Today has to be perfect.
Magic.
I look at the clock.
10:14 am.
Ten fourteen. One plus one is two plus four is six plus ten is sixteen minus one is fifteen minus two is thirteen. OK.
I turn from the clock and walk into the hallway. "Ready.”
Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. With Jake on the field, Carson City High can’t lose, because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because getting it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life.
Jake’s convinced the magic will be permanent after Saturday, the perfect day, when every prime has converged. Once the game is over, he won’t have to rely on his sister, Kasey, to concoct excuses for his odd rituals. His dad will stop treating him like he is some freak. Maybe he’ll even make a friend other than Luc.
But what if it doesn’t work?
What if the numbers never go away?
Acclaimed author Heidi Ayarbe has created an honest and riveting portrait of a teen struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder in this courageous and breathtaking novel.
Top 10 ways Jacob spends his time.
10. Playing soccer
9. Imagining life without the "need"
8. Worrying about his sister, Kasey.
7. Chewing his food 5 times on one side of his mouth, 7 times on the other.
6. Tapping the grandfather clock three times.
5. Trying to appear normal.
4. Perseverating about that one night.
3. Enabling his mother.
2. Thinking bad words that should be washed out with soap
1. Adding, subtracting, dividing, and square rooting the time until it is a prime number.
0. Ten is not a prime number, therefore I must add one more - Holding still until the time equals a prime number.
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