“You’re off base, Daniela. I would lövê to know what exactly goes on in that head of yours.”
At Maxwell, Romina entered a room with Bonita to find that Mrs. Paterno had made the food ready. Mrs. Paterno even joked that she had to get out of the place before she ate everything herself. She praised Mina for launching such an excellent fashion show. Bonita mentioned that her friend was an exceptional person and despite her busy schedule, she always had time for Cassie.
Mrs. Paterno asked how Mina does it and Mina told her that it was all about time management and how important Cassie was to her. Marga asked the make-up artist to hurry up with her work. Nica asked her to put on her gown so that they could see if it would match her make-up.
“I like your old design, but this one is way better,” Nica said. “I’m so glad we decided to use that. Now am really sure we’ll win.”
Marga’s mouth was wide open in disbelief. “Whatever,” she muttered in frustration.
“Don’t worry, you look great,” Maureen said while Nica shook her head. “We are going to win this, and am sure they’ll be shocked when they see you.” Nadya told Maureen to stop saying nönseñse and Maureen asked what she meant by that.
“You’re so irritating,” Nica said to her.
“We better win because mommy would be watching. And I promised her I’d be a champion.” Marga stated. “So you better show me that I made the right decision by trusting you three.” Marga’s mean squad seemed scared of her words.
Daniela arrived at the event with Savannah. She asked Mrs. Paterno where the lights and sounds had come from. Mrs. Paterno told her that they had waited for her confirmation yesterday, and they had called her but she hadn’t picked up. “Fortunately Romina had a solution for the lights and sounds,” she added.
” Where is that woman?” Daniela asked with her usual angry face.
Romina walked in just then. “Daniela?…is there a problem?”
“Yes!” Daniela replied. “You are the problem… You just love digging your claws into anything you can dip them into, don’t you, Romina?”
Romina tried to reason with her. “The event is starting soon, so please…”
“Am not done with you, Romina.”
“And I haven’t even started,” Romina said, staring at her in a challenge. “So if you don’t want to be humiliated, come with me outside.” Mina left and Daniela followed her out.
In another room, Fatima finished up on Cassie’s make-up. LJ told her that she was already glowing even without the gown and that she was sure that she (Cassie) was going to win. Cassie thanked her and said that winning wasn’t what mattered to her – they had to show everyone in school how talented they really were. Kristoff came by carrying a package. He was stunned by Cassie’s look, his mouth wide open and Cassie seemed uncomfortable with his endless stare.
Kristoff told her that the event had almost began and he had come to check whether she was ready. Cassie said she was almost ready. She slipped as she tried to walk away and Kristoff caught her before she fell. Cassie apologized, saying that she was not used to wearing heels. Kristoff said it was okay and Cassie walked away in those poor heels as if she had a serious leg injury.
“Go on.” Daniela gave Romina a death look. “Apologize to me?” (For what? Saving you from apparent shame & disgrace?)
“You’re off base, Daniela. I would lövê to know what exactly goes on in that head of yours.”
“You know, Romina, what I hate most are people who lövê meddling. Do you think I would let this little insult of yours pass?”
“I did not mean to insult you,” Mina said. “If you don’t want people taking over, then be responsible… don’t try to take on responsibilities that you can’t handle.”
Daniela asked why she liked to meddle in her business, adding that her father had just made her (Mina) presentable. “You’re nowhere near our level, my evil stepmother,” she said.
Mina asked who was really the evil one and if that was all she had to say, then she didn’t have the time to listen to her nönseñse because she was busy inside. Daniela grabbed Mina’s hand and turned her around when she tried to walk away. “Don’t you turn your back on me,” she said.
“Let go of me,” Mina demanded.
“You should know me by now,” Daniela said. “I don’t let anything slide past.”
“I said…” Mina stared back at her in challenge. “Let go of me.” She freed herself and twisted Daniela’s fingers and Daniela groaned out in pain. “You don’t know me, Daniela. I don’t back down when I know I am in the right.”
The fashion show was on its way. Daniela came in and joined Savannah and Marga’s mean squad while Mina joined Fatima and her mother. The MCs spoke a little about the event, reminding the viewers to cast their votes online. “Let the competition begin,” one of them said.
The first contestant came in. She wore a gown made of recycled newspaper. Marga and Cassie came in next. Daniela complimented Marga’s outfit, looking forward to her daughter winning. Meanwhile, Mrs. Paterno said that she hoped Cassie would win. Mina thanked her and told her that she was proud of her daughter because she knew she had done her best, and she would be fine with it even if she didn’t win, after all, she seemed to be enjoying herself.
“That’s my design, Marga,” Cassie declared back on the stage.
Marga stared back at her defiantly. “Are you saying that I stole it? …like how you stole my being the only Mondragon in Maxwell. So I guess now… we’re even.” she said, rolling her eyes at her.
Cassie faked a smile while Marga walked down the catwalk. She wore a yellow one-shoulder gown made of recycled plastics, straw and old magazines. Her design stood for positivity. Daniela and co and the rest of the audience clapped for her. Cassie went next. She also wore a one-shoulder gown designed in Philippine colors, made of rubber/plastic bags, necklace, paper and news scaffolding.
Cassie’s design stood for harmony, coordination and discipline. Mina gave her a thumbs up before clapping along with everyone else. Cassie walked back to where Marga stood and they both walked down the catwalk together one last time. Soon, all the contestants were called back on stage. The third and second place winner was called. Cassie and Marga stared at each other while the supporters from Mina and Daniela’s side looked worried.
“And for second place…Miss Marga Bartolome.”
Daniela looked as shocked as Marga while Cassie smiled and clapped along with the audience. Meanwhile, Marga’s mean squad looked worried that their queen would rain hell on them for ‘making her lose’. Marga received her awards and walked off, looking like she was about to cry.
“And that leaves us with this year’s winning team,” one of the MCs said. ” For the creative use of recycled rubber…Miss Cassandra Mondragon!”
Mina and everyone else cheered excitedly. (Minus those in Marga’s corner). Fatima, LJ and Kristoff joined in the clapping and excitement. Meanwhile, Savannah gave Daniela a look while Cassie received her awards on stage. Cassie smiled while Marga glared back at her. The MC asked Cassie what had inspired her to come up with her design.
Cassie said she had based her design on how to make the most of plastics because it was a non-bio degradable material that didn’t easily break down. She added that she had wanted to create a design that was durable and beautiful at the same time. Marga rolled her eyes.
“And did you experience any problems in creating this gown?” the MC asked. Marga looked worried now, fearing Cassie would expose her.
Cassie smiled at Marga. “We did,” she said, almost giving Marga with a heart attack. “But we got through it.”
Now Marga was shaking her head, either in relief or annoyance no one could tell. Everyone clapped. Okay, almost everyone. Daniela was staring up at Cassie with her infamous death glare. (Can someone please tell this annoying woman to start smiling often while she still has teeth?). Kristoff clapped while Marga’s mean squad were pale; they almost looked like corpses. Yeah, fresh breathing corpses.
In particular, Nadya was glaring up at Cassie for signing her death warrant with her win over Marga. Fatima and LJ were beyond excited. Cassie walked down the catwalk and smiled, enjoying the serene scene. Carlos arrived back home after another fruitless job hunt. He smiled at a portrait of his family and grabbed his laptop to search for online jobs. He however had a phone call from someone, confirming that he could now move into the apartment with his family.
Carlos had to make a down payment though. He was excited. After the phone call, he went through his laptop to check his account balance and he almost had a heart ãttaçk. “It’s decreased,” he said to himself.
Marga was upset and beside herself. She stormed into her dressing room, and her mean squad followed. Nadya made the mistake of saying that she would win next time. Marga sprang on them.”Next time? You idiots! This is all your fault. We should have used my design to win this competition…but we didn’t. You thought you knew better. Now look where that got us!”
” Sorry, Marga. I did that because I didn’t want them to win,” Nadya pleaded. (Here, I thought you were the wisest and smartest of the mean squad. Clearly I was wrong. You shouldn’t have said that girl.)
“So you didn’t think my design was good enough?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
“I hate you!” Marga yelled, pushing Nadya down onto the floor. “You cost me this competition, so listen when I say that I get out of my base!”
The mean squad ran off and stood at a safe distance while Cassie came in with her group, with Fatima and LJ by her side.
“Are you here to brag because you won?” Marga began. “Well, congratulations.”
“I just wanted to know why you stole my design,” Cassie said.
Marga said she didn’t know anything about it and she didn’t even know who was in charge of the design.
“Marga, I am not sure if I can trust you,” Cassie said. “But it’s clear that my design was stolen so next time, I just want you to play fair.”
The conflict had drawn Daniel’s attention. “What’s going on here?” she asked. (This is so not gonna end well).
“Mommy…mommy it’s Cassie,” Marga started, magically transforming into a helpless spoiled-rotten child. “She’s accusing me of stealing her design.”
” What?” Daniela gave Cassie a look. Her death look. “Who do you think you are to accuse my daughter of stealing?”
“Aunt Daniela I just wanted to…”
“Shut up! You have no right to treat my daughter like that. You’re just someone my father took in. You’re not even true…”
“Daniela, that’s enough.” Mina came in and stood by her daughter. “Be careful with your words. If you have a problem with my daughter, then talk to me.”
Daniela told Mina that if she didn’t want her to lecture her daughter then she should raise her well. Mina said she knew her daughter and she wasn’t a liar and Daniela asked if her daughter was the problem. The school principal came in and cooled down the situation. She told them that if there was any problem with their daughters, they could settle the matter calmly and they didn’t need to make a scene.
“They started the argument,” Daniela said. “Then again, I am not surprised. The filthy apples don’t fall far from the swamp-dwelling creep.”
At the Bartolome residence, Marga apologized for causing a scene and losing. Daniela asked if she had stolen Cassie’s design and Marga cried and admitted to it, saying that her group mates had stolen it. Daniela said she wouldn’t have allowed that to happen if she had been confident of winning. Daniela then said that they had to permanently remove Mina and Cassie from their lives so they could have some peace of mind.
“So next time Marga, just make sure that you don’t get caught,” Daniela said. “You understand?”
“Yes, mommy.”
“Good girl.”
Carlos came in and asked why Marga was crying and Daniela said that it was because of that ‘horrific woman and her daughter’. Carlos asked what had happened and Daniela said it wasn’t important since they had mistreated their daughter. Carlos said he would rather know the whole story than assume the worst. After Marga had gone to her room, Carlos asked Daniela why she had taken money from their account. Daniela said she didn’t want to argue with him.
“Daniela, I’ve been doing everything to solve our problems. I don’t need you making things harder for us…we have enough problems already.”
“I’m sorry,” Daniela said.
” Let’s see what that apology can do once we lose everything, and Marga gets affected.”
“And presenting…Miss Maxwell Youth of Fashion 2018… Cassandra… Mondragon!”
Cassie came home with Mina to meet a very warm reception. Her uncle and her father, along with the working staff congratulated her.
“Mmm, where’s your trophy?” Neil asked.
Cassie thanked Neil and Nanny Esther for all their help. Neil suggested that she join a beauty contest next and Robert said she was too young for that. Mina said she was proud of her and Cassie said she would win more competitions to make them proud. Robert told her she didn’t need to do that and all that mattered was that she had fun.
