Thirteen Years Later, Two Blue Competition Badges Answered Every Question

She looked at the closed door of Room 104.

“They’re going to get torn apart by these private school kids.”

Arthur reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small slip of green paper printed with the official state emblem.

“The preliminary scores for round one just went up on the board by the main office,” Arthur said.

Claire looked at the green slip in his hand.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Eli and Owen scored eighty-eight out of ninety in the oral defense round,” Arthur said.