Caitlin In Charge
Chapter Six
The state semifinals will have twelve teams competing. The first round will have six matches, and the second round will have three. This competition will have three winners that will move onto the state finals.
Because there’s so many teams competing, the parking lot at the community center is packed!
Caitlin’s team goes in the first match against the team from Queen Anne’s County. Caitlin presses the buzzer fast, and she feels like the answers are pouring out of them as if the internet is installed in their brains. By the end, their team wins by a comfortable six points.
Caitlin watches the other matches nervously. Many of the teams are worthy competitors, but some of them seem unprepared. She flexes her fingers. She knows it’s better to press the buzzer even if unsure of the answer than to wait.
In the second round, their team competes against the school from Talbot County. Their teams are evenly matched, and they trade off answers back and forth. By the end, they each have the same amount of points.
The moderator announces they’ll move into the sudden death round. Caitlin’s team needs to win this question in order to win. The question is what is the U.S. state with the oldest capitol building. Caitlin knows this one: Maryland.
At their celebratory dinner, Caitlin feels so joyous. All their families are talking and getting along, and she feels like she finally prioritized her friendships over winning, and it still paid off. Caitlin is becoming an awesome captain.
Monday morning, Mr. Patel pulls Caitlin aside. He hands her the packet of information and instruction for the state finals. Caitlin opens it, and it seems normal. Instructions and rules, directions, information about prizes, and local restaurants and hotels. But then she turns to the next page. It reads Maryland State Middle School Trivia Championship Judges’ Packet.
What is this? Some pieces are repeated information, like the local restaurants and hotels information. But there’s also information about how to ask the questions. But the next page seems even stranger. Contest Questions. A list of trivia questions follows. There aren’t any answers on it, but the questions are written in black and white.
Is this a study guide? Did they give this to her so she knows what to study? Or was it an accident? There’s no way they’d have given her the real contest questions, right? But before Caitlin can decide what to do, the girls come up next to her, and Caitlin stuffs the pages between her books.