The Beauty Queen

The Beauty Queen - Chapter 6

I experienced a mini tornado today. O.o We were outside in P.E., and all of a sudden, a giant gust of wind just sent everything flying... even the kids! Lol jk, but the tarp on the court went flying, along with the basketballs. Everyone was like "OMG SOMEONE SAVE US", but one of my friends was like "OH YEAH, NOW IT'S A PARTY!!!"

Today was really weird, but cool at the same time. I'm not just talking about the mini windstorm. WE ACTUALLY HAD FUN IN HISTORY. LIKE, WTH.

Anyways... ENJOY! :D

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Chapter 6

I didn't want to face the guy who had asked me if I was okay, but it was just an involuntary reaction. He had scared me, so my head automatically snapped up. I flinched at the lights. I squinted my eyes. Were they always this bright...?

The bright lights were suddenly eclipsed by the shadow of a guy. I couldn't see his face at first, or anything about him, really. I could only see his outline. I wiped my eyes. Maybe my eyes are too full of tears to see whoever it was.

The figure crouched down in front of me. Now I could see every detail of the guy, his eyes, his hair, et cetera. He had this genuinely concerned expression on his face, and his hazel eyes were filled with worry. Was he some kind of creep, hanging around the pageant place to pick up girls? He looked about a year older than me, but still. There are some weirdos in New York. He repeated his original question.

"Are you okay?"

I hadn't noticed how gentle his voice was before, since I tried to block every single noise out. I still had my knees tucked to my chest, and I was still hugging my legs with my arms. I didn't realize how much I resembled an armadillo, either.

I almost forgot to answer the guy's question. "I'm... okay," I lied, my voice cracking a little. I avoided the guy's eyes. They were such a bright hazel, I could almost feel his gaze producing heat.

"You're not okay," the guy concluded.

I glanced at him in shock for a second, but I quickly looked away again. "Who said?" I snapped, trying to look uninterested. But it was a little hard for me to ignore him.

"I said," the guy said, sitting down next to me. He had an eyebrow raised at me, the side of his mouth quirking up.

"You know, I'd much rather be left alone," I said, finally meeting the guy's eyes. Wow, they're really hazel...

"You're a bad liar," the guy said, smirking a little. I rolled my eyes. Oh, great. Just add him to my list of things that annoy me. There's about ten items on that list, and that's only the mental list that I've kept since I got here. Penelope was currently numero uno.

"Go away," I said in exasperation. "Can't you see I've had enough to deal with for today?" I gave him a pleading look.

"Exactly why I'm being nice enough to cheer you up. I mean, just looking at me should be enough," he said, wagging his eyebrows at me. I grimaced, but I looked the guy over. His hair wasn't long, but it wasn't short. It was slightly messed up, and some strands fell into his hazel eyes. His lips formed a perfect smirk.

"See? Don't you feel ten times better?" the guy asked, obviously noticing how I was examining him. I flushed. It probably wasn't noticeable, since my face was already red and splotchy from crying.

"Not really," I mumbled, looking away. All of a sudden, there was a loud click of a door opening. Then there was the tell tale clicking of heels on the tiled floor. Penelope appeared around the corner, her eyes blazing with fury. Took her a while to find me... even though I was right outside.

"You little--" Penelope was glaring at me, but her expression softened ever so slightly. Would she go easy on me? "Nate? What the hell are you doing out here with her?" Oh, well I guess she wasn't gonna go easy on me. Then I realized who she was talking to, and I turned my head to look at the hazel-eyed guy.

"You know her?" I asked, feeling somewhat bewildered. My eyes flicked between the both of them. They were having some sort of staring contest, and I just had to be caught right in the middle. I pushed myself away from the wall.

"Don't move," Penelope spat. I obeyed her and stayed glued to the wall. She was still watching Nate--the guy--as if she didn't know what to do with him. Nate still hadn't answered my question, either.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Penelope said, finally breaking the painful silence. I felt myself relax a little. Even though I didn't take part in the glaring competition between the two, I definitely felt the heat of both of their eyes. Nate shrugged, but he was still glaring at Penelope.

"I had nothing better to do," he said flatly.

"So you come to my workplace as a peeping tom?" Penelope accused.

"It's barely a job," Nate retorted.

"Answer my question!"

"I've never even seen the inside of any of these dressing rooms!"

Penelope relaxed visibly. What's going on here?! "Good. I don't want you distracting my future winner," she said. Then she glanced at me, as if just remembering I was there. I felt extremely awkward.

"What are you doing with her?" she asked, still glaring at me. I bit my lip, a nervous habit. Nate sighed behind me.

"She was crying," he said. I grimaced. Really? Did he have to inform my dictator, I mean, mentor that I was crying?! Penelope shook her head in disgust.

"She'll never win," she said coldly.

"It's your fault she was crying," Nate shot back. I frowned slightly. How did he know Penelope was my problem? Did he know her that well...?

"Really," Penelope said, her eyes narrowing at me. Oh crap. Now I'm gonna get whipped or something.

"You're a slave driver, mom."

My head whipped around so fast that my neck cricked. My eyes widened at Nate, who returned my stare with a weird look.

Mom?!