Caitlin In Charge
Chapter Eleven
The state competition will be held in Baltimore. There’s six teams competing, and there’ll be two rounds. One round of three matches, and then a final round with one match between all three teams.
Waverly Middle School will be competing in the second match of the first round. Caitlin watches the first match attentively, looking for each team’s strengths and weaknesses. By the time it was her team’s turn, Caitlin was nervous, Natalia just looked surprised, and Zoe almost dropped her sketchbook. Only Emma looked cool and collected.
They take a deep breath. And the first question is asked. The score ping-pongs back and forth, her team scoring, and then the other team. Each time she hits the buzzer first, the other team’s captain glares at her. But Caitlin won’t let herself be intimidated.
By the last question, the two teams are neck and neck. If the other team scores, they’ll win. If Caitlin’s team scores, they’ll win. Unfortunately, the other team gets to the buzzer before Caitlin does. Everybody watches with anticipation as their team struggles to find the answer. At the end, they guess incorrectly. Caitlin smiles, and says the right answer. Waverly Middle School is moving on to the second round!
Caitlin and Emma watch the last match while Zoe and Natalia distract themselves. The last two teams are both worthy adversaries. By the end of the first round, Caitlin knows that they can win. But just to be sure, they should take their break cramming in a last study session.
The final round will have all three teams competing at once. This throws Natalia off a bit. It’s hard for her to watch two team captains at the same time. By the last question, Baltimore Latin School has seven points, and both Waverly Middle School and Valley Park Middle School have six. This means that Waverly needs to get this last question and the sudden death round to win.
The question asks who was the only U.S. president to get married in the White House. Caitlin hits the buzzer. But she doesn’t know who it was. She looks at her teammates, but they don’t know either. She thinks if she remembers seeing any pictures, but she doesn’t. The moderator gives Caitlin a ten second warning.
Right before time was up, Caitlin blurts out “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Unfortunately, this is incorrect. She sits back in her chair. The Baltimore Latin captain hits the buzzer. After briefly conferring with his team, he answers “Grover Cleveland.”
The moderator congratulates the Baltimore Latin School. They’ll be moving onto the national competition. Caitlin shakes the other captains’ hands, and they step to the side of the stage.
Caitlin apologizes for giving the wrong answer. The other three girls agree that it wasn’t Caitlin’s fault. They were asked a question they didn’t know, which is better than forgetting the answer to a question they do know. Next year, they’ll have another chance. And they’ll study even harder.
But until then, they want to take a nice long summer break. Caitlin knows that whatever they do, they’ll do together.