Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Today is the day.

The day Nathan and Lila has been waiting and working for. The Quiz Bee King and Queen.

After days of contemplating, Lila finally made her decision and promised to herself that she will win the contest. Unlike the past days, today, the quiz bee day, Lila was already awake at five o'clock in the morning. She doesn't want to waste few more hours before the competition. Even though she was able to review well, she still want to bombard her mind with new information she might need in order to win.

"Okay, inhale... exhale..." Lila kept on doing breathing exercises. This is the first contest she will join after her last quiz bee in elementary and it has already been four years. She looked in the mirror and her messy hair together with her big round glasses reflected. She never doubted herself but this time, the beating of her heart is different. She's nervous.

"You can do it. Make yourself proud," she said as she talk to herself in the mirror. The quiz bee will start at eight o'clock but she needs to be in school at around seven thirty. Without wasting any more time, Lila decided to start preparing for school.

Since no one lives with her in their house, Lila prepared breakfast good for one people, just for her. It's been months since her parents left for work and she finally got used to it. At first, of course, it was saddening, being alone but Lila found the solace in it. She found the happiness in being alone, being able to do what you want to do without thinking about other people. She found the comfort of not relying to other people, but only to herself. It made her stronger and happier in a way she have never imagined before.

"Time check! Six-thirty." Lila looked at her watch as she stepped out of the house. She just took a small bag with her and nothing else. She decided to leave her reviewers because she won't be able to review anymore once she arrived at school, so she thought, what's the use?

When she stepped out of the house, the cold wind embraced her body. The sun is still on the verge of showing out but it seems like the clouds would probably cover it. In short, the weather is very good today, so Lila decided to enjoy the cold weather and preferred to walk towards the school.

She took her earphones out as she walk and decided to play a song of Taylor Swift, her go to playlist. It took her almost 20 minutes to arrive in the school because she took her time in walking, she enjoyed every minute of it.

"Hey Lila! You're here," Miss Santos greeted her as she walk in the hallway. Lila's lips curved upward and she bowed as a sign of respect. "Yes, Miss. Am I early?" Lila laughingly said which made the professor smile. "No, your just in time. Are you ready? Have your reviewed well?" Miss Santos continuedly asked. "I'm nervous, Miss. Let's hope and pray that Nathan and I will win." The two continued walking. After quite some time, Nathan and Sasha finally arrived.

"Good morning, Miss Santos. Hi Lila!" Sasha cheerfully greeted the two. Nathan, on the other hand, who looks very smart with his glasses on, simply smiled and waved. "Good morning, you two. Nathan! You look ready huh," Miss Santos laughed as she messed Nathan's hair. It made the three students giggle as well. "I'll make you proud, Miss," he claimed with a very confidence voice. Unlike Lila who just wants to make herself proud and nobody else, Nathan is her exact opposite. Nathan, being an ultimate geek and achiever, wants to impress and make every people around him proud. He likes winning a lot but he still keeps it in a good way.

"It's already seven thirty, kids. The program is about to start, be ready Nathan and Lila, okay? I know both of you can do it." In an instant, the three students were left and Miss Santos was already walking towards the stage. 

"I will not wish both of you good luck anymore, because I know for a fact, you'll both win." Sasha crossed her arms as they walk. Lila laughed. "Stop saying that, our contenders seems smart and I think it's going to be a huge fight." Lila took her phone out because it kept on ringing. It's her mom. She immediately left Nathan and Sasha talking and went straight to an area where no one stays at.

"Hi ma," she greeted. "I just want to wish you luck. I know you don't need it but still, I believe in you." Lila smiled as she hears the words coming from her mom. Even though it seems like they left her, she still waits for their call from time to time. "Thank you, ma." With that, Lila ended the call. It may just be a few words but it meant the world for Lila. It made her more eager to win the title.

At exactly seven-thirty, the program finally started. The contenders of the Quiz Bee King and Queen were asked to go to a certain room. There are twenty participants, ten females and ten males but their competition is separated. 

Lila looked around the room, it was filled with a dark aura even though no one is talking with one another. Ever since the time Lila knew that she will be joining the quiz bee, there's this certain person she kept on looking out. It's Dana. Rumors have speculated that Dana is really brainy and it seems like she is. They never became classmates but Dana is the top student from their class, that's why out of all the participants, it was her whom Lila is really threatened about.

After ten minutes of pure silence, the coordinator of the quiz bee finally entered the room. "Good morning guys! In fifteen minutes, the quiz bee will start. Just like what was mentioned in the previous meetings, the female category will be held first and then after, we will have the male category. Just to reiterate, we will have three rounds, okay? The easy, average and the difficult round. There will be ten questions each round but the questions will be given a number of points corresponding to its round. For the easy, 1 point and for the average, 2 points. The three participants with the highest scores from the easy and average round will advance to the difficult round. Each question in the difficult round is equivalent to 5 points. The highest pointer will be held as the Quiz Bee Queen but if there's a tie, we will provide two questions and the first participant who will answer the questions correctly will be declared as the wiiner. Got it?" the coordinator explained and everyone nodded. In fact, the participants were already given a copy of the sets of rules and Lila has reviewed it hundreds of times, better safe than sorry.

"Here's your white board and your marker. Remember, the questions will be asked twice and you will be given ten seconds to write your answer. When the timer stops, you should have already raised your pens or else, your answer will not be considered. I wish you all the best and good luck," he continued as he passed on twenty white boards and markers towards the students.

Lila immediately tried on her marker when she finally got her materials. It's working. Nathan also did the same. "Good luck, Lila. I know you'll ace it," Nathan whispered to Lila which made her smile. She may seem cool but in reality, her heart was already pounding so fast. "You too, good luck, Mr. Quiz Bee King," Lila replied which made Nathan giggles. The thought of him being the Mr. Quiz Bee King and Lila, being the Quiz Bee Queen makes his heart flutter. "Thanks, Ms. Quiz Bee Queen." Lila laughed and nodged her.

"Okay, female participants, be ready. The host will call you in a minute," the coordinator interrupted their conversation. Lila stood up and took the white board and her two markers with her. Before Lila left for the stage, she and Nathan did their friendship handshake. 

"I believe in you," Nathan said with a smile and waved towards Lila. As an answer, she smiled and turned her back to Nathan as she walks towards the stage. 

From the backstage, Lila took a peek at the people watching. There's a lot which made her heart pound even more. She was never used to this, she was never used to people watching her and cheering her so she took a deep breath and took a peek one more time. She saw Sasha, with a banner which says "Lila, Our Quiz Bee Queen! <3" and there were three more banners with her name on it from her classmates which made her smile. Before she want to earn the title for herself, but now, seeing her friends and classmates cheer and believe on her, makes her want to earn it for them. She smiled.

"Welcome to the annual Quiz Bee King and Queen!" The crowd cheered and  the whole gymnasium was filled with claps and noises from the students. "Are you ready to meet are contenders?" the host continued which made the crown even more wild. "But reminders, once the quiz bee has finally started, any form of noise will be prohibited. It might distract our contenders so the person or people who will do so, will be escorted out and his or her sections' participant will be automatically disqualified," he explained which made the students agree.

"We will not hold it any longer, here are the participants of the annual Quiz Bee Queen!" The host started calling out the names of the participants. The students inside the gymnasium are cheering everytime their representatives are called.

Each time someone gets called, Lila's heart pounds even more. It's as if her heart is beating out of her chest. As she waits for her name to be called, she kept on breathing in and out. Only Dana and her are left backstage. When Dana's name was called, Lila immediately called her attention. "Hey, good luck!" she said which made Dana smile back. "Good luck, too. May the best one win," she replied and in an instant, the crowd was already cheering her as she steps out of the backstage.

"Now, we're down with our last contender! Are you ready to meet her?" The crown went wild again especially Lila's classmates. "For our last contender, let's welcome Lila Ashley Santiago from fourth year section emerald!"

Lila stepped out as her name was finally called. The lights blinded her eyes for a bit and her ears was bombarded with the cheers coming from the audience.

She never knew people this many would cheer for her, from nervousness, her heart started pounding due to excitement. She can't wait to make these people proud.

Lila looked at Sasha and their classmates, she flushed her beautiful smile and whispered to herself, "For them."