Gordy was gone. It was no surprise. We all knew he’d been eliminated, and it wasn’t as if any of us really knew him anyway, but it still felt like somebody was missing. I don’t think it was a coincidence that none of us sat in the chair he’d been sitting in the day before. I think we felt like it was his. Or at least I did. It might have been superstition with the others, like they were afraid Gordy’s bad knife skills would rub off.

We weren’t in the greenroom very long before Randy took us to the set to film Chef JJ announcing the next challenge, one they’d never done before, a Cloning Contest. We’d get a mystery sauce, and then we’d have twenty minutes to recreate it.

I’m pretty good at tasting different flavors, but I’d never tried to recreate a dish without a recipe. The good news was, since it was a brand-new challenge, we were all in the same boat.

Back in the greenroom for a break before the challenge, I started to wonder what sauce I’d make if I were trying to make it impossible for people to guess what was in it.

For starters, I’d use a ton of ingredients, harder to taste any individual one that way. Also, plenty of different spices.

What I needed to do was focus on ingredients and spices that were used together a lot in sauces. I didn’t need to be able to taste everything. I just had to be able guess what spices were most commonly used with the ingredients I could taste. To prepare, I started running through spice combinations:

Clove, cassia bark, cumin, turmeric, and coriander.

Cayenne, oregano, thyme, and paprika.

“Guys?”

We all looked up. Randy stood at the door to the greenroom. “Chef JJ had to take a call so we’re going to do an interview now. Keya?”

The second Keya and Randy were gone, Phoenix was on his feet, pacing and talking about how unfair Knife Skills Showdown had been. He was super worked up.

“So I think we should all sign this.” He stopped pacing, pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack, and held it up.

“What is it?” Izzy asked. She was sitting on the floor reviewing flash cards with cooking terms like dice and dredge.

“It’s a petition. It says we want Keya thrown off the show for using her own knives.”

“This is isn’t Survivor,” Harper said. “We can’t vote people off the island. Besides, it was in the paperwork. You’re allowed to bring your own knives.”

“But it never says anything about specially-made knives.” Phoenix raised an aha finger.

“Here, I have something for you.” Harper looked down, scanned the buttons on her jean jacket, selected one, and handed it to Phoenix.

“‘Get over it’?” he read.

“You’re welcome,” Harper said as she rearranged her buttons to fill the space left by the one she’d given away.

“I think she’s nice,” Izzy said, not looking up from her cards.