Chapter 18: No Opting Out
Disbelief, embarrassment, and sheer frustration twisted inside Starlight’s chest. She could hardly believe some of the things she had just read. Every time she thought she had reached the most ridiculous comment, another somehow managed to outdo it. Complete strangers were debating her appearance, inventing relationships she didn’t have, and analyzing a fall she wished she could go back in time and undo.
To think the entire Empire had probably seen that video... gosh, could things possibly get any worse? What made it worse was the realization that her plan to study quietly at the academy until she found a way to escape was rapidly falling apart before it had even begun.
Why in the world would the Alpha Twins put her in such an impossible situation? What had she even done to attract their attention? She didn’t know them, had never spoken to them, and had certainly never given them any reason to single her out like this.
The whole thing felt so absurd that she could barely make sense of it. The more she tried to understand what was happening, the less sense it seemed to make. Nothing about this whole situation was normal.
For a brief moment, Starlight wondered if she had accidentally walked into some elaborate prank. Unfortunately, the horrified yet curious expressions on her roommates’ faces suggested otherwise. This was real. Somehow, impossibly, this was her life now.
She slowly took a deep breath before looking at the three girls.
"Okay," she said flatly. "How do I remove myself from this ranking system?"
"What are you talking about?" Elle asked, blinking at her in confusion.
"The ranking system thing. How do I get myself out of there?" Starlight demanded, gesturing toward Ariel’s phone.
The three girls stared at her. The look on their faces alone was enough to make Starlight uneasy. It was the same expression people gave someone who had just said something completely ridiculous without realizing it.
"What?" she asked cautiously. "I can remove it, right? If I don’t want to be ranked?"
"No, you can’t!" Elle cried out.
"What do you mean I can’t?" Starlight asked, frustration creeping into her voice. "It’s my profile. Why wouldn’t I be able to remove it?"
She didn’t fully understand how the system worked, but from her perspective, the solution seemed obvious. If she didn’t want to be ranked, then surely there had to be a way to delete her profile. Why would there be a system that forced students to participate whether they wanted to or not?
"Listen, Starlight," Chloe said carefully as she moved closer and placed both hands on Starlight’s shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. "That’s not how Apex Ranking works. You can’t just remove yourself because you feel like it. As long as you’ve made it onto the rankings, there’s no opting out. You don’t get to choose whether you participate, any more than you get to choose when your profile gets removed. The only ways your profile disappears from Apex are if you graduate, get expelled, or die."
Starlight stared at her.
"She’s right, Star," Ariel added sympathetically. "There’s no removing your profile unless you somehow convince the academy to dismantle its entire ranking system, and that’s definitely not happening."
With a groan, Starlight sank deeper into the sofa until she looked moments away from disappearing into the cushions altogether, then covered her face with both hands.
What had she even done to attract the Alpha Twins’ attention? What game were they playing at? Out of everyone in the Empire, why had they decided to single her out?
"I just want to go back home," she muttered from behind her hands.
"Oh, come on," Elle said, flopping onto the sofa beside her. "Look on the bright side. You’re going to become so rich and influential that nobody will ever want to mess with you."
That immediately made Starlight peek through her fingers. "What are you talking about?" she asked suspiciously. "How is any of this supposed to make me rich?"
Elle visibly brightened. this was it. Her chance, if she played this correctly, to finally convince Starlight to let her become her manager. There was absolutely no way she was letting this opportunity slip through her fingers. Straightening her posture, Elle’s expression turned unusually serious.
"You see, for students to vote in Apex, they have to buy Power Stones, Golden Tickets, or Boosting Castles to cast their votes," she explained, holding up her fingers as she counted each item. "Those things are purchased with real money."
She leaned forward. "While they’re boosting your ranking, they’re also generating value. That value gets converted into royalties."
Starlight frowned. Elle spread her hands dramatically. "Think of it like this," she continued. "Every time someone supports you, money is moving behind the scenes. A portion of the revenue goes to your house for dorm development and academy maintenance, but the rest belongs to you."
Slowly, Starlight lowered her hands from her face. A cold knot tightened in her stomach.
For some reason, she didn’t like this explanation one bit. "So..." she began slowly, her voice tight, "you’re telling me students are spending their own money to vote for people and those people get paid for it?"
"Well... yes," Elle admitted. "And before you start feeling bad about the whole thing, just know that nobody’s forcing them to spend their money." She quickly held up both hands, sensing exactly where Starlight’s thoughts were headed. "It’s their choice. They decide who they want to support. Just consider their votes an honor. People spend years trying to build enough popularity to attract that kind of support. Thanks to the Alpha Twins, you’re getting it handed to you on a silver platter."
"Well, I didn’t ask them to do any of this," Starlight snapped. "Neither does any of this feel like an honor to me. Maybe I’m missing something here, but from my perspective, it feels like students are being encouraged to spend their hard-earned money just to push strangers higher on a ranking board they probably won’t even benefit from."
She exhaled sharply, struggling to put her discomfort into words. "It feels like a grift."
Her expression darkened. "It feels predatory."
Ariel immediately glanced toward the door before lowering her voice. "You should be careful saying things like that," she warned. "Werewolf hearing is no joke, and these walls aren’t nearly thick enough to keep every conversation private. You don’t want to get yourself into deep trouble just because you don’t like how things are done here."
Chloe frowned at that before folding her arms across her chest. "Seriously, I don’t know what your problem is," she said. "You should be thrilled. A lot of students would do almost anything to be in your shoes right now. You’re getting attention, support, influence, and money handed to you on a silver platter, and all you’ve done since finding out is complain."
Something in Starlight snapped. She lifted her head and met Chloe’s gaze directly.
"Well, I’m sorry I’m not reacting the way you expected me to," she said, her tone was sharp. "Maybe I’m supposed to jump up and down with excitement because strangers are spending money on me and the entire academy is sticking its nose into my life. Maybe I’m supposed to be grateful that people I’ve never met are discussing me like I’m some kind of public property. But I’m not."
The room grew noticeably quieter. Starlight didn’t look away. "I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be put on that ranking. I didn’t ask for the Alpha Twins to drag me into whatever game they’re playing. And I certainly did not need you to tell me how I’m supposed to feel about a situation I never wanted to be in."
Chloe’s eyes darkened.
"You’re one ungrateful piece of work, you know that?" she shot back. "Do you have any idea how many people would kill for an opportunity like this? Some students work themselves to exhaustion chasing a fraction of the support that’s being dumped into your lap. And the worst part is that you don’t even seem to understand what you’re being given. You’re sitting here acting like this is some kind of curse when most students would call this the luckiest day of their lives."
Her jaw tightened.
"You keep saying you didn’t ask for it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been handed opportunities other people can only dream about. The least you could do is appreciate it instead of acting like you’re morally superior to everyone who’d gladly trade places with you."
Starlight felt her jaw tighten as Chloe’s words sank in. Part of her wanted to fire back immediately, but another part knew the girl wasn’t trying to be cruel for the sake of it. Chloe genuinely believed everything she was saying. That was what made it so frustrating. As they stared at each other, Starlight couldn’t help thinking that Chloe was looking at the situation from the perspective of someone who had always wanted a place on the rankings, while she was looking at it as someone who had never asked to be there in the first place.
"You two, stop it," Elle cut in sharply before the things could escalate any further.
Both girls turned toward her. "Chloe, don’t talk to her like that," Elle said firmly. "Just because being on the rankings is your dream doesn’t mean it’s everybody else’s dream. Not everyone wants attention. Not everyone wants thousands of strangers deciding their fate." She folded her arms and frowned. "And just because you see it as an opportunity doesn’t mean someone else won’t see it as a disaster. Starlight got dropped into this mess without warning, and she’s allowed to feel however she wants about it. Whether you agree with her or not, you should respect her feelings."
Chloe huffed and looked away.
"I know," she muttered. "I didn’t mean to come off like that." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Sorry, okay? I just let my emotions get the better of me. I’d kill for an opportunity like this, so hearing someone complain about it got under my skin."
The tension in the room eased almost immediately. Starlight felt herself relax slightly, the tightness in her shoulders loosening. Ariel blinked in surprise.
"Wow," she said. "I didn’t know Elle had it in her to be the responsible one."
Elle smacked her arm. "Shut up," she said without missing a beat. "I’m always responsible." Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Starlight. "And what you said earlier is wrong too. You have to understand that these students genuinely enjoy spending money on their favorites. They get satisfaction from supporting the people they like. Seeing their favorites climb the rankings makes them happy." She shrugged. "You don’t have to understand it, but you should respect that it’s their choice. Nobody’s forcing them."
Starlight looked away. "Fine," she grumbled. "Maybe I was being a little harsh."
"There we go!" Elle clapped her hands together triumphantly. "Now we’ve all understood each other." She pointed between the two girls. "You should hug each other."
Starlight and Chloe exchanged identical looks of disbelief. Unfortunately, one glance at Elle’s face made it clear she wasn’t joking. With an exaggerated groan, Chloe leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Starlight.
Caught completely off guard, Starlight awkwardly returned the hug. She still disliked physical affection, and every instinct told her to escape, but refusing now would only restart the argument they had just finished resolving.
The moment they separated, Elle threw both fists into the air. "Yes!" she cheered. "This officially makes me Starlight’s manager."
"What?" three voices said at the same time.