Chapter 101: Please, don’t go...

Mia heared the name of the second to the last contestant, who happened to be Diane being called out on stage and she suddenly felt her palm break out in sweat. She had felt confident earlier but now she was feeling nervous about walking out there in the crowd. She hadn’t walked out to the stage, but the loud booming cheer from the audience made her more aware of the thousands of people out there. It was one thing to walk confidently into the backstage room with only the students, but it was another to walk out where the entire school and paparazzi where standing around with flashing cameras.

She had prepared herself for this but she couldn’t help but feel her knees go weak all of a sudden and the feverish feeling from earlier returned to the point where she felt like throwing up. And to make matters worst, the images from her strange dream where she was being insulted by the crowed flashed into her head.

However, Mia closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. ’You can do this.’ She reassured herself and stood straighter when she heard the host out the stage say, "Wow, it seems we have a lot of Miss Foster’s fans in the crowd. However, now I will like to announce our last and final contestant of this competition. Mia Harrison!!" As the announcer announced Mia’s name, there was less cheering noise from the crowd compared to the other contestants. Most of the students in the crowd were even laughing with some of them whispering among themselves.

"So she came? I wonder what sort of granny dress she would be wearing."

"I bet she’s wearing one of those rag dresses. I can’t believe she’s here to embarrass herself on a live show where the whole world is watching."

Instead of cheers, most of the noise in the hall were murmuring about how the girl was going to embarrass herself today if she were to wear a raggy attire. However, as Mia stepped out of the backstage, the students among the audience were stunned beyond words. Carlos, who had been sulking in the backseat along with Rayne, shot up to their feet in both excitement and disbelief.

They were shocked at first but when they realized the person in a purple dress was indeed Mia, who they had thought didn’t come, the pair snapped out of their dazed state and cheered louder than everyone, making the people around them wrinkle their faces.

"That’s my bestie! There you go girl!!" Rayne cheered loudly at the top of her lungs drawing not just the attention of the people around them, but the attention of Liam, who stood alongside Neil not too far from where Rayne and Carlos were seated as they were waiting for the signal to make a move. He frowned as he realised the girl his friend was interested in was friends with Jason’s sister.

Neil, who had been standing with a bored expression the whole time as he watched the students catwalk, looked up when Mia walked out on the stage and his bored expression turned into that of pride. He could tell she was nervous but she covered it up well as she walked down the runway with a bright smile on her face.

When Mia saw the thousands of flashing cameras, she felt the urge to hide away but she played it cool and did as she was taught yesterday in the rehearsal room. She beamed and swirled around at the top of the stage to showcase her dress. When she was about to turn around, she felt someone’s intense gaze on her.

She looked towards the direction and noticed Neil among the crowd with his eyes looking straight into hers. Though the audience stands was a bit dim, she could see him clearly as his imposing figure stood out from everyone. Her heart involuntarily leaped in her chest and her cheeks heated up as his eyes were enough to make her shiver in delight and make her mind go back to the kiss they had shared in the changing room.

For a moment, it almost felt like they were the only ones there, everything else blurred out in Mia’s vision and the only thing she could see was the only man that made her heart beat faster. She wouldn’t have snapped back to her senses if the audience’s loud cheering didn’t ring Into her head.

Realizing that she was still standing at the top of the stage instead of turning and walking away, Mia quickly smiled at the audience and made a graceful turn before walking away to the backstage with her legs that felt wobbly because of the high heels she wore.

When she stepped into the backstage, Mia breathed out a sigh of relief. When she looked up, she met Diane’s deadly glares but she ignored it as she wasn’t feeling too good after her walk to the stage. Her head, that had stopped hurting earlier, was now throbbing like there was a hammer drilling holes in her skull. Even her heart rate had increased.

The host’s voice rang in from the stage, making the students in the backstage all look up. "Wow, wow, it seems Miss Harrison has taken a lot of people by surprise with her stunning looks. So now we will let our audience decide who they want to be crowned by placing their votes."

However, as the activities were going on in the school, inside a magnificent mansion where some men in black suits were seen seated around a long table that looked like the ones used in conference rooms. Among the men, was Owen who had joined the members of the Da Kroll. And they were watching Ivy Grove institute’s event on the huge flat screen TV that was positioned in front of them.

The man at the head of the table who looked to be their leader, looked stunned when Mia’s face flashed on the TV screen. He shot up to his feet with the glass of wine in his hand falling to the ground in the process.

"Mr. Rodrigo," Called one of the men sitting around the table, with his brows deeply frowned, he spoke without looking away from the screen,"Isn’t that your Mariana? I thought she’s studying abroad, why is she here?" Asked the man as he glanced at Kelvin Rodrigo, who looked as shock as they all did at the moment.

"Impossible..." Kelvin muttered to himself as he angrily slammed away the documents on his table, startling the other men around the table. They all turned to look at him in confusion. If they were his workers, they would have fled the room in fear of his anger, but they weren’t his men but his partners in the Da Kroll organization.

"I thought we agreed on the fact that Mariana must stay aboard until she masters the act of making the weapons, how come she’s here in Ivy Grove?" Asked the man beside Kelvin, who stood up with a displeased frown on his face. But Kelvin was too immersed in the activities on the TV to answer him. He watched as the participants walked back to the stage as it was time to choose a winner.

Back at the stage, Mia tried her best not to fall from the dizziness that washed over her as she stood before the audience with the rest of the contestants. She looked up and saw that Neil was backing away from the crowd along with a man beside him, a frown was quick to settle on her face as she watched him leave. She suddenly felt her heart clench in her chest as she longed for him to stay. Where was he going to?

Surprisingly, she always felt at ease with him around her. And as he slowly backed away with his eyes boring into hers from below, she felt like something of hers was being taken away. She wanted him to stay. Perhaps it was due to her fever that was making her react in an unusual way, but she didn’t want him out of her sight.

Please, don’t go. Stay...

As if he could read the longing in her expression, he stopped in his tracks. Even though the man beside him was whispering something to him, he didn’t move and continued to stare back at her from the distance as if he could read the emotion swirling inside her. His expression was blank, but his eyes were encouraging, making her heart warm up with a sense of ease and calm.

Mia didn’t look away until the host’s voice spoke up. "Alright. Let’s see who has the most votes among our beautiful contestants."

Immediately the host spoke, the screen behind them showcased the voting scoreboard with the names and pictures of the participants. The screen showcased how the votes were coming in, and the participants who got the most votes, their picture and name would move upwards.

The participants weren’t allowed to look behind until the vote was done, thus none of them knew who was taking the lead. However, Diane was confident as ever that she would win as the crowd had cheered more for her. She stood with her chin lifted high. She had made the decision that if she were to win, she would spare Mia the embarrassment that awaited her today but if she were to lose, she would make sure to bring the girl down with her and pay back all the years of bullying she had to endure in highschool.

Did she really think by changing her name from Mariana to Mia would make Diane not know that she was that little witch who bullied her in highschool? Not a chance, Mia could keep pretending not to know her but Diane wasn’t going to let her get away with what she did in the past.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read