Chapter 43

Clara slumped her shoulders, fishing out her speech from her bag. "The competition kicks off in like, thirty minutes. Gonna cram a bit more."

Just as she pulled out the speech, her hand trembled, and a bag of meds tumbled out of her bag.

Ruby heard the clatter, glanced down, and spotted the meds. She scooped them up and asked, "Clara, what's this?"

Still flipping through her speech, Clara replied, "Ruby, my stomach's been acting up, so I've been popping these laxatives."

She reached out to grab the meds back from Ruby.

But Ruby dodged her hand, grinning. "Clara, lemme take these. I've been feeling kinda off too. Maybe they'll help."

"Sure, but Ruby, wait till you get home to take 'em. These laxatives are pretty hardcore. If you take 'em now, you might miss the speech comp. Check the dosage when you get home, okay?" Clara smiled, noticing Ruby's mood lift. Ruby nodded, "Got it, Clara. You keep cramming. I'm hitting the restroom."

Before Clara could say anything, Ruby bolted.

Clara watched her go, shaking her head with a sigh, muttering to a classmate about Ruby always being in such a rush.

"Haha, Ruby probably had to go real bad, holding it in to keep you company," a classmate joked.

The place was packed since this speech competition was a big deal, drawing a huge crowd.

Besides teachers and students, there were some old folks in suits and some sharp-dressed pros.

Juniper and causing any pre-comp chaos, clung

seats were right up front, so

down, two old guys in suits took seats in the guest area across the aisle, followed by two middle-aged dudes in suits in the row ahead. They seemed to know each

the comp time neared, people gradually found their seats. Many contestants sat next to Katniss and Juniper, and

reviewing and practicing, quickly cracked open the water bottles

for a bottle of water and was about

up, Juniper?" Katniss

sweet and clear, catching the attention of a few people across the aisle. Seeing that Katniss was especially attractive and full of youthful energy, they couldn't help but steal a few more

about to

something clicked in Katniss's mind, and she

excited that a few

Katniss?" Juniper asked, puzzled by Katniss's sudden

but to be safe, she grabbed the

water. Her expression changed, and

What a nasty trick!

for the Manners family's business, even leading a team to develop a new product that got major props from the higher-ups. Just

she had drunk

to take sick leave, letting Clara step in for

showered Clara with

Clara as

Katniss's eyes reddened.

me out," Juniper said, thinking Katniss was

her down, shaking her head and lowering her voice to avoid being overheard. "Juniper, I'm fine. But the water is messed

smirked. "Someone messed with this

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