HEEEEEYYY! I'm BAAACCK!! Okay, okay, what took me so long??? I don't know; I just needed some time away. I was running out of ideas and everything was just blahhed. But I don't like leaving this story up for grabs (I hate it when authors do that) especially not with all of my faithful readers out here waiting for me. So…onward!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the owner of the Harry Potter characters.
Chapter 12
"Urgg…I don't understand!" Lily moaned to Bella. "Why is this happening to me?"
She looked at the bathing suit she was to wear onstage. Two words: bright orange. It clashed horribly with her flaming red hair.
"Um…it's not that bad. Honestly. But why weren't you here sooner when the rest of the girls were here picking their bikinis?" Bella eyed Lily up and down.
"I overslept! Why didn't you come get me?" Lily whined.
"You didn't tell me to!" Bella retorted. "Now turn around!"
She held Lily at arms length to scrutinize her.
"Well…" she began. "At least you have a fine figure."
"Just like the rest of the fifty contestants!" Lily bit back. She fidgeted uncomfortably as Bella adjusted her hair with some pins.
"Well, it's actually not so bad. Just make sure to smile, and be pleasant. Not that sarcastic-ness that you're always stuck with," Bella commented seriously. "This round is really important. Another twenty-five of you will go home and then the competition gets really serious."
"It doesn't matter, Bella," Lily said. "Really. It doesn't. So what if I don't get the scholarship? It's nothing to cry over. After all, I've been doing fine without any of this before, what does it matter if I go back to the way things used to be?"
"The way things used to be? Lily," Bella looked her seriously in the eyes. "It will never be the same for you again. Sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way. You will continue to have publicity, especially if you get into the top ten. Besides, that wasn't what I was talking about."
"No?"
"No! I just…ya know…"
"What?" Lily asked.
"Well, I just don't want to see you go home. You—you have potential Lily, and for me to say that, it has to be true!"
"Oh yes," Lily laughed. "Because the all knowing, all powerful Bella is telling me this."
"Damn straight," Bella said. "And don't you ever forget it!"
Lily scoffed, then suddenly became serious again. "Hey Bella?"
"Mmmm hmm?" Bella mumbled through a mouth full of pins.
"Um…I was just wondering," Lily started out hesitantly. Bella looked at her expectantly. Lily's mouth froze up.
"Mmmm!" Bella gestured for her to continue.
"Well…" Lily said. "Just what is the deal between contestants and…other people?"
Bella spat out the pins. "Other people?" she asked. "Like what kind of other people?"
"Well, you know," Lily remarked nonchalantly as possible. "Like other contestants, trainers, judges, and hosts?"
Bella coughed. "Excuse me? What was that last one?"
Lily blushed a furious red. "Not that I like him or anything!" she made an X with her arms violently. "Really! I mean—nevermind that stupid host then! What are the rules between me and the other people?"
"Uh huh. Because I'm so convinced of what you saying right now." Bella poked Lily in the side, startling her. "And just what if our dear Miss Italy finds out about this?"
"What? I mean—I don't care! I don't like him!" Lily whirled around quickly, crossing her arms in a defiant manner.
"I never said you did," came the stifled reply. Lily 'hmphed' and turned back around, eyeing the ground.
"But please Bella," she said solemnly. "Just what is the deal between judges and contestants?"
"Judges? Mmm…they're not allowed to interact with contestants. It's against the rulebook; after all, unfair biases are never wanted in a contest like this." Bella studied her work. "We're going to have to put something on this swimsuit to make sort of a distinguishing line between it and your hair."
"Okay, I'll think of something," Lily replied hastily. "Just, keep going."
"About the rules thing? Well, it's really simple," Bella continued, putting in some hairspray. "I think it was from around a few years ago when one of the contestants was found to be having a fling with one of the judges. And of course, it wasn't fair to the others, so they fired the judge and expelled the contestant."
"No!" Lily gasped "But what if she really liked him?"
"So? They should've known better. Of course, then it wasn't an official rule, but it was definitely known to everyone. Like an unofficial must. Now, in the rulebook, you can actually find (under some subarticle or other) the specifics. 'A judge may talk to a contestant only to further the competition. Any relationship between a judge and contestant is not allowed. Any violation of this rule will result in the expulsion of the contestant and the termination of a job.' " Bella tugged at her swimsuit some more.
"So it's actually an official rule now…"
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
But Malfoy…No, he had to have known. He is a judge. Unless…he wanted to test me? But, Lily thought, that wouldn't make any sense. And what about Carly? He seems awfully friendly to us. There's something not right about this…
"Lily? Lily!"
"Huh?" Lily jumped in surprise.
"What's going on?" Bella's eyes were concerned.
"Oh…" I'm not sure what he was doing, but it couldn't have been anything that would put his job in jeopardy, right? "Heh heh," Lily giggled nervously. "It's nothing. I'm just curious, that's all."
"Uh huh…wait a second!"
"What?" Lily asked. She squirmed as Bella scrutinized her closely, then jumped again when Bella gave a loud cry.
"No Lily! Resist!"
"Umm…wh—what?" Lily asked, startled.
"Lily," Bella sighed, getting into lecture stance. "I know, and I understand. But it just won't work out."
"Huh?" Lily glanced at her in surprise. "What won't?"
Bella sighed and stroked Lily's hair. "Lily, I know that it's hard to, but you cannot allow yourself to put your place in the competition in danger."
She's—she's not talking about James, is she? Because, there's nothing going on…She flashed back to the other day when they were standing in the rain.
--
She shivered as cold drops of rain trickled down her body. Her clothes flattened themselves on her, pressing close to her. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Lily sneezed twice in succession. That was another thing about her. She very rarely sneezed once, always twice or three times. Her eyes flew open when she felt something heavy land on her shoulders.
"Alright there Evans?"
She turned around, blinking the raindrops off her eyelashes, although she already knew whom it was.
"I'm alright Potter, quite alright," she said softly, almost shyly, looking up at his face through her thick, dark lashes.
"Good then," he said equally softly. He drew his breath out slowly, and then looked up at the rain that was falling from what seemed to be an infinity away. "Good."
Looking up at his handsome, rugged figure, Lily heart felt at peace even though she knew it shouldn't be. Standing there with him by her side, Lily felt as if time had stopped ticking, just for the two of them…
--
Well, Lily thought dryly. Nothing to be that excited about anyways.
"Don't worry. There's nothing going on between us, for the last time!" Lily said.
"What?" Bella asked, confused. "What are you talking about? This is the first time, not the last time."
"What?" Lily echoed. "Would you stop being so confusing and spit it out already? Explain clearly! What are you talking about?"
"The judges, stupid!" Bella cried exasperatedly. "Now, I know that many of them are young, and lots of them are cute, but you are in no way, no way, to get involved with any of them. Understood?"
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "That's it?"
"What do you mean that's it? This is serious!" Bella complained, turning Lily around. "Don't get involved with anyone here, no one." She looked around surreptitiously. "Because in this competition, even your friends can turn on you in the blink of an eye."
Lily drew in a breath. "I—I won't. I—I'm not."
"Not?"
"Involved with anyone," she clarified, gaining confidence in herself. "And I won't. Not if I can help it."
Bella grinned brightly and slapped Lily on the back, making her stumble onto the ground. "Good girl!"
--
"What is that?"
"What is what?" Lily asked.
"What is that white line on your bathing suit?!" Bella shrieked. Lily stared down at the solid white line that was drawn onto her swimming suit with permanent marker.
"Oh this?" Lily gestured. "Just a little artistic design!" Looking at Bella's face, she quickly elaborated. "You know! Because you said you wanted something to distinguish my hair from the swimsuit, and I thought I w-would…" She trailed off feebly seeing Bella's bull face.
"You! You are in trouble! Lily," Bella moaned. "I meant something that I would do!"
"Like what?" Lily retorted.
"I don't know! But not that!" Bella fingered the line.
"Exactly!" Lily exclaimed brightly. "So I did it for you! And it doesn't look bad! Really, it's better than nothing!"
"But…"
Lily, sensing victory (and an ice cream treat at Bella's expense for her fabulous moment of creativity), continued. "And it's different from any other swimming suit in the contest! Completely standing out! The audience won't know what hit them!"
"Uh! Fine!" Bella threw her hands up. "Fine! It's too late to change now, just get in line behind Miss Paris."
"Excuse me, who?"
"Lily, this is not the time to joke around. You are onstage in five minutes. Get-behind-Miss-Paris-now!" Bella huffed as she pushed Lily towards her place in line.
"But—" Lily spoke to thin air. She stood behind the tall blonde from the bathroom stall. "Heh heh," she chuckled nervously as the intimidating blonde looked down at her. "Hello—"
"Why are you behind me?" Miss Paris demanded.
"Oh hello! I'm behind you because you just smell so good! I have to admit, I fell! Hook, line, and sinker. You must have been taking my advice. Breath mints are a fabulous invention!" Lily gasped in feigned surprise.
"Why I never—"
"Of course you never! Now turn around. Even though those breath mints helped your breath, you face is beyond help," Lily snapped. Miss Paris huffed and turned around carefully, taking time to slap her hair in Lily's face.
Lily growled, but soon she spotted Carly and waved happily. Carly gestured to the her own blue swimsuit and drew an imaginary line followed by a thumbs up.
"See? I told Bella that it was a stroke of genius," Lily muttered to herself, smiling at Carly in return. Carly, of course, was looking gorgeous in a small, periwinkle two-piece suit that emphasized her figure graciously. Looking back down at her one-piece swimsuit, Lily indeed felt like a small child.
The curtain lifted and Lily inhaled deeply. Although she told herself that she wasn't nervous, being in front of a crowd just didn't sit well with her. In front of the audience, she could see James delighting the audience with his natural charisma.
"Now please welcome all of our beautiful fifty contestants!" James exclaimed to roars of the crowd. After they quieted down, he continued, "But unfortunately for these ladies, only twenty-five of them will move on to the next round!" Boos from the audience erupted. James smiled. "Alright ladies, come on out!"
"Now tonight, ladies and gentlemen," James continued after all the women assembled onstage, "is our swimsuit night! Over the past few days, our contestants have taken pictures and videos of themselves in their bathing suits, telling a little bit more about themselves."
As the videos were shown, Lily felt a nudge in her side and looked up only to see Miss Paris, again looking down on her from her tall height. She frowned slightly.
"What?" she hissed quietly, without breaking her smile.
Miss Paris only smiled wider and whispered, "Do you see me compared with you? Obviously, James would choose me if he had a choice."
Lily's smile became strained as Miss Paris went on.
"Although, that's not much of a brainer. Surely you would know that you have no hopes with him?"
Lily scoffed. "Are you still on about that? Keep your head in the competition, Paris, because if you don't, you might not last. And we wouldn't want that now would we?"
Miss Paris only smirked, staring straight ahead.
Lily, looking around, saw Malfoy in the judging panel and narrowed her eyes. She didn't like him at all. He seemed sneaky and cunning when she interacted with him, almost like greasy clean. It was…not a pleasurable experience.
A long time had passed since she had began standing there, and her knees trembled, not only with tiredness, but also with anticipation. This—this was her goal, her desire. He chance to be able to fulfill her wishes. Nothing would stop her.
"Now, please ladies, it's time for your model walk!" James shouted about the din of the stadium. "Starting with our left, Miss Berlin!"
As the models one by one walked the catwalk on stage, James looked over at Lily and suddenly gave her a wink. She gasped softly, attracting a few curious looks. For some reason, her heart starting beating a little faster, but of course, that was just nerves. Of course it wasn't because of anything that she didn't want to even think about. Or consider.
Lily raised her eyebrows, as she didn't think rolling her eyes would be a "contestant's" way of doing things. Preposterous.
"Now ladies," James announced, a tad dramatically if Lily did say so herself, "it is now time for the elimination." Amid the fake gasps of horror (okay, not that exaggerated), Lily felt her nerves also racking up her body. She knew this was coming, but there are just some things that you can't prepare for.
"When I call your name, please stand with me, in a line, at the front of the stage. These will be the contestant's to move onto the next round. The ladies who do not get called, there will be twenty-five of you, by the way, you shall have to leave the competition and lose the chance of winning that scholarship money and the title of Miss Europe," James elaborated.
Jerk, Lily thought. You didn't have to make it sound that bad.
As number twenty was called, the rest of the girls, including Lily, were getting extremely restless. All of them had worked hard for the last five spots, and it wasn't fair to any of them that they had to go home. Carly and that snobby witch had already made it into the final twenty-five and were standing in front of the audience.
"Miss Madrid."
A tall, flow-y black haired girl gave a cry of joy as she rose to stand next to the rest of the continuers.
"Miss Luxembourg."
Again, the blonde-haired girl started tearing up as she, too, walked down the steps.
"Miss Nantes."
Okay, so at this point, Lily was really starting to panic. I know I said some pretty nasty things about this contest, but this…really is a big deal for me! It's my one big chance…please, please let me move on the next round, she prayed, crossing her fingers.
Her eyes found James's pleadingly, as if he had the power to let her stay. Please…and he smiled a smile that was only meant for her.
"Miss London."
Lily let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding as she moved unsteadily towards the front. Her ears drowned out the screams of approval and the cheers of the crowd, not even hearing the last name to be called. Her eyes never left the front of the stage, not noticing the posters in the audience, nor the disappointed sighs of the remaining contestants for losing another chance.
She was mortified to find her eyes tearing up as well.
Thank you wonderful people so much for all the reviews I've been receiving, despite my spouts of inmovements, or in this case, spouts of inability-to-update-ness. But the reveiws truly have helped!
They're like my little muses, just trying to get me to cough up more chapters! So thanks you all.
And, on to housekeeping...
Okay, I know this will be bad news, but I'm going on vacation for two weeks! But I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible after I get back!
And, just to let me know a bit more about my breath-taking readers, please answer this question:
What came first? The chicken or the egg?