—

  —

  Only a few days had passed since the start of the third semester when I had an idea. One so simple, yet so genius.

  It started with my friends arguing over who should be our class’s poster girl for the cultural festival. And I thought it would have been easier if there were a rank for this.

  Why limit this to just our class? If I were going to go through the effort of ranking girls, why not find out who the best-looking girl in the entire year was?

  Thus, my master plan was born.

  With the new SPARC device, I discovered a new functionality—anonymity settings. Perfect. I created a discreet group where people could vote without revealing their identities.

  I gave it a vague and neutral name to avoid suspicion, and using SPARC’s filtering system, I made sure only the guys in our year received an invite. Out of the 28 guys, 25 joined within the hour.

  I created two polls:

  

• The Cutest.
• The Hottest.

  A necessary distinction. Cute and hot weren’t the same thing. A girl could be one without being the other, and fairness demanded both be recognised.

  I spent an hour compiling the full list of names, making sure every girl in our year was included. Then, I launched the polls with a 24-hour deadline.

  The next day, it was time to collate the results. I took a breath, cracked my knuckles, and got to work.

  Here are the results:

  

1. Diya Avery
2. Kumiko Kai
3. Kaiya Reed
4. Amelie Solace
5. Yuka Sakata
6. Ayaka Higuchi
7. Nana Herman
8. Aika Matsumoto
9. Takara Funai
10. Chuya Meshizuka
11. Stella Woolery
12. Savannah Berthelsen
13. Kimi N?rgaard
14. Alaina Dagon
15. Yoko Kusumoto
16. Tomiko Nakano
17. Ran Nagamine
18. Yuko Takashima
19. Hazel Terrel
20. Natsumi Hashimoto
21. Azumi Machida
22. Mariah Macy
23. Julie Carlsson
24. Chanel Jozi?
25. Kameko Ohara
26. Kayden Baresi
27. Aria Kimura
28. Harley Sherman
29. Marissa Macleod
30. Ignace Marier
31. Jazlene Valá?ek
32. Christina Klausen

  Diya had taken the top spot. Not surprising; she had that effortless charm that made her hard to ignore. Whether it was her bright smile or the way she laughed, most guys were drawn to her. She was approachable, funny, and had this innocent energy that made people instinctively want to protect her.

  But cuteness was only half the battle.

  The second poll, the Hottest category, was where looks and confidence took centre stage.

  

1. Amelie Solace
2. Diya Avery
3. Ran Nagamine
4. Tomiko Nakano
5. Yoko Kusumoto
6. Kaiya Reed
7. Hazel Terrel
8. Kimi N?rgaard
9. Alaina Dagon
10. Jazlene Valá?ek
11. Ayaka Higuchi
12. Christina Klausen
13. Yuka Sakata
14. Kumiko Kai
15. Aika Matsumoto
16. Nana Herman
17. Marissa Macleod
18. Stella Woolery
19. Ignace Marier
20. Kayden Baresi
21. Savannah Berthelsen
22. Takara Funai
23. Yuko Takashima
24. Julie Carlsson
25. Natsumi Hashimoto
26. Chanel Jozi?
27. Azumi Machida
28. Chuya Meshizuka
29. Mariah Macy
30. Harley Sherman
31. Kameko Ohara
32. Aria Kimura

  Amelie had taken the top spot for Hottest girl. It made sense. She didn’t need to speak to draw attention; half the time, it was the way she walked in like she owned the place. There was confidence in her posture and her style was always on point.

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  The votes reflected that.

  In the back of my mind, I wondered if someone combined the best traits of both, what kind of girl would that be?

  Terrifying, probably.

  Unstoppable, definitely.

  I saved the results and sent them to the group. Reactions flooded in almost instantly:

  This little experiment had been worth it. Who knows, maybe next time, we’d rank the guys.