Chapter 97: Beauty Pageant
Almost all the contestants went outside after soone scread Night’s na. "Aren’t you going to look?" Maris asked after she stopped doing my makeup.
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Really? I can stop doing this for now if you want to see Fuentes."
I giggled at hearing that. "Honestly, I’m moving on now." Although I have already moved on. ’I think?’
"What? Really?"
So even Maris can look surprised, huh? I thought cool girls like Ace and Maris are always unbothered. "Yeah, I decided to do it after that last dance with him during the school trip." Half-lie, but at least there’s a mix of truth there. "I didn’t want to say it to Carla since she was really happy that ti."
Maris patted my shoulder. "I guess that’s for the best. There are tons of n out there that can appreciate you more." She said as if she fully supports my decision. "And I’m not really fond of Fuentes either. n who think that being a snob is hot makes
want to vomit." Hearing that made
chuckle. Although Night doesn’t care about how others view him, he’s not being a snob on purpose. It still makes
laugh thinking that Maris hates Night just like how Ace gets annoyed hearing Night’s na.
"Since you’re not interested in Fuentes, let
finish your eye shadow."
I smiled and nodded. "What about that blonde guy?" Is she talking about Aziel?
"We’re just friends." Even though Aziel confird his feelings for , I still view him as only a friend. "What about Maris? Do you have soone you’re interested in?" I want to stop talking about myself so I chose to ask Maris that.
Maris shrugged. "I like girls better than boys." She said that naturally causing my eyes to go wide. ’Does she likes girls the way Andy likes boys?’ That is what I thought but I didn’t dare to ask. "Yes, people call
lesbian sotis," Maris said as if she heard what was going on inside my head.
"I-I didn’t—"
She chuckled. "I know. I’m just telling you since I don’t want to create misunderstandings." Maris added after she was done with my eyeshadow. "But I don’t like every girl, okay."
I imdiately nodded. "I know that!"
Maris laughed. "I know you won’t judge ." The mont she said that Kaoru and Carla arrived back inside the changing room.
"What’s with everyone outside? It’s like it’s their first ti seeing Night." Carla said as she handed Maris the tiara. "Should we change Noelle into her gown first or will she just put the tiara on right now?"
Maris placed her hand on her chin. "Hmm, I don’t know. Francesca’s already wearing her costu even though they said that it’ll be school uniform first before the costu." She said. That’s right, why is Francesca already wearing her costu? Is soone playing a trick on her?
Carla snickered. "Noelle will still look special since her uniform’s in pink." She said making my eyes go wide.
"Should I borrow your uniform?"
Maris and Carla looked at each other and they laughed. "Why are you scared? It’s your uniform, you should wear it."
"But uniforms are supposed to look like each other. Mine’s the only different one."
"I didn’t know you care about that." I was taken aback after Carla said that. "It’s because Noelle’s been confident since we were in our first years so I never thought of you to be worrying about sothing like this." She added.
Is it bizarre for
to worry about this? "Here, let’s go and change into your uniform." Maris pulled
inside another partition where we changed into our costus. Because the so-called changing room is filled with other people just like Maris and Carla who aren’t participating in the contest.
"Do you think we should use these earrings now?"
They start talking about what I’m supposed to wear while I sit quietly in my seat. "What do you think Noelle? Would you want to wear these earrings now? Or do you want to partner it with your princess costu?"
Would it be rude to say that I don’t really care that much? Let’s just smile. "I’ll let you guys decide for ," I said and so Carla decided to not use them and we used so smaller earrings instead.
"See? Perfection."
I looked at the mirror and saw my reflection. Sparkly eyeshadows, pink lips, and reddish cheeks. "I feel beautiful." Due to the pretty reflection, I saw in the mirror, I said that aloud. It was my first ti wearing makeup, but it was only a simple one matching my uniform. Maris made my hair look wavy and she used a sparkling white head accessory on the left side of my hair, showing my ear and the white gold earring I’m wearing. It was a gift from my father that they chose for .
"Are you also going to wear the garnet ring?" Andy asked. He arrived in the auditorium’s changing room 2 minutes ago with Ace. They’re checking out the other contestants while boosting my confidence. "Doesn’t it make you feel less nervous when you wear that ring?"
I nodded. "I’ll wear it later with the gown." It’s been so long since I last wore it outside, and I think I won’t lose it anyway since Carla and Maris are paying attention to my belongings. "Do you think students will still vote for ? They all hate ." This beauty pageant relies on the votes of the audience and the three judges so I don’t think I’ll be able to win unless I captivate everyone.
Andy chuckled. "Of course, they’ll vote for you. Not everyone in the audience is a student from our school anyway, and your costu looks so amazing that it’ll give you a perfect score." That’s right, there are criteria for scoring too. One of them is how detailed the costu will be.
’Doesn’t this sound unfair since grandpa Kenta wasted lots of money on my costu? I an who would use their money for such a thing?’ I stopped with that thought. ’Right, my parents would.’ I shook my head.
"Do you think you could take so good pictures?" I asked Andy. I think he brought his DSLR cara with him. "I want to send so to my mom and dad."
Andy gave
thumbs-up. "I’ll handle that. I’ll make you look like the prettiest girl ever." Even if he doesn’t do that, my parents would still call
the prettiest girl ever.
"Thank you."
"Andrei, we need to go now." Ace called for Andy and that’s how they bid
goodbye since only the contestants and their stylists are allowed backstage. "Do your best." They reminded
and I nodded with a smile.
I just gotta go and act like a princess. Like how I’ve always wanted to beco. "I know you can do this, Noelle," Carla said while fanning
since there are lots of people backstage and the air-conditioning isn’t that good.
"Is everyone ready?" The event’s manager asked us while holding the script. "We just need you guys to follow everything like how we practiced. Introduce yourself with your full na and wave to the audience." She added while rushing to the lighting system. ’What a busy person.’
"Who are the judges anyway?" Maris asked with her arms crossed.
I shrugged. "I’m not inford about them." Just please don’t be soone that hates
like Francesca’s grandfather, the school principal. It’s not that I’m sure that he hates , but after what happened between Francesca and , I’m not sure either if her grandfather doesn’t know of all that at this point.
"Good morning, everyone!" We heard the host outside greeting the audience causing
to feel that loud beating of my heart. ’It’s really starting now.’ The host interacted with the audience while the backstage manager told us to be on standby while the host introduces the judges.
There’ll be three judges, that’s what I’ve heard from the school’s social dia. Actually, our school’s really famous because most of the alumni, so of them are famous people now. So beca celebrities, and top-ranking doctors and so even beca famous businesspeople. ’Other people even thought that if you ca from Westside High School, then you’ll surely be successful in life.’
"Our first judge, famous for being the Westside High School’s siren in her pri, and is currently working as a music producer, Miss Celine Garcia."
My eyes widened after hearing that. That Celine Garcia? The youngest music producer in our country? She’s been famous since she uploaded a self-composed song when she graduated from High School and she’s currently in her third year in college. How did I know that? It’s because I’ve been following her on social dia since I was in middle school and I’ve been always in love with her songs.
"I didn’t know soone I always look up to will watch
in this contest," I murmured as I felt the anxiety eating
up.
"I want to take a picture with her," I said aloud.
Carla then giggled. "If you win, you can take a picture with Celine all alone." She said making
realize how important it is to win this contest. Not only because it will help our class, but also because I could talk to my idol!
"Due to popular demand, our last judge was chosen by the students themselves." We heard the host says. "Currently a senior student and has always been at the top of the ranking since he was in his first year, the Westside high school’s prince, Night Fuentes!"
Excuse , what?
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