Out of My Mind

by Sharon M. Draper

  “You’re okay, Melody,” he says. “You beat me on a couple of those!”

  “You rock in math,” I tell him.

  “I know,” he replies with a grin, “but I still can’t spell! I hope they don’t have any spelling questions in the finals.”

  “I gotta go to the bathroom!” Rose says suddenly. “I am so nervous about the finals!” She hurries out. I know what she means. Butterflies. Moths. Giant bumblebees flutter inside me.

  When we were on camera, it felt like it took a million years to complete our round, but in just a few minutes the second set of contestants come back to the waiting room. The school with the little crowns won round two with seventy-nine points. Then, within another half hour, Edison Elementary clinches the third round with a score of eighty.

  Finally, a school called Perry Valley wins the fourth round with eighty-two points, just one point more than us.

  “I watched them,” Mrs. V tells me when they troop back into the room, excited and victorious. “They’re really good.”

  “Should we worry?” I ask.

  “Of course not! Our team is the best because they have a secret weapon—you!”

  Suddenly, there is a rush of activity in the room as stagehands come in to get us. “Perry Valley and Spaulding Street, we need you back on camera for the finals! You are our two top-scoring schools. Congratulations!”

  We hurry back to our places.

  The lights seem brighter this time.

  Mr. Kingsley returns to his position, gets his microphone adjusted by the stage crew, and shouts, “Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the final round of our regional Whiz Kids competition! The winners of this round will represent us all in Washington, D.C., in just two weeks! All members of the winning team, along with their chaperones, will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to our nation’s capital, three nights in a hotel, and tours of the city.”

  “Trophy! Trophy!” someone yells.

  “Oh, the famous Whiz Kids Championship award! The winning team in Washington gets to take home that huge golden trophy, they receive a guest appearance on Good Morning America, and their school will receive a check for two thousand dollars to be used for academic endeavors!”

  Lots of whoops at that.

  “Let us begin. Teams, are you ready?”

  “Ready!” they all reply.

  I am ready too.

  CHAPTER 25

  OMG! What a night! I still can’t believe how everything turned out once the championship round began. That’s when Mr. Kingsley explained, “The questions this time will be a bit more difficult. Scoring, however, will be the same. The team with the best score out of one hundred possible points will be our champion.”

  He picked up the cards that contained the quiz questions and smiled. “Here is question number one. What is ‘diplopia’?

  A. Double vision

  B. Left-handedness

  C. A disease of the gums

  D. A form of cancer.”

  Oh, boy! He wasn’t kidding! This was going to be a killer round. I was sure the answer was A, though. Kind of.

  When the answer was revealed, “double vision” was correct.

  Whew!

  Rose, Connor, and I got it right. Claire missed it. Everyone on the Perry Valley team answered it correctly. The score was three to four.

  “Number two,” Mr. Kingsley said. “Who is the composer of Rhapsody in Blue?

  A. Mozart

  B. Gershwin

  C. Copeland

  D. Beethoven.”

  Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!

  Thanks to my parents and Mrs. V, that was a little easier. I pushed the button for B. One person on the Perry Valley team got it wrong, and Claire messed up as well. That made the score six to seven, with Perry Valley ahead. Everybody could feel the tension.

  The next twenty questions covered things like lions in the jungle, gravity in space, authors of famous books, and math. Some of those I even got right.

  Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!

  Even though Connor aced a hard spelling problem and Claire came through on a difficult history question, Perry Valley kept staying one or two points ahead of us.

  It was getting near the end of the round. Perry Valley had surged ahead on a math question and was up by three points. It looked pretty grim for us, with a score of seventy-eight to eighty-one. I glanced at Connor. Sweat dripped from his nose.

  Then Mr. Kingsley asked, “The condition in which a person may be able to hear colors or visualize flavors when music is played is called:

  A. Synthesis

  B. Symbiosis

  C. Synesthesia

  D. Symbolism.”

  I grinned and punched in C. Not only was it one of Mrs. V’s vocabulary words, it was me!

  I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that Connor and Claire and Rose had also chosen the right answer. When the results were tallied, only one of the Perry Valley kids had gotten it right.

  The score stood at eighty-two to eighty-two. It was time for the very last question. This one would determine the group that would go to Washington. I glanced at Rose and the others. I think we all gulped at the same time.

  “Our last question of the evening,” Mr. Kingsley began, “is a mathematics problem.”

  I groaned inside. There goes our trip to Washington! I may as well go back to room H-5 and hide there for the next thousand years.

  “Number twenty-five,” Mr. Kingsley said slowly. “Lisa gets up every morning and gets ready for school. She takes twenty-two minutes to get dressed, eighteen minutes to eat breakfast, and ten minutes to walk to school. What time should Lisa get up so she can arrive at school at 7:25 a.m.?

  A. 6:15 a.m.

  B. 6:20 a.m.

  C. 6:25 a.m.

  D. 6:35 a.m.”

  I need to add, then subtract. How do I subtract time? I need to see a clock! I’m getting all mixed up! Time is running out! I can’t mess up now!

  It could have been C, but it might have been D. I thought a moment more, then I pushed D, feeling like I was going to throw up. The answers lit up on the screen. Everybody on our team had answered D. Either we were all correct or all really terrible at figuring out time problems. Three students on the Perry Valley team had answered D. One of them had answered C.

  “Well, it looks like we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen! I’m extremely pleased to announce that the team that will represent us in Washington, D.C., this year, the team we hope to see on Good Morning America, with a score of eighty-six to eighty-five, is . . .” He paused for effect. “Spaulding Street Elementary School!”

  I couldn’t help it. I squealed. I kicked. My arms jerked crazily. I tried really hard to control it, but I just couldn’t help it. My body went a little wacko on me.

  “Shut her up!” I heard Claire hiss.

  “Shhh,” Rose whispered through clenched teeth.

  “Thank you for watching our telecast,” Mr. Kingsley said, throwing a quick glance at me. “Please join us in two weeks when we televise the finals from Washington. This is Charles Kingsley, good night.”

  He signaled that he was finished, the cameras blinked to dark, and the lights, blessedly, clicked off.

  I couldn’t stop kicking. My arms acted like windup toys gone bananas. I screamed with joy. At least nobody noticed this time, because hoots and hollers abounded as dozens of people stormed the stage.

  Dad balanced Penny in one arm and the camcorder in another. Mom, Catherine, and Mrs. V rushed over to me and almost smothered me with hugs. Mrs. V tried to look as if she weren’t surprised, but her grin seemed to be permanently attached.

  Mr. Dimming, the alternates, and all the parents of the rest of the kids on the team cheered and jumped and patted one another on the back. One of the parents streamed confetti over us. Balloons appeared from nowhere. Somebody in the studio turned the speakers up loud and played the song “Celebration.” People started to dance.

  It seemed as if a million pictures were taken. Amazingl
y, lots were being taken of me. I did my best to calm down and relax.

  “Smile, Melody!” called a guy with a baseball cap.

  Click! Flash!

  “Can somebody sit her up a little straighter in her chair?”

  Click! Flash!

  “Get a picture of the kid in the wheelchair!” I think that guy was a reporter.

  Click! Flash!

  “Where’s the winning team?” another reporter asked loudly. “We want a team picture for the newspaper! Why don’t you kids stand around Melody? Okay now, smile!”

  Click! Flash!

  I could barely see. Blue dots danced in front of my eyes.

  “We want the winning team for a TV interview!” someone else called out. “Can we have them over here?”

  People were shuffled around, and a stagehand helped set us up. Connor, Rose, and Claire sat in chairs next to me. Amanda, Molly, Elena, and Rodney stood behind us. Mr. Dimming stood next to Rodney.

  I hoped that my hair looked okay and that I wouldn’t look too goofy.

  The reporter silenced the crowd as the cameraman lined up and got into position.

  “Good evening. This is Elizabeth Ochoa of Channel Six News. I’m here in our studio as we speak to students from Spaulding Street Elementary School, victorious members of the winning team of the Whiz Kids competition held here tonight. These are eight of the brightest young people in our community, who buzzed their way to victory tonight. Let’s meet them. We’ll start with the alternates in the back row, the youngsters who will fill in should one of the team members not be able to participate. Please tell me your names and ages,” she asked as she put the microphone in front of each student.

  “Amanda Firestone, age twelve.”

  “Molly North, age eleven.”

  “Elena Rodriguez, age twelve.”

  “Rodney Mosul, age eleven and a half.”

  That got a laugh.

  Ms. Ochoa continued. “And seated in front of me is the championship team! Please tell me your names as well.”

  “My name is Claire Wilson, and I’m eleven, and I got more right than anyone else on my team.”

  “Good for you!” Ms. Ochoa said. “I know you studied hard for this.” The reporter moved quickly to Rose. “And you are . . . ?”

  “Rose Spencer, age eleven,” Rose said, sounding shy.

  “What stands out for you this evening?” the reporter asked as the camera moved in closer.

  “I was on last year’s team, and we lost by only a few points, so it’s real exciting to win this time. I’m very proud of our team.” Rose was beaming.

  “Great answer! And we’re proud of you as well,” Ms. Ochoa said. “And now to this tall young man. Your name, sir?” she asked Connor.

  “Connor Bates. Hi, Mom!” Connor spoke loudly into the mike.

  “Do you remember the hardest question you were given tonight?” the reporter asked him.

  “I thought all the questions were super easy,” Connor said with a grin. “I missed a few on purpose so the other contestants wouldn’t feel bad!”

  Ms. Ochoa burst into a tinkly laugh. “How does it feel to be on a team with your very special team member?” she asked.

  “Hey. Melody is okay. She’s really smart. Let me introduce you to—”

  But I wasn’t about to let him steal my thunder. “My name is Melody Brooks, and I’m eleven years old,” my machine said loudly and clearly.

  The reporter looked amazed. “Well, this is astounding! How does it feel to be part of the winning team, Melody?”

  I pressed my key for “Super.”

  She laughed. “Was it difficult to study and prepare for the competition?” Ms. Ochoa asked.

  “No. Lots of people helped me.”

  “What was the hardest part about participating tonight?”

  “Hoping I wouldn’t mess up!”

  She smiled. “We all feel like that sometimes. Are you excited about traveling to Washington, D.C.?”

  “Oh, yes!”

  “Have you ever been there before?”

  “No.”

  “How will being on the winning team change your life at school?”

  I thought that was a good question.

  “Not much,” I admitted. Then the reporter waited patiently while I took the time to tap the right words. “Maybe kids will talk to me more.”

  “I talk to her all the time,” Claire interjected.

  Both Rose and Connor looked at her with frowns. “Huh?” Rose said.

  Ms. Ochoa moved away from me and over to Claire. “So, you consider yourself to be Melody’s friend?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Claire said with a bounce of her cinnamon-colored curls. “She and I eat lunch together every day and test each other on questions for the quiz team. Melody is a lot smarter than she looks.”

  Rose raised her hand to speak, but the reporter shook her head. “I’m so sorry, but we’re out of time,” she told Rose. To the camera, she said, “In addition to a great group of kids, we’ve just met two remarkable young women—best friends in spite of their differences and members of the winning, Washington-bound Whiz Kids quiz team. Congratulations to you all!”

  I was stunned. Claire?

  CHAPTER 26

  In the midst of all the commotion Mr. Dimming seemed to get an inspiration. “Let’s go out to dinner to celebrate!” he announced as the last of the studio lights were turned off.

  “Great idea!” Connor said immediately.

  “I’m starving!” said Amanda. “Even though I wasn’t on camera, I’ve been too nervous to eat all day.”

  “Me too!” Elena added.

  “How about Linguini’s?” Connor suggested. “They’ve got all-you-can-eat spaghetti.” Leave it to Connor to know all the best places to eat.

  “They might go out of business after you show up, Connor,” Mr. Dimming said with a laugh. “Don’t go embarrassing me, now.”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. D. My max is about twelve bowls of spaghetti.”

  “Linguini’s is perfect,” Rose’s dad said. “It’s walking distance—just around the corner from the studio. These kids deserve a special night out!”

  I looked at Mom, not sure if this was a good idea.

  Then Elena walked over to me and said, “You’ll come too, won’t you, Melody?”

  “Yeah, Melody,” Rose added, “come with us. You did really great tonight.”

  “We couldn’t have won without you,” Connor said as he buttoned up his coat.

  Their words made me feel like one of the helium balloons that some families had brought.

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Molly said, glancing at Claire.

  Balloons do pop.

  “You weren’t up there,” Connor reminded Molly.

  “So, you comin’ or not?” Rose asked.

  “Sure,” I tapped. “It will be fun.” I glanced at Mom again, who nodded. Dad took Penny home, and Mrs. V gave me a hug and promised she’d see me in the morning.

  The air was brisk and the conversation silly as we headed for the restaurant.

  “How many windows do you think are in that office building?” Connor shouted, pointing to the tallest one we could see.

  “Five thousand two hundred and seventy-four,” Rose answered.

  “Man, you’re good!” Rodney said. “How did you know that?”

  “How do you think I got on the quiz team?” Rose told him. “I’ve got smarts!”

  “She’s just guessing,” Molly told Rodney. “You believe anything.”

  The restaurant had been in that location for years. The outside entrance was designed to look like a bistro from a small Italian village. Painted grape leaves and tiny white lights decorated the bricks around the door.

  The door.

  When Connor’s dad opened it for everyone to enter, Connor and Rodney bounded up the steps.

  The steps.

  Five stone steps led upstairs to the dining area. Everyone, including Mr. Dimming, rushed past me and
Mom. Finally, Connor’s dad, the last to go up, looked at me, looked at the stairs, and the lightbulb came on.

  “Uh, do you need some help?” he asked. He was large, like his son. I bet he could swallow a few bowls of pasta as well.

  Mom replied, “Would you be so kind as to ask an employee where their wheelchair ramp is located?”

  As if glad to have something to do, Mr. Bates dashed up the steps. Mom and I sat there in the cold. Alone.

  A waiter dressed in black rushed down moments later. “I’m so sorry. We have an elevator in the back, but it went on the fritz this afternoon. The technician is coming to fix it first thing in the morning.”

  “That’s not going to help us tonight, is it?” Mom told him. Her voice was tight but not angry.

  “I’d be glad to help you carry her up the steps,” he offered.

  “No,” I tapped. My eyes begged Mom.

  Mom told him, “Just hold the door for us, young man. We’ll be fine.”

  He did just that. Mom turned her back to the stairs, got a good grip on my chair, tilted it back slightly, and took a deep breath. I was so glad we had decided on the manual chair this morning.

  Mom gently rolled the back wheels up the edge of the first stone step.

  Pull. Roll up. Bump. First step.

  Pull. Roll up. Bump. Second step.

  Pull. Roll up. Bump. Third step.

  She paused and took another breath. We’d done this before. Many times.

  Pull. Roll up. Bump. Fourth step.

  Pull. Roll up. Bump. Fifth step.

  Then we finally rolled into the dining room, which was crowded with noisy, laughing customers.

  “Over here, Melody!” Mr. Dimming called as he saw us.

  Mom led me over to our very large table, and I was relieved to see that the group had left a spot for me. With all the kids on the team plus their parents, we took up a big chunk of the table space in the place.

  In some restaurants the tables are too low for my chair, but this time I was able to slide perfectly into place. Mom helped me take off my coat, then sat in the seat next to me. She gulped the water from her glass and asked for a refill.

  The waitress began to take orders.

  Rodney and his parents ordered a large mushroom and onion pizza. “We’re vegetarians,” Rodney explained. I had no idea.