George stepped onto the university's innovation center campus, backpack slung over one shoulder, his heart racing like a drumbeat. Students buzzed around in clusters, already forming ideas and alliances. His name tag hung awkwardly on his chest: George Green, Silvercity Young Innovator Finalist. It looked important. It felt heavy.
The theme was announced: "Design a solution to a real-world social problem."
George blinked. His mind immediately jumped to the foundation his mother had created—how she'd poured her soul into building safety nets for women, children, and abandoned elders. He could do something with that. But first… the team.
A girl with bright red braids and a clipboard approached him. "Hey! You're George, right? You're with Team 3. We've been waiting for you."
He was led to a small conference room where three other students sat—two were college-level, already typing furiously into laptops, and one was a boy about George's age, fiddling with a sketchpad.
"George," the girl said, offering a firm handshake, "I'm Lila, the team lead. We've got 72 hours, and I heard you're something of a prodigy."
George hesitated. "I don't know about that."
But Lila grinned. "We'll find out."
The first brainstorming session was tense. Ideas clashed. The older students didn't take George seriously at first, dismissing his suggestion of a smart aid distribution system for single-parent families. But George stood his ground.
"My mother ran a foundation. I saw firsthand how systems fail the most vulnerable," he said, voice firm but calm. "We can build something lean and functional. Not flashy. Effective."
The room quieted.
It was the first time George truly felt the shift—that maybe, just maybe, his voice carried weight beyond his family circle.
By the end of the day, Team 3 had settled on a design plan inspired by George's concept. He caught Lila glancing at him with a new kind of respect.
Later that night, back at the apartment, he texted Mariana: "You were right. I don't have to be alone in this."
And though she was already preparing for her own departure to the small worlds, her reply came instantly: "Never alone. Not now. Not ever."