Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Please settle down, students." The gymnasium that was filled with so much cheer earlier completely turned silent. "Now that we have finally met all of our contenders, our Annual Quiz Bee Queen will start," the host said with a smile. "Since I have already mentioned the rules earlier, I will just remind everyone to keep quiet. For our contenders, no asking of questions and definitely, no cheating. Okay?" he continued which made all the female contenders nod.

Lila's hands started to sweat due to nervousness but she tried her best  to push the nervous feeling away. Her heart and mind became one and her perseverance in winning the title overpowered all the emotions she was feeling.

"We will combine your scores from the easy and average round and the three contenders who accumulated the highest points will then advance to the difficult round. Good luck ladies."

The ten female contenders are forming a half moon shape. They are ten steps away from each other to ensure that no cheating will ever occur. Lila took a deep breath and looked at opponent exactly at her opposite direction. Even from afar, she can still clearly see Dana looking straight at her with a smirk on her face. It didn't bother her. Instead of smirking back, she smiled and turned her gaze on other things.

Lila became attentive when she heard the host spoke. "The easy round will now begin. Good luck. Question number one, who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903?" The question was repeated twice. "You have ten seconds to write your answers. Go!" When Lila heard the word "go", she immediately took her marker and wrote her answer. How can Lila ever forget this woman? Her father kept on mentioning this woman ever since she was a kid. He wants her win a nobel prize in the future, just like Marie Curie.

In split seconds, Lila was already done writing her answer down so she immediately covered her white board and raised her pen as a sign that she was already done. "Three... Two... One... Times up! Raise your boards." Everyone got the correct answer. It was Marie Curie who won the nobel prize in 1903 for her and her husband's study regarding the spontaneous radiation discovered by Becquerel.

"All of you already have one point. Question number two for the easy round, what is Earth's largest continent?" Again, the question was repeated twice. Lila didn't had to think much because she already knows the answer to the question, she is a daughter of a geographer, after all.

When the contenders heard the signal, all of them started writing their answers on their white board. "The correct answer is Asia! Congratulations, all of you are correct." The audience clapped and no one ever dared to shout and cheer for their bets. Now, each contender have two points, including Lila.

"Moving on, question number three. How long do elephant pregnancies last?" When the contenders heard the question, most of them got confused. Unexpectedly, Lila's gazed focused on Dana who was again, smirking at her. Lila ignored her and wrote her answer down. "Times up! Raise your answers." They immediately followed the instruction. "The answer is twenty-two! Only Dana and Lila got the correct answer." 

The easy round have passed and Lila and Dana got the highest scores. Both of them answered all the questions correctly. "One round down, two more to go," Lila whispered to herself and looked at Sasha's direction. It seemed like Sasha was just waiting for Lila to look at where she is because when she caught Lila's eyes, she instantly waved and flushed her gummy smile. Lila, in return, smiled back at her. 

"The average round is about to begin. Two points each correct answer and remember, this round will be the eliminating round. Only three will advance to the difficult round. I wish you all good luck, and let's start." Lila closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. It took her days of reviewing for this, people are here because they support her, she was chosen because her professor believed in her so now, the best thing that she can do is to believe in herself and make the people behind her proud. "Question number one for the average round, how many pyramids of Giza were made?" The question was repeated twice and when Lila heard the "go" signal, she instantly wrote her answer. This is the perks of having a geographer as your father, you have an abundant knowledge about the earth, its inhabitants and its significant geographical locations. Lila grew up hearing a lot of stories about certain places all around the world. She even became interested in becoming a geographer just like her father when she was a kid, but now, her dreams have changed and today, she wants to become a surgeon.

"The correct answer is three!" It was only Lila and Dana who answered the question correctly.

Ten questions were asked during the average round and it was finished accordingly. The committee took a five minutes break to tally the scores of the female contenders. "Hey!" Lila looked at the person calling her, it was Dana. She instantly raised her eyebrows and smiled. "I know it's going to be between us but I wish you all the best." Lila's face was filled with shock. When she met Dana earlier, she thought that Dana is so competitive, the type of person who doesn't want to fail, the kind of person who focuses too much on winning and actually doesn't care about the other competitors but hearing her words right now made Lila confused. "I'm competitive, yes. But of course, I also want to make friends. I feel that you're really intelligent and very respectful, at the same time. I just want to commend you for that," Dana continued which made Lila smiled. "Oh, that's so nice of you. Thank you, I feel the same way for you too except that I thought you were mean." The two of them laugh. "Friends?" Dana offered her hands and Lila gladly accept it. "Friends." They shook hands and laugh as if they already knew one another for a long time. "May the best one win," Dana said and then she went back to her place.

"We finally have the names of our three contenders who got the highest scores and will now move on to the difficult round!" The students cheered. In fact, they already knew those three contenders but of course, an official announcement is still needed. "Among all our contenders, two of them got a perfect score which instantly served as a spot for them in our top three. Let's all give a hand to Lila and Dana!" The crowd went wild. Yup, you read it right. Lila and Dana answered all the questions correctly.  "For our last spot, she earned a total of twenty-five points during the easy and average round" Let's all give a hand to Beatrice! Congratulations ladies! And to the participants who didn't made it to the final round, thank you for joining." With a heavy heart, the seven female contenders made their way out of the stage.

Now, only three ladies are left vying for the title of the annual quiz bee queen. "Since we're running out of time, from ten questions, we decided to cut it into half. Only five questions will be asked. Every correct answer is equivalent to five points and now, the contender with the highest score will be held as the Quiz Bee Queen. Are you ready, ladies?" the host asked enthusiastically. This is it, the final moment. One last push for the trophy. The gymnasium was filled with silence which made Lila's heart pound.

"Let's start! For the first question, what is cynophobia?" For a moment, Lila can't think of the answer. She knows the answer but a small pinch of doubt is filling her body. But she trusted her gut, when she heard the siginal, she wrote her answer- fear of dogs.

While waiting for the countdown, Lila closed her eyes and prayed for her answer to be right. "The correct answer is... fear of dogs! Congratulations, all of you were correct." Lila sighed with a relief. All of them already have five points each. The three of them are undoubtedly brainy so the competition is now about who have the most powerful memory.

"For the second question, what sport is dubbed as the king of sports?" The question was asked twice and again, all of them got the correct answer. It was soccer. The competition is getting intense and you can really see how all of the contenders does their best in answering the questions.

The competition continued. Two more questions were asked and now they are down to the last one. Lila and Dana answered all of the four questions correctly. Beatrice, on the other hand, wasn't able to answer the third and fourth question which made her automatically the second placer. Now, it's between Lila and Dana. Whoever gets the correct answer for the last question will bring home the title of the Quiz Bee Queen. If ever, both of them will answer the question correctly, a new question will be asked to break the tie.

Lila and Dana looked at one another. Despite the rivalry for the title, they kept it cool. They are both deserving, after all.

"Can you guys feel the heat? This is intense! Now, we're down with our last question. Are you ready guys?" the host said cheerfully. This is unusual, because no one, even those who are watching from the audience, created a single noise. They were nervous as well. Lila and dana was asked to move to the center. Lila immediately extended her arms towards Dana. "Good luck!" she smiled and Dana wished her good luck as well. After shaking their hands, they moved to their designated places.

"This is the first time that two contenders were able to answer all the questions starting from the easy round up to the difficult round correctly! Both of you are commendable but only one will bring home the title. For your last and final question, what countries made up the original Axis powers in World War II?" The question was repeated again. "You have thirty seconds to answer, your timer starts now!"

The question was hard. For the first five seconds, Lila and Dana was just looking at one another. When they remembered the answer, both of them immediately wrote it down. Dana wrote- Germany, Italy and Korea. Lila, on the other hand, wrote- Germany, Italy and Japan.

Both of them were not sure with the last country they wrote. Nervousness became evident in their faces. Lila's heart started beating so fast, her hands started trembling. But between Lila and Dana, who got the correct answer?

"Three... Two... One... Times up! Raise your whiteboards!" Lila instantly looked at Dana's answer and Dana also did the same towards Lila's. Both of them wrote the first two countries the same, but when it came down to the last one, it was different. The only thing you can hear inside the gymnasium is the moving of the fans. Everyone was nervous. 

"The correct answer is... Germany, Italy and what do you guys think is the last country?" Some of the students shouted Korea while some shouted Japan. No one really knew the answer except the committee and the host. Even Lila and Dana were still confused with the answer. "We now have our new Quiz Bee Queen because the correct answer is..." Lila closed her eyes and placed her hands in her chest.

"Japan! Congratulationos Lila Ashley Santiago!" The crowd was filled with cheers. Everyone looks very happy with the results. Dana immediately hugged Lila who can't still believe what just happened. "Girl! You won! Congratulations!" Dana greeted her with a face full of smile and with no regrets. It was a tough match, after all.

"Let's give a warm of applause to our newest Quiz Bee Queen, Lila Ashley Santiago!"

Lila can't believe it. She looked at the crowd, everyone was rejoicing, everyone was cheering for her name. It felt surreal.

With a smile, not just with her face, but also with her heart, Lila moved forward and accepted her trophy. Everything was worth it. If someone asks, who was that girl who answered all the questions during the quiz bee correctly, you should answer:

That girl named Lila.