"Absolutely," she confirms with a warm smile. "This quality deserves to be shared. And our staff would be thrilled."
"I'd be honored!" I manage to say, still slightly stunned. "Thank you so much!"
Patricia makes a final note on her clipboard, then moves to the front of the competition area where a microphone and small stage have been set up. The other judges follow her.
The crowd starts gathering, sensing the announcement is coming.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your incredible creativity and enthusiastic participation today!" Patricia's voice carries clearly across the square. "We had twenty-three entries this year, which is a record! The competition was fierce and the quality was outstanding across the board!"
My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat. Grayson's hand finds mine, squeezing gently. Theo stands solid beside me. Nash's hand rests reassuringly on my shoulder.
I want this so badly. Want to win. To prove I'm good at something. Have something to be proud of. Please let us win. Please.
"After careful deliberation and tasting," Patricia continues, building the suspense expertly, "the judges have reached a unanimous decision. The winner of this year's Oakridge Gingerbread House Competition, with the highest scores in both presentation and taste, goes to..."
She pauses. The crowd is silent.
Waiting.
My hands are shaking.
"Reverie and her Alphas, Nash, Grayson, and Theo!"
Everyone around us erupts in applause and cheers and congratulations. I stand there completely frozen, shocked, unable to process what I just heard.
We won. We actually won. I won something. First place. Me. I did something right. I created something good enough to win. I have value. I can do things. I'm not worthless.
Tears spring to my eyes.Happy tears. Proud tears. Relieved tears.All the emotions hitting at once.
Theo has his phone out, and I realize with a start that he's been filming the entire thing live on my TikTok account. He added my account to his phone to help filter things out because it’s been overwhelming with the growth, but now he angles it toward me as I process the win, capturing my genuine shocked delight and happy tears for all my followers to see.
I turn toward the camera, forcing myself to focus through the emotional overwhelm.
"That's it, folks! We won! Can you believe it?!" I laugh, still slightly dazed and disbelieving. "We actually won first place! With my grandmother's recipe! This is amazing! We'll be getting off a bit early today to help with cleanup and pack up ourgingerbread house! Thank you so much for watching and being here with us!"
I reach for the phone to check the viewer count before ending the stream, my hands still shaking slightly from adrenaline and joy.
And my breath catches sharply in my throat.
50,000 people watching.
Fifty thousand. Live. Right now. In real time.
That's absolutely insane. That's more people than live in all of Oakridge.
That's more people than I've met in my entire life combined. That's more people than I ever imagined would care about watching me do anything.
Fifty thousand actual human beings watched us build a gingerbread house and apparently cared enough to stay the entire time and witness us win.
How did this happen?
How did I go from being nobody—from being Kael's worthless Omega who couldn't do anything right—to having fifty thousand people watching me live? It doesn't feel real. None of this feels real.
"Wait, before I go—" I say to the camera, my mind racing through memories. "Is there anything major I've missed sharing in the last four weeks? Let me give you a quick recap because so much has happened!"
I take a deep breath, trying to organize the whirlwind of experiences into coherent thoughts.
“So much has happened since we returned from Millbrook. We've been on so many amazing dates around Oakridge! Indoor activities like baking—obviously—" I gesture enthusiastically to our winning gingerbread house. "And pottery classes where I made the most lopsided mug you've ever seen in your life, but I love it anyway because it's mine and Grayson uses it everymorning for his coffee. And we took a couples cooking class where we learned to make fresh pasta from scratch!"
