Caitlin In Charge
Chapter Four
On the drive to the competition, Caitlin nervously reviews facts in her head. Zoe and Emma seem nervous, but Natalia just looks excited.
When they arrive, the staff at the competition explain they’ll have three rounds. The first round will have eight matches. Each match contains twenty questions and is between two teams. The four winners of round one move onto round two, which will have two matches. And finally, the last round will have one match to determine the winning team.
The girls anxiously watch the first match, where they see four girls from a private Catholic school win. They seem united, focused, and serious. The second match is the one they’ll be participating in. They easily take the lead, and answer all their questions right. They’ll be moving onto the second round!
But Caitlin is too nervous to watch the next couple matches. She heads to the bathroom, where Emma joins her. They nervously talk more about their short story to distract themselves. Natalia brings them back inside right before the end of the first round.
In the second round, they see the four Catholic school girls win. Then, they take the stage. This match is more evenly matched, and the points bounce back and forth between the two teams. Natalia and Zoe confuse a couple of facts, but they still win regardless. Emma and Caitlin held the team together.
After the match, Caitlin tells Natalia and Zoe they need to focus more if they want to beat the Catholic school.
As they head onstage to do the last round, Caitlin can sense coldness coming from Natalia. Caitlin feels a bit guilty, but she ultimately shrugs it off—maybe the hard truth will be what Natalia needs to focus.
The questions come quickly, and Caitlin is pressing the button so fast just to give her team the chance to answer, even if they don’t know the answer right away. All four of them work hard to get answers right. And finally, it’s time for the last question. Her team is ahead by one point. If they miss this, they’ll begin the sudden death round, in which the first team to get a correct answer wins. They need to get this point.
The question is what is the the name of longest living individual animal ever known. Caitlin presses the buzzer. She knows this. She knows this. But her mind is blank. She turns nervously to Zoe and Emma, who shrug their shoulders. Finally, Natalia whispers, “Ming the clam!” Caitlin repeats Natalia’s answer, winning the competition.
At their celebratory ice cream, Caitlin apologizes to the other girls. She lectured on and on about focus, and in the end, Natalia saved her, and the competition. Natalia shrugs… Caitlin was right, she did need to focus more.