She didn’t even need to look to know how they’d see her. How they'd belittle her. Her emotions were all over the place, and predictably, she bombed the rest of the questions.
When the scores were finally announced, Joy had only managed to scrape 73 points, landing her ninth in her group. That score was painfully low.
Joy walked off the stage, utterly dejected, casting a cloud of gloom over the Austenberg team. They were too disappointed and upset to even comfort her. How on earth could Joy, who had performed so flawlessly in the previous round, crash and burn so badly this time?
“Joy, are you sick or something? Or just in a bad mood? This performance... it’s nothing like the last one,” someone asked bluntly.
“Maybe this is her true level,” Selene smirked.
Joy reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, snapping, “Selene, what nonsense are you spouting!”
“Why so defensive?” Flora glanced at her coolly. “Hit a nerve, did I?”
“You! All of you!” Joy was fuming, her face flushed with anger.
“Flora, what’s there for you to be so smug about? Think you’ll definitely score well? You might end up doing worse than me! Better watch out, or you’ll be the one everyone’s laughing at!”
After her outburst, Joy plopped down in her seat, sulking. She knew deep down, Flora would undoubtedly score higher. Regardless of her feelings towards Flora, she had to admit, Flora's talent was almost supernatural. And that just made her even angrier.
The host called up the next group of competitors. One by one, they made their way to the stage. The rest of the competition was relatively uneventful. The Austenberg team performed steadily—not spectacularly, but at least they maintained their usual standard.
Mr. Tanner was somewhat satisfied. He smiled and nodded encouragingly at each contestant as they came off the stage, acknowledging their efforts. Just standing there and competing was an achievement in itself.
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Patiently waiting for your updates dear author......
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Thank you for the updates. God bless!...