"I can't believe this," whined Stella, picking another dried noodle out of her hair. "The competition's in fifteen minutes! I can't go out on stage looking like this!"
To be honest, unlike the rest of us, Stella only had a few crinkly old spaghetti noodles stuck to her head. Meanwhile, everyone else was coated in white sticky shit and green vegan glop. Yep, the food fight had gotten out hand real quick. The teachers and officials had to break up the party before someone got hurt. We're lucky they didn't cancel part-two Spirit Day because of it.
"Don't worry, Stell. That's enough time for you to get ready," assured Bloom loudly, wiping some pink crud off her face. Since the girls' bathroom was so crowded and bustling with activity (unlike the guys, us girls weren't gonna walk around in public with bird-looking shit on us. We had to clean ourselves up pronto), we had to converse loudly amongst each other.
Thankfully, the three Trix sisters had decided to use the other bathrooms (which was "coincidentally" full of witches). The Three Angry Ex-Girlfriends were nowhere to be seen, too. Usually, I wouldn't be so paranoid and girly about this stuff (trust me, I'd been covered in way worse), but when dog-poop smelling shit was dripping down your swim suit, you had to get to the nearest sink and disinfectant.
"Yeah. I'll help you get cleaned up," volunteered Flora with a large, sweet smile. For some beyond freakish reason, she wasn't covered in any food. Not even a teeny-tiny pasta-sauce stain. And come to think about it, she looked more radiate than before. Really, she was glowing with natural youth and beauty. The fuck did that happen, I had no idea.
"Yeah, right. You're just gonna try and ruin my makeup or something so you can sabotage my chances of winning the competition," snapped an aggressively paranoid Stella, growling at Flora's reflection in her mirror. She leaned in closer to it, carefully pulling another noodle out of her blond hair.
I rolled my eyes at her stupidity and pulled another brown paper towel out of its near empty dispenser. Instead of complaining about her paranoia, I decided to complain about Riven instead. "Honestly, why does Riven insist on helping those witches?" I grumbled, wiping my arm off with the towel.
"Why else? Because he's just like them: evil and rotten to the core," snorted Stella. "That's really the only way to put it." Musa growled lightly but didn't disagree.
After we were crud and food-free, we alongside a bunch of others made our way back to the beach. A crowd was gathering before a newly assembled catwalk, meaning the event was about to happen soon.
A tanned blond beach babe on the stage stepped up to the mike. "All contestants please check into the dressing room backstage," he announced in a voice deeper than the Caspian Sea.
"Well, that's my cue," giggled Stella, fluffing her hair again as she followed after Flora, the other beauties, and wannabes towards the stage.
"Well, this certainly is going to be interesting," commented Musa with an eye roll. I nodded in agreement. Flora had to win. My wallet depended on it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Icy, Darcy, and Riven moving through the crowds. "Ugh, here come the drag team," muttered Musa, looking disgusted. "what are they even doing here?"
"Stormy's competing, remember? Besides, it's not a crime," pointed out Bloom softly.
"Whatever." Musa looked away. She was obviously on edge because Riven was still hanging with the Three Witches of the Wild West. I on the other hand wasn't too concerned. If the Lone Wolf chose to keep a…questionable crowd, that was his problem. Besides, he'd come back around to our side (if he was ever there to begin with) eventually.
Darcy, who happened to notice us, grinned slyly at Musa, stood on her tip toes, cupped Riven's face in her hands, and planted a kiss on his lips. I could feel Musa giving off anger. I placed a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't leap at the witch like a lion going for a steak. "They aren't worth it," I said lowly, "she's trying to make you jealous. Don't even look at them. It'll lower your chances of getting cancer." (No offense to the people who had it).
"Attention people of Magix! The annual Bikini Beach Babe competition will now begin," announced the tan beach blond over the microphone, "please welcome our first guest, Mira Clutterbuck!"
My mouth dropped open. Not because Mira was competing in the competition, but because her last name was Clutterbuck. The fuck did that even mean? Clutterbuck. A few guys behind me snickered, but I didn't. I straight up laughed out loud.
Mira Clutterbuck didn't seem to notice us. Instead, she was posing on the stage, trying her best to look sexy. A few people (who were probably trying to be polite) gave her a round of applaud, while the rest of us giggled and chuckled at her last name. It wasn't until she walked off the stage everyone began clapping.
The beach babe announcer, who was standing in the background, announced the next contestant. "Princess Stella-" An airplane droned overhead, drowning out Stella's last name. At the word princess, the crowd applauded and Stella came out from behind the curtain. I rolled my eyes as the girl fluffed up her hair, pursed her lips, and posed dramatically.
"Oh, whatever." I folded my arms across my chest and snorted. "She thinks she's soo hot, right guys-" I stopped when I noticed how Liam was looking up at Stella. His eyes were wide and starry as if he was dazzled by what he was seeing. I facepalmed. Of course. I inched away from him just in case his jealous ex-girlfriend was watching.
After another few moments of blowing kisses at the crowd and posing, Stella disappeared backstage and another model took her place. Just as this happened, my bladder suddenly grew heavy. Shit. I probably shouldn't have drunk those three extra large sodas before coming here.
"I'll be right back," I said to Bloom, turning around. "I gotta take a wee. Call me when Flora comes out." After navigating through the thick crowd, I found the girls' bathroom by the changing rooms. I was about to go in, but paused at the door when I heard soft, grunting voices. It sounded like they were coming from the other side of the building.
"I love you, baby," a deep voice moaned. "Keep going."
OH SHIT. WAS SOMEONE…. I instantly forgot about my full bladder and took out my phone. I giggled devilishly as I started around the small structure. Hehehe! Someone was getting it off, and I was gonna get a pic—
I froze and my mouth dropped open the second I made it to the back. I nearly dropped my phone I was that so shocked. Pressed against the brick wall was Darcy and Riven was pressed against her, kissing her roughly. His pants and underwear were down and Darcy's bikini top was lying on the sand….
OH MOTHERFUCKING SHIT. Before they noticed I was there, I held up my phone and took a quick picture of them. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the flash off. The flash and clicking sound apparently caught the loving couple's attention, because they unlocked their lips and looked my way alertly.
I'm dead.
"Uh, hi," I said slowly, giving them a little wave. Usually, I would've been yelling my ass off or taunting them, but I was too surprised to even move.
"Why you little fucker," growled Riven, getting off Darcy and pulling his tighty whities up.
Darcy covered her boobs with her arms and yelled at me. "What's wrong with you?! Why can't you ever stay out of our business?"
That's when I regained my fire. "Hey, I was just going to the bathroom when I heard noises back here!" I fired back as Riven pulled up his trunks next. THE FUCK? WHO WORE UNDERWEAR UNDERNEATH THEIR SWIMMING TRUNKS ANYWAY? NO ONE DOES THAT! And when did Darcy and Riven manage to sneak off back here anyway? I never recalled them leaving the crowd back at the bikini competition…
The second Riven's bottoms were back on, he charged for me. "Come here!" he snapped.
OH NO.
That was when y instincts kicked in. I whirled around and starting running away the fastest I could. "Stay back, fucker!" I yelled over my shoulder at him as we raced across the sand.
"Delete that picture first!" he fired back, gaining more speed.
Huffing and puffing, I sped up too. Shit, I didn't ask for this! I just had to use the bathroom! That's all! It ain't my fault they decided to get it off behind a public bathroom! They basically had been asking for this! Struggling to breath, I forced myself to go even faster.
I didn't bother look back as I ran. I zipped through and around crowds, aiming to lose Riven. After a while, I looked behind my shoulder to see Riven was gone. Feeling relived, I slowed to a stomp and wheezed loudly. Whew. That was close. I almost got caught—
"Got you!" exclaimed Riven, making me startle inches off the ground. He appeared behind me and grabbed my shoulders. "Where is it?" he demanded, squeezing me.
"Get off me!" I growled, trying to shake him off. He tightened his grip on me.
"Listen, you better delete that picture before there's trouble," he growled in my ear, his hot breath tickling my skin. "I'm not joking. I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a stupid little girl."
"No way! I don't owe you anything! This is your fault if anything," I hissed, "like, seriously man! This is the beach! Someone was bound to see you anyway."
"Shut your ass up and just delete the thing!" Riven was so boiling mad, he was giving off heat.
"I said no!"
"Fine! Have it your way. I'll just do it!" I was about to reach for my cell phone, which was sticking out of my bikini bottom, but Riven beat me. He dug his invading hand all the way down my bikini bottom (I can't help but think about SpongeBob). No, seriously! He went down-down there. I even felt his fingers against my—
Apparently, Riven was aware of what he was touching, because he drew back real quick. And the second he leaped back, I sped off away from him. And I didn't stop running until I got back to the bikini competition.
"GUYS!" I yelled, pushing through the crowd in search of my friends. The second I laid eyes on Bloom, I blurted, "RIVEN NEARLY RAPED ME!"
The redhead looked startled, Sky and Brandon raised eyebrows, and Musa just blinked. I was about to explain, but the announcer's voice stopped me. "And our final contestant is Flora-" A little girl squealed somewhere just as he announced Flora's surname. At the calling of her name, Flora came out. The second she stepped foot on the stage, the crowd started to cheer and stomp their feet.
"They acted the complete opposite when that storm witch got on stage," chuckled Sky (Brandon).
DANG IT. I MISSED STORMY? SHOOT. I WANTED TO HAVE MY VIDEO CAMERA READY FOR THAT.
Flora, who seemed surprised by all the cheering, waved shyly and blushed. As she moved a strand of blond hair out of her face, her boobs bounced and I swear I heard someone go "boing". All the boys began to hoot and whistle. Someone even threw some flowers at her.
I could practically hear the other contestants scowling from backstage. They already knew the competition was as good as Flora's. And I think Icy knew it too because when I looked at her gloatingly, she sent me a hate glare.
"Woohoo! Go Flora! We love you!" call-laughed Bloom. The rest of us applauded her for her. Well, everyone except Sky (Brandon). He was looking up at Flora like a groom-to-be gazing lovingly at his soon-to-be-wife as she walked down the wedding aisle.
Oh shit. Could it be…? Sky (who was actually brown-haired Brandon) had a crush on Flora? Oh hell. That wasn't right.
Flora waved last time at everyone and blew a sweet kiss before disappearing backstage. Although she was now out of sight, a handful of boys were still hurrahing for her. Oh yeah. I was now twenty dollars richer for sure.
"Alright, everyone! That's the last of our contestants," declared the beach babe announcer, taking center stage. Shit. The last one? Had long had I been gone? Seriously, how did I miss everyone? I had literally been gone for only…five minutes? Stupid Riven and Darcy. "Now, it's time for all of you to vote," went on the announcer, pacing around. "You can do that by going over to those tables over there and-"
Before he could even finish, all the boys (Sky (Brandon) included) rushed for the tables, chatting and mumbling about who they thought was the hottest. I was about to follow my follow after my friends, but Musa grasped my shoulder.
"What were you saying about Riven earlier?" she asked lowly, frowning.
Shit. "Uh…um…" I stammered. Would it really be wise to tell a girl that her crush was having "it" with one of her archenemies? Because that was super fucked up. "Oh, nothing. I just saw him getting some ice cream," was the shitty lie that flew out of my lips.
Musa frowned even deeper. "Don't lie to me. What really happened?"
Double shit. I gulped. "I…um…kinda saw Riven and Darcy…."
"Yeah?" Musa stared at me blankly.
"I…saw them…umm….having love."
I turned away from her the second I saw tears well up in her eyes. I felt so guilty. "Don't they know this is a public place? There are kids running around. Th-that's gross," complained Musa, doing her best not to sound hurt.
"I don't think they got that far," I lied quickly, "they were just kissing and Riven had his trunks down…." Shit. They were totally doing it.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter," said Musa, who was now struggling to hold back a sob. "L-let's just go vote for Flora. I don't wanna think about him or the Trix right now." I nodded understandingly, but didn't say anything as we went over to the voting booths.
What had I done? I just crushed Musa's spirits and her hope of being with Riven. This was all my fault. If only I hadn't been noisy or drunken those three large sodas, Musa would be smiling right now. I had to somehow fix things, but I knew it'd be hard.
Hearts weren't like cheap blankets. You couldn't mend them easily. Once damage was done to it, there was no getting rid of it. The wound would stay there forever, scarring and burdening that person forever. That is, until they learned to let it go. But things didn't work like that. Problems didn't simply float away into thin air whenever you wanted it to. The only way to get rid of a burden was to erase it with love.
And that was what I was gonna do.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen! It's the moment everyone's been waiting for!" declared the announcer excitedly from the stage, "you casted your votes, they've been tallied, and it's time to announce the winner!"
Everyone cheered, including me. C'mon, Flora! I l glanced over at Icy and she gave an it-was-nice-beating-you look. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Some people never learned. I just shook my head.
Another beach babe climbed up onto the stage and handed the announcer a slip of paper. We all held out breath as the announcer unfolded it. "And the winner of this year's Bikini Beach Babe competition is…"
Flora, Flora, Flora, Flora! Deep down, I knew every other guy in the crowd was chanting her name, too.
"Princess Stella of-" Someone sneezed right as he was about to give Stella's last name.
My mouth dropped open like someone else's. No one said anything as Stella skipped from backstage, waving and blowing kissing. We were all trying to figure out what just happened.
"I didn't vote for that dumbass," mumbled a deep voice from behind. Afterwards, the whole crowd became abuzz.
"I didn't vote for her either!"
"I voted for the last contestant. Flora-"
"ACHOO!"
Stella, who seemed panicked by everyone's confusion, could just stand and stammer, completely flustered. Me on the other hand? I knew exactly what happened. "Icy!" I erupted, pushing past some guys and stomping over to the witch of ice. "You tampered with the votes!" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Icy crossed her arms, snorted, and lifted her chin high. "Yeah, right. She's a waste of magic."
"No, you wanted to win the bet so you cheated!" I snapped.
"Wait. What bet?" piped up Bloom confusedly.
The announcer laughed nervously. "It seems we're having a bit of a misunderstanding…"
"There's no misunderstanding, genius. We all voted for Flora," barked a guy from somewhere.
"Did anyone vote for Stella?" wondered aloud another loudly. Only one hand shot up, and it belonged to Liam. Everyone just stared at him.
"Really, bro?" snorted a guy, shaking his head. "Really?"
Funny. Icy wanted Stella to win, but didn't even vote for her?
Stella's mouth dropped open. "S-so I-I didn't win?" she stammered, shaking a little. I kinda felt bad for her, but I wasn't about to lose a bet because of her pride.
"Wait, now hold on, everyone. There's no reason to get unsettled. We'll just have a revote suggested the announcer wisely, "that'll determine the real winner."
I narrowed my eyes at Icy. "I got my eye on you, witch. You're not pulling anything on me this time."
"Tch, whatever." Icy looked away as everyone went back to the voting booths. And as I promised, I kept my eye on her as everyone scribbled their votes down.
After more arguing and grumbles, the votes were tallied up again and we all waited for the beach boy to declare the winner again. "Let's do this thing again," he accidentally mumbled over the mike, unfolding the stupid sheet of paper. He took one glance at the name written on it. "Again, the winner is Princess Stella of Solaria."
?!#!
Everyone looked around at each other confusedly and argued amongst one another. Meanwhile, I just stared at the announcer dude. While everyone tried to figure out why Stella won, I studied him closely. He looked too relaxed. Too cool. To unmoved. Something wasn't right about him.
I gasped when he looked Icy's way and nodded at her. Icy, who noticed I was watching, froze as if knowing she had been caught.
OH SHIT NO. WAIT A MOTHERFUCKING SECOND!
I pushed past everyone and hopped up onto the stage. Before he could react, I snatched the paper and looked at it for myself. I wanted to explode when I saw what was really written there. "FOOL, THAT DOESN'T SAY STELLA," I yelled at him, "THAT SAYS FLORA-"
Everyone gasped as I announced Flora's last name. Whoa. So that was her surname. I never would've thought. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, MAN!?" shouted someone from the crowd. Someone threw a soda can at the announcer dude.
"Yeah! Flora won, not Princess Stella!"
"I bet this was rigged from the beginning. Her Royal Highness probably paid him to say she won."
"I-I-I," stammered Stella, shaking. Her face turned bright red when everyone looked up for an explanation. Meanwhile, the announcer was sneaking off the stage while no one was paying attention to him. Eh, let the snake slither away. I'm sure he wasn't gonna get past Icy though…
"Don't worry about it," I said over the microphone, "though all the ladies here today were extremely beautiful, it's about time we acknowledge the true winner, Flora-"
The guys started cheering right as I was giving the rest of Flora's name. A shy-looking Flora slowly emerged from behind the corner, smiling timidly. A few other dudes came on stage and crowned her with a shiny white tiara and handed her a bouquet of flowers. While she was basked with attention and affection, I went over to Stella and hugged her. "Sorry you didn't win," I told her honestly.
"It's okay." Stella smiled back. "It was just a stupid little competition anyway. It didn't really prove or mean anything."
I nodded, squeezing her hand. She finally understood. Hopefully. It didn't take a silly competition to be beautiful. Beauty came from the inside.
And speaking of inside, I really had to pee…..
"Alright, you ready to do this thing?" I asked, clapping my hands together as I plopped down onto the sand. It was a little later in the afternoon and the sand building competition was about to begin. All around us, the other teams were getting their shovels, pails, and plans together.
I was surprised to see Sky (Brandon) and Flora teaming up by the judges' table. Oh yeah. Sky (Brandon) totally had a crush on Flora…
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Musa shook out of her daze and forced a smile. She'd been watching Riven and Darcy the whole time I was talking. And speaking of the two, the couple was conversing with each other as Darcy drew something in the sand. They were probably strategizing, which was something we should've been doing….
"So I was thinking we'd make a replica of Alfea," I said thoughtfully, "yeah, the shape will be a little weird…"
"Yeah. Okay, fine," was Musa's shitty reply, turning to glare at Riven and Darcy again.
*sigh* This is specifically why I'd chosen to be so far away from them. I knew Musa would be staring hell at them the whole time. Yet, even all the way across the beach, Musa was still hating on them. This was going to be a disaster for sure….
Meanwhile, I studied the other teams. Bloom and Brandon (Sky) seemed to be getting along well, Mira and Lilly were sending hate glares at me and Flora, Icy and Stormy were arguing about something, most of the guys on the other teams were jealously looking at Sky (Brandon) because he was lucky enough to have the winner of the beach babe competition on his team, Timmy and Tecna (when they'd get here?) were doing something on their phones, and all the little kids were boasting about what colossal things they were gonna build. Honestly I didn't think me and Musa had a chance….
But alas, the second the timer started, we (specifically me) went to work. All around us, the other teams were already getting their castles started, while I tried to figure out how to model Alfea. Man, we probably should've thought about this BEFORE the competition…
"Okay, so I was thinking you could start the towers," I told Musa, who was too busy cocking her head in Riven's and Darcy's direction. "Musa!" I snapped.
"Huh?" Musa startled out of her daze. "Oh, right! Sorry."
I frowned. "We're on the clock here, so please just focus."
"Right, right. I promise it won't happen again." Musa smiled at me and took a pail. We worked simultaneously for a while, and our castle was really coming together. Everything was going fine until—
"Musa!" I snapped when I caught her glaring at Riven and Darcy again.
"Hm?" She turned to me, blinking.
I pressed my lips together. I knew I said I'd be there for her, but this as ridiculous! We'd promised each other we'd put our everything into this, but here she was moping over some stupid-ass guy and his even stupider girlfriend. "That's it! I know you're bummed out, but seriously? We told each other we'd win this," I reminded her in a low hiss.
"I know, I know. I just-"
"No, Musa! I get it; focusing on some guy is more important than doing something with one of your best friends," I said lowly, keeping my cool.
"Wait, Cadey! That's not what-"
"You're wrong, Musa. That's exactly what is it. And if you're so hell-bent on Riven, then you don't even have to worry about me. I'm out."
And with that, I stood up.
And I walked away.
