“You know that… zing you feel when you get a question right?” David asked me after quizbowl practice.

“Mmhmm.” I answered distractedly, wrangling with my bookbag. He extracted the pencil from my teeth. I looked up.

“Beth,” he said, pencil twirling in his hands, “you give me that zing, too.”

Miriam Teague is a history student who lives in Dayton, Ohio.