A 12-year-old at a spelling bee didn't know what to do when she was told she spelled a word wrong... when she KNEW she got it RIGHT. 

Because of a judge's error, Sierra Shoemaker ended coming in second at her school's spelling bee in Selma, California. 

She spelled "braille" correctly, but the judges said the word had one "L" instead of two.

"I didn’t want to say anything because if the wordmaster tells you you’ve got a word wrong you don’t really argue with him," Shoemaker tells HLN affiliate KMPH, "I was just kind of like... WHAT?" 

After a series of appeals, she will be allowed to move on to the county finals.

Morning Express with Robin Meade airs Monday through Friday at 6am ET on HLN.  Like the show on Facebook, follow on Twitter: @MorningExp.