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“Yes. Sure I do.”

Mr. Garvey found his smile again. “I believe you. I really do.” But he shrugged, and the smile turned doubtful. “You also, I imagine, want to hang out with your friends and have a good time. Don’t you?”

“Well, yeah.”

“That is my point,” said the teacher. “You have the whole summer to have fun with your friends. I think it would be better if you considered Friday’s adventure to be an important job you’ve been asked to do. That we have been asked to do. You and I.”

A job? Mowing the lawn—that was a job. This was a spectacular event that he could hardly wait to begin. Still, he understood what Mr. Garvey was getting at, and he said, “We’re going to take it very seriously. We’re not going to goof around. I promise. We all want to win.”

Mr. Garvey nodded, that doubtful expression lingering on his face. “I’m sure. I’m sure. And you say your friends are good puzzle solvers. Maybe that’s so. But I teach the advanced math classes here and run the math club, as well. We have some very bright students who I think might be a better fit on something like this.”

“I already told my friends they could come along.”

“Yes, yes. That is regrettable. I tried to contact you quickly so that we might work together to build the best possible team. You work fast.”

“Mr. Unger said I could choose whoever I wanted,” Winston said.

Mr. Garvey’s eyes flared. “And maybe he got a little caught up in the excitement of the moment. Perhaps he forgot to consider what was best for the school.”

Winston shook his head. “I can’t just tell them they’re not invited.”

“No, no, I wouldn’t make you do that,” Mr. Garvey said with sympathy. “You leave that to me. I’ll tell them it was a misunderstanding and that you didn’t have the authority to invite them in the first place. They’ll get over it, I promise. I’ll have the main office page them right after class. What did you say their names were again?”

Winston was frozen. All he could do was blink stupidly at the math teacher. The simple act of saying his friends’ names felt like a betrayal. How had everything fallen apart so quickly?

And who would replace Jake and Mal? The advanced math kids were all older—Winston hardly knew them. He’d be solving with strangers instead of with his best friends. In no time flat, Mr. Garvey had ripped all the fun out of a one-of-a-kind experience.

Mr. Garvey said, “Winston? Hello?”

Not really thinking about what he was about to do, Winston said slowly, “That’s all right. I’ll tell them. You’re forming your own team.”

Mr. Garvey looked surprised. “Are you sure? I know they’re your friends. I don’t mind breaking the news to them. If they’re going to be angry at someone, let them be angry at me.”

“No, I’ll do it. I’ll tell them all three of us are being replaced.”

“What?” Now it was Mr. Garvey’s turn to blink. “No, no. You’re still on the team.”

Winston shook his head. “I don’t want to do it without my friends,” he said. Which wasn’t exactly true. He wanted to do it very much, and he could hardly believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. But in some way he couldn’t explain, not going was more important than going without Jake and Mal. He’d read about it afterward, or call up the company and see if he could get the puzzles when the event was done. It wouldn’t be the same thing, but he couldn’t invite his friends and then just as quickly cut them out. They would understand, and they probably wouldn’t hold it against Winston. But they would also remember.

Mr. Garvey, frowning, stared at Winston. He said, “I thought solving puzzles was your favorite thing to do.”

“It is.”

“But you’re going to pass up a full day of solving puzzles, simply because your friends can’t come along? That seems a little foolish to me, Winston. If you don’t mind me saying.”

Winston shrugged. He gazed off down the hallway—he couldn’t look at Mr. Garvey full in the face. “I think I’d feel bad all day long,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “I told them they could come, and then if they’re not there . . . I guess I just don’t think