Panic mode on.

I look at Tina. Thank God we are bestfriends. She understood I wanted to talk to her.

"Umm Can you give us a moment please? She'll be there in a bit". Tina spoke to him holding my wrist.

"Sure I'll wait outside the auditorium. Make sure she doesn't take long" Adhiraj smiles and walks towards the exit.

"Listen, just focus alright? All of us are new here. Don't bother if the other contestants are from far off countries. Believe in yourself. I'm sure you'll do well" Tina hugs me.

I let out a peaceful breath as she huged me "Will do! You take care. Give your best too. I need you to get selected for top 12. He must be waiting" I blush a little "See you during lunch".

"Cya" Tina waves her hand and I walk towards the door and I see him. With my now trembling legs I walk towards him "What's my task?" I ask.

"Oh you're back. Alright so your first task is this" He hands me an envelope.

After reading it I look at him "So I should create a marketing strategy for this product?" I ask a little confused as this was too easy for an international level fest.

"There is always a twist. But for now, yes prepare a marketing strategy" He replied as though he was waiting to say this line.

After about 5 minutes of following him we stood in front of a huge classroom. I started to panic. He seemed to notice my nervousness "Hey don't worry. It's not as difficult as you think. You only have 45 opponents. Out of which only 27 are from outside India".

"If you're trying to scare me, it's working. But can you please remain quiet?" I spoke surprising myself.

"Alright. Go inside. You have 10 minutes before your task starts. All the best"

"Wh-aat? 10 minutes?" I started to panic again. "No problem and thanks" I reply and walk inside the classroom. I expected atleast a few people to raise their heads and look towards me, but none did.

After 10 minutes another event head called my name and instructed me to give my marketing strategy in writing. I quickly wrote it down and handed it over to her. She smiled and said "By the way, I'm Seema".

"I'm Prerna". I said forgetting she had called me by my name before.

"Alright. Follow me Prerna". She spoke in a very friendly way.

She took me to another classroom which looked like a mini seminar hall.

"Be seated. The judges will call you" she told. I wanted to say okay but I couldn't, I nodded my head instead.

When my name was called I presented my strategies waiting for the twist Adhiraj mentioned. But there wasn't a twist. I finished my explanation and walked out.

"Told you it's not as difficult as you think" I heard his voice.

"Well thank you for scaring me. There wasn't a twist".

"Haha yeah. The first round is always easy. Here, this is your second task".

He handed another envelope which had 'number two' written on it.

"It's a treasure hunt. But each clue will require you to sell a product using the marketing strategy you just came up with" He said even before I opened the envelope.

"Okay"

"You will get a product when you tell me the answer to the clues you get. You're added to the BM group on whatsapp. Send your answers there and I'll send you a product. Every candidate has different clues so don't worry".

"Okay. Who will hand over the product to me? And who should I sell it to?"

"I'll tell you what your product is. Finding it is the treasure hunt and sell it to any student in campus" He replied like it's no big deal "Hurry up. Your task started 5 minutes ago. Run find your first clue. Use the letter within the envelope to find it".

I ran like my life depended on that clue i had to now find.