Junior Miss Pageant Contest 2001 ((better)) -

“You were better,” Lily said.

Chloe looked stunned. She walked to the center of the stage barefoot, and when they placed the rhinestone tiara on her head, it slipped down over one eye. She laughed—that wind-chime laugh—and adjusted it. junior miss pageant contest 2001

Across the dressing station, Chloe DeLuca was pinning a fake orchid into her ponytail. Chloe was the new girl—moved from Phoenix two months ago, after her mom got a job at the textile plant. She had no pageant coach, no routine passed down through generations. Just a second-hand leotard, a jazz CD she’d burned from the library, and a laugh that sounded like wind chimes. “You were better,” Lily said

Lily nodded, but she felt hollow.

Lily looked at Chloe’s bare feet, her crooked flower, her genuine, unguarded smile. For the first time all day, she felt something other than pressure. She laughed—that wind-chime laugh—and adjusted it

Lily stood in the line of runners-up, clapping. She meant it.