When Lola Loud was ten days old, she competed in her first pageant: The Little Miss Newborn Expo in Detroit. A thousand new mothers and their darling little daughters (none older than three months) packed the Detroit Convention Center for a full day of talent shows, wet onesies contest, and prideful boasting. Lola came in third place, the judges citing her "bald head and fat legs" as "a giant turn off." If she had a few tufts of hair, she was sure she could have cleaned up. The first prize was 10,00 dollars and Lola sorely wished she'd won it, that way she'd already have a little nest egg. The consolation prize for third place was okay, though, she guessed: An eight month supply of baby food. There was so much of it left over that to this day, Lily occasionally had a jar of it.
That one pageant determined the course of Lola's life like nothing else, and it all happened by accident. When she and Lana were born, Mom wanted to foster a special activity between the three of them, something they could do on their own, separate from everyone else. There were fliers for the expo in the maternity ward and Mom found one while on her way to the bathroom. She read it, and decided right then and there that the twins were going to be beauty queens. Pageants, talent shows, and photoshoots would be their special activity, just like going to comic book conventions was hers and Lincoln's special activity.
Unfortunately, Lana just had to mess it up by going her own way. Before she could even talk, she would rip off anything pink and frilly that Mom put on her and made it clear that she didn't like being called "princess." As the twins grew older, Lana became more and more of a tomboy, more interested in getting her hands dirty in car engines than in looking pretty. She said that beauty pageants were demeaning and objectifying (a word she learned from CNN but probably didn't even know the meaning of). Lola thought she was a giant doofus who secretly wished she was a boy, but she couldn't say she was upset that Lana didn't share her interests. Beauty was her area and hers alone. She got to stand out and shine all on her own with no one else to show her up. Lola liked that: She was not shy about admitting that she was an attention whore. She loved having all eyes on her. If Lana was right up there beside her, she would take at least half the attention.
Anyway, Lana decided to become a greasy, nasty dirt monkey and Lola stayed with pageants. She constantly practiced and worked out so that her body was in tip top physical shape. She was always learning new talents to impress the judges and was always looking for new and interesting ways to promote herself. She had a vague, half formed plan to be famous one day, like a Kardashian, and in order to become a Kardashian, people had to know who she was. That's why she was so aggressive at self-advertizement. Lola said she was just vain and egotistical but that wasn't the case. Okay, maybe she was a little vain in general, but she wasn't the ego monster that Lana made her out to be. She always seized the spotlight not because it gave her a thrill (though it did), but because she had to make a name for herself.
And the earlier she started, the better.
Since the Little Miss Newborn Pagent all those years ago, Lola had competed in over a hundred beauty shows. She had won 47 of them, tied 12, and came in second and third a combined total of eight times. In the beginning, she didn't handle defeat very well. She would accuse the judges of being unfair or "against" her - the typical line someone craps out when they can't own up to earning an L. She used to rage and scream and cross after each loss, but then her brother Lincoln (bless him) shook her awake - literally - to reality. "You lost for a reason. No one is against you. Your showing in the talent portion was garbage and you deserved to lose."
That sent her running to Mom crying like she had just seen a box full of fluffy, playful kittens murdered right in front of her, but when she calmed down, she realized he was right. Her success (and her failures too) came down to her and her alone. Instead of recycling "talents" every couple of shows, learn to do something else, something that none of the other girls on stage cane do, something that'll knock the judges' socks off and make them beg to give her a 10.5.
This is America, where hard work and determination pay off. Maybe not always, but you have a real chance at living your dream if you put in some old fashioned elbow grease. Just look at Lucy, she wanted to be a horror writer. She kept writing and sending her storied to magazines and now she had tens of fans and occasionally made enough money to get something from the gumball machine. Leni had a knack for designing clothes (some of which were, admittedly, really cute and fashionable), so she opened an online store and sold her pieces to random people across the country. If they could achieve their dreams, so could Lola, and she would do it all on her own.
That was such a liberating thought and she was really glad that Lincoln put it in her mind.
Anyway, the last peagent she competed in was one just across the border in Canada. She won it hands down and was queened Ms. Canuk, Queen of the Great White North. It was an exhilarating experience and really reminded her how much she loved beauty shows. Her interest had been flagging recently; she was posting tons of videos on TikTok and amassing a respectable little following, so that was taking up most of her time and focus. Mom was actually the one who found out about the paegent and signed her up for it (without her knowledge). Finally, Lola wasn't overly impressed by the prospect of going, but she had never been to Canada and figured hey, at least she'd get a free trip out of the deal.
She had a blast. The people there were super nice and it really helped her rediscover her love of the game. Though she dreamed of one day being a popular influencer with millions upon millions of followers, beauty pageants were and always would be her first love.
One day at the beginning of summer, Lola was scrolling through her TikTok feed when she saw an ad for a "Beauty Pagent and Exposition" in the town of North Branch, some seventy-five miles north of downtown Royal Woods as the crow flies. It was to be held in the Pinewood County Civic Center on July 21 and 22, and would feature contestants from around the world, including a girl (of whom Lola had heard) who won 38 pageants in a row in China and Southeast Asia. Another girl was from Holland and "known across Europe." Her name looked vaguely familiar - it was one of those weird Dutch deals like Hergggan Flerugaan - but Lola could remember where she had seen it before. Maybe in an issue of Beauty Monthly, the industry trade magazine she had been subscribed to since she was three years old. Seeing that two internationally renowned heavyweights would be there really triggered Lola's naturally competitive nature. Not only that, but beauty experts and journalists would be in attendance and the whole thing would receive a write up in both Beauty Monthly and Pageants USA. There would also be a bunch of beauty bloggers and influencers there. That told Lola that this random beauty expo, in the most random, podunk place, was Big League. Going there and winning - heck, even coming in second or third - would really help her career.
Then there was the icing on the cake.
And what sweet, sugary icing it was.
Actor and teen heartthrob Blake Bradley was going to serve as a celebrity guest judge. Blake was in one of Lola's favorite movies, the Disney Channel original Community College Musical, and starred in a popular sitcom on ABC, Gender Neutral Human Beings Meets World. He was tall and hunky with a bad boy sweep of blonde hair and perfect teeth. His arms were muscular and his chest chiseled and well defined. He had high cheek bones, a strong jaw, and a voice like rich, smooth velvet. He was the pride and joy of every girl and gay man in America and with good reason: Not only was he devilishly handsome, he was also the most talented actor to ever live…like ever.
Lola had been a major fan of his for years. Her sisters were even bigger fans (if that was even possible), especially Lori and Leni. They had pictures and posters of him all over their walls and talked about him all the time. Lori said that when she turned eighteen and moved out, she was going to get a tattoo of his face on her arm, and Leni was naively convinced that she was going to one day move to Hollywood and marry him. Lana said that he was a dumb, ugly meathead but Lola knew for a fact that she had a bunch of pictures of him saved on her phone. Lynn said that she respected and admired his "powerful and athletic form", but Lola had caught her drooling over pics of him a couple times; her interest in him wasn't strictly professional.
If she went to this pageant…and won…she would probably get a streaming or movie deal. This little win could put her over the top and give her an entire career. She saw herself on a grand stage in front of millions, her name up in lights, a Netflix special, a line of beauty products, even cereal boxes with her face. LOLA O'S. THE BREAKFAST OF BEAUTY QUEENS. She would have 20 million followers on social media and might even get to be on shows like Good Morning Amerca and The View. The View was about politics, wasn't it? She didn't know, she had never actually watched it, but whatever, she'd just talk about how much she liked politics. Politics are, like, really important…almost as important as beauty pageants. That'd go over very well with their audience, she was sure.
If she played her cards right - by winning and winning hard- this could really be the start of her career.
She signed up for the pageant online and then told Mom. Normally Mom was the one who ffound out about pageants first and then brought them to Lola's attention. Lola typically said yes but she did have the option of saying no. She rarely did it herself and never without touching base with Mom first. This one was too big to pussyfoot around with and when she told Mom, she understood completely. "This will be really good for you, Lola," she said, sounding impressed.
"I know," Lola said, "that's why I jumped at it."
The first thing Lola did after signing up for the pageant was set about coming up with a routine that would please the crowd.
She couldn't decide.
Maybe she was nervous because this was so important, but every time she came up with an idea, she would mull it over and ultimately reject it as not good enough. She wanted something that would stand out and put her head and shoulders above the other girls, and there was really nothing like that. She could do a dance routine, a comedy routine, or any number of things, but nothing really stuck out to her as really interesting or original. Maybe she was just jaded; she had been in a million pageants and had seen everything at least her, there was nothing interesting or original.
That was bad, because if she was that jaded, what about the judges? Usually there were four or five judges on every panel. One or two were professionals and the others were guests. That was done because after a while, a professional judge would see everything and become impossible to please. That would be really unfair to the contestants. Even so, it was hard for Lola to determine what was and wasn't overdone. She had the narrow, first person perspective of an industry insider. What might be new and intriguing to someone on the outside was tired and old hat to her. Everything she came up with was just…meh…and she didn't know if that's because it really was all meh or because she was too pageant-weary.
Deciding that she had enough time to put that off, her next objective was to make Lori and Leni eat their hearts out. At breakfast one morning, she casually mentioned that she was going to be in a "really big" pageant. "Yeah," she said haughtily, "Blake Bradley is going to be one of the judges."
Leni choked on her cereal and Lori's mouth fell open in a wide O of surprise. "Are you serious?" she asked.
A self satisfied grin spread across Lola's lips. "Yep. I'm going to get to meet him. Isn't that wonderful, Lori?"
Lori's face turned bright red and the look of envy on Leni's face was so raw, so undisguised, that it put Lola in mind of a hungry dog begging at the back door of a butcher's shop. It would be a lie to say that she didn't take at least a little sadistic pleasure in their jealousy. Lori could be a real jerk sometimes and often told Lola that she would never make a career out of beauty pageants. "There are millions of models and influencers out there, you have to be the top 1 percent to make any kind of money," she once said. "If you're lucky, you'll get a following on OnlyFans but that's it."
That enraged Lola, partly because she knew that there was more than a little truth to it. The internet was brimming with girls - and guys - who all wanted the same basic thing as Lola: Fame and attention. They may have different ways of going about obtaining it, but the fact remained that she essentially had a million (maybe more) competitors out there. Of course there were people who recorded music and wrote stories and did other things not directly relating to beauty and modeling; Lola wasn't worried about them. It was all the other beauty queens out there with whom she really did have to compete. After all, how many influencers can one person really follow? Lola was at a stark disadvantage because the whole influencer craze was in full swing before she could even walk. That made her late to the game. She had to come up in a world where beauty influencers were a dime a dozen and standing out from the pack was harder than ever.
So far, however, she was doing a good job of it, and Lori putting her down like that really stuck in her cawl. Well, now things were really looking up. She was going to compete at one of the biggest and most important pageants of the year and she was going to meet Blake Bradley. Suck on that, Lori.
After rubbing Lori and Leni's face in her big accomplishment, Lola set about training for the pageent. She worked out twice a day, doing yoga, calisthenics, and other workouts to fine tune her body, balance, poise, and posture. She went clothes shopping for a new dress and pair of shoes, and picked up a new gold necklace as well. It was sleek and stylish and would draw the right amount of attention to her.
One day a week before the pageant, Lola got an email from the organizers of the event. Apparently, unbeknownst to her, everyone who signed up was automatically entered into a raffle, and Lola, coincidentally, had won. Her prize was that all of her expenses would be paid by the company hosting the event. They had reserved her one of the best suites in the hotel attached to the convention hall and would pick up the tab for virtually any costs she incurred while there. Did that include shopping sprees? She didn't think "all inclusive" meant shopping sprees, but if it did, oh boy, she'd put them out of business lol. She was sure, however, that it included food. Lola, despite being trim and petite, loved food. She didn't let herself indulge too much and always worked out like crazy afterward, but there were times when she let herself go. She didn't know what kind of restaurants were in North Branch, but she doubted they had anything worth binging. She was very selective about what she allowed herself to binge on. If it wasn't absolutely worth it, she'd save it for something else. If North Branch only had McDonalds and Applebees (which, something told her, it did) she'd just have a salad.
On the night before she and Mom were to leave, Lola finally decided on a routine to wow the judges.
Gymnastics.
Lola had been an amateur gymnast for years and often incorporated it into her routines. She was very limber and very, very flexible and the crowd was always in awe of the way she could twist and contort herself. She had done gymnastics routines at past shows, however, and was afraid that it would be stale and uninteresting. It also wasn't exactly a rare and special talent, considering that most girls in the pageant world also did gymnastics. Well, maybe not most, but certainly a lot. Honestly, though, she couldn't come up with anything else. She was sure that a gymnastics routine would work as long as she gave it her all and did her absolute best.
On the morning she and Mom left, she woke at dawn and began getting ready. First, she showered and dressed, then did her make up. After breakfast, Mom took her to the beauty salon and had her hair done. By 10:30, they were on a special chartered bus rolling north on Highway 91. She and Mom were the only ones on the bus and it was loaded with snacks, drinks, and other gifts from the company holding the pageant. It was the most luxurious ride Lola had ever taken and she decided right then and there that when she was finally rich and famous - not if she was finally rich and famous - she would have a bus just like this one. It even had a TV so that she could watch cartoons during the trip. How cool was that? It sure put the bus she rode to school to shame.
North Branch was a typical small town surrounded by hills and pine forests. The buildings along Main Street were brick and rustic and all of the people she saw were dressed in plaid, trucker caps, and cowboy boots. The convention center/hotel/casino was three miles outside of town, towering above the forest like a great and alien temple. The lobby was vaulted and filled with potted plants and French furniture. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and framed portraits decked the walls. There was a fine dining restaurant in the lobby, across from a gift shop, and the people Lola saw were all well dressed and high class. A lot of them had beautiful little girls in tow - her competition. Lola took a good, long look at them, sizing them up and judging their worth.
From what she saw, winning was not going to be easy.
But it wouldn't be impossible.
Lola was determined to take home frist place. This pageant was too important to bumble. Winning would probably set her up for life. She could not afford to lose.
A bellhop in one of those nifty little uniforms with rows of brass buttons on the chest carried Lola and her mother's luggage into the elevator. Lola was surprised that the elevator was one of those really old ones that someone had to operate for you by pulling a lever. "Wow," Mom breathed in wonderment, "I've never been in one of these."
"I thought they were a myth," Lola said.
Their room was on the 16th floor, which, Lola knew ever before setting foot inside, would provide a sweeping and majestic view, no matter which direction the window faced. The hall was dimly lit and richly carpeted, with white walls and brass fixtures. The doors were all heavily crafted from red oak and affixed with gold plates. The bellhop reached their room, sat down their luggage, and produced a key from the pocket of his coat. Just then, the elevator at the opposite end of the hall (apparently there were two in this building) slid open and a man strolled out. From here, Lola couldn't see his face but she couldn't miss his scrumptiously muscled figure. She watched him approach, and when he was a little closer, her jaw dropped open, for she recognized him.
Blake Bradley.
He wore a pink polo shirt that clung to his muscles like a second skin and a tight pair of beige dress pants. His hair was perfect, his teeth were white, and he was the absolute epitome of male sex appeal. Lola felt warmth creep up the back of her neck and her heart began to pound right out of her chest. She watched him like a deer in the headlights, unable to move, think, or even breathe. She suddenly hoped he didn't come over because she was starstruck, in no condition to do anything but make a fool of herself.
Thankfully, he stopped at a room well away from her, took out his key, and let himself in. It wasn't until the door was firmly closed behind him that Lola could breathe again. Her mother's voice roused her from her reprieve and she turned around to see Mom and the bellhop already in the room. "Are you coming or are you going to stay out there all weekend?" Mom asked.
Lola went inside.
Later on, they ordered a feast of junk food take out, Lola deciding to binge after all. Over pizza and burgers, she thought how crazy - and fortunate - it was that she just so happened to be on the same floor as Blake Bradley.
Then her brain hatched an evil scheme.
Like it always did.
She would get close to him and show off her beauty, brains, poise, and smooth talking one on one. She would charm him out of his Italian loafers and get him to fall madly in love with her as a contestant, that way she had an edge over everyone else. When it came time to take the stage, therefore, he would already be partial to her because she was such a great and cool person.
Oooh, this was going to be a cake walk.
Officially, the pageant started the next day, but it didn't really start. It was sort of like a…a teacher work day. The contestants all gathered in the convention hall and Blake Bradley came out onstage to thunderous applause. He smiled beatifically and waited for the clapping to die down before letting everyone know that "The day is yours." There was a team of personal trainers on hand to help the girls practice, or they could rest and relax ahead of the big competition. A lot of the girls decided to spend the day in the gym or practice their struts on the runway. Lola, however, had other plans.
After the meeting broke up, Mom went to the hotel tanning salon and Lola followed Blake and his entourage around the hotel. First, they went to the cafe for breakfast, and Lola sat at a nearby table with a menu blocking her face. Next, they went to the gift shop, where Blake talked to fans and cordially signed autographs. He finally ditched his squad and made his way to the indoor pool, which was in a vaulted grotto style chamber below the lobby. He went into the changing room and emerged in a pair of red trunks. He dove in and began to swim laps.
Luckily, Lola was wearing her bathing suit underneath her dress. She went into the women's changing room and came out a few minutes later in a sleek pink one piece that accentuated the shape and curves of her body. It was enough to turn even the stiffest heads but modest enough that she didn't look like a lil' hoochie mama on dick patrol. Lola looked around the grotto, with its columns, mason work, and tide pools, and was surprised - no, downright shocked - to see that aside from an old man passed out in a lawn chair, a book resting under his chin, she and Blake were alone.
Actually, wait, no, there was a life guard sitting in a little tower across the way, a blonde woman in sunglasses (even though they were indoors). She was about twenty and wore her hair pulled back from her forehead in a ponytail. She was clad in a red one piece not unlike Lola's and stared down at her phone, her chin resting in her upturned palm. Even though she had the glasses on and Lola couldn't see her eyes, she was the picture of boredom. She got the impression that this life guard wouldn't look up from her screen even if a bomb went off; she was lost in her phone and nothing, probably, could bring her back.
Since she missed the life guard, Lola figured that maybe she had missed everyone else, but another look around the space showed her that she hadn't. This time she was sure of it. None of the contestants were around and not a single guest could be found, not here, not there, not anywhere. They must have been sightseeing, or maybe they were at the spa or the gym.
Wherever they were, it wasn't here. She and Blake had the entire place to themselves.
How convenient.
Also fortunate. Lola was certain that she would have to win his attention from a mob of other girls who would be ever clustered at his feet like a pack of hungry cats. That wasn't the case, however, and it was all the better for her. .
Blake climbed out of the pool, his glistening muscles flexing as his lifted himself over the concrete lip. He walked over to a lounge chair, sat down, and stretched out with his hands behind his head. Lola walked up to him, and even though she was here on business, giddy excitement welled up inside of her. She was literally about to meet the Blake Bradley, the best, most talented, most hunkiest star in all of Hollywood. He was, like, an idol from that alone, but he was also everything Lola wanted to be, so she was starstruck on both ends; she wasn't just meeting a famous person, she was meeting someone who had made it in her own industry, someone who had done everything she wanted to do herself and to whom she automatically looked up by virtue of his success.
She stood over him and he opened one eye. She put on her biggest, brightest smile, hoping to razzle dazzle him from the very first moment. "Hi," she said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm going to be in the pageant tomorrow and I was just wondering if I could get a selfie with you. I'm a huge fan."
Blake smiled. "Sure, anything for a fan." He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chair. She sat next to him, took out her phone, and scooted closer to him to get both of them in the frame. They smiled and she snapped the pic.
"This is perfect," she said as she busily set about posting it on all her accounts, making sure to tag and hashtag him so that as many people would see it as possible. "Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it," Blake said. "I appreciate my fans and do whatever I can for them. Without them, I'd be bagging groceries and worrying about self-check out lanes taking my job." He chuckled. "I'd look handsome doing it, but handsome doesn't fill up your gas tank when you're at Sunnoco with a handful of change."
She laughed like that was the funniest thing in the world, which is sorta kinda was. Good looks could open a lot of doors for you, and you could always put them to good, profitable use, especially today, when the internet was so ubiquitous, but no, you couldn't use it as currency in a pinch. Maybe in a comedy movie you could bat your eyelashes and get a 200 dollar purchase from the grocery store for free, but the real world, Lola had discovered, didn't really work like that.
Though, she was certain that you could get little perks here and there for being pretty.
"I really appreciate it," Lola assured him She missed a calculated beat and then asked: Can I touch your muscles?"
Blake grinned. It was obvious from his casual reaction that he was used to being asked that question. "Sure," he said. He stood up and struck a Johnny Bravo like pose. "Go ahead."
Lola felt his arm and marveled at how hard it was. It felt like literal rock. She had no idea how it was possible for someone to get muscles that hard. She hung onto his arm and swung back and forth like a monkey. "Whee!" she cried. She let go and landed on her feet.
"I give that landing a 9.5," he said.
"Not a perfect ten?" Lola asked with a faux pout.
He shrugged one shoulder. "You were a little wobbly on that dismount," he said with a wink.
"It's hard to not be wobbly in the presence of such a perfectly sculpted God," she said and batted her eyelashes.
That made Blake laugh. "I wouldn't go that far," he said humbly.
Lola made a little humming noise in the back of her throat. "I would."
"Thank you," he said. "I don't know about you, but I need some time in the jacuzzi." He went over to the jacuzzi, which was at the corner of the pool beneath and slightly to the left of the diving board over the deep end of the pool. He settled in, spread his arms out on the lip to either side of him, and leaned his head back, looking like a parody of Christ on the cross. Lola scrunched her lips to the side and crossed her arms in thought. She tapped one finger against her chin and smiled widely when an idea occurred to her. She strutted over to the jacuzzi. Blake opened one eye and looked up at her. "Would you like to see something really cool?" she asked. She nodded to the diving board.
"What's that?" he asked curiously.
"Me making up for my shaky dismount."
He chuckled. "Okay, sure. Let's see what you got."
Lola swished over to the diving board, rolling her hips seductively as she went. At the bottom step, she stuck her butt out a little and gave it a little slap in an attempt to rile him up. She climbed the ladder and, at the top, stepped to the edge. She turned around to face away from the pool, her back to Blake,and then put her feet together and straightened her back. She took a deep, chest expanding breath, filling her air with lungs, then tensed her muscles. She started to go, but an idea came to her at the last minute and she managed to stay herself on the edge of the board, the balls of her heels hanging over. She looked over her shoulder, spotted Blake craning his neck up to look at her from the jacuzzi below, and half-lidded her eyes. "This one's for you, hunk," she called out with a wink.
Was it just her, or did a slight, boyish blush color his cheeks?
Either way, she didn't have much time to sit and dwell on it. Tensed and bunched up like a coil, she did a perfect backflip off the diving board, then turned in mid air and did a swan dive into the water. She broke the surface, inhaled, and shook her wet hair out of her eyes.
Standing in the jacuzzi, the water up to his chest, Blake gave boisterous and, Lola thought, well deserved round of appaluse. "That was great," he said, "your form was perfect."
"Ten out of ten?" Lola asked.
"Eleven out of ten," he assured her.
Lola rolled onto her back, spat out a long fountain of water that arched through the air like it came from the mouth of a statue, and began to backstroke through the water. It was a lot warmer than she thought it would be. Was it temperature controlled? Ooh, these fancy hotels think of everything.
Blake climbed over the brief, chest high wall separating the jacuzzi ftom the pool and joined her in her swim. At one point, she playfully splashed him, and he splashed her back. "Watch the hair," he laughed, "I have to keep it one hundred percent photogenic at all times."
Lola playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you have a hairdresser in that little squad I saw with you earlier."
He furrowed his brow ever so slightly. "Were you spying on me?" he asked. He sounded more bemused than upset.
Making a little "meh" noise, Lola shrugged one shoulder. "A good businesswoman always knoiws what situation she's walking into/"." With that, she splashed him again and swam off. He looked after her for a moment, confused, then seemed to understand.
"Oh," he said, "right. That's pretty smart."
After about twenty minutes in the pool, Blake climbed out and dried himself off. "I'm in the mood for some ice cream," he said, then looked at Lola. "Care to join me?"
"I would," she said.
"Let me hit the shower first."
He went into the men's room and Lola waited outside. She looked around and noticed that the old man had left and that the lifeguard was no longer at her post. She was absolutely alone. An idea came to her, and grinning, she sneaked into the bathroom. He stood under a shower head in the bathing room, water glistening on his flexing muscles. He was msassaging shampoo into his hair and whistling. Lola's eyes traveled up and down his ripped body, lingering on his massive ten inch member. Her face turned beet red and her core clutched like an angry fist. She took her phone out from her purse and snapped a furtive full body pic so she would never forget this moment.
When he was done, Lola scurried out, and he emerged a few minutes later, dried off and wearing his towel around his shoulders. Lola took her own shower in the women's room, then they went back upstairs to their respective suites to change into dry clothes. They went to the cafe where they sat at a little table by the window overlooking the lobby. Blake ordered two large sundaes. Lola, ever the pragmatist, saw another opportunity to flatter and wow him. "How does it feel being a guest judge?" she asked.
"It's unique," Blake said, "but enjoyable all the same."
While they were chatting, Mom texted to say that she would be a little while longer. Lola mentioned this and Blake offered to keep her company in his room. "Until she's finished," he said. "Perhaps you can show me some of your routine and I can give you my expert analysis on it."
Lola laughed. "Okay, that works for me."
She had him right where she wanted him.
This was going swimmingly.
Done with their ice cream, they went upstairs to his room, which was much bigger and more luxurious than Lola imagined. It had a living room, a dining room, and a hot tub right there on the patio. He sat up in bed and went over the guidelines guest judges have to follow while Lola began to do a series of stretches and warmups, doing a smooth standing split. "How's this?" she asked.
"I couldn't do it," he responded. "You make it look easy, though."
"I've had a lot of practice," Lola said.
She bent, squatted, and shook her butt. She looked over her shoulder and caught him staring at her.
There was a tent in his pants.
Lola started and accidentally kicked the edge of the bed frame with her right foot. Pain shot up her leg and she let out a sharp cry, then fell over. Blake jumped up and rushed over. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern in his voice.
Lola hissed painfully through her teeth. "I'm okay, I think."
He picked her up in his big, strong arms and laid her on the bed. He sat beside her and examined her wounded foot. "I'm sure it's nothing that a massage won't fix," he said.
Blake slowly and carefully removed her tiny high heel to reveal a slightly swollen but perfectly manicured foot. Her toenails were painted pink and her ankle was a light shade of red. He skimmed his fingertips over her ankle and she winced. "Does it hurt?" he asked worriedly.
"A little," Lola said.
Cupping his hands lightly around her ankle, he began to stroke and massage her foot. His face turned a deep, scalding shade of red and his eyes took on a strange glazed appearance. His breathing came in short, hot bursts and his chest heaved up and down. His hands began to tremble lightly and he licked his suddenly dry lips. He stroked his hands slightly higher, to Lola's knees, and Lola clutched tangled handfuls of the blanket, the intense sensation of his touch both pleasant and uncomfortable. Her heart battered against her ribcage in an unsteady lope and her lungs burst for air; she fought to regulate her breathing. She didn't know if she should say or do anything, didn't know if she wanted him to stop or keep going, so she remained completely silent, giving him neither encouragement or admonishment. His touch was deft, light, and expert, and even in her indecision, she enjoyed it.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as if to bask in the feeling of his fingers. A warm patch crept up the back of her neck and she felt her little nipples begin to stiffen. Electric tingles of sensation shot up her legs and her breath caught. She was starting to think that she did want him to continue after all.
Blake, however, had other ideas. Her sharp gasp seemed to snap him away from a trance, and he shook his head like a man waking from a fugue. A burst of deep red color blazed across his high cheek bones and he pulled quickly away from her, looking ashamed. He turned quickly around and sat on the edge of the bed, his hands fisted in his lap and his broad back bent slightly over. "I-I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I lost track of myself there for a moment. Please, accept my apology."
Lola drew her legs underneath her and sat next to him, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said, "it was nice."
"There are so many people in my industry who use their positions for…well…bedding women. I never wanted to be like that. I can't stand how cheap and shallow Hollywood can be sometimes and I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't -"
Lola pressed her finger to his lips, shushing him. "It's fine, Blake," she said, "really."
"Can I do anything to make it up to you?" he asked. "For my own peace of mind. Please."
A wicked little light appeared in Lola's eyes and one corner of her pink mouth curled up in a Chesire grin. "Well," she said, "there is one thing…"
"Please," he begged, "whatever it is, I'll do it."
She took a deep breath. This was asking a lot, she knew, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. "Give me a passing grade in the pageant…for every act?"
Much to her surprise, he didn't hesitate in the slightest. "Done," he said. "Just…don't tell anybody about what happened here today. Or that I cheated."
"My lips are one hundred percent sealed," Lola assured him.
They shook on it.
The next day, a thousand spectators crammed into the convention center for the pageant. The competition was fierce but Lola wasn't worried, she had an ace in the hole and his name was Blake.
For her big finishing act, she did a gymnastics routine that left both the judges and the audience stunned into silence, amazed into reverence, and shocked into awe. She didn't need Blake's help getting a ten out of ten on that one. Every judge gave her a perfect score and the audience rose to its feet to applaud her.
With Blake's help - and her fantastic showing in the last portion - Lola was a shoo-in for the win. Blake himself crowned her Little Miss Upstate Michigan and gave her a bouquet of red roses. Lola smiled and basked in the warm spotlight as the entire world cheered for her, Pictures were taken, video was recorded, and Lola Loud was officially on her way.