The Scholarship

MEET THE JUDGES-Chapter One

"Thank you all for volunteering your time to help narrow down some of the entries for the contest," she begins. "The other two judges and I appreciate your contribution immensely."

"Excuse me, Dr. Plath?" Julie says sounding out of breath. "The hair and makeup crew just got here, so we'll actually need you all on level two in five minutes." Julie mumbles into her earbud as she disappears out the door.

"Well, I see we're as organized as ever," Cynthia says to the group. "That's show business for you." Everyone else stands up, and they make their way to the second floor where they enter a room surrounded by windows. Several people bustle around unpacking hair spray, brushes, and a wide arrangement of large color palettes of make up.

"Cynthia, darling!" An older gentleman in skinny jeans and Converses runs over and gives Cynthia a soft hug.

"Raul! I didn't know you were going to be here!" Cynthia genuinely gushes as she squeezes her old friend. She lowers her voice, and says, "Please tell me you're going to be working on the whole production and not just the un-mic'd table shots."

"As if they could get along without me!" Raul winks at Cynthia, but then throws an obvious look of disdain toward the volunteers. "Ugh, I have so much work to do!"

"Be nice!" Cynthia whispers. "These volunteers are going to help us narrow down the thousands of applicants for the show. They aren't even getting paid for this!" Raul gives her a look as if he doesn't care, but then sighs loudly.

"Okay, volunteers," he says as he claps his hands. "Raul is here to make you look beautiful!" He turns to Cynthia and says under his breath, "Assuming that's even possible." Cynthia shakes her head and sits down in the chair with C. Plath printed on the back.

"Excuse me, Ms. Plath?" A woman with a sweet, southern drawl approaches Cynthia. The actress stares at the woman in front of her. She looks vaguely familiar, but Cynthia cannot place her. "I'm K.C. Washington from Jackal Network. I read the five o'clock news." K.C. smiles and adds, "I'm sure you recognize me."

Cynthia is a bit surprised at the reporter's confidence but nods her head in agreement. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Washington," Cynthia tells her. "Are you covering this part of the show? I didn't realize there would be press coverage so early."

K.C. laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, no, Darlin'! I'm the one who will be interviewing the finalists when y'all pick your favorites!" She bats her eyes and tilts her head. "I just stopped by because I wanted to get a feel for the process. I had to do a little sweet talkin' with the producers, but I usually get what I want."

Cynthia forces a smile. "Well, I think that's wonderful. It was nice to meet you. Good luck with the interviews."

"Oh, I think you'll be seein' plenty of me during the show!" K.C. playfully taps Cynthia on her shoulder. "Don't go gettin' sick of me now!" K.C. turns around and practically bounces away.

Cynthia shakes her head. "There's not enough coffee in my system to keep up with that woman," she says to herself as Raul approaches with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Who is that dazzling creature?" He asks as he starts to mess with Cynthia's hair.

"Just some reporter," Cynthia quickly responds, anxious to change the subject. "Raul, what do you think of putting a little more curl in my hair?"

Less than an hour later, Cynthia and the nine volunteers are back in the conference room ready to get to work. Julie has already reminded everyone to just act naturally, but some of the volunteers are clearly nervous.

"I know the cameras can be really intimidating at first," Cynthia reassures them. "But eventually you just forget about them."

"And remember, people," Julie adds, "your voices aren't being recorded. These are just a bunch of shots from different angles to give the viewing audience a visual of what is happening in the judging rooms."