"And next we present a newcomer: Miss Via Dos. Although she is from a humble background, Miss Dos is good friends with Miss Royce and assists at the company of a family friend of the Royce's."
Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she was doing all of this as a favor to her friend, Via stepped out into the ballroom, bowing respectfully to the judges present.
As Via stepped into the room, a series of gasps could be heard.
Not only was she the only one there not from an influential family, but Via was also dressed unlike all the other women there.
Instead of the required unpractical skirts and gaudy makeup and jewelry, Via wore a simple lilac suit. Her dark hair, which was usually tied up, was let down in her natural loose curls.
While it was clear that Via pulled the ensemble off incredibly well, the other participants, laced up in tight skirts and painted in layers of expensive makeup felt wronged when they saw her.
How was it that this girl who had no wealthy background and until this day was unknown in their social circles could suddenly break all the social customs without facing any punishment?
The participants, smiling politely at Via asked themselves this question over and over again.
Meanwhile, in her simple white heels, Via stepped down the stairs and made her way to her seat.
While she did not care for the opinions of the people around her, except for that of Molly of course, Via was frustrated at how rudely they treated her.
If these are the future heirs of some of the most influential corporations of our nation, what does that say about the future of the rest of the people?
And this was exactly the reason why Via wanted to avoid such places.
She understood that etiquette classes are meant to teach young adults, born with immense influence ethics and humility, but the camp she was at was clearly doing the opposite.
Not only did the staff give the most powerful heirs leeway over anything they wanted, but those with less wealth or status were constantly belittled.
What's more, the females, in comparison to the males, constantly obsessed over material items, rather than focusing on their education.
Of course as, not only a girl, but a 30-year-old woman, Via knew the pull such items gave young girls.
When placed in an environment in which your looks can dictate your entire future, children quickly learn about what is truly valued.
Thus, once reaching her seat, Via sat down without complaint. She did not hate the young women who looked down on her.
How can I hate someone I understand? Via thought to herself.
. . .
"Now I have exciting news for you ladies. There is a new event coming up and. . ."
Via listened with interest for the first time as the camp coordinator gave their announcement.
For the past two weeks, all she had done was learn to sit up straight, and which forks were right for certain salads. Via found the activities so dull that she even wished to be back in school.
Finally something actually useful, Via thought to herself in relief.
As it turns out, the new event was a contest between the participants at the camp.
Aside from knowing the ways to greet people, the utensils to use, and the right posture to have, participants in the etiquette camp also learned about how they should dress.
So far, this last skill was the one Via found the most interesting out of all of them. In her past life, she was so focused on impressing Gavin that she never had the time to experiment with her own style.
She spent hours straightening her hair every week after Gavin complimented her when she first did it. She did the same with her clothes.
Now, with this contest challenging participants to design their own clothing lines, Via has a second chance.
"What do you think you'll do Via?" Molly leaned over to Via, whispering with an excited smile on her face.
"Hmm, I'm not sure yet. What about you? Have you decided on your theme?"
Molly leaned closer to Via as the camp coordinator continued to speak on the details of the contest.
"I'm thinking of doing an animated theme."
Via nodded, laughing lightly.
"Of course you are, Molly. I bet your designs will look great!"
Although Molly mainly worked on designing graphics when they worked together with Maix on The Loft, Via had seen some of Molly's personal work before and knew it would be an instant hit at the camp.
While most other aspects of the camp were very traditional and regulated, on this one challenge participants were allowed to incorporate any type of style they wanted into their designs as long as the designs had one central theme.
"Don't we also need models?" Via nudged Molly again.
"Oh yeah we do. Do you think Asa will agree to be mine?"
Via gave Molly a teasing smile.
"Do you even need to ask? Of course he will."
"Maybe you can ask Maix?"
"No, he's on a trip with James."
"James what?"
"James Kemp. He works for the Espeji Corporation."
"They don't work together do they?" Molly gave Via a questioning look.
"No they didn't at first, but James came to one of Maix's shows for his newest digital designs and practically begged him to work with them."
"Oh wow so now they're really close, huh?" Molly's surprise wasn't strange as Maix was incredibly picky with who he worked with, as she learned early on.
Maix must've really liked this guy then. Molly thought to herself.
"Yeah they became close friends quickly. I mean I'm really happy for Maix, but I'm not sure who I can ask to be my model."
"There's Lucas Lofter. He's pretty nice."
"Yeah," said Via hesitantly.
"But I'm not sure Lucas would agree to come to a place like this to model out of all things."
Molly laughed agreeing with Via.
Suddenly, Molly turned around, grinning a Via.
"What, are you still thinking of Lucas strutting down a runway?"
Via nudged her friend playfully.
"Um no. I actually just thought of the perfect person."
"Perfect for what? To be my model? Well tell me Molly."
"Okay, okay I will. It's Alecai Espeji."
Via stilled at this.
"What? I thought you two were pretty close friends."
"We are Molly, but he might be mad if I ask him to do this."
"Well then maybe he's not that great of a friend."
The thing is, I don't think of him as a friend. And that's my issue.
Via was comfortable around Cai. So comfortable in fact that at any other time, she wouldn't hesitate to ask him for any favor. However, at this time she feared that he may dislike her designs. And her designs would reveal a part of her that she had never exposed before.
"You know what? I'll just ask Ben."
"Ben like your secretary Ben?"
"Yeah what's wrong with that?"
"N-no there's nothing wrong with that Via. He's a great guy. . . except I thought that you would jump at the chance to see Alecai after being away for so long."
"It's not as if we're dating. . ."
With that, Via turned her attention back to the front of the room. The first part of the challenge was settled for her. Now all she needed to do was to think of a theme.