AN: ANNOUNCEMENT! NEW STORY BY DRUM AND ME TO BE POSTED SOON! CHECK IT OUT!!!! IT'S SOOO COOL! Anyways, about this part of the story....it's a bit funny...you'll see why! ^_^ DRUM, YOU ROCK!!! He came up with this AWESOME plot and we made a joint account to post the story on! We're writing it together, and it's AWESOME! You guys will love it, I just know it! Look for it! It's SOOO much better than ANY of my stories! ^_^ Yuri will be in the story, too, so check it out! ^_^

Chapter 19

I stood next to Griff. They were going to announce the winners...

          "Get ready, Griff, I'll be expecting that super soaker,"

          Griff laughed, "Hah! Don't be so confident, Yuri. You may have done pretty well, but nothing beats the Griffmiester,"

          I only grinned, "Okay, whatever you say,"

          Psymon stood quietly alone, staring up at the screen. He was waiting patiently for the scores to appear, to announce whether or not Allegra or I managed to break his goal. I knew he was confident, though. I knew that he was sure that he was safe.

          Nate appeared behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, grinning broadly. "So, Yuri," he said brightly, "ready to see your name in lights?"

          I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I hope so,"

          "You did fantastic, Yuri, don't worry about it,"

          Elise was talking with Kaori near Psymon, but when she caught eye of Nate, she waved and walked over, immediately diving into a conversation with Nate.

          I sighed and glanced at Griff, who was laughing.

          "What?"

          "I just got it," Griff said, clutching his belly and laughing, "I just got it!"

          "Got what?" I demanded, putting my hand on my hip and glaring at him, "What do you mean?"

          "You like—"

          "Ladies and gentlemen!" Atomika's voice filled the Junction, "It seems we have some changes to make!"

          I jerked my head to the billboard, where Psymon's name flashed across the screen along with his score.

          "Shattering long-time records, Psymon Stark has taken gold!"

          The audience went wild, screaming and chanting Psymon's name.

          Psymon only grinned lazily, "What can I say?" Psymon said when he caught Elise's glare, "I'm a popular guy,"

          Kaori gasped when the next name flew across the screen.

          "Allegra Sauvegess takes second place with a score of 194,350!"

          Allegra smiled devilishly and approached Psymon, who was clapping along with everyone else.

          "Dammit," I heard Griff mutter, "I lost the bronze,"

          I shrugged, "Look at the bright side, I'll have the bronze, and I'll let you spit-shine it every once in a while,"

          Griff laughed and so did I.

          "And in third place, taking the bronze with a score of 193,900, nearly beating Allegra's score, is Yurioki Yoshioka!"

          I felt my cheeks burn as I stared in awe at my name, which was now scrolling across the billboard. Nate cheered loudly and lifted me up on his shoulders, parading around. "Queen Yuri gets bronze!" He shouted triumphantly.

          I smiled and stopped myself from hugging Nate's neck. He probably wouldn't appreciate strangulation.

          "All winners report to the Winner's Platform, where you'll be awarded your prizes!"

          "Platform? Winner's?" I sputtered as Nate gently put me down, "W-what?"

          Psymon grabbed my arm gruffly and pulled me towards a secluded part of the area, which supposively lead to the Winner's Platform. With my board slung over my shoulder, I reluctantly followed.

          "Where are we?"

          "This leads us to the Winner's Platform and the photo shoots," Psymon muttered as he motioned for Allegra to move it.

          "What's going on? What photo shoots?"

          Psymon grinned, showing off every single one of his teeth, "I forgot. You are but a newbie,"

          "Hey!" Allegra said angrily.

          I also jerked away from Psymon and glared at him. "Don't call me that,"

          Psymon mockingly put a hand over his mouth, "Oh? Was that me? Was that me who used that filthy word?" He rolled his eyes and turned around, marching off.

          "You were a newbie too! You were last year!" I said heatedly.

          Psymon stopped suddenly and grunted. I stopped, too, as well as Allegra. Psymon swirled around and brought his face right into mine and sneered, "Yeah," he whispered, "Yeah, I was. But I proved I had skill, Cheerios,"

          I could taste the smell of his breath. My eyes widened in shock as I hesitantly took a step back. I glanced at Allegra pleadingly, but Psymon only moved closer.

          "I have no respect," Psymon whispered, "for you, or for any of you newbies."

          "Why?" Allegra said.

          "None of you can beat me," Psymon jeered, "no one can,"

          That was it for me. I gathered the last of my courage and narrowed my eyes. "I can,"

          Psymon laughed and took a step away from me.

          "Oh? You really think so? And what makes you think that?"

          "Nate's gonna help me." I said boldly, "I'll be better than you by the end of this circuit, Psymon Stark,"

          "Okay, Cheerios, as soon as you get a pass for Peak 3, call me," he snickered, "Oh, and by the way, this time don't let a little boo-boo get in your way,"

          With that, Psymon left Allegra and I standing alone, watching him walk away confidently.

          "Jackass," Allegra muttered.

***

The photo shoots were a bit uncomfortable.

          Taking pictures with a maniac and your rival was horrible. Psymon kept making crude gestures at the camera, and Allegra would either be in a tomboyish stance or a feminine one.

          I just did what I was told. Soon enough, it got boring, and I found myself remembering what Atomika said to me about Photo Shoots not being as fun as you think it is. All I kept thinking about was my family. Where were they?

***

"Hey! Here comes the winners!" Nate said, "How were the photo shoots?"

          Kaori waved from the couch and Elise smiled warmly. Zoe nodded in acknowledgement and Moby laughed.

          "Hey, look, the lil' blighter's back!"

          I beamed when I saw Griff. He had froth from his hot chocolate all over his mouth. He grinned lazily and waved. Mac didn't say anything, he just went back into the kitchen.

          However, the one thing that caught my eyes wasn't Mac's behavior, or the silly grin Griff had plastered on his face, it was the familiar looked beanie. The back head of a person that I had been waiting to see forever.

          That tall 5'8'' boy with the sloppy black hair. The familiar baggy sweatshirt and those torn up jeans. I could spot him a mile away.

          "Ryan?"

          Ryan turned around and laughed, "Yuri, you actually won!"

          I screamed and ran to him, embracing my brother. "I missed you! Where's Eric and Roy?" I asked immediately, pulling away from him, "Where are they?"
          "In our room with Viggo," Griff said, "They're checkin' out the new video games I got,"

          Ryan nodded, "Yeah, this kid's got some kickin' games, man,"

          My smile widened, "I missed you!" I said again. "Have you met everyone?"

          "Sure he has," Nate said, "But I dunno about the other two. They've been glued to that television screen ever since they set foot in here."

          "We've been talking with your family while you were busy takin' those photo shoot, Yurioki," Zoe said teasingly, "Atomika let us in on your full name,"

          I blushed, keeping my eyes on the ground.

          "Hey, kid," Psymon said, clasping hands with my brother, "Stark. Psymon Stark,"

          Ryan smiled and nodded, "Hey, nice moves, man,"

          I looked back at Allegra and gasped. She was staring at my brother with a weird look in her eyes.

          "Hi," she said shyly, shaking my brother's hand, "I'm Allegra,"

          "Nice to meet you," Ryan said brightly. "I saw your heat, it was awesome,"

          "Oh?" Allegra couldn't stop smiling, "You really think so? Do you board?"

          "You bet,"

          "Where's Roy?" I said quickly to change the subject, "He's gonna be tickled to death when he sees Psymon!"

          "I got a fan?" Psymon asked as he gratefully took a cup of hot cocoa from Zoe.

          I nodded, "I thought I told you, my cousin Roy idolizes you!"

          The fire burned slowly as we all sat down on the couch. "Yuri's here!" Griff said loudly towards the back rooms.

          Eric ran out immediately and shouted, "Yo, Yuri!!" and tackled me, nearly knocking over my hot cocoa in the process.

          Viggo came out and stuffed his hands in his pockets and said "Hey,"

          Roy kind of kept his distance but nodded at me and stared at Psymon in awe.

          "I...take it you're Roy?" Psymon asked apprehensively.

          Roy nodded, "Can I...d'you mind if...can I—?"

          "Yeah, you can have an autograph," Psymon laughed, "I get that a lot,"

***

"You were pretty awesome, Yuri. You almost beat Allegra's score, I heard," Viggo said as he took a sip of the coffee.

          I blushed, "Thanks,"

          "Yeah, Psymon just has to show off, doesn't he?"

          I nodded, "But you know, that's okay. I'm just grateful that I got third."

          "That's good,"

          There was a pause of silence between us.

          "So, I've been messing with your...er...cousin, right?"

          I laughed and nodded, "Eric? Yeah, he was talking about you,"

          "Hey, watcha doin' in here, Yuri?" Nate came into the kitchen.

          I grinned, "Nothing much. Just talking with Viggo,"

          "That's cool. You're family's waiting out in the living room, though." Nate said,  "Eric wants to take pictures,"

          "Aw..." I groaned, "Eric's just gonna get a big picture of his thumb again!" I followed Nate out to the lobby and immediately saw Allegra shouting at Mac.

          "You're a jerk!" she screamed, "You're nothing but a jerk!"

          Mac gave her the bird, "Yeah, I am!"

          Allegra grabbed her ponytails and screamed, "I hate you!!!!"

          Griff and I glanced at each other as Allegra retreated to her room. Viggo gasped behind me and whispered, "Allegra!" and followed her.

          ...

          "Okay everyone!" Eric said brightly, "Anyone up for some pictures!?!?"

***

Roy, Eric, Griff, and I stayed the night out in the living room, having a 'sleepover'.

          "Yeah, we saw your precious move," Roy muttered, "Your 'round-and-about spinner' or something like that,"

          "Lounge-about Spinster," I corrected, "And yeah, it was awesome!"

          "You were awesome, Yuri!"

          "Griff, what do you think happened with Allegra?" I asked quietly.

          Griff frowned, "She obviously doesn't like Mac any—"

          Thump.

          "Shut up!!!" I heard Elise scream, "I'm trying to focus!!!"

          "Hey..." I said slowly, "Where's Ryan?"

          THUMP.

          Griff and I exchanged glances. "Uh...Yuri, that was coming from our room,"

          I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Ryan better not be snooping around in my stuff again!" I jumped up and stomped over to my room with Griff, Roy, and Eric on my heels.

          We all gathered around my door and stared at it slowly.

          "Yuri..." Eric whispered, "Do you want to open the door or not??"

          I slowly gripped the handle.

          "Turn, Yuri...now you turn the handle," Roy remarked.

          Griff snickered as I slapped Roy's shoulder.

          Thump.

          Something was hitting the walls...

          I turned the handle slowly, and screamed.

          "RYAN!??"

          "EW, MAN!" Griff covered his face and hissed, "You're brother's making out with your ARCH ENEMY!!!!!!!"

          Allegra screamed and covered her face with embarrassment.

          "Ry..." I whispered, "Please...oh god no...please don't tell me..."

          "She's beautiful, Yuri," Ryan sighed as he let his hands fall to his sides, "I love her,"