The Beauty Queen

The Beauty Queen - Chapter 10

I'm gonna upload the third and last chapter for today, since writing a chapter only takes me about ten to fifteen minutes. :P So enjoy~!

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Chapter 10

I counted ten turns in total.

A tall, skinny girl had just executed one of those perfect ballet spins. Ten complete turns in all. I think the turn is called something with a "p".

Katy nudged me and whispered, "What are you gonna do?"

I was still staring at the ballerina in awe. I used to be that flexible... when I was two.

"I have no idea," I said quietly. I tried not to sound miserable. I glanced at Katy, who had started counting the turns in the girl's next spin. "What's your talent? I think you should go for make-up artist." Katy chuckled.

"Actually, I'm going to do gymnastics," she said once she finished counting. She turned to me. "That one was twelve." I nodded gloomily.

"Don't look so sad, Danielle," Katy told me. "Everyone's got a talent. I'm pretty sure you've got plenty."

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, staring at the edge of the stage. "And I'm pretty sure I've got none."

"Sure you do," Kate said optimistically, "but you have to stop being such a pessimist. Anyways, don't you want to impress Nate?"

I scowled. At the mention of Nate's name, I involuntarily looked up at him. He was watching ballet girl prance around the stage. He looked completely impressed.

"No," I said flatly. Katy giggled.

After all the other girls, including Katy, had performed their talents, it was finally my turn. I had been stalling by waiting for the last turn, but now it was inevitable. There was nowhere I could go.

Well, I could run out of the auditorium again, but I remembered the mini dignity lesson. And I think Penelope's finally starting to warm up to me, so it would probably be a bad move.

I swallowed, hearing Katy's whispered encouragements. But none of them really stuck as I walked slowly to center stage. I tried being slower than a snail, like I had all the time in the world. Once I stepped on that little duct tape X in the middle of the stage, I wouldn't be able to stall anymore.

"Could you hurry up?" Penelope spat. I winced and stepped onto the X. I looked out into the audience chairs, trying to avoid Nate's gaze. For some reason, my eyes wandered to his face, and he was watching me. Well yeah. What else was there to watch?

To my surprise, he wasn't smirking. He had his fingers laced behind his head, and he actually looked genuinely interested in what I was about to do. You know, if I had anything to do. I blushed.

Okay, that's weird. I never blush. I don't do blushing.

"Do you even have a talent," Penelope said flatly. I don't think it was meant to be a question. My head snapped to look at her. I felt a little panicked. She was looking back at me with a bored expression. I bit my lip. My gaze returned to Nate, and I saw a slow smirk spread across his face. I sighed. And so he figures it out.

I put my face in my hands and cursed. It wasn't coherent, of course. My voice was muffled by my hands.

What am I supposed to do now? I have to try something. Maybe I'll paint a picture. I could probably pull of drawing one of those abstract paintings. They're just a bunch of squiggly lines, right?

I frantically tried to think up a talent. I wasn't going to give Nate or Penelope the satisfaction of knowing I don't have a talent. I ran every possible thing through my mind. I don't play an instrument, I don't have enough rhythm to dance, I can't draw any realistic things, I'm not flexible enough to do gymnastics...