What a Life This Is - A Collection of Short Stories

Beauty Queen - Part 1

Kadence enters the town's yearly beauty pageant.
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"GUYS, YOU'RE NEVER GONNA BELIEVE THIS!" Kadence yelled one Tuesday afternoon, practically flying down the stairs before skidding to a halt in the kitchen, where the rest of her family was sitting.

"What's up?" Kojiro asked, turning from the stove where he had been cooking dinner, and he didn't notice when Miya snuck behind him and snatched a piece of meat.

Kadence was practically vibrating with happiness, "Soooooo~ remember when I submitted my photo and application for Miss Teen Waialua Beauty Pageant?"

"You mean the contest you've been begging to enter since you were seven, and only this year became old enough to participate in?" Kaoru asked in amusement, and Kadence nodded enthusiastically, her pink eyes wide with excitement.

She whipped a piece of paper from behind her back and waved it around in her hand, "THEY CHOSE ME! OUT OF OVER 200 GIRLS, THEY. CHOSE. ME!" The 14-year-old girl cheered, spinning around and jumping up and down as she squealed like- well, like a 14-year-old.

"Congrats, Kookie!" Kojiro said, making his way over to kiss his daughter on the head. "I knew you'd get in; nobody can resist the magic that is Natural Nanjo Beauty."

"When are you going to stop calling it that?" Kaoru groaned in exasperation and rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, but still chuckling under his breath.

"The day I leave this Earth," Kojiro said in a hushed voice, "Those are gonna be my last words, carved on my gravestone."

"First of all, it's headstone, and over my dead body that's what it says, " Kaoru replied, and Kojiro pursed his lips as his husband turned to Kadence, "Second of all, congratulations sweetheart, so- how exactly does this pageant work?"

"We have to go to the theater tomorrow after school to register, and to meet our pageant coaches." Kadence, answered, sliding into one of the bar stools

"So, does this mean you're gonna be a princess?" Reki suddenly asked, amber eyes wide.

"If I win, I will be! For a whole year until the next pageant." Kadence answered, walking over to Reki and ruffling his mass of red hair.

"Oh, well then I hope you win!" He responded, giving his big sister a happy grin, which she returned.

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The next day, Kaoru left work early to drive Kadence to their town's theater, and as soon as they walked through the backstage door, he saw his daughter's eyes light up with excitement as she took in the scene around them.

"I'll go register, be back in a bit," Kaoru told her, and Kadence nodded and promptly disappeared into the makeup stations.
Karou laughed quietly, joining the crowd of parents standing in front of the sign-in desk, and once he made it to the front, he greeted the woman behind the laptop and passed her Kadence's application.

"Oh, Kadence Nanjo! She was a very impressive candidate." The lady exclaimed when she saw the picture, "You and your spouse must be extremely proud of her!"

"We are, she's wanted to be in this pageant since she was a little girl, so this is like a dream for her," Kaoru responded, nodding politely as the lady smiled at him and handed him a sticker with a number on it, and he went on his way to find Kadence.

He wandered around backstage awhile, past racks of sparkly dresses, other participants with their daughters, and stacks of boxes. Until he finally caught a glimpse of Kadence's head of green hair, surrounded by two middle-aged women who, from where he was standing, seemed to be fawning over her.

As he got closer, he began to hear the conversationas the first women, a tall white lady with dirty blonde hair, steely ocean-blue eyes, and holding a clipboard exclaimed, "Your skin is so clear, practically flawless!"

"And her hair," the other lady, with dark brown eyes and matching hair swooned, as she twirled a lock of green around one of her fingers, "It's so long and beautiful!"

Kadence, in the middle of this, looked overjoyed at all the compliments and attention, her eyes sparkling as the two women admired her.

"Uhm- excuse me?" Kaoru asked as he walked over, and the two women turned to him and smiled broadly.

"Oh~! You must be her driver, thank you for bringing her here!"