Chapter 11: Bumblebee
Cards: Special tools to spice up the competition by giving the contestants certain advantages—or enable them to dish out disadvantages to their opponents.
[Ooh I wonder what she'll get]
[Not like we can tell; the cards only have barcodes]
[Still!]
[Good luck Iris]
Currently, Iris had one hand in the black box, and was praying for her long overdue luck to strike and give her a headstart in the form of useful cards.
Elbow-deep in the box, she resolutely grasped onto two cards and pulled them out.
Flip!
The first one was blank.
"Huh?!"
[There's always another one...]
[Chin up!]
[Sending her luck rn!!!]
Iris didn't care if her gasp drew everyone's attention. Not believing her eyes—or perhaps as a final struggle in the face of her terrible track record with drawing—she flipped her second card back and forth.
And back. And forth again.
[Omg...]
[It's really...]
[2 blanks...]
Nope. Both sides were as white as her complexion right now.
[Poor Iris]
[She defied so many odds with that pull]
[What kind luck did that person send?! Come out!!]
Larry peered over her shoulder and winced. "Ooh... Tough luck! Those cards are <The Fool>, and there are only two in the box. Well, were."
[LARRY, PLEASE]
[She looks dejected enough already]
Under a multitude of sympathetic glances, Iris sighed and slunk back to her seat, resigning herself to watching everyone else draw their cards and scan the barcodes on them to input into their phones.
'I can't even be jealous at this point,' Iris thought, flashbacking to all the times she had never won anything during lucky draws.
Suddenly, two phones pinged.
Ding!
Ding!
Madeline and Tops reached for their phones, but both had varied expressions upon reading their notifications: Satisfaction flashed by Madeline's face, whereas Tops groaned and buried himself further into the sofa.
"What happened?" Sara, who was sitting beside him, asked.
Tops shoved his phone towards that person and lamented, "Got taxed by Madeline's card."
They all looked at him questioningly. In reply, Sara read the contents of his screen aloud.
"The paired cards <Cupid's Tax> and <Eros's Blessing> have been activated. You must give one Cupid Coin to the holder of <Eros's Blessing> every day starting from today. Failure to comply will result in doubling the tax on the next day."
This time, the sympathetic looks returned twofold.
Tops got up and plodded over to Madeline, placing a pink coin into her waiting palm. "Here," he said, hand lingering on hers whilst shooting her puppy eyes.
Madeline accepted his Cupid Coin and retracted her hand coolly, unfazed by his pitiful look.
When Tops passed by Iris on his way back, he shot her sad smile. "At least you're not alone now?"
Iris didn't know what to say to that.
***
After the card drawing session concluded, the contestants were given some free time before dinner while Lary went off to goodness knows where. Most of them were extroverts who chose to remain in the living room and get to know each other better, but a few retreated to their rooms to rest or wandered off to explore the rest of this gigantic mansion.
Iris was one of the latter, and she was making her way up the stairs five minutes after she'd seen Skyler go there—to feign coincidence, of course. With every floor she climbed, she subtly checked if Skyler was there, mindful of the Bumblebee drone following her, until she reached one last door.
[ooh someone else went to the rooftop just now]
[who]
[hottie #12]
[GASP 1V1 interaction?!]
[And it's unscripted???]
[That was fast]
[How do you know she's not following him?]
Iris entered the rooftop and found the one she was looking for. He was leaning against a railing, half-turned towards her when he heard her footsteps.
"Hi," she started. "Didn't expect to see someone else here."
'Now, how to talk in riddles so the audience don't figure us out...'
"You're Skyler ri—"
"Hang on a second." Skyler cut her off and stomped towards her like a man on a mission, eyes trained above her shoulder.
"What are you— Oh my god!" Iris jumped as he suddenly raised an arm and slapped the drone hovering near her.
Thunk!
With one mighty hit, the Bumblebee drone whizzed across the air and went tumbling over a railing.
"There was a bee behind you," Skyler deadpanned.
Although they couldn't see him, the livestream viewers heard Skyler's distorted voice as the drone plummeted down below.
[????????]
[Wth just happened]
[He slapped the friggin drone]
[No **** sherlock]
{User23819106 has been silenced for 2 hours}
[Did he not know this is a drone?]
[Maybe the Bumblebee is too modern for him]
[Lol]
[Uh who's controlling this bee]
[Why isn't it flying back]
[Oi is the director seeing this??]
[Hey let us watch the rooftop!!!]
(Larry was, in fact, not seeing this at the moment.)
With the extra eyes gone, Skyler relaxed. "Now we can talk."
"That drone costs more than the grand prize" were the only words that came out of Iris.
She peered over the railing at the malfunctioning device buzzing around downstairs like a drunkard. It definitely wouldn't be able to record their conversation in that state.
"Good slap, though."
"Thanks." Skyler joined her and squinted. "It'll survive."
"You do know it's not a real bee, right?"
"Of course." He stepped away and maintained a respectable distance from her. With his action, a tense line was drawn over the lightened atmosphere. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Our strategy," Iris replied, straightening as well. "During our date, Bob— I mean, Travis suspected I was here with my ex. I played it off as a joke, but I don't know if he buys it."
"You want to throw him off our tracks."
She nodded. "And the others, too. I was thinking we could set some ground rules and try to—"
"No need," Skyler asserted. "Just keep doing whatever you've been doing for the past three years."
Iris frowned. "What?"
Skyler stared into the distance, his expression cloaked in shadows as he elaborated, "Avoid me. You seem good at that."
He sounded so flippant that her mouth dropped. "Isn't it common courtesy to avoid your ex?"
"Exactly. So you shouldn't be here."
Iris closed her mouth. She couldn't fault him with that, but...
"Avoiding you openly will make us seem more suspicious," she reasoned.
"Then avoid me less openly," he quipped.
"That's virtually impossible."
"Our history says otherwise."
It was like talking to a wall. Iris scowled. "You are a child."
"Learnt it from you."
"What did I even do?!"
She threw her hands up in frustration, glaring at the infuriating man before her, but he didn't even flinch as he answered stiffly, "You know what you did."
Message received: He was still mad about their breakup.
Or rather, the fact she'd unilaterally ended things.
Iris fought the urge to stomp off and gritted out, "If it's an apology you want, I'll apologise. But don't act like everything was my fault and you're the only one allowed to hold a grudge."
"You—"
She cut him off, "Look, I don't want to argue with you."
Skyler's eyes were hard and cold. "Then don't. Just leave like you always do."
Iris swallowed a scathing retort and exhaled deeply, striding towards the balcony door with unwavering purpose.
They weren't getting anywhere at this rate.
"As you wish!"
Skyler didn't follow her.
She hoped he fell off the railing and into the pool.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
While descending the stairs with heavy steps, Iris heard a hushed giggle around a corner. She saw the vivacious brunette—Sara—reach out to touch someone's arm. Or chest. She couldn't tell because the guy was concealed by a wall.
At least someone else was having fun.
***
The Beloved Imposter Mansion was truly built in the perfect neighbourhood. Each mansion sat on acres of land and was at least four stories tall, which made for excellent views miles all around. Man-made hills embraced the skyline, cloistering this place in a serene, exclusive community. Flowering trees lined the winding roads beyond, a quintessential picture of spring.
But Skyler wasn't in the mood to admire the scenery. He was clutching the metal railing like his sanity depended on it, replaying their argument in his mind.
Although he'd gotten an "apology" from Iris, it didn't make him feel better. Was it the lack of sincerity in her voice, or the fact that some wounds couldn't be healed by mere words?
He hadn't meant for things to turn out this way, but being here—seeing her talk to him as if nothing had happened, trying to negotiate terms like associates in a meeting room... It had flipped a switch in him, one that negated all sense of civility.
She brushed the past off so easily, like flicking dust off one's shoulder. Was he less than a speck of dust to her? He felt like a fool for expecting anything.
And what did she say? That not everything was her fault?
"Hah..."
Skyler ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. He pushed off the railing and trudged back indoors.
She just didn't see things from his perspective. She never did.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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