'Beth, shouldn't you have started hurrying up yet? You don't want to miss your event at the Laurel Museum!' Owen's loud voice could be heard across the house despite the fast-paced pop music that was circulating in the living room. It was Sunday morning. Beth was immersed in her dancing game on the TV.

'Chop chop! Go, get dressed!' Owen patted Beth from behind, trying to get her attention off the video game.

Beth instantly threw away her gaming console on the sofa as a knee-jerk reaction to Owen's jump-scare. She grabbed her phone from the back of the pillows on the couch.

"I am sorry! I will go get dressed right now."

Inside the bedroom, Beth got her outfit all laid out in front of her--a grass-green silk dress with ruffles along with a pair of puff sleeves, a pink flower crown, and cream-colored Oxford shoes. She went vintage shopping with Simone and Julianna on Saturday, and the three of them decided to go for the same theme. Owen and Nora were also excited for Beth about her event. They suggested driving the three girls to the museum together, in which they can know more about Julianna and Simone, and visit the event as well. It's been a while since they have been to the Laurel Museum, and they've been looking forward to being impressed by the creativity of the young generation.

Beth looked at herself in the mirror after she got herself all gussied up. She tilted her head, watching her locks of blond curls naturally rest on her shoulders.

Her phone buzzed—a message from Julianna.

"Jules, just call me if you can't find the direction after you get off your subway." Beth entered her three-people group chat and tagged Julianna with her message. Five seconds later, she received an 'okay' emoji from Julianna.

'I just got off the subway and I'm walking towards your neighborhood!' A text from Simone also popped up in the group chat.

Great. Both Simmy and Jules would be here soon.

After five minutes, Owen walked into the bedroom.

"Beth, Simone is here."

Beth immediately went out to unlock the front door for Simone.

"Bee, are you ready for this?" Simone was posh as always, wearing a shirt, a pink skirt with patterns imitating abstract painting strokes, a pair of sunglasses, and boots.

"Yes! Simmy, you look amazing. I bet that today is going to be a fabulous day!"

'Great to see you, Simone! Welcome to our home.' Owen offered Simone a hug. He pointed to Nora. 'My name is Owen, and this is Nora. I remember you starring in Always in My Heart. The precocious little girl, right?'

'Oh, that was a long time ago.' Simone cracked a smile. 'Now I am just a high school student making music and trying to see where life takes me!'

'That's good to hear!' Nora said. 'Beth thinks you are an amazing person with a magical sense of style.'

'Now where's Julianna?' Owen looked around and asked. 'Is she on her way already?'

'She's not too far away. I believe in her ability to be punctual.'

Another five minutes went away. As Simone walked around Owen and Nora's living room, she heard steps coming from the door approaching them.

"Beth, Simone. I am here!"

"Wow..." Both Beth and Simone turned to a Julianna that glowed with vibrant prism colors under the sunlight. They saw that the vibrancy came from her white camisole inside of a transparent vest decorated with glass flowers and jellyfish. With all the decorations, the vest was dripping with luminosity. Under the vest, she wore a long pleated skirt with each fold a different color, and a pair of transparent high-heeled sandals with glittery straps.

"She was the one that refused to go for the event first. Now, she's the one that's most prepared among us. For some reason, I think she might have changed after she became magical on Friday night.' Simone whispered to Beth.

"Uh-huh. Not her meticulous attitude in doing things. Like this well-prepared coordination."

"Guys. Is this coordination fine for the event?" Julianna walked towards Beth and Simone, trying to get an answer from them.

"Jules! This is more than enough."

"Well, then. Everyone's here. Let's head to the garage!" Owen and Nora directed the girls to the garage, ready to drive them to the networking event.

✨

Now in front of the five people was the Laurel Museum-- a large rococo building built with white marbles. Several large flag-like posters were hanging in front of the entrance, introducing exhibitions currently on air.

Some people dressed smartly could be seen on one side of the Laurel Museum, waiting to enter the museum.

'Didn't the committee say something about the direction to the designated area for the event? Let's find a way to the area." Simone quickly checked her phone.

'Who's navigating? I hate looking at maps.' Beth made a disgruntled noise.

"We don't need to find a way." Julianna pointed to a sign which wrote 'Annual Laurel Runway Competition Awardee Reception'. "It's clearly written there."

"Oh, right.' Beth and Simone almost gave themselves a facepalm. 'We didn't notice the sign. Let's go in that direction."

The event was held in one of the exhibition spaces not far away from the lobby, usually accessible to every visitor of the museum. Artisan glass filled part of the ceiling; Delicate marbles decorated all the walls and floors. There were stairs near one side of the walls which lead to different enclosed exhibitions. A glass installation consisting of blown-up glass lanterns and flowers of orange, blue, and green was suspended in midair near the other end of the room. Every contestant's work was neatly placed around the room.

The three girls were standing amid the chattering of starry-eyed boys and girls. These young people all dressed up as if they were pieces of walking art. It was as if the three girls were viewing colors on the palette moving in space. Some young artists stopped and appreciated the work in front of them; some gathered their family and friends around their works; some simply found other people to talk to.

The three girls walked toward and found a table in front of them. It was the dining table with mocktails, biscuits, fruits, and cheese.

"Do any of you guys want to get something from here?" Beth asked Simone and Julianna. "I wish they had bananas and Nutella spread."

"Apple and Nutella are tasty as well! I am getting this mocktail." Simone bowed down to get one mocktail, "hopefully, it doesn't taste like pop soda or plain seltzer water."

"That's not to be guaranteed," Julianna smirked. "Expenses of providing fancy drinks to costumers are part of the business budget for events."

"You don't need to explain that. We understand it, Jules." Beth looked a little bit speechless at what Julianna had said. Then, she pointed to the dress that she and Julianna made. "See? There's the dress we made! It's being exhibited in this giant museum. We all did it!"

"One of the most visited museums in the whole nation as well," Julianna added aside. "Didn't know if I told you about this, but I especially loved visiting here when I was younger."

"Oh, did you say that there used to be a virtual historical buildings exhibition here?"

"Yes, that exhibition was from last year. There were fewer architecture talks this year." Julianna modded, turning to Simone, who was slurping on her mocktail. "So how's this mocktail, Simone? Can you show us where your work is?."

"There's it, just by the glass installation in this room." Simone pointed to her A-line dress loaded with gems and diamonds, while the three girls followed her in her direction. The gems shined more brightly on the dress under the natural sunlight.

On the wall beside it, an introduction of the dress was put up. Paige and Jade were uncredited. A sense of guilt suddenly came to her as memories of them resurfaced in her mind.

"Hey...hey guys!" A girl jogged towards Simone as she thought about Paige and Jade. She was breathing heavily and patting Simone nervously on the shoulder.

Simone looked back.

"Are you Simone Chandler?" The girl pulled a distorted grin and asked. "Also, your dress is gorgeous!"

"Yee! I am." Simone smiled back at her, directing her towards Beth and Julianna. "Those are my two friends—Beth and Julianna. They both came from Laurel Preparatory, which is where I study right now."

"Oh, cool." The girl casually glimpsed at Beth and Julianna.

"Simone, I NEED to tell you something." She grabbed Simone's hand and pulled her aside. A crack noise was made under Simone's boots as Simone almost slipped on the marble floor. "I am also one of the contestants, and I have looked forward to meeting you since I saw you on stage last week! Your music had been an inspiration to keep me motivated in my academics and life."

"She could have said hello." Julianna blurted.

"I guess so!" Beth blew a huge yawn. "Well, when can I have that many fans, like Simone? "

"Then start your own project—I believe you have the ability to do that. Simone started hers a least a couple of years ago."

"This is not what I need to hear today, Jules!"

Just as they were talking, another family walked toward Julianna.

"We just want to pop in and say that your outfit today looked fantastic. My kids love rainbow-colored things way too much. Is this an event happening today? Sorry if we interrupted you and your friends."

"Oh, it's fine. Thank you for your appreciation! We are winning contestants in the student runway competition."

"You know, we were always in awe of how young people like you are so talented! Back in the age when we were in school, there weren't a lot of opportunities. Things these days are particularly fancy—you guys were doing impressive things in your teenage years...!"

Ah-huh. Now it's just me. Beth blinked and mindlessly looked around.

Suddenly, a figure caught Beth's attention—a girl slightly older than her with long, silver-dyed hair. She was with one of her friends by the corner, working to direct people to the works in order.

That person looks like Bianca.