Page 34 of The Sunny Side (Rojo 2nd Generation: Rojo Police Department #3)

“Let’s see your answers,” Clancy ordered cheerfully.

When Marley turned the white board around so everyone could see it, I watched Clancy bite her lip before she looked toward the student team, who had a different answer than us.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering if I would be able to make myself disappear if I wiggled the end of it.

“I told you Greenland was a continent,” Corey muttered under his breath.

“The officers listed Eurasia as a continent, but the majority of Americans list Europe and Asia separately. Technically, both answers are correct, but only one is commonly used,” Clancy explained before she looked at the front row where a panel of three teachers were sitting, including Mrs. Proctor, who had appeared today to be a judge for the competition.

“I feel that we should get some input from the judges for this.”

After a quick discussion, Mrs. Weathers used her own mic to announce, “The judges have awarded a full point to Bowie, and half a point to RPD.”

Marley leaned back and looked at the lights above us as she whispered, “This is gonna suck so bad.”

“Come on. We just have to make it through these bullshit questions, and then we’ll slaughter them on general knowledge and music trivia,” Colt insisted.

Tay winced before he said, “Let’s not use the word ‘slaughter.’”

“We’re cooked,” Noble moaned.

“We’ve got this. Get it together!”

“The next question has two parts, so there are two points available.” Clancy cleared her throat before she asked, “What is the tallest mountain above sea level?”

“Mount Everest!” Lawson hissed, bumping Marley with his elbow. “I know this one!”

“The second part of the question, also for one point, is where is the tallest mountain located?” Clancy asked.

“Nevermind,” Lawson muttered.

“It’s in Washington state, right? Isn’t it a volcano?” Noble asked.

“Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, and its border marks part of the border between China and Nepal,” I said firmly. “Write it down, Marley.”

“No. I agree with Noble. It’s in Washington,” Colt argued. “Right?”

“Are you sure?” Marley asked as she wrote down my answer. “I’m leaning toward Washington.”

“I’m sure. I probably don’t know shit else, but I know I’m right here.”

Once Clancy pushed the buzzer, Marley turned our board around, and we cheered when Clancy announced that even though the kids team got one point, we got two.

“Oh, thank God!” Marley said cheerfully. “They’re gonna kick our ass, but at least we’re not going to lose with half a point.”

“I feel so dumb,” Noble moaned.

“What’s dumb is that if Dumont was living up to his nickname, we’d have probably had the answers to study in the first place,” Tay whispered as he glared at me. “Good looking out, Officer D .”

“Eat it, Cardenas,” I hissed.

“Oh, Officer D,” Marley whispered with a barely heard moan.

“I hate all of you equally, but if you make that noise again, Forrester, you’re gonna take the lead,” I retorted.

“Cool. At least one of us will be winning,” Marley retorted.

“Question number three is the last geography question for today. What is the name of the smallest country in the world?”

“It’s gotta be somewhere in Europe, right?” I asked quietly.

“I know this one!” Lawson announced a little too loudly. Marley shushed him, and he excitedly whispered, “Vatican City.”

“That is not a country,” I argued.

“Of course it’s not,” Colt agreed. He looked at Marley and asked, “Right?”

“How the hell would I know?” Marley asked in horror. “I’m here to look pretty and soften your reputation.”

“And she’s doing neither,” Corey muttered.

“I hate your face,” Marley hissed.

“You two realize that you look like different sides of the same coin, right?” Colt asked.

“He’s the backside,” Marley retorted.

“Focus!” Tay snapped. “Are we going with Vatican City?”

“I guess,” I muttered. “That’s the best we’ve got.”

Marley grudgingly wrote it down and rolled her eyes when Lawson mumbled, “If I’m right, all of you have to dress as the Pope for Halloween this year.”

Just as the buzzer sounded, I realized the kids were having the same sort of argument. Hopefully, theirs didn’t include as many barbs and insults. I felt a little better when Marley turned the board around and Clancy smiled at her.

She gave the other team a small smile and shake of her head and then pointed at us when she announced, “The correct answer is Vatican City.”

“Yes!” Lawson shouted as he pumped his fist in the air. He remembered where we were and caught himself before he smiled at the principal and the chief. He grinned at us and said, “Better get those costumes ordered!”

“Why am I here? What did I do to deserve this?” Marley asked, again addressing the rafters.

“He’s not gonna answer you right now, but he might when you’re dressed as the Pope,” Tay quipped. When Marley turned her murderous stare to him, he winced and said, “And you’ll be the prettiest one in the bunch.”

“The next category is science! Is everyone ready?”

“Kill me now,” Noble muttered. “The only thing I remember about science is what I learned from Breaking Bad .”

“It’s over.”

By the time that category was finished, we were trailing by five points, thanks to the bonus questions Clancy had thrown in.

“She’s gotta cut us a break, man. Do something!”

I cut my eyes at Corey and asked, “What the hell do you think I can do?”

“Find a broom closet and give her some Officer D,” Colt suggested.

I shook my head as the rest of my team started snickering, and when I looked out over the crowd, I saw Chief Cardenas shaking his head in shame. “We’re all gonna lose our jobs over this if we’re not careful. Pay attention. Focus.”

“I feel so dumb right now,” Marley whined.

“I got Vatican City,” Lawson crowed.

“And an STD,” Marley snapped.

“I do not!”

“Shut.Up,” I ordered.

“Our next trivia category is music,” Clancy announced. Our eyes met, and I was almost sure she winked at me, but then again, it could have been a trick of the lights. “For our first question, who is the only country artist to have a Top 20 hit on the country charts for six straight decades?”

“We have to know this,” Colt whispered. “I know I know this.”

“Think it through. They’ve had one this decade, so they’re most likely still alive but in their seventies.”

“Good thinking, Brawley,” Marley praised. “Lawson, Colt, you’re our country boys. You know this, right?”

“Dolly Parton,” Colt said firmly. “Not a doubt in my mind..”

“I’m rolling with it,” Marley said as she wrote it down.

It took everything I had not to do a happy dance when Clancy announced that we had earned another point.

That would be ridiculous. It’s not like we were playing for money .

. . just our reputations. I was going to have to see all these kids in the halls for at least the next year.

I would never hear the end of it if we let them wipe the floor with us.

“Teams, there is a buzzer on your podium that we will be using for this question. The first team to buzz in and provide the correct answer will score a point.” Clancy paused for dramatic effect before she asked, “Which astronomer is named in the song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody?’”

Marley slapped the buzzer so hard it bounced off the podium, and I looked up in time to see Clancy clap a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook with laughter.

Corey scrambled to pick up the buzzer and then set it down on the podium before he touched it with one finger to set it off again, causing everyone in the audience to roar with laughter all over again.

Clancy composed herself and asked, “RPD, what is your answer?”

“Gallileo!” we answered in unison.

“Another point to the fine officers of the RPD! Our score is tied . . . No! RPD is in the lead by half a point!” Clancy exclaimed.

She looked at her students with wide eyes and, forgetting she was standing in front of a microphone, whispered, “You guys have got this! Don’t let the old folks beat you! ”

The crowd erupted in laughter yet again, and Clancy pushed her glasses up as her cheeks bloomed with color.

She cleared her throat before she said, “We’ll be writing our answers on the boards for this question worth two points.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson famously sang in a recent animated film.

What is the title of the movie and the title of any of the songs he sang? ”

“ Moana ,” Noble hissed the second Clancy stopped talking.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Noble insisted before he started humming.

We all watched him as if he were about to sprout horns, but instead, he started singing, “I see what’s happening, yeah .

. . I know it’s a lot, the hair, the bod .

. .” Noble flexed, and I was horrified to see his pecs move individually before he continued.

“What can I say except you’re . . . You’re welcome!

That’s the name of the song! ‘You’re Welcome! ’”

Marley managed to write down his answer a split second before Clancy’s buzzer went off.

I heard the students groan, and when they flipped the board over, it was blank, but when Marley flipped ours around, Clancy smiled and said, “Two points to the RPD officers. The answer was ‘You’re Welcome’ from the Moana soundtrack. ”

“I am not ashamed to say that I have nieces and nephews I watch that movie with, but I will end all of you if you tell a soul what I just did,” Noble threatened.

“I don’t give a shit. I’m telling everyone,” Marley crowed. “You made your boobs dance, Noble. That can’t be ignored.”

“Why? Because you can’t do it?” Noble asked. He suddenly realized what he’d just admitted to and, with a horrified look, corrected, “They’re pecs, not boobs!”

“Nope. I’m telling the world.”

“Duke it out later, guys. We’re still behind,” I reminded them.

“And we’ve still got another category to go,” Lawson added with a sad smile.