The closer the judges came to my table, the more nervous I became, but I tuned out the sound of the other presentations and tried to stay calm.

I felt a little light-headed, and like everyone in the gym would hear the pounding in my chest if it weren’t for the bouncing of basketballs on the opposite side of the court. Just before the judges reached my table, the coach blew his whistle, gathered everyone, and then sent them to the locker rooms. Jesse was the last one off the court. I stared after him, then reviewed my introduction one more time. Someone handed me a microphone, and I snapped to attention.

As the locker room door shut closed behind him, it was my turn. I took a deep breath and smiled.

Dad, this one’s for you, I thought to myself.

And I talked about my project.

I didn’t need my notecards, but they rested in my back pocket, just in case. The handful of judges smiled and nodded at me as I spoke. They jotted notes down, but I didn’t pay attention to that in the slightest.

I almost didn’t recognize my own voice echoing throughout the gym. It sounded confident, loud.

Then, just like that, my two minutes were over. The judges moved onto the next project.

I exhaled, getting a good look at them for the first time. These judges weren’t just principals or teachers. They were representatives from colleges. Universities, like MIT and Caltech. Georgia Tech. The kind of school I wanted to end up at.

The presentation I had just given could make or break that dream. But it had gone way better than I ever could have imagined.

Feeling my heart pounding with nerves and excitement and relief, I started toward the bathroom, grinning so hard it hurt. The strategy that had worked for me? Made me feel and sound confident? Pretending my dad was there, listening to me.

About forty-five minutes later, the science fair was over. The tables were gone, replaced by neat rows of chairs facing a small stage. The judges huddled for several minutes near the stage, nodding and talking animatedly. Finally, they went up to the stage.

The representative from MIT moved to stand in front of a small podium. With her short stature, her shoulder-length hair nearly reached the top of the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, we can’t tell you how impressed we are with all of your hard work. It was very hard to come to a decision, but come to a decision we have.”

I exhaled from my seat.

“We’ll start with honorable mentions,” she went on.

She called out several names, and the students stepped forward. One girl’s bottom lip trembled, and her eyes threatened to spill the tears within.

Part of me knew how she felt. I wasn’t even up there. That meant either I had placed, or I had gotten nothing.

I took another breath, determined to remain calm.

The honorable mentions left the stage.

“Now we will announce the winners, starting with third place. First place, of course, wins the grand prize of a full ride to any of the universities represented here today. Second and third place will receive ten and five thousand-dollar scholarships, respectively, to the school of their choice. Now, without further ado, our third place winner is… Patrick Moore for his project on solar energy.”

Clapping.

I clapped too, waiting for her to go on.

The guy named Patrick Moore went up to the stage to receive his ribbon.

Lots of clapping.

I clapped too, but I could hardly focus.

There was the flash of cameras.

Then he was walking off the stage.

I felt a weird lump in my chest as I realized there were only two winners left. And here I was, one person in a sea of contestants. What had I been thinking? No way was I good enough to win this thing.

“Next, our second place winner. For her innovative app for teens named Honestly, Daniela Reyes.”

Clapping, more clapping.

But I was frozen.

Then the principal patted me on the back, telling me well done, and I found control of my legs and stood up. Somehow, I made it to the stage without crashing or falling.

The lady with dark hair at the podium congratulated me and pinned the ribbon to my chest.

I stared out into the crowd, and like the sound of clapping filling the gym, it hit me.

Second place.

“Thank you,” I said, turning to the judge and then back to the crowd.

A photographer rushed out from the first row.

I remembered to smile as the flash went off several times, vaguely aware that there was an arm around my shoulder. It belonged to the same lady.

She started talking again, and I knew it was time for me to walk off the stage and return to my seat, this time a little more aware of where I was going.

The principal congratulated me once again along with Ms. Moreau.

“I knew you could do it!” Ms. Moreau whisper shouted.

All I could do was smile. It felt like all I would ever do was smile.

It was just me. My dad wasn’t here to see me. Or my mom. She had been gone almost my entire life. My stepmom and stepsisters couldn’t have cared less about this project, about today. I was alone. But I didn’t feel lonely at all. Not right now.

I looked at Ms. Moreau again, and she gave me a wide smile before turning to the stage and clapping for the first place winner.

The school displayed my poster in the library, facing the windows to the main hallway for all to see.

My locker wasn’t far away. I got a good look at the display after first period. Lena, Rey, and Harper had seen it before class, and they’d found me in math to give me hugs and say congratulations.

I had made sure to thank Rey for helping me out.

But now that I stood at my open locker and stared at the poster and the second place ribbon on it, I couldn’t help but feel a little down.

What was wrong with me? I had won second place out of more than a hundred students. I thought of the girl who had looked like she wanted to cry when she got honorable mention. I was sure she would have done anything for second place. And here I was, kind of bummed about it.

The truth was I had been going for first place, for that grand prize, and somehow, getting so close and then falling just a little short felt even worse than not placing at all.

I had won a ten thousand-dollar scholarship, but that wouldn’t be nearly enough to make it on my own without Sophia. Not unless I wanted to go to community college here, and the whole point was to start over on my own. Away from my stepmom and stepsisters.

I knew they’d be happy to see me gone too. But as long as my stepmom was the only one who could pay for my college tuition, she’d always have a hold over me. So would Lindsay and Courtney.

I was stuck with them for the next five years after all. I had been hoping it would just be one more year, but as usual, my life didn’t work that way.

I turned from my locker but came to a halt when someone stood in front of my poster.

A tall someone wearing the same team hoodie all the basketball players wore. Suddenly, I was glad I had removed my name from the poster yesterday after the competition was over. I knew something like this might happen.

I recognized the slightly wavy brown hair. It was a little scruffy today, like he’d gotten up late and not bothered to do anything with it. I liked it.

I stayed at my locker, wondering how long he’d stay too.

But then he walked away. I could have sworn I saw a small smile on his face as he rounded the corner.