The next day, after having seen Krista getting blanked out by her mental health problems that suddenly surfaced, she receives another email from MAA that concerns her directly because the MAA was informed of an overdose that happened with one of the original qualifiers. Ouch; what could have happened for her to overdose? My first impression is that she had a bad round of college admissions; after all, it's around this time of the year that this kind of students is most at risk to attempt suicide, Gen thinks, realizing the morbidity of the circumstances surrounding her sudden EGMO qualification forced the MAA's hand, and she was not in the mood to celebrate because of the circumstances in question.

Meanwhile, at TJHSST, the school's community is shocked when they learn that one of their own is at hospital to treat what seems to be an overdose. In addition, the rest of the school's mathletics team, which it has to be said, is much larger than what the Venomous Agendas were able to align, holds an emergency meeting regarding drugs as the VMC approaches.

"What happened to Lucy was unfortunate. This talk is long overdue; now that we have seen the dangers of doing drugs, please, if you are taking study aids such as Adderall or Ritalin, stop!" the Colonials' coach screams at his mathletes, most of them being Asian.

"Looks like Lucy got a Venomous Agenda sting too many... earlier this year we lost in the Math Madness to them, now the EGMO?" a Colonial mathlete asks his coach.

"How do you know the alternate is a Venomous Agenda? She could have been from, you know, Montgomery Blair, Phillips Exeter, Saratoga, Lexington, Stuyvesant, that kind of schools" another Colonial seems to harbor doubts.

"Yeah, when the EGMO team was announced, they kept quiet about the alternates!"

"If any of us are invited to MOP and is not a senior, please, avenge Lucy by qualifying for the EGMO or IMO!" the coach invites his players to avenge the fallen.

"It has to do with college, I'm sure of it. Lucy has been awfully secretive about college in the past few days, she was as convinced as any of us up to this point that she would get into an Ivy" yet another Colonial mathlete states his observations.

"We have one last opportunity to defeat the Venomous Agendas on the national stage this year: the VMC!" the coach keeps screaming at them.

But, around the breakfast table, Geneviève and her parents seem a little troubled by this sudden announcement relative to the EGMO which arrived in the wee hours of the morning. She begins with the unsettling circumstances.

"Honey, you had enough talent to compete there without having to rely on someone else's collapse! I saw you go at it for months solving math problems that would make me squirm, that would make practically everyone in the parish squirm, in this state even, it's there that all these comparison games played by the parish newspaper these past few months take shape" Gen's mother cries, moved by this rout.

"I no longer have anything to prove to anyone"

Then the most significant figures of American women's mathletics history are, in reality, not much better than I am? That's what the parish newspaper was insinuating... Gen ponders while she informs Florence by text message. « Even though I am now part of the EGMO team, I would like to have a second No to drugs poster as promotional merchandise for the EGMO; I only qualified because one of the 4 original girls overdosed on drugs ».

And it happens that Imélie is also entitled to her share of appearances on promotional merchandise because she's entered into the VMC final, in which case there are two pictures to take at tonight's pep rally.

Speaking of pep rally, it wouldn't be one but two competitions that would be the topic, even though both competitions are still weeks away. What is not her surprise when, at the pep rally, there are several trucks from the state's major news channels in the stadium's parking lot, which is packed! Undoubtedly to make a news report on how a girl of the state made her way through the highest echelons of international mathletics.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to this final math team pep rally of the Venomous Agendas for this season! I wish to underscore that this season has been exceptional in every respect, from the Math Madness quarterfinals last Fall, then the defense of the state title at the Vans Math Contest and finally several feminine state records that were broken at the AIME and the USAMO. But we must not forget about the exceptionality of the quiz bowl season that peaks with a silver medal at the state championship and a qualification to the national championship!" the school's principal announces in front of the crowd.

"This season has also clearly shown to so many in Louisiana that girls could excel mathematically. And, even though I must admit I would have loved to qualify to the EGMO under better circumstances, it's precisely because of these circumstances that I would also like to talk about a topic that's very delicate for so many among you. The only reason why I am qualified is because one of the original qualifiers overdosed on drugs. Then I believe it's good to have this discussion about drugs. What happened to the person I replace may very well happen to you also, Gen announces to the crowd.

"Adding on what my teammate said, she could accomplish everything she did this season without these drugs she is referring to, and me as well. However, I can say thank God we are not attending one of these academic pressure cookers because, for as good as their education might be, these are also places that highlight the price to pay for their successes, both academic and extracurricular. Mental health problems, which led to consumption of drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and other psychotropics" Krista adds. "A lot of people attending these academic pressure cookers will consume these substances without having the required prescription!"

"Yes, we can excel academically without using drugs!" Cory exclaims before his girlfriend talks again.

"In November, when the parish newspaper evoked, for the first time, the race to the EGMO, I didn't believe it at all. I pushed the EGMO to the side, and I simply prepared for the USAMO even though the questions used to do so, with Krista, were approximately evenly distributed between the USAMO, the EGMO and the IMO"

It's simply that it took time for the cameras of the state's various television networks to be set up to cover properly what is to follow.

"How does it feel to be going to the EGMO?" the journalist asks her, with the camera on her.

"For the first time that I am going outside the country, and to represent our nation on the global mathletic stage, I can confidently say it's the crowning achievement of my life up to this point. Plus it's a once-on-a-lifetime opportunity to me, and not just because I don't think I could ever again meet so many girls at my math level. But before then I was a source of inspiration for high school girls across the state to perform and succeed in math and other classes that use it, and not simply because of our surprise victory at the Square Root of the Answer last year"

While Gen continues answering the questions relative to the EGMO itself, such as its mathematical content, or its qualification process, the others are getting into position to review multi-variable calculus in open air, on the mobile boards, and standing ready to answer the public's questions. But the media haven't been there for very long at the municipal stadium.

"Imélie, for next year, I have serious interrogations as for your future as a mathlete. Your playstyle serves you well when you talk about competitions such as the VMC, but... I think you're too vulnerable to panic attacks for something other than the VMC. People already see in you a successor to Gen, just without there being an EGMO on the table" Trent comments.

"I will be taking the calculus BC course next year. I came to math team practices earlier this year, but after the AIME I stopped going" Jennifer comments in front of Imélie.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You're a sophomore, correct?" Imélie asks Jennifer.

"Yes" Jennifer answers. "So, Imélie, how do you feel as a junior in the calculus BC course?"

"Strangely I feel better in this course than in a regular course. You know it's a lot of work. Even more so if you aim for the VMC, and how much did you get on the AIME?"

"Four"

"Jennifer, you're aware that, if you're on the math team, you will need two hours of practice each day, all week? If you're good enough for the calculus BC course, you should be good to go for the VMC"

"But if you dream of the EGMO or the IMO you should start using the WOOT system as soon as the finals end" Krista advises. "This system will allow you to train on problems on the level of the USAMO and beyond. That said do not neglect the AMC-twelve or the AIME"

Speaking of the VMC, there hasn't been any speech about it yet, even though the public seems to consider it as more « down-to-earth » than the EGMO. Imélie speaks between two practice questions, drawn from previous years' exams of other universities, without the public asking her anything; even after an entire year of exposure to calculus, the public is still as powerless over the material as it was last year. Even after pep rallies of this type, even after two Duels of the Parishes where this material was front and center.

"I'm new on the math team, you might know me for my role in quiz bowl. My name is Imélie, last year I remember this magical run, where we won it all. This year, we will show to the rest of the nation that multi-variable calculus is our domain, and we will win again!"

"If we win, Imélie, you will receive a pair of Vans shoes, like the rest of the team" Cory makes his promises towards the new mathlete.

Obviously, Imélie takes her first individual photo under the stadium's spotlights, and after that the six official VMC entrants take a group pose for the student newspaper as well as the parish one, and the two are pre-ordered, just not as many as what proves to be their best-seller, the promotional EGMO poster in 7x10.

Once the pep rally ends, Geneviève returns home and realizes that, from here to the EGMO, she will have another coach for the home stretch, and she trains three other girls of Asian descent. She realizes she's the only non-Asian of the group.

Even though I know I beat two of them, maybe even all three, at the USAMO, to their eyes I'm the new kid, since it's highly unlikely there would be 2, and even more unlikely, 3 girls in the top-12. I am the girl that must prove myself until the departure for Georgia, I am the unknown quantity. That said, the best I can do is first, do as if I was dealing with three Kristas, or at least three pre-USAMO Kristas, in other words, my equals, and second, on the real competition, keep using the 2-1 strategy, she thinks while she realizes that her time with these four people is rather limited and she mist treat everyone with respect.

Meanwhile, in a hospital in Virginia, Lucy, still visibly too sick because of her Ritalin overdose, wakes up in a hospital room and falls prey to hallucinations when her parents come to her bedside, with fans above her bed, intravenous fluid injected into her and that ask for explanations.

"Lucy, what is the meaning of this?" Lucy's mother shows her what looks like a suicide note.

"Please, please! Put that away from me! You're about to poison me!" Lucy screams, thinking the suicide note represents a venomous agenda page.

"You live! But you're not thinking straight" Lucy's father looks at the horror scene unfolding before his eyes.

"You received an email from MAA earlier today informing you that you are no longer competing in the EGMO, citing that you may cause legal and/or medical trouble to the rest of the team!" Lucy's mother, mad at her daughter, screams at her.

"Look at this news report from Louisiana!" her father shows him the news report showing Gen talk about how she feels about her sudden qualification to the EGMO.

"You're grounded for the rest of the year!" her mother shouts at her.

"Because of this drug addict we call our daughter, I lost all esteem I could have for TJHSST's mathletics!"

"These mathletes are drug addicts; surely one of them introduced our daughter to this drug!

- I hate these Venomous Agendas too; because of my daughter's drug overdose, this Venomous Agenda took her spot at the EGMO!"

This hospital trip is not a sufficient punishment for this overdose; I will report my daughter to the police for illegal use of prescription medications, once cured, Lucy's father thinks, very disappointed of the actions of his daughter about this Ritalin overdose. How could she do this to me? Not only she was rejected from all Ivies, but the only place that admitted her is the University of Virginia! She cracked and she must pay the highest price possible! He keeps thinking while he places a pre-order for a promotional poster of Geneviève for the EGMO, but he wants to use it as a dart target in his own room instead.

Nevertheless, with Imélie and Jennifer, the Venomous Agendas feel their bases for next year are placed for ladies, with Vontae for boys, there remains to see who else, to the town's eyes, will bear the mathletic torch, while acknowledging there will be heavy losses to replace with the graduation of the three girls as well as of Cory and Bo, and they must not expect another season with an USAMO or EGMO participation.

For virtually any school, exceptions aside, a season with an USAMO represents a mathletic dream, let alone the EGMO... one should not create false expectations, but returning to the VMC final next year appears more realistic to them so they prioritize this competition on a scouting level.

But one of her teammates at the EGMO comes back to haunt Geneviève, albeit not on purpose, after a training session...

"How is having your foot made of lead working out for you?" Xiao asks.

"I remember you from YSP, you were the one that told us we were the most lead-footed at that camp, me and another SRA finalist, in that we entered a multivariable calculus contest" Gen remembers Xiao from YSP.

"You were the most lead-footed of them all! You solved for PDEs in open air in eleventh grade, you oversped more than anyone else I know. Even myself. No one else I knew back then would even think of solving for PDEs in open air in high school! My then-coach pushed me towards the SRA but we didn't qualify for the final even though I was our best player!" Xiao tells her this painful episode from the YSP, and of how she knows about these stories of PDEs solved in open air.

The best two girls at last year's YSP are reunited! There were two SRA finalists! To think Xiao was eliminated at the SRA's state phase last year even though she was the best player from her school! Now it comes back. I made no attempt to remember who claimed that my feet were made of lead! Geneviève thinks, while she knows, deep down, that, even with a player at the EGMO, it guarantees nothing on a contest like the SRA/VMC, and, yet, had nothing in common with the EGMO.

For instance, University High, which had no USAMO qualifier last year, and the Venomous Agendas didn't either, is one of 13 national co-champions while Adlai Stevenson, which had Xiao as an USAMO participant, was eliminated in the first round of the SRA! And barely qualified for the VMC final this year!

"Please, Xiao, just let go of this! We're both really smart, we should just enjoy that we are doing math together. And drug-free, too. What served me well in the USAMO was the two and one strategy; focusing on two problems that we feel are easier, and then attempt the last one. No one expects us to solve it all"

"Drug-free? What do you mean, drug-free?" Xiao asks, incredulous about hearing Gen alluding to drugs in a mathletic context.

"You might not be aware of what happened to Lucy, but she overdosed. However, the MAA kept quiet about what she overdosed on, and so did the media in my area; I assume that the Washington area media also kept quiet, too. For the first time in mathletics history has drugs somehow become an issue at all"

The next day, Marcia comes to see Jennifer before the beginning of classes to talk about the Purple Comet. Even though she does not have an exemption, unlike her two female friends on the team, she thinks she can convince Trent to give up her spot for it but it's quiz bowl she would leverage then.

"I think doing the Purple Comet will do me no good, so I'm willing to give my spot to you for this competition. It would be good for you, Jenn" Marcia announces to Jennifer.

"I can't believe your opponents could be taking drugs like this! In my mind never I would have imagined mathletes be tempted by drug consumption!" Jennifer shouts in disbelief.

"Krista could talk about drugs and mental health in mathletics in more details than I. From what I've seen, the Purple Comet is between the AMC-twelve and the AIME. You should have a thorough review of pre-calculus by studying for the Purple Comet, personally I would say to look at what you used for the AIME"

The announcement that Lucy was victim of an overdose took everyone in the mathletics community by surprise. And not just at Whitman or any other major mathletic rival of TJHSST, or even in Louisiana, where all teams at the VMC final started issuing drug warnings.

But what most people ignore is that intellect, which is associated with mathletics all the time, doesn't actually offer any protection against drug addiction. Thank God our school is not an academic pressure cooker, but no one outside TJHSST that does not work with drug addiction could have seen coming the overdose of a girl as brilliant as Lucy! After all, most people have as a stereotypical image of a female mathlete of Asian descent a very smart girl that would be unlikely to do drugs. And with my daughter, I had an idea of the intellectual demands of the EGMO and therefore of the contestants, which, I must admit, are way over my head. An academic pressure cooker would have a black market for drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse and so on, here not really, Krista's mother, a drug addiction counselor, while Krista tells her what she knows about Lucy's overdose.

"Am I the only one in this town that expected such a misbehavior to happen? I instead expected it to happen to someone that's, yes, good academically, but does not compete at the highest level of academic competitions!" Krista's mother tells her daughter.

"Mom, I know professional secret prevents you to talk about patients in greater detail, but I think it's a warning."