacceptable! I see no alternative than to disqualify you from this year's competition, and from future competitions."

Cries of surprise, and protest, broke out from my classmates, while I sat there feeling miserable for causing such awful consequences.

The woman continued loudly, effectively silencing my classmates. "I hardly believe that every one of you was in on this disgrace. Therefore, I will offer one chance for redemption. If the guilty student confesses, then we will discuss this school's further participation in this Knowledge Bowl. If no one admits to this heinous crime, then you will all shortly be heading home."

A way out! I could save my school; I could save my friends! I just needed to confess to being guilty, and we would be allowed to compete, and save the honor of our school and our town. We would have a shot at beating those godawful Learning Center Corvids, and we would have a shot at finally achieving the first place everyone had been striving for so long. I knew, I knew, that if given the chance my classmates would succeed.

But what would they do to me? I was looking at the biggest punishment of my life! I could be kicked out of the Corvids, out of the magnet program, out of the school! It would go in my permanent records that I majorly, majorly, cheated, and I would not be able to get into any colleges in four years' time! I would end up at the Kwik-E-Mart… at the Krusty Burger… I would be saving the reputation of my school, but at the sacrifice of my future! No, the stakes were much too high.

I though of my friends. If they were forced to go home in shame, they would be upset, and they would be furious, but we could all be furious together. If no one ever knew what I had done, we could still be friends; I would still have people that cared for me, and loved me. If I admitted to being the guilty one, they would respect my honesty… but they would hate me. I would go from Lisa the Loved to Lisa the Loathed, all in one day. No, I couldn't sacrifice the friendships I had made…but…

I looked furtively around at my classmates. They looked worried, they looked shocked, they looked desperate for someone to come forward and admit to being wrong. Soapy, in particular, looked awful. I knew it was his last year, and he wanted more than anything else to win this. And next to him, Mrs. Finch sat, an awful grimace on her face. For once, she had no creative solution, no way to make this better. She too had her reputation on the line, as an educator and as a mentor. Anna, Lee, Akila, Eoh… they had studied so hard for this, they wanted so earnestly to prove themselves against the Learning Center, and the other opposition… Amaryllis, Celia, and Needa, my best friend…they were veterans who needed to avenge their loss from last year…

My eyes fell on two of my friends, sitting side by side, looking at me with significant looks. Martin's gaze was conflicted; on the one hand, he knew as I did that every one of my classmates wanted this so badly, and I should do the noble thing and admit to cheating, and give them a chance to compete. On the other hand, he was worried that if I went down I would take him with me, intentionally or not. True, he was a rebel, and enjoyed getting in trouble, but he knew how detrimental something like this could be to his reputation.

I looked over to the person sitting next to him, and nearly gasped in shock. Theo was staring at me as he had never stared before; fury was written into every feature on his usually amiable face. Like I had said, he was no dummy; he was able to put two and two together, and he knew, he knew, that the bag and the answers were mine. He was furious with me for ruining his chances to compete, and to be perfectly honest, it really hurt me that he was so angry with me.

Perhaps I would have been able to retain my friendships with most of my friends, but I think the pressure would have killed me first. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep something this big a secret for long, and when it finally did come out… it would be so much worse.

The woman looked around accusingly at us. Finally she said, "I suppose that no one is going to come forth with the truth—"

"No," I said, standing up. My chair fell to the carpeted floor with a soft thud, easily audible in the dead silence. Then, there was a collective intake of air as all my classmates turned to face me, and gasped.

I swallowed, then said, "The answers are mine. None of my classmates had any knowledge of them; they do not deserve to be punished. Punish me as you see fit; let them compete."

The woman shook her head as she looked me over, taking in my Captain armband. "Young lady, the actions you have taken today are deplorable, and you have no authority to tell me what I will and will not do with your classmates. However, I respect your honesty, and because you are being straightforward with me, I will allow your classmates to compete in this Knowledge Bowl."

Everyone released the pent-up breaths they had been holding. There was relief, as they found that they would be allowed to compete, tempered with shock and disapproval for me, and my actions. I cast my eyes down to the floor, unable to meet anyone eye to eye. I didn't want to see any of my friends. I didn't want to see their judgement, or their anger.

It seemed, though, that the woman was not yet done. "As the circumstances are, however, I do not see how we can allow your team to compete. We have no way of knowing how much information was shared between you and your teammates. The sophomores, juniors, and seniors will still be allowed to compete, but we have decided that the freshmen team will be disqualified from this round of competition."

My classmates started whispering in horror-filled tones. "Not compete? How can we get in the top twenty-five percent of the schools if twenty-five percent of our school is disqualified? … How are we going to get enough points to make it to the next round? … This is all Lisa's fault…"

I hung my head. I did not want to see any of my livid teammates' faces, and I did not want them to see the tears that had started to cascade down my cheeks.

I had screwed up royally, and there was no one to blame but myself.

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