Prologue

PROLOGUE

YORK

1992

I was bored out of my mind.

My sixth-grade classmates were still working their way through a math test, but I was done already. Not with that test but with math. High school math.

I couldn't analyze why, but math made sense. Math spoke to me in a way that nothing else did. Math was predictable, constant, true. It didn't matter if you were happy or sad. Math stayed the same. Math never attacked you, never judged you, never mocked you. Math just…was.

My parents didn't understand, and I'd stopped trying to explain. Even my math and science teachers had given up on getting my parents' permission for extracurricular activities. They'd say no anyway, like they'd done all the previous times, so now the teachers went behind their backs. They shouldn't, and we all knew that, but what choice did we have?

"York," Mr. Wilkins, my math teacher, whispered, and I looked up. "Come here. I have something fun for you."

My heart skipped a beat. If Mr. Wilkins called something fun, it was fun. He knew the kind of stuff I liked. As quietly as possible, so I wouldn't disturb the other kids, I slid from my chair and approached his desk. What had he found for me? He always tried to keep my brain busy, which wasn't an easy feat.

He handed me a stack of papers. "I think you'll like this. These are the problems for the last International Mathematical Olympiad, which is like the World Championship Mathematics Competition for high school students. This year, it was held in Beijing, and I managed to get my hands on the problems the teams had to solve. Want to give it a try?"

I nodded.

"They're difficult problems, though, involving geometry, number theory, algebra, and combinatorics. Think you can handle that?"

I rolled my eyes, and he laughed. "Have fun, York."

The entire world disappeared as I dove into those problems. Mr. Wilkins had been right. The exercises were challenging. But not so hard I couldn't do them. It just meant taking it one step at a time. Math was patient. It would wait for me to work my way through it.

I worked on it the rest of the day, and after classes had ended, I returned to Mr. Wilkins and gave him back the papers. "Are you done already?" He looked surprised.

"No, Mr. Wilkins, but you'd better hang on to them. I'll come get them tomorrow morning."

"Oh, you can take them home, York."

I played with the straps on my backpack. If Essex found them or even caught a whiff of me hiding them, he'd set them on fire or throw them into the waterfall behind our house like he'd done with a special math book Mr. Wilkins had given me. "That's okay. I like working on them at school. Gives me something to do."

"Okay." He put a warm hand on my shoulder. "One day, you'll be famous, York Coombe. You're the smartest student I've ever taught, and you'll go far in life."

"Thank you, Mr. Wilkins. Sometimes…" I swallowed. "Sometimes, I wish I was like everyone else."

"It's not easy being different."

"No. They call me a freak."

He squeezed my shoulder gently. "Buddy, that's called jealousy. People get jealous when others are smarter than they are, or they judge because they don't understand it."

Was that why Essex was such a dick? I was way, way smarter than him. Heck, I did math that he couldn't figure out…and he was in high school. But I couldn't ask anyone this. No one knew what was going on, and besides, who would believe me? My parents sure didn't. I'd told them a few times Essex was mean to me, but they were convinced I was making things up.

Only one more year until he graduated. If he graduated. His grades hadn't been that good lately. I would happily do his math homework if it meant he'd go off to college or wherever.

He'd been talking about joining the Marines. I didn't care as long as he was gone. The Marines sounded good. That meant he wouldn't be home for the school breaks and holidays. I liked that thought.

"If the name-calling gets too bad, you'll tell me, York, right?"

I agreed with a noncommittal hum. I hated lying, but I also couldn't tell Mr. Wilkins the truth. "Thank you for the math problems, Mr. Wilkins. I'll see you tomorrow."

He studied me for a moment longer, then nodded. "See you tomorrow, York."