Chapter 7: The Fellowship

I woke up in Chase's bed at six, which was late for me.

He was in the shower, and I could hear the water running through the thin wall.

My phone said I had eleven new messages, mostly from Hannah, mostly capital letters.

I lay there for one minute with the sheet against my chin.

Then I got up, still bare, and walked to his desk.

I told myself I was only looking for a pen.

The top drawer held a pen.

The second drawer held a folded paper with a gold seal on the front.

I knew the seal.

It was the Whitaker Foundation.

I opened it standing up, with the water still running behind the wall.

It was a services agreement, one page long, and it was signed.

Chase Gilmer agreed to see to it that Lou Brandvold withdrew from the Whitaker Cup.

In return, he would be paid thirty thousand dollars on her withdrawal, and his fellowship would be renewed for two more years.

The date at the bottom was the morning before the sign-up table.

He had signed it before he ever said a word to me.

I stood very still and read the date three times.

Then I took out my phone and photographed the page, front and back.

I folded it along its old creases and put it back exactly where it had been.

Peyton had hired him the morning after I beat her on the board.

She had not even waited to see whether I would enter the Cup.

The water stopped.

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