I wake up this morning to hear Aspen singing goodness knows what to us. I begrudgingly get out of bed before going straight to the bathrooms to get ready for a challenging day. I wear a striped tee-shirt in Raven's color with shorts and my converse.

I walk out and see Aspen buttoning Leo's shirt, obviously trying to hurt me. I put on my lipstick before walking past them mumbling, "How hard is it to button a shirt"

Raven's walk to the foyer to meet the Eagle's. I sit next to Jackie and Hayley giving a smile to Brooke and Sophie.

"Hello? We're only a point and a half ahead of the Eagles? What is this? We must do something about this", Aspen says in an arrogant voice trying to fit in.

"Let's just switch her over to the Eagles", Hayley mumbles as Jackie and I give her a 'That is a great idea' look.

My dad walks into the foyer, "As you know, we don't usually accept students in the middle of the year, but Aspen was originally accepted into the Greenhouse last year, so welcome."

"Thank you"

My dad continues, "So I know we've all had a rough time recently. I think it's time we get back to our normal Greenhouse routine. We've decided to have a pop quiz to see how much you've all really learned so far this year."

Jackie whispers to us, "Uh, I'm awful at those."

Hayley tells her, " Don't worry. There's probably a twist."

Hayley gives us a fake shocked look as my dad continues, " But there's a twist. Each student will be asked one question. The goal is to put together a streak of correct answers and the team with the longest streak wins the challenge."

Jackie turns to us, "No, this is worse. Not only will I fail but I'll bring everybody down with me."

Parker raises his hand as my dad sees it, " The prize. Yes, Parker. The winning team gets a day off at the beach tomorrow, with an all-you-can-eat barbecue!"

"I love California!", Aspen moans as we all cheer.

"Uh, Aspen, we'll be testing material you may not have learned yet, so you won't have to participate. Okay, everyone, so, back to the clubhouse to prepare. Suzanne will be there shortly to begin the quiz."

The Eagles begin to cheer, "Yeah! Let's do this, Eagles! Eagles! Eagles!"

"Guys, we've got this", Aspen cheers.

Leo pulls me by the hands which causes us both to stop and look into each other's eyes before I pull away knowing it was too much to even touch Leo, "I just wanted you to know that I had no idea she planned to give up London for me."

I nod at him with a smile before saying, "That is really sweet of her."

I walk away and back into Raven's clubhouse, where I see everyone studying. I go to a hard bean bag and begin to meditate to clear my thoughts.

"What is she doing? I mean shouldn't she be studying like the rest of us instead of sleeping", Aspen complains definitely talking about me.

"It helps her somehow", Max says still not understanding how I do it.

"It is amazing to see her do it", Leo says with what I think is adoration causing me to smirk, "Anyway I've got the list of subjects for the quiz. "Linear algebra"

Aspen takes his louie and finishes for him, "Linear algebra, chapters one to three, leadership, American presidents before Lincoln, computer science, intro to Java, psychology, learning art history---"

"I am so screwed", Jackie says as I open my eyes.

"Guys? Can I have your attention, please?", Aspen asks them since she is still reading the instructions, "Thank you."

"Why is she reading the instructions? She's not even participating", Becca asks me as I walk up to them.

Aspen closes Leo's louie, "Actually, I am. I don't want any special treatment."

Suzy walks into the clubhouse, "Ravens, put away your books and gather around. This challenge has begun. Okay, Ravens, listen up. Each student will be asked a question in turn. You are not allowed to help each other. The Eagles are being asked the exact same questions. Aspen, are you sure you want to participate?"

"Positive."

"Okay. Leo, we'll start with you. Which member of George Washington's cabinet died after a duel?", Suzy asks looking at Leo.

"Alexander Hamilton"

"Okay, Aspen. What style of painting was developed by Georges Seurat?"

Aspen laughs before arrogantly saying, "I hope you're not going easy on me because I just got here. Anyway, the answer is clearly pointillism."

"That's correct."

Aspen continues, "Do you know, there is actually a lovely jubbly painting of his over at the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. It is breathtaking."

Suzy keeps her calm before asking, "Okay Becca. Which performing artist is known as the King of Rock 'n' Roll?"

"Elvis Presley."

"Who was the first African-American player to join Major League Baseball?", Suzy asks Max.

Max looks around for help although we can't give it to him.

"Well, I don't watch baseball or any of the sports...Oh! Uh, I remember this from our civil rights history course...Yes! Uh, Jackie Robinson."

"And now over to our Jackie. Jackie, what do you call a two-dimensional array made up of numbers or letters?", Jackie struggles to figure out the answer while Aspen is getting impatient, "Focus, Jackie"

"Leave her alone, you're distracting her!", Hayley tells Aspen still mad at her.

"I'm just trying to help", Aspen says offended.

"Jackie?", Suzy asks worriedly about her.

"There's a movie trilogy named after the answer", Aspen hints.

"You are not allowed to help, or you'll disqualify the whole team", Suzy scolds.

"Back to the Future?", Jackie guesses because of Aspen's hint.

"I'm sorry, Jackie. It was a matrix. Ravens, you're back to zero points", Suzy tells us with a frown.

"It's not your fault, she threw you off", I whisper to Jackie.

"Hayley, you're up next. Who composed this famous piece?", as Suzy begins to play Messiah by Handel. Aspen begins to sing off key as Hayley gets annoyed.

"Suzanne, this challenge is ridiculous! You're just creating tension between all of us", Hayley bursts out.

Suzy looks at Aspen before knowingly telling us, "The strength of your team relies on the abilities of its individuals."

Hayley murmurs, "Too bad we can't pick the individuals in our own team."

Suzy trying to ease the tension asks us, " What about the question I asked you?"

"It's Handel", Hayley mutters.

Aspen begins to speak again, "George Frideric Handel. Born German, then became British."

"Ok, Angie, According to Freud, which inner force contains the libido?"

"id", I answer.

"Aspen believing I don't have the answer looks at Leo, "She could have at least guessed something that sounds real."

"That is right. Ravens, you have twelve in a row. Max, it's now your turn", Suzy informs us.

"Maybe we should move Jackie to another seat so she doesn't ruin our streak", Aspen tells Leo.

Jackie looks down sadly, "She's right."

I burst out in anger of Aspen offending my friend, "How dare you insult her like that?"

"Guys, let's try and focus, okay?", Leo says trying to not cause a fight.

"Okay, Max. What do you call a geometric entity with magnitude and direction?", Suzy asks him.

"Hey, we just learned this in math class", Jackie tells him with a smile.

"I'm drawing a blank", Max says although I know he is lying.

"Come on, even I can get this!", Jackie encourages.

"Isosceles triangle?", Max lies.

Suzy asks him unsure, "Is that your answer?"

"Yes"

"I'm sorry, Max. It was a vector", Suzy tells him.

"Of course! Vector! How could I forget that? Now there's no pressure on you", Max says whispering the last part to Jackie. He is so sweet sometimes. Jackie gets the question right.

"Which novel ends with the line, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"?", Suzy asks Aspen who has a straight face.

She begins to let out a small laugh, "We haven't studied American literature yet at my old school. - What was that line again?"

Suzy repeats it, "Ceaselessly into the past."

Aspen cuts her off, " The past, right... Bloody hell, I have no idea."

Aspen begins to hyperventilate as I smirk and wear and innocent look before loudly saying, "Um, maybe we should move Aspen so she doesn't ruin our streak."

This pushes Aspen off the edge and she begins spewing answers, "Tom Sawyer? Moby Dick?"

Suzy looks shocked and even a bit scared, "You're just guessing. I can't accept that."

Aspen begins to cry, "Um I have no idea! I'm so sorry. I am such an idiot! I have I have no idea. Oh, my gosh."

🌱

We wait in the cafeteria, wanting to know who won the contest. I am sitting with Brooke who is worried about if they won. She is not acting like herself which worries me. I give Sophie a look and she responds with a shrug. I am distracted by Jackie comforting Aspen who has been crying for the past hour about what happened.

My dad walks in with the results, "Congratulations on an exciting challenge. The results were very close. The difference between your two teams was one answer. Naturally. Eagles, you had 11 correct answers in a row. And Ravens, you had 12 correct answers in a row."

The Raven's all cheer but, I contain my excitement knowing how guilty Brooke must feel as I give her a hug. "It's on me, guys. Sorry", Brooke mumbles