Junior Miss Pageant Contest 2001 [better] -

The evening gown competition was a parade of tiny satin and tulle. Lily walked with her eyes forward, chin high, the way her grandmother taught her. Chloe walked barefoot—she’d forgotten her heels at the motel—and still, somehow, she glided like she was walking through water.

Lily stood in the line of runners-up, clapping. She meant it. junior miss pageant contest 2001

Lily forced a smile. “It’s called focus.” The evening gown competition was a parade of

Afterward, backstage, Patricia Hartman was already packing Lily’s aqua gown into a garment bag, her movements sharp and silent. Lily sat on a folding chair, still in her tap shoes. Lily stood in the line of runners-up, clapping

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.