𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒, t.blade

014: Finals

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"and the first girl who is safe is....", Austin says, dragging out on the answer to create tension. you eyeroll, hoping that the one staying is Stephanie. "MAIA!". you don't let your emotions reflect on your face as you realize what that means.

Maia herself looks like she just unarmed a bomb seconds before it exploded. you suck in your upper lip, trying hard not to show what you think. Stephanie's expression, however, stays unbothered. wow, she really meant what she said then.

"Karl why did you decide not to vote Maia out?", Austin asks him.

"well, you see, I like FaceTiming people I'm close to and-", he abruptly gets gut off by Sapnap.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LIKE TO FACETIME PEOPLE YOU'RE CLOSE TO? KARL KNOW DAMN WELL THAT'S A LIE OR YOU'RE DEAD", Sapnap says sounding angry and hurt, but you know it's all acting.

"what do you mean by this Sapnap?", Austin calmly asks the mad Texan male. "he never FaceTimes me and I'm his fiancée. or maybe he's lying to me. and if so, I'M LEAVING YOU FOR QUACKITY", he finishes his hurt speech with a weird kind of threat.

you try to suppress the growing smile on your face but to no use as your whole face lit up. you hear Dream wheeze and George mutter "omg" under his breath. Minx is laughing her ass off and Karl seems to have gone pale in shock. then he clasps his hands over his mouth, jumping out of his chat going back and forth whisper-screaming to himself. you let out a shaky laugh at first, but as you forget about what everyone thinks your laugh becomes more genuine.

~~~

you're on the last round, there is you, minx and Stephanie left. you guess what she said when she was in the bottom three at the beginning of the show really made an impact on Karl. you're happy for her but at the same time, you want to win, although you doubt it.

Minx and you actually have chatted during breaks, not quite sure if you're allowed to or not. you don't trust her enough to have told her if you chose lover or host, even though she asked. she pretended to be hurt by that but actually took it very well.

she's funnier to be around than you first thought, and you can well imagine the two of you becoming great frenemies. because Minx isn't nice to anyone besides Niki. oh geez, you had totally forgotten about Niki. you still had to thank her. you just felt uneasy not being able to fully show her your gratefulness.

"in the bottom three...", Austin says dramatically as ever. "we have...", another dramatic pause. like, there are just three girls left, it won't exactly come as a shocker. "y/n, Minx and... Stephanie!". you slightly frown. he's saying it like Stephanie would be better than you or Minx, she's not bad, she's overall a lovely girl, but that's called favoritism Mr. Austin sir.

"so Karl, are you ready to tell me who is safe and who is not?", he then asks.

"yes, I'll dm you now", Karl responds, rather quickly actually. hm. is the elimination that easy for him? or is there something that is making him rush through this whole process? after all, the process is the whole show. you're not worried, no. just curious naturally. and suspicious but that's a conversation for another time.

"okay, the first one to stay in the last round is.... y/n!", Austin calls out. you see yourself turn surprised on the screen as you realize that you've made it to the final round. you actually have a shot at winning. holy shit. 'this would mean so much clout- uhhh, I mean, such a beautiful friendship with Karl?', you correct yourself, even though you're almost certain that no one here can read minds. just paranoia playing its tricks.

"woah, that's wonderful, I- hm. thank you", you smile goofily at your screen, actually genuinely for once. you see Karl smile back at you, his teeth showing which is unusual. Stephanie looks like a wreck though, chewing her lower lip. you can't help but feel bad for her, but there goes her whole chill look. Minx, on the other hand, seems to not care whether or not she'll be eliminated. guess she's been on the show too many times to care if she wins or not.

"and our second tribute to the finals is... Minx! congratulations", Austin cuts your chain of thoughts. you perk up slightly, coming back to reality.

Minx herself is staring at her screen in shock. she looks like she expected to be eliminated, not a thought of making it any longer. Karl smiles nervously at his own screen, knowing that this revealed who he wanted out. and he really doesn't like hurting people's feelings from what you've seen so far. Stephanie looks defeated, but not that sad about it.

"and now to see what Stephanie chose...", Austin says. "she chose... she chose HOST!", he then almost screams into his microphone.

Stephanie looks directly into the camera for once, an apologetic look on her face as she says "sorry" to Karl and leaves the call as asked to by Austin. Karl looks conflicted about her choosing host, but it also looks like a lot of acting. who knows?

"this means that both Minx and y/n will be alone with Karl each before he has to choose a winner. will it be minx or y/n? we don't know!", Austin hypes up chat.

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