Chapter 7
The seven days that counted down to the start of the contest converged fast. Over that time a surpreme sence of excitement has gripped practicly the whole town. Several of the town´s businessmen with Mr Walden Workalot in the lead pledged to sponsor the event, in the hopes of attracting attention on National TV. This gave the working crew composed with many of the town´s youngsters under the lead of Beauvillage´s boy genius practicly any material they required and the location for the first round – Beauvillage High School Auditorium was transformed into a magnifiscent show-stage. The mayor was beside himself with joy, which was a good omen for Chichi an Phil, because he jovially handed over various material, that would come in mighty handy in the Hidehole. Not that he, or anyone else for that matter knew about it in the first place. With so much attention fixed on his work, Chichi barely gave a hoot about the various amulet-like ornaments and even a flower crown he was forced to wear at all times, until he harmonized with the Great Oneness. Lily, Lola and April agreed, that he was already harmonizing perfectly as it was in the wake of all the work – he indeed looked in seventh heaven – something Mom Tofu was quick to notice, though misinterpreting the reason for it. Lola on the other hand spent considerable time with Angie, rehersing and going over various ways of narrating the first round – but they didn´t have nearly as much success as the boys did – neighter really knew what to say OR do. The three judges seemed to be having more fun than anyone. They went over several enteries and had much fun doing it... Rodney was pleased at the chance of getting to know both of the younger men and even Wiseman seemed to forget for the moment the rivalry he held against Miles for most of their lives. Miles as ussual turned out to be the comedy backbone of the trio. Though the trio converged behind closed doors, the information regarding the contestants seemed to have... slipped out somehow – well Wisey was insisting on sharing everything with the brotherhood and Archie was never exactly the secretive type...
So in the space of a single weekend Beauvillage knew, that roughly 60 contestants will be attending round one and even something, which became the talk of the town in a matter of mere minutes – a mystery contestant.
One girl had entered under a pseudonym apparently trying to keep her identity a secret. Lis E Milo. The name prompted an instant chorus of gossip in just about every category of Beauvillagers – young, old, male, female. All were extremly interested in just WHO could the mysterious contestant be. Initially there was a serious talk in whether or not the said girl soulg be allowed to enter. But Miles had insisted that it would provide a nice twist to the show, something which a thoughtfull Rodney and a jovial mayor had at once agreed. So Wisey was left outvoted and Lis was in. Not being one to give up lightly, Wiseman and his brotherhood had already launched an investigation – but to no avail. No one in Beauvillage knew anything, but to Wiseman´s surprise his three brothers were acting as though they DID know something.
"It HAS to be that secret admirer of his."noted Nick as the trio was left alone in Wiseman´s office.
Pacing up and down, he screwed his brows in an effort to puzzle the riddle out.
"But how to discover who it is?"pondered Archie as he and Tex looked over the copy of the entery list that their Big Brother provided.
"Apparently its someone who goes to Beauvillage High."noted Tex, stating the obvious.
"But WHO?!"exclaimed Nick in frustration before resuming his pace.
"We checked out just about every girl in the school..."sighed Archie looking over at another set of papers on the desk – the lip-prints they took just six days before.
"I still say, that they could point us to the culprit."he said stubbornly, once more looking them over.
"Forget it, man... we tried to match them a milion times already."Tex shook his head.
Archie gave out a stubborn sniff and crossed his arms.
"Wait a minute!"exclaimed Nick in a rush of inspiration, startling the two.
"Maybe the reason we weren´t able to find a match is because we DON´t have the matching pair... which girl´s lip-prints are missing?"he asked hurriedly.
With an excited whoop Archie and Tex started to scramble trough their notes.
"Sooo... we have these four from the entire third year – Lily Robins, Lola Tofu, Candy Liferich and Cherie Peters."
"THAT´S IT!"
Nick´s exclamation made the remaining two jump.
"Remember the way she slamed our heads together Archie?"
Archie shuddered and rubbed the same place, where the lump had slowly healed dispite the numerous "healing-kisses" from Emily to speed it up.
"I try not to, brother..."
Nick however took no note of it.
"I know why she did it... SHE´S the secret admirer!"he exclaimed in revelation.
A moment of silence lingered.
"But brother... Cherie´s name IS on the list... if this Lis is this secret admirer... she can´t possibly be it..."noted Tex, looking over the list for good measure.
Nick looked frustrated once more.
"Hm... let´s look at the other suspects... Lola Tofu... could she be the secret admirer?"wondered Tex.
"That IS a possibility... "nodded Archie in contemplation.
Nick rolled his eyes.
"Come on... Lola Tofu?!"
The two however didn´t acknowledge it.
"Maybe she does have a thing for him..."
"Yeah... maybe she got tired of Billy Hubbub and saw our brother for the amazing guy he is."reasoned Archie.
Nick slapped a hand to his forehead, but the other two looked at eachother as though in revelation.
"You´re right. I mean, as we were taking the evidence she kept some distance from him..."noted Tex.
Archie nodded fervently.
"And Billy looked very sad too... it HAS to be it."
"And we haven´t seen them together for almost the entire week."agreed Tex.
"That´s probably because we didn´t see them for the entire week at ALL."exclaimed Nick, refusing to believe their reasoning.
"In any case..."he sighed before continuing.
"... the secret admirer wrote, that she´ll be competing in the contest. Lola Tofu is narrating it and not competing."
The two thought about it.
"All the more reason to enter under a false-name."piped up Archie.
Nick let out a shout of annoyance.
"And just HOW the hell do you expect someone to be at two places at once?!"
Archie and Tex flinched at the exaspirated tone the Brotherhood´s second-in-command had taken.
"Well... there´s Lily Robins next..."said Tex quickly, not wanting to test their brother´s temper.
Nick snorted.
"Beauvillage´s little miss mystery...? Unlikely... I mean, remember the Bunglewood case?"
The pair racked their memory but were unable to grasp on what Nick was trying to point out.
Realizing as much Nick growled in impatience.
"Remember just WHO opposed us?!"
The pair´s faces brightened in realization.
"The soy-brain, Conners, Miles and her."said Tex as though just remembering.
"Exactly... and what comes out of it?"asked Nick looking sharply at them.
Archie and Tex exchanged bewildered looks before turning to Nick for explanation.
With another slap on the forehead, Nick gave out another sigh.
"If she was in love with Brother Fred, she wouldn´t have opposed us in the first place. She would´ve been on OUR side, dumbbells!"
Archie gasped in realization and Tex looked from one to the other.
"You´re right, brother Nick... and what about Candy Liferich?"
Nick for some reason looked very uncomfortable and he scratched his left cheek, which was oddly redder than his other one.
"She was willing to cooperate..."he answered quietly adverting their inquiring gaze.
Archie took on a thoughtfull pose.
"Well, she does seem to like you... so what went on? Didn´t you get her prints?"asked Tex.
Nick gave out a long sigh.
"I didn´t manage to take her prints at the High school, so I dropped by their house later and asked her. She gave me her prints going on about something... something about "the ultimate clue" for Brother Fred... but then Mia came along."he said, once more scratching his red cheek.
With another small growl he remembered the situation. The very moment as Candy gave him her lip-prints, Mia who was apparently returning home rounded on him. In a small instant, she tore up the evidence and slapped him across his cheek with surprising strength, calling him a "sick, long-nosed fetishist" before running into the house and leaving him stunned as he sat on the ground completly bewildered. What confounded him utterly was the feeling he was getting out of the thing – he had no idea why, but it was making him feel... sorry. And he had no idea WHY.
As he finished debriefing the summed-up version to his two brothers he was surprised to find Archie snickering.
"D´you ever consider that she likes you?"he asked slyly.
Nick´s jaw fell open.
"Candy?!"
"No, brother! MIA! She likes you!"
Nick´s cheeks instantly turned beet-red.
"Y...you... YOU´RE OUT OF YOUR MIND ARCHIE!"
Archie however sported a knowing smile.
"Why else she would act that way...?"
Nick was growing redder and redder and for a moment, the two stared at eachother as though fighting for who is right in the matter.
"Sooooo... we have four suspects... what do we do now?"
Tex´s innocent question brought the two from their "battle".
"One thing is clear... we lack evidence..."concluded Archie.
"In that case... we´ll have to observe the contest. The secret admirer is bound to reveal herself."said Nick before striking a pose, that was much like their Brother Fred´s.
"Mark my words, brothers... this girl won´t escape the Brotherhood of the Wise."
...
Lola sighed heavily as she returned to the Tofu yard following yet another failed attempt at narrating with Angie. She was completly beat. As she came to the yard, she noticed that the entire Tofu and Hubbub family were sitting at the table having a leisurely time along with Miles, Trashbin and Weedpatch. Trashbin had officially taken full control of the project – given officially by his father. Weedpatch, having more than enough free-time on his hands and very curious about the Beauvillage´s beauty contest came along for the ride. As everyone chatted excitedly, Lola´s eyes found those of her boyfriend´s, who nodded and followed her back into the house, onto the living-room couch where Lola wasted no time in snuggling close to her boyfriend.
"Its gonna be a complete disaster!"she exclaimed as she snuggled into Billy, as though hoping that he could shield her from whatever awaited.
Billy smiled sympatheticly as he stroked her hair soothingly.
"I´m sure it´s not THAT bad, Lola."he offered kindly.
Lola let out a long sigh.
"Neigther me or Angie have any idea what to wear or what to say... its gonna be an ultimate failiure."
Billy tightened his grip on Lola.
"It won´t Lola. You´re brilliant... you won´t have any trouble at all."he said as he let his fingers travel across his precious girlfriend´s cheeks with loving affection.
The gesture however did not do much to relieve her of her anxiety.
"I just... I´m just so afraid, Billy... afterall... this show is going to be aired LIVE... and I´m just bound to make a fool of myself..."
Billy sighed before taking Lola´s cheeks into both of his hands, stilling her gaze in his blue eyes.
"Lola... sweetie... my love... you WON´T make a fool out of yourself... YOU´RE the most bright, talented, sweet and beautyfull I´ve ever had the fortune to meet... you have everything that the stage requires and I KNOW, that you´ll be brilliant on it. I KNOW, that you´ll be able to acomplish anything you ever want... and... you always have ME by your side..."
Lola cut off all he wanted to say with a passionate, gratefull and searing kiss – expressing all her love for the amazing treasure that was Billy Hubbub.
Dispite the passionate assurance her boyfriend provided to her, Lola still felt uneasy for the rest of the day. So uneasy in fact, that she found herself completly unable to sleep. Carefull not to disturb April, who was once more sleeping over at the Tofu house, Lola exited her room and made her way into the kitchen to have a drink of she walked down the stairs she saw, that the light in the kitchen was on. Wondering who could possibly be up at this time of night Lola came down and immediatly a small smile grazed her lips.
"Heh... who else could be up at 2 am... you know Mom and Pop won´t like it."she said to her baby brother who was sitting at the table tinkering with his Gzorbial cell phone, small tools sprayed all around the area he was sitting.
"Come on, sis. You know they never wake-up at this time of night. And I can´t work in my room since Miles and Trashbin are asleep."he shrugged as Lola poured herself a glass of water and sat beside him.
His room WAS a bit full right now with the two men sleeping in it. Weedpatch, the one closer to nature had been content to sleep outside along with Suzy, Curly and Cracker. Indeed, he shared many spirited conversations with Mom, Pop and Buba over the course of the day.
"Well Mr Inventor, what are you working on thistime?"she asked as she peered at the table.
Chichi rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"I´m just upgrading my cell phone... Phil´s new tablet gave me an idea on a few functions."
Lola couldn´t help but wonder at her brother´s technical prowess. It completly exceeded that of Pop´s or even Granpa Noah´s... sometimes Lola was really astounded at just how much was Chichi capable of. At times like that it seemed, that there was nothing the blonde boy couldn´t do. It made Lola feel a mix of jealousy and utmost pride in having such a brother.
"What´s up with you, Lola? The only time you´re not able to sleep is when something is bothering you."noted Chichi, snapping her out of her line of thought.
Lola sighed to herself unsure what to tell him. On the other hand, she trusted him more than anything.
"I´m nervous about the whole narrating thing. Me and Angie tried everything but nothing seems to work. We even watched some foreign shows so we could see how its done..."
Chichi placed his cell phone down and adopted a thoughtfull look.
"That and we have absolutely no idea what to wear... I know one thing though – I´m NOT wearing Buba´s wool dress."grumbled Lola.
Buba had just recently made a new dress out of Curly´s wool. A dress much like the one she made back when Rock Flower had his concert in Beauvillage. Lola had told Buba flat out, that she will NOT wear it on live television.
"I think you should just dress something you´re comfortable in. Y´know... something you save up for a special occasion. Same with Angie."suggested Chichi.
Lola bit her lip. There WAS something she was saving up for a special occasion with Billy, something she found in the Cygnuville stands barely a week ago. But there was still another matter.
"But I´m afraid, Chichi... I mean... I never once did anything like this. What if I make a fool of myself in live TV?"
Chichi smiled gently and shook his head.
"That´s just stage-fright, Lola. All you really need to do is just be yourself, sis. I´ve seen you on stage a number of times and I think you´re a natural. You don´t need to pretend to be something you´re not."
Chichi´s comment brought an astounded smile on her face. Coupled with what both Billy and Lily told her, she could feel the stress going away. They were right... an idea coming to her, she almost wanted to call Angie right now before Chichi reminded her that its 2 am in the morning.
...
Lola arrived into class in the middle of first period and right into Mrs Morter´s class, who wasted no time in wanting to place her in detention. However she had a special permission from the mayor´s office and Morter was forced to drop it. Though not without going into a rant about idiotic mayors and perposterous contests. Lola found herself smirking slightly as she took her seat next to Lily. Most of the boys in class immediately shot Chris a warning glare to which he cowered a bit – remembering to keep quiet as Professor Morter continued her rant. The girls however didn´t seem to care at all, which was uncharacteristic since Morter´s angry rants ussually intimidated them within the first three seconds. In fact, most of them looked far away from reality. When the lesson ended and an extremly pissed Mrs Morter was stomping from the classroom, Lily sighed to herself.
"Poor Professor Philips... I´ll bet you anything that he´ll be getting an earfull in the office."
Lola shook her head.
"Dunno what´s her problem with this. Everyone in Beauvillage is looking forward to the occasion. Well... the mayor isn´t anymore."
"Why? Did something happen?"asked Billy as he came to them.
"He had a phonecall with Mayor La Jolie."she explained and both Lily and Billy sighed deeply.
"Oh no. What did he agree on thistime?"asked Lily in mild exaspiration.
"Apparently the bet has been altered again. Angie told me, that La Jolie said, that the show must also have good cultural quality – not just an air-headed, second-rate beauty show."
Billy sported an uncomfortable look, while Lily was now clearly annoyed.
"That pompous jerk! He´s just goaing Haveitall into giving him advantages. If not for that he would´ve won already. No wonder his son is such a pampered brat!"
Lola sighed and shook her head.
"La Jolie´s strategy is apparently working. The mayor told him that the show will be the most popular contest our country has ever seen."
Billy slapped a hand to his forehead.
"Oh no... that means that La Jolie has already won."
Lola gave a loud sniff.
"No way...! I´m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. We´ll help mayor Haveitall win this bet. Just to wipe that smirk off La Jolie´s face."she said, eyes full of resolve.
While Lily beamed at her best friend, Billy looked very skeptical and looked out the window into the schoolyard, where almost every girl in the school was.
"I´m happy that you´re so fired-up, sweetheart. However I´m not sure the contestants will be so cooperative."
Lola and Lily stood up to look down from the window. Indeed, most girls even from this distance looked very tense and unsure. Their cases of stage-fright seemed even worse than Lola´s was.
"Not good... definitely not good."thought Lola as her eyes scanned the various tense girls.
However there was one thing that chaught her eye – Cherie was standing at the side of the schoolyard. But not with Nina or Zoe, with whom she spent a great number of time for the past year. She was standing with Steve.
"What the...?"she pondered as her eyes narrowed.
"If she´s not up to something, Chichi doesn´t know what a screwdriver is."she thought to herself, carefull not to say anything in front of Billy.
Outside Cherie beamed her warmest smile.
"You are amazing, Stevie."
Steve blushed a deep crimson red and scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Thanks... but Cherie, please... we really don´t have to do it."
Cherie however was preoccupied in looking over her "competition", her eyes flashing dangerously.
"None of them have a chance. Look at them, Stevie... NONE of them deserve my precious Milesey."
Balling her fist and looking determinedly at the other girls, she failed to notice Steve´s hurt look and the deep sigh he took.
"Lucky I have you, Stevie. You remember the plan, right? And you have to make sure no one knows..."
Steve shifted uncomfortably, clearly having reservations about it.
"I don´t know, Cherie... I mean... something like that is not easily done with Chichi around."
Cherie growled a bit at the very mention of the name.
"Come on, Stevie... that little brat is not half as smart as everyone thinks. And anyway there´s no one in Beauvillage smarter than you, Stevie."she said sweetly while placing a hand on his cheek.
Steve´s cheeks once more went crimson red and he found himself shaking a bit, his heart beating so fast, he was almost sure it would punch a hole in his rib-cage. He also noted how close Cherie´s face was to his.
"So...close... just a few milimeters an we´d be..."
The very thought made him turn even redder. Completly mesmerized and acting on pure instinct he started to tilt his head closer towards hers. Before his lips could make contact with hers however Cherie´s eyes flashed making him cringe.
"What the HELL?!"she exclaimed.
"Uh-oh... busted."thought Steve in alarm as Cherie´s eyes were taking on more and more rage.
"You gotta be KIDDING!"
Steve moved his face back a bit and closed his eyes in a grimace, expecting a scold or slap or both.
"Do you see, what I see...?"she growled and Steve opened one of his eyes in question.
Cherie wasn´t looking at him, but over his shoulder. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he turned and looked at the place she was glaring. Immediately his jaw fell down.
"Is that... Candy?!"he exclaimed unable to believe his own two eyes.
Candy was looking absolutely stunning – she only chose a different dress, one that hung closely to her frame. Her mini-skirt revealed her flawless legs, not too long or short – simply perfect. Her long blonde hair positively shined in the sunlight and the small ammount of make-up she applied made her face... well incredibly beautyfull. To cap it all, she moved with a delicate grace and confidence that the other girls today clearly lacked.
Turning his face to Cherie he immediately saw her shaking from pure rage. However trough his years of knowing Cherie he knew that this was only a reaction to a threat.
"Cherie, don´t worry... "he said trying to calm her down.
"Don´t WORRY?! Stevie... how in the world am I supposed to compete against THAT?!"she exclaimed and now Steve was completly sure that her anger was a result of her doubts.
Quickly closing the distance between them and acting on instinct once more he grabbed her in a tight reassuring hug.
"Cherie... you have everything it takes to win the contest. You´re a brilliant girl... you´re capable of doing anything you want."he said quietly and soothingly.
Sure enough her shaking had ceased and he felt her relax into his embrace. He smiled gently as he heared her give out a relieved sigh.
"Thanks Stevie... I really needed to hear that. But I´m not sure if I´ll be able to win without your help..."
Sighing to himself, he knew what that meant. But Cherie´s state right now was making him make up his mind about it in a rapid pace.
"I´ll do it, Cherie... I´ll find a way to help you win round one."he promised as Cherie snuggled into his arms again.
...
Excitement in Beauvillage was reaching its peak as the time for the begining of the contest was coming. National TV vans under the command of Trashbin, who was busy directing the various cameras, making sure the various cameras got every little detail even as a crowd of Beauvillagers both young and old lined up to the High School Auditorium.
"Whoa... amazing... so many people turned out for the live recording."noted Lola as she looked from behind the window at the large crowd outside.
"Tell me about it... I didn´t expect so many... "nodded Angie, who was looking from behind Lola.
"Lucky your little brother and the crew made enough space for the audience."
Lola grinned. She was immensly proud of Chichi and what he was capable of accomplishing with the aid of the small crew he had at his disposal. They worked tirelessly for four days in order to transform the Auditorium into this amazing place, which one only sees in real contests. As the two spun around they saw the working crew finishing the last touches before coming all together infront of Trashbin and Mayor Haveitall, who looked extremely tense. Trashbin however looked incredibly pleased and happy. Unlike the very formally dressed mayor, Trashbin was dressed as though he was going to perform on one of his band´s concerts. Light blue shorts, sneakers, a deep red T-shirt and a black sleeveless leather vest. His light green eyes gleamed at the seven boy crew.
"You have nothing to worry about, Mayor Haveitall. With such an accomplished crew there´s nothing that can go wrong."he said in a soothing voice.
"I hope you´re right, my dear boy. My reputation depends on it."said the poor mayor with a sigh.
Flashing the mayor a reassuring smile, Trashbin turned to the crew.
"Perfect work everyone. Chichi, you and your crew really deserve this."said Trashbin beaming at the seven boys lined up to him while clapping Chichi on the shoulder and passing an envilope to his hand much to everyone´s surprise.
Opening it, Chichi gasped and Phil, who was looking over his shoulder let out a low whistle.
"A 140 bucks?"he asked in wonder and the remaining boys gasped.
Trashbin grinned at them.
"A 20 for each of you. Divide it among yourselfs for your good work."
The boys shared a happy smile and so the money was divided between Chichi, Phil, Billy, Steve, Joe, Maurice and Victor, who joined in eagerly and dispite being the youngest in the group put in as much work as everyone else.
"This is completly awesome, Chichi."exclaimed Victor beaming at him brightly as he passed him the 20 dollar bill.
"You earned it, Vic. I hope I can count on you for the other rounds as well."replied Chichi grinning at his classmate´s younger brother.
The boy befriended Chichi over a year ago, when most of his class learnt more and more of Chichi´s and Phil´s technological exploits – seeing Chichi as a hero of sorts, he took the oppoturnity of getting to know him when Chichi was finally invited to one of his elder brother Oliver´s numerous parties.
"You got it, captain."he exclaimed happily springing into a salute.
"Hope we´re not too late."came an all too familiar voice from the backstage´s door.
The teens along with Mayor Haveitall stared in confusion, but Chichi and Lola goaned. Mom, Pop and Buba came along with Miles. They apparently wanted to dress for the occasion. Pop was dressed in long pale blue trousers, a sewn up black t-shirt and a brightly coloured flanell shirt. On his head was a wierd looking hat, which looked as though it was made by sewing several colorfull hats together and uncharacteristicly he had a round-shaped pair of sunglasses on his eyes. To cap it all, he had his famous rock-guitair strapped over his shoulder. Buba´s dress was a virtual blast from the past, something which was common in the 60´s and associated with the Hippie movement. Mom´s dress however took the cake. A long skirt, which reached down to her ankles and was parted at the side of her legs and one part of it was blood red, the other pale purple. A long-sleeved Tofu jacket, which looked like various squares of multicolored cotton stitched by brightly yellow stitches. Her trademark ponytails were gone. Instead she had her hair made into multiple tight cornrows made by April as Chichi suspected. Miles on the other hand, much like both Trashbin and Weedpatch was dressed in a very punk-rocking style – tight long light-blue pants, black and white sneakers, his black t-shirt which had a picture of some band no one but perhaps Chichi recodnized was covered by a sleeveless slightly torn vest which was obviously made out of the same jean-fabric as his pants. Even his hair was messy and sticking to all sides, his infamous sunglasses gleaming – ironicly, the "bad boy" look suited him incredibly. Lola slapped a hand to her forehead and Chichi goaned loudly, both apparently lost for words. Angie however giggled as she came closer to them.
"You´re just in time. I must say, you look... uniuqe."
"That´s putting it mildly."growled Lola as she moved closer to her little brother and the pair made their way to their parents, even as the other teens except Billy (who chuckled in good-humor) stared, unsure what to make of this.
"Pop... I told you to leave that at home."grumbled Chichi pointing to the guitair.
Pop laughed and clapped Chichi on the shoulder.
"Come on, son... we were young once too, remember? And I really wanted to play today."
"NO!"exclaimed both siblings in alarm.
"Pop, I told you... the music for the first round is pre-set."explained Chichi quickly, hoping to talk his father out of the idea.
"Unless of course, our honourable judge has promised a small change of plan."said Lola while glaring Miles as Billy made his way between her and Chichi.
Miles grinned at her apparently unaware of her glare.
"I didn´t Lola... I just promised the folks a front row view on the round, that´s all."he said good-naturedly.
"A very nice dress, Suzan... brings back memories from my childhood."said Mayor Haveitall while giving Buba a small smile.
As the Tofus started to converse with the Mayor and Miles, Lola took her chance to turn to her brother.
"I thought you were going to make sure, that they´ll stay at home."
Chichi took a deep sigh.
"I tried... but Miles apparently had other plans. I just hope the cameras won´t take them in..."
Billy chuckled slightly as he placed his hands on both of their shoulders.
"Its not so bad, guys... actually I kinda like it."
Both Tofu siblings flashed his an incredulous look but suddenly Billy froze and his jaw fell open.
"Sorry we´re late. Titie here had some trouble buttoning his belt."exclaimed Beth Hubbub mischievously from the door.
"Very funny, dear..."said Titus with a note of swagger as he gripped his belt with both of his hands.
Both Lola and Chichi snorted and had to work hard not to erupt in laughter. The Hubbubs were dressed in what they obviously hadn´t worn from their own teen days. Beth was dressed in a frilly pink skirt and a loose short-sleeved t-shirt with a black grinning cartoon cat on it, contrasting with the pale pink of the shirt. Her hair was made into several small bunches – she looked like an overaged teenager. Titus much like Pop was wearing jeans, but his were wide at the anckles, showing off his fancy pointed brown shoes. Also the aged black wide colarred jacket contrasted with his baby-blue shirt along with his fancy belt and numerous shiny ornaments on a necklace around his neck. Plus he had obviously gone to great lengths to make his hair point from his fore-head in Elvis-style. Billy almost swayed and he clapped a hand to his forehead. Chichi and Lola turned to him and Billy cringed at the sly look the siblings were flashing him.
"Not that bad, sweetie...?"asked Lola in a honey-sweet voice.
"Actually... we kinda like it."added Chichi, unable to keep the mischievous grin off his face even as Billy goaned and blushed in pure embaressment.
As numerous talks ensued Trashbin moved toward Miles.
"Here´s my end of the deal."he said pulling an envilope from his pocket.
Miles took it and immediately looked over the contents discreetly and flashing Trashbin an amazed look.
"HOLY CASH!"he exclaimed.
Trashbin grinned.
"Didn´t expect so much did you?"
Miles took a frantic look around and quickly placed the envilope into his breast-pocket before taking Trashbin by his shoulder.
"Trashbin... this is... mucho-money... king-kongin´, greed-grabbin KILLER. The mayor-man said that it probably wouldn´t fetch much."he said seriously in a whisper.
Trashbin´s eyes twinkled as his grin grew larger.
"The idea was really popular with my Pop and the board. And thanks to Chichi-boy over here and the numerous local businessmen, we haven´t even used 30 percent of the budget for round one. Its the least I could do."
Miles´ face took on an expression of utmost happiness.
"I´m sure you do all you can, Trashbin ol´friend, ol´pal, ol´business partner."he said as he pocketed the envilope and clapped Trashbin on the shoulders numerous times as Trashbin chuckled happily.
"Just make sure to share some of that with Chichi for his amazing work and with Phil for the opening to the contest he made on his computer... another kid that has one hell of a talent."he said, flashing a look at the two boys, just as Chichi was talking to the rest of his crew, dividing the roles they would play during round one to general astonishment, that they would appear on National TV.
Miles grinned.
"Don´t I know it... behold Beauvillage´s awesome twosome."he said proudly.
Trashbin chuckled to himself as he nodded. Suddenly a man in a blue shirt and a set of headphones was running to them.
"Mr Skylark... Mr Skylark..."he yelled as he came in towards them trying to catch his breath.
Most of the others looked confused, except Miles, Chichi, Angie and the Mayor as Martin Skylark – AKA Trashbin smiled at the man.
"Everything is ready, Mr Skylark... the people are all waiting."said the man happily.
Trashbin smiled broadly and nodded.
"In that case, let them in. And get all cameras at the ready. The transmission team as well. Have them play the opening young Phil Conners provided and also add Miles´ introduction."he instructed and the man sprung into an obedient salute.
"Yes sir."
Trashbin smiled good-naturedly at the man´s retreating form, before turning to the others and calling attention to himself.
"Ok, everyone... everyone to their places... its SHOWTIME."
...
Anyone tooning into the NATMA´s broadcast was treated to a magnifiscent opening sketch showing Beauvillage and the numerous people, contrasting with a small rock-styled music that only a few people knew was provided by the band called Dr Quacko. As the scene opened to the site of the outer interiour of Beauvillage High and the numerous Beauvillagers who had excitedly came to enjoy the contest, the voice of Michael Miles sounded – opening the narration.
"Friends, ladies, gentlemen, kids, elders, pets and other animals tooning to the tube... welcome to Beauvillage... Here... today... the epic, awesome and incredible battle is on... the battle for the title of Miss Beauvillage – the most awesome, cute, beautyfull and amaaaazing girl in town. As you can all see, the town is full of excitement as the countdown to the contest went down to zero and the time had come to engage round one... and now I give the word to our Beauvillage narrators – the girls who are already so awesome they don´t need to compete... our Beauvillage´s famous faces – Aaaaangela Haaaaveitallll..."
A loud applause sprang from the interior from the large number of spectators seated on the giant seating area built by Chichi´s working crew. Angie, looking stunning in her black short skirt and a brilliant pink long shirt, her hair let loose and shining in the stage-lights, without her glasses, which gave her a stunning appearance that Rodney Philips gawked on from the backstage, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Smiling broadly, Angie took a small bow and waved to the crowd with one hand, microphone in the other.
"And Beauvillage´s most prized young talent... Looooooooola Tooooofu..."
A similary loud applause rang and Lola had to fight down the blush on her face as she took her place besides Angie and bowed similary.
"Miles, you flatterer."she grumbled in her mind, unsure whether to whack him after the contest or hug him.
Lola was dressed in a brilliant red dress, which she bought from the Cygnuvillian stand and the small ammount of make-up applied by Angie only added to her beauty. She really wanted to have it applied by Lily, but for some odd reason... Lily wasn´t available. Her mother told Lola, that Lily had locked herself in her room, apparently getting a brainstorm for her sequel book. Lola supposed that she´ll have to talk with her about it.
"THAT´S MY SWEET LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD!"
Lola nearly cringed at the sound of Pop´s voice from the front line, which attracted quite a lot of attention from the people seated besides the Tofu elders. However she couldn´t bring herself to be cross with him. Not when she heared and even saw the pure pride radiating from him and even bringing tears of happiness in his eyes as the applause rang. Surpressing a happy smile that was threatening to form on her face, she guided her microphone to her mouth.
"Thank you... thank you, Beauvillagers. Without further ado... its time to start the Miss Beauvillage contest... but first we cannot do so without introducing the three most importaint people in this room."
Angie turned to her as though the two were sharing a leisurely chat somewhere in a café.
"Right you are, Lola. So its time to introduce our three most charming and amazing judges."
Trough the speakers in the hall, controlled by the equalizer which also led the sound into the transmission grid along with the picture, a loud melody from the opening rang and the crowd once more sprang into applause as Angie pointed to the veiled background.
"First of our judges is also our eldest of the three... Beauvillage´s most celebrated teacher, an amazing person, a gifted academic, philisopher and the nicest man in Beauvillage..."
Behind the curtain, Rodney was blushing a deep shade of red, though smiling gently.
"Angie, you little flatterer..."he thought affectionately.
"... PROFESSOR RODNEY PHILIPS!"
At the sound of his name a massive applause combined with girly screams rang out as Rodney Philips stepped out onto the stage.
Dressed loosely in long black pants, a pure white shirt which gave him an official yet still leisure look. His hair was slightly scruffy but in a very boyish manner which suited him naturally. Rodney smiled broadly, waving to the crowd as he approached Angie and Lola, bowing politely to both of the ladies. While Lola returned the bow with a warm smile, Angie quickly bowed her head determined not to let anyone, let alone Rodney see the crimson blush on her face – Rodney´s appearance almost left her swaying and completly speechless wanting nothing more than to throw herself at him in a bear-hug. Angie continued to look at him as he moved towards the judge table built by Chichi and taking his seat. Understanding what was going on, Lola took the microphone and the lead.
"Payback time, Miles."she thought mischievously as she turned to the crowd.
"Our second judge is one of Beauvillage´s mystery men. Beauvillage´s most unpredictable, go-lucky businessman... the man admired not only for his amazing physique but also for his kind heart and helpfull nature. The man, thanks to whom no single day in Beauvillage is ever a dull one. The one... the only... the amazing... MICHAEL MILES!"
From behind the curtain flying in a blur, a person obviously jumped a sommersault and landing on his knees, sliding towards the end of the podium as a thunderous applause almost raised the roof. Girls were screaming in full fan-girl mode as Miles got up to his feet and did a number of poses which were both impressive and funny. Apparently in a euphoria of his own, he cut the distance between himself and the girls in a single mock-elegant swoop. Doing a mock-royal bow he took Angie´s hand and kissed the back of it, sending her into a fit of giggles and then turning towards Lola he took her into his arms and raised her off the ground as he spun her in an overjoyed daze. Setting her down, he flashed her a grin and mouthed a "Thank you". Lola smiled back, seeing that Miles was clearly touched at what Lola said into the mic and even shocked to see a small tear roll from his cheek.
"And our third judge..."started Angie as Miles took his chair.
"... is the Beauvillage´s hero of criminology... the Beauvillage´s most celebrated law-enforcement officer... the famous... the one and only... DETECTIVE FREDERICK WISEMAN!"
From the curtain, Wiseman ran out, tears in his eyes. However his foot got chaught in the curtain and he lost his balance as he tried to make his way to his cousin, determined to hug the life out of her. As he lost his footing he tripped and before he could get to Angie, he sprayed himself on the stage, right between the two narrators. The two girls wasted no time in trying to help him back to his feet, even as the crowd exploded in , who was dressed in grey trousers, a white shirt and a dark-green woolen vest which had several white cube patterns knitted into it, got up. Without his famous sunglasses, Lola realized, that he actually is kinda good-looking. Wasting only a second he hugged Angie in an affectionate bear-hug. Angie chaught the almost tearfull "thank you" he whimpered into her ear and hugged back with equal force. As they parted Wiseman turned to Lola and an awkward second lingered. Only after being ribbed into his back by his cousin did Wiseman extend a friendly hug to Lola as the applause still rang. Once Wiseman seated himself at his seat, the applause died down.
"And now its time to introduce those, whom this contest is really about... dear Beauvillagers, please give a warm welcome to our contestants."
From the side of the large auditorium, the door was opened by Maurice and Joe and a giant number of girls entered to a large applause. All were clearly in their best clothing. Though some wore dresses that were more focused on elegance and others short and revealing. Much like Cherie, who clearly put much pride to her slender figure and her black leather mini-skirt matched her sleeveless top, which had left a part of her right shoulder exposed. Her long shiny black hair was tied in a single ponytail which waved behind her back as she moved and she had applied make-up to her face, crowning with the blood-red lipstick. Steve peeked from behind the stage-curtain and as his eyes found her, he turned as red as her lipstick, opening and closing his mouth as though gasping – the sight taking his breath away. The crowd quieted down as a last person was walking trough the door. Inside, walking in with a sence of confidence came a girl dressed in a brilliant bright, shining blue dress – long-skirted and sleeveless, revealing her slender arms and showing off the numerous blue-colored ornaments around her wrists. Her dark brown hair was shining and made into two equally long ponytails, which hung loosely from her shoulders. On her face was a mask, which was matching the color of her dress and sparkling slightly in the light the atrium provided. Many people drew in their breaths, already knowing WHO this girl was. On the stage, Lola, Angie and the three judges smiled knowing, that this was the mysterious Lis. As a small moment of silence hung, people sprang into applause at the enterance, even some of the fellow-contestants were applausing Lis, others were scrowling at the attention she was getting and two or three asked an importaint question "Why didn´t I think of that?".
In the backstage, staring from behind the curtain Chichi looked besides him to find his best friend completly drooling as he looked at the mystery contestant.
"Chichi... that MUST be an angel."said Phil in a dazed voice not even noticing the confused look his best friend was giving him.
On the stage Lola grinned, recodnizing something about Lis. Looking at Angie, the two shared a look of agreement on NOT bringing anymore attention to Lis – since she was getting enough attention as it was. Clearing her throat, Lola once more guided the mic to her lips as the deafening applause died down.
"Since our contestants are here, its time the rules of round one are explained. As such, I pass the task to our three judges."said Lola to the once more applause as the three judges stood up from the table and came to them.
Miles immediatly took the microphone from Lola.
"My dearest girls... I´m happy so many of you have come. All of you look completly greeeeedilicious and its already clear to me, that deciding which of you will pass and which of you won´t will be an impossible task..."
Suddenly the microphone was yanked out of his hand by Wiseman.
"However this is a contest and only the best can win... I know that you will all do your best, but unfortunately not all can make it past this round..."
Miles yanked the mic from Wiseman and moved closer to the edge of the stage.
"But don´t let my collague´s pessimistic rabble let ya down, dear beauties of Beauvillage... you´re all the flowers of the town. Since this is a contest, let´s all just enjoy this and have some good ol´ fashioned brutal fun!"
As Miles´ comment met with an aprooving wave of cheers and applause, he made several spirited gestures as though he was the star of the show, even as Wiseman made several attempts to take the mic from him, all futile because Miles was jumping and dancing away from his grasp. At this point Rodney placed a hand on Angie´s shoulder and Angie, understanding his silent plea passed the microphone to him.
"Since the objective of round one was a secret, engineered to test you... no one was informed of what are you going to do. But now its time to reveal that secret..."he said catching everyone´s attention.
Under the stage, among her many co-contestants Cherie grinned to herself.
"Not much of a secret to ME, professor."
Indeed, Steve had told her everything that round one was about, giving her a major advantage.
Clearing his throat, Rodney Philips called for silence – something that even Miles and Wiseman complied to with curiosity.
"Now... as perhaps everyone knows by now, this contest was open for any young lady from the age of 17 to the age of 25. While each and every of you are beautyfull and uniuqe, we must first start with something more simple and common. Therefore we decided to make round one an introductionary one. Since there are 60 of you and we can only allow a half to pass, we wanted something, that all of you could do at once, so that we - poor elderly judges..."
A loud humorous laugh rang trough the audience and even some of the contestants laughed humorously at Rodney´s subtle sence of humor.
"... can see and compare who is more talented and charming – henceforth we decided to keep you in the dark to give everyone an equal chance of succeeding. So then... my dear ladies, I now announce, that the round one will be... a DANCE ROUND."
Rodney´s announcement met with shouts of approoval, pleasant surprise and in the case of some of the contestants, trepedation. He waited patiently for the voices to die down before continuing.
"That´s right... a dance round... me and my fellow collagues will judge which ladies stand-out from one another..."
"And with the use of our crew, will be on a look out for any cheating..."said Wiseman, determined to show, that no foul-play will be in this contest.
A small wave of silence came over the auditorium.
"And let me tell you... any cheating will be heavily punished."added Wiseman pointing in a dramatic pose.
"Of course, we trust that not one single among of you will lower herself to such levels."added Rodney swiftly, saving the situation.
"But before we can get to any of that... you girls need to have your numbers, so that we will be able to manage this round sucessfully."said Miles after yanking the mic from Wiseman´s hands.
"For that we have the perfect thing – bring it, Chich!"he exclaimed pointing to the curtain after them.
From the backstage, passing beyond the curtains Chichi and Phil were puching a large wierd-looking machine on its wheels. It looked more like a work-table than anything. Even Angie and Lola looked confounded as the two boys pushed it next to Miles. As soon as they were done, Chichi turned towards the backstage and gave a discreet thumbs-up. In the backstage, Billy returned it and plugged in a cable in his hand – a cable which led to the mysterious machine. Phil was passed a bucket by Victor, who swiftly returned backstage. As Phil began to pour the contents into the table-like machine, the people saw that the bucket held several yellow round balls. As soon as Phil finished, Chichi pulled a lever and a large transparent, glass-like globe covered the place where Phil emptied the bucket. Pulling another lever, he turned on the ventilator which was positioned on the bottom of the machine. Immediately the small balls started to fly around in the bowl-like top of the machine, bouncing from its walls in numerous directions. The crowd immediately got the idea and sprang into a happy and admiring applause.
"This little machine has 60 balls, each bearing a number. Each contestant will come up here, place her delicate hand into the small opening here..."Miles pointed a finger to a small opening on a lower side of the machine.
"... and pick out her number, report it and your name to our crew..."he said pointing to a smaller table on the opposite side of the judge table, where Victor and Steve were already seated.
"As the song starts, you will just have to dance, dance and dance till´ your feet fall off... and when it ends, we will name the thirty numbers who pass round one."exclaimed Miles to general cheer of the auditorium.
"Now ladies... form a line in front of the stairs to the stage. And come one by one to our ball machine."instructed Rodney politely.
His command met with instant compliance as a line was formed accompanied by another applause. As the first girl, dressed stunningly came to the machine, nervous and unsure what to do, Chichi flashed her a kind smile.
"Just place your hand into the opening and grab a ball."he said and chuckled as the elder girl shot him a "Is is safe" look.
"Don´t worry, it won´t hurt you."offered Phil kindly.
Taking a deep breath, she did so... placing a shaking hand into the opening while closing her eyes, as though she thought her hand was going to get bitten off, experiencing a small sensation of the rubber balls gently bouncing off her hand instead. With a small giggle, her fear left her instantly and she grasped for a ball – once suceeding, she pulled out a yellow ball with a red number 29. Turning around, she showed the ball to the audience which immediately cheered. Chichi smiled his infamous smile and directed her to the table where Steve and Victor were sitting. Walking over happily, her confidence renewed the girl started to show her number and announced her name to the two boys, who wrote it down on a piece of paper.
As they did, a small sharp flash illuminated both them and the girl. Though looking mystified for a brief second, the girl moved away as the crowd sprang into another applause to the other contestant, who picked her number and she moved away from the table, past the now seated judges, flashing them a blushing smile as she stepped down from the stage and stood separated from the line of her fellow contestants. As another girl, younger than the first one came up to place her name, another flash flashed.
"Perfect positioning. We´ll be able to get enough photos from here."muttered Tex in the hiding place in the backstage, a photo-camera in his hands.
"That´s awesome, brother. Make sure you get all of them so we can file the information for our investigation."said Archie from beside him, clearly pleased with how well this is going.
Pulling out his walkie-talkie he placed it to his mouth.
"Wise Team One reporting. Brother Nick, everything is going as planned."
A small moment lingered, then the walkie-talkie sounded with a reply.
"Wise Team One, I read you. Keep up the work. And for God´s sake tell Tex to turn off the flash on the camera, its flashing on the stage."came Nick´s voice.
"I can´t, brother Nick... the flash switch is busted, probably got damaged the last time when we fell down."said Tex into the walkie-talkie, while still keeping his eyes out for what was going on on the stage.
From the other side of the walkie, the two heared a small slap and a girl´s voice saying "Figures". The two shared a confused look before looking over to the other side of the backstage, where the form of Nick was crouched behind one of the machines, a hand on his forehead. However standing next to him was a girl. Recodnizing her instantly Tex and Archie grinned at eachother.
"Guess you were right about Mia, brother Archie."said Tex in a snicker.
"Yup, it must be love."he said, as they once more allowed their sights to linger on the pair.
"Stop oggling at us and watch the damn stage! That´s an ORDER!"said the annoyed voice trough the walkie and the pair immediately jumped and resumed their work.
Still grumbling and slightly blushing Nick turned back to the stage, binoculars in hand as he heared a small giggle behind him.
"Nice. Very authoritative."commented Mia in appretiation.
Nick was glad, that she couldn´t see his face for the blush was intensifying.
"Yeah well... we´re not here for fun..."he said before placing the binoculars to his eyes.
Mia rolled her eyes.
"If you think, perving with binoculars isn´t fun..."
Nick immediately rounded on her.
"What´s THAT supposed to mean?!"
Mia crossed her arms and scrowled.
"Exactly what I said, you pervert! Don´t think I forgot that little "evidence gathering" of yours."
Rolling his eyes and goaning, Nick looked at her very seriously.
"I told you, that we´re investigating that Secret Admirer of brother Fred´s."
Mia narrowed her eyes at him.
"And you think its my air-headed sister?!"
Nick sniffed in a defiant way.
"Until the evidence points otherwise, EVERYONE is a suspect. Even you!"
Mia´s eyes flared.
"What´s THAT supposed to mean?!"
Nick fixed her with a calculative look.
"Exactly what I said, blondie. It could as well be you and you´re only here to divert attention from yourself, so that we´ll fail to get the eveidence."
Mia´s jaw fell open and a look of revulsion appeared on her face.
"You´re dumber than I thought... and that´s saying a LOT. ME and WISEMAN?! You have to be out of your mind!"
Nick now turned toward her, ready for a fight.
"That´s DETECTIVE Wiseman, you stuck-up cow! And who knows... I mean, why else would you be here in the first place."
Their eyes locked in a deadly combat, they failed to notice their faces coming closer, until their foreheads bumped. However neighter took any notice of this as their eyes were still locked, each determined to make his point.
"Let´s get one thing straight, you long-nosed dumb-ape... The ONLY reason why I wanted to come here was, because unlike the others in class, I want to be as close to the action as possible and there´s no other place closer than this. I have absolutely NO interest in your "Brother Fred" and even less interest in YOU! I´m only tagging along with you because right now I have no other choice if I want to be close to the going-ons!"
Nick growled and was about to retaliate, when the walkie-talkie chimmed again.
"Woah guys. Look at the stage..."came Archie´s voice which appeared to be amazed, even as a deafening cheer sounded in the auditorium.
Looking at the stage Nick and Mia saw, that Candy had just stepped up to the mix-machine. She looked amazing, capturing the attention of many boys and even the crew oggled a bit. However both Lola and Phil flashed a worried look at Chichi as Candy approached them.
Both very much remembered, that Candy was his first crush and just how his first date ended. Chichi however now looked completly normal, he even flashed a small smile on Candy, who appeared to be in her element on the stage.
"Well... hand inside, Candy..."
Candy smiled brightly at him.
"Thanks, Chichi..."she said, as she complied with the instruction.
As she picked out a number and moved towards the table with number 11, Phil flashed Chichi a confused look. Chichi grinned at him.
"I told you guys - I´m over her."he said quietly.
Phil returned the grin and Lola, though not hearing what he said, deduced that everything was fine and breathed out a sigh of relief.
In the backstage Mia huffed.
"Look at her... dressed up like some idiotic doll. Only a fool would EVER like her..."
However as she looked at Nick, she found with horror, that Nick was keeping the binoculars on his eyes and looking at her direction. In one instant, she slapped him over the head hard.
"OW! What was THAT for?!"he exclaimed grimacing in pain.
"Stop checking-out my sister, you sick pervert!"she growled as she reached for his binoculars and grasped at them.
"I wasn´t checking her out, you overreacctive blondie! I was checking-out the reactions of the judges and the body language..."
"Body language?! You perv-monkey! Give me those binoculars!"she exclaimed as she pulled on the pair of binoculars but Nick had firm grip on them.
"No way, blondie! I need them for..."
"PERVING! GIVE ME THOSE RIGHT NOW!"
"Forget it!"
The small tuggle war, lasted only for a moment, however Nick´s footing gave out and he lost his balance just as Mia gave an all-mighty tug. Falling towards Mia, he let go of the binoculars in orger to break their fall and Mia, who let out a small squeal fell backwards, the binoculars flying out of her hands. As they flew across the place, they hit into a machine placed at the wall. A small sound of breaking was heared and a few sparks shot out of the machine, but neughter Nick or Mia paid any attention to it as they were now sprawled on the ground with Nick on top of her, the sound of their fall masked by the applause coming from behind the closed curtain. As the two goaned from the fall, they opened their eyes and realized the position they were in. Instantly a deep-red blush appeared on both of their faces, which were relatively close to eachother. For a moment, time seemed to stand still for them as they looked into eachother´s eyes, unsure at what to do, or what to make of the explosion of feelings in their hearts – feelings they weren´t able to decipher in such a fast pace...
For a second both surveyed the other with curiosity, as though seeing something, that they failed to see in all the time they´d known eachother. Their hearts beating fast, they reacted on instinct – something was drawing them closer, they tilted their heads closer...
"Brother Nick, you gotta scram... Billy and Joe are going back into the backstage."sounded Archie´s alarmed voice from the walkie-talkie, snapping the pair out of their trance.
Scrambling from the ground, they swiftly mae their way into their hiding place and just made it as Billy and Joe returned from the stage. During the time as Nick watched out for any activity going on in the backstage, Mia took a few moments to catch her breath, her heart still beating franticly.
"Ok... they´re going back to the stage. Wait here... I gotta go get my binoculars."he said hurriedly and without another word, he made for the machine that the binoculars hit.
Mia in the meantime was still trying to catch her breath, placing her palm on her heart she took a deep sigh.
"What the HELL is THIS feeling?"she asked herself just as Nick returned with the damn binoculars.
...
The crowd gave a yet another cheer as the last, 60th contestant had gotten her number and Chichi and Phil wasted no time in getting the machine back into the backstage. As the girl came down to join her fellow-contestants – all of them now wearing their numbers on their clothes, the two narrators once more adressed the crowd.
"Now that everyone has their numbers our dear judges can get to work."said Angie as she and Lola moved toward the judge table.
"Please do tell us, how will you pick out the girls who will pass the round."asked Lola curiously as she passed the microphone to the first judge – Rodney Philips.
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, each of us judges has a vote. And each of us has hos own way of picking out the person we feel our vote belongs to. I for instance, have devised a small table, where I will mark off the the attributes I feel that the winner should have."he said, showing a writing-table to the crowd – the teacher side of him showing its face.
The crowd cheered and the girls shared a look as he passed the microphone to Wiseman.
"I will need no other tool than my ingenious Detective observation skills."said Wiseman proudly.
With a yet another cheer, the microphone was passed to Miles. Miles jumped on the table and made a wild gesture as though embracing the crowd to a yet another cheer.
"I will be watching all of the beautyfull girls with my trained eye... girls..."he said, jumping from the table and coming infront of the contestants.
"To score major points with me, all you need to do... is be yourselfs... Don´t be afraid... show me yourselfs, proudly and without shame... your free and youthfull spirits... just LET ´EM LOOSE!"
The hall sprung into a loud and happy cheer. Lola approached Miles´ side and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. Nodding, Miles passed the microphone to her.
"With that much said, contestants get ready... in 15 minutes round one is begining."she bellowed into the mic and the auditorium once more sprang into applause.
"Aaaaaaand CUT!"exclaimed Trashbin, before turning to one of his men.
"Play the commertials"he instructed before he took his position by Angie´s side on the stage.
Taking the microphonefrom her, he adressed everyone in the auditorium.
"Amazing job, everyone... Weŕe having a 15 minute break and I would like to ask our lovely ladies to go back into the back room and prepare themselfs for the dance round, please."
Noding almost as one, the girls made their way into the back-room.
Turning towards them, he fixed Lola and Angie with an overjoyed smile.
"I gotta hand it to you girls... amazing narrating... we were right to put you to the position."he said smilingly to them.
"Thanks Trashbin."said Angie blushingly.
"Yup... thank you, Mr Skylark."said Lola mischievously.
Trashbin laughed and winked at Lola.
"It was my pleasure, Ms Tofu."he said, kissing the back of her hand with a level of noblesse.
Turning toward the crew, who had run into the stage he smiled.
"Ok kids... we gotta get the stuff prepared for the dance. Chichi..."
Chichi nodded happily before turning to the other boys.
"Ok... as everyone knows, let´s make sure that everything in the back is prepared."he said to general agreement of the others.
As most ran off to perform their duties, Billy, Chichi and Phil came to Lola and Angie.
"I knew you´d be a natural... awesome narrating, sis."said Chichi happily, flashing his sister a tenthousand-watt smile.
Lola wasted no time in embracing her brother.
"You were right... thanks for your vote of confidence. And the idea you gave to me."she said kissing his cheek affectionately, as he chuckled.
"Always happy to help you, sis."he said snuggling into the embrace with obvious affection.
Most of the crowd gave a affectional "awwwwww". Mom´s eyes watered in happiness, as Pop placed his arm around her shoulders while looking at his offspring with undeniable pride. Buba was smiling gently, her eyes showing with obvious love for her grandchildren. April, seated besides her smiled brightly, happy for the tho siblings.
"Heh... I wish I had a sibling like that."breathed Chloe wathing the scene with longing eyes.
April turned to her and placed an arm around her shoulder.
"I sometimes wish that too..."
Chloe chuckled at that.
"Don´t lie to me, April. You wish it was YOU in Lola´s place right now."
April blushed but looking back at the siblings, smiled gently.
"I do... really I do..."
As the pair separated and Chichi with a boyish grin ran off to the backstage, Billy approached Lola and placed an affectionate kiss on her cheek.
"Picking up where your dear brother left off..."he said before planting a passionate kiss on her lips, not paying any attention to all the "awwwws", "oooohs" and various wolf-whistling coming from the crowd.
"You are amazing in this, my love... Natural, charizmatic... and ... incredible."he whispered lovingly to his beloved Lola.
Lola gave him an overjoyed smile before catching his lips in another kiss.
"All thanks to the two boys I love with all my heart."she said referring to him and her brother, Billy taking the comment with much affection.
Suddenly their moment was disturbed by Chichi running onto the stage.
"Trashbin! C´mon here... we got a problem."he said in a daze of urgency.
Everyone including the judges hurried into the backstage right after Chichi, who looked in a state of panic.
As they came to a halt, they saw that Chichi was leaning towards one of the numerous machines by the wall.
"Its completly busted."exclaimed Chichi pointing to a dent on the machine.
"Which one is it?"asked Trashbin in worry.
"The music machine, which was supposed to play the dance song for the round."
"OH-NO!"exclaimed Miles-
"This is CLEARLY sabotage! You sure, you have nothing to do with this, young Chichi?"
Wiseman´s question insighted feelings of incredulity, curiosity and outrage from Miles, the crew, Lola and even Rodney.
"You´re NOT serious, Detective Wiseman!"exclaimed Lola in half-anger at the implication Wiseman was giving.
"Well... his position gives him enough oppoturnity to do so..."
Rodney sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"And tell me, Fred... what possible motive would Chichi have for sabotaging the event."
As Wiseman struggled to came up with an answer, Chichi scanned the machine.
"Can it be fixed?"asked Miles looking over his shoulder.
"Yes. But no sooner than a day... its completly busted..."
The others gasped and looked at eachother.
"Oh no... what now?"asked Angie fearfully.
"I´m ruined!"exclaimed the mayor.
"Dad, stop talking like that!"countered Angie as her father grabbed his head in frustration.
"Oh yes I am, my sweet child. Its the clown suit for me."
Chichi thought to himself for a moment, then his face brightened up – something which reflected on the faces of the others, knowing well that the genius-boy had figured out a solution.
"Mr Philips... are those music instruments from the last play still here?"he asked, remembering the last High school play, where his big sis starred and which had a live band playing the music.
Philips thought to himself.
"Yeah, in the storage room of the auditorium."he said, and his face brightened up as he looked at Trashbin and chaught on to Chichi´s idea.
"Here are the keys – Principal Whiterose gave a copy to all the teachers."he said, throwing the keys to Chichi.
Catching them, he turned to his crew.
"Allright, guys... let´s get those instruments on the stage. Lola, can you call Pop and Ralph?"
Lola looked inquiringly at her brother.
"Why... oh no... Chichi..."she breathed getting the idea.
Needless to say... she wasn´t very fond of it. Chichi however turned to Trashbin, who also grasped at what was the idea.
"Get Weedpatch... and Miles... I can count on you too, right?"he asked Miles as Angie nodded and left the backstage in a flash.
Chichi smiled back at thim, as the boys, Phil in the lead left towards the Auditorium´s storage room.
"Trashbin... I leave everything to you guys."
...
As the 15 minute break was over and the contestants lined up onto the dance-floor. Lola and Angie happily stepped up as another cheer boomed the auditorium.
"Welcome back... now we´ve had a slight technical problem, but thanks to our crew´s amazingly swift actions we´re back on track."announced Lola happily.
"Right you are Lola. As you have no doubt have noticed, we have one judge missing in here..."said Angie, indicating to a place at the judge´s table, where Miles was absent.
"You see... originally the contestants should be dancing to a modern hit-song..."explained Lola and down in the crowd Cherie cringed.
Steve had told her everything – including which song. He even went as far as to enter HER favourite song for the dance round – a song which wasn´t easy to dance for. However for some reason, something had gone wrong and now she had to rely on herself – she was not encouraged by this. However most of the other girls looked discouraged themselfs.
"... instead we´ve cooked up something, which will make the contest even more fun and a treat of sorts for you viewers. And so, I give word to judge Miles."
As applause drowned Lola´s comment as she moved towards the closed curtain. As silence hung in the auditorium Lola passed the mic trough the opening in the curtain. Even Angie moved out of the way and the lights dimmed.
Suddenly the stage-light shone on the middle of the curtain, where it spread. Miles´ head popped out and the crowd nearly laughed, because he had his hair styled into an elvis look, obviously shaped with hair-gel. Grinning broadly, he brought the microphone to his mouth.
"Heeeey Beauvillage... I know that like me, you guys were all wondering..."
First notes of music started to play slowly on an electric guitair, as the crowd drew in their breaths.
"... which girl is the best dancer in Beauvillage...well... its time we find out... HIT IT!"
At Miles´ command, the stage curtain burst open (opened by Phil and Chichi), revealing a band – a real live band starting their song...The crowd went wild in one second as Miles, who brandished a saxaphone as he once more brought the microphone up.
"As I already said to you lovely ladies, show us your true selfs... let it looose... and to help you, we´ve cooked up this little song... so... so girls... Show me what´cha got..."
Instantly he started to play a cheerfull melody on the saxaphone as the rest of the band joined in – Trashbin on the bass, Weedpatch on the drums and Pop and Ralph on the guitairs. The contestants instantly went into a kind of transe and started to dance as a good old-fashioned rock song rang trough the Beauvillage High´s Auditorium. Trashbin stood behind his microphone and started to sing in a deep voice.
All of ´em are lovely, all of ´em are cool.
Some think I am crazy, some think I´m a fool.
But tell ´ya what dear people, got an awesome plan.
Find which one is top-best, trust me that we caaaan.
Miles subtly added several small tones from his saxaphone, adding to the crowd´s and the contestant´s excitement. Many including the two Tofu ladies along with April, Chloe, Emily and other members of both Chichi´s and Lola´s classes already risen up from their seats and clapped in beat to the song.
Weeeell then lovely ladies, guide my little eyes.
Show me your true beauty, everything that´s nice.
Eagerly I´m watching, caaamera in my aaaarms.
Falling as a victim, to your pretty chaaaaarms.
Jumping towards the microphone, Pop, Ralph and even Miles sang along with Trashbin as the song sprang into the chorus.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what I´ve never seeeeen.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what´cha got.
Who... is... Beau - viiillage... QUEEEEEEEEN!
Jumping from the microphone, Miles once more slid on his knees towards the end of the podium, saxaphone in arms, playing a solo - a melody, which had the entire Auditorium in a grip of euphoria, even as he moved, jumped and danced along with the others on the stage.
"This is so coooool!"roared a completly overjoyed Chloe as she, April and Emily jumped up and down in a three-way hug.
"Its refreshing to see my sweet pine-tree so... in-tune with his instrument again."screamed Mom to Buba in order to be heared over the music and the joyfull cheering.
Both of them smiled, as on the stage Pop stepped up and started to play a guitair solo to pair up with Miles´ saxaphone – the two men happily playing along with the other, switching over which instrument had the dominance and filling up eachother´s gaps as the crowd positively roared, unable to contain themselfs.
"I always said, its a shame he gave up the stage."said Buba, smiling radiantly at her son-in-law and thinking affectionately of one other talented musician, who DID follow his dream at the cost of her love – also knowing the reason WHY Jacob Tofu gave up his would-be musical career, something that got her everlasting respect for him.
At the judge´s table, Wiseman and Rodney found their job both harder to do, and yet... everything seemed to come into place as they spied the girls who were dancing underneath the podium. Rodney now really appretiated the idea of young Chichi Tofu – the boy was truly a genius.
The girls indeed were not only unstressed, but in the wake of the song, all of them were really showing their true selfs in their dancing. Some like Cherie, Candy or Julie clearly stood out from the rest, showing in their wonderous spirit, beauty and energy. Also, he fixed his eyes on the mysterious Lis and for some reason was pleased to see, that she was also exhibiting something some of the other girls clearly lacked – a sort of a spark – the elegance in her moves as she danced to the song, completly overjoyed.
"Well, Fred... I see my favourites... I´ve already written them down."he said turning to Wiseman.
However Wiseman was scarcely paying any attention. He was moving from side to side on his seat, his arms franticly waving in all directions, an expression of utmost happiness on his face as he allowed himself to be completly taken in by the song.
In the backstage, a hiding Nick watched in wonder along with Mia. The entire band using the stage meant, that they had less places to hide and less places to move as they were attempting to gather evidence. Now, crouching from behind a machine, Nick was staring wide-eyed, a dumbfounded expression on his face, not even noticing that Mia was standing right behind him, her palms on his shoulders as she attempted to take a better look at what´s going on over Nick´s head.
"Can you believe it, Nick? They actually like it!"she exclaimed in wonder, though truth be told... she liked it as well.
"Amazing."he breathed before taking out his walkie-talkie.
"Guys... guys... we have nothing more to do here now, let´s..."
However, he heared laughing and even a small cheer from the walkie. Looking over the other side of the stage, he saw that his two brothers were dancing to the song, cheering, jumping up and down and even dancing along with eachother in complete euphoria.
"TEX! ARCHIE! GET THE HELL BACK IN HERE, THAT´S AN ORDER!"he yelled into the walkie, but it didn´t have any effect.
"Go get ´em, Nick! We gotta scram before they find us."advised Mia, knowing that when the song ends, everyone will return to the backstage and increacing the chance of them getting chaught.
Nodding, Nick carefully made his way towards the other side of the backstage, darting past various machines, switching positions in order to prevent anyone to see him and even doing a few roll-overs in order to swiftly move from place to place. Something, which actually chaught the attention of Mia.
"Wow... he IS kinda athletic..."she thought with a small blush.
Suddenly the music ceased and Nick swiftly puched hiself to the floor.
Trashbin started to kick in beat and Miles made clapping motions with his hands – the crowd and contestants catching quickly and following the instruction. The girls competing stopped their dancing and jumped up and down while clapping as Miles adressed them.
"My lovely ladies... you have shown amazing dancing and while I would dearly love to put all of you up for nomination..."
He paused to allow a approoving cheer fill the hall.
"...this is a contest afterall... some of you chaught my eyes, some did not... but that doesn´t mean, that you´re not awesome... we had a lot of fun right now and that´s what really counts here... so those who will not make it past this round... you´ve gave it your all and that´s all what anyone could´ve asked for – you should be proud of yourselfs... those that DID... I look forward to seeing all that you´ve got..."
Another loud cheer filled the hall and everyone instantly knew, that whether pass or fail, there would be no hard feelings.
"Before we get to the pleasant or unpleasant task of announcing those who pass... let´s have a bit more of dancing... and let´s all sing along..."he said before crouching a bit lower as to be closer to the girls and he began singing in a soft voice.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what I´ve never seeeeen.
The last part sung by nearly everyone in the auditorium. Miles gave a small signal to the band and Pop, Ralph and Trashbin joined in with a few subtle toons as Miles gave people another signal and pointed the microphone towards the crowd, listening to them sing.
Show me what´cha got.
Show me what´cha got.
"WHO"he exclaimed loudly with the crowd.
"IS"exclaimed Phil and Chichi joining in.
"BEAU-"roared Angie and Lola.
"-VILLAGE"screamed Wiseman and Rodney.
"QUEEEEEEEEEEEN!"yelled the entire Auditorium, the sound carrying troughout all of Beauvillage.
As the band sprang into life again, the chorus went once more, with everyone singing, Nick lifted himself up from the floor and ran towards Tex and Archie, who were once more dancing and singing.
"Come on you idiots, let´s get outta here!"he screamed at the dancing pair.
"Wait ´till the song ends, brother."exclaimed Tex, still dancing.
"Come on, brother Nick... Join in..."screamed Archie jovially as he grabbed Nick by the arm, determined to have him join in the dance.
"Let me go!"yelled Nick, as he tried to wrench his arm out of Archie´s grasp.
However Tex apparently shared Archie´s opinion and swiftly grabbed Nick´s other arm. As both of them pulled at the same time, Nick was chaught off guard and the combined strength of the two yanked him off his feet. And theirs too. The trio flew backwards towards one of the wooden slopes of a construction, which the High School used for school plays. As they flew into the slope the combined weight did its job and with a cracking sound, the slope broke. Masked by the cheers and the music no one other than Mia noticed, but as the pair distangled themselfs, the construction shook and several cracking sounds were heared. Realizing what was innevitebly about to come, the trio ran across the backstage like mad, reaching Mia who was looking curiously at the wood construction even as the trio dashed for the door. Realizing, that she had not moved, Nick swiftly moved and grabbed Mia´s hand. Startled for a second, her eyes met his and she felt her cheeks heat. Having no time for anything else, Nick yanked her hand.
"Come on... let´s get outta here!"he exclaimed as the song ended and a powerfull applause drowned out the cracking sounds.
Nodding, Mia swiftly ran out with Nick still hand in hand.
On the stage, the band was bowing as everyone in the Auditorium wasted not a second to express their more than approoving opinion of the song. Lola and Angie swiftly moved infront of them, followed closely by Rodney and Wiseman.
"Thank you... that was the most... amazing song, I have ever heared."said Angie into the microphone as the crowd once more cheered.
The performers rewarded her with their blushing and sheepish grins and smiles.
"Its nice to see, that Beauvillage has not only gifted youngsters but also cool and gifted adults too."said Lola, smiling brightly at her father, who returned her a blushing but radiant smile.
"Well now... the time has come for the three judges to announce the lucky ladies, which will continue to round two."said Angie, mindfull of what was still ahead of them.
The three judges converged in a small group and they spoke to eachother in low voices, Rodney providing the overview of the girls´ dancing to confirm his views with his two collagues – a wave of silence gripping the Auditorium.
"I never would´ve guessed, that Miles can play like that – like a real pro."remarked Phil to Chichi as the pair were still standing next to the empty judge´s table, surveying the scene.
Chichi chuckled happily.
"Not many people know it, but Miles was actually one of the founding members of The Jumpers – along with his best friend Roger, they put the band together when they were 16. Roger told me, that he played not only the saxaphone, but also the piano and bass. He also co-writed some of their first songs, like the song I have as my ring-tone on my cell-phone."
Phil gasped at his best friend´s explanation and looked over at Miles with new-found respect.
On the stage the three men separated, and turned towards the crowd and the competing girls. Taking a microphone from Lola, Miles started to adress the crowd.
"My dear, lovely, awesome, beautyfull ladies... we have the honour of announcing the 30 girls who made it past the dance round..."
Suddenly an all-mighty crack sounded from behind them and before any of them could turn to look, several large wooden pieces fell down on the backstage floor with a loud bang. One after another in a few seconds the entire wooden theatre construction fell down, breaking into pieces and raising a cloud of dust. The crowd held their breaths and a deathly silence gripped the entire auditorium. As the dust settled, everyone was able to see the broken pieces of wood, the backstage looking like it was recently demolished by a bulldozer though thankfully, not one of the machines suffered any kind of damage. As the wave of silence lingered, Miles gave out an overjoyed whoop surprising everyone.
"Look at that people..."he exclaimed happily pointing to the rubble.
"WE BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN!"
Miles´ exclamation was followed by a loud all-consuming cheer, that shook the entire town of Beauvillage.
...
