OHHHH!! I luv you guys soooo much!! I have to apologize though. I usually update once every week, but this week was so busy that I haven't had a chance!! Sorry!!
Thanks to all my reviewers...you guys are the best!
Bluefish:
Thanks! It means a lot to me that you wrote that. Blue—fish...hmmm. Interesting. I like it!
Water-sprite87:
The hair dresser? She was actually gonna be a minor character but maybe I'll change it though. You gave me a lot of good ideas—you should really write a story because I wanna be the first to read it. Your reviews really help me a lot...thanx!
Anna:
I'm glad you think Miss Europe sounds better! I don't know if you read my responses to your reviews and such...but "Orla" gave me the idea and she really deserves the credit! You think O.B. is hot?? I thought he was okay in Pirates of the Caribbean but that's just about it. Turquoise is an absolute gorgeous color and I still love it (even though now silver's past that)
FeigningInocence
Whoa! You are really good at encouraging people! A jealous parent? Maybe…but I really can't think of one. Lily's mom really loves Lily, even though she did cheat on her dad. Arggghhh!!! I'm getting confused and I'm the one writing the fic! Oh, by the way…I love your penname…I couldn't think of one so hazardous was the best I could come up with!)
Ekens36
Oh no. It doesn't matter. I was just confused! Miss Paris? Do you have something against French people? Tsktsk JK) Thanks for telling me for sure. I really like to get to know my reviewers and you are really helpful!
Orla:
Dang! You have a great variety of blood in your veins! I don't know what I have but if I find out, I'll be sure to let you know! Boring English Teacher? I always get the boring science teacher...snooze! You'd think they'd do a better job of entertaining us...
KrAzYkEwLgUrL:
Your pen name alone probably took me five minutes to type! You flatter me too much! I'm sure your stories are just as good! I'm very very very very happy that at least some people like my story. My first story was really boring sigh, I have tried again and I think people actually like this one!! Thanx!!
Disclaimer: I love Harry Potter,
But I don't own him
If you think I do
You live in a...bin??
I am soo bad with rhymes...--
Summary: Lily was chosen to compete for a Miss UK pageant against ninety-nine other women and all's going well...at least until she involuntarily decides to fall for the gorgeous host of the Miss UK pageant...James Potter.
Chapter 4
"Welcome ladies!! This is where you shall be training for Miss Europe! Do you all see the stage? Good, because that's where you will be most of the time. Get comfortable with it. I will now leave you to your trainers to show you what to do and how to do it. I will be down in the audience seeing how you all do. Trainers, I leave it up to you. Good luck," James Potter plopped into a seat on his right and waved his armed for them to move forward.
"Oh my gosh! This is like, so exciting!!"
"To think I'm here!"
"This was always my dream!!"
"Oh, get a life," Lily mumbled under her breath.
"Something wrong, Miss England?" James' eyes twinkled; he looked amused.
"Oh nothing Mr. Potter! I just, like like, feel, like, sooooo lucky! I mean, I'm like, so pretty and like, like everyone's gonna know just how much of like, a bimbo, I am," Lily mocked, twirling her hair.
James laughed. "They don't all sound like that. In fact, I can think of one who sounds directly the opposite..."
"Oh, go screw yourself Potter," Lily said.
"You're ever so polite. You better not be like that to the judges; in fact it'd be in your best interest to suck up a little to them too," James remarked calmly.
"Yeah, and turn into a blonde? I think not! Besides, I'm not flirting with old bald guys with liver spots on their heads," Lily winced, imagining it.
"Actually, on the contrary, they're not old at all. In fact, most are more or so just a little older than me," James said.
"Hmmmm...interesting. Oh! There's Bella. Good bye Mr. Potter," Lily said, making a huge, fake courtesy and scurrying off to Bella.
"Hey Bella!" Lily waved at her friend slash trainer. Bella looked up and smiled.
"Hey Lily! Someone looked a little cozy with our host right then..." Bella winked slyly.
"Ew...that is just gross. No way!"
Bella laughed and led Lily up the main steps to the stage. "Okay, Miss Evans, this is where you shall come on the stage. Most of the time, we come from backstage, but this year, we're going to do something different. The contestants will come, in four lines, through the audience down the aisle. You will be the fifth one on the third row. When you get to the stage, you will all smile real big, and stand there like statues." Bella showed Lily how she was to come up and where she would stand.
"Okay, simple enough. How long will we have to stay like that?" Lily asked, still in correct posture.
"Well, depends really; I'd say not so long because they're doing the people from England first. But there are a hundred women here and I can't really tell you," Bella said. "The last ones will probably stand for about two hours onstage not doing anything—but I'm sure you won't have to wait that long!" she added, seeing the expression on Lily's face.
"Great...just great! Smile for about two and a half hours and not do anything! I couldn't do that for the world!" Lily complained.
"Your right, but it's not up to me. Okay, the first criteria are a few questions and modeling, seeing how pretty you are. Not much. Afterwards you just head up those—see those, no, no, yeah those—stairs and go to your room, or to the gym or whatnot. Most of the contestants choose to go the spa, so I wouldn't go there afterwards," Bella said.
"Oh great. So, where are you in all this?"
"I will be backstage, waiting with a towel and some drinks. I won't be with you on stage and if you mess up, good luck!" Bella grinned.
"Oh ya know what? You're just—just great!" Lily pouted. Bella's smile got even more pronounced.
"Oh, don't worry. Most of the contestants don't mess up because they practice a billion times, which is exactly what we're going to do. See, when you're up there, you will be wearing this gorgeous white dress and across your chest while be a banner that says 'Miss London', but for now, let's get everything else right before we practice in the outfit you're gonna wear. Come on! Hop to it!"
So all night Lily modeled and giggled and smiled until her limbs were about to fall off and she wanted to rip someone's head off. But instead, she smiled, and modeled, and giggled like a nine year old. Bella wasn't helping, with her shouting comments like, "A bigger smile Lily!" or "Move smoother! You're not even in high heels yet!" or even "Is someone torturing you? Get that forced grin off your face and give it to someone else!" This was not how Lily imagined it was like. She felt a new compassion toward the old contestants.
"Where's the luxury in this?" Lily said, forcing the silky, white dress over her head. It had been two hours and she was still rehearsing for this thing! She just couldn't seem to get the 'walk' right. Who sways their hips when they walk anyways??
"Oh stop complaining. This is the last time! You have to remember to sway those hips a bit more and to smile sexily, not like a clown, doodoo brain!" Bella said as she put the shoes on Lily's feet.
"Puh-lease, you're not the one trying to fit in this dress that is two sizes small for you!!" Lily snapped angrily, still playing around with the straps of her dress, trying to adjust to them.
Bella scoffed. "And you say you don't get grouchy."
"When did I say that?" Lily stood up and looked across at the mirror. Whoa...
"Lily, you look gorgeous! I don't know why you're complaining..."
The reflection Lily was undoubtedly gorgeous in every way. Her hair was pinioned up, with little strips still flowing down in layers, giving her an elegant look. Her dress was white and pure with spaghetti straps leading down to a still-decent neckline; it reminded Lily of the angel costume she had when she was five (without the feathers) and her shoes were high heeled sandals, that crisscrossed at the straps.
"Whoa..." was all Lily could say.
"Yeah, man Mr. Potter is gonna notice you for sure this time," Bella joked. Lily's head snapped back around and she grimaced.
"That is just gross."
"Now for the final part of the rehearsal for tonight! After this, you can go back to your rooms and rest—" sigh from the contestants—" but before that heavenly moment comes, you must do this right. Form the lines and start!" James leapt off the stage and into the audience seats.
The music started. Fanfare...Da Da Da Da Dum...da dum!!! (Author note: Sorry, but how do you play music when you're writing a story? Please enlighten me…)
Lily took a deep on come on...okay—smile, snap, fling, sway, pose, and smile, and wait! She put a smile on her face and swayed her hips slightly when she walked, making sure not to trip on her heels
"Okay! Let's have Ms. Thames up first! So, tell us about yourself. Listen carefully ladies, because all these questions apply to you. Introduce who you are, what you like to do, and what your dream is."
Ms. Thames was a tall, skinny woman, with hair piled up in a messy bun. Her brown highlights glowed especially pretty in the spotlight, but her nervousness ruined what could have been a promising competitor.
"Um...I—I want to be—I mean, I'm Ms. Thames, and I love to go horseback riding, and hiking. I basically love the outdoors, and what I want to achieve most is to save the rainforests, especially the animals," her instructor cleared her throat. "—and of course, world peace. Thank you."
Lily snorted, but backed off when she saw Miss Berlin and Miss Lisbon glaring at her.
This wait got especially boring. It was the same thing over and over and over and none of these women had an original thought. World Peace. Yeah right! Why doesn't someone say something realistic for once?
Miss Stockholm...Miss Rome...Miss Paris...Miss Seine...Miss Kiev...Any day now...Miss on...and finally, Miss London!
Ba-bum, ba-bum. Lily felt a lot more nervous than she thought she would be. Her heart was practically jumping out of her throat. Just one person in the audience made her nervous. How was she going to do this in front of millions of viewers?? on...
"Um--" she cleared her throat twice. "—I'm Miss London, and I like to..." Her voice faltered. What did she like to do? Then the answer came to her. "I—um--love to do basically everything. You name it...Skiing, snowboarding, swimming, soccer, basketball—well maybe not golf...or fishing...but mainly every thing else. My dream right now is probably to get through this tournament alive and to not fumble at anything... and—" Everyone looked at her expectantly.
Lily smiled sweetly. "And that's all." She started walking toward the back. "Oh, and Mr. Potter? I hope you brought some popcorn. All of this is booooring."
Feeling quite proud of herself, she walked back knowing that stares were following her as she made her 'grande' exit.
"Ha ha! Nice one. But please, don't say that during the real contest!" Bella congratulated her.
"Of course not! But did you hear them? I want...um...world peace! Like they really do? They just want to be in the modeling career and some of them are stupid enough to get the—"
"Sshhhhhh...go back to your room. I have to stay here. Mr. Potter wants to talk to us after this."
Lily sighed and put a hand on Bella's shoulder. "I feel for you deeply...bye!"
Bella scoffed and pushed Lily through the door.
"Ahhh..." The soapy water felt like heaven and the steam was just the world's most relaxing pillow. Lily hadn't realized how tired she really was until she actually got to her room.
So this was the competition. This was it.
"Stupid..." she mumbled, and she closed her eyes and laid her head down on the marble surface. She stayed so long in the bath that the shampoo in her hair wasn't fizzing anymore.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Someone was at the door.
"They sure chose a nice time to come..." Lily grumbled as she stepped out of the bathtub. She frowned when she looked at her hands. Talk about prune-y!
Knock!
"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" Lily shouted. The pulled the bathrobe on and sloshed out of the bathroom to answer the door. "Um...hi?"
"Oh hi! Are you Miss England?" A lovely girl with blonde hair and brown highlights stood in the doorway, wearing casual jeans and a turtleneck sweater.
"Yeah," Lily replied with a casual shrug. The girl smiled.
"I found this on the ground. Does it belong to you?" She held out a wallet.
Lily gasped and looked around her room, unconsciously feeling at the bathrobe where the pockets on her pants usually were.
"Oh my goodness, yeah it does! I don't know how it got in the hallway though! I wasn't wearing jeans and...oh! Thank you so much!" Lily gushed, taking the wallet from the girl's outstretched hand.
"No problem, Miss London," she grinned.
"Lily please. Who are you?"
"Oh me? I'm another contestant around here. My name's Carly and I'm Miss Italy..."
This chapter is totally dedicated to woW-Girl and her cousin...
Sorry about your cousin.
You make me feel sad...
Question: Who is the person you love most, and how would you feel if they died?
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