10 I Can't Believe The Bracelet Is Gone! (01)

Was I overreacting these days?

Maybe I am too sensitive...but I had hoped that Paige and Jade could ask how I am doing.

The outside world started to dim down as Simone curled up inside her blankets. She was feeling fuzzy and numb in her own heat. With her eyes closed, it seemed that she was just about to sleep. However, she was not entirely asleep yet. Her mind was drifting in and out of her own emotions and the overwhelming darkness outside of her little blanket fort. Right beside her lay her smartphone, with notifications popping out from 'Laurel Class of 2019' on the lock screen. Those notifications were from students wishing her well. When can I return to school to see everyone? How had they been? Not wanting to roll over her body, she extended her arms and grabbed the phone. She slowly read those messages and smiled back at the phone, as if everyone could see her expressing gratitude towards the senders.

Paige and Jade haven't sent her any get-well messages yet, which led her to wonder what had happened. Weren't we friends? Friends should care about each other. Frustrated, she thought to herself. Yet after a while, a feeling of guilt and hesitation rose in her heart. Maybe they were just too busy. I shouldn't ask much. They were already finishing most of the runway project on top of their busy Laurel academics since I was not at school.

Her phone chimed again.

It was a message from Paige and Jade!

She swiped on the notification, ready to read the message from them. Yet, the message was not what she had been expecting. To be precise, it was a happy message, but it was not what she had anticipated seeing.

'Simone, guess what, WE GOT ONE OF THE PLACES FOR THE RUNWAY SHOW!' Paige's excitement clearly showed up in her text.

It's not a get well message.

'That's great!' Simone gasped. 'Um, what do I need to do for the show?'

'We are waiting for you to come back, Simone! I will get all the things set up for you to prepare you for the runway show!" Jade said.

I should not blame Paige and Jade...they had already done so much.

"Unfortunately, there's one piece of bad news: Beth and Julianna's project got the first place! Their work was atrocious at the start of the semester. Ever since they changed their design and materials, everyone started advocating for their work. We are suspecting the materials that they are using are not normal, and they might have been cheating." Paige added.

"Beth seems so suspicious. She has no idea about social manners, and I have no idea why she got into Laurel Prep in the first place for her abilities. As for Julianna, one of the students from our grade attended the same middle school with her. She said that Julianna is a nerd and a loner." Jade sent a voice text commenting on the undesirability of Beth and Julianna.

"Hey guys, I think they seem like good people. Also, Beth must have her strengths as well to be a Laurel student."

"You know nothing about Laurel Prep. The student quality here is declining these years. Besides, Beth having her strengths doesn't mean that she is necessarily qualified."

Paige instantly dismissed what Simone had just said. She was biased since she had very unfavorable impressions of Beth. It was not hard to understand her view--Beth's mannerisms were utterly alien to her. She and Beth had a completely different upbringing. Thus, she couldn't fathom how Beth ended up in the same school, the same grade, like her. I grew up in a wealthy neighborhood. I started reading economics journals since middle school. She came from a small undereducated town. She dresses way too bright and weird. She doesn't know how to speak to people properly. Moreover, she has that innocent face when she was clearly doing something shady with her project to win. To Paige, Beth was the person who rigged the system and broke into their safe circle as an intruder.

Paige's dislike for Beth reminded Simone to stop talking about this topic now.

"Umm, guys...I will come by Wednesday, but I am not sure if I can come by tomorrow..." Simone coughed and mentioned her cold in the group chat. Would they send me a get well message? She had hoped a little bit in her heart.

There was no reply for a whole five minutes in the group chat. After the five minutes, Jade popped out a message written with annoyance.

"What does it mean that you cannot come tomorrow? We almost prepared everything for you. The runway show is basically a week away. We are all counting on you, Simone."

I really shouldn't expect too much, should I?

Simone couldn't help but feel a little down inside.

Maybe my instinct is right. I gradually don't feel like hanging out with Paige and Jade these days. It's sweet that they have been making sure that the dress works well for me, but I don't know if they care about my well-being.

However, if I don't hang out with Paige and Jade, who am I going to be close to?

I already screwed up once...

There was another girl in her memory. Felicity Florence.

A redhead who always had a happy face. Who was always brave and assertive. Who always wore a ponytail to school. Who loved playing basketball and jive to rock music.

She and Simone were classmates during middle school, where she was Simone's upperclassman. Usually, students hang around their own groups, and there was not a lot of mingling between the different grades. However, the Gods of fate decided that they should meet each other one day. And that decision worked. Their mutual love for music pushed them towards each other. During a school band recruit, they became friends despite their polar differences. Simone, being the sensitive and shy one, always clung to Felicity by her side in school. They'd eat together, hang out together, go shopping together, and whisper their deepest secrets to each other.

Time flies.

One day during the last middle school year for Felicity, they went skating as usual. After they walked out of the rink at late night, she held Simone's hand and told her that she would apply for Laurel Prep in the early round. It's an excellent school! I hope we can go there together someday!

Her words left with Simone with simultaneous happiness, sadness, and emptiness. Simone was happy that Felicity was finally growing up to become an adult and move on to the next stage of achieving her aspiration. Yet that sadness also broke her apart. High school was not at all what Simone was thinking. All she knew was Felicity leaving, and she didn't want that. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, blurring Felicity's smile in front of her eyes. I should be happy for her, but why am I crying? Why couldn't the tears be gone? She tried rubbing her eyes to stop her tears. Seeing Simone crying, Felicity walked towards and hugged Simone, but she cried even harder, collapsing on Felicity's shoulders and filling it with her tears.

It's okay. I will always be there for you. That's the last thing Simone remembered which Felicity said that day.

Nonetheless, they were all bittersweet memories now. The two people hadn't been talking for a long time since. Now that Simone had become a Laurel Prep student, where had Felicity been?

I wonder where she is now...

What Simone didn't realize that night was that weird color blobs started popping outside of her windows as well.

✨

The first exam grade was just out. Everyone was getting their results back and discussing the answers. Beth looked dejected as she walked along Julianna.

"What's wrong, Beth?"

"Well, I didn't do quite well on this exam, and I am anxious now..."

"I am sorry to hear that, but it's impossible to un-do the test now." Julianna was not the best person to turn to when someone had an emotional crisis. However, she offered some practical help to Beth. "Umm, I am quite good at the material. Maybe we can review together sometimes to get you more familiar with it?"

"It's so nice for you to offer that, but I am honestly unsure about how I will do on the future test based on my current performance." Beth walked into a crowd in front of them. "Wait...what's happening in here?"

"Beth, you are famous now." A student walked towards her.

"Huh?" Beth leaned forward to a billboard before her. It wrote: Runway Competition Result Compilation. The first five places get the opportunity to be shown on stage.

First place: Bethany Clementine and Julianna Miller.

This. Made. My. Day. Beth started to feel a little less nervous after her flunked test.

"Hey Jules, we made the first place for the runway competition!"

"Cool. Tell me what we need to do next!"

"It says that the runway show will take place at 7:00 PM at the giant stadium of Laurel. All winners/groups should have one person wear the clothing of entry, and the other member wear a matching costume. The judge will pick the best five from all the candidates and give them the finale award."

"So, do you want to wear the dress that we made, and I find a matching suit for it?"

"I think so!"

"By the way, it's already near the end-of-class time." Julianna casually mentioned, "I need to text my parents to pick me up."

Thirty minutes later after Julianna texted the Millers, they arrived at Laurel Prep. As soon as Beth and Julianna walked out of the campus together, they waved to Julianna on a street beside the school entrance.

Beth turned her head to face them. She was blown away. They looked like two graceful scholars, just like Julianna herself.

They have a great fashion sense, just like the magazine models.