"Why... Just Why?"

Aerith looked amused as Selphie tried on her dress for the upcoming beauty pagent...

"Don't laugh at me Aerith, do you think i enjoy playing dress up?" she snapped.

Aerith was trying so hard not to errupt with laughter, holding her breath, turning blue, anything not to anger Selphie. She could see this was clearly a painful situation for Selphie and wasn't going to miss a minute of it.

"Why don't you try the pink one?" Aerith asked.

Selphie looked enraged. Aerith felt her insides go cold, which meant it was time to stop talking and let Selphie do her own thing.

"Stupid dresses" muttered Selphie. "I don't know why Zell insisted I enter this stupid competition in the first place, remind me to hit him...HARD when we see him next k?"... "Aerith?"

But Aerith wasn't going to answer for she had seen the most beautiful dress she had ever seen before, it was a emerald silk dress, with a diamond finish and a low neck, she reached out to grab it, her fingers merely centimeteres from it, when another hand got their first... Aerith's mouth dropped as she watched some other girl dressed in blue garments and blue arm warmers ("Pssh" thought Aerith), take her dream dress as her own... Aerith became infused with rage...

"Who...Was...That...Girl?" She said breathing with each word.

"Um... that's Rinoa" Replied Selphie... "She's won this competition every year since it started, of course i mean look at her, she looks porcelian with a huge rack... i mean, no one is going to top that... i should probably just kill myself right here as a peace offering of some sort"

Selphies thought trailed off. Aerith now pale and angry ushered but a single sentence before storming off.

"Not this year".

Aerith was consumed with so much anger she didn't see Quistis and Garnet walking towards her, giggling to themselves. They crashed into each other. Quistis started screaming her lungs out...

"Jesus CHRIST... SHUT UP!" yelled Aerith. "My god is that how you handle every situation?"

Quistis looked perplexed "Oh Aerith i didnt see you down there with all the common people i only screamed because i thought you were mugging me... What is that?" she pointed at Aerith's bag. "Don't tell me your entering the beauty contest tomorrow?, because Garnet and I are sure to take it this year"

Aerith looked bemused "I tought they stopped letting people enter after they hit menopause".

Garnet who had been quiet up to now looked at Aerith with a glare...

"Who do you think you are?, coming over here insulting us with your 2 gil words and your clearly obvious hand-me down clothes, i think you should take a bath and drown yourself k hun?'

Quistis and Garnet set off giggling once more.

Aerith fuming "C.U.*.T's". she ran crying home.

-THE NEXT DAY-

Lights flashing all around, this was the moment all these ladies were preparing for. the announcer spoke in a very monotone voice but that was okay...

"Ladies and gentlemen may i have your attention, tonights last event is about to commence, i would ask each girl to come on stage as I call your name."

Panic was settling in to Selphie and Aerith as they held hands before going on.

"Rinoa Heartilly"

The audience errupted with applause.

"Terra Branford"

A polite approval by the audience.

"Quistis Trepe and Princess Garnet til Alexandros, or in other words Sarah"

The audience barely made a sound... a few coughs here and there... nothing solid.

"Selphie Tilmit"

Selphie nearly pissed herself right there and then but managed to get onto the stage... no sound at all just a quick flash of a bottle smashing against her head and Selphie crumbling to the ground... Ward had come on stage and swept her off.

"Oh Shit" Aerith thought... "I'm F**ked"..

"Aerith Gainsborough"

A murmur of curiosity followed Aerith on stage as she posed. she was shitting bricks, she almost passed out from the stress but cheers and whistles followed her as she went over the other girls.

The last exercise wasn't going to well for any off the girls to be honest, it was a Q&A event... none of the girls were prepared for it at all.. Rinoa was asked exactly "why she thought leg warmers were appropriate for arms?" to which she replied with "i don't know i didnt even have a say in the matter!" she was booed fiercely offstage... every girl was a bumbling mess one after another, Terra was reduced to tears, Quistis was sweating so much the audience got umbrellas out... Garnet was called a hobbit and removed from the building, they wheeled Selphie back on and asked her "Why are you so hyper all the time?"... she just gawked out, mouth open in shock. Aerith was having a hard time seeing good in all this to be honest she felt like it was all unecessary... she was next, she took a deep breath and walked to the mic.

The announcer asked "What was the reason you entered the contest?"

Aerith was taken aback.. she had too many reasons.. like shutting Quistis up getting back at Garnet and Sabotaging Rinoa for taking her dress... but she couldn't say that, so she thought for a bit as the audience looked on eagerly awaiting her answer... then she thought of something that was a truley honest answer.

"The reason i entered, was to make something of myself, to look pretty, to really show people that i'm not just the common little church girl trying to sell flowers to make a gil, that i have a voice and a personality... that the only thing that sets me apart from the other girls... I'm real, not fake."

Silence followed for what seemed like forever... Aerith began to panic... but it all stopped when clapping followed, slowly at first but gradually louder faster and with cheers. Aerith began to cry, she had won it, she must of, no one else had gotten a cheer, so without hesitation she picked up the crown and placed it on her head... "Finally" she thought..."My moment".

The announcer spoke. "We have the winner ladies and gentlemen, the winner is... without any doubt of course... Quistis Trepe... congratulations Quistis on your obvious win"

Aerith stood motionless on the spot as she watched Quistis stroll over, she was smiling..

"Give the crown bitch" she pulled it off Aerith's head and pushed her offstage.

The crowd applauded and cheered, whistled and cried her name... Aerith picked herself off the ground and walked away crying... Zack was waiting at the entrance for her...

"Tell me what happened" he asked

Aerith began telling him everything that happened starting from yesterday in the dress store with Selphie to running into Quistis and everything that happened tonight. By the time she had finished she was in floods, crying so hards she could barely breath... Zack merely smiled and held her close...

"Don't worry Aerith, your a winner in my eyes" he said charmingly.

Aerith smiled and laughed through her tears, put her hand in Zacks hand and walked off towards 7th Heaven. Laughing about what transpired.

"I love you Aerith" Zack said.

"I love you Zack" Aerith replied.

THE END.