Genius Rivals (Ongoing)

17 - THE FEMALE ROMEO

"Good thing I reserved this spots for you" Allen spoke wearing a suit.

I glanced back on the duo of Tristan and Solene. His antic of carrying a load of packaged foods inside the graceful room contradicts the etiquettes of the place. People respect the soul of the event and his actions betrays it. Such a non-class act.

Me and Solene goes through the middle of seats while Tristan struggle to fit through. Fortunately, he didn't drop it on the bystanders. We sat peacefully and ready to watch the fruit of our labor.

"Is everything set?" I asked Allen.

"Yep. The only thing needed is you to watch." He looks at me with assurance.

Allen's hands are trembling. The fingers looks like waves of the ocean. The constant moving is likely to be coming from the uncertainty in his heart. He's nervous.

"I hope we'll win..." he said descendingly.

Numerous audiences enter the room as the show is being readied. Their blunt footsteps thicken as time passes. The show is about to start. I relax on my seat. Putting all my weight on the cushion. The munching in my right ear progressively gets louder. Tristan with bountiful cheeks looks at the bright stage. Just when I thought he couldn't be more disgusting. A loud eating in the middle of a theatre? Damn, he's always been tone deaf but this takes the cake.

"What?" he looks at me with eyes wide open.

"Stop that" I commanded him.

"Stop what?"

"Stop eating. You're not watching a movie. You're embarassing us here."

Tristan looks behind. "Don't worry. They don't seem to mind."

This hard-headed fool can't be persuaded. He even made it more obvious. I give up. I won't associate with him the whole event though.

The stage curtains opens. Revealing a man in three piece white suit. His presence on the stage lightens the mood. The spotlight is on him.

"A fine day for the ladies and gentlemen out there!"

He welcomed the audiences. A greetings to start the event. With his use of flowery words and attractive tone, I'm sure he's a professional. Personally, I just want to get straight to the business. No unnecessary things. But I understand. He needs to talk to the watchers to make a "personal" bond with them. To make us feel comfortable. An illusion of the media. Not genuine at all.

For 20 minutes he spoke, nothing got through my mind. I found his job to be a distracting beauty. Only a decoration. At last, his speech ended and we can focus to the main event by now.

"And we'll start the preperation for the main dish of the event right after..." the emcee announced. The last line of his speech.

The red curtains closed again. Seems like they're preparing for the "main dish."

Lot of schools participated. Trying to seek the glory of the competition. Here I am, witnessing their attempt. They've done their best, but that best is not enough. The directing is awfully average. The stage designs are tediously cartoonish. The dialogues are without substance. An effort wasted. But at the very least, they tried. That's commendable.

Truth be told, they may also be a hostage of standards. The invisible chain of all. Imposed on the innocent teenagers to do what they "supposed" to do. To conform to the societal bonds which strangles them. I grew weary of these chains.

"Oh man, here comes the red suits..." Allen spoke to me.

The students of Saint Valentine University sets their own stage. Their turn has come. These are expected to be high quality and it's obvious. Let's see how it goes.