Rise To Stardom

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

We all sat in the expansive living room. Some were on the sectional couch, some leaning against the wall mingling with the other contestants and some vloggers were giving their viewers a tour of the mansion.

Family members lingered around before they had to say goodbye and, for me, that was mom and Aubrey. Aubrey was still processing that my mom was standing right next to her. Despite that, she was spilling the tea about her and Liam.

According to her, they were just dating. Nothing was official yet, but I was already their biggest fan. Mom had been putting a bug in my ear to ask one of the producers if I could go back home when dad only had a week left.

The thought occurred to me that they would keep our phones until we go home to prevent us from voting for ourselves. The voting system was strictly for the viewers watching.

However, I noticed a house phone perched on the kitchen counter when I gave myself a tour. I may not be able to text or have access to any of my social media accounts, but as long as the caretaker could get in touch with me somehow, none of that bothered me.

Also, I would still be able to call mom any time I wanted and I wanted to be the first person Aubrey called when she and Liam became boyfriend and girlfriend. Another contestant approached me earlier.

Her name was Kayla Wright, one of the vloggers that was touring the house. It would be nice to know someone here to make this experience more bearable and I had a feeling we'll get along swimmingly. Unless she gets eliminated before me.

If that was gonna be the case, I was going to be doomed. The producers announced their presence by opening the front door.

“Good morning, contestants! We hope you love this house because this will be your home for the duration of the show.” Rob, who seemed to have been the leader of the producers, declared.

“There are a couple of things we need to discuss with all of you. Number one, we will have to confiscate your phones. To vote for a contestant, a viewer would have to text your name to a six-digit number. If we let you keep your phone, you could vote for yourself. To keep this competition fair, we’re gonna need to take them.”

“B-b-b,” a girl stuttered. “But what if you're an influencer? My fans need updates.”

I rolled my eyes. Already, I knew that she was going to be fun to live with for weeks. She would probably quit just to get her phone back.

“Doesn't matter, miss. We need to keep this fair,” Rob explained as the other producers went around to take everyone's phone.

I saw this coming so I turned it off and didn't bother bringing it to the house. I explained that to the producer when she got to me, but she pat me down to make sure I wasn't trying to sneak it in. At least it was a woman. A man patting my back pocket would've gotten kneed where the sun didn't shine. Rob gave us the number for the house phone just in case a family member needed to contact us.

Mom and Aubrey were furiously typing the number into their phones before Rob moved on. “My friend, Savannah, here will explain some things to you.”

Savannah explained the rules of the show such as avoiding interacting with the judges to prevent bribing. At that, I felt eyes burning into me.

I scanned the room for the culprit and found her looking me up and down. Her brunette hair was in a high ponytail and she was clad in a pink, floral mini dress, her brown eyes shooting daggers at me.

My anxiety kicked in. We hadn't been here for an hour and I already made an enemy. I didn't even know what I did to make her scrutinize me, but I wished the Earth would open up from beneath me and swallow me whole.