[MARGARET]

AFTER the performance of the 20th pair, even the tensed atmosphere within the auditoruim finally ended. Mrs. Terre didn't let us leave the room just yet to change clothes since she was still going to announce the pair with the highest mark. She said that right after we gave the grades of each pair, especially when we finally picked the pair that we thought had performed the best.

I voted for the first pair as the overall best pair for me who did a contemporary piece with the siblingship as a theme. I remembered my half-brother who was in LA along with his grandmother when I saw that performance.

Here we were, waiting for the result but it was obvious that our feelings were leaking. There was anxiety, excitement, hope, not caring (just like Brent and even neutral.

Wow! Was this supposed to be called mixed feelings?

I saw Mrs. Terre stand up from where she was sitting and went to the stage.

"Okay, this is the pair with the highest grade received since almost all of you voted for this particular pair. I wasn't just sure if you voted for them because you liked their performance or you just like their pairing. But here it is. The best pair performance for our dance practicum is..."

Come on, Ma'am! Don't go with the suspense effect right now, okay? It was irritating. I could even feel my heart hurting because of this intense nervousness. Though I had to ask myself, did I really have to be nervous like this?

"...Pair #8, the waltz that Brent Allen Villaruz and Margaret Relaina Avellana performed!"

Like... what the heck? Are you kidding me?

My eyes widened when I heard that. This was a joke, right?

And Mrs. Terre was seriously grinning widely after announcing that. Yes, grinning and not smiling. If my clubmates' teasings earlier when Brent and I were done performing, it was doubled at the moment. Honestly, I could really punch all of them because of that. And I'd definitely do it hard!

"This is a disaster..." I could only say to myself and ended up covering my face with my hands.

Until I froze when I noticed something. I discreetly looked around the auditorium so that I won't be obvious. Come to think of it, where was Brent? He was with Neilson just a while back, right?

Great! He managed to get away from here. Mrs. Terre even clearly stated not to leave the room just yet until the grades were announced.

As for Mrs. Terre, she was still talking on the stage with regards to the grades of the ther pairs' performances. But my attention wasn't there. Sad to say, it wasn't even inside the auditorium anymore.

I exhaled. What was happening to me? Why was I like this just because that jerk wasn't even around?

"Looking for someone?"

I got startled when I heard that. I soon turned to the direction where it came from. I saw Mayu smiling at me as she approached me.

Did my cousin notice?

I turned to look the other way and shrugged. Then I shifted my attention to my bag where my clothes was placed.

"Here. He wanted you to have this," Mayu said that made me stop doing anything.

I raised my head and saw a rectangular lavender box being handed to me. I thought I knew where it came from. And Mayu said 'he', right?

I even slowly moved just to get that, as if hesitating. But what was I supposed to hesitate about?

"It won't bite, you know."

I faced Mayu with a frown who was just smiling. "Idiot! That's not what I was thinking about, okay?" To my irritation, I grabbed the box and took it rather forcibly from Mayu.

I froze once again when I noticed the familiar handwriting on the top of the box.

It contained a question, though, that only made me frown.

'Can you grant me this?'

Huh? Grant him what?