Friendship Comes First Before Competition! (02)

'What are these things...' Simone stepped back from the color blobs, shaking. "Don't....don't fetch me!"

Some audiences were appalled by the sudden appearance of the color blobs as well. Inconsistent sounds of whimpering could be heard offstage. Everyone started to panic.

Jade and Paige ran to the runway at once to check on Simone, with Beth following them to get the bracelet. As soon as all three of them were on the runway, Jade leaned towards Beth with a malicious look. Before Beth could even fathom what was entirely going on, she had already grabbed her by the collar, preparing to swing her fist across Beth's face.

With Beth hanging in air and Jade holding hostage of her, all the sights now were shifted towards them.

The audience gasped.

"Beth Clementine. You appear everywhere with us, and I know there's no good with you! You are just as weird as your little bracelet." Jade hissed. Then she started yelling at Beth, attempting to choke her in the meantime. " What's happening here? What's wrong with the bracelet? Why it attacks Simone? YOU ARE THE OWNER, AND YOU EXPLAIN THIS!!"

"Explain!"

Little did Jade knew that by the time she finished her words, the large distorted giant had already been standing behind her with her unsteady thin legs. The giant unknowingly released Beth from Jade. Then, it gripped her and Paige in its gigantic hands, lifting them to mid-air. With both of them in mid-air, facing the blob directly, they saw that it resembled Simone in her appearance.

"Set us free, you STUPID BLOB!"

"Paige, Jade, do you guys want to be my friends or are you just using me because I am cool and fashionable? Do you care about me?" The blob began to speak to them with an uncannily low voice.

"I care about you, Simone! Why do you think we don't care about you?"

"You two ignorant people! All you care about is using my identity to win the competition!" It dived in and opened its mouth towards Paige and Jade. "If you guys were never here, this would not even happen!"

"Simone, is this what you think about us from your heart?" Paige shouted to Simone across the runway stage.

"I never said something like that, Paige!" Simone answered. However, as soon as she spoke her words, she began to hesitate. Indeed, she didn't say anything in front of Paige and Jade, but hadn't she doubted if they truly cared about her?

Hadn't this doubt grown since the last few days?

Paige and Jade were the first two people to reach out to Simone at Laurel Prep. They were in the same class as her and approached her enthusiastically. From there, the three people naturally formed a little group. Simone admired Paige since she was always disciplined and quickly got things done. As for Jade, she saw a sense of assertiveness that she found respectable. However, Simone found something that she didn't like about them as well. Every morning when they greeted her, the first thing that they commented on was always how cool her new outfits were. Not how her day had been, not what she was feeling at the start of the day. When the three were working together in the art room, Paige and Jade spent their free time gossiping about other people and strolling on their social media every several seconds. Just look at that girl. The handbag of hers seems fake. That guy has a weird mustache. Now, Simone herself had become the subject of their gossip as well. All she needed was to be left alone by those two people now.

'You monsters! Keep away from Paige and Jade!' Beth picked up the bracelet from the floor and promptly tugged it in her wrist. She was trying for the bracelet to do something.

"Come on...you stupid bracelet...please give my magic back to me!"

Concentrate, Beth! You know what to do!

All of a sudden, something came to her--her memory of her facing her idealized self. Before she vanished into the light, she encouraged her and told her that she would always wait for her through the ups and downs in life.

"You don't need to be afraid. Just call me with this bracelet."

Jules. Simone. Nora and Owen. Mom and Dad. And of course, Bianca. Thinking about every one of her important people, a strength to move on came to her. The bracelet stopped squeaking and started shinning once again, lightening up everything around her. All of her outfits came back to her--her white dress, boots, and the giant pen.

"Beth Clementine is to the rescue!"She gave the pen a strong wave in the air, drawing multicolored lines and dots that were pushed towards the color blobs.

✨

Julianna was the only person who had not been exposed to the situation until now. She was always slower to be aware of what was happening around her.

"Why hadn't Beth come back, I mean...I think it's about time that we show up together."

"Julianna, we are currently not continuing the runway because there is some chaos on the runway scene." And I think your partner is there as well."

"Oh gosh, I need to check on what is happening." On hearing what the volunteer said, Julianna quickly rushed out of her booth.

She was instantly greeted with chaos: weirdly distorted giants composed of color blobs forcefully swinging Paige and Jade around in the air, Simone standing still in a corner in fright, everyone offstage groaning and sticking together. Beth was the only different one--she was not fearful of the situation. Standing in front of the blobs by herself, in a white dress and boots, she concentrated on fighting over them with emitted strokes from her pen.

"Is that the magic that she meant? I should have believed her." Julianna's eyes sparkled in awe.

"Do something, Beth!" Paige and Jade shouted. The pink-haired giant moved very fast, and it was very hard to attack it. Beth made the pen change into an arrow to shoot the giant in the heart, but the giant moved away swiftly. The arrow accidentally hit the walls, creating a crack on the wall. Things would become an ugly scene very soon--she had to find a solution.

"Jules!" She turned back and saw Julianna standing behind her.

"Beth! Is this what you meant by magic?"

"Yes! Jules, I am almost defeating this monster: can you carry Paige and Jade away after this and inform everyone to be calm?"

"I will do that!"

Beth promptly changed the arrow back into a pen. With her pen again, she could continue drawing. She doodled a sword and threw the sword into the pink-haired giant. This time, the attack worked. Blood squeezed out of the giant's eyes, and the giant whimpered in pain. The pink hair on the giant started falling and disappear before it touches the ground. With the giant's power gradually weakened, it started losing balance. Since its thin legs were not able to hold its feeble body anymore, it started dropping down from the back like a softened mesh of sack. Its body integrated into small colorful particles in the air. The giant no longer held Paige and Jade--Paige and Jade were sitting on the floor instead. They looked at Beth and Simone, with a complex look that combines confusion, disappointment, and thankfulness on their face.

Julianna ran towards Paige and Jade, but they ran away. Simone loosened her breathe with relief.

The time for Julianna to step up had come.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am Julianna, Beth's partner in this runway show." Julianna grabbed a microphone and dominated the center of the runway show. " I know you guys are afraid of what is happening here, but panicking is not enough. Now, everyone, please follow my direction. Protect yourself and exit the runway show quickly."

"Nice job, Jules!" Beth gave Julianna a thumbs up. As she glimpsed over the runway, something caught her eye.

It was Simone. A pink, fuzzy glow danced around her. She waved to the pink mist with her fingertips. The mist didn't go away. Instead, it traced her fingers and flowed towards the direction of their movement.

"What's happening, Beth? You have the magic, so you must know."

"Simone, I think it means you may have become magical like me. Before I had my powers, I also saw my monsters. Now you have seen yours, and it will be the turn for you to conquer it! Give me your hand, Simone!"

Simone nodded, and the two of them exchanged a glance. She reached out her hand to Beth, and the two shared a firm grip. In front of them, a golden mist suddenly appeared, mixing into the pink mist. Space started distorting in front of them. A light holo shirt and a glowy, funky skirt appeared on Simone. Then, a microphone emerged before her eyes. She let go of Beth's hands and held the microphone close to her. As the microphone touched her hands, the glow dispersed away in front of her.

Everything became clear again.

The remaining two giants and other blobs were approaching the audiences.

The time was urgent--Simone had to put her magic quickly into use.