117 | Jookie's Sister

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BOTH

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BOTH. Thinking it over, I sat on the bed, taking in everyone's theories and thoughts, running them through my head like a database until something clicked.

"I think both of you could be right," I said aloud, drawing everyone's attention back to me.

"How can we both be right?" Rucker asked. "You can't have it both ways."

I motioned to Khan. "What if the thirteenth contestant does exist," I said and then pointed to Rucker. "But they weren't with us when we first dropped from the cages. What if they were already backstage?"

"What do you mean?" Khan asked.

"Jookie definitely said there were thirteen of us. We all remember that," I said, sitting up straighter. "So did the viewers. They voted on us, remember? But they've only been watching twelve of us in the house. I think the creators hid the extra person because they wanted to make a big splash later."

"But it's not really a big splash when the viewers already know they exist," Yaz said, pulling on her messy hair. "It would've been more surprising if they said it was twelve of us from the start, and then brought in another person."

"I agree with hook feet," Rucker said, making Yaz glower. "If the viewers picked and voted on us, they would've known who this thirteenth contestant is —they voted on them! How could they not know? Which means all element of surprise is gone, meaning why hide them? If this unknown contestant actually exists, they would've participated in the game with us from the start because the creators had no real reason to hide them." 

"It's possible that the voting didn't go down like that," Khan said, turning to Rucker. "There were only twelve entry tapes posted on the app. The producers of the game could've let the viewers only pick twelve of the contestants, and they got to pick the last one."

"Which gives them the right to reveal them whenever they wish because they picked them," I said, making Khan nod.

"I guess," Rucker said, shrugging. "I think the thirteenth contestant died sometime that day."

"That is totally possible," I said, rubbing my eye. "But it's also possible that the surprise isn't that the thirteenth contestant exists, but who they are." I glanced at Khan. "You said that one of your fans mentioned there being previous seasons, right?"

"Correct," Khan said, inclining his head.

"Well, there's this girl — Bae who I met twice now," I said, looking at him. "She did my makeup for the one-on-one interview I did with Jookie a few months back, and when I talked to her about the game, she talked about knowing what I was going through. She also has pink hair, which goes with the strawberry-pink obsession."

Khan's eyes spiraled like two butterscotch cartwheels. "She could've been a previous contestant."

"What if they're building her up to come back on the show and be Layla's killer and the unknown thirteenth contestant?" I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. "It'd be a big shocker and a big ratings event."

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