11
That afternoon, Adam rallied the others to go for a walk around the resort grounds, pointedly excluding Liam and me. We were curled up on the sofa, digging through old social media posts and comment threads from his time on Idol Factor.
Adam and Zoe shot us a look dripping with pity, as if we were complete idiots. I knew exactly what they were thinking: going outsi- de meant more screen time, followed by drones and camera crews, a perfect opportunity to build their brand and gain followers. Meanwhile, we were stuck inside, doing nothing.
Adam left, looking every bit the triumphant hero.
At 2 PM, after Liam and I had finished our online deep–dive, I gave him a look.
He hesitated. “Aria, I don’t know if this is a good idea…”
“Hurry up. Stop stalling.”
Taking a deep breath as if plunging into icy water, he opened his phone’s camera. At the same time, I turned to the single remaini-
ng camera in the lodge.
“Hey everyone, my brother and I are about to go live. Room number 645183. Feel free to drop by if you’re interested.”
The live–stream chat: ???
Three seconds later, our private stream was flooded with viewers.
Liam and I lounged on the sofa, snacking on chips, watching the chaotic scroll of comments. “Slow down, guys,” I said calmly. “One
question at a time. No need to rush.”
A huge number of people had joined, and most of them started hurling insults immediately. I casually started banning users while replying
“Such a filthy mouth. Did you forget to wipe after your last trip to the toilet?”
Once I had some control over the chat, I started picking out questions to answer.
A user asked: “What’s your take on your brother stealing Adam’s debut spot?”
I fired back: “If you beat the person ranked second in class, what place are you in?”
The chat: “First.”
Chapter 2
10.30
I nodded. “Exactly. Adam was ranked twelfth. Instead of blaming him for not being good enough to beat the person in eleventh, why are you coming after my brother?”
The chat: “…Okay, she kinda has a point?”
Another user: “But Liam can’t sing or dance. He didn’t deserve to debut. If you remove him, Adam would have made it!”
Their questions were sharp, and my brother was looking at me like a kicked puppy.
I shifted my position, a sly smile playing on my lips. “Are you guys Adam’s fans?”
The chat: “No, we’re just neutral viewers who can’t stand injustice.”
I laughed. “So you, as ‘neutral viewers,‘ are allowed to feel injustice for Adam, but other neutral viewers aren’t allowed to like my
brother and vote for him? If a random person can speak up for Adam, why can’t another random person vote for my brother to
win?”
A few commenters started getting agitated: “Liam has no talent! What would a neutral viewer even see in him?”
“His face,” I stated, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. “If a guy like Adam, whose face looks like a desperate attempt to be clever, can have fans, then it’s perfectly normal for people to like my brother, who is objectively gorgeous. Who ever said good
looks can’t be a career?”
The chat: “…Well, she’s not wrong about that.”
Because let’s be real. Liam’s face was a work of art.
