Fashionista

Chapter 34

Helene turned the swivelling chair around, so Camille faced us.

Daisy beamed. "You look fabulous, Cami."

She did look fabulous. Helene had applied her make up skills on Cami, and the result was neatly trimmed brows, with black eye shadow to match her blue eyes, mild blush to match her pale skin and a heavy gloss of pale pink for the lips.

"I love the lips, you really brought out the shade." I appraised, while Eleanor selected through the various outfits.

Cami blushed, as she wrung her hands together. "Thanks girl. I feel so pretty but..."

Helene shook her freshly done black curls, pushing out the loose red strand. Like I said, eccentric.

"You'll do fine, Camille. Five of us made the best clothes, and with a face and body like yours, you will easily outshine them all."

Eleanor laughed from the corner, holding a sparkly silver gown she made. "Really outshine them."

Camille looked in the mirror and ran her hands through the mass of blonde curls. "Okay. What do I wear first?"

*****

Principal Jones waved the mass of students coming in as she stood at the well lit stage. The building which doubled as a pavilion, situated at the back of the house, was adorned with streaming lights of all colours. It had the same decor as the main house, mahogany doors with transparent ceilings and ceiling fans hung in place of the chandeliers. About 150 chairs were arranged, all facing the red rugged five feet apart centre which would serve as the runway. Soft music played from the speakers at both sides of the stage.

With the exception of Cami, who was backstage, we took our seats at the 2nd row on the left side.

"This is perfect. We will catch all the action." Daisy whispered into my ear.

Once again, I nodded and watched as everyone else filed in and found a seat at the left as well. The right hand side had half the chairs, and no one was allowed to seat there.

"Ouch. Good thing we came early." Helene mumbled, as some of our classmates were moved out of the seats.

"Settle down, students. The event is about to start." Mrs. Jones spoke calmly into the standing microphone.

"Today is the first day of your showcase. Today, all of you have chosen one person to present the clothes you made during the first semester. Of course, judges will be present to score you at the end. So have fun and enjoy dressing up." She finished, and went off the stage to take a seat at the right hand.

Just then, a suited up middle aged man stepped into the hall and took a seat. He looked around, mostly at the sea of students opposite him then nodded at our principal and wrote into a desk diary book made of the finest leather. Soon, other men and women came in and did the same thing. A few of them smiled warmly at us, and I scanned the faces non committal until a familiar face popped. Vanessa.

I smiled and stared hard at her until she caught my stare and smiled back. She quickly averted her eyes, and went to work on her phone.

My phone beeped. "We have to pretend like we don't know each other. I'll fill you in later."

I quickly replied back. "Its good to see you again."

One of the men that introduced us two days ago, Mr Billcliffe I think, came up to the stage. "Good day, students. As you can see, these other seats are for designated personnel who have arrived. These fashionable men and women will be the judges of your clothing apparels, so I hope you're ready to wow them."

The second man, the shorter one whose name I didn't know yet, came in and took over the show wearing a dark green suit with a marching tie and black shirt. He looked quite smart and fashionable, not like the way he was when we came in.

He smiled warmly, "Good day to all of you. I hope you're feeling quite warm and well equipped with your face masks. Welcome to the first show of the week, to be accompanied by two more shows. So let's get right to business, twenty students gave been picked by their mates to showcase all their clothes. Every student will wear five clothes, made by them and the roommates, all bearing a tag as to who made what. The judges will decide the first to third place, and these scores will help in second semester. "

He paused to let it all sink in, and when all the murmurs had been quieted down, he continued. "So in order of their appearance: Tyler Fisher, Adam Charmont, Carrie Blundell, Camille Everton..."

"Hey, that's our girl." Eleanor spoke up with glee.

"Yes, I'm so excited to see how she shows them our creations." Helene said, pushing out her red hair strand from her face again.

"Me too. Has anyone seen Leo?" Daisy asked, subtly craning her neck towards the back of the seats.

I spoke up then, "No I haven't. He's most likely with his roommates. I'll text him."

"Hey, where are you?"

The reply came immediately. "In the hall. Where else? I can see you and your roomies."

"Lol. We haven't seen you since you left us. Will you come by after the show?"

"And be caught dead with five girls? Of course. Later."

I smiled, and looked up right in time to hear the entry music and watch the first guy come up. The first thing I noticed was the absence of medicated glasses, Tyler always wore glasses that perched on the bridge of his nose but today they were missing. His maroon hair was styled back to near perfection, and his eyes seemed to look different in the light. He wore thick black trousers with gold linings woven on the sides, along with a white turtle neck also speckled with gold and then a light blue jean jacket unbuttoned. He finished the look with white sneakers laced with gold. I guess, the theme was gold.

The MC spoke up just as Tyler walked across the centre. "And there's our golden boy, Tyler Fischer."

As he strutted up the stage more confident than I had ever seen him, the names of the designers flashed across the big screen mounted on the center wall.

After doing a few poses, he walked away followed by the next person. Another guy who wore a simple blue kaftan, with blue trousers and a matching pair of suede shoes. Too blue in my opinion, and the looks on the faces of others told me they thought the same.

Soon, Camille appeared with our designs. Looking as gracious as ever, she donned Eleanor's blue and white turtle neck top, Daisy's white jeans with my blue heeled sandal strap shoes and Helene's pearl jewelry. Calmly, we all gave her a round of applause and smiled her way as she walked past us and onto the stage.

"Blue and white never looked so good." Mr. Billcliffe said as he stood beside his double and pressed a button for our names to show on the screen.

It felt so right to be listed as a designer.

*****

Two hours later, the show was done and dusted with the only evidence being the chairs and microphones that the workmen came to pack up for safekeeping. As well as the delectable mince pies that had been shared to all. The models were still backstage so the rest of us wandered about outside waiting for our fifth musketeer.

A text from Vanessa. "Where are you? Let's talk."

"Girls. I need to get something. I'll be right back."

Daisy smirked, "Or you want to go see Leo? I saw you texting him earlier."

I smiled and willed myself to turn red. "Umm, yes. I'll see you later." I said before turning away and rounding a bend to see Vanessa.

"This feels like a secret meeting for lovers." She said, immediately I came into view.

"Don't make it weird." I replied, before giving her a hug.

*****

So sorry for the late update. I've down for a while, nearly a week.
I hope this chapter makes a bit of sense.
Don't forget to vote and tell me what you think.