Hey, guys, I'm back with another chapter. I hope you like it.

Kyle, the Pageant King

Chapter 12

Sheila shook her head slightly as she sat in front of Kyle in their garage. He was running through his Casual Wear routine under her watchful eye, but he seemed to be really phoning it in; he was even more off the beat than usual, and he wasn't looking the imaginary judges in the eye.

"Walk a bit faster! Remember the time limit!" she called, and Kyle did so, but now he was apparently going too fast, and she wasted no time in telling him so.

Kyle kept the smile on his face as he continued walking. It seemed that no matter what he did, he was doing it wrong. His turns were either too sharp or not sharp enough, he was either stepping too far out, or not stepping out far enough. One minute, his smile was too fake, and the next, it needed to be bigger and brighter. He breathed heavily through his nose, concentrating on not gritting his teeth. 'One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four', he counted over and over in his head, as a way of keeping time. Honestly, what did she want from him?

"Kyle, focus!" came her voice. "Look at the judges, come on! Look them in the eye; you're not looking at them." She sighed again. "Head up. Head up, how many more times do I have to tell you?"
Kyle lifted his chin, but Sheila still wasn't happy. "Keep the head up. Keep it up. What do I have to do, put a book on your head?"

Kyle kept quiet, knowing that she would only get worse if he spoke up. Her demands could be over over the music, and it all began beating around his head. How was he supposed to concentrate and hear the music and keep track of his allotted 'stage' time when all he could hear was her voice, constantly telling him what he was doing wrong? Spot the judges, Kyle, make your turns smoother, Kyle; keep the energy up, Kyle; do it again, Kyle...

"I know!" Kyle snapped without meaning to. Instantly, he regretted it, as Sheila turned the music off and turned to face him, her gaze hard.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was low. "Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me."

"I – I just know what I'm doing, that's all I meant."

"Well, you clearly don't, do you, otherwise I wouldn't have to keep reminding you."

"But I do."

"Well, then why aren't you doing it right? Tell me, Kyle."

"I – well, I..." Kyle actually did not have an answer for that, and he looked around the garage, as if something in there would help him.

"Exactly. Now, come on, do it again. Start from the beginning, and this time, make sure you look at the judges."

Kyle sighed and bit the insides of his cheeks as Sheila started the music again, and he headed back to the side of the garage.

Absent-mindedly, Kyle dawdled behind his mother as they, plus Tony, made their way across the lobby to the ballroom where the pageant was in full swing.

When they entered the room, it was clear that the Talent round was still going on, so Kyle had a fair bit of time to sit and watch and try to relax before the next category started.

Unable to spot Jake or Brianna, he leaned against the wall and silently watched the proceedings, resisting the urge to cross his arms. He always felt a little bit down when he finished his Talent routine; it was the only time he got to do something fun.

"Okay, that was Desiree with her amazing miming! Wasn't she great?" The emcee enthused as Desiree, in all her black and white stripes and face paint, mimed climbing out of a box, and bowed deeply as the audience clapped and cheered. Desiree got off stage, and ran over to her parents, both of whom embraced her proudly. "Please welcome our next performer in the 13 – 15 age category: Nevaeh Bolderson!"

Kyle clapped along with everyone else as Nevaeh stepped onto the stage, and smiled at the audience.

"Hello, everybody," she said into the microphone.

Her dress was unlike anything Kyle had ever seen; it was the colour of champagne with a ruffled neckline, and had cream and pink pearl-studded bows going down the bodice. The lacy, flounced sleeves and full, layered skirt gave the illusion that she had just stepped out of the 18th century. It was quite something to behold. "My name is Nevaeh, and I'm going to sing 'Nessun Dorma'."

She put the mic back in the stand and placed it aside as the music started.

Kyle's jaw dropped as she began to sing, as did practically everyone else. Opera was not his type of music, and he wouldn't willingly listen to it if you paid him. No, it was the fact that this young girl was filling this huge room on her room with her full, rich operatic soprano, no microphone needed. How did she do it?

As she continued to sing, the crowd applauded and cheered, led by her family, he couldn't help but feel jealous. There was no way he was going to win over her. Once again, a wave of resentment washed over him, and he felt awful, but he couldn't help feeling bummed out. This was some real competition, and he was already sick and tired of feeling jealous over it. Kyle frowned to himself. Why was he such a terrible person?

'You can't win it every time; it wouldn't be fair', he told himself as the aria reached its crescendo, willing the green eyed monster inside him to go away. Kyle reasoned that there were many other contestants who wanted it just as much as he did, and he in no way deserved to win over everyone else there. Kyle had to remind himself that he wasn't better than anyone else. It was time for someone else to shine.

So, he forced himself to smile and clap when Nevaeh finished, and stepped off stage.

Sheila applauded her, along with the other parents in the audience. Like her son, a jolt of disappointment coursed through her; Kyle probably wasn't going to win the Talent round.

"She was good," said Kara, one of her close friends.

"She really was; she could win," Sheila replied, as the next contestant stepped on stage.

"She could; maybe the whole thing," said Renee, her voice low so as not to disrupt the act. "I'm gonna have to step up Brooklyn's game. "

Kara had to agree – about stepping up her own daughter's game, that is. She was planning to see Kim, one of the other mothers, that night; she was selling some of her daughter Riley's costumes, and Kara was in the market for new outfits. She did not mention this to her friends, however; Riley had some of the best costumes on the circuit; they would surely give her own daughter an edge. If everyone knew that Kim was selling them, there wouldn't be any left, and her child would not stand out.

Sheila, of course, was always on the lookout for new costumes, but she kept quiet about it, as well. Despite most of her pageant friends having daughters, she didn't want to give too many secrets away; Kyle wouldn't be the best if she did that, and she had worked hard to get him to this level.

There was really nothing she could do about the Talent round; Kyle was learning new tricks all the time, but the crowd loved it when he spun the ball on his finger, so that move stayed, no matter what. He had even learnt how to raise his arm in the air, with the ball still spinning, and also how to twist his arm inwards and around, while still keeping the ball spinning.
It was just bad luck, but there was always hope for another Supreme title, maybe one that awarded a big cash prize.

"Maybe I'll ask Susan if she's got any tips for better hair," mused Renee. Perhaps a new hair stylist, or even a new hairpiece could help push her daughter closer to that top title.

"That's a good idea; I might do that. She does good makeup, too. Well, when you've been in the business as long as she has, you're bound to be good at your job."

"Definitely one of the best I've seen," Renee nodded. "Oh!" As if struck by something, she turned to Sheila. "Is it true that Kyle wears coloured contact lenses?"

"What?" Sheila smiled in disbelief.

"Oh, just that Diane said that. She said that it's easy for your kid to win "Best Eyes" when he's got coloured lenses in."

"Kyle puts up a fight when we put eyeliner on him; there's no way I could get a contact in his eye!" she laughs. "No, he doesn't wear them," she clarified, "and he doesn't wear a wig, either," she added, having heard some jealous mothers mutter things like that "quietly" behind her back during a few crowning ceremonies. Not that it bothered her; in fact, it made her feel proud – people obviously thought her son was too good to be true, and she couldn't help but feel smug.

"Hey, Kyle!" Brianna ran up to him when the competition had finished. The ballroom was swarming with people anxious to get out for a few hours of fun and relaxation before the crowning ceremony started, and they stood to the side of the double doors to avoid being herded away.

"Hey." He had to raise his voice a little to be heard over the blaring pop music.

"Now that we've got time, will you show me how to spin the ball on my finger, like you do?" she begged, clasping her hands together. He had to smile at her eager face.

"Okay," he agreed. "Let me just go upstairs and change. I'll get my ball and meet you back here."

"Okay, yay! I'll be right back!" She had barely finished her sentence before she was tearing off down the hall.

Laughing at her exuberance, Kyle saw Sheila and Tony waiting for him at the end of the corridor, and they all headed up to their rooms. Kyle wasted no time in getting changed, and felt a sense of relief when he put his hat on, hiding his hair. He scrubbed his face clean, revelling in the feeling.

"I'll be downstairs!" he called, grabbing his basketball.

"What are you doing?" Sheila asked, turning from where she was hanging up his suit.

"I'm going to see my friends."

"Well, okay, just make sure you're back in time for Tony to redo your hair and makeup."

"I won't," said Kyle, having heard it a million times before.

He ran downstairs, his basketball under his arm. Apart from the Talent round, the gap between the end of the competition and the start of the crowning ceremony was his favourite, as it gave him a chance to release all the pent up energy he had due to having to sit still for a large portion of the day. Usually, Kyle and his friends would run through the hotel, chasing each other, playing tag, and hide and seek. He needed it so much that he didn't care if it might be considered too childish by some.

Brianna wasn't there when he arrived, and so he began dribbling his basketball while he waited.

At the sound of running footsteps, he looked up and saw Brianna. She had changed into some casual clothes, as well, and she bounded up to him with her usual endless energy.

"Hey! Oh, I like your hat!" She reached up, and gently touched one of the ear flaps.

"Thanks. Wanna get started?" he asked, and she nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Look, I took my nails off!" She waggled her fingers in front of him. "Will you do it first, so I can can see?"

"Okay." Admittedly, Kyle would never pass up an opportunity to show this trick, and he held the ball in his hand, twisting it into the air, and catching it on his finger, where it spun perfectly.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Her eyes were wide, and her mouth dropped open. "So how do you do it?"

"Well, you hold it like this.." he got her to hold up her hand, and positioned the ball on her fingertips. "And hold you hand with the palm outward.. yeah, like that. And then you just kind of twist your hand inward quickly, and the ball will go up, and then you catch it on your finger."

"Okay." Tongue sticking out in concentration, Brianna quickly turned her hand inward and tried to catch the ball, but dropped it. "Whoops!"

"It's okay. Let's try again."

Brianna nodded and Kyle handed her the ball. He again helped her hold it correctly, and reminded her how to twist. "The trick they taught me is to not hold your finger straight, but bend it like this." He bent his pointer finger slightly, and showed her. "The ball's supposed to rest on the back of your nail."

She tried again, but the ball bounced straight off her finger, and Kyle caught it. This time, when she held the ball, he kept hold of it as well, and he instructed her to spin her hand slowly. The only reason the ball didn't fall was because Kyle was holding it.
"Wow, it's really hard!" said Brianna after a few more tries. "How long did it take you to learn how to do it?"

"Oh, a while; longer than this," Kyle lied. Even he had been surprised at how easily he had picked it up. "But you're doing great."

She smiled at him and attempted the move once more, but she still could not make the ball spin.

When their parents discovered them an hour later, Brianna still hadn't mastered it, but Kyle had taught her some of his other tricks, at her request. Sheila and Morgan, Brianna's mother, came to the corridor to find them engaged in a little one-on-one game.

"Brianna!" Morgan called, and the kids stopped playing.

"Mommy, look what I can do!" Brianna held the ball and began dribbling it, stepping forward and bouncing it under her knees.

"Very good, sweetie. Come on, it's time to get changed."

"Okay, then." Brianna handed the basketball back to Kyle. "See you at the party!" She called as she and her mother left, giving Kyle no time to reply.

"Come on, then," said Sheila, and Kyle held back a sigh as he followed her back to their room.

"Are we going to the party tonight?" he asked, hoping that for once she'd say no.

"Of course we are. Now come on; we've got to do your hair and make up."

"Do we really have to go? I don't want to."

"Why not?" Sheila did not break her stride, leaving Kyle to hurry along beside her.

"I just don't want to; I don't like parties, and I don't wanna have my hair and makeup done, either."

"Well, 'I don't want to' isn't really a good reason, is it? Why don't you want to go?"

"I don't like parties," Kyle repeated, as they got in the elevator. "So I don't want to go when I won't have fun." He noticed that Sheila wasn't looking at him.

"The thing is, Kyle, I wouldn't feel right about leaving you upstairs all by yourself. I'd like to go to the party; it'd be nice to see my friends and just relax for the evening. It's a chance to let loose. I've been working hard lately, and so have you, so what's wrong with going to a party?"

"I don't want to," Kyle said yet again. "I don't mind staying upstairs; I won't go anywhere, I'll probably just go to sleep." It was half the truth, he though; he probably wouldn't go to sleep that early, but he more than likely wouldn't be roaming about the hotel, either. It was just a regular hotel, it wasn't like there was anything he could do except wander the halls. Watching TV and texting Stan sounded much more interesting than going to a party.

They had now gotten off the elevator and were walking down the hallway to their room.

"I think you should go."

"Why? Why do I have to if I don't want to?"

"We all have to do things in life we don't want to, and let me tell you; if you're being 'forced'" she air quoted, the both of them standing outside their room door, "to go to a party, then you're not doing too bad, are you?"

"Mom, I'm not saying that," Kyle continued, as they entered the room. "We've been to a lot of these parties; I just don't want to go to this one. I'm tired," he added, hoping that would convince her. Sheila didn't look convinced, however.

"You're tired a lot these days, bubbe. Maybe I should take you to a doctor."

Kyle could only shake his head; she knew why he was always tired, and it wasn't like the doctor could tell her to let him stop competing. Well, maybe he could, but he doubted Sheila would listen.

"I don't wanna go tonight, I don't wanna wear nice clothes, I don't want my hair and makeup done, I just want to stay here," he said.

"I think, unless you can give me a good reason, then you're going."

"Because I just want to relax! You said we've both been working hard, and I just wanna stay in my room and relax and I can't do that at a party!"

"What are you talking about? That's the whole point of a party."

"I don't want to go," he repeated, sitting on the bed. "I'm not going!" he told her, folding his arms stubbornly.

The party, which took place on the Saturday, was held in one of the conference rooms, as there was not enough time to get the ballroom decorated after the crowning ceremony, and it looked the same as all the others Kyle had had to attend. Sheila had won the argument, as always. She'd browbeaten Kyle into wearing makeup and something a little nicer than his everyday attire, but had allowed him to keep his hat on.

Balloons and streamers were everywhere, mainly pink, but some white, and lilac as well, along with brightly coloured lights gliding over the floor and walls. Several long tables along one wall was filled with plates of pizza, cupcakes, cookies, bottles of pop, and the all-important candy buffet. Many kids were at the table, piling up their paper plates, while plenty of others were already on the dance floor, shrieking excitedly.

When they arrived, Sheila immediately joined up with some of her friends, and Kyle was left to find Jake. He soon spotted him standing by one of the tables, and talking to a girl he did not know.

"Hi!" he had to yell in order to be heard over the DJ, who was playing blaring pop music, headset and all.

"Hi!" Jake yelled back. He turned to the girl and excused himself, and he and Kyle went to sit in the quietest corner, a place they knew well.

For a while, they sat in silence; Kyle leaned back in his chair and observed the party. It wasn't that he didn't like parties; he just disliked these ones. A lot of the girls wouldn't leave him alone and kept following him around, trying to get him to dance with them. It felt a bit strange knowing that girls thought he was cute. He wanted to be flattered, but he was sure they'd change their mind once they saw him without makeup.

Even at regular parties, Kyle refused to dance, because he wasn't about to embarrass himself.

Jake, on the other hand, loved dancing; in fact, it was his talent, and he couldn't get enough of practising his routines, as well as showing off on the dance floor. But he knew how much Kyle hated it, so like a good friend, Jake sat with him, and never forced Kyle to dance.

Kyle rested his chin in his hand and observed the festivities. He still felt down about not winning Talent (instead winning Ultimate Photo Supreme), and he was trying to get over the disappointment. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. He didn't even like these stupid competitions, so why was he still brooding like a sulky toddler? It wasn't even like he won the Talent round every time, and he still couldn't understand why he was taking this particular loss so hard.

"You okay?" Jake asked, leaning closer so he could be heard.

"Yeah, fine. Just tired," Kyle said. He'd been using that excuse a lot lately. It wasn't really an excuse, though; the constant practising, combined with the jet lag was enough to wear him out, not to mention his headaches and stomach pains, which seemed to come every single day.

As if on cue, he felt a headache coming, and he pressed down on the bridge of his nose, willing it to go away. The pounding music did nothing to help matters.

Jake was about to ask why Kyle was there if he was so tired, but then he remembered who his mother was, and it all made sense.

After a while, during a small break in the music, the two boys got up to get some food. And drink. Kyle, grateful that the music had momentarily stopped, perked up a tiny bit and he and Jake chattered as they filled their plates, and made their way back to their table.

"I'm so glad I get to do school online tomorrow," said Jake through a mouthful of pizza. "It's made things so much easier." As he lived in Ohio, and most pageants were held in the South, he had to do a fair bit of travelling, as did Kyle. So his mother had worked with his teachers, and Jake now did online schooling at home every Monday and Thursday. Or at least, every Monday and Thursday that he was competing. It was a way for him to keep on top of his schoolwork while also allowing him to catch up on some sleep.

"Wish I could do that," Kyle said. He'd asked Sheila several times, but she always said she would think about it. "Would make my life so much easier." If it were up to him, he would be completely homeschooled; at least that way the teasing would stop, or at least diminish greatly. He would miss hanging out with his friends at break-time, but he could always do that after school.

No. He couldn't. Kyle slumped, remembering his hectic schedule. School was basically the only times he got to see his friends. Sure, he was able to before and after practise sometimes, but it really depended on if he had a pageant coming up. It looked as though school was the best option for him.

The party went on into the night, and Kyle remained sitting at the table. A couple of times, Jake had gotten up to dance with some of the others, and every so often, he could see Sheila sitting and talking with some of her friends.

At that moment, he was alone. He was sitting there, head in hand, when he noticed someone in front of him. He looked up and saw it was Brianna.

"Hey!" she beamed, grinning widely at him, and Kyle smiled back. "Wanna dance?" She held out her hand.

"No, thanks," Kyle said.

"Oh, come on." She took his hand and tried pulling, but Kyle stayed where he was.

"No, thanks," he repeated.

"Are you sure? I want you to dance with me."

When Kyle nodded and confirmed that he was indeed sure, she shrugged, gave him one last smile, and began scanning the room for a prospective dance partner. As it was, she ended dragging Tony to his feet, and he obliged her with a dance until the song was over.

~ X ~

I know this is a little short, but I still hope you enjoyed reading :)