The cheating Elite

It was the semifinals. About five schools were remaining in the competition, of which Melrose was presently in fourth place. Two schools were to be eliminated in the semifinals, for the remaining three to advance to the finals.

Oliver was still on the lookout for any suspicious happenings. The three of them were invited back to the stage for the semifinals.

As they stood amidst these groups of rich kids coming from the top most expensive schools in the world, they were forced to compare themselves and open their eyes to the fact that they had very few chances of lasting till the finals. They watched the blonde-haired boy from All Elites academy, casually spell unfamiliar and ambiguous words, without attempting any error, or hesitation.

"My god, he's good," Lilah muttered.

"Why wouldn't he be, he attends the most expensive school in the country, not some charity-funded orphanage academy," Olivia replied.

"Yeah, we don't stand a chance against any of these rich kids. What's the point of continuing, when it's obvious we're never going to make it to the finals," Lilah said.

Professor Eric MacDonald, who has been listening to the girls' conversation from the back, approached them.

"You shouldn't be saying that you know," he said.

"I really know how intimidating it is for orphans like you to compete with children of Lords and Elites who seem to have a more professional academic background, but I don't see the reason why you should lose your hopes at this stage of the competition. Right now, this is already history in the making. I believe you guys can advance to the finals and win this thing," Prof Eric explained.

The two girls chuckled nervously at the comment he made.

"Professor, it's really funny and surprising that you actually think we; a bunch of poor levels 0 nobodies, could win such a big competition as this," said Olivia to Professor Eric.

The professor's forehead wrinkled with curiosity.

"Since you both seem to have no hopes of winning, tell me, Miss Lilah, of what reason then are you here for?" he asked.

While Lilah and Olivia were discussing with the professor, Oliver remained silent, with his eyes firmer. To him, this wasn't the time for aimless conversations. He put in all of his focus because presumably, his life was in jeopardy.

"To be honest, Sir, I personally had no intentions of winning. I guess I'm just here for the experience," answered Lilah.

"That's what I call losing a battle before it even starts. You girls should start looking at the bigger picture. Think about how it's gonna be if you kids win. Think about it... A group of poor level 0 nobodies like you, winning the biggest spelling bee event in the world. What a sight..." said professor Eric.

The two girls were silent now, pondering on the words of the professor. They were soon called out to the stage. The semifinals seemed to be tougher. They were being introduced to various words which could literally knock someone out. Words that sounded like they were formed at that very moment, and whose pronunciations were miles far from their spellings. So many schools were getting eliminated by the passing moment.

When All Elites academy took the stage the next time, Oliver observed something fishy about the blonde-haired boy. Oliver saw it suspicious that the boy had singlehandedly spelled all the words for his school ever since, without failing anyone. Oliver detected that the boy always looked in a particular direction whenever he was spelling a word.

"Something's not right about him," Oliver muttered.

"Yeah, he's like super smart," Lilah said.

"It's not that, he just keeps staring in that direction," replied Oliver.

"You're right. I wonder what he might be starting at," Olivia said to Oliver, as she followed the boy's gaze.

"Oh my god," she muttered under her breath, with her eyes wide with shock.

"Over there, can you see what I'm seeing?" she asked, pointing at a woman in the audience, who was moving her lips in a strange way.

"You mean that weird lady that's whispering to herself?" Lilah said.

"That weird lady happens to be who he's looking at," said Olivia, "And she's not just whispering to herself."

"She's telling him what to say," Oliver said, "He's probably using super auditory abilities to hear her from that far distance," he added.

Oliver and the others found out that the blonde-haired boy from All Elites academy was an ability user, and that all along they thought he was some brainiac, he was nothing but a cheat. This angered Olivia the most, because seeing him spell all those difficult words with ease, made her underrate herself, and moreso, doubt her capabilities. At this point, she was literally red in the face.

"This is so not fair, guys. I personally wouldn't condone such," Olivia said, her voice spiking with rage.

"What are you gonna do?" Lilah asked. She looked at her and was surprised to see that her hand was already raised up.

Without further hesitation, Olivia called the attention of the moderator and reported to him that one of the contestants for All Elites academy was caught using super auditory abilities to cheat. At first, the moderator with other apathetic managerial members decided not to show interest in the complaint, but luckily enough, an obstinate member of the judges insisted that Olivia's complaint should be considered.

With the aid of an ability usage detector, the truth was revealed, and the accused was disqualified from the competition, leaving the other two high and dry.

Since the blonde-haired boy got disqualified from the competition, All Elites academy gradually began to drop. It was as if their only savior was gone. Due to All Elites well deserved misfortune, Melrose gained a bit of an upper hand and boosted their points. Melrose also gained a little motivation, as they had come to the realization that All Elites weren't though as smart as they thought they were.

At the end of the semifinals, Oliver and his teammates were in great disbelief when the final qualifiers were announced. Melrose had miraculously qualified for the finals. This was what they thought; as they couldn't explain the unexpected. But then it was further elucidated that their so-called unexplainable qualification was mainly a result of the disqualification of one of All Elites contestants. Unknown to Oliver and the others, there was another penalty All Elites contestants got for cheating, apart from disqualifying the offender. Half of their total points were also to be taken from them, but even after that had been done, they were still the leading school. The effects of the All Elites penalty was that there was now a large difference in the number of points they were leading with, and that factor became a perfect game changer for other contestants, especially those like Melrose, who unconsciously utilized it to the fullest.

"I never believed we would actually make it to the finals," Lilah said, her eyes still wide with astonishment.

"Me neither," Olivia replied, "The professor was right. Right now I believe we can win this thing," she added.

As they were now in third place, they began to see their odds of winning from a whole new perspective.

Oliver, on the other hand, was a bit worried because joining in the finals meant that their stay was going to be prolonged. He had a feeling that the more he stays there, the more the risk of him falling into danger. He stood there on the stage with the others, more vigilant than he had ever been. His heart was pounding so fast and so hard with a strangely irregular rhythm, as though it was threatening to pop right out through his chest.

Suddenly, for the first time since the start of the competition, Olivia finally called Oliver's name. He quickly turned to her. Only his eyes could reveal slightly, how surprised he was.

"As much as I dislike talking to you, I really need to ask you a question, Oliver Logan," she said to him, staring meaningly into his eyes.

"Well... I'm all ears," replied Oliver in a thoughtful tone.

She stepped closer to him.

"At this point, I'm starting to see things differently. I want to kick those kids rich assess, Oliver, I want to win this shit... But I don't know what you want. I'm stuck with you, but I don't know what you want. What do you want Oliver Logan, do you want to win this thing?" she asked him.

"Yeah, fam, that's the million-dollar question," Lilah said with a smile.

Oliver scoffed aloud within his mind. It sounded so lame to him that he almost expressed his irritation openly. His life was in serious jeopardy and she was asking him if winning a mere competition was what he wanted, as if that even mattered to him. He couldn't blame her though, how was she supposed to know, he thought.

"Enough with the silent treatment, Oliver. Do you want to win?" asked Olivia, a bit impatient this time.

"I don't know," replied Oliver, shortly.

The two girls were totally puzzled by the response from Oliver.

"You don't know?" muttered Lilah.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, I don't know, and I bet that sounds crazy. But think about it, maybe I want something else more important than some trophy," Oliver said in the most persuasive tone.

Olivia seemed to be puzzled more, rather than convinced.

"What the hell are you talking about? It's a competition, what more could you want, other than winning?"

Just at that moment, the announcement was given for the finals to commence. The three qualifying schools were All Elites academy, Upper crust high school, and lastly; Melrose high.

Oliver had dropped his old backpack at the foot of the chair he sat on before they were called out to the stage. The brown bag was leaning against the foot of the chair, just like any other crappy old bag, hidden from the enthusiastic onlookers, even though it was within their eyesight. Suddenly, it fell on its side. The zipper gradually began to creep open.