In The Spotlight

Pin- New York City

People talk about the fear of having all the eyes on you. But do we discuss enough about the pure terror that comes from being up next? I think not.

I really had nothing on my mind, yet all my half-thoughts were screaming. My mind became an awful echo chamber. Nothing went in or out.

Elimination round is evil. It's the only time when everyone is directly pitted against each other. Whoever gets the least points goes bye-bye.

I did not want to be in the hot seat, especially when I had just been there ten minutes prior.

Filling out the little quiz is pretty freaky. Especially since us "petitioners" (who hadn't had much to petition for, so far) were last. The questions dug deeper than favorite color, or cats vs. dogs. This time they asked for my Myers Briggs type- which is a lot less fun to talk about after knowing it's BS- and even my high school GPA.

The other team, Pen's got closer to my grade, so they got immunity. 3.2. They guessed 3.4. I guess my team had too much faith in me. Went too high. Coiny and his optimism screwed us over.

And now he is almost done.

Ding.

There's the time.

He's still in. All I have to do is answer 3 questions in a minute. I can do that. I can do that in my sleep.

Who am I kidding? This may be my last day.

Not fully aware, I heard my name called from what felt like 100 feet.

Thank god for the screen. That way could read the questions instead of having to try and hear them.

First one is a history question. Not a great start. I was never very good at history class. Well, really I was just bad at paying attention in history.

Who was president during the war of 1812?

1812. 1812. The White House burnt down. The Washington portrait. It got saved. By Dolly Madison. The First Lady-

"James Madison!"

Suddenly, as if my ears popped, the sounds of the room are at just the right volume. Like Jesus healing the deaf. Or was it blind? Whatever. Next question.

In what year was Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up released?

No way! I actually know this one. No thought required.

"''87."

What do you call a word that makes a sound, such as 'buzz?'

Oh gosh. All the way back to English. It was a long word, I know. Because it was my 4th grade word of the week. My winning spelling bee word!

"Onomatopoeia!"

Yes! Just one more and I won't even need a second round.

What is the scientific name for a human being?

Easy! I just have to dig into my "not like other girls" era, when I called everyone that. It was like something gay. Yes. Homo.

"Homo sapien!"

Ding. That's it. It's done. Over.

4 answers. I'm safe.

I can't control myself. I do a fist pump like an idiot. High fives all around.

But I see Snowball scared half to death across the room. And I know it could've been me.

I don't get much sleep when I'm stressed. So, at 7 am on Thursday morning, which felt much more like a continuation of Wednesday night, I did not want to get out of bed. Flower, being her flawless self, was already awake.