The Beauty Queen

The Beauty Queen - Chapter 12

Truth is, I'm upset. It's a stupid reason, but it's natural to get pissy over something stupid, right?

Gah. I'm sorry for spilling that little piece of personal problems. Nothing a little writing can't fix.

Anyways, I know I do this a lot, but thank you. So much. For reading. I am. So grateful. For all. Of you. Yeah, I just made the reading voice in your head pause a whole lot, right? ;)

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Chapter 12

"Danielle," Penelope snarled, turning to glare at my tray. Oh crap. I swallowed.

After she had seen Nate and I together again, Penelope threw a tantrum. She looked like a five year-old, stomping her feet and waving her hands in the air. Her face even turned red. Honestly, I thought it belonged in a horror movie, or on the news channel. I could just imagine a headline in a newspaper: Forty-something year-old woman throws raging tantrum.

"A day off from practice does not mean a day off from your diet," Penelope said venomously, sending me a menacing glare. Figures. My one day off, and I can't even eat a mini pizza.

My eyes widened and I was frozen. I opened my mouth to say something, but as usual whenever Penelope catches me doing something wrong, no words came out. My jaw went slack, and I was staring off into space, looking mental.

"Answer me!" Penelope shrieked angrily. She was obviously pissed at me and my inability to respond when she screams at me. I think I should suggest putting herself in my shoes. I mean, imagine having your pageant mentor scream at you with a scary look on her face. Oh, and she's red.

"If anyone needs a diet, it's you," Nate snorted. My attention immediately snapped to him, and I was wide-eyed. He sent me a smirk that I guess was supposed to be reassuring. Strangely, it wasn't very reassuring.

So that's when chaos broke loose.

Penelope grabbed my lunch tray off the table, her teeth clenched, her face on fire. If only her hair was made out of live snakes, she'd be able to turn anyone into stone.

Whatever was coming, I couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it's because I'm so terrified right now that I can't even think straight. But apparently Nate knew what was gonna happen next, because he sprang out of his chair and made a beeline across the cafe.

Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion and in fast forward at the same time... if that even makes any sense at all.

Penelope hurled the dark red, plastic, food-filled tray at Nate.

The tray flew through the air.

Nate was ready.

But the devil spawn wasn't.

The spawn began to shriek.

I felt like I was ready to hyperventilate, because who knows what a younger version of Penelope is capable of? Sure, Penelope's got more years under her belt... or should I say under her fake boobs. But the spawn seems like she could do more damage. After that little dignity thing Penelope did that one practice, and her semi-compliment on my make-up, I don't think she really wants to damage anyone beyond repair.

But the spawn? I'm not so sure.

The spawn (I should figure out her name, although the nickname's perfect) let out a few more ear-splitting shrieks, causing everyone in the lunch hall to slam their hands over their ears. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled into a ball. Even though my ears were completely covered, I could still hear the spawn loud and clear.

After the spawn finished her screaming, she started yelling a few choice words at her mother. Penelope rallied the words back to her without a problem. They didn't seem to care about the apparent audience around them; everyone was watching. The janitor that was pressure cleaning the windows stopped to watch. People dropped their hamburgers to watch. All the other contestants were watching. I'm pretty sure even the ants trying to steal food are watching.

I noticed for the first time why the spawn was really screaming. I looked at the fries tangled in her hair--my fries. There was pizza sauce all over her face, down to her white shirt. Hot, melted cheese was stuck to her nose, cheeks, and shoulders, and the crust of the pizza had fallen who knows where.

I really, really don't want to be here right now.

I had almost forgotten about Nate, who was actually laughing at what was going on. Although I do admit that it was a bit funny, it was a little heartbreaking to see how the spawn and the devil dealt with each other. I can't believe how easily Penelope can curse at her daughter, and vise versa.

Nate glanced at me, still half-smiling from all the laughing. I frowned at him, my eyes wide. My expression was telling him to stop laughing and shut the hell up. He smirked at me, and then he made some sort of gesture with his hands. I raised an eyebrow.

It was hard to understand what he was trying to signal, since I couldn't really concentrate with all the yelling. But I suddenly realized that he was using the universal motion for "get the heck outta here". He was pointing at the door and mouthing some words.

It all processed as he crept over to my side. He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside, going unnoticed.

When we got outside, Nate let out a burst of laughter. He fell against the wall, clutching his stomach, grinning and laughing like a madman. His usually semi-messy hair was out of control.

He looked absolutely adorable.

I looked down at my hand, blushing a little. He held my hand.

Oh, wait. Not that I care.

Uhh, no.

Never.

Ever.

Not if he was the last guy on Earth. He's obnoxious, annoying, and immature. I hate how adorably sarcastic he is, and how hazel his eyes are, and how his hair's always a little messy, but not that much...

Oh, geez.

Do I care?

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Okay. So no pageant-related stuff in this chapter. Just Nate and Danielle-type stuff. ;)

See? Writing does fix everything. I feel so much better.

And well okay, I'm texting one of my best friends. So that helps, too.

BTW! I thought I should share a little, sort of interesting piece of info! You know that new exercise thing, called Zumba? Well, if you haven't, it's basically exercise-dancing. And tomorrow, there's gonna be a Zumba-thon at a local gym... two straight hours of dancing. My mom bought me a ticket for it, so I'm gonna have to participate... and wake up at 6. -.- It starts WAY TOO EARLY. But even though it starts before sunrise (not really; I'm exaggerating) and I can't really dance, I'm gonna Zumba for the first time tomorrow.