The school day came to a glorious close. All four of them had theater together, so they headed together to the metro line. Marie's phone buzzed. She checked it and saw it was Sophie. Marie had texted her before theater, informing her that she was not in a love tetrahedron and somewhat admitted it might be a love triangle.

Told you! Sophie's text read. Because I'm right you have to listen to my new number theory I thought of during stupid poetry. Pretty sure it's the next big thing.

Marie couldn't help but smile and started texting back, following her friends.

You were only partially right so you owe me new beakers for my chemistry set.

"Who are you texting?" Albert asked.

Marie glanced up, realizing they were all looking at her. She didn't want them to know the subject she was talking about with Sophie, but she didn't mind letting them know who she was.

"Oh. It's my BFF Sophie Germain."

Abe gave an uncharacteristically loud gasp, enough for Albert and Billy to give him a questioning look.

"Germain as in the power couple of the S.E.A. Germain?" Abe asked all in one fast breath.

Marie nodded. "Yes. Those Germain's."

Abe's jaw dropped as true wonderment filled his face. Marie thought for a moment if this embarrassment was an inkling of what Sophie felt.

"Um, should I know this power couple?" Albert asked.

"They are the most famous S.E.A. officials of our time!" Abe said. "They have done more with the research of what's over the wall than anyone else alive! President Arnold speaks highly of them all the time! They'll probably take over President Arnold's spot together once he passes away."

Marie tried to nod enthusiastically, but she found she couldn't. Yes, they might be doing great things for Musical Land, but they were not doing great things with Sophie, and Marie's loyalties remained with her best friend.

"But I thought their daughter's name was Marie," Abe said.

"Marie-Sophie Germain. She only goes by Marie Germain in front of the press to have a private life. She won't care if I told you. She made the change when we became best friends to keep the confusion to a minimum."

"Oh, the Germain's who are starting to push for less science and math in schools?" Albert asked. For once it wasn't a jibe against Abe. It was concern.

Marie frowned. "Yeah. They do feel strongly about it. It makes it awkward since Sophie loves math."

"She does?" Albert asked.

Marie nodded as they passed a war memorial park. "Loves it."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Abe started to say.

"Which means she will," Billy said absentmindedly.

Abe gave him little more than a side glance before turning back to Marie. "How did you and Sophie meet?"

Marie smiled, knowing their monetary class difference was obvious. "She likes math. And she's strong willed, too, so she demands to study it. Her parents let her go where she wanted for elementary school, and instead of choosing the top elementary schools, she went to mine, which was mostly poorer families but had a great math and science program. We became fast friends."

Marie tried to ignore the more hurtful memories. Marie grew up with parents who loved the sciences, so it was weird going to Sophie's house and hearing the subjects talked down upon. One time Marie came home in tears asking if her parents were robots spitting back the information they'd been told with no free thought for themselves. Her parents were shocked and assured her they weren't robots at all. They quoted President Arnold who said creativity was in every field of learning. It made her feel better, but Marie was much happier when, as they got older, Sophie's parents trusted them on their own.

"Are you thinking about working in the S.E.A.?" Marie asked Abe.

"I mean, every kid at one point wants to grow up to work in the S.E.A.," Abe said.

"Meh. I never did," Albert said.

Once again there was another exchange of passive aggressive looks between Albert and Abe.

"But yes. It would be my dream job," Abe finished.

Marie chewed her bottom lip as they swiped their metro passes into the gate and entered the metro. She noticed Billy watching Abe and Albert glare at each other. He met her eyes and gave a small shrug.

***

The alarm clock screamed at Marie to wake up. Her palm slammed the off button before she rubbed her eyes to reorient herself. She barely brushed her nose when she felt a shooting pain. Her fingers returned more gingerly, a frown on her face before it dawned on her what it could be.

"No, no, no," she muttered as she threw on her bathrobe and sprinted into the bathroom. She turned on the light and bent over close to the mirror. Sure enough, her right nostril looked redder than normal. She leaned over, checking the inside of her nose, right when her dad walked by.

"Marie? What are you doing?"

Her fingers again brushed her nose. "I don't want to talk about it."

Her dad frowned. "Come on, you can tell me."

"I really, really don't."

Marie dropped her hands to her side as her dad walked into the bathroom. He took her shoulders and studied her face before he broke into a smile.

"Do you have a zit?"

Marie covered her nose with her hand. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"Zits are a part of teenage life, my dear. Everyone gets them," he said.

"Not the teens at my high school," she mumbled, returning to the mirror.

Her dad chuckled as he resumed his trek to his room.

True, zits were a part of teenage life, and Marie had her fair share of them, but this was a different animal all together. She'd had these kind of zits before, where they appeared on the inside of the nose and were more tender to the touch. The red she saw on her nostril was apparently the root.

Marie gave a sigh and pulled out her make-up. She rarely used foundation, but today would be one of those rare days. At least she didn't have dance class today.

Ten minutes later, Marie walked into the small kitchen and dining area as her dad stuffed his keys in his jacket pocket. He smiled at her.

"You look lovely today," he said.

"Thanks," she got out.

"I'm headed off to work. Be safe today. Break a leg."

"Thanks," she said again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I signed this." He handed her the permission slip for the after school class. Marie's eyes brightened.

"Thank you!"

"Love you."

Marie stuffed the permission slip in her backpack. "Love you too."

"I promise, Marie, you can't even tell it's there."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Her dad chuckled again and headed out the door. Marie had time to inhale her breakfast before she headed out for the metro.

***

Marie didn't meet her friends in their normal meeting spot by the stairs. She was more concerned about handing in the permission slip to Mr. Edison as soon as possible. Yes, she had him in first hour, but she had more questions about what the after-school schedule looked like.

She approached the door to Mr. Edison's classroom and her happy jaunt froze. Whispers on the brink of screams trickled from the ajar door. Marie didn't want to eavesdrop, but couldn't help but do so.

"There is nothing wrong with an after school physics class," she heard Mr. Edison say.

"There aren't enough interested students. We can't possibly fund such a ludicrous club."

Marie recognized Mr. Freud. Why did he care?

"After school clubs don't need to have a ton of students involved. I've already collected permission slips from five students, and plan on a few more. Everything we need, I'll simply buy myself. If we need more, we can do fund raisers."

The door was cracked open and she could see Mr. Edison writing something on the board.

"This is not proper S.E.A. protocol. They will be made aware of this." Mr. Freud's voice dripped with anger.

Mr. Edison laughed, and Marie was surprised at how carefree he sounded.

"Oh Sigmund. An old timer like me who still loves science is always under the S.E.A. radar. I assure you, they already know what I'm doing."

The anger in the room was palpable. It was no surprise when music began to swell. At first Marie panicked. It was still the freshman tests, and maybe this was her turn to sing. Her panic lessened when she realized the music came from within the room. Her chip activated long enough to let her know this was a duet between Mr. Freud and Mr. Edison.

"You've got a lot to learn, Tom Edison!" Mr. Freud began.

"Yes so much to learn, Tom Edison!

"Physics won't get a student far!

"They should instead learn the guitar!"

Something was wrong. Mr. Freud's emotions were changing. Curiosity drove her forward and she peeked through the crack in the door. Mr. Freud had his hand out to Mr. Edison to start a dance, but Mr. Edison stood with his arms folded securely across his chest, giving Mr. Freud a glare of death.

"Physics won't apply to their lives

"Just thinking of it gives me hives,

"You have a lot to learn, Tom Edison!

"Yes so much to learn, Tom Edison!"

The music continued. The angry tones in the music reflected Mr. Edison's feeling. Marie thought there was a small interlude between the two, but she recognized the melody playing. Mr. Edison continued to glare at Mr. Freud, a muscle twitching in and out of his jaw. Marie's heart began to race and her breathing matched her heart. Mr. Edison refused to sing! The music played on with emphasis to the melody, but Mr. Edison's lips remained closed as though they'd been coated with a thick layer of glue.

The music died down when no one sang along with it before it disappeared altogether. Mr. Edison continued his look of death, and the anger in the room turned dangerous. Marie was now rooted to the spot.

"Are you done?" Mr. Edison's voice was so cold, Marie shivered.

"How. Dare. You," Mr. Freud breathed. "The S.E.A. will arrest you!"

There was the smallest upturn of Mr. Edison's lips, and Mr. Freud's eyes narrowed. "You've done this before?"

Marie covered her mouth to stifle her breathing. She needed to hear the rest of this conversation. She needed to know if Mr. Edison would be okay after this.

"Are you part of the mad scientist underground?" Mr. Freud asked.

"If I was, do you think I'd take a teaching job?" Mr. Edison asked. "I hear they get great money selling inventions on the black market."

"I'm reporting you to the S.E.A. You will face consequences for your actions."

Marie felt a wave of adrenaline as she saw Mr. Freud heading for the door. She scrambled out of the way and sprinted the short distance down the hall to the main section of school, pretending to be a part of the group of students heading toward the upstairs level. Marie missed Mr. Edison's reply as she immersed herself in the chaos of the morning students roving around, waiting for the bell to ring.

Mr. Freud stormed out of the classroom and left in the opposite direction. Marie got out of the stream of students and pressed herself against the wall, her mind on fire. There was no doubt about it. Mr. Edison would lose his job.

Marie found herself at the door of Mr. Edison's classroom again. She peeked inside and saw Mr. Edison sitting on a stool by one of the tables, rubbing his forehead. She felt sick to her stomach, wondering how she could waltz in there and pretend like Mr. Edison didn't make her question the foundation of Musical Land.

She pushed open the door and took a few steps inside before Mr. Edison noticed her. When he did look up, he dropped his hands from his forehead and straightened his tie as he stood up.

"Marie? Good to see you. How can I help?"

For a moment, Marie forgot what she came in here to do. She wanted to ask him how he did it. How long had he stopped singing? How was he evading the S.E.A.? Shouldn't people like him be on the run?

It then came to her. She was returning her permission slip.

"I, um, my dad signed this." She took the permission slip out of her backpack.

"Excellent! Come over here." Mr. Edison grabbed some papers from the table. "Here's a tentative schedule of what we'll be learning the next few weeks. It is, of course, subject to change. There will be competitions around the city. Not many, but I'm on a list to be notified for them."

He handed her the schedule then looked at her numb face.

"Thanks, sir," she said, trying to act excited.

It was too little too late. Mr. Edison's eyebrows furrowed as he studied her closer. She dropped her gaze and looked instead at the schedule. She couldn't focus on what the schedule said, because all she could imagine was the death glare Mr. Edison gave Mr. Freud. And the silence.

"Marie?" He waited until she glanced back at him. "You didn't happen to see Mr. Freud walk out of here, did you?"

Her panic returned at the loaded question. She struggled to keep her face blank. Here was an opportunity to ask him. Had he done this before? How did he evade arrest? Could he teach her how? She almost relaxed. Life would be wonderful if she didn't have to sing anymore.

But she couldn't. She was too afraid. Mr. Edison might be confident about not getting arrested, but if he was caught teaching a student what to do to get out of singing, he'd be in trouble for sure.

Marie looked back at the schedule and closed her eyes. No. She would wait. And watch.

"Why would Mr. Freud be here?" she asked.

She couldn't read a thing on Mr. Edison's face. "All right. See you in a few minutes, then."

"See you."

Marie turned and walked out of the room, feeling Mr. Edison's stare the entire way out.