Chapter sixteen : Everly

Twenty-five of the the one hundred and fifty were selected. We were all ushered to the auditorium and seated. Momentarily the stage was taken by a woman and the auditorium was engulfed in silence, "Good afternoon everyone, first of all congratulations to the contestants who made it through the first round. As all of you are aware about the rich history of the National Mathele. Only the top students make it through the selection process and after the first round that number is reduced to less than half. Every year the biggest companies sponsor this event in the hope of finding some prodigy for themselves. Over this long journey one of these companies have become a constant, a part of this family, the Adler Enterprises." She took a pause and then continued, "Adler Enterprises has been with us through thick and thin. They've been aiding students over the time, making it possible for them to get a step closer to their dreams. So today, with great honour I welcome the CEO of the Adler Enterprises, Mr. Lucifer Adler–"

Lucifer? Did I just hear Lucifer? My gaze snapped back to the stage and I saw him. Making his way on the stage, oozing with power and authority, it was really him. He greeted the woman and then moved to the podium, "Good afternoon everyone, " his voice was deep and rich just like before. How did I not notice it? Lending me that amount of money would've been a piece of cake for him. And even after he told me his full name I didn't see it. How stupid of me.

He was a man on top of the hierarchy. Way beyond anybody's reach. Looking at him earlier I easily made out he was a man from wealth but this was beyond that. He was someone who made business ventures out of the ashes. I'd read about the CEO rather him, he built the company from nothing, he made his way from the cut throat market, only to stand at the top. If not anything else the man on the stage proved one thing, dreams could become reality. But something struck me. How did I manage to get myself involved with him?

The auditorium erupted in an applause, people stood up. I looked back at the stage, he was done with his words and I had missed them all. I stood up and joined in. He greeted everybody and then made his way down the stage, my eyes following him all the time. He got down the steps and then a woman approached him, she smiled at him and then wrapped her arms around him, he hugged her back. She placed a kiss on her cheek and whispered something in his ear and he smiled. They might be friends, okay maybe good friends I told myself. "You see that woman," a girl beside me said to her friend. Oh great, I knew what was coming next. "She's his rumoured girlfriend," she said. Her friend's mouth dropped open and she murmured something.

Great here came the doubt in my mind and something else and I very well recognised it, jealousy. Why was I even feeling like that, I mean I had nothing to do with him in first place. My eyes went back to her, the woman was beautiful, like really beautiful. She was in a peach colored dress which fitted perfectly on her body, her shiny blonde hair fell down on her shoulders. She was perfect, perfect enough to stand beside a man like him.

What the hell! What was wrong with me? Why did I sound like a heartbroken lover? Oh man there was seriously something wrong with me. I was totally out of it and I couldn't afford it at this moment. I rushed out of the auditorium and into the washroom. I splashed some cold water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror, "You've been a stranger to kindness Everly for years, and now that somebody showed it to you, stop latching onto him. Nobody wanted you from the beginning, even they took you in with a hidden motive damnit. You can never belong. Now get your mind straight and win this thing." I told myself. I knew I was being too harsh with myself but after what I'd been through this was the only way to protect myself from getting hurt again.

As I walked back to the auditorium there was no sign of Lucifer or his date. They might have left, which was good for me. I headed to my seat and settled down. Half an hour later, the woman was back on stage, "Thank you everyone for your patience, now with all the preparations done let's begin with the second phase. As I call out your names please come on the stage."

And then it finally began, names were called out and students made their way up the stage, looking for a desk with the placard of their name. "Everly Madigan," she called out. I stood up and walked to the stage, my heart racing with every step I took. The woman cross checked my data and motioned to the desks behind her. I found my name on the first desk from the right, I sighed in relief, at least no lights on me.

I shifted the chair and settled down. The desk had a notepad and a pen with a buzzer which was placed at the upper right corner. More names were called out and finally all the contestants were seated at their desks. The woman went backstage and her place was taken by a man who looked overly enthusiastic. "So we finally have our top twenty-five contestants in front of us. Congratulations all of you for making it this far. So before we begin let me lay down the rules. This round is what we call the buzzer quiz round. You'll be presented with twenty questions of varying difficulty, and scores will be given accordingly. You'll have to press the buzzer in front of you to be eligible to answer the question. The first one to press the buzzer gets to answer. At the end the top two contestants would be faced with five questions. Any questions?" No one had any doubts, the man smiled, "Looks like we have a great bunch of students this year. Before we begin let me take the honour to introduce the judges."

Names were spoken, people clapped, and a lot other voices. But my eyes were fixed on the notepad in front of me. This was it, it was now or never. Now that I looked back, it was a long journey here and there was no way I'd be heading back empty handed. The man spoke again, this time his tone sterner than before, "So everyone let's commence this round–"

Yeah let's get this over with.