"I'm nervous." I said, getting dressed for the Geography Bee.
"You got this. You're so smart and amazing. You're going to rock it. You studied, you worked, you paid the price." Elle said. I have never seen my family so dressed up before. Evan, Jon, and Ryan were in suits and ties, and Elle, Alice, Barrett, Jess, and Katie were in nice dresses.
I was in a nice dress, with my hair twisted. The blue was semi-permanent and only lasted for 5 days, it had nearly washed out. But I took an extra shower just in case.
"You ready to go?" Elle asked, and I nodded. My whole family was piled in 2 different cars.
___________
"You got this, Cat." Red said, wishing me good luck. I was standing in the school gymnasium as families filed into the bleachers.
"Thanks." I said, putting on the lanyard that had my number attached to it. My number was 8.
"Your family's out there. Just warning you, your brother brought a video camera." Red said, laughing.
"EVAN!" I cried.
"The bee's about to start. You got this, Kit. Love you." Red said, hugging me.
"Love you too, Red."
__________
"Welcome to the Hamilton Middle School Geography Bee!" the principal said, and the audience applauded.
"I am so proud of these 9 students who tested into the bee. The students with the top 3 test scores have gotten into the bee, 3 from every grade. And the winner will get a $200 cash prize and be invited to compete in the state Geography Bee for a chance to compete in Nationals."
I blushed. A chance to compete in the National Geography Bee? Yes please.
"And now, let the bee commence!"
I looked out into the audience, trying to find my family or people I knew. I saw Ryan frantically wave, then saw my family in a giant group on the bleachers.
I stared off into space for a second, then heard, "Miss McLemore."
Me. It was my turn.
I got up and made my way to the microphone.
"How many provinces does Canada have-ten or thirteen?" the judge said.
You know this, Cat. You studied this.
"Ten. Is that correct?" I said shyly.
"That is correct!" I heard. I smiled widely as Jessica started screaming.
"Shut up!" I mouthed to her as I headed back to my seat.
While I wasn't looking, 3 people got eliminated.
The final 4. Me, Violet Gardner, and 2 seventh graders were left. I had a chance.
If I won this, it would be the first thing that would make me stand out from my perfect family.
"Miss Gardner."
Violet was going up. I sighed and looked up at her. I saw Jessica flash me a thumbs-up out of the corner of my eye.
"Which country lies to the west of Austria-Slovenia or Switzerland?" the judge asked.
Violet took a deep breath and said, "Switzerland."
"That is correct!"
The 2 seventh graders got eliminated soon enough.
Down to the final two. Me and Violet.
"I'll make it happen, but not as previously reckoned. Cause I won't come in second." I sung to myself.
"Miss Gardner. What is the most commonly spoken language in the world-Spanish or Mandarin?"
"Mandarin." Violet said.
"That is correct! Miss McLemore. The Sakhalin Peninsula is part of which country-Russia or Italy?"
"Italy. Is that correct?"
"That is correct! Miss Gardner. A 1982 dispute over which islands caused Argentina and the United States to go to war?"
"Falkland Islands."
"That is correct! Miss McLemore. What does GNP stand for?"
"Gross National Product." I said. I saw Elle clap and cheer.
"That is correct! Miss Gardner. The first major city in the Western Hemisphere was located in which country-Brazil or Mexico?"
"Brazil." Violet said, and a bell rang.
"I am sorry, that is incorrect." the judge said. "The correct answer is: Mexico. Now, Miss McLemore must answer the next question correctly in order to win the bee. Catlynn, are you ready?"
I went up to the podium and said, "Yes, sir. I am ready." I looked at my family. They were all silently cheering.
"Miss McLemore. The Al-Salam Palace is located where - The UAE, Afghanistan, or Iraq?"
Crap. I knew nothing about this. "I-" I started to say, about to say, "I don't know."
Wait...
Ethan told me a story when we were dating once, about his mama showing his mom a palace through FaceTime in Iraq, where she was stationed.
It had to be right. It was worth a shot.
"Iraq!" I said.
"We have a winner!" the judge said, and a single tear rolled down my face.
"Thank you, Ethan." I said to myself. I ran down off the podium and gave Elle a big hug.
"You did it! You won! I'm so proud of you, Sunshine." Elle said.
"Thanks." I said sheepishly. Jessica hugged me too, and said, "I knew you would win."
"Thanks." I said, blushing. Alice ran over, hugged me, and then said, "Cat, do you know what this means?"
"No..."
"We won. We won the war against Violet." Alice said.
Evan and Ryan nodded, both hugging me. "Violet can't bother you anymore. Not if we have anything to say about it."
"So, Catlynn." I heard, and I turned around to see Violet.
"What do you want? You've bothered me since the beginning of the year." I said.
"I owe you an apology. I owe your entire family an apology. I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you. I was just...kind of jealous that you had such a good life. Like, your parents are famous, and you're just...perfect. You have the good end of things, Cat." Violet said.
"Violet, are you kidding? Everyone expects me to be an actor or a singer. I'm not. I love ballet and saxophone more than anything in the world. My family is amazing, but trust me, my life is not perfect. You didn't help." I giggled.
"I know. I'm so sorry. Um...do you want to start over?" Violet asked. I looked at Elle and she nodded.
"You've made fun of me, you've abused me, you've tortured me, and now you're asking for my forgiveness?" I said.
"Yeah..." Violet said.
"There was a time where maybe I would've said yes, but I can't any more. I accept your apology, Violet, but I cannot forgive you." I said.
"Oh. Congrats on the win, though." Violet said, walking off.
I started to cry, and I said to Jessica, "Now I feel kind of bad."
"Don't. You made the right choice." Jessica said.
"Can we just go home?" I asked.
"Yes. By the way, Sunshine, congrats." Elle said.
_____________
"I feel horrible for what I did to Violet. Two wrongs don't make a right. I should've given her a chance." I said.
"Listen, Cat, some people are beyond redemption. Violet has been berating you and making your life difficult from day one. She doesn't deserve your forgiveness." Jessica said.
"I guess you're right. It's kind of my fault, though. She mentioned one thing about the crash, I cried, and she made my life miserable. I should've just walked it off, pretended like nothing was wrong." I said.
"Listen to me, Cat, you should never blame yourself for someone else's choices. The crash was still new and still very scary. She could've seen your distress and apologized then and there and made different choices, but she didn't." Elle said.
"But Jess was alive. I shouldn't have been as scared." I said.
"But I was still in the hospital and I was still in pain and having side effects. I was scared, Elle was scared. We were all scared." Jessica said.
"But why did I let it get to me so much?" I said, sobbing. "I shouldn't have been so traumatized by it."
"You have every right to be affected by something that scared you." Elle said.
"I feel so dumb..." I said, falling into Jessica.
"Don't feel dumb. It was something that truly scared you." Jessica said, repositioning me so I was sitting on her lap. "It scared all of us."
"I guess you're right." I said.
"Hey Cat? Celebratory pizza?" Ryan asked, and I lit up.
"There's that smile." Elle said.
"Hey, wait, Cat's hair is back to normal!" Barrett said.
"Excuse me?" Alice asked.
"I dyed it blue." I said.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT DYING IT?" Alice said.
"Sorry." I said.
"Enough with the hair problems. Pizza?" Ryan said, and we all cheered.
AN: AT THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE-wait...wrong musical and wrong type of bee. Whoops. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!