Disclaimer: see chapter
1. Song is by Utada Hikaru, 'poem' thought of by myself.
Chapter 21 – Talent Day
Julia, Christie and Ling entered the huge hall. And it was huge indeed. People everywhere. The clothing changing from person to person. Some people were wearing mini skirts, or jeans and some wore a simple dress.
"I don't think I can do this," Julia mumbled.
"Yes you can!" Christie assured her.
"Oh, there's Kirano!" Ms. Kirano approached the girls, a friendly smile on her face.
"Good afternoon, Julia," she said.
"Hello ms. Kirano," Julia answered politely.
"Surely, you're not performing in those clothes?" Julia looked at her red sweater and jeans.
"No, of course not... ms. Miller took my dress, do you have any idea where I can find it now?"
"Yes, there," she pointed, "That room, there are the dressing rooms. Now hurry! And do your best miss!"
"I will," Julia promised. Christie and Ling smiled.
"She has faith in you Jules, can't let her down, can you?" Christie winked. Julia grinned.
"I won't let anyone down."
~*~
She made her way to the mirror. As soon as she saw her reflection in the mirror, her amber eyes widened. She stared shocked at her clothes. The short knee length cherry red dress with matching cherry stiletto heels looked great with her long brown hair. Then she noticed the shocked look on her face.
"Maybe this is too much of a good thing." Suddenly someone ran into the room.
"Jules! It's starting, someone told me you have to-…" Ling's eyes were wide, as she saw what Julia was wearing.
"Xiao! Don't just stare at me like that…" Ling blinked. "Sorry Julia, you look great… but maybe—it's too much of a good thing… I know," Julia finished followed by a sigh. Julia sat down.
"Hey, Jules, cheer up. It looks really beautiful!" "I don't know anymore… maybe I should just put my old clothes back on."
"Nooo! No don't Jules," Ling said. "Just go for it now… the prom is tonight, will you wear this dress then aswell?" Julia shook her head.
"No, I have another dress for tonight." "Alright then! Great!" Ling exclaimed as Christie entered the room aswell.
"Jules, you're on in 10 minutes, you have to go to the back right away," she said.
"Ok. Let's do this." Julia and Ling stood up. As they passed Christie, she noticed the beautiful dress she was wearing.
"Kewl dress Julia."
~*~
The group of girls who just performed passed Julia, busy talking about what they just showed the crowd.
"Hey, we did great girls!" One shouted.
"Uhu, maybe we'll win a price too. Now let's hurry and join the crowd! I heared Jin Kazama is next!" "Ooooh!" Some girls squealed as they left the room. Julia smiled to herself.
"They are stupid… they only see his looks. They don't like him, else they would've noticed his sweet personality…" The small room was empty and cold.
"Why isn't Jin here…" she asked herself as the door behind her opened, and someone entered. She turned.
"Jin!" She exclaimed. He looked up, a surprised look on his face.
"Jules!" Julia smiled.
"Hey, where have—Jin Kazama, you're next," someone suddenly called. Julia didn't finish her sentence, but locked her eyes on Jin as he passed her and headed to the stage. Jin seemed thinking about something. He almost entered the stage, as he heared her speak.
"Good luck Jin." He glanced at her, but said nothing. Julia turned and looked at the monitor in the wall, probably used to amuse the waiting people. Although she was alone now, Christie and Ling were in the crowd along with those squealing girls… and Jin was on stage now.
Julia curiously looked at the screen, showing the stage with Jin. Jin stepped forward, as ms. Kirano handed him a paper. She stepped back, as Jin started.
"Julia's poem." Julia's heart skipped a beat, as she heared her name. Unable to move or speak, she just watched the screen.
"Loving amber eyes, not as cold as ice. But warm, with your charm.." Meanwhile, in the crowd, Ling was very excited.
"Oh wow! He said her name, maybe this poem is about her!!!"
"… I am forever, cherishing the memories of us together." Jin paused a moment and took a deep breath.
This is it…
Julia saw he was thinking about something again.
"My dearest Julia," he continued,
"Even though we are so far apart, I hope you still have me… in your heart." Jin finished and stepped back, a short bow. Then he left the stage, through another door. The crowd applauded as the 'Jin fans' were all disappointed.
Julia still stood in front of the monitor, unable to move, think or speak. In the meantime, Christie and Ling tried to get to the room Julia was in. They just entered the room as the saw the door to the stage close.
"Too late!" Ling exclaimed. Another wild applause as Julia appeared on the stage. The music started. She took the mic.
Ok, here goes nothing, she thought.
~ Saigou no kisu wa
tabako no flavor ga shita
niga kute setsunai kaori ~
She took a deep breath, then continued.
~ Ashita no imagoro ni wa
Anata wa doko ni iru n darou
Dare wo omotteru n darou ~
I wonder where Jin is…
~ You are always gonna be my love
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo
I'll remember to love
You taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Ima wa mada kanashii love song
Atarashi uta utaeru made ~
She looked around the crowd, but didn't see him anywhere. She looked back for a small moment, but he wasn't there either.
~ Tachidomaru jikan ga
Ugokidasou to shiteru
Wasuretakunai koto bakari
Ashita no imagoro ni wa
Watashi wa kitto naiteru
Anata wo omotteru n darou ~
Although she didn't see him anywhere, her lips formed a smile, as she continued.
~ You will always be inside my heart
Itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara
I hope that I have a place in your heart too
Now and forever you are still the one
Ima wa mada kanashii love song
Atarashii uta utaeru made ~
~ You are always gonna be my love
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo
I'll remember to love
You taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Mada kanashii love song
Now and forever ~
A huge applause as Julia finished her song. She smiled broadly, her amber eyes sparkling. She bowed and left the stage, and got back in the room she had been in before. There were Christie and Ling.
"Ooooh Jules!" Ling squealed. "You did so great!!!"
"Thanks," Julia said smiling.
"You don't seem very happy about it though," Christie noticed. Julia swallowed.
"Well, I may not look really happy, but believe me, I am," she said with a confident smile.
"I have to go find Miharu! She must be somewhere in the crowd, and when I've found here, we'll go for ice cream, right Chris?" Ling asked. Before Christie could answer, Ling had left the room. Christie rolled her eyes.
"Well," she said tucking some strands of hair behind her shoulder, "I guess I should go after her, I'm not buying her ice cream." Julia grinned.
"Ok, go. I'll come soon." Christie left as Julia sat down on a chair.
It's a shame Jin wasn't here to hear me sing my song… but maybe, maybe it's better this way…
~*~
Ms. Kirano smiled as the crowd applauded when she appeared on the stage.
"Thank you, thank you. But save your hands till we have announced the winner of our very first Talent Day ever."
"This is it," Miharu whispered to Ling.
"I know! Jules has got to win!"
"Shhh!" Christie mumbled. The participants all got together on the stage. As Julia moved to her place, she was thinking about this all as she noticed all those reporters and the huge crowd.
Ms. Kirano wasn't kidding about the publicity… She saw Jin was on the stage too, so, where was he during her performance?
"Okay… everyone gets the flowers, of course. But we have 3 prices, for places 1, 2, 3. I'll start with 3."
"Not Julia, not Julia, not Julia, not Julia, not Julia…"
"Excuse me, but what exactly are you doing?" Christie asked slightly irritated.
"Uh, praying?" Ling tried with an innocent smile.
"Yeah right," Christie answered.
"And it worked, cause that blonde girl is 3th."
"What?!" The blonde exclaimed. "I should have won! I'm way better than all of them!"
"Miss…," ms. Kirano said, "At least you have a price, be happy with that."
"No!" She shouted. "I'm leaving. I hate you all!" She left the stage.
"Pff, what a bitch," Ling muttered, "Glad she's gone, so Julia won't have to go on picture with her!"
"Huh?" Miharu looked confused, as she saw a confident smile on her friend's lips.
"Anyway," ms. Kirano went on,
"Second place." "Jin Kazama!" A loud applause as ms. Kirano handed him his price, and shook his hand.
Well done! Julia thought happily. A soft smile on Jin's face.
"Let's not waist any time and present you the winner of today's Talent Day: Julia Chang!" Another applause as Julia snapped out of her thoughts.
Oh! I won!
Ms. Kirano handed her her price. "Congratulations miss Chang, you did wonderful!"
"Thanks," Julia replied with a smile on her face. She looked into the crowd, she could hear Ling shout 'I KNEW IT' above the applause. Christie and Miharu waved.
"Here Jules!" Julia noticed them and waved back.
"Hiii!"
"This way miss," a reporter shouted.
"Hold up your price!" Another one shouted. Someone touched her leg, she looked down.
"You and number 2 together?" He asked, holding his camera up. Jin heared his name and approached Julia.
"They want a pic of the number 1 and 2," Julia said with a smile. Jin smiled back and took her hand in his. Julia just kept on smiling, and denied the feelings going mad inside of her.
"Brilliant!" They stood there for a while, as someone shouted something.
"Miss! Is he your boyfriend?" "Did you sing for him?" Julia swallowed.
"He's my best friend since I was little…" The reporters went on, as Jin leaned closer.
"Reporters can be very very annoying…"
"Tell me about it," Julia grinned.
"But I don't care about them, and what they will write. Even though we're not popular, they will write stuff…"
"I don't care either, let them," Jin said.
"Oh and Jules, I'm happy you won. You really deserved it." Julia's eyes widened.
So he has seen my performance… oops. She smiled shyly. Suddenly Jin wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a romantic hug. Julia thought she was melting.
"Ooooh look!"
"Here people!" The reporters shouted to each other. Many more pictures were taken when they stood together. Jin pulled back.
"That's gonna bring a lot of gossip…" Julia could only smile.
"Hey, let's go, the girls are probably waiting backstage."
~*~
"So congrats to you Jin! And you miss Talent Day Julia!" Miharu said cheerfully. Julia smiled.
"I'm so happy, I didn't expect this… but anyway I'm really pleased!"
"I knew you were going to win, I … felt it!" Ling said. Christie sighed.
"Yeah, our Xiao 'knew' you'd win…" She leaned closer to Julia and whispered, "We saw her 'pray'."
"I heared that Monteiro!" Ling shouted angrily,
"I did pray and it helped!" She stepped closer to Christie, as she stepped closer to her too.
"Uh oh… they're going to fight again," Miharu whispered.
"You didn't help one bit, you shouted and jumped like a child in the crowd! It's obvious why Julia won, because she looked the best of all… and she had the best performance," Christie stated.
"Excuse me? I did help, believe it or not…" Ling said stubbornly.
"You did not help anyone, Xiao." "Shut up Monteiro, I don't want you calling me 'Xiao' any longer!"
"Hey, hey… girls…" Julia said interrupting,
"Don't fight please… I won and that's that. How I won is not important. You're both my friends, and I love you… I don't want you to fight about silly things like this ok…" Ling crossed her arms.
"Well, I still helped you." Christie sighed.
"C'mon, don't be like this Xiao," Julia spoke softly. Jin smiled softly at Julia's gentleness.
"Yes Ling, besides, Christie is gonna buy ice cream for us! So be happy!" Miharu added. Ling's face lit up.
"Ooooh Chrissieeeeeee!" She exclaimed, "That's sweeeeeeet!"
"But I—let's go people!" Miharu interrupted. She and Ling left the hall, followed by Jin and Julia. Christie sighed once again, straightening her skirt.
"She doesn't deserve ice cream, not today."
~*~
"Ah, thanks Chris, you're the best," Ling said licking her ice cream.
"The best whenever I give you ice cream," Christie replied.
"Humpf! C'mon Miharu, let's sit over there." Christie followed them. Ling sat down on a chair, putting her feet on the table.
"Haah… this is the life."
"Indeed…" Miharu agreed.
"Ling! Whenever you're with me, you're messing around and I am always the one they blame! So get those feet off that table now!" Christie warned.
"I'm just enjoying my life for a moment, do you have to ruin it Monteiro?!" As their fight continued, Jin and Julia sat down at another table, away from all the shouting. Neither of them said a word, till they both finished their lemon ice cream.
"So… um…" Julia started, "That poem, was it about me?" Jin didn't dare to look up as he nodded.
"Yes… ms. Kirano thought I could read it at Talent Day, and I was allowed to change the text, so I did. But it was before I knew you were coming back…"
"But why?" Julia asked curiously, her heart beating fast. Jin looked up at her.
"Because I missed you so much and I couldn't ever forget you." Julia smiled shyly.
"That's so sweet," she whispered. In the meantime, Miharu tried to silence Christie and Ling.
"Stop arguing already, look…" She said lowering her voice. They all turned at Julia and Jin, at another table.
"Do you see the look on her face?" Miharu whispered.
"I knew they'd get together sooner or later," Christie whispered smiling.
"Julia is so lucky!" Ling exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. With wide eyes Christie and Miharu looked from Julia to Ling, and then back to Julia, who obviously heared her name.
"XIAOYU!" Christie yelled. Ling sat down again.
"Oops," she mumbled. Julia and Jin came to their table.
"What's wrong? I heared my name?" "Yes, yes, it's nothing," Miharu said confidently. Jin raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Ling exclaimed.
"I just told Xiaoyu here to shut up, cause she shouldn't shout and be so hyper!" Christie said angrily.
"Are you two arguing again?" Julia sighed.
"I'm tired of this too," Miharu said standing up.
"But hey, Mi, that doesn't mean you have to leave, does it?" Ling said surprised.
"No… but I want to go anyway, all the shouting gives me a headache and I need to save my energy for tonight." Ling sighed sadly.
"I have to get ready too, I need hours and hours," Miharu said smiling. "You wanna come along?"
"Yes! Great Mi!" Ling exclaimed as she jumped up again and pulled Miharu up with her.
"Aw, don't leave so soon girls!" Julia begged.
"We gotta get ready Jules, we're girls and we need time!"
"Lots of it!" Miharu added.
Jin shook his head. Girls… Christie stood up.
"NO!" Ling yelled. Julia, Jin, Christie and Miharu looked at Ling in shock.
"What are you yelling for now?" Christie asked surprised.
"I… shouted NO because…" Jin frowned. Christie raised an eyebrow.
"Because…?"
"BECAUSE… YOU… ARE… NOT… COMING… ALONG!!!" Then Ling turned and walked away, pulling Miharu with her.
"Wait, Xiao!" Julia tried.
"Let her go," Christie said bitterly.
"Chris, why do you always have to argue with her… can't you just ignore her?"
"It's not always me starting Julia… she's just so stubborn, and childish. And rude at times." "I know… but she's still my friend." Christie smiled.
"Mine too, believe me." Christie grabbed her bag.
"I have to go, I'll see you two tonight. Be there!" As she walked away, Julia turned at Jin.
"Well…" Jin smiled.
"Yes?"
"Will you be there tonight?"
Do you want me to be there tonight? He thought to himself.
"I'm not sure yet…" He answered. Maybe she'll ask me to come...
"Oh…" Julia didn't want to argue, or force him to go, so she just accepted his answer.
"Okay, Jin. Maybe I'll see you tonight, else I'll see you soon again. I am going now."
"Oh, okay… bye Jules," he answered. She turned, walked away as he felt sad. But he knew how to fix her and his sadness.
~*~
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