In a way, it was nice that there were only five students in the history club. Alex knew Dr. Linus knew it meant no one really cared about history, and that it discouraged him to see his subject—his whole life—being so unappreciated. But to Alex it meant more personalized attention. For two hours a week, Dr. Linus was more than a teacher. He was a friend. He and she and four others who shared a passion sat around and ate chips and argued happily about whether Halsey really was a fool, as the Lithuanian captain said in that submarine movie, and whether Marie Antoinette had really said, "Let them eat cake," and whether Richard III really was the bad guy Shakespeare made him out to be. She wished there was some way she could tell him how much he really was appreciated.