Chapter 2: Viral, Vilified, and Trapped

But as soon as I got to the door, I saw four or five girls gathered outside. Drama alert.

The one in front had flawless makeup, and even her hair radiated luxury. Like, hair-commercial levels of shine.

She looked like she’d just stepped out of a beauty influencer’s Instagram feed. I felt my self-esteem wilt a little more. I was a wilted lettuce in a field of roses.

I touched the pimple I’d gotten from staying up late to record experimental data. Science: 1, Skin: 0.

Ugh, I’m not jealous at all. Not. At. All.

The girl spoke up, her tone aggressive:

“You’re that show-stealer Samantha Carter, right?”

I froze. Fight or flight mode, activate.

Even if I was slow, I could sense her hostility. It was practically radiating off her.

Her name was Cassidy Monroe—a former child star turned popular actress. Rumor had it her family was loaded, the daughter of some conglomerate. Rich, famous, and intimidating.

She’d been the strongest contender among this year’s contestants. Until I happened.

But thanks to my “shocking” moment, I’d completely overshadowed her. Not that I wanted to.

I quickly understood where her animosity came from. It was written all over her face.

So I said, “You really don’t need to worry about me. Trying to beat me is like punching a pillow—I’m not a threat.” I tried to sound harmless. Not sure it worked.

I was bound to be eliminated anyway. Seriously, Cassidy, take the win.

But Cassidy didn’t believe me at all. She looked at me like I was plotting world domination.

She folded her arms and sneered, “You think acting weak will make me drop my guard?”

Huh? Seriously? Girl, I can barely function on stage.

Is it possible I really just don’t have any skills? I mean, I’m pretty sure...

Everyone has their specialty—if you want to talk missiles, I’d definitely take first place. Otherwise? Not so much.

Cassidy looked me up and down, her eyes full of confidence. She was ready to crush me.

“Let me make this clear: you can’t beat me.” Message received, Cassidy.

With that, she flipped her hair and left with her entourage. Drama queen exit, stage right.

Her heels clicked like a gavel. I watched her go, half-amused, half-baffled. Was this real life?

I didn’t get it. At all.

I was stunned. Still processing.

Why do some people love inventing imaginary rivals for themselves? It sounds exhausting.

Isn’t that exhausting? I’d rather nap.

Watching Cassidy walk away, I silently thought, Weirdo. Sorry, not sorry.

The talent show was filmed in a closed environment, but at least the staff were humane—they didn’t confiscate our devices. Small mercies.

I happily climbed into bed, opened my phone, and started reading the research papers I’d downloaded earlier. My happy place.

My labmate called me on FaceTime:

“Sam, you’ve really made our lab proud!”

“Even if you don’t win the $800,000, I’ll carry you around the center in a victory parade with the other guys.”

My advisor squeezed into the frame, waggling his eyebrows:

“Sam, I hereby announce you’re now my number one PhD student.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, but I knew they were trying to comfort me. Bless their nerdy hearts.

They must have seen the trending topics too. No escaping the internet.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. I could survive this.

After the call, I read a few more pages. Science waits for no meltdown.

Then, suddenly, someone knocked on the door. I jumped.

I was pondering a passage, phone in hand, as I opened the door. Half-expecting it to be a pizza delivery.

Standing outside were the host and a cameraman. Surprise!

“Quick little activity for the show—let’s show the livestream audience what the contestants are doing right now.”

The host leaned in to see my phone screen, motioning for the cameraman to zoom in. I tried not to panic.

“Everyone’s curious about contestant Samantha—let’s see what’s on her phone—”

“Uh, is this all in English?”

The host looked baffled. Like he’d just seen a unicorn.

I answered naturally, “It’s the latest issue of Science. There’s an article on new structural materials for equipment manufacturing that’s really interesting. The performance and ductility of this new material could be a breakthrough for missile innovation.” I realized I was rambling, but couldn’t stop myself.

The host forced a laugh, the corner of his mouth twitching. He turned to the camera:

“Haha, looks like our contestant Sam really loves learning.” You could almost hear the confusion.

The livestream audience kept growing, and the comment barrage was flying. I was blissfully unaware.

[Help, is Samantha for real?]

[It’s late at night and she’s reading some boring paper instead of playing on her phone. Such a poser.]

[Correction, Science is one of the world’s top three journals.]

[That just means she’s even more of a poser! She never even published a paper but still pretends.]

[She must be the contestant the producers are pushing—she knew there’d be a surprise livestream and is faking her persona.]

[So calculated.]

I had no idea what was happening online. Not a clue.

My mind was completely absorbed in the sea of knowledge. Blissful ignorance.

Ah, nothing beats doing research. This was my happy place.

Too bad I wasn’t in the lab—I couldn’t test my ideas right away. The itch was real.

Please, just eliminate me so I can get back to being a proper researcher! I was begging the universe.

As the host left, he asked me, “As someone who made it to the second round, do you have anything to say to your supporters?”

I blurted out, “Huh? There are people supporting me?” I was genuinely shocked.

Host: “...”

Facing the camera, I said sincerely, “Please, don’t vote for me. I really want to leave. I hope you all have a great day.” Fingers crossed.

[Who gets it? I can’t even tell if she’s trolling or not.]

[Is this some new strategy to get votes? What a savage move.]

[But Samantha looks so serious—does she really want to be eliminated?]

[Yeah right, it’s obviously a stunt!]

[If you believe she can repair missiles, I’m the President!]

Soon, the details for round two were released. Here we go again.