Junior Miss Pageant Contest 2001 |work| [DELUXE ⇒]

Lily forced a smile. “It’s called focus.”

Backstage, her mother whispered, “You were flawless.” junior miss pageant contest 2001

The final question was not the one they’d rehearsed. The emcee, a local weatherman with a stiff wig, smiled and said, “For our top five: tell us one thing you love about yourself that has nothing to do with winning.” Lily forced a smile

The summer of 2001 smelled like hairspray and chlorine bleach. Backstage at the Memorial Civic Auditorium, twenty-seven girls aged eight to twelve buzzed like a nest of glittering hornets. Mothers wielded curling irons like weapons, and the air was thick with the sweet, cloying scent of nervous sweat and Juicy Fruit gum. That’s not pageant material, she thought

Lily watched from the wings, gripping her tap shoes. That’s not pageant material, she thought. Too messy.