When lunch time hits, Pablo comes around and kisses Audrey, whom he could tell is happy with how VA is looking, going into the playoff rounds.

“Let’s go to I’ve Got the Recipe for lunch, as agreed previously. I need to be back at the main hall in an hour, though, since the playoffs begin at that time” Audrey then looks up the directions to I’ve Got the Recipe.

Which is about a block away from LSMSA, and hence they can get the meal done in time for them to go eat there. As they get a table for two at the restaurant:

“What makes this special to us is because, it’s, well, State, and the first time I’m going to it” Pablo then looks at the menu.

“Pablo, stop; the HSNCT might not be as intimate, from what I’ve heard about it, but it’s an even grander stage for us, in two months!” Audrey tells him.

“What will it be for you?” the waiter asks, while a few more participants at quiz bowl-State are also getting tables.

“Étouffée for me” Pablo places his order from the diminutive recipe.

“Me too!” Audrey adds, before turning to Pablo. “By now you have realized that we have by far the most fans at quiz bowl-State, even when that amounts to parents, love interests and the B-team!”

Finally, we can be together as we deserve it, without our parents interfering. Presumably the other couples on the quiz bowl team have their own plans. Like eating on campus, Pablo then waits on the crawfish étouffée he ordered. That, knowing that it has been a while since he had any crawfish at all.

“Étouffée as I never ate it before! Now that’s what I call a romantic meal!” Pablo comments on the smothered meal.

“Oh yes, I sure hope we can have another lunch or dinner with a table for two, like this, at the HSNCT two months from now!” Audrey formulates her wish for eating at the HSNCT.

“And ideally eating dishes we can’t have at home, then”

“That was sweet of you”

Once they both finish eating, they kiss each other just before the time comes for them to pay the bill for the two plates of crawfish étouffée. They were apparently lucky to get these for $60, taxes and tip included. Which Pablo promptly pays before returning to campus for the playoffs.

Upon returning to the LSMSA building, the schedule of playoff games is released for the teams on the top bracket of the large schools division. Curse the Courland Basket! How could Livonia improve so much in a short month that they would somehow be in HSNCT contention? Pablo ruminates while he sees Livonia somehow sneak into the top bracket at State. As much as I would love to believe that the lowest-hanging fruit to improve is in a team’s early stages, is the state’s circuit so decrepit that Livonia could somehow stand a chance against the Jesuits, Caddo Magnets or VAs of this world?

Led by Josiane, as well as Gerard’s and Lilina’s teammates from last year, it appears that VA is headed to victory in a middle school division that would see a very limited field, and only eight teams are playing. So Gerard and Lilina go and watch their former teammates play their final two games, with their love interests in tow, while everyone else watches the high school games. And certainly Pablo.

The first two games he watches result in VA winning over Benjamin-Franklin and Jesuit, cementing the VAs’ position as potential medal contenders. But VA’s third game ends prematurely, and in a convincing win over Catholic. As the VAs are assembled around the game room for round 9:

“If the Wildcats think Aija is their ticket to the HSNCT… we’ll shut them out of the HSNCT, here and now!” Audrey exclaims.

“Even if we win against Livonia, there’s no guarantee they won’t finish third, and there’s nothing preventing them from competing at another tournament afterward!” Myriam interjects.

“Yeah, there’s no telling whether Livonia would chase a HSNCT berth; most quiz bowl-playing schools in the state don’t seem to be the kind to chase HSNCT berths at any cost” Scott retorts, knowing that most Louisiana teams feel like the HSNCT would be pointless to attend if they can’t clinch a berth by State.

“Good luck then” Pablo wishes on them.

For obvious reasons, and not simply because Livonia goes into round 9 (the fourth playoff round) with a 2-1 record, Aija is pumped to play that game against an undefeated VA. More than the other Livonia quiz bowlers. I lost to VA twice already in a month. First at Leesville, and then on the court! May this good-luck charm, under the form of the away kit I wore at the U17 Latvia national team tryouts, serve me well in this game…

“This is round nine of the 2030 LQBA State Championship playoffs, large high school division. From Jefferson Davis Parish, we have Venomous Agendas, from Pointe-Coupée Parish, we have Livonia. Best of luck to both teams, and here’s tossup one…” the moderator starts the game.

Livonia will be hungry. But I can’t let Aija get away with points that could be ours! And not simply because just playing here means a lot to the Wildcats! Audrey seems a little puzzled by the implications of the game as the VA fans, along with Livonia’s chaperone, get seated. And the middle schoolers get seated, albeit a little late since everyone else beat them to the seats as the game starts.

“Aspects of this medical condition were identified in medical records dating back to fourteenth century BC Assyria” the moderator reads the first clue.

Aija buzzes in. “PTSD!”

“Fifteen”

Stay on your guard, Ballista, no one can know everything. Just because Aija scored the first power for Livonia doesn’t mean Ballista can’t score one herself later! Pablo watches, powerless, as Livonia struggles with the bonus Aija earned them. Which is about literature.

Unfortunately for Livonia, it turns out that Audrey spacing out only lasted them one tossup. The second tossup comes around and she regains her composure:

“Tossup two…” the moderator signals the start of the second tossup, and the first clue is a clue that no one seems to be willing to buzz on. “The death of the main character’s first proprietor causes its wife to call in her brother-in-law to help run the plantation”

Audrey buzzes in. “Beloved!”

“Fifteen” the moderator rules and then reads the preamble to the bonus the VAs earned.

The game continues, and it has become clear as day that both sides give their all, in an attempt to medal at State. This reminds me far too much of 2024. Except the roles are reversed: the VAs were the underdogs back then, now the Wildcats are! Warren muses on the game unfolding. Aija would then be Marcia, only with mathletics replaced by basketball!

“Tossup ten: This variety of chemical reactions can occur through phosphoester and phosphoramidate bonds, as well as anhydride linkages” the moderator reads the first clue.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

What the hell are these chemical bonds? Aija questions herself as the verbiage of these clues doesn’t seem to make any shred of sense to her. Are these bonds covalent or ionic?

“These reactions play a key role in proteins’ post-translational modification”

So we knew that genes were expressed as proteins, based on amino acids, but post-translational modification in proteins? That’s outside the scope of AP Bio, but it sounds like stuff for which AP Bio is a prerequisite, Audrey’s mind shifts to its fastest gear. And same goes for Myriam, too. However, the power mark is fast approaching.

“Two varieties of this reaction occurring in metabolic processes are called oxidative and substrate-level” the moderator reads the third clue, with Aija, Audrey and Myriam locked into a three-way buzzer race.

Myriam wins the resulting buzzer race, and buzzes in. Aija shakes in her seat, hoping for Myriam to get the answer wrong.

“Phosphorylation!” Myriam answers.

“Ten. For ten points each, answer these questions about…” the moderator rules and then starts reading the preamble of this bonus.

Speaking of bonus, the VAs answer two parts correctly, thus ending the first half of the game in the lead. The moderator announces the score at half-time:

“And that’s the half-game. At the half, the score is one seventy for Livonia, and one ninety for Venomous Agendas!” the moderator signals the half-time.

“I heard the words HSNCT just before the game began, coach; what’s the HSNCT?” Aija asks the Wildcats’ quiz bowl coach.

“I’m afraid I never heard of it” the Wildcats’ quiz bowl coach answers Aija’s question, and then sighs before turning to the rest of the team “We can still win against the Venomous Agendas if we get faster on the buzzer!”

The moderator then explains how placing in the top 15% at State (or really, any other NAQT-sanctioned tournament) would ensure a berth at the HSNCT, and how the HSNCT was a national championship. I guess, if we can’t medal at State, there would be no point in further attempts to qualify for the HSNCT, the Wildcats’ coach then returns to their seat as other players drink.

Eight more tossup cycles elapse, and, by the time tossup 19 comes up, the VAs are up 70 points on the Wildcats. The pressure ratchets up on them, as they know that, if VA answers even one tossup correctly, they lose.

“Tossup nineteen: The current system of degrees used in goniometry traces back to this ancient Mesopotamian civilization” the moderator reads the question.

By then Scott and Aija are locked into a buzzer race. I won’t let this… Latvian basketball player get away with this! Scott presses the buzzer like a syringe, but the moderator realizes that Aija beat him to it.

But even when Aija buzzes in, she starts sweating, and not just because of the humidity of the game room. She feels much more pressure in this quiz bowl game than she had when trailing in past basketball games.

“Su… Sumerian?” Aija stutters, feeling the stress.

“Fifteen” the moderator rules, before reading the bonus.

Shoot! Scott has been too slow in buzzing in! By doing this, he let Livonia come back into the game! Audrey ruminates while the VAs watch, powerless, the Wildcats attempt to answer the bonus and hence close the gap.

The final bonus part these Wildcats make the VAs nervous, not having answered the first two parts correctly. Pablo starts praying that the Wildcats don’t get the final bonus part correctly because then the gap would then be 55 points, and then VA would win.

“This musical is an adaptation of Puccini’s La Bohème about impoverished artists living in the East Village of New York City”

But at the same time, it makes the Wildcats nervous. It might make Aija sweat, but not necessarily nauseated; on the other hand, the other Wildcats players scramble to find the answer to the bonus part for five seconds.

“Rent!” another Wildcat quiz bowler answers on behalf of the team.

“Ten for the bonus” the moderator rules.

Oh boy, one more potential buzzer race! Aija and company start freaking out inwardly as the moderator is about to start the final tossup. We will have to play this cycle perfectly to win! the Latvian exchange student seems to realize her opponents are also nervous, too.

“Final tossup” the moderator signals the end of regulation questions.

The first clue makes everyone’s eyes roll. Which makes people wait for the second clue to even start making plans for answering it.

“Political causes of this phenomenon include strategic misrepresentation of projects’ scope or budgets” the second clue is then read.

By then, several players seem locked into buzzer races. Just not Aija for some reason. They all feel the pressure because they know the game is on the line. Scott presses the buzzer like a syringe, but Audrey and a Wildcat player also do the same. The moderator designates a Wildcat player, who was a split-second faster than the others.

“Cost overruns!” the Wildcat player answers.

“Fifteen. For ten points each, answer these questions about coffee”

Shoot! We are about to blow a 70-point lead, and now they closed the gap to 30 points? Audrey listens on her opponents as they answer the first part correctly.

“Caffeine is removed from coffee by using carbon dioxide in which phase of matter?” the moderator reads the second bonus part.

“Supercritical fluid!” the Wildcats’ science player answers.

“Beyond coffee’s role as a stimulant and as a laxative, caffeine is also added as an active ingredient in medications such as paracetamol. To what class of medication does paracetamol belong?” the moderator asks.

The players draw a blank, even Aija. And the clock rings, signaling the end of regulation time. Yet the Wildcats haven’t finished their 5 seconds of conferral.

Are they going to score a buzzer-beater here, too? Buzzer-beaters were the bane of my lover on the court this season. Pearl River, Wossman, and now Livonia is cutting it close! Pablo starts to feel his blood pressure go up. And Aija, too.

“Antihistamines!” Aija hazards a guess.

“Painkillers. Twenty for the bonus, and that’s the game. Livonia three hundred thirty, Venomous Agendas three hundred forty!” the moderator announces the game’s results.

“While Caddo Magnet and VA are virtually assured of finishing either first or second, whether we can finish in third place depends on the game between Catholic and Benjamin-Franklin” the Wildcats’ coach states the implications of other games.

“To this all I can say is: Latvija! Latvija!” the chaperone of the Wildcats attempts to encourage them.

While Wildcats quiz bowlers ask what Latvija even means, the VAs, on the other hand, go to another game room for what could well be the title game. If even VA B could beat Caddo Magnet, they can do it here, Pablo ruminates on the way to the game room.

Speaking of the game, VA is trailing by 40 points with one tossup to go.

“Final tossup...” the moderator starts reading the question.

This question seems to refer to events in romance books, as well as writing style, Scott ruminates upon hearing the clues, prior to buzzing in. However, he doesn’t realize that Audrey also stands ready to buzz in, as well as the opposition. Scott presses the buzzer, as usual, like a syringe.

“Hoover!” Scott answers.

“Prompt” the moderator signals him.

“Colleen Hoover”

“Fifteen. For ten points each...”

It seems like the literature editors of NAQT are more willing to include 21st century literature, Pablo is taken aback by Colleen Hoover appearing in a tossup, as well as Kim Thuy in a practice packet, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at LQBA Winter.

“Windmills were built in the Netherlands to aid in this process by draining water” the moderator reads the first bonus part.

“Land reclamation” Myriam answers.

“Land reclamation, when used in areas poor in flat land near bodies of water, gives rise to this type of formation”

“Artificial island!”

It’s all down to this bonus part now, we can win State, Audrey starts shaking as the final bonus part begins and the clock ticks down on them.

“This artificial island archipelago was built off the coast of Dubai and...” the clock rings to signal the end of regulation time.

Time to buzz in, I guess, Audrey feels the pressure of answering the bonus part and then score the buzzer-beater. Here’s my chance to avenge these losses against Wossman and Pearl River on the court!

“Palm Jumeirah!” Audrey answers before the end of the actual bonus part.

“Thirty for the bonus, and that’s the game. Caddo Magnet three hundred fifty, Venomous Agendas three hundred fifty-five!”

And then comes the awards ceremony. Top scorer, power prize, as well as the medals. Of course, the least happy campers are Livonia, whose heads are hunched over an unhappy ending to State.

“The bronze medalists, from Orleans Parish, Benjamin-Franklin!” the tournament director hands the medals to the Falcons, as well as the trophy. “The silver medalists, from Caddo Parish, Caddo Magnet! And our new state champions, from Jefferson Davis Parish, Venomous Agendas!” The TD then takes a photo of the entire podium.

“Getting us to attend even two tournaments was difficult, even if we could have done so with only three hundred dollars” the Wildcats’ chaperone points out. “Even if we qualified for the HSNCT, getting there would be a financial nightmare!”

“I guess, no HSNCT for us...” Aija sighs.

“We couldn’t have done it without you... Courland Basket!” another player comments. "I guess, time to fly under the radar again..."

Meanwhile, Pablo then goes out to hug Audrey after the ceremony ends. And kiss her, too. For so many attending State, just attending State means a lot. For us, there’s the HSNCT, Pablo ruminates.