Maria Jenkins?

She was Mr. Willows' student just Like Merlin?

How was that possible?

“That's right, Dora," Maria answered softly.

She didn't really know what to think when she saw the Look of disbelief in not only Dora's eyes, but the other volunteers too.

“You must be Maria's friends." Merlin finally turned to the volunteers with a smile.

"Yes! Mr. Newman. It's nice to meet you," Enzo quickly answered respectfully.

Merlin nodded and then took out several cards from his pocket which he then proceeded to share to the volunteers following their names.

“These are you qualifications to audit the program. If at all you have your works with you, that is, on your phones or other digital devices, you can display them on the screens."

The volunteers all Looked at him as though they were watching a ghost.

92:

Did they just hear him right, or did they all have problems with their hearing? Enzo was the first to recover. "We can stay and audit the whole program? And we can submit our works as well?

Are you serious?"

Over at the site where Star Search was being held, dozens of big screens were put up.

On it, the young, aspiring writers who participated in the assessment were able to display their past writing experiences, winning records, and previous works, for the judges to see.

Needless to say, the student volunteers from the university didn't have awards or winning records under their belts that were worth mentioning. But as young aspirants who had always wanted to join the Writers’ Association, they had authored their fair share of short stories in the past.

Except for Enzo, Dora, and one other person, the rest of the volunteers opted not to upload their respective portfolios, as they feared that their writing was not up to standards.

“Maria—Oh! No, I meant, Miss Jenkins. I can't thank you enough." Enzo walked up to Maria with a bashful expression, something that was decidedly uncharacteristic for him.

He truly Looked up to her now, so he thought it was only appropriate to address her accordingly.

Maria might be younger than him, but she had already succeeded in becoming Mr. Willows’ apprentice.

For Enzo, that alone was enough proof that she was far more talented than him.

It was only apt that he expressed his respect for her.

"Miss... Miss Jenkins, thank you so much."

Dora was also older than Maria, and definitely more timid than Enzo.