Mayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre

11. Contest? What Contest?

<pre>"It's not working," I informed Cho lazily. I was lying on my back on the deck of a rented motorboat, staring up at the bright blue sky. "Watch Me Move" by Fefe Dobson vibrated the air around us and I could feel thsun beating down on my pale skin as I sprawled there in only my black swimsuit and oversized sunglasses, hoping--like the others--that the water and sun would suck the depression out of me.

It wasn't working.

"I know," Cho groaned, twisting the steering wheel a little farther and faster than she had intended. Ai let out a yelp and grabbed the bars over her head.

"Hey, is that...?" I heard her start. Turning my head, I could see her peering out over the water.

"What?" Fuji asked, a little irritably. She crossed the boat to stand by Ai. Curious, I sat up to see too.

There was another boat not far away from us, but I couldn't make out who it was yet. Nevertheless, distinctive hedgehog-hair caught my eye. I stiffened involuntarily. Bill Kaulitz?

Sure enough, as they drew closer I could see that it was Tokio Hotel. Bill, Tom, Georg, and Gustav all lounged on the deck, grinning over at us.

"Last time I checked, we were in Washington. Not Germany," Bachiko commented dryly.

"Hey," Tom called when Georg had guided the boat close enough, his thick accent not interfering with our comprehension, "Are you Mayonaka Soñodora?"

"Yes!" Ai called back cheerfully. The familiar gleam of excitement was back in her eyes, and I found that I couldn't help but smile.

A grin broke out across Tom's face, and a matching gleam appeared in his eyes. Bill was grinning too as his eyes roved over us, the boat, and the clear blue. Georg and Gustav both offered tiny smiles, as if they had other things on their minds.

"You're those Hotel faggots, aren't you?" Bachiko asked, earning herself four surprised looks.

"No, those were the other guys," Fuji corrected, not understanding what Bachiko meant.

"No, those were the stalker faggots," Bachiko protested, "these are the Hotel faggots."

"She means this is Tokio Hotel," I amended, taking pity on Fuji, who had confusion etched all across her face.

"Yeah," Bill jumped in, before they lost track of the conversation again, "DJ Rob told us we'd find you guys out here.

This distracted Bachiko from whatever rant was building in her mind like a storm. "He did?" she asked, staring wide-eyed at Bill, "What the hell!?"

"Did you need something from us?" asked Ai--as usual, he was the more rational of the two.

Georg looked confused. "Didn't he tell you about the contest?" he asked in his deep, moderately accented voice.

"Contest? What contest?" Bachiko asked, her interest piqued.

Now all the Tokio Hotel boys were giving us quizzical looks. Except for Avril Lavigne belting out "Smile", it was silent between us.

"Oops," Ai said suddenly, her voice small.

We all turned to look at her. Blushing, she admitted, "Yeah, I kinda forgot about that. DJ Rob called me last week."

"Last week!?" Fuji helped, loud enough to make even Bachiko wince, "And you didn't say anything?"

"I forgot," Ai grumbled, averting her eyes, "besides, I haven't exactly been in the mood to retain information."

"In one ear and out the other," I remarked dolefully. Tom snickered.

"What is this contest, anyway?" Cho asked, turning to the new set of Germans. Apparently she didn't consider Ai trustworthy enough to answer the question.

"Because there are a lot of fans of both us and those Cinema Bizarre guys, Cherry Tree wanted to have a contest between us," Bill explained, "We'll both play five songs, then the public is supposed to vote. Since you guys are new and you know Cinema Bizarre, the company decided you should open for us.

"Where and when?" Fuji asked, sounding half skeptical, half excited.

"On Saturday night at The Market," Bill replied, an infectious grin taking over his features. I did the math in my head. Ai's forgetfulness had left us four days to prepare. Wait...

"Does this mean Cinema Bizarre is coming back?" Ai asked excitedly, voicing the thought that had just occurred to me.

Bill and Tom blinked in confusion simultaneously. I stifled a giggle; their matching blank expressions were adorable.

"Yes," Bill began slowly, watching us closely for more strange reactions.

Suddenly, the whole day seemed brighter. Katy Perry's voice, singing "Teenage Dream" was one of the best sounds I'd ever heard. It suddenly struck me just how much I'd missed the guys.

"Alright," I started, trying not to show my excitement despite the grin plastered across my face, "what are the nine of us going to do?"

The Tokio Hotel boys' expressions relaxed into grins. Apparently the good mood in the atmosphere was contagious. "Let's race!" Bill suggested excitedly, and Georg hurried back over to the wheel. Before any of us could respond, Cho turned back to the wheel. Knowing there would be no arguing now, I dived for cover. Bachiko and Ai followed suit and Fuji hunkered down in her seat and gripped the bar so hard her knuckles bleached.

I turned to Ai. "You know," I hissed, "I'm glad we met Tokio Hotel and all, but if we survive this, I'll make sure Bill doesn't."

Four hours later I stumbled through the doors of the Cherry Tree offices, accompanied byt the rest of Mayonaka Soñodora. DJ Rob had called us as we sat out on the lake, chatting lazily with Tokio Hotel. Now, as we stood waiting for out producer to appear from who-knows-where, I took the chance to examine my appearance in his wall of mirrors. I grimaced.

My skin, sensative to sun, had turned fiery red across my cheekbones and shoulders. My hair was tangled and several curly whisps had escaped from the ponytail I had forced it into. I was wearing my prescription glasses now, and they sat lopsidedly on my burned nose. My oversized Abbey Dawn tanktop and faded black soccer shorts made my limbs look as thin as chicken legs, and the polish was wearing off my finger- and toenails.

The others weren't much better off. Bachiko kept poking her sunburned shoulder, fascinated by the rapidly fading white spots left by her index finger. Fuji looked sleepy, as she always did after she sunburned. Cho fidgeted and tugged at her Nevada Wolfpack t-shirt, adjusting her swimsuit top over her burned chest. Ai was trying to massage tanning oil into her skin, hoping to counter some of the sunburn. Each of us had already applied several coats of aloe to our skin.

"You guys look like hell," DJ Rob announced as he stepped into the room. I responded with a half-hearted glare while, behind me, Cho snatched the bottle of tanning oil from Ai.

"Right..." he continued after a moment, "Anyway, I wanted to know what you guys had in mind to open the contest."

"Contest? What contest?" Bachiko asked again, but she couldn't keep a straight face. DJ Rob and I both rolled our eyes.

"We don't know yet. Ai forgot to mention it." I shot her a glare.

"Bill told us about it," Fuji explained before DJ Rob could ask.

"Alright then," he responded, "Do you have any questions?" His eyes roved over each of us, taking in our burned skin and tired eyes. I thought for a moment.

"Can we throw Bill to the fans?"</pre>