Melody's classmates and teacher immediately assume this and she absolutely hates it. They take Melody for granted and later in the book realize that she is just like them. Melody manages to prove them wrong by joining the quiz team, passing the exam with a perfect score, and helping them get to the finals in Washington, DC. With excitement and feeling like she belongs for once, something bad happens, her flight is cancelled. Melody was unable to attend the competition due to the weather and since she didn't fly with the team she was able to go and compete. They feel depressed and have let his team down, everyone apologizes