Pro Guardian - (B.M.)

Chapter 09

Something Worth Living For

The next afternoon, guests and judges gathered inside the drama competition theatre for the first set of performers.

Margot had repeatedly stated throughout dinner the night before that she was highly confident in herself and was certain she would win first place in the competition. Despite her discomfort with Margot's arrogance, Elianne simply nodded and agreed, telling her that she was convinced Margot would do fine.

Billy sat next to Elianne, and Miss Stevens sat next to Sam, while the audience and judges took their seats. She saw Billy's fidgeting fingers and gently placed her palm on his calf, causing the kid to blush profusely. She swiftly pulled it away, surprised by his strange reaction.

"Are you nervous?" she asked, searching for answers in his eyes.

Billy stared blankly at her for a second, before shaking his head a little. "I mean, I get
nervous sometimes."

"When?" Elianne found herself more intrigued with Billy, wanting to know more about him, though she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

"I'll let you know," Billy replied, shaking his attention from Elianne.

Everyone clapped their hands and settled into their seats as a man she imagined was the host went onto the stage.

"Welcome to round one. It's a big day today. Today we learn what's you, what's me, and what's us," the man began with a proud smile. "Okay. First up is the group from Franklin High School. Let's start with Margot Jensen."

A few claps were heard from the audience, and Margot walked up to the stage, smiling happily. Elianne gave Margot a thumbs-up, to which she smiled back.

"Hi, I'm Margot Jensen from Franklin High School. And today I'll be performing one of Blanche DuBois' monologues from Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire."

When I was 16, I made the discovery . . . Love . . . All at once and much, much too completely. But I was, I was . . . Uh⸺"

Then she came to a halt. She cautiously gazed around the room, noticing the audience's worried expressions. When Margot bolted from the theatre room, Elianne frowned. She went after the girl without hesitation.

Quickly after, Elianne saw Margot sitting on the floor near an empty hallway, crying quietly. She sat beside the girl.

"I'm not here," Margot croaked out. "Go away."

"I know," Elianne answered, facing the front. "Can I talk to you anyway?"

When Margot didn't reply, Elianne continued, "I just want you to know that it's totally okay to be upset."

"That was so humiliating," Margot said, rubbing her eyes and looking up to see the other girl. Elianne saw nothing but sorrow and bloodshot eyes in front of her, which made her heartache.

"It was, wasn't it?" Elianne said.

"Are you supposed to say that?

"Would you rather I lied?" 

Margot hugged her knees, shaking her head in response.

"It was humiliating. And it sucks you worked so hard and forgot. But you know what else? It's gonna be okay. Not today maybe, or . . . Or even tomorrow. But there will be a day when this is okay. And then you'll look back to today's events and you'll laugh. You'll laugh so hard because nothing else matters anymore. It's just you and your world moving forward."

Margot smiled lightly and wiped her tears away. She pulled Elianne in for a long comforting hug.

"I'm sorry," Margot said after pulling away.

Elianne furrowed her brows. "Why would you be⸺"

Margot gave the girl a meaningful look. "I've been nothing but mean to you ever since this trip started, and still, you helped me. I just don't get it."

"You're a friend, Margot, and I'm sure you think of me as one, too," Elianne said with a slight smile. "Some people just have different ways of expressing it."

"Can you keep a secret, Eli?" Margot paused. "Can you not tell Billy or Sam?"

"About what?"

"That my parents paid for the trip," Margot said. "The school's art program can't afford to pay for this, so I managed to convince them to let us go on this trip . . ."

The two girls embraced once more, knowing that their rocky beginning would soon evolve into a lovely friendship. "I won't, I promise."