Chapter Thirteen - Becca
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Tony’s camera lens is pointed directly at me, so I school my features, donning one of the expressions I’ve mastered over the years of being an influencer.
It’s a look that says, “I know exactly what I’m about. I’ve got it all together.” As my cheeks lift into that practiced, familiar smile, I don’t have to worry because I know the camera is seeing what I want it to see. There’s not a single hint of the panic swirling in my chest.
It’s only a second or two before Tony turns to trail behind Lucky, who’s making his way towards the backstage area.
As soon as the focus is off me, my face falls and a breath whooshes out of me. I fan my warm face with one of my hands, my eyes darting around to see who’s watching me, but no one is paying enough attention to see just how much I’m freaking out.
“Stop it,” I mutter, “it’s not a big deal.”
But the words are a lie. It is a big deal. Because for a moment there, I wanted to kiss Lucky DeLucca. Like really wanted to kiss him.
My cheek still tingles from where he touched me, wiping away the blue paint.
I’ve never really cared much about height but as he stood over me, as solid as an oak tree, with his voice as soft as the look in his eyes, I wanted to lean in to him.
To thread my hands around his neck and pull his lips down to mine.
Oh my god, STOP. I shake my head to clear the image my mind has too perfectly conjured, but it’s still there, teasing me. My cheeks grow hotter, and I let out a groan, knowing full well that even if I wanted to stop it, the train has already left the station.
But then I think of the competition, of the mounting pile of bills, and the overdue notice in my email inbox. The last thing I need is a distraction from what really matters. And winning is the only thing that matters.
“So get over it,” I say out loud, ignoring the way my heart thumps in protest.
“What was that?”
I jump, nearly knocking into a blonde woman wearing a Starlight polo. I recognize her as one of the producers. She’s got a clipboard in her hand and black headset perched around her neck.
“Oh, sorry. It was nothing. Just talking to myself.”
The woman nods. “If you’ll just follow me, we need all non-competing finalists in the viewing area so we can film your reactions during the performance.”
The producer leads me over to a roped-off area where a handful of stationary cameras are set up.
I know Tony will be sticking close to Lucky, capturing all the up close footage of his performance, and I’m grateful that for a few minutes, at least, I can avoid his ever-present, more than perceptive lens.
There will be cameras on me once the show actually starts, but for now all the Starlight people are too busy running around to focus on me. It’s nice, actually. A moment to myself where I don’t have to pretend.
“What a day, huh?”
Evie appears beside me, and I jump a little.
We haven’t really spoken much beyond our initial introduction.
Not that there’s been much time to get to know each other, but still.
Aside from our mutual love of makeup, I don’t know a lot about her.
I mean, I watch her channel from time to time, but I know better than to assume that what I see on screen is what’s real.
I’d rather find out for myself who Evie is when the cameras are off.
“Yeah,” I agree, offering her a smile. “Turned out to be a bit more intense than I thought.”
“Is that because of the challenge or because of you and Lucky?” She elbows me gently as if we’re sharing a joke, but the words give my heart a little jolt and heat rushes through me.
“There is no ‘me and Lucky,’” I say quickly. “I mean, not like that.”
Evie laughs, cocking her head. “Oh, I know. I just meant that you guys seem to go together like red lipstick and a smoky eye. Fine on your own, but together? It’s a bit much, don’t you think?” She bats her eyelashes, and I honestly can’t tell if she’s being snarky or just honest.
“Right.” The word comes out sharper than I mean for it to, and I quickly flash her another smile to soften it.
Everyone knows that Lucky and I are polar opposites, but for some reason, her saying it like that rubbed me the wrong way.
It’s sort of like that nails on a chalkboard feeling.
“I meant the challenge, though. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than we thought.”
Evie smirks a little at that. “Ziven and I thought it was fun. We were able to put our costume together fairly easily. We’re feeling really confident going into this challenge.”
Ah, so all the small talk isn’t just to be friendly, I realize. She’s trying to psych me out.
“I mean, what kind of costume did you end up with anyway? You only had like five bucks, right?”
“Twenty, actually,” I reply, without the smile this time. “And you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Evie lifts one perfectly defined brow, but then Iris bounds over to us, her pink hair swishing over her shoulders. Behind her, Ross stands by himself, his PSP in hand.
“Wow, does he go anywhere without that thing?”
“He probably sleeps with it,” Iris grins. “I wonder if he dreams about Twitch notifications.”
We crack up at this, and I notice Evie making her way over to the water station. Without me to goad, she seems to have lost interest in talking altogether.
“Thanks,” I say to Iris.
“For what?”
“I think Evie was trying to get in my head,” I tell her.
Iris waves a hand. “She’s probably just freaking out because you and Lucky are the fan favorites right now.” Her voice goes flat, and for a second, a shadow darkens Iris’s face. But then her easy smile returns—even if it is a little less bright than before.
She must be feeling nervous about the contest standings.
“Yeah, for right now. But who’s to say you and Sean won’t be the fan favorites after this,” I say, trying to encourage her. “Just because we have an edge now doesn’t mean anything this early in the competition.”
“I don’t know, there’s just something about you and Lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t really explain it.” Iris’s face dips back down into a frown. “But Evie sees it, too.”
There’s something uncomfortable about the look she’s giving me. I don’t know how to respond other than to nod my head awkwardly.
A bright spotlight illuminates the center of the stage as a short woman wearing a neon green tuxedo and a headband made of flashing LED lights steps through the curtains, signaling the start of the show and effectively cutting off our conversation.
“Ladies and Gentle-aliens!” The emcee says into the microphone, waving to the crowd. “It’s time to begin the UFO festival’s annual costume contest!”
A massive crowd has gathered around the front of the stage, and everyone begins to clap and cheer. The energy in the air is tangible and excitement bubbles through me. I can’t wait to see Lucky on that stage.
The first few rounds of the costume contest are for babies, kids, and teenagers, but it isn’t long before the emcee leans into the podium, her flashing headband going from ultraviolet to neon pink.
“And now, we have perhaps the most competitive category of the entire competition. The 21 and up category!”
The crowd goes wild again, and Iris and I share a giddy smile. Whatever weirdness I felt from her earlier comment is gone now.
“Good luck, Becca!” she says to me, and I nudge her shoulder with mine. “You too!”
One by one, the emcee begins to call out the contestants. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’m absolutely blown away by the costumes. These people aren’t playing around.
“Wow, these costumes are amazing,” I clap as a girl dressed as a space ranger prances around the stage in a dress that looks to be made entirely of neon duct-tape and black lights.
“No kidding,” Iris agrees, her eyes wide.
“Next up, we have . . . Ziven!” The emcee bellows into the mic. The blue velvet curtains split, and Ziven comes sauntering on stage in a bright green jumpsuit complete with a gory alien mask. Next to Iris, Evie starts clapping wildly and yelling for Ziven.
I clap too, but secretly I’m not at all impressed with his costume. Given Evie’s talent with makeup, I thought for sure she would have come up with something mind-blowing, but it seems she and Ziven were too focused on the amount of money they had to spend. It’s less creative and more commercial.
Skai’s name is called by the emcee, and she pushes through the curtain dressed as some kind of space explorer. Her colorful jumpsuit is covered in neon glow sticks.
Sean takes the stage next, dressed in a space suit. Iris grabs my hands and squeezes them tightly when he pushes his way through the curtain. He has a lot more showmanship than Ziven, and I laugh as he starts doing silly poses and waving to the crowd.
“He looks awesome,” I say to Iris, and she beams.
Finally, it’s Lucky’s turn. After seeing everyone else’s costumes, I’m a little nervous about how ours will present onstage, but the second the curtains split, all my worries evaporate.
If there’s one thing Lucky DeLucca is a master at, it’s showmanship, and from the moment he steps out on the stage, he practically has the crowd eating out of his hand.
He waves to the guy working the sound booth and gets him to crank up the background music, and the crowd goes wild as he starts dancing.
My mouth falls open when I see what he’s doing.
He’s using his right side, the human side, to move normally, but for his alien side, he’s moving his arms and legs a bit less fluidly, making them almost look disjointed.
The effect is amazing, and the crowd absolutely loves it.
The guy running the sound booth must also be in charge of lights because a spotlight lands on Lucky and without even missing a beat, he leaps into a spin and does a breakdance move that sends the crowd over the edge.