THE BRILLIANT GIRL

THE UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE

The morning at Bright Future Secondary School was not like other mornings this time around.

The air felt thick and weird. Amara walked through the iron gates and felt a strange tension. It made her heart beat faster.

She thought about the message Victor sent her the night. He said he had an idea. Victor did not say things like that unless he meant it. He must have been thinking about it all night.

Amara walked to her class. Saw that everyone was quiet. They were all talking in groups and looking at their books. It felt like they were getting ready for war.

She went into her classroom. Saw something written on the board. It said **" INNOVATORS PREPARATION WEEK BEGINS TODAY."** Amara felt a little scared. She sat down at her desk. Tried to look calm.

Then Victor came over to her. He looked tired. His tie was not straight. He told her they needed to talk. Amara got up. Followed him out of the classroom.

They went to a tree near the sports field. Victor looked around to make sure no one was listening. Then he pulled out a black notebook.

He told Amara that he did not sleep the night before. He was reading news and blogs from the Young Innovators Competition.

He found out that the competition was not about answering questions. It was about building things.

Victor showed Amara his notebook. It was full of drawings and calculations. Amara was surprised. She did not know what to say.

Then they heard someone clapping. It was Kola, a student from another class. He was walking towards them with a smirk on his face.

Kola said that Victor and Amara were cute. He said they were just playing with pencils. Amara told him to say something leave.

Kola pointed to a bus parked near the school gate. It was from Elite Science Academy. Their students were standing near the bus looking at tablets. They looked calm and ready.

Kola said that those students had equipment and were more prepared. Victor said that it was not about the equipment. About understanding and working together.

Kola. Said that Victor and Amara would lose. He said they should not get too comfortable.

That day Amara and Victor were in the library. They were working on a project. They had a table with lots of papers and books.

Victor was drawing a picture of a water purification system. Amara was impressed. It was an idea.

Victor explained that it was important to make something that would help people. He said that many communities did not have water. Amara said that their system could eliminate most of the things in the water.

Victor was excited. He said that their system was cheap and used ideas. Amara said that it was also good, for the environment.

They kept working on their project. They were determined to make something.

Amara pulled out her sketchbook. Started drawing the frame and how the weight would be distributed. "I will handle the dynamics and the flow rate and material efficiency calculations. If Kolas team is building micro-grids their system will be more likely to fail when they test it. Our system needs to be simple and strong."

For the three hours the library was very quiet and they worked very hard. They talked about dynamics and recalculated the voltage tolerances when the sunlight changed. They threw away the ideas that did not work and made the design better until every part had a purpose.

They were not two students trying to get a higher score on a test. The competition was different now. It was not about who was the smartest it was about making something that would actually work.

When it started to get dark the old caretaker knocked on the library door. Jingled his keys to let them know it was time to leave. They packed their bags. Left the warm library. The schoolyard was dark and a few security lamps were on.

Amara put on her backpack. Looked at the science block. "Kola has a lot of resources " she said quietly as they walked to the gates. ". Elite Science Academy has technology and money that we have only read about."

Victor stopped at the gate. Pulled up his jacket collar. He looked at the road and then at Amara. "Having a lot of resources makes things more efficient " Victor said.

Victor said again "A threat, to anyone who thinks this competition will be easy."

The wind. Rattled the fence. It blew leaves across the basketball court.

The first day". It does not make you more resourceful.

They are trying to impress the judges with machines. We are trying to solve a problem with ideas."

Amara looked at him. Felt better. "So what is our status?" she asked.

"Our status " Victor said with a smile "is that everyone thinks we are just students who study all the time."

". What are we really?" Amara asked.

Victor locked his bag. Looked at the street. "We are getting to be a threat."

Amara laughed quietly. "A threat?"

of preparation was over.

Amara knew that the real challenge was coming.

As she walked down the street she knew that the calm was over and the real storm was coming.