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dad when they arrived to pick him up on Saturday. Darren’s best friends, Ethan and Kyle, were always complaining about how late he was. It was a habit he was trying to break. Fiona’s dad honked the horn in greeting as Darren bounded down the front steps two at a time and climbed into the backseat.
    â€œBreakfast?” Fiona asked as she held out a box of doughnuts.
    â€œDefinitely!” Darren replied as he grabbed a chocolate one with sprinkles on top. “Thanks! And thanksfor the ride, Mr. Murphy. Or do you prefer Professor Murphy?”
    â€œYou can call me Mr. Murphy,” Fiona’s dad said with a chuckle. “Only my students have to call me ‘professor.’ And I’m happy to give you two a ride to campus. I’m very impressed by you both—spending a beautiful Saturday in the library, working on your book reports. I can’t say I was that responsible when I was your age.”
    Darren glanced into the side mirror and caught Fiona’s eye. From the way she raised her eyebrow, he could tell that she wanted him to play along.
    â€œWell, you know. Gotta get it done,” Darren said. “My mom always says— I think you know my mom, Sharon Smith? She’s a professor in the chemistry department?”
    â€œYes, Fiona mentioned that,” Mr. Murphy said. “A very impressive scholar. I don’t know her very well, but I heard she won a pretty prestigious research grant last month. . . .”
    For the entire hour-long drive to New Brighton University, Darren kept up a steady stream of chatter with Fiona and her dad. When they arrived on campus, Mr. Murphy rummaged through his wallet andpulled out a plastic card. “This is my faculty key card,” he explained. “Remember, the rare books room is technically closed on weekends, but you should be able to access everything you need through the digitized versions on the computers. If there’s any problem with that, just use my key card to get into the rare books room, where you can find all the original source materials.”
    â€œThanks, Dad,” Fiona replied as she slipped it into her pocket. “Meet you for lunch?”
    â€œSounds like a plan,” Mr. Murphy said. “I’ll see you in the dining hall at noon. Good luck with your reports!”
    As soon as he was out of earshot, Fiona turned to Darren. “Sorry,” she said in a low voice. “I had to make up an excuse for why we needed to be in the library. Thanks for playing along.”
    â€œNo worries,” Darren told her. “I don’t think he suspected anything.”
    â€œYou’re really good at that,” Fiona said.
    Darren’s face wrinkled in confusion. “Good at what?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know, talking to people,” she said. “It seems so easy for you. Like you always know what to say. I cannever think of the right thing to say until, like, five minutes too late.”
    Darren was surprised. Supersmart Fiona had trouble coming up with the right thing to say? That was news to him. “That’s not how you come across,” Darren reassured her.
    â€œReally?” she asked.
    Darren shrugged. “To me it’s like . . . like you’re only going to speak up if you have something worth saying,” he said. “That’s why when you talk, people listen.”
    Fiona blinked rapidly as she glanced away, but Darren thought he saw the hint of a smile on her face. “We should get to the rare books room,” she said. “I hope we can find what we need quickly, but if not . . .”
    Darren had only been in the rare books room once before, when he and Fiona had accidentally run into each other while their parents were at work. After they had decided to start research for their Changers reports, Fiona had introduced him to the rare books room, her favorite place on campus. What they’d learned there about