Meanwhile in Sydney:

"I am so excited for this contest!!" Ruel said, while jumping around in his studio. "Michelle, are there any good entries?"

"Naaa. I mean, they are good, but I sorta expected some better pictures." Michelle said, while scrolling on her laptop.

"Oh." Ruel said, with his head hung low. The real reason he was excited for it was because there was a slight chance he may have a member close to his age on his team.

"Oh Ruel. Don't worry. Someone good will come in." Michelle said encouragingly.

"Yeah I hope." He sat down with Michelle on the sofa.

Suddenly Michelle's phone dinged with a notification.  She opened her phone to view it.

"Oh, Nate's calling me outside. I'll be back in sometime. In the meantime, see if any good entry pops up." Michelle said while getting up from the sofa.

"Yeah okay." Ruel said nonchalantly. He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his socials. Suddenly, Michelle's laptop dinged signaling there was a new entry. At first Ruel decided to ignore it and continue on with viewing his socials, but then curiosity got the best of him, which made him drop his phone on the couch and picking up the laptop and putting it on his lap. After accessing the new post, his mouth hung open.

"Oh wowwww." Ruel said, not able to take in what he just saw.

Picture courtesy:
Adalyn Mia Henderson
Age 17 years old
Adelaide, Australia

"No way." Ruel, who was still unable to take in this picture, gasped out. But, the fact that the picture is taken by someone his age made him more excited. Knowing that there is a big possibility Michelle will love this picture, he got excited as it opened up the door to Ruel having an age mate who will also be his team mate. Even though it was only a 2 week internship, he was hoping for a strong friendship with the intern.

Ruel quickly dropped a message to Michelle telling her about this breathtaking post.

Five minutes passed,
No reply from her.

Ten minutes passed,
Still no reply.

Fifteen minutes passed,
And the only notifications Ruel is getting are his family and friends' group chats. But no message from Michelle.

Ruel started to get impatient, so he went out where Michelle and Nate were having their conversation. Just as he was about to turn the corner to talk to the both of them, he stopped just before turning. The whisper like conversation between his manager and photographer made him stop right in his tracks.

"I told you Nate. I told you." Michelle said, while rubbing her forehead with her thumb and forefingers.

"Michelle, he deserves to be happy." Nate tried to reason with Michelle.

"I asked you if I could keep the age limit higher. But you said no." Michelle reverted back.

"May I know what's wrong with that?" Nate said, getting angry.

"Do you even remember what happened last time we had a team member close to his age? Between him and her? Things changed completely. He was completely off guard. I get it, he was happy. But what about the pain he went through after that? Do you even remember anything?" Michelle said, getting impatient and angry herself.

"Michelle, what are the odds that your intern is exactly Ruel's age and is a girl?" Nate said with anger, but he made sure not to get too angry. He didn't want to spark a fight between the both of them.

"I know I know you're right. I was just trying to be careful Nate." Michelle said, while sitting on the bench kept outside.

"Its okay, you aren't wrong to worry about Ruel." Nate said, while sitting with Michelle himself.

Michelle pulled out her phone and one notification made her eyes widen.

"What happened?" Nate asked, surprised as to why Michelle was wide eyed.

"Look." Michelle said, the same anger coming in her voice again, while showing the screen to Nate.

"Oh no." Nate said, his own eyes widening.

Ruel

A new entry came. Extremely beautiful picture!
It's by some girl named Adalyn, who's 17 years
old. Come quick I want you to see it! Looks
winning worthy to me.

"What are we going to do now?" Michelle asked Nate, hoping to get an answer from him. But he was as confused as her.

On the other side, there was Ruel, standing behind a wall, completely out of their view. He couldn't believe all that he heard. He wanted an age mate with himselves, but it looks like there's no chance. He got sad and went inside where he was sitting earlier. He then got angry, as he was not happy about how his own team mates don't trust him. He sat there for 10 minutes, completely indulged in his thoughts of anger and sadness. The door suddenly opened, revealing Nate and Michelle, which snapped Ruel out of his thoughts.

"So, I got your message. Sorry I wasn't able to reply back straightaway. I was having an important conversation with Nate." Michelle said, while sitting down on the couch with Ruel. Michelle and Nate didn't know that Ruel had heard their whole conversation.

"So, show it to us Ruel." Nate said, while sitting down on the chair adjacent to the couch.

Ruel picked up Michelle's laptop and scrolled until he reached Adalyn's post. Michelle and Nate gasped at looking the photo; they seemed to like it.

But Michelle and Nate knew this girl can't be selected, because of her. So they quickly exchanged glances and changed their reactions.

"It isn't that good." Michelle started.

"Yeah, I think if we wait, some better entries will come." Nate continued.

"Hmm you're right. Something better will come if we wait."

"Yeah. This looks fake don't you think?"

"Yeah it sorta does."

Michelle and Nate were actually in love with it, they knew it was 100% real but they couldn't select it, only because of her.

Ruel, on the other hand was getting furious as he knew exactly what they both were doing. Impatience got the best of him again, and he spoke up.

"Stop it both of you! I know exactly what you're doing. I eavesdropped on your conversation. You can't even trust me?" Ruel let out angrily, which made Michelle and Nate exchange glances as they each let out a sigh.

"Ruel, we can't let you go down the same road again." Michelle said as she got up, trying to reason with him.

"Yes Ruel. Because of her, you changed completely. You got distracted and were off guard all the time." Nate tried to do the same thing as Michelle.

"As your team and your second family, we can't let this happen to you." Michelle continued.

"So then you won't choose the deserving winner, but some lame person besides that?" Ruel spat out.

"If that's what it takes." Nate said.

"No, you're wrong, this girl deserves it. Look at the picture, it's so beautiful. I know you both like it." Ruel let out.

"Yeah we do Ruel. You saw right through our act." Michelle said.

"But we can't let the same things happen, as they happened between you and Olivia."

______________________________
Author's note
Interesting, isn't it? Well stay tuned for more updates, they will clear everything.
If you liked it please vote.

With love through health and sickness
Keziah