Chapter 102 SILENT THEFT
Godiva POV
“Hello everyone,” the huge man announced over the microphone with an unusually feminine, tiny voice, which drove the crowd into a moment of laughter and cheers.
“Damn girl, you’re a lady, but your voice is deeper than this man’s,” Dina mocked, joining in the laughter.
“How can you be this huge and have such a tiny voice, jeez?” I gasped, still staring at the man in shock.
“It’s alright, I get that a lot,” he chimed in with the crowd’s laughter. Raising the cards slightly, he continued, “Please, let’s be quiet so we can get done with this.”
The hall suddenly fell silent as everyone eagerly looked at him, waiting patiently for the announcements.
I held onto Dina’s hands tightly as I impatiently waited for the proper announcement.
“Hello once again, I’m Mathias, and I will be your host, or should I say result announcer today,” he joked, chuckling as others joined in. “Please, there is only one rule, which is: do not protest about the outcome of the finale because everything was done fairly,” he added before tearing the first card open.
“This card here carries the names of the finalists who didn’t win the competition,” he continued.
At the sound of his announcement, I turned to look at Dina, almost tearing up.
“It’s alright,” Dina whispered reassuringly as we held onto each other.
“After compiling every result from the regionals up to this stage, I hate to announce that Mildah Okon and Joy Chen, representatives of Greenland Academy, didn’t make it to the finale. So, our winners are… Dina Job and Godiva Scott from Bread of Life International High!” he declared at last, raising his pitch toward the end as the song Stand Up, Stand Up for the Champions suddenly began playing through the speakers while the lights switched into disco colors.
I froze on the spot as tears began falling from my eyes.
There was loud celebration coming from Mama, Mrs Job, Dina, and the principal, yet their noises sounded distant to me. All I could hear were my thoughts and my thudding heart.
I didn’t think we were ever going to win the competition.
“Attention!” Mr Mathias’ voice echoed through the microphone, making the hall gradually quiet down and snapping me out of my shocked state. “We now invite the champions of Students Making a Difference for the year!” he cheered, accompanying his excitement with claps people later joined in.
“My babies, you’ve made us proud,” Mrs Job cried emotionally, hugging us both before we walked toward the stage.
“Everybody, these are your champions!” he announced loudly, carefully emphasizing each word as he raised our hands up, leading the crowd into another round of applause.
“Congratulations,” he beamed, shaking our hands as someone walked in with our medals.
I kept staring toward the backstage, waiting patiently to see if anyone would walk in with our cheque, because that was the moment I had imagined countless times.
“Now, the judges and representatives from the state will step forward, hand them their awards, and address us in less than a minute.”
“This award is presented to Godiva Scott for her excellent performance at the S.M.A.D competition for the year,” the judge announced over the microphone, handing the award to the state representative.
The hall erupted into applause as I carefully lifted the beautiful glass award handed to me by the state representative.
After Dina received hers, we wrapped ourselves in a warm embrace joyfully before we were asked to take pictures together with our school management, the judges, and our parents.
After the pictures, the state representative stepped forward with a microphone in his hands.
“Isn’t he supposed to be with our cheque and not a mic?” Dina whispered jokingly, making me laugh softly.
“However…” the state representative’s voice echoed through the microphone, instantly silencing the noisy crowd. “However, we hate to announce that the prize money will not be given, or at least not now, due to unforeseen circumstances. Our apologies to the champions,” he continued, taking a bow toward us as the crowd grew aggressive with protesting voices from people we didn’t even know.
I immediately turned to the hopeless expressions on Mama and Mrs Job’s faces.
I watched tears freely flow from Mama’s eyes as she wiped them with the back of her hands.
Dina looked at me blankly with a smile that carried pain and helplessness. I, on the other hand, kept staring at the representative, hoping it was some sort of prank.
At least not after I had imagined getting us a better house and even starting up a side business for Mama.
“Sir, if you’re just going to cancel the prize money, we should at least know why, or better still, know the compensation they’d be given instead,” a voice from the crowd rose in our defense.
“We sincerely apologize to you, Miss Godiva Scott and Miss Diva Job. We’ll get back to you if there’s progress,” he replied, still bowing and completely avoiding the question.
“At least before we accept this apology, respond to the question the young man asked,” Mrs Job barked angrily, tears already welling up in her eyes.
“It’s a fault from the top, but it will get rectified hopefully, and the money will be paid,” he assured, still bowing as he walked off the stage, leaving the angry crowd with unanswered questions.
Deep down in our hearts, we already knew we were never going to get the payment since we didn’t receive it right there.
“I really hope this has nothing to do with Ben’s dad and Lis,” Dina muttered angrily, clenching her fist.
“I really hope it doesn’t,” I responded bitterly, sounding furious.