Hello everybody!

I wrote this for fun mostly and I hope you enjoy it! Some of the ideas were taken from ohmygleee on IG.

It should be pretty self-explanatory in terms of game rules and format so even if you don't watch The Circle you should be able to understand, but if you have questions feel free to ask in the comments and I'll answer to the best of my ability!

The characters cannot see each other so if they seemingly have dialogue with each other, it is just them in separate rooms, they are not interacting. The only way they can actively interact each other is by texting, and that is formatted like script with Name: Message.

I hope you enjoy this!

Episode 1

"Chicas." The one that could be none other than the iconic Holly Holliday, the presenter, stood before the camera, beaming. "Y chicos, I guess. Welcome to… yes you guessed right, a brand new season of The Circle!" Some confetti flew around her head, one of which landed on her hair which she blew away easily. "This is the show where all players strive to be the most popular person among the other contestants on social media for a whopping grand prize of… a hundred thousand dollars!" More confetti. "We have no control over the game. Everything is in their hands. The catch? They are not allowed to see each other. Ever."

The camera zoomed in, straight into Holly's sparkling eyes.

"You know what this means, chicos? They are allowed to be anybody. Anybody. How would they know if the person behind the screen is genuine? They don't."

"So, with that out of the way, let us see this game of trust, friendship, romance and utter heartbreaking betrayal play out! Let me introduce you to our first contestant!"

With one final wave, she walked away from the camera and into the dark depths.

XxX

"Hello everybody," a blonde boy with large guppy lips waves at the camera. "My name is Sam… Sam I am… and I don't like Green Eggs and Ham." He lets out a dorky laugh before he stifles it with his hands.

"I am twenty-six, and I work as a physiotherapist part-time, and a personal trainer as my other… part. See, these are my guns." He flexes his biceps, which are… admittedly quite large. "Naturally as a personal trainer the best thing about me I would say is my body. I'll definitely try to show off these abs," he pulls up his shirt. "To the other contestants, but I know that is a bit of a dick move and makes me look like a douche so I think I'll save that for later in the game."

"I'm not like all the other players. I think I can win if I can just be myself. The most unique part of me is… well, I've been told that I have very large lips in proportion to my face. But I haven't tried fitting any tennis balls into my mouth… so maybe that is something I should try in the future."

"I'm Sam. Sam I am."

XxX

"Is it recording?" A tall blonde girl frowned, looking somewhere behind the camera before her face splits into a huge grin. "Hi! My name is Brittany S Pierce, and yes, that is my real name."

The camera cuts to a clip of her doing a split before it cuts back to Brittany.

"I've been told that my name is very similar to none other than Britney Spears… well, I used to not like her but ever since I got a very vivid fantasy of her I realised I am probably the most talented and smartest out of the whole bunch of people that are going to be my competition."

"Oh yeah, how can I forget? I am twenty-four and I am a dancer. Too bad that other people won't be able to see who I am, because… I am playing as my cat."

Brittany reaches to the side and pulls a very reluctant cat into view of the camera which was instantly trying to squirm away. "This is Lord Tubbington… say hi to the camera!"

The cat is still squirming in Brittany's grasp.

"How rude," she chastised, sighing. "But yeah, I am playing as my cat because I want people to realise that animals have feelings too. I think that I will be able to win as Lord Tubbington as long as I don't mention his participation in the cat mafia and his drug addiction, because other than those qualities, he is adorable! I mean, who would block a cat? Nobody! Everybody will love him!"

"I'm Brittany, and this is Lord Tubbington!" Brittany picks up one of her cat's paws and forces it to wave at the camera.

XxX

"My name is Kurt Hummel," a well-dressed man said confidently. "I'm twenty-seven, and I am a fashion designer and sub-editor for Vogue magazine."

"I love cooking, designing, and reading. I truly think that I can win by being myself, I don't think it would be very ethical if a catfish wins. Nope."

"I hope that I will get to stay in the game long enough for everybody to see who I am truly am, that I am not like the other douchebags I'm sure are in this stinky apartment with me."

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to say stinky. It's actually very luxurious, my bad. Yes, five-star indeed."

XxX

"If you don't know who I am, then I think that's a you problem," an olive-skinned woman with raven hair shrugged at the camera.

"Ugh, seriously?" she looked at somewhere behind the camera when an indistinct voice could be heard.

"Fine," she said rolling her eyes. "My name is Santana Lopez, I'm twenty-five, and I am a part-time actress and part-time singer."

"Ah, you may ask me why the hell am I in this cheap show if I am already out there living my lavish and famous life?"

"It's a game. I don't need the hundred thousand, I'm here to manipulate. And that's what I'm best at anyway, so I don't think I have a problem."

"Honestly catfishing has never crossed my mind, I'm the hottest bitch in this joint so why should I be someone that is clearly inferior to me?"

"Am I here looking for love? Oh, hell no. Everybody I'll talk to will be fake, I know it for a fact. The boys will be pigs and the girls will be sweet-talking bitches. Plus I am an out and proud lesbian. If a boy tries to make a move on me, they're getting the boot as soon as I am influencer. And I will be."

"I'm Santana, and you better watch out. Because my alter-ego, Auntie Snixx, is about to come out to play."

XxX

"I'm Mike," a tall, athletic-looking boy did a pose before bursting into laughter. "I am twenty-six, and I work as a software engineer for Google."

"Yes yes, I know, stereotypes," he waved with a good-natured roll of his eyes. "But they're there for a reason. Maybe Asians are just more interested in this sort of thing."

"I don't think that I am going to catfish, I'll be myself. In my teenage years, I really liked to dance so I have been told that I have a good body, but I am not going to put any shirtless pictures on my profile. Because it makes people think that I think with my aubergine and not my head, which cannot be further from the truth."

"I am happily married to the love of my life, Tina Cohen-Chang," the screen cut to a picture of him with another Asian woman, happily hugging. "But even then, I will play as single to make myself as approachable as possible. Tina is happy with that, she gave me the okay to flirt. Not that I will be doing any of that," he laughed. "I have no game."

"I think I can win as myself. People will see that I am a nice guy and try to befriend me. Through that, I can make strong alliances and make it to the final five and win the popular vote."

XxX

"Hey!" A beautiful, hazel-eyed woman waved at the camera with a small, tentative grin. "My name is Quinn Fabray, I am twenty-four and I am an architect."

"I love my job!" she enthused. "It is so exciting to start a new project, sometimes I get assigned to new groups but I love that too because I love working with new people! Which is a bit contradictory because I am introverted, but… yeah," she did a shrug followed by a cute giggle.

"I have been told that I am pretty by some people," she said shyly, putting both hands on her cheeks. "It's really flattering, but I don't think so. Not that it matters, anyway. It's not what's on the outside that matters. Which is why I am not going to be playing myself."

"I am going to play as another version of myself… Lucy. Lucy is my first name, the name I went by when I was in high school. Lucy is often bullied for being plus-sized, and she is very insecure. And I want to make her a lesbian, because I feel that most people will be straight and this will be another attribute that will make her more of an outcast. I am straight, but it will be quite fun to put myself in the shoes of a woman-loving girl! It saves me from interacting with the douchebags I am sure will be the boys."

"I want to show everybody that it isn't the outside that matters, because even though it is said repeatedly people do judge you by your appearance. And if I can be empowering enough to make people see past Lucy's exterior and fall in love with her? Even if I don't win, I have won in my heart."

"My name is Lucy Quinn Fabray, and I'm excited!"

XxX

"Alrighty yo!" A spectacled boy rolls into view of the camera, wearing a dorky grin. "I'm Artie Abrams, and I work as a civil engineer."

"As you can see, yes, this is a wheelchair. I lost functions of my legs of a car crash I was in when I was six… but it's okay, I'm still alive and that's all that matters!"

He does a click with his tongue and some kind of hand-gun gesture at the camera.

"I will be half catfishing," he explains. "I will use pictures of myself, but I will give myself an alter-ego. I'll go in as Archie, a man who is as obviously hot as myself," he says in mock complacency. "But without all this life support I'm on," he points to his wheels.

Then he laughs. "Okay, life support is an exaggeration. Archie will be a boy who is able to walk, a very good dancer, and will make the girls drool. Now that is winning material. My brains and good looks? Perfection."

XxX

"My name is Rachel Barbra Berry. I am sure you all know who I am." A short brunette juts her chin before turning around and walking away.

XxX

"Well, isn't this exciting," Santana rolls her eyes as she throws her luggage onto the bed. "At least this room is spacious, I guess," she says while looking around.

Then her eye meets the big screen with a blue circle in the middle of this.

"How the hell do you operate this thing?" she jabs at the screen with her fingers, which doesn't work. "Is there a remote?" she says, looking around but finding nothing.

After a few minutes, she is still without a way of communicating with the blue circle. "Hey, idiot! Circle! How the hell do I get you to do something?"

The circle closed and the screen transitioned to a profile building screen.

"Huh, that worked. It's voice activated."

"Yeah, no shit," she then mutters under her breath that is barely audible to the audience but it's there.

"Circle?" she says slowly as if she was talking to a small child. "Can you set up my profile for me please?"

It did nothing.

"Ugh, it's manual," Santana groaned. "Alright, go to the album titled 'Life'. Pick the one on the top middle, yeah… that will be my pfp."

"Lock in," she commands, and a picture of Santana staring at the camera with stone-cold eyes and no smile locks into the profile picture slot.

"Perfect," Santana smirks. "And for my bio… I'll go for… Get too close and you'll get hurt. Why? I have razor blades in my hair. Get on my wrong side and Auntie Snixx will come out to play. Hashtag pride."

"That's not the best bio but at this point, I can't really be asked to give it much thought. Yeah, that will do."

The screen leads her to a menu screen where eight icons can be seen.

"Okay… so these are my competition…" Santana darts her eyes from left to right, looking at each profile picture in scrutiny. "Okay, some of them look like straight pigs, like that Archie dude… bruh is that a cat?"

"Lord Tubbington…" Santana frowns. "Circle, enter the profile."

"Living life every day… enjoys company and not cigars… definitely not in the mafia… what in god's heaven is this?" Santana says incredulously. "Okay, I'll have to DM this person later to find out, what even are their pronouns? It/it?" Santana shakes her head.

"Moving on…" Santana says slowly as her eyes start to trail again. "Lucy. This girl looks pretty interesting."

"Aspiring architect working on a project in San Fran…" Santana raises her eyebrows. "Hmm. That's impressive. You can't change your past but you can let go and change your future…"

"That's aspiring," Santana nods, impressed. "Okay, maybe not everybody here is a loser. I'll have to talk to Lucy soon too. She seems like a very nice girl."

Then the screen blares with white words: ALERT.

"Huh," Santana folds her arms and takes a step back from the camera. Then she looks at somewhere off camera and groans, "Do I really have to shout alert if I see alert on the screen? Isn't that pointless?" A pause. "Fine. Alert!"

"We got an alert!" Santana shouts before rolling her eyes, as if disgusted by what she had just done.

"Controversial opinions…" she reads off the screen. "Fun."

The screen takes her to a chat.

"Oh look, it actually is social media!" Santana says with some kind of fake enthusiasm. "Does this mean I can talk to these people? Okay, that's cool."

The screen reads: you should be able to pee in the shower.

"Confession," Santana raises her hand. "I do pee in the shower. So I have to say agree here."

A minute later, the vote comes up to be 4-4.

"What?" Santana squeaks, incredulously. "Who voted disagree?"

Santana: Who the hell disagreed with that? Don't lie, you rats, we all know you pee in the shower. Who knows, maybe you poo in there too.

Sam: Hey Santana! It's great to talk to you!

Santana: I'm afraid I can't say that feeling is mutual.

Lucy: Santana, don't be mean.

"Lucy!" Santana tuts. "Oh god, she doesn't like me already. Wait…" Santana trails, suddenly looking very confused. "Why the hell do I even care?"

The screen reads: When you see a green light turning into an amber light, do you speed up or slow down?

"Speed up," Santana chuckles. "It makes sense. Why would you want to waste time waiting for a red light? It's legal to cross on amber, so might as well make the most of it," she shrugs. "Circle, lock in speed up as my option."

The vote comes up to be 2-6.

"Honestly, all these people are liars," Santana says, shaking her head.

Archie: Sam and Santana, I'm heavily disappointed in you both.

Sam: Hi Archie! Sorry, it's just a habit I have, I'm always short on time!

Mike: I try not to do it but I do sometimes hehe #InARush

Rachel: Hello!? Anybody going to talk to me?

Santana: Nobody asked you for your input, Hobbit.

Lord Tubbington: Hobbit? How do you know she's short?

Santana: I have a Mexican third eye, what can I say?

Lucy: I'd like to see that someday ;) I bet it's awesome!

"Woah," Santana gapes at the screen. "Is that Lucy flirting with me? I'll give it to her, she has balls. I like her already."

"And the game is over," Santana sighs. "Well, it is good to know that everybody are…" she looks straight into the camera with those hypnotising mocha eyes. " S."

XxX

Bros

Sam: What's up my dudes!

Archie: Heyyyy

Mike: Hi Sam!

Sam: So what did you think about the game we just had?

Kurt: It was fun, it tells us a bit more about everybody we're up against.

Mike: Against? Let's not look at everybody as competition, look at each other as friends and it will be a lot more fun!

Archie: Trust.

Sam: Mike that's a great way of putting it? Wanna be bros?

Mike: Let's all be bros! After all, that's the name of this chat right?

Sam: Sounds great!

Archie: Awesome!

Sam: So what do you think about the girls here?

Kurt: I'm gay, sorry boys, I'll just sit back and watch this one.

Mike: That's okay!

Archie: That Santana girl is a real looker, a shame that she seems really mean though.

Sam: I know right! Have you seen her bio?

Mike: Scary.

Sam: It will be really rewarding if you manage to make friends with her though.

Mike: Not worth it. I think Lucy will be a more viable choice, she seems very nice.

Archie: Preach.

Rachel has joined the chat

Rachel: Hi guys! Do you know who I am? Rachel Barbra Berry, renowned Broadway singer!

Sam: Uh… how did you even manage to get in here?

Rachel: I am starring in Broadway in three months, are you going to come to watch me?

Mike: Rachel, this a chat for boys only.

Sam has kicked Rachel out of the chat

Kurt: Well, that was weird.

XxX

Santana and Lucy's Private Chat

Santana: Lucy, how are you?

Lucy: Santana! I'm kind of surprised you're talking to me really.

Santana: Huh? Why?

Lucy: Well, you did put in your bio that you have razor blades in your hair… I would not imagine you to be starting conversations.

Santana: Well, maybe for you only. I just wanted to say that your bio was very empowering and inspiring.

Lucy: Aw seriously!? I'm so flattered! You're so nice!

Santana: Hey, I'm not nice!

Lucy: Yes you are 😊 I hope that we can be friends and talk again?

Santana: Sure! And is that you ending the conversation?

Lucy: Do you want to keep talking?

Santana: Yes… if that's okay?

Lucy: Awesome! I must say too, that your profile caught my attention instantly too… you're so pretty! I wish I could be like you.

Santana: I think you're really pretty too. I'm not just saying that, you really are! And you have a wonderful personality.

Lucy: I'm blushing right now! Thank you so much!

Santana: So, have any boys caught your eye?

Lucy: Haha no, I don't swing that way.

Santana: OMG you're gay? Damn you slipped my gaydar! I am too!

Lucy: Oh god yes you are I remember that! I wasn't sure what #Pride meant but now I do! You're amazing!

Santana: Same could be said for you 😊

Lucy: It's been great talking to you! I hope we can talk again in the future!

Santana: Looking forward to it! Talk to you later!

Lucy: :D

Lucy has left the chat

"Boys and girls, I call that a success," Santana sighed happily as she flopped back on the bed.

XxX

"Alert!" Santana shouted because she was forced to. "Oh, we're doing ratings… well, that's easy for me."

"Lucy gets number one from me, because she is amazing, I feel like I would love her in real life. I'll chuck Sam up in number two I guess, he speeds up in amber lights as well so that's a connection. Maybe I have been a bit blunt with him at first… I'll talk to him later."

"Rachel gets number seven, yeah, she's annoying. She looks so egotistical."

After a while, the ratings have concluded and the results were out.

8: Rachel

7: Archie

6: Lord Tubbington

5: Kurt

4: Mike

3: Lucy

2: Santana

1: Sam

"I'm second?" Santana said. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised," she said as a genuine smile appeared on her face.

A blue tick appears next to her name: verified.

"Looks like I will get to kick somebody out tonight," she said with a devilish smirk. "I think that will be an easy choice."

XxX

Influencers

Sam: Hi Santana! Congrats on getting here with me! Who do you think we should block?

Santana: Let's block Rachel.

Sam: I agree.

Santana: She's annoying.

Sam: She went self-promo on a group chat I made earlier today… ridiculous.

Santana: Gross… so it's settled?

Sam: Yep.

XxX

Circle chat

Santana: This wasn't that hard a choice at all.

Santana: The person we decided to block is…

Santana: Rachel.

Rachel: Wait!

Rachel has been blocked from the Circle.

Lord Tubbington: Good riddance.

Sam: So glad you agree with us!

XxX

"Ooh, we got another ALERT!" Santana screamed sarcastically. "What can it be now?"

The screen reads: The blocked person can visit any person of her choice, face-to-face.

"Oh, that's cool. Let her come." Santana shrugs, taking a bite of a bagel.

XxX

"I can't believe you blocked me!" Rachel screamed at Santana who was casually biting another bagel on the couch, sitting leisurely. "Do you not know who I am? I am Rachel Barbra Berry, Broadway singer with a future Tony under my belt! I am–"

"So I was right about you being a Hobbit…" Santana breathed.

"What?" Rachel's nostrils flared angrily. "Y-You are impossible! I hope you lose this game! I hope you get blocked next game!"

"Have a nice trip home, Rachel!"

Rachel huffed before stalking away and slamming the door behind her.

Santana looked straight at the camera, eating the last bite of her bagel. "Yep. Just as annoying in real life."