Chapter 7 The next morning , it took us nine hours on the train and another two on a bus before we finally got to my grandmother's house , She stood at the entrance of the little town waiting for us , holding onto a huge black dog " Kelsey , you finally came back to see me . You've lost so much weight ! " " Grandma , I missed you so much ! " I threw myself into her arms , breathing in the warm , sunny smell of her clothes , and my throat caught . My grandmother thought I was scared of the big dog , so she snapped at it right away . " Rocky , hush ! Don't you go scaring Kelsey like that ! " I laughed through my tears , wiped my face , and reached down to pat Rocky's head . " It's okay , Grandma . I'm just too happy to see you and Rocky again . " But my touch didn't calm the dog at all . Rocky , usually the most obedient dog ever , barked at me nonstop . It even jumped up , pawing at my hand as if it were desperate to tell me something . My grandmother's smile faded . She narrowed her eyes and asked me in a serious voice , " Sweetheart , something happened , didn't it ? You can tell me everything . " Her words eased the heaviness I'd been carrying in my chest for days . I grabbed her arm , to whine playfully . " Nothing happened , Grandma . I just missed your cooking . " leaned on her shoulder , and pretended She gave me a look and clicked her tongue , but didn't push it . Instead , she just tugged me toward the house , with Rocky trotting at my side like a shadow . That night , she made creamy fish chowder , and one spoonful calmed me down more than anything had in weeks . The four of us sat outside under the wooden trellis she'd built . Rocky stretched out by our feet while we chatted about everything and nothing , listening to crickets and feeling the breeze . I got so comfortable that I almost nodded off right there . The next two days , I followed my parents and my grandmother into the fields to help with farm work . When the sun got too hot , Rocky and I splashed around in the creek to cool off . At night , we ate fresh vegetables straight from my grandmother's garden . Mark tried to reach me a few times , but I ignored every call . Eventually , I just blocked him . For once , with nothing weighing me down , I felt free , as if I was finally stepping out of the shadows of my past life . But peace didn't last . Soon , my phone buzzed with a call from a familiar voice . " That last section really is tough . Do you have any ideas ? " It was Jesse Doyle , a junior from my department , the same guy I'd asked for help before . Jesse was one of the other students guaranteed admission to Arkenville University , just like I was . He wanted to apply for Professor Briggs's graduate program as well , which was how we'd gotten close . But since he was still a junior , he hadn't signed up for the competition this year . When I first decided to quit , Jesse was the only one I thought to call . My teammates had worked so hard , I couldn't just walk away and ruin everything . Asking Jesse to step in was the only way to keep them from losing all their effort . On the phone , we bounced ideas back and forth , trading possible solutions . His energy sparked something in me , and I felt that old fire for coding return . I grabbed my laptop and typed out pages of notes and approaches for him . With Jesse on board , I believed we still had a real shot at winning this . But that was exactly when things took a turn .