Octavian Country Day School
Sagamore Hall
8:15 PM
November 8th
"Alicia! Alicia! Olivia! Olivia!" Kemp chanted, pounding the armrest on his chair.
"Nuh-uh! Massie and her people," Plovert argued.
"A and O!"
"M and her peeps!"
"A and O!"
"M!"
"Well, I say M," Derrick cut in.
Plovert punched the air and bumped fists with Derrick.
"Cam?" Kemp pleaded. "C'mon, Alicia Rivera and Olivia Ryan are waaaay hotter than Massie Block, her three friends, and that new person!"
I smiled slightly. "Sorry, Hurley. M and her peeps it is." We three all exchanged high-fives.
Kemp glared at us. "No sense of hotness," he muttered under his breath.
We started toward the very crowded lobby. "Ha! See Kemp, Massie and her people are winning anyways!" Plovert said triumphantly. We all dropped our thimbles in the box labeled with Massie, Kristen, Dylan, and Claire's photo, Kemp included–though unwillingly.
"Dayum, Massie Block is hot!" Derrick said, his voice holding something close to awe.
The four of us retreated to a just-vacated bench, keeping an eye on the voting table. Alicia and Olivia were standing by the table, and Kemp kept staring at them. Openly. And obviously.
"But Rivera and Ryan are way hotter," said the resident pervert, his voice strained. "How can't you see it? What is wrong with you, Harrington?" He jumped up and smacked Derrick on the arm.
Suddenly the lights started to flicker and Plovert let out a badly restrained laugh as Kemp immediately dashed under the bench.
"Hurley, you're not scared of the big, bad dark… are you?" Harrington gasped in mock-astonishment as he clasped his hands together and held them up to his heart while fluttering his eyelashes.
"No!" Kemp squeaked, scrambling out from under the wooden seat. "Of-of-of course not!"
"That's nice," Plovert said absent-mindedly as he was pushed to his seat. Suddenly a couple of other older women prodded at us until we felt very pinched–and of course, until we were back in our seats.
"Can I please have the finalists up here onstage," she said dully. "Oh, and all cell phones off."
That moment someone got a phone call. The ring tone was set to "Pop Goes the Weasel". And it was coming from Harrington's chair.
"Crap," Derrick hissed.
I nodded in agreement. "That just about sums it up. Did your sister change it?" I asked.
"No! It's not my phone! Mine is in my dad's car!"
Suddenly a girl sitting a couple rows away and down from us stood up. "It was him!" she shouted, pointing to Derrick.
"I swear it wasn't! I left my phone in my father's Mercedes!" he shouted back while the audience laughed.
Principal Burns glared at him until he broke eye contact–almost willingly.
"Before we announce tonight's winner, I would like to thank Pia and––" she croaked.
Doo doo, doo doo, doodoodoodoodoo, doo doo, doo doo, doo doooooo doo.
Everyone looked at Derrick. But Kemp, Plovert, and I stared ahead, biting our lower lips to keep from laughing. This was good. So, so good.
"I swear," he protested, putting his hand on his heart like he was going to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He laughed nervously, his face starting to turn red.
"Then why are you finding this so amusing?" Principal Burns demanded angrily, her face turning slightly redder as she faced more "stressing" things.
"Biiiiird lady turns into a bloody bird lady!" Kemp whispered.
Doo doo, doo doo, doodoodoodoodoo, doo doo, doo doo, doo doooooo…
With a suppressed sigh, the principal stalked down from the stage and over to Derrick, snapping her fingers twice to indicate him to stand up. He did so, nervously, and she frisked him, as the room erupted. Hurley's face turned red and finally he busted out laughing.
Plovert smiled slightly and shook his head, while I laughed quietly. I think.
Derrick buried his face in his hands while people clapped, cheered, and "aww-awwed". Someone dialed up the cell phone one more time.
Doo doo, doo doo, doodoodoodoodoo, doo doo, doo doo, doo doooooo…
Derrick looked up and his brown eyes connected with my two different-colored ones. They obviously had a lot of cuss words swimming around in there.
Bird lady followed the sound and yanked the ringing cell phone from under his chair. "Take over, P," she shouted to her assistant while she dragged Harrington by his shirt.
"Sorry 'bout that," Pia said apologetically. "Okay, let's bring those boxes out here and announce tonight's winner!"
Her assistant struggled to carry both boxes but no one helped her. Poor girl. Who cared, anyway? We were all waiting to hear the announcement.
Pia walked around the boxes. "With 102 thimbles, we have… Massie and Claire!" Pia announced. The two named girls started jumping, and so did Kristen and Dylan.
"And with one hundred thirty-six thimbles, we have Alicia and Olivia. Congratulations, youare the winners of the OCD Fashion Week Uniform Contest! Looks like it's blazers, jeans, and tie belts from on out!"
The four teens stopped bobbing and Alicia and Olivia started.
Kemp let out a catcall, jumping to his feet. Plovert and I exchanged a glance.
"But you didn't vote for them, Kemp," I pointed out.
"So? I voted for them…" he said. After a second thought he added, "With my heart," thumping his stomach.
"Hurley, that's your stomach," said Plovert.
"Whatever! I have better things to do than learn the uh-tah-muh-nee of the human body!" Kemp said, frustrated with us two–supposedly "killing his buzz".
"Anatomy!" Plovert and I hissed at the same time.
"Repeat, whatever!" said Kemp, throwing his hands in the air and walking away.
"Somebody has his male PMS," Plovert snickered.
"That is so hard to believe," I said dryly.
"Todd Lyons! Todd Lyons!" I called out, pushing my way through the crowd. The crowd swept me along, pushing me closer to the small gathering with Claire and her family and friends.
"Todd!" I hissed, grabbing the small, lanky red-head's arm and yanking him over to the wall. "Give your sister this note."
The note said:
"DEAR CLAIRE,
YOU MUST HAVE REALLY HATED THE CD I MADE CUZ YOU NEVER GOT BACK TO ME ABOUT THE MOVIE. ANYWAY, I THOUGHT YOUR UNIFORM WAS AWESOME AND I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE WON.
–––CAM
P.S. THE KEDS WERE A COOL TOUCH"
He nodded once, stepping forward to go.
"Wait," I said suddenly. "You're my official messenger." I gave him a small smile.
Todd grinned widely back at me. "Thanks!" he exclaimed, snapping his arms by his side and saluting me. He ran back.
If I still have any readers-I'm really sorry it's taken since like, February to update. I'm a procrastinator, I know...
