Yesterday night ended without another hitch, but the fact that we had to wake up early today for the photoshoot sucked all the excitement out of me. Even while sitting on the dressing room chair I could feel myself dozing off. "Look up," the hairdresser muttered, but the same instant yanked my hair towards her and I yelped in pain. Oh, so not sleepy anymore! I looked at her accusingly but her eyes seemed to say 'I told you so'. I wanted to retort back but didn't have the courage to say it to her face.

"Close your--" I closed my mouth, eyes, and nose with my fingers just in case, "eyes." The sound of hairspray being showered on my hair filled the air and my heart contracted at the thought of washing all the product out of my hair. It was going to take ages. "You're done. Don't move an inch until your makeup is retouched," she warned, her eyes fiercer than before. I watched her with my mouth agape as she sauntered away from me.

Bea and I looked at each other through our reflections, and her puppy dog eyes met mine as the hairdresser yanked opened her rubber band and picked up the comb. Sorry, Bea, I mouthed back and winced when her hair was pulled back and a thick layer of wax slapped on it.

"Miss Tyler?" I turned around at the sound of my name and saw the makeup artist smiling at me. At least she was humane.

"Yes?" I inquired, and she inspected my face before picking up the concealer again.

"Rough night, huh?" She patted the concealer under my eye and I fiddled with my necklace in embarrassment.

"You could say that," I whispered. And not because of all the drama. I took the courage and called my mother yesterday. It was tough to open up about all the incidents that had happened back in school, but she had listened to me with a warm silence. She didn't console me or anything. I honestly expected that to happen. However, she surprised me by apologizing. It was baffling and embarrassing, but she confessed that she knew I was having a hard time and was upset that she couldn't help. The crack in her voice had undone me and we both cried for a while. I don't know when but our talk shifted to the time when my father was alive and we just talked about him and how he loved the scent of coffee or ran away from home to surf. Even with his carefree personality, he was one person that I trusted the most. His death had shattered our small family into pieces. But I know, if he was alive, he would have been so proud of me for standing up for myself.

"Tyler, we are done!" she chimed. It took me a moment to get back to my surroundings.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and saw no imperfections. There was barely any makeup, or at least I felt like that. Unlike the hairdo I imagined, it was soft and flowy, only working to enhance my natural features, nothing flashy or showy. A smile crept up my face, and I nodded at her. "Thank you for your hard work."

She responded with a smile and walked over to check up on Bea. From my left, I heard a few footsteps and then a familiar voice. "Your boyfriend would have been drooling if he was here." I instantly turned and saw the casting manager that I had met yesterday. What was she doing here?

"I don't have a boyfriend," I said and earned a dubious look.

"Well, I won't be so hasty to cast away poor Brandon. He looked quite the gentleman." My eyes almost bulged out at her statement, how did she even know him? She answered my silent question with a laugh. "We have the recording of when he gave you that gift."

The recording reminded me of the airport and our farewell and my hands clasped around the tiny infinity necklace Brandon had given me. Only a few days, and I was already developing a habit to fiddle with it every few minutes. "Still, he is not my boyfriend," I insisted, and she narrowed her eyes, "yet," I added the last part under her scrutinizing stare and she grinned.

"Hmm." Her eyes swept over my face and dress, pausing for a second at the necklace, "cute." She walked away with that and I almost wished that I hadn't talked to her at all last night. Our little acquaintance-ship was not turning out to be good.

"Tyler, you look amazing! See what they did to my hair!" Bea squealed, turning around to show her hair. The intricate braids and waves on her hair stole my breath and I smiled at her.

"Wow! It looks beautiful Bea." She grinned at my compliment and assessed herself in the mirror.

"Tyler and Bea, you are next!" One of the assistants called out, and we both ran over to the studio. I picked up the cappuccino on my dressing table on the way and took a large last slurp before throwing it away in the dustbin. The shoot took an hour and exhausted after the demanding photographer and his ideas, I plopped down on the couch in the studio itself. There were only a few more hours to go before the first round of the competition itself. Will I be able to make it in one piece?

"Good morning, Ms. Tyler." This time it was the cameraman who called me. I smiled at him in acknowledgment and he continued, "We are taking an impromptu interview with our contestants today, would you like to be the host?"

"Me?" I furrowed my brows, totally taken aback by the request. "Don't you have Florence as the host?"

"Well, we plan to make this a small informal interview," he explained and tried to convince me for the next five minutes. Though I didn't have a fear of cameras, the thought of being always under the lens unnerved me. "So, will you please do it?"

"Umm," I stalled but Bea intervened.

"Yes, she would!" Bea pushed me forward and ran away before I could scold her.

"That's great. Shall we start with Francis?" He switched on his camera and hoisted up it on his shoulder. One of the assistants handed me a microphone, and I was suddenly being hurried inside the elevator. Oh, shuck it, I thought. I knew I could have said no, but it did sound fun.

"We'll start as soon as the elevator opens, so you introduce yourself and we'll go with the flow." A young female assistant producer said as she crouched behind the cameraman. I took a deep breath as the elevator door tinged open and put on a wide smile. The fact that I looked dolled up was another bonus.

"Good morning people of the world! This is Tyler Anderson, your host for the live chat we are going to have today!" I walked backward and paused for the camera to come in front of me before resuming again. "So our first stop is at Francis and his partner Roger's room. Let's see what they are up to this morning!

"So, here's their room number..." I trailed off as a loud scream filled the air. The microphone almost fell out of my hand in shock and I looked around with surprise that no one came out to check the commotion. "Looks like something is going on in the room."

I stood by his door as Francis's unmistakable voice emitted through it again. "It hurts, it hurts! Go faster, Roger!" I listened to it with confusion and tilted my head to make sense of it.

What the hell are they even doing?

Do you know? Roger is gay, I blushed as I remembered what the lady had said. They couldn't be...?

"Ah! I told you not there!" another scream followed, and I felt like a deer caught in the headlights and even the assistant producer looked flabbergasted.

"It's not s-something to worry a-about." My voice drowned out again as the sound of Francis groaning came once again.

"I told you I didn't want to try this! Why did you force me?" The words almost choked my virgin ears and I awkwardly shifted. "Umm... Should we stop the tape?" I whispered to the cameraman who looked at the assistant producer for guidance and she shook her furiously. She motioned me to knock on the door and I made a nervous face.

By the sound of their voices, it didn't look like I should interrupt...

"Okay... I will press the buzzer." I bent down and took another deep breath before pressing it. It blared loudly and I waited with an anxious heart for someone to show up at the door. Oh god, please don't let them be naked! Francis would kill me later on.

"Tyler." Francis opened the door, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw he was indeed wearing clothes.

"Francis, everything okay?" I asked him and he did a double take when he noticed the camera. "We're doing in an interview."

He straightened up at my explanation. "You heard that?" he asked in a tiny voice and all of us cleared our throat, looking away in different directions.

"I'm sorry Francis but you were so loud. I swear I asked them not to disturb you. And it's alright that you both were doing, you know-" I stopped my rambling when Francis burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Tyler, what do you think we were doing?"

I gulped and looked at the camera. Just why was he asking that? I wanted to shout at him but the camera stopped me.

"Umm, you know... Hanky-panky?" I said in a small voice and everyone burst into laughter. Embarrassed, I mumbled, "What?"

"We were not having sex, Ty! He was just waxing my eyebrows." I looked up to his red forehead and felt even more embarrassed.

"Oh," I mumbled assessing this new statement, "Oh."

"You're so funny." He laughed harder and even Roger peeked out at the commotion, his hands carrying a wax strip to further prove their point.

"So, sorry for the confusion. How was your first night here in Singapore?" I put forward the microphone as Francis answered.

"It was good. The party was killer." I nodded and the cameraman gave me a thumbs up to tell me we were done here.

"Okay, thank you for this interesting moment here. Catch you later!" I walked away when Francis called me out again.

"Tyler! You look... nice." He waved at me as I smiled at his compliment and continued on with my work.

After one hour of parading around, I called it quits.

"Alrighty, we have good enough footage for now. Thanks a lot." The cameraman gave me a pleasant goodbye and the assistant producer took me to my room before leaving off. My body felt energetic but all the questions and answers had my mind in a rubble.

I entered the room to find it was empty. We had to head down for the competition in an hour but where was Bea? Picking up the hotel phone I dialed her phone number. It rang a few times before Bea picked it up. "Hey Bea, where are you?"

"Hello?" an unknown voice replied, and I frowned, checking the number again.

"Umm, isn't this Bea's phone?"

"Uh, yes, she's just gone to the bathroom. Wait," the girl said, and I got suspicious. Bea knew no girl here in Singapore. I heard a few mumbles before someone picked up the phone again.

"Hello?" I sighed in relief at Bea's voice.

"Bea, where are you?"

"Tyler? Oh, I'm just, just in the lobby. I'm coming up to the room!"

"Okay, be fast." I put down the phone and kicked off my shoes to climb up on the bed. Lobby with a bathroom? But why would she give her phone to someone else? The door opened five minutes later and Bea stepped inside.

"Tyler, we have to hurry, they are calling in everybody early for instructions!" she announced in a hyped voice and I groaned, peeling myself off the bed. "What's our strategy?"

I gave her a quizzical stare at her curious face before shrugging it out. "Strategy? Just to win," I said and her face fell.

"You mean we will not plan the recipes or practice cooking? Maybe you have written down everything? Or do you have something special planned?"

"It's not MasterChef, Bea. You don't have to worry. Just help me along," I said.

"Oh. Are you sure though?"

"Yes, I am sure. Now let's get going." I took her hand and locked our room behind us before heading down towards everyone. We were back in the hall where we had the party last night, but it was now transformed into a cooking arena of sorts. The helpers showed us all the ins and outs of the pantry, and I made several mental notes of where everything was to save time later on. I discussed little things with Bea along the way and kept ourselves busy for the next hour before the shoot started.

"Okay contestants line up! The shooting will start in ten minutes. I want everyone to be quiet when the camera rolls. Don't be conscious of it and don't look into the camera if it's in your face," the director spoke to all the crew and we all nodded like scared little kids. The animosity towards Bella was clear in the air as she stood a little apart from all of us. From what I had learned was that Bella was here using some expensive 'connections'. It was believable because she hadn't given the audition nor had she taken part before. A girl stood next to her with strikingly beautiful features and I remembered her as Bella's partner from last night. It was a surprise that Bella allowed someone as pretty or more as her partner. They were almost like celebrity guests here to irk everyone out. But Francis and I knew Bella's motives.

"Is everyone ready?" the director shouted, and I swallowed. Shoot, I missed everything. I nudged Bea, and she gave me a thumbs up, resting my worries.

"We'll start with your entry inside the arena, don't forget to look excited. Everyone move and you take any place once you are back inside."

We all shuffled out, and I saw Sarah giving me an enthusiastic wave from across the crowd, which I returned. "I hope we do well!" I whispered to Bea, and she agreed.

"One contestant will leave today. So we have to up our game," she said.

"One contestant, huh?" A clap sounded and everyone fell silent. The door opened once again and everyone entered the kitchen in excitement.

This is it. My stomach squeezed in anticipation and nervousness and I clutched Bea's hand. We both decided on the third counter and stood behind it. On my left, I saw Sarah and her boyfriend, and on my right, the Asian guy Henry and an older looking Asian girl with him.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Senior Baking Competition, Bake It Down!" Florence appeared on the galley way on the first floor and all of us cheered for her.

"Wow, that's a lot of makeup," Bea muttered and I shushed her, pointing to the microphone attached to her. She bit her tongue and clapped her hands harder as Florence descended the stairs. The camera followed her move, and I stared with an open mouth. It did look like a movie set up this close.

"Let me introduce you to our charming bachelor, the owner of three Michelin stars restaurant Matt!" Matt entered, waving his hands and all of us clapped as told.

"He might be fifty, but his cooking skills aren't! Tony!" We all hooted and clapped, even more, when Tony entered. "Now the man who has Asia's heart in his hand, none other than our own Cheng!" As the three of them lined up, my heartbeat skyrocketed through the roof and I twisted my hands waiting for the upcoming task.

"Welcome everyone to the first live Senior Baking Competition, Bake It Down! Cheng, can you explain the rules?" Tony spoke and Cheng nodded.

"You will each have one and a half hour of cooking time. There would be five rounds in total. Each round will eliminate the same number of people as the number of the round. So for the first round, only one of you will leave." A collective sigh of relief went down the room at this news.

I just don't have to be that one.

"But," Tony added, "By the fifth round, just five of you will be left for the finale."

"Each day would be a different location or a different experience, so brace yourself for the next twelve days with us!

"Your first task is...." he stalled, just like they did in the dramas and I could imagine the drum roll music they would put behind when it would air. "To bake a cake..."

I raised my eyebrows as he was clearly not finished.

"Depicting an emotion!" Adrenaline rushed through me as I started panicking already. Bea nudged me looking shook up as well. The fact that the tasks will not be easy was something known and I chastised myself for taking it lightly. But how to show an emotion through a cake? I was the leading one, but a great idea from Bea wouldn't hurt right now.

"Your time starts...now!" The whistle blew, and I at once turned towards Bea. She was looking somewhere else, and I shook her to get her attention. We needed to come up with an emotion fast if we didn't want to land in bottom three.

"Any ideas?" I asked her.

"No, what about you?"

"I don't think-" My hand fiddling with my necklace paused and I slowly felt its texture register in my mind.

The idea bloomed in my mind like a flower and I was certain that it was the one for me. "I have got it!" I clicked my fingers together in excitement and ran towards the pantry. Bea followed me with a basket and I instantly started loading it up with the basics.

"White chocolate?" She frowned over my choice. "You know it's hard to handle and if the temperature goes above fifty-six degrees-"

"I know Bea. But I have the best idea," I said and added strawberries, milk and orange juice to the basket. "We are done, let's go!"

Quickly displaying all the ingredients on the table, I looked at the clock. We had just used up ten minutes. Still, a lot of time if everything went well. "Bea, start with the cake mixture. Get the eggs and sugar," I said and picked up the milk and the white chocolate.

"Okay on it! What are you doing?" I heard her cracking the eggs and looked around to see that almost everyone was neck deep in work.

"I'm making a milk mousse here. It won't take long!" I heated up a glass of water and added another bowl with the white chocolate in it. The process of watching it melt was tedious but extremely crucial. Temperature above fifty-six would make it lose its lightness and stirring would only separate the chocolate out. I looked over to see that Sarah was giving her interview to the cameraman as she worked and straightened up realizing it was my turn next.

"Bea, make sure you are folding it over in a J shape and not stirring," I called over and noticed she was doing just that.

"Okay!"

The camera shifted just then and I remembered the directors' warning of not looking straight into the camera. He signaled for me to speak and I rambled.

"I'm preparing a light white chocolate milk mousse here. The chocolate here is melting and after that, I'll work on mixing it." I pointed all over the place. "What's important about this method is that I'm using milk instead of whipped cream and it will make it more soft and fluffy in taste."

"Oh and the emotion I am working on is a secret!" I added as the camera shifted and switched off the stove and took off the chocolate.

Multi-tasking with Bea, we rushed to complete our task before the time. The dessert I had chosen was not a risky one, but after explaining everything to Bea as we cooked she had agreed it to be a strategic one. "I will place it in the freezer for a cold blast," Bea informed and put the mousse and the uncut cake in the freezer.

"How did you even think about it?" Bea asked as she came back and I pushed aside the sliced strawberries before answering her.

"Just a random thought." I blushed as I lied and didn't meet her eyes.

"Is he someone I know?" She came closer and I hushed her.

This was so not the time to discuss this.