"Unlike those who will be performing on the first and second day of the carnival, we still have extra days to practice and perfect all the activities we are gonna display on that day..." Joanna trailed. She let her eyes wander around the crowd in front of her.
"For this year's carnival let's give it our best and leave no room for regret," Joanna said a word of encouragement especially to those who were already feeling nervous.
"It feels like it was just a few hours ago you chose her as your co-leader. I can remember that the last thing she wanted to do was to get involved in all these but look at her speaking and cheering everyone up as if she has done this all her life," Derrick whispered to the guy beside him as he kept his focus on the grinning Joanna's face.
"You and I saw the efforts she put in to get the group to where it's now. She might have done this without any ulterior motive but she was able to earn everyone's trust and prove herself with her hard work," Raymond mumbled.
He too didn't look away from Joanna's face.
"She has done so much for the group and I wished the gift I prepared for her will make her happy at the end of the day," Raymond muttered absentmindedly.
He was so engrossed in his conversation with Raymond and didn't even realize when he spoke those words.
"And what is the gift you prepared for her?" Derrick quizzed.
For a minute there the two friends forgot that they were not in the human world where they could freely whisper without having to worry about being heard by a third party.
Raymond diverted his gaze from Joanna's body only to realise that all his group members' attention was on him.
"Raymond, what surprise gift did you prepare for Joanna that makes you so worried that it might not meet her standard?" Lia demanded. She winked at the lady who was equally shocked by Raymond's revelation.
"What gift are you talking.."
"We all heard you mention a surprise gift you prepared for Joanna, it's pointless to feign ignorance about it," Lia cut in.
She was even more eager to hear Raymond's answer than Joanna, the subject of their discussion.
"Tell us already," The others joined Lia to add more pressure on Raymond so he will have no choice but to tell them about the gift.
Raymond stared at their curious eyeballs not knowing how to save himself from this mess he unintentionally brought upon himself.
Just as he was about to lose hope of getting himself out of this trouble, an idea popped into his head.
Since this was his chance to get away he didn't hesitate to execute his plans.
"Damn it, why do I feel so pressed all of a sudden?" Raymond muttered and started approaching the hall's exit.
"Raymond!" Lia called out but unluckily for them, he was gone before they realised what he was up to.
With Raymond gone everyone returned to their previous positions and resumed from where they stopped.
The long-awaited day of the carnival finally arrived. Just like the previous years, there was jubilation around the entire Kingdom.
With the King's declaration of a three days holiday, none in the Twipera Kingdom had to worry about their jobs.
Those who had eagerly waited for this fateful day for a long time trooped into the heavily guarded Twilight University.
While those performing for that day ran around the place trying to perfect their performance, Joanna and her companions took their sweet sweet time to rehearse with plans of joining the spectators to witness others perform for the audience.
Joanna, who was the last to leave the rehearsal hall, was walking in the corridor when a lady running out of one of the open lecture halls almost collided with her.
Had she not moved out of the running lady's path on time, the two of them would have suffered a bad fall.
And the lady who was in her costume would have been the one who suffered the biggest loss.
"Laura..." The lady stomped away without waiting to apologise to Joanna whom she bumped into.
"She is such a darn snub," Joanna muttered and followed her since it was the same direction they were both heading.
Because Joanna and her groups were scheduled to perform on the last day, they had the privilege to watch other groups' activities, learn from their mistakes and also get pointers on how to really go about putting on an excellent performance.
Two days went by so quickly and it was finally the day for Joanna and her group members to display all they have rehearsed for the past week.
As always Joanna and the others were inside their designated hall rehearsing when suddenly she perceived a familiar scent.
"Mrs Parker!" Joanna exclaimed and halted, forgetting that she was on the runway with her other modelling companions.
Lia who was following her never expected her to stop walking and so bumped into her.
If not for Raymond's swift intervention the ladies would have fallen and injured the human lady in front of them.
"What is wrong?" Raymond asked the lady who barely managed to balance herself due to his help.
"Nothing," Joanna smiled at him. She even went ahead and apologised to Lia whom she almost caused to fall.
[It's still a few hours before our group climbs the stage so Mrs Parker couldn't have arrived at this time. I must have been mistaken again]
Joanna was in deep thought as she gazed at the hall's entrance.
"Let's retake that part," Raymond announced. He clapped his hand to bring back orderliness in the hall.
"Miss Butterfly," Raymond called. He touched her hand since she was the only one who hadn't returned to her previous position.
Joanna took one last glance at the entrance and afterwards hurried to stay in line.
...
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