18 The Winner Is...

"Ken? Isn't he your boyfriend Aila?"

One of the girls asked Aila; another girl seconded

"Yes, I remember he made a scene a couple of times begging for your attention. I also often see him following you around."

Aila smiled at the girls;

"He's not my boyfriend; he never was and never will."

She looked at Glenda; "Congratulations on your new relationship."

"Does it mean that he went after Glenda after you dumped him?"

One of the girls asked Aila.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, I mean I've rejected him a couple of times already, and I'm not actually keeping track of him."

Aila clarified her stance with Ken with the other girls.

"But why? I mean I think he's hot…" another girl asks Aila,

"Totally! I personally think you would look good together."

Glenda rolled her eyes; she can't believe how this matter backfired on her, she initially wanted to make Aila feel bad about Ken, now she's looking like a dumb second choice.

"Let's just say that I am not interested in boys, I want a man." Aila smiled impishly at the girls.

A few minutes later, they are all busy preparing for the pageant proper. The first part of the program is the presentation of candidates. Aila's aura is really unique it's like she has an alter ego when she's on stage; her naturally indifferent character turns into a confident minx.

"Aila Rodriguez, 17, 4th Year" The crowd roared in applause when they saw Aila on stage.

She really is a stand out; one can easily tell that she's out of their league. The next part is the swimsuit competition. Aila wore a black one-piece swimsuit; the word stunning is not enough to describe her.

"Dude she is so ummmp! You're one lucky bastard; I can't believe she's your girlfriend!"

Ken's friends were in awe when they saw Aila, but Ken was so proud of Aila he didn't care to correct them. He also cannot contain his excitement as she cheers for Aila.

Glenda was at the backstage preparing to take the ramp in her evening gown, she was determined to execute her evil plan.

Earlier when everyone was busy, she ruined the heels that Aila was going to wear, she was laughing while imagining Aila falling down; just like her threat that Aila will feel pain falling down from her high horse.

Aila's evening gown was a red flowy dress, the gown accented her voluptuous curves nicely, and the high slit further highlighted her long legs. Her long wavy hair was fixed on one side; she was wearing nude colored 5 inches high heels that she mastered walking in.

Glenda was next to come up on stage, she was smiling nicely, waiting for Aila to fail and fall off the stage, but she was stunned as Aila handled her turn nicely. The crowd was in awe of her beauty.

Glenda's turn was next, her walk was glamorous as well, she made a fierce turn which broke her high heels and the next thing she knew; she was on the ground with a sprained ankle. Seeing her fall off the stage, the production staff rushed to her aid.

"How can this be? It was supposed to be her, not me." Glenda was thinking about what has gone wrong with her plan. She was brought backstage and checked thoroughly by the standby medics.

"It's Aila! She purposely ruined my heels, she's mad at me because she was jealous of me."

Glenda was convincing the staff that it was all Aila's fault.

"Why is she jealous of you?" a staff asked Glenda.

"Because of Ken, he chose me over her."

Glenda was seriously putting the blame on Aila. Not even a minute has passed one of the production staff butted in to clarify the situation.

"We have the evidence here sir."

The whole production staff was surprised to see the truth. It was Glenda who was caught in the CCTV footage ruining the heels. All the heels they were wearing are sponsored; they all look the same, however, Aila chose to wear her own pair of heels, not the sponsored ones.

The crew were staring madly at Glenda;

"There are just two possible scenarios here; the first one is that you purposefully ruined your heels so you can blame it all on Aila and the second one is you purposely ruined Aila's heels but fortunately she wore a different pair so it makes this whole incident it is a perfect example of instant karma. Whichever the case it all boils down to one conclusion, you purposefully ruined a pair heels to hurt Aila."

Glenda's face was pale hearing the staff figured out her evil deed, that fast.

"What should we do to her?" one of the staff asked the director.

"Disqualify her, we don't need bit*hes here, we only need Queens."

Back at the pageant, the candidates are now down to two; Aila and Zaira, the two women are holding hands facing each other. Aila tried to talk to Zaira to calm their nerves;

"Zai, congratulations to both of us, whatever the result is, being here now and making it this far, I am thankful enough."

"The winner is! Aila Rodriguez, she will represent our school for the citywide pageant."

Aila was overwhelmed she almost cried, she was immediately surrounded by her fellow candidates right after she was awarded a bouquet of flowers and sash and of course the crown. She did the celebratory walk and bowed to her audience and waved like a true beauty queen.

When Aila came out of the dressing room, her classmates were waiting to greet her. Aila was very grateful for the support of her classmates; some even have banners with them.

Reese ran towards the dressing room and hugged Aila as soon as she saw her.

"I knew you got this one on the bag the moment you stepped on stage."

Aila laughed at Reese; and humbly joked at her

"hey you're flattering me again, please be like my normal friend right now."

"Come on you owe us a heavy dinner, let's go!" Reese helped Aila with her bags.

"Yes good Lord, what a brilliant idea because I am starving." Aila invited her glam team as well.

On her way out the auditorium, she saw Ken and his friends. Ken approached Aila who's still holding the flowers with him.

"Congrats Aila, you definitely are the most beautiful woman here tonight."

Ken handed Aila the flowers he was holding, Aila rejected it hastily.

Aila moved her face close to Ken's and she whispered to his ears.

"Thank you, but just give Glenda the flower you brought, she needs that now, she's crying backstage."

Ken was startled by Aila's reaction; "how can she possibly know about me and Glenda?"

He had to act tough because his friends are behind him;

"You are the only one that what I want Ai ko, I want you back, please." Ken was hoping Aila could soften up by his sweet words.

"Sorry Ken, I don't chew back what I've already spitted out. You had your chance and you've messed it up" Aila mischievously smiled at Ken before she left.