Chapter 573 The Royal Banquet
Oscar flashed a sly grin, leaned in close, and said, "Alright, go upstairs and change. I'll hit up Christopher, and we'll bounce as soon as you're ready."
"Where we headed?" Pearl asked, looking confused.
Oscar tapped her nose. "We're hitting up the sports meet."
'Wait, is that today?' Pearl thought as she trudged upstairs, changed, and came back down to find Oscar and Christopher already chilling in the car.
Throughout the entire ride, she couldn't shake the feeling that Oscar had pulled a fast one on her, but she was willingly along for the ride, Pearl kept sighing. She had been too careless.
The school entrance was a madhouse with cars everywhere. Oscar drove around but couldn't find a spot, so he told them to head in while he parked.
Pearl took Christopher to the field, watching the happy kids and sunburned parents, wondering why they even had these sports meets. And why drag the parents into it? School's for kids; why rope in the parents?
She was grumbling inside, seeing some parents chatting with teachers, acting like the sports meet was the best thing ever. It all seemed so fake.
"Are you Christopher's nanny?" Some parent who'd been gushing about the sports meet walked over, gave Pearl the once-over, and shook her head. "I heard Christopher's dad is a businessman. You don't look the part. Would a businessman's nanny dress like that?"
"And how should I dress? Like you?" Pearl snapped, looking for someone to vent on.
The woman, catching the insult, got mad and pointed to a girl next to the teacher, sneering, "That's my daughter. And you know who am I?"
Pearl glanced at the girl and smirked, "Well, I'm not really not intrested."
A few nearby parents couldn't help but laugh but quickly shut up when the woman glared at them.
The woman flicked her hair, pinched Pearl's sleeve, and shook her head in disgust before going back to buttering up the teacher.
Pearl shrugged it off and sent Christopher to get the registration form and check on lunch plans.
She'd agreed to this whole sports meet thing just to show off her cooking skills to Oscar.
A parent sidled up to her and whispered, "That's Alina Berg, head of the PTA. Her husband's some big shot at a company. You might've ticked her off, so watch out."
"Why should I be scared of her? What's she gonna do to me here?" Pearl laughed, not worried at all.
"She's the PTA head. She calls the shots on what dishes we make. We gotta do what she says."
The warning wasn't baseless. Pearl was surprised the PTA president had that much power. If she'd known, she would've run for the position herself.
Maybe then she'd be the one chilling next to the teacher, finding a shady spot while bossing other parents around.
She regretted not doing her homework before jumping in. It was a rash decision.
While Pearl was kicking herself for not running for PTA president, Alina walked over. A list of instructions was shoved in her face, nearly poking her eyes out.
Pearl was ticked off. "If you got something to say, just spit it out."
Alina chuckled softly, "Here's the list. On the back is the dish you need to whip up for lunch today. Make sure everyone likes it. If no one touches your dish, Christopher's performance in the sports meet gets nullified."
"What does my cooking have to do with Christopher? If you wanna punish someone, punish me. Leave Christopher out of it," Pearl snapped. She didn't want to be here, but that didn't mean Christopher didn't.
If no one ate her dish, it would mess with Christopher's day.
Pearl frowned. The school wouldn't pull something like this; Alina was just being a bully.
Since she was stuck here, she might as well roll with it. Alina only asked her to prepare the dish, not necessarily cook it herself. If she couldn't handle it, she could always order from a hotel.
Pearl took the paper and flipped it over, her eyes widened in disbelief as she read the words written on the back: "Royal Banquet."
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you can't handle it," Alina sneered, looking her up and down. "But you, a nanny, should be fine. I never cook, and I'm sure others don't either, so lunch is on you."
"Don't sweat it. Solving problems is my jam. You can chill," Pearl said.
"Big talk. We'll see," Alina scoffed and walked off, leaving Pearl alone.
The sports meet kicked off, and students from each class gathered on the field for the opening ceremonies.
After the formalities, the principal gave the go-ahead, and the sports meet officially started.
Oscar still hadn't shown up. Pearl kept glancing at the entrance, getting more nervous. If he didn't show soon, she was ready to bail.
She couldn't care less about the sports meet.
Christopher noticed Pearl's anxiety and made a goofy face at her. The teacher saw him and called him out.
However, Christopher didn't mind and kept grinning at Pearl.
After the teacher handed out the event schedule, students could go back to their parents and check in with the teacher for their events.
Because Pearl hadn't agreed, Christopher hadn't signed up for any events, but he had the most events to participate in. It had to be Alina's doing.
Pearl shot a look at Alina, who happened to glance over. She squinted and glared.
"Next up is the boys' race. Students whose names are called, please find your teachers and get ready," the announcement echoed.
Pearl nudged Christopher. "Just take it easy, don't worry about winning, okay? We're here to have fun."
Christopher nodded and whispered, "Mom, do you think losing means we can go home early?"
"No, I'm just worried about you feeling stressed out," Pearl said stubbornly.
She did hope the school had such a rule so she could go home early and enjoy the AC instead of roasting here.
Christopher smiled. "Mom, don't worry. I'll definitely win."
Was he being sweet or just messing with her? Pearl didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The students reported to their teachers and gradually moved to the starting line. Christopher's spot was at the end, and Pearl noticed the starting tool looked busted.
She wanted to warn him, but as soon as she stood up, the gun went off, and the race began.
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