Rose stood with Kyra and Zoey circling her, fixing both her hair and dress for the pageant. Jia tapped her phone while pacing around the dressing tent where her friend was assigned to. The other girls were sorting out Rose`s outfits for the next three categories. They were all currently at the City Hall where the Pageant would take place the whole day. Thankfully, it was on a Saturday. The contestants were given dressing rooms inside tents that were near the stage and it was made private for each contestant.
"Are you sure I can`t just go out like this?" Rose asked her friends as she glanced down to take in the stunning green dress she was in while running her fingers over the dangling ear rings she had on.
"No!" They all exclaimed making her jump slightly.
"That sash is the master piece that I have been working on since your name came out on that list, you`re wearing it!" Clary yelled before leaving the girls in a huff," I`m going to go and find it, wait here."
"Maybe it got mixed up with all the other garment bags?" Kyra suggested as she turned away from the garment rack. She was going through all of them and so far, her bikini was set, her talent outfit was looking good and her evening gown was amazing.
Jia ran her free hand over her mouth, "Maybe, she left it back at the school, I can call - "
"Girls! You are not going to believe this!"
The sorceresses all turned to see Clary come in with a cut up white Sash. It looked like someone took a scissors to it and hacked it. Rose`s name was completely ruined as was the little designs that Clary had put her time and effort to create.
"What happened?!" They all exclaimed again and gathered around Clary and the sash in her hands.
"I found it underneath the stairs leading up to the stage," Clary explained.
"Sabotage," Kyra growled as she and Jia exchanged angry glances.
"But who would do that?" Zoey asked, equally furious as her friends.
Fiona folded her arms and shook her head, "Plenty of girls in the Pageant. This is the girls equivalent of blood wars after all."
Rose looked at Clary, "Can you fix it?"
The blonde shrugged helplessly, "Maybe if I had ten more minutes and a new sash."
"Maybe you could use magic?" Zoey suggested to Clary.
The petrifying sorceress shook her head, "I have no skill in pageant magic or clothes magic."
Zoey turned to Jia, "Maybe let Jia try?"
Jia looked taken back, "What?"
"Like how you changed me into my dress for my date with Cole."
"That was different, I just switched your outfits. I didn`t create anything new," Jia admitted.
Behind them an usher with a Bluetooth ear piece poked her head into the tent`s opening flap and announced, "Ladies, contestants are up in two minutes."
"Thank you!" Rose answered back as the Usher left them. Clary continued to scan the sash as Kyra ran a hand through her hair while Zoey and Fiona looked at each other helplessly.
Jia fisted her hands on her hips, "What do we do now?"
Rose snapped her fingers, "I could make a digital sash in the meantime while you all try to figure out the rest?"
All the girls turned to Rose who asked Fiona to hand over her purse. She then opened it and pulled out a single bejeweled necklace. She waved her hand over it before it glowed green. She put it on and suddenly a plain white sash appeared across her shoulders. She pulled back her shoulders and nodded," It`s completely digital but indistinguishable to the naked eye."
"Awesome," Zoey whispered in awe.
"You all need to make sure the sash is ready for the first category, "Rose instructed them as she was led away by Fiona out of the dressing room. The girls could already hear the clapping and loud music announcing the opening ceremony of the Pageant. Soon it would be time for Rose to go out.
"I`ll work on the sash," Clary said in a rush as she moved to the only couch in the dressing room and set down the sash carefully.
The girls all huddled up before her as Jia asked, "What do you need?'
"A new sash, some glitter and jewels shaped like triangles," Clary listed.
"On it," Jia said before she turned to Zoey, "I need you to go out and wait for the delivery from her parent's company there are some parts coming over the Talent category,"
"Right," Zoey confirmed before she high-tailed out of the room in her heels.
Jia then turned to Kyra, "I need you to go and make sure that our costumes have arrived unscathed."
Kyra nodded and bolted from the room. Jia then instructed Clary to never leave the room while they were gone and to not let anyone step in.
"With what just happened, I think someone wants to make sure Rose doesn`t win," Jia surmised before she left.
When she stepped out, she wasn`t surprised to see other helpers running around the place getting things ready for their contestants. Jia looked both ways before making her way down to the long pathway of contestant tents. There were ten tents in total which means ten contestants and one of them had a bone to pick with her techno friend.
It didn`t take long to find a costume tent where a bunch of seamstress were working. After a few minutes of careful persuasion and one bank transfer, she had managed to get the supplies that Clary needed plus she scored a pretty purple mermaid themed bikini for her closet. On her way back, she accidently bumped into someone, scattering some glitter on the floor.
"Watch it!" Jia exclaimed before she frowned," You`ve got to be kidding me."
Standing in front her and not looking sorry at all was Juliet. Jia huffed and bent down to pick up her glitter as the girl chuckled," Well, well, well, if it isn`t the boyfriend stealer."
"I do not steal boyfriends Juliet, that`s your own imagination speaking," Jia countered as she stood up with her supplies clutched close to her body.
The girl burst out laughing, "Well, now we can add impulsive liar to the list."
Jia`s jaw dropped as she tried to work out if she was speaking to an animal or something inanimate, "What is wrong with you? Are you even listening to me?!"
"You actually think I`m that naïve?" Juliet asked her straight up.
The white haired sorceress felt like electrocuting her, "I`m beginning to think you need serious help from a Mind Healer," She shook her head and pushed past the witch," What am I doing? I have a friend to get back to."
"Hope your friend can win, especially with the state of her props," Juliet called out and Jia stopped in her tracks. She then spun around to stare at her uneasily, "What are you talking about?"
"You`ll know, just remember, you should have listened to me and stayed away from Tristan," Juliet warned her before she left.
Jia suddenly felt uneasily and quickly ran back to the dressing room. What she found in there was not good. The garment bag was open and everything was cut up in it pieces. Everything on the make-up table was destroyed and the shoe boxes were missing. Thankfully, the jewelry sets for the other costumes hadn`t arrived yet.
"Jia, my dress was torn up on stage!" Rose exclaimed from behind her.
The sorceress turned to see a pouting Rose come over with Fiona escorting her and Clary standing behind her trying to block her exposed back.
"What`s wrong?" Fiona asked when she took in her friend terror stricken face. Jia simply turned and shook her head," Things have gotten worse."
When Rose and the others stepped in, they all gasped and Rose put her hands over her mouth as she took in the damage inside their dressing room.
"The heck!" Fiona exclaimed as she ran over to examine the tattered remains of Rose`s evening gowns.
"What happened?! I was just gone for a few minutes!" Clary yelled from behind Rose. Jia quickly moved to drop the sash supplies and garment bag on the couch before pulling Rose further into the room. Clary looked close to tears and Rose was just pale.
"Juliet did this," Jia growled after putting a silencing spell on the tent.
"Tristan`s ex?" Fiona asked with disbelief.
Jia nodded, "Yeah, she`s just trying to get back at me for what happened at the beach," Jia turned to Rose with an apologetic face," I am so sorry Rose. This is all my fault."
The techno sorceress held up a hand to stop her friend from continuing with her apology, "No, it isn`t, it`s Tristan and that Juliet," Rose then moved to tap her Jia`s forehead," This is why I want you to go out with Dylan."
"Jia like`s Dylan and Tristan?" Clary asked with a grin before pretending to howl like a wolf, "You go girl!"
"Can we not talk about this now? We have a more pressing issue here," Jia reminded them as she gestured to the wrecked room. Clary smothered her smile and nodded while Fiona looked away with a smile.
"Okay, so the vile witch did this to get to you by using me. Sneaky," Rose said as she fisted her hands on her hips," Sneaky but smart."
"That vile-"
"Is she a contestant?" Fiona asked before Jia could finished her curse.
Rose shook her head, "No, I didn`t see her on stage, maybe she`s helping her friend?"
"I`ll bet you five crystals that she`s friends with that blonde that tore out your dress," Clary said with a huff.
"Girls, we have a problem!" Kyra yelled as she and Zoey ran into the tent with their purchases. Zoey was carrying a huge box with the Van Helen logo on it and Kyra was clutching five garment bags. Jia was about to ask how they were able to run with those heavy things when remembered that Zoey must have made them lighter to carry with her magic.
"What now?" Rose asked with a groan. The other two however took a moment to absorb the damaged room with their wide eyes and eye brows raised before Clary got their attention again by repeated Rose`s question.
Zoey was the first to answer as she put down the box and opened it for everyone to look inside, "The boxes, all the equipment. They`ve been replaced with potion bottles."
"What!" Jia shouted. She looked down to see all the glass bottles before slapping her forehead.
"No way, I ordered those things myself two days ago!" Rose insisted.
"It gets worse. Our costumes have been tampered with," Kyra said she opened the bag and showed them the paint splatters on them.
"This is a nightmare!"
"We need to do something. Rose is due to go out soon and we can`t withdraw now," Zoey pointed out.
"Okay, let`s recap the facts," Fiona said as she began to pace the room," All our equipment is trashed, the costumes are either slashed or tampered with and the props replaced."
"Don`t forget that we know who did it," Clary added with a raised hand.
Kyra frowned at her roommate, "We do?"
"Juliet."
Kyra`s eyes faintly glowed purple before Zoey put a calming hand on her friend`s shoulder. The raven haired sorceress turned to her as her eyes returned back to normal. She nodded to indicate that she was under control as Jia spoke up, "We`ll deal with Juliet later, one problem at a time. What`s the next category and when is Rose supposed to go on?'
"Bikini and she goes on in twenty minutes," Fiona answered.
Jia grinned, "I can solve that."
"How?"
"I just so happen to have bought a bikini," Jia revealed. The girls exchanged confused glances as she moved to the garment bag on the couch and picked it up. She then opened it and a collective sigh echoed throughout the tent. The girls all had dropped jaws and hearts in their eyes as they stared at the bikini.
"That is beautiful," Rose whispered as she clasped her hands. The bikini had a purple shell design on it but it had small green, red and white jewels on the cups and the straps were ringed with Queen pearls. All in all, it was the Queen of Bikinis.
"A seamstress said that it was her left over work for the pageant and so I bought it," Jia revealed as she handed the bag to Rose who took it eagerly. The other girls huddled closer to check out the bikini.
Zoey looked up at her roommate, "Just like that?"
"Just like that. One problem though, the bikini won`t match the song we pick out," She glanced at the petrifying sorceress," But Clary?
The blonde in question nodded," I have the perfect song, leave it to me."
"You just focus on strutting to that song," Kyra encouraged the Van Helen Heiress who smiled at her friends before they all glanced at the dressing table where the appliance was," As for the hair curler…"
"They forgot that they were messing with the Sorceress of Technology," Rose said with her eyes glowing green. Instantly, all the technology in the room began to repair themselves.
"Get her ready, I have call to make," Jia instructed the girls as she pulled out her phone.