Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies (24 page)

Owe him a cheer of my own later,
I thought.

“Wearing a lovely peach formal gown with delicate lace overlay,” Violet recovered. I completed my spin, sent a huge smile in the direction of the judges, and started my walk back.

VPE Mom’s daughter passed me.
Right about now is when that box fell,
I thought. But this time there were no Bra Bombs, and I made it offstage with my head held high.

WHILE THE LAST contestants finished their walks, Ashley, Gail, and some of the other girls whispered and fretted over who would win. I stayed to the side, listening, but caring only that I’d finished.
Miss HuskyPeach can have her crown,
I thought,
and her scholarship money.
Surviving the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge was prize enough for me.

Cheers and applause signaled the end of the fashion show. The lights brightened.

“All of our models were fantastic today,” Violet said. “Let’s give them another round of applause.” The audience obeyed.

When the noise died down, Violet picked up. “It’s been a fun few weeks, and before we crown Miss HuskyPeach, we’d like to ask all the contestants to return to the stage for something very special.”

The guides flitted from group to group, putting us in order and hissing instructions in our ears. I filed out with the rest of my line and stood across the back of the stage. The spotlights were blinding. When all the girls were onstage, Violet continued.

“We have a secret guest with us here today who’s been patiently sitting out of sight and watching the fashion show on a monitor. Here to perform two of his smash hits, ‘Last Night’ and ‘Dreaming Without You,’ please welcome singer/ songwriter Theo Christmas!”

“She did NOT just say that,” squealed Ashley in my ear over the explosive applause.

“She did! She did!” said Gail. She jumped up and down.

I can’t believe I almost didn’t come,
I thought. My heart was in danger of exploding at the thought of being in the same
room
as Theo Christmas, let alone on the same
stage. I might die. But under the circumstances, I’m okay with that.

Just don’t keel over before he gets here,
Red Bathing Suit Woman said.
I want to see the show.

Theo entered the stage from the same set of stairs we used. Yet another reason to almost die. The spotlight highlighted each of his curls. He wore his typical black leather jacket, red T-shirt, and jeans—but they looked anything but typical on him. His acoustic guitar was slung over his shoulder.

Frazzled Guide, whose hair had given up being tamed and now flowed freely, brought him a stool. She shook so much, I thought she was going to faint at his feet. Not that I would be far behind. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
So much for all that walking,
I thought. Violet Page handed him her microphone. The smile he gave her would have melted steel.

“Thank you,” he said. He repeated it until the crowd settled down. “I’m thrilled to be here today and to give some support to these beautiful ladies.” He gestured in our direction.

“Oh my gosh he
pointed at me!
” screeched Ashley.

Why bother to correct her?

He strummed the opening to “Dreaming Without You,” and soon almost everyone was singing the chorus: “When I’m lying there and sleeping I’m just sleeping, when I’m sleeping without you; when I try to lie there dreaming, I’m not dreaming ’cause it’s not dreaming without you . . .” During “Last Night” he turned around and asked us to dance. Guides, contest, rules—forgotten. Theo asked, we danced. I even caught Frazzled Guide swinging her newly freed hair around.

When “Last Night” trailed to a close, he raised a hand to silence the screams and applause.

“Is there time for one more?” he asked Violet, as if she’d be able to say no. When she nodded, he continued. “This is a new one. Let me know if you like it.”

I almost couldn’t hear him over the squeals. It was another pop song, “Ruby Red Hair.” Everyone got into the groove.

His songs ended too quickly. The audience, eager for him to keep going, kept chanting “The-o, The-o,” but they stopped when he passed his guitar to a guide and held up his hands as if to say “No more.” Violet took the microphone and held her cheek out for a kiss. He obliged.

“Thanks, Theo. What a great performance! Now it’s time to crown Miss HuskyPeach. Just a reminder, our winner receives not only the HuskyPeach tiara, but a five-thousand-dollar college scholarship, and a meeting with a modeling agency.” The applause increased again.

How can she speak after Theo kissed her?
I wondered.

“But before we crown her, we have prizes for two other contestants. Today’s second runner-up, who displayed not only poise and beauty, but Grace Under Fire, will receive a two-hundred-fifty-dollar HuskyPeach shopping spree and be featured in our summer catalog shoot. Let’s congratulate our winner, Miss Celeste Harris!”

I didn’t move.
Me? I won something? A mistake,
I decided. I stayed still.

“That’s you,” Ashley hissed. She shoved me toward a smiling Violet, who held a bouquet of—
of course
—peach roses. From the audience, I heard hoots of “Celeste! Yeah!” My feet carried me to Violet. I took the flowers and she hugged me.

“Stand next to Theo,” she whispered in my ear.

I heard her wrong. I had to have. “Stand next to
Theo,
” she said louder, and nudged me in his direction. Confused, I walked to that side of the stage. And I would have fallen right off the side into the audience if he hadn’t grabbed my hand.

Let’s relive:
Theo Christmas took my hand!

I have no idea who was first runner-up. I had no idea what my name was while standing next to Theo. I’d find myself staring at his profile, then I’d jerk my eyes to the audience, then a second later I’d be staring at him again.

At some point, Violet announced Miss HuskyPeach. This captured my attention enough for me to tear my eyes from Theo, who, truth be told, shot a couple of uncomfortable glances in my direction. I think the Monstrosity frightened him.

“Miss HuskyPeach—the face of our new catalog—is Miss Rosalie Fieldhart,” Violet announced.

Who?
I thought. I scanned the lines of girls behind me.
Frazzled Guide was looking for her earlier,
I remembered. But I didn’t know who she was then either.

Curly blond-haired Bay-be stepped out from our group’s line.

That’s
her name!
I thought.

Then it was over. Violet thanked everyone for coming, said some other stuff about the pageant that I didn’t pay attention to (still locked on to Theo Christmas), and dismissed the contestants. When Violet told us we could leave, I blinked and Theo was gone.

Was he really here?
I thought as I hugged Ashley, Gail, and some of the other contestants. Gail and Ashley even promised to IM me and keep in touch post-pageant. Rosalie, whose personality lit up like neon when onstage, was back to her silent, floor-staring self.

Like a chandelier on a dimmer switch,
Red Bathing Suit Woman commented.

Stop it! She just doesn’t feel as good about herself offstage,
I responded. I felt bad for her, because that’s how I used to be.

Somehow, I navigated the crowd onstage without stabbing anyone with my roses and worked my way backstage. So many people swarmed the area that it was hard to find my parents. I spotted Violet Page, though, and wormed over to her.

“Hey Celeste, congratulations,” she said. She hugged me. “You did great.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me out last time.”

Violet turned pink. “Well, if I’d had stronger tape, maybe I would have been better help. I’m really sorry.”

“Not your fault,” I said. “Anyway—”

“Hey Vee!” A short guy, wearing a Giants cap and blue sweatshirt, launched himself at Violet and gave her a squeeze that would have made juice from an orange.

“Teddy!” she screeched. She pecked him on the cheek. “You were awesome today. I can’t thank you enough for coming on short notice. The other guy cancelled at the last minute.”

Not wanting to disrupt Violet’s reunion, I inched away so I could make my escape and find Mom, Dad, and Ben.

“Celeste, wait.” Violet stopped me with a hand on my arm. “I want you to meet my friend Teddy.” Something about the way she said “friend” made me think “more than friends,” if you get me. Same with the way she was looking at him.

“I think we’ve met. Kind of.” He pushed his baseball hat back and winked.

Theo Christmas.

“You—you’re friends?” I croaked. Couldn’t breathe again.

“Shhhh,” Violet whispered. “Don’t tell. We try to keep private stuff private. Celeste has had a tough go of it lately,” she said to Theo, “partially because of me. Be a sweetie and give her an autograph.”

“Why am I not surprised that you’re causing trouble?” he teased. “Okay. I have a pen. Where should I sign?” He pulled a black permanent marker from the back pocket of his jeans.

I stood there, dumbfounded. I had nothing for him to autograph! The roses were wrapped in plastic, I didn’t have any paper on me, Violet wasn’t carrying her notes (like she ever did), and he didn’t have anything either. The only thing I owned was—

“The dress,” I said. “Sign my dress. It’s the bridesmaid dress I’m wearing in my cousin’s wedding this afternoon,” I explained, when Violet looked horrified. “That’s why it wasn’t in your notes. The one I was supposed to wear ripped.”

“You
have
had a tough time,” Theo said. “Turn around. I’ll sign the back.”

Violet lifted the lace overlay, and I felt the marker dance across my back. Theo finished signing, then Violet gave me another hug and sent me on my way before I could process what happened. Later I would marvel at how swiftly the Monstrosity went from hated uniform to rescue outfit to The Most Treasured Item of Clothing I Will Ever Own for the Rest of My Life.

I wandered around backstage in a stupor until Ben found me for the second time that day. “She’s over here,” he called. I expected to see Mom and Dad, but my second shock (although not nearly as big, cute, or famous as Theo Christmas) came when I saw Katy and Millie, toting a big purse, behind him. The girls gave me a hug.

“Congratulations!” they squealed. “You didn’t win!” I laughed with them.

Mom and Dad hugged me too, and told me how proud they were that I stuck with it. I gave Ben a high five for being my Wardrobe Expert.

“But why are you wearing your bridesmaid dress?” Mom asked.

“I’ll tell you on the ride to the wedding,” I said. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Millie and Katy said their good-byes. “We need to find my mom,” Millie said, tugging on the string of the blue hoodie she was wearing and adjusting her bag. “I want to do some shopping before we leave. You’re not the only one with stories.”

I glanced from Millie to Katy.

“Mike called. Last night,” Katy said.

“No way!” I squealed, and hugged them both.

“Maybe you and Alan can eat lunch with us sometime,” Millie said, teasing. I blushed.

“Wait until I tell you what happened,” I said to distract them. “I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t believe that
dress,
” Katy said. She wrinkled her nose. “It’s hideous.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said, and showed them Theo’s signature. I heard a familiar “yip-yip!” over our latest round of squeals.

“Is that . . . ?” I began.

A wet brown nose popped out of Millie’s purse.

“We couldn’t leave him home,” she said. “We’d never make it back in time to . . . you know.” She tried to push him back into the bag, but now that he had the spotlight, Couscous didn’t want to give it up. He batted his big eyes and wagged his teeny tail at everyone passing by.

“Cute puppy.” Violet, walking by, stopped to scratch behind his ears. “But does he look kind of . . . bloated to you?”

Millie checked her watch. “Uhh, can you show me where the ladies’ room is?”

Katy giggled and they followed Violet into the mall.

Mom and I retrieved my clothes from the HuskyPeach dressing room. I tried to locate Elsa to tell her about the red dress, but couldn’t find her. I’d have Mom call on Monday. They’d discover it soon enough, anyway.

 

On the ride down to Los Alvios, I told Mom about Christian’s shoulder, Frazzled Guide and the Red Dress, and Super Ben’s Wardrobe Swap. She just shook her head.

“It all came together, though,” I said.

“It did. You look beautiful, even in that dress,” she said.

I gawked at her. “Don’t tell your cousin, but it’s the most awful thing I’ve ever seen.”

We arrived at the church ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start. The bridesmaids were lined up outside like a row of peach parfaits, ready to proceed in.

“Do you remember what you’re supposed to do?” Mom asked, smoothing some stray hairs in the mirror.

“Uh-huh,” I said. I opened the door to climb out.

“Oh no, honey,” Mom said. “There’s a big black mark on the back of your dress, under the lace. Aunt Doreen will flip if she sees it. Hold still and let me try to wipe it off.”

“Sorry,” I said, scooting out from under her hand and into the parking lot. “I earned that black mark.” I blew her a kiss and jogged over to the other bridesmaids.

“How’d it go?” Kirsten asked. She hugged me, then handed me the day’s second bouquet of flowers. Peach and white this time.

“Amazing,” I said. “Tell you about it later.”

And when you do, even Barbie Bridesmaid is going to wish she’d been a HuskyPeach today,
Red Bathing Suit Woman murmured.

I smiled. Once again, she got it right.