In the morning, we had the school talent show.

A time for the Girl to shine, a time that brought applause and high fives.

The evening brought the second and final round of the Battle of the Books. The girls got in on a wildcard, and they were terribly excited about the prospect of being able to win the whole thing.

They were asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the competition, and everyone laughed that it was definitely a good sign.

They were up against the school that, in their minds, was the favorite to win the whole thing. The first round went quickly: seven questions to each, no mistakes from anyone. But these were the easy questions — they questions they’d been given before. “The practice questions” the judge called them. And it showed: very little consultation for each question from either side.

Round two featured questions that they’d never heard. Gone were the immediate answers. The teams sat huddled talking about each question, and after our girls gave their answer, the tension immediately increased as we waited for the magical words: “That is correct.” Everyone trying to read into the judge’s body language, tone, facial expression. A slight pause from the judge and everyone thinks, “No! We got it wrong!” only to have that assumption mercifully shattered: “That is correct.”

And then it happens: we get a question wrong. The other team swoops in for the bonus points (3 instead of 5) for answering it correctly.

“Now team B will get their next question.” Everyone knows what this means: there’s only one way for our girls to continue. The other team has to get this question wrong, and they have to get it right to get the bonus points to tie the match. But they get it right. And the girls’ faces all drop.

The winning team comes over and shows perfect sportsmanship:

But that does little to take the sting out.

Afterward, the girls talk about the answer and they’re sure their answer was just as correct as the other team’s, but it’s for naught.

Or is it?

There’s much to gain from losing, and perhaps even more from losing unfairly. If losing builds character, as they say, unfairly losing builds even more.