Chapter 3: Trending for All the Wrong Reasons

But before I even set foot on the reality show, that very night I got roasted onto the trending topics.

It was like fate had a personal vendetta against me. One minute I’m hyping myself up for my big break, the next, my phone is blowing up so hard I thought it might actually overheat.

#OscarWinnerDerekLeePubliclyDragsMadisonBlakesVoice#

#MadisonBlakeTheFaker#

My face was plastered all over Twitter and TikTok. People were already making reaction videos, lipsyncing my voice with chipmunk filters.

The trending video was Derek Lee live-streaming a game, racking up over a million shares in half an hour.

Even my grandma texted me about it, asking, “Is this the same Derek Lee from that cop movie? He’s cute!”

In the video, his teammate kept dragging the team down, feeding the enemy, and then apologized in a forced, squeaky voice.

The whole chat was in on the joke. You could practically feel the secondhand embarrassment through the screen.

Derek Lee laughed in disbelief and just started flaming:

“Yo, did you swallow a kazoo to sound like that?”

I almost snorted. It was savage, but I had to admit—kinda creative.

“If you can’t talk like a normal person, just mute yourself. You sound like you swallowed a kazoo and washed it down with Tabasco.”

He was always quick with the metaphors, never missing a beat.

Derek Lee is crazy talented—the youngest Oscar winner in the industry—but his reputation is... complicated.

Tabloid covers always had his picture: one week he’s everyone’s favorite, the next, he’s beefing with someone on social media.

All because he’s so sharp-tongued, no one can out-snark him. His fans love and hate him for it.

He was like the Simon Cowell of Hollywood, if Simon Cowell looked like he belonged in a Marvel movie.

This had nothing to do with me—until the popular actress Sabrina Cole commented under the video:

“That girl’s voice is so sweet, just like Maddie from our crew.”

Just like that, she dropped my name in the ring. No warning, no heads up. I stared at the screen, pulse racing. Why would she say that? My stomach twisted—was this payback for that time I got the campaign she wanted?

Her cryptic comment went viral, and suddenly all the internet’s fire was aimed at my Instagram.

My DMs blew up so fast I had to turn my phone off and on again. Even my old college roommate messaged, “Girl, are you okay? You’re everywhere right now.”

“No wonder that fake voice sounded so familiar—it’s the entertainment industry’s #1 flirt, Madison Blake.”

Ouch. Even my haters were efficient.

“Who else could be that fake? She even dared to fake it in front of Derek Lee. Doesn’t everyone know he’s famous for being savage?”

It was like watching a car crash in slow motion—except I was the car.

“I don’t think it sounds like her. Madison Blake’s a bit fake but not THAT bad. People just echo whatever they hear.”

A tiny ray of hope. One lone comment defending me. But it got buried in a landslide of snark.

“The person above must be one of Maddie the Flirt’s paid shills. If it’s not her, is it Sabrina Cole? Sabrina is a real beauty with a sweet voice—a genuine sweet girl. No comparison at all.”

The internet loves a catfight more than anything. I could see the TikTok edits coming a mile away.

…

The whole internet was dragging me. People dug up every video of me talking just to roast me harder.

Even my old Facebook Lives from years ago were getting dissected. Every giggle, every stammer, every high note—suddenly evidence in the world’s weirdest trial.

I was just sitting at home, and the trouble fell from the sky.

My apartment felt like a bunker. I kept all the blinds closed, half-expecting TMZ to show up at my door. I pulled my hoodie over my head and buried myself under my weighted blanket, wishing I could disappear.

Lisa was so mad she nearly burst a blood vessel.

She started pacing the living room, muttering curses under her breath, Texas style. I think she broke her favorite mug.

“That damn Sabrina Cole is the real faker! Just because she’s cute doesn’t mean I can’t tell!”

She snapped her gum and glared at her phone like she could fry it with sheer rage.

“Maybe it was her in the video, but she was scared the internet would find out, so she dragged you down with her.”

Lisa had a whole conspiracy theory ready to go. I just wanted to crawl under my comforter and never come out.

I’d gotten used to being flamed for my voice since I was a kid, but this was the first time I was trending for being hated and mocked by the whole internet.

The stakes felt higher. It wasn’t just a mean girl in gym class—it was millions of strangers, all piling on.

I was so upset I wanted to disappear, just lying on my bed like a corpse.

I didn’t even have the energy to change the channel. The ceiling became my best friend.

The next second, my phone buzzed so hard it nearly slid off the coffee table. It was a text.

“Maddie, get online! Bro’s about to drag Derek Lee through the mud for you. Saddle up.”

I almost laughed for the first time all day. Leave it to Jackson to make it sound like a showdown at high noon.