Her eyes widened in surprise, as if she had never expected to see me here. The shock on her face quickly faded and was replaced by an expression of pure disgust and anger as her eyes scanned my body with disdain.
We locked eyes, and the air between us crackled with unspoken tension as silence enveloped us for a brief moment before I retorted.
"Why can't I be here?" I asked as a smirk tugged at the corners of my lips and amusement danced in my dark brown eyes. "Surprised to see me? Afraid that I will win the competition?" I taunted, knowing that she wanted me out of this competition.
She glared at me and the gears in her head shifted as she thought of what to say. I watched as her gaze flickered down to look at my hand, still bandaged from the cut she caused two weeks ago. She looked back up to meet my gaze, a smug look was instantly stretched across her face.
She let out a loud scoff, a triumphant smile etched onto her face.
"I don't think I will be too afraid of that," she snarled. "Look at your hand. You are still injured from that cut. I knew you wouldn't recover in time." She let a laughter slip through the gaps of her fingers as she mocked me.
I remained unfazed by her taunting and mocking, instead, the smirk that was resting on my face grew even wider.
"You think that would stop me? You are naive if you think so."
She stepped forward, taking another step towards me. Our faces were now barely inches apart as tension hung in the air between us like a thick blanket.
"You are a right hander, Aurelia," she said crudely with a knowing look gleaming in her eyes. "How are you going to paint if your right hand is injured? There's no way you can do it, I'm going to win," she sneered, the voice dripping with venom as she narrowed her eyes at me.
I raised my brow at her. "Oh really? Watch me."
***
The bell dinged loudly, echoing in the grand ballroom and an announcement was made.
"All contestants, please make your way to your assigned seats. The competition is about to begin."
The atmosphere turned tense, even more so than before and I could feel my body getting stiffer as I straightened my posture.
Xavier leaned down to give me a kiss on my temple, breaking me out of my little reverie. "You got this," he murmured next to my ear and the corners of my lips naturally twitched upwards into a small smile.
"Thanks," I muttered under my breath as my heart thudded loudly against my chest.
Slowly, I made my way towards the center of the ballroom. That was where they placed all the seats along with the easel and blank canvas resting on it to form a circle while the audience and supporters watched from the sides, lined with rows of seats.
I was about to reach my seat when I felt someone bumped into my shoulder forcefully, causing me to look up and whip my head around. Of course, I found myself staring right into Evelyn's eyes, smugness radiating from every inch of her body.
She smirked at me as she reached up to pat me on my shoulder.
"Good luck," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. She leaned in closer to whisper into my ear. "You are going to need that."
I gripped onto her wrist with my uninjured hand and glared right into her eyes with an intense look on my face before spitting the words out of my mouth.
"Save the luck for yourself."
I released my grip on her arm and spun on my heels to leave before she could open her mouth to utter a single word.
I sat down at my seat, and turned to look into the crowd of audience, my eyes darting around, scanning for a familiar face. It didn't take too long before my eyes landed on Xavier and I smiled, to which he responded with a smile of his own and a slight nod of affirmation.
"You have 1 hour to create a beautiful painting." The emcee standing up on the stage announced. "And… your time starts… now! Good luck!"
The beep of the timer reached my ears and soon everyone began to scramble and reach for their paint brushes.
I titled my head slightly to the side, from the corner of my eyes, I can see Evelyn eyeing me with a smirk resting on her face. I turned my head fully so that we are now looking eye to eye. I smiled as I picked up the paint brush with my left hand, my uninjured hand and made the first stroke.
I watched as her eyes went wide and shock flashed past her face. Soon, her cheeks were tinged red as anger overtook her senses and she clenched her fists tightly while a wave of satisfaction washed over me in an instant.
What she didn't know was that Xavier had been staying up with me almost every night, helping me and guiding me. On other days, he had hired some of the best painters in town to come help me. I was determined to make it work, no matter what.
***
"Time is up!" The announcement was made quicker than I had expected as it blasted through the speakers that surrounded the ballroom. I immediately set the paint brush down and turned to see that Evelyn's eyes were already on me and I shot her a smug smile.
The crowd erupted into applause within the next second. And now, it was time for the judging phrase. I watched anxiously as the judges walked around with a serious expression that masked their features, looking at the paintings on display and nodding their heads in approval occasionally.
Some of the judges stopped at my painting and I saw the smiles on their faces and the looks of approval that were plastered across their faces. Xavier squeezed my hand slightly as he looked down at me.
"You did great. It's beautiful."
I smiled and noticed that Evelyn and her parents were watching us like a hawk with angry expressions etched onto their faces, but I didn't care. They couldn't possibly do anything in a room full of people anyway, and risk ruining their reputation all at once.
Before I knew it, they had begun to gather everyone and I knew they were about to announce the winners. I watched with excitement and anticipation swirling in my eyes as I kept my gaze fixated on the stage, at the very spot where the emcee was standing.
"Everyone did a wonderful job here today. I have seen the art pieces myself, and I do want to applaud all of the contestants here. And now, it's the time everyone is waiting for. It's finally time to announce the top 3 winners."
She took the envelope containing the names of the winners and she slowly opened it as my heart continued to race in my chest.
A smile graced her lips and her eyes lit up ever so subtly.
"The third prize goes to… Kelsey Watsons!"
Applause erupted from the crowd once again as the young lady walked up the stage with a proud smile.
"The second prize goes to… Nathan Walker!"
Another round of applause, and it was the same thing repeated.
And now… it's time to announce the first and I was pretty sure my heart was working overtime.
"And finally!" The woman exclaimed. "The winner…the champion of this year's 2024 art competition is…"