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In fact, Stanley could be the one overreacting when Joyce returned to his life in full force.
These were beyond Natalie's control; she could only wait and see.
She rubbed her temples exhaustedly and left the room.
Later that night, she called Shane and updated him on her phone conversation with Joyce.
His reaction to the news was mild.
Since Stanley was aware of his feelings for Joyce, it seemed pretty unlikely for him to hurt
her as he did in the past.
Otherwise, he would have shown more aversion to the fact that he loved Joyce.
Stanley's calmness was a promising sign in Natalie's eyes.
The next day, Natalie and Lina headed to the competition hall.
The competition winners were awarded the highly coveted rights to design the costumes
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtfor the opening ceremony of the World Games. Everyone would place one hundred and
ten percent of their effort in the competition.
The tension in the air was stifling. Natalie sensed it the minute she set foot in the
competition hall.
Lina flat-out shivered and rubbed her elbows anxiously. “This is freaking me out. Did you
see their gazes, Nat? They're treating the competition like their enemies.”
“That's not wrong, is it?” Natalie chuckled and continued, “The only person here who's not
my enemy is you. After all, we're all competing for the chance to design for the World
Games.”
“Fair enough, but don't you think they're overreacting? If looks could kill, I'd be dead on
the floor right now. They're behaving as if a fierce glare could eliminate their competitors.
It's giving me the chills. Look at my goosebumps!” Lina rubbed her arms, her expression a
mask of disgust.
Their competitive streak bordered on hysteria.
Natalie picked up on Lina's anxiety and chucked a can of coffee at her. “That's enough.
Stop fretting over these. Don't even stare at them. I don't want your performance later to
waver because of their glares.”
“Okay.” Lina nodded and cracked open the can of coffee. She took a gulp and added, “You
know what, I think they're doing it on purpose to affect the other contestants.”
Natalie sat down and uttered, “Since you know it's a psychological tactic, just ignore
them.”
Lina ran her fingers through her hair before sitting down. She mumbled, “I wonder what's
the competition theme. Our competition format is way less complicated than those of our
juniors. The competition ends in three rounds. Can you imagine how high the elimination
rate is?”
She made a valid point. Twelve participating groups would undergo three competition
rounds.
The first round eliminated nine groups, while the second eliminated one, leaving two
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmgroups for the third and final rounds.
No wonder the atmosphere in the competition hall was fraught with tension.
Anyone would be mortified and even resentful if they were eliminated in the first round.
It was difficult to imagine someone who could gracefully accept an early elimination.
Everyone wanted to make it through the rounds and battle for the crown.
Natalie opened a can of coffee and took a sip. Her expression had lost some of its earlier
airiness, giving way to solemnity. “You're right. The elimination rate is extremely high. I've
joined almost a hundred competitions, and this is the most nerve-wracking atmosphere
I've encountered. Frankly, I'm starting to get nervous too.”
The admission filled Lina with panic. She yelped, “No, you can't be nervous! No one here
can really match up to you, so how could you be nervous? It's perfectly fine if I'm the
nervous one. The competition stress is only a part of it; there's also pressure from Ashlyn.
So you have to calm down, Nat. Your anxiety will only fuel mine, and then we'll be
doomed. Don't forget; we're a unit now.”
“You're right.” Natalie forced a smile and declared, “Okay, I'm going to collect myself and
calm down now.”
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