Birthday+Competition,+Candy

It wasn’t the birthday present I was expecting. You know those moments when someone you really like gives you a present you don’t really want? I know that my aunt could act a little weird sometimes but a plain old rock, really? I plastered the fakest smile on my face and hugged my auntie. “Thanks, auntie,” I said, cheerily, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

“It’s the most valuable thing I have ever owned,” she said, as she kissed my forehead and walked away. I recapped the cover of the sparkly purple box and placed it onto the desk beside me. //Most valuable thing? Sure//. To tell you the truth, I liked the box better than the actual present inside. After one last kiss on the cheek, I walked away from the sparkling mountain of pink and purple presents to greet the other guests around the mansion. I didn’t want to be rude after all.

It was a tradition for every girl in TranesVille to have her own birthday party every year. This year was especially important. On every girl’s 15th birthday, the girl whose total present value was the most would be transferred into class A17 which was made up of the smartest, richest and prettiest girls of the year. The founder of TranesVille started this tradition since the town the town was just a wasted piece of land. In the beginning, it was only a friendly competition. He believed that what people think and give to you will represent your value as a whole. Basically, if you won and get to go to class A17, your future was going to be quite pleasant. You’ll have a stable job, a loyal husband, a big mansion, etc.

The Jones’ family (my full name’s Sapphire Jones), has won the privilege, every year that they were eligible, so this was a pretty big deal for us. That’s why I was a little confused by why my aunt would give me a rock. In at least my town, a rock of this size and shape would only sell for 4 chips, that’s basically less than the cost of a normal old pencil. My aunt wasn’t someone that hated me. She could sometimes get mad at me, but in general she always took care of me and gave me only the top quality things.

I walked outside to get a little fresh air. The music inside was making my head feel like a clock. I had expected it to be completely quiet, since my house was indeed sound proof, but instead, there was a gigantic vibration of sound. I stumbled a little from the unexpected wave. Charlotte O’Connell. She was my childhood rival. The stop student, the prettiest girl, the most popular. It has always been a competition between us. Some people even said that some people were keeping track of how many times each of us beat each other. //For what reason? Don’t ask me.//

This time I was going to win. I was sure of it. I had sent an invitation to everyone I knew. No matter how far they were. On the other side of the planet? I don’t care. And as you might have assumed, Charlotte and I had the exact same birthday, which was also the last day before the announcement of who joined class A17. I didn’t want to stress myself out too much. It was still my birthday after all and stress gives you wrinkles.

After the party ended, I was pretty content with the amount of things I had. Apart from my aunt's gift, all of the presents were pretty decent; a few pieces of jewellery, some weird stuffed animals and some brand named clothes. Good overall, but that still didn’t stop me from sweating my guts out. That night, I was twisting and tossing, in my bed all night long. At one point, my blanket was kicked to the the ground and the air conditioner was set at 15 degrees celsius. //Why the hell did my aunt give me a rock?//

I ran out of my bed and snatched the glittery box from my bedside table. I quickly uncapped the lid of the box and placed the dusty rock in my hand. The more I thought about the situation, the tighter my hand was. //Did my aunt hate me this much? Did she not even care about Mom’s feelings if I lost? Maybe she had some kind of deal with Charlotte?// And just like that, the rock slipped out of my hand, and chipped the bedside table. //Did this rock have a secret pocket knife or something?//

I hadn't seen any rock that made that type of cut before. The side of the table was clearly cut. I slowly reached down and grabbed the rock. A bright light blinded my eye. I moved my hand, then blinked a while before my vision came back. This rock wasn’t actually a rock. The cut was shimmering in the light.

If this was actually what I thought it was, I was going to be just fine.