When I scroll through my phone on the way home from work, I find her staring back at me. I mean, she's everywhere, but I can't seem to escape her, no matter how hard I try.

The influencer Kaori Satori has taken the world by storm over the past five years. She started vlogging on Youtube when she was 15 and has since migrated to every other social media platform. Now at 20, she makes videos at least once a day showing off some new hair product or makeup item she claims to love and use on a daily basis. If anyone used the number of products she supposedly does, it's no wonder global warming exists.

I guess you could say I'm jealous of her, sure. I mean, she has everything I ever wanted when I was a teenager, looks, money, popularity. All of those are hard to get when you barely have enough money to get food on the table.

Yeah, I'm not rich, sue me. Truth is, I was in care my whole life. I got kicked out by my foster parents when I turned 18 and I had to find my own way in the world. And I'll tell you this, it hasn't been easy.

As I'm about to get on the train home, a call appears on my screen from my best friend Jodi. She's been my friend since I was 13, but she's the only one who really understands me. Even if I never told her I'm in care or that I lived on the streets for two years. I pick up and her usually bouncy voice screams at me down the phone. "Have you seen that new show!"

I pull my phone away from my ear as I try to check if I've gone deaf. When I'm certain I haven't, I reply, "well good evening to you too."

"Sorry," she says, though I can tell she's definitely excited about something. "Have you seen the news about that new show, Life in the castle?"

The name sounds familiar to me for some reason, though I'm not sure why? "No. Has it started showing yet?"

"No. But you remember they were going to choose six celebrities and one member of the public to go on it?"

I don't, but I'm not about to listen to Jodi explain it, otherwise I'll be spending another night on the street outside the train station after I miss my train. "Oh, yeah, I remember," I lie.

"They're choosing the contestant right now!" She screams. I pull my phone away again, and when I hold it back up to my ear, she's still going, "-I'll send you the link. You have to see it!"

She ends the call without even saying goodbye and I watch as the link to some reality channel's website appears in my texts. I tap on it, mostly to satisfy Jodi and watch. I'm watching with subtitles, since headphones are a luxury I have yet to buy. I'm surprised when the woman on screen simply presses a button on a computer. The screen changes to a white background with hundreds of names flashing through every second. I would guess Jodi wants me to watch this since she probably entered to go on it, but I kind of hope she doesn't win.

The cast of this show has yet to be revealed, but there are rumours going around of who's going into the show. Some volleyball player is supposed to be going and even Kaori Satori herself is rumoured to be going, though how she'd survive in a castle with no WiFi for a week is anyone's guess.

The screen finally slows down and stops. That's when I gasp and immediately go back to call Jodi.

"Sho! Isn't this amazing!" She screams again.

"No. It isn't, Jodi. I didn't even enter. So someone must've done it for me, and I doubt it was Laura and Mack."

"No..!," she replies, dragging out the word. "It was me..!"

I hang up on her this time. There is no way I'm going onto a show like that. I immediately receive an email congratulating me. The email includes flight plans as well as tickets. There's no way I can go. I don't belong with people like that. I wouldn't have entered even if I knew what the show was about. Apparently the mystery behind the show is that only the producers know what's going to happen. I have no likeable qualities. I'll be voted off in the first week, and I'll become a laughing stock online.

I immediately call the number listed at the bottom of the email, and a rather happy sounding lady answers.

"This is GQTV, you're speaking to Lindsey, how can I help you?"

"Hello, um, I'm calling to pull out of Life in the castle?" I explain.

"Oh, that's too bad. What happened, an event came up or something?"

"No. I just don't want to do the show."

"I see," she replies tersely. "And what's your name?"

"Sho Kuronaga."

"Oh, you're the lottery winner! Well I'm sorry but entries for the lottery are final. We've already sorted out everything at your workplace so you're all good to fly out here tomorrow."

"So I don't have a choice?"

"I'm afraid not. The terms and conditions on the signup page were pretty clear."

Yeah, they probably were. It's just a shame I never saw them since I didn't sign up for this.

"So, we'll see you tomorrow then," Lindsey goes on. "And congratulations! You're spending the next few weeks with some real big celebrities. You should be overjoyed! Well, see you soon. Bye Sho."

I don't say goodbye as I end the call and curse Jodi for signing me up for this.

I sigh and I'm about to call her when a sharp pain crosses my chest. Ah, of course, it's been over eight hours since I put my binder on. I need to get home so I can get it off. It's only now when I realise just what a mess Jodi's got me into. How am I supposed to hide this from six other people for the next few weeks? Trans culture has come a long way in the past few years, but coming out is something that hasn't even crossed my mind. I'd never even think of doing it to a bunch of celebrities on a TV show.

I open the email again, hoping to god that there's some way I can escape this. That's when I see the prize for going on the show. The amount of money they're giving away for even staying for a week is more than I earn at my crappy fast food job in a month. And apparently GQTV has arranged everything with my workplace. I hate to say it, but this show is becoming more and more tempting. I'm just wondering how exactly I'm going to survive with six celebrities for a week, when I'll probably have no clue who they are.

Oh well. There's a first time for everything I guess. So I download the tickets, and head home to pack my bags.