Chapter 11: The Copy

We left the bait on the lab table the next night.

It was a laptop with the lid open, and one file on the screen named FINAL MODEL.

It was real work, clean and beautiful, with the best three hours of Hannah's statistics in it.

It also had one small flaw, placed so that it would sink the model on the semifinal problem.

I had checked it six times.

"If he doesn't take it, I'll look stupid," said the physics junior, from inside the supply closet.

The closet held three people, two mops and a smell of bleach.

"He'll take it," I whispered.

"How do you know?"

"Because he has never solved a Cup problem alone in his life."

Hannah's elbow dug into my ribs.

"Shh. Someone's in the hall."

We held our breath.

Through the crack in the door, I watched the handle of the lab turn.

Preston came in alone.

He had a gray hood over his head and a phone in his hand.

He moved fast.

He went straight to the laptop and sat down.

He looked at the screen for a moment, and I saw him grin.

Then he held up his phone and photographed every page of the model, one after another.

Hannah's mouth fell open.

I put my palm over it before she could make a sound.

Chase was waiting at the end of the corridor with the lights off, and he let Preston walk straight past him.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Never Underestimate Girl Math from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.