Adorable Dedication

"GRENVILLE HIGH'S FIRST FUNDRAISING EVENT IS NOW OPEN! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING, AND WE HOPE TO RAISE A LOT OF FUNDS FOR PETA! SO, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" A student bellowed into the microphone,

The fair was flooded with people, including parents with their kids, teenagers from other schools, couples, and even grandparents, all there to support the noble cause.

"Wow, I didn't expect this many people. It's a little scary." Philip whispered.

"Come on, be a man! We can handle the fangirls, and we can handle a few more people. Just trust yourself and-" Henry tried encouraging him but was interupted by a tug to his pant.

In surprise, he jumped back and looked down to see a cute little girl gazing up at him.

"Mister, how much is this?" she pointed at the picture frame.

Philip couldn't help but burst into laughter and shook his head. "Are you sure you were just asking to be a man?"

Henry scowled and quickly regained his composure, bending down to the girl's level. "It's originally priced at 7 dollars, but for a beautiful girl like you, how about 5 dollars?" he offered.

"Really?" The girl's face lit up. "I have exactly 5 dollars!" She waved a bill in the air.

"Great!" Henry packed the photo frame in a plastic bag and handed it to her. "Now, don't tell anyone about the special discount, okay!" he whispered. The girl nodded, obviously thrilled with the surprise discount.

"Thank you, sir!" She ran off to find her parents.

Henry smiled, pleased with the interaction. He turned around to find his classmates and friends staring at him.

"Henry, you would make a great father," one girl exclaimed.

"You'll be a fantastic father to OUR child, Henry Baby!" exclaimed another girl.

David chuckled and gave Henry a pat on the shoulder. "When did you get married?" he asked quietly. Henry made a face and scowled at the fangirl who made the comment. "Since she lost her mind," he muttered back.

Steve was effectively managing the class while he slacked off himself, which was a typical behavior for him. Joe was performing exceptionally well in sales, as expected.

"As you can see, this card might seem like a really amateurish drawing right here."

The way he spoke drew a large crowd towards him, especially because he was so tall. Some girls intrigued by Joe's marketing strategy, pulled their boyfriends to join the group surrounding him.

"Yeah, it looks really ugly!" one guy shouted from the audience, and everyone cracked up.

Joe clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "That's where you're mistaken, young man." he shook his head. "This piece of exquisite art is made by someone who has already been signed by a talent agency. His work will be on public display in a few months. Don't you think it's a good idea to collect his work before he becomes famous?" he raised his eyebrows.

Amidst hushed murmurs of agreement, Joe broke the silence with a sly grin, "Well, if nobody's biding, I'll just have to keep this little gem for myself and rake in the cash," he said with an air of nonchalance, tucking the card into his pocket.

But just as he was about to walk away with his excuse of an artwork, the same fellow who had disparaged the artwork earlier chimed in, "Hold on a sec! I'll give you 50 bucks for it!"

Without missing a beat, Joe eagerly exclaimed, "SOLD!" and handed over the card in exchange for the cash. "Thank you for your generous contribution to PETA. Your kindness will be repaid in spades," he graciously added.

Scrutinizing the card closely, the buyer looked up at Joe with a puzzled expression and asked, "Is this really the work of a talented artist?"

"Maybe?" Joe blinked back innocently and darted back into the booth. David slapped him on the back. "You're such a scam, Joe!"

Joe pouted. "Hey I didn't! I just used a wrong phrase. Made by someone that had already been signed up by a talent agency, versus, made by someone that might be signed up by a talent agency." he grinned. "Not THAT much of a difference.."

"And who's that talented artist then huh?" Steve asked, amused.

"Me." Joe pointed to himself. "Just wait all of you, I'll show you my artistic prowess!"

"Keep dreaming." Brad retorted. He looked around. "Where's Alex and Sarah? I haven't seen them since the event started. And where's Nancy?" he pouted.

"Busy at her own class's booth duh." Henry replied with an eye roll.

"Alex and Sarah must be insanely busy right now, they have been too busy this whole week. Today's the peak of their insane busy-ness!"

*********

He was damn right.

"Coming coming!" Alex muttered with his mouth full of a sausage. He sighed and ran after her, feeling worn out. He hadn't even had time to have breakfast. He eventually got himself a sausage from one of the stalls when their darned phones rang again.

Students from other booths called them whenever a problem popped up and they had been darting here and there throughout the morning, never resting.

He looked around and saw that Sarah was already far ahead of him. He chuckled and shook his head, running after her. "That girl."

They arrived at one of the game stalls. There were three young teenagers of around eleven to twelve years old, and the students tending the stall looked pretty peeved. Deliah was heading the stall.

"Lia-" Sarah stopped herself. "I mean, Miss Deliah is something wrong?"

Deliah brightened when she saw Sarah and Alex

"Sis-I mean, Miss Sarah. Alex honey!" she lit up.

"Something happened here!"

"What's wrong?" Alex blinked.

Deliah's class organized a game where a wheel was spun and darts were thrown. The prize awarded depended on the color tile where the dart landed.

"You the one in charge?"

A young boy, around eleven years old, looks up at Alex with a fierce glare. His eyes seem to be burning with frustration as he exclaims,

"I paid my hard-earned 2 dollars won for this game, okay? I played it just like everyone else and landed my dart on the grand prize. And now, this girl is telling me I can't have it!" The boy lets out a heavy sigh, and Sarah looks at Deliah, clearly confused by the situation.

Deliah let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm the only one manning the stall right now since the girls went to grab more supplies. And to make matters worse, one of those boys over there distracted me while his friend was playing the game. When I turned back around, his dart had miraculously landed on the grand prize tile and the wheel had mysteriously stopped spinning. Can you blame me for being suspicious?" She explained to her sister.

Sarah furrowed her brow, feeling the weight of the accusation. "That does sound pretty sketchy," Alex admitted.

"If we don't get our free movie tickets, we'll have to involve the police." One of the boys threatened.

"This is fuucking cheating," exclaimed the boy, using strong language.

Alex was taken aback by the boy's cursing ability. "Don't be hasty. Can you prove that you won fairly?"

The boys pointed to the wheel of fortune. One of them had thrown a dart, and it landed on the narrowest tile, which earned him the top prize. "See?" he said.

Sarah frowned, then had an idea. "You could have landed it there," she murmured. "But if you hadn't cheated, it wouldn't be fair, would it?"

The boys nodded in agreement. "The only option is to review the CCTV footage," Sarah said nonchalantly.

"Looks like we've got some sneaky culprits on the loose. Alex James can you go get the security tapes please?" Sarah said, eyeing the three boys suspiciously.

Alex was quick to catch on, smirking at Sarah as he replied, "Genius right here. Yes, ma'am," before heading off to grab the security tapes.

As he turned to leave, the boys suddenly let out a chorus of panicked wails. "NO WAIT!" they cried, clearly terrified.

"What's wrong, boys? You said you didn't cheat, so you don't have anything to be afraid of. What about the movie tickets?" Deliah asked.

But the boys were having none of it. "We don't want them. Keep them for yourselves," they shrieked, running away as fast as they could.

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the comical scene, while Deliah gave him a thumbs up, impressed by him and her sister's quick thinking. "You're awesome, sissy," she giggled.

Sarah just shrugged it off.

"Oh well, they're young. A stunt that's a little too obvious, huh? Just for a few movie tickets?" She grinned, meeting Alex's eyes before his phone rang again, interrupting the moment. "Not again," he groaned.

********

"Damn. I'm so exhausted," Alex muttered as he walked towards the Newsletter Room. The Fundraising event had just ended, and they had managed to collect a whopping 8,000 dollars! It was unbelievable!

After the event, everyone went off to celebrate or rest, but Sarah and Alex stayed behind to help the cleaners clean the parade square strewn with rubbish. Alex noticed that Sarah was already dozing off as they cleared the trash, so he insisted that she should go home first. He was the last person to leave.

Or so he thought.

As he pushed the door open to get his bag from the room, he was surprised to see someone else in there - a certain angel sleeping on the couch.

Alex found himself unconsciously smiling as he approached Sarah, watching her head nod up and down. He squatted in front of her, observing her face.

He didn't think it was possible, but she actually looked quite adorable like that - not in the physical exterior sense.

He found her attractive because of her strong work ethic, willingness to take risks, and dedication to fighting for her beliefs.

That was adorable. That stubborn character of hers.

"Why didn't you go home? Now I have to give you a ride," Alex pretended to be annoyed, but she was already fast asleep.

"Why didn't you go celebrate with everyone else? Why do you always have to be so diligent and selfless?"

Alex smiled gently. She was the busy bee working diligently behind the scenes, and she was the one who truly embodied adorableness.