During their date on Saturday, Mr. Gianini tells Mia’s mom that she skipped algebra tutorials Friday, so Mia has to spend Sunday “having the quadratic formula drilled into [her] by [her] demented father” (89). Mr. Gianini also tells Mia’s mom that there will be a pop quiz on Monday, and while Mia admits “that was kind of nice of him and all” (89), she is convinced that she is going to fail anyway, because she has always been bad at math. Mia’s father warns her that if she fails algebra, he’ll make her go to summer school in Genovia. Mia decides to “[write] out the quadratic formula on the white rubber sole of [her] Converse high-top” (90) so she can cross her legs and look at it during the quiz tomorrow.

Mia spends the next morning worrying about getting caught cheating on the algebra quiz. She wonders if she could get expelled and if she will “have to wear the scarlet mark of being a cheater for the rest of [her] high school career” (91). She wonders if college or Greenpeace will turn her away if something like this goes on her permanent record. She tries to wash the quadratic formula off, but she “must have used indelible ink or something” (92), because it won’t come off.