Snow Queen (20 page)

Aubrey stood onstage, the spotlight baring down on her, and tried to keep the fake smile plastered to her face. It was difficult to smile for real when more than five hundred people were about to watch her answer some inane question asked by the very guy who had essentially chosen his lying sister over her. The guy who looked annoyingly handsome in his suit and tie, wielding his microphone.

All the questions were written on pieces of folded white paper and had been stuffed into a clear vessel that resembled an oversized fishbowl. As Grayson reached inside to pluck out her question, Aubrey’s heart pounded with nerves. She hadn’t come up with any sort of brilliant plan to help Christie win. What could she do at this point? Grab the bowl of questions and run, thereby preventing Grayson from ever
asking Layla anything? Would Layla get a zero in the interview category if that happened?

Probably not. They probably wouldn’t penalize Layla just because some nut job from Florida had made off with the question fishbowl. Especially since her family was running this thing.

Grayson had his question. He read it to himself before approaching Aubrey. Her hands were clutched behind her and she stood with her right leg behind her a bit, trying to hide the makeup smudge on her dress from the judges. She glanced out at the audience and, knowing where their seats were situated, easily found Rose, Jim, Jonathan, and Charlie, who sat in the last seat of their row with his cast jutting out into the aisle. Jim flashed her a thumbs-up as Rose and the guys looked on excitedly. She knew they were rooting for her, but obviously they were rooting for Christie even more. She also saw Jason Tucker from the ski shop and Clarissa from the evening-gown store and all the workers from the inn who were crowded behind Rose and Jim with handmade signs of support for Christie. Aubrey had the awful feeling that
she had let them all down.

And then, suddenly, it hit her. Maybe she couldn’t sabotage Layla, but she could sabotage herself. She knew that after the first three events she had to be somewhere near the top of the heap, if not
at
the top. But if she somehow tumbled out of the top spot, that would leave the door open for someone else to take it. Maybe even Christie.

It was a long shot, but it was something. It was all she could do. Beating Layla no longer mattered. Giving Christie the best chance to win was all she cared about.

As Grayson stopped in front of her, Aubrey turned toward the audience, allowing the makeup smear to be seen by all. She noticed a few of the judges grimacing and for the first time since she’d walked onstage, her smile was real.

“Aubrey, here’s your question,” Grayson said, holding his microphone in one hand and the scrap of paper in the other. “If you could change one thing about this country, what would it be?”

Aubrey’s smile widened. This was one of the questions she had worked on today. And she
knew she had the perfect answer. How she would have all the citizens of the nation open their hearts to one another and care for one another and be kind to one another, because change started with the individual, and blah, blah, blah. It was the answer Miss Teen Wisconsin had given last year and it had won her the title of Miss Teen USA. The words were on the tip of her tongue. She opened her mouth and spoke.

“I think we totally need to change the length of the school year,” she said. “I mean, ten months? Really? Do we really need to be in school ten months out of the year?” she blabbered. She had no idea where she was going with this, but if Sophia was right about rambling being bad, then she was on the right track. The judges looked confused, which only spurred her on more. “I know that I’ve absorbed all the information I’m going to absorb by about January. Why not end the school year then and let kids spent the rest of the year earning their keep? Working minimum-wage jobs? Helping their families keep a roof above their heads. That’s what I would change.”

Aubrey nodded and looked up at Grayson
with a smile. He stared back at her, his brow knit in confusion, his eyes searching hers as if she’d just answered the question in some foreign language he didn’t understand.

“Um…okay…thank you,” he said finally. “Aubrey Mills, everyone!”

There was an unenthused smattering of applause, and Aubrey raised her hand in a perfect pageant-queen wave as she walked offstage, making sure her stain was turned toward the audience. Her grin was so wide she may as well have been striding off to thunderous cheers.

“What did you just do?” Christie asked as soon as Aubrey hit the wings. All the girls who had already been interviewed, including Christie, were gathered around, while those who had yet to be interviewed, including Layla, were sequestered in the dressing room, where they were unable to hear the questions and answers.

“I just threw the competition,” Aubrey said with a grin. “And it felt good.”

“A
ll right, ladies, the scores have been tabulated,” Grayson said, holding three sealed, cream-colored envelopes up for the audience to see. “Inside these envelopes I have the names of the two runners-up as well as this year’s Snow Queen!”

The audience applauded excitedly. It was, after all, the moment they had waited for in the open air on a frigid night for the last two hours. Heat lamps or no, it had to be pretty cold out there. Aubrey, however, felt warm from the tension and suspense. Her sweaty hands were squeezed by Christie on one side and Dana on the other, so hard she was sure her fingers were going to crack.

Please let Christie win, please let Christie win
, Aubrey thought over and over again. She had
never felt so nervous for someone else in her life. Not only had Christie always dreamed of this moment, but if she won the crown and the money, she was going to help Rose and Jim save the Spotted Owl. Plus Aubrey would get to see Layla have a nervous breakdown, which would be the highlight of this entire trip. It was almost too much drama to handle.

“Are you ready?” Grayson asked, turning to the side to face the line of seriously tense snow princesses. They all nodded and smiled politely, serenely, even though Aubrey knew that most of them were more than ready to tackle him to the ground and rip open the envelopes themselves.

“Okay, the second runner-up is…”

He opened the envelope and drew out the card. A strange look of surprise and what seemed like disappointment flitted across his face. Aubrey’s heart nose-dived.

Please don’t say Christie. Please don’t say Christie. Please don’t say
—

“Miss Aubrey Mills!” Grayson announced.

Aubrey’s eyes popped open before she even realized she had closed them. She came in third? Even after that ridiculous interview answer
she had managed to come in third? Her heart leaped with excitement as she realized that
must
have meant she’d taken the talent competition. Dana released her hand and Christie reached in to hug her.

“Aubrey! This is amazing!” she said.

“I know! What do I do?” Aubrey asked.

“Go over and get your flowers,” Christie instructed, giving Aubrey the tiniest shove.

Aubrey stumbled forward and found Grayson smiling at her—a little sadly, but still smiling—as the audience applauded. Her heart felt full as she walked past him. If they were still together, would he have reached over and kissed her? Would she have run up and hugged him? As it was, Aubrey averted her eyes and focused instead on Sophia, who walked out with a huge bouquet of white roses and handed them to Aubrey.

“Congratulations,” she said. Then she leaned in and whispered in Aubrey’s ear. “You had it in the bag until that interview answer.”

All Aubrey could do was smile as Sophia led her upstage right and left her to stand there on her own, to wait for the next results. Suddenly
she realized that she had participated in a competition and lost and it didn’t bother her. She felt none of that searing agony, none of that what-if uncertainty she usually felt after a loss. She had done well. Really well. And she was proud of herself.

From her position, Aubrey could see all the other contestants and knew that they were waiting in agony—everyone except Layla, who looked as poised and sure of herself as a girl whose parents had paid for and run the pageant
should
look.

I swear if she wins I’m gonna—

“And now, for the first runner-up,” Grayson said. “They tell me this was one of the closest results in the history of this pageant,” he told the audience with a conspiratorial smile.

He tore open the envelope, held it up, and froze. Aubrey could feel the tension in the air and she knew that either Layla’s name or Christie’s name was on that card. Everyone in the audience probably thought it was Layla’s name. They were sure that the Chamberlain boy wanted the Chamberlain girl to win. But Aubrey wasn’t so sure. She was still holding
on to the belief that Grayson wanted Christie to win and save the inn. Was it possible that he looked that stunned and upset because Christie had come in second? Why was it taking so long for him to read it? Maybe he didn’t know
who
he wanted to win. Layla was, after all, his sister, but Christie deserved it and the Spotted Owl needed it. Maybe he didn’t know what to hope for, and now that he knew the result he didn’t know how to feel. The audience started to whisper and murmur. All the smiles on the faces of the snow princesses grew strained. Time seemed to tick on more slowly with each passing second until finally, Aubrey couldn’t take it anymore.

“Get on with it already!” she shouted.

The audience dissolved into laughter. Grayson woke up from his catatonic state and looked over his shoulder at her.

“Thanks for that, Miss Mills,” he said, which caused Aubrey’s heart to flip over. Was he just being cute for the audience, or was he joking around with her because it was her? Then he cleared his throat and read, “The first runner-up for this year’s Snow Queen crown is…Miss Layla Chamberlain.”

It took a moment for anyone to react. Stunned silence was the overwhelming response. How could Layla Chamberlain not have won? This was her family’s event. Her family’s resort. Obviously this whole thing had been carefully constructed and planned so that she could wear the crown. No one could quite believe it. Not even Aubrey.

And then, Jim Howell stood up and started to whoop and holler. A few people laughed and then joined in, thinking, Aubrey was sure, that he was applauding for Layla’s solid showing. Aubrey, meanwhile, knew that he was clapping because she had not won. Because the fix clearly was
not
in. Because whether or not Christie eventually took home the crown, in his mind, evil had just been defeated. Soon the entire audience was applauding, and a stunned Layla was forced to step forward and accept her second-place flowers. Grayson gave his sister a kiss on the cheek and whispered something in her ear, but she said nothing. Sophia gave Layla her flowers, then led her over to stand next to Aubrey and congratulated her, but still she said nothing. She simply stood next to Aubrey,
a sourpuss on her face, and waited to find out who had beaten her at her own game.

It was all Aubrey could do to keep from shouting, “Nyah, nyah, nyah-
nyah
, nyah!” right in the girl’s face.

“And now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” Grayson said, tearing into the final envelope. “This year’s Snow Queen is…Christie Howell!”

“Yes!” Aubrey shouted, pumping her fist.

Rose and Jim jumped up from their seats and Jonathan followed, dragging Charlie up by the arm. Half the audience, in fact, was on its feet. Christie’s hands flew to her face and tears sprung to her eyes as she stepped forward, triumphant big-band music blaring through the loudspeakers. Sophia strode over and placed a beautiful, glittering tiara atop Christie’s dark hair. Then, over Christie’s head, she slung the white satin sash, which read
SNOW QUEEN
in red sequins. Flashbulbs popped as Christie doubled over laughing, then straightened up again and waved to the crowd. Then all the princesses gathered around her, hugging her and congratulating her and checking out the crown. Aubrey
had to fight her way to the center of the crowd, and when she finally found her friend, she threw her arms around her, nearly knocking the tiara free with her bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations, Christie. I’m so happy for you!” Aubrey shouted over the mayhem.

“Thanks, Aubrey. Thank you so much for doing this with me,” Christie said.

“Even though I almost ruined it?” Aubrey said with a laugh, leaning back.

“Yeah, but you didn’t,” Christie said, reaching up to reposition her crown. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

“Well, believe it,” Aubrey said with a grin. “The best girl just won.”

“First runner-up? This is such crap!” Layla screeched, storming into the bustling dressing room. She flung her roses at the first mirror she saw and white petals rained everywhere. All the snow princesses had already changed into their casual wear and were getting ready to find their families and head out to dinner or back home. Layla had disappeared somewhere
right after the announcement, and Aubrey could only imagine that she had been whining to her mother or making the judges recount their scores. Whatever she’d been doing, it clearly hadn’t made her feel any better.

“You!” she shouted, whirling on Christie, who was still wearing her pink gown and tiara, not yet ready to let the moment go. Layla stormed over to her, one finger raised toward Christie’s nose. “You had this fixed! Your stupid grandparents know half the judges on the panel! How did they get them to vote for you? Pity? Blackmail? You’re such a little cheater!”

Christie’s jaw dropped, stunned, and she stumbled back a few steps, knocking into a fabric-steaming machine that was hanging near the wall. When Aubrey noticed the fear on Christie’s face, something inside her snapped. She was not going to let Layla ruin this night for her friend.

“
She’s
a cheater? Are you kidding me?” Aubrey blurted, getting in between Christie and Layla. “Why don’t you just back off, you whiner?”

At that moment, Grayson stuck his head in
the room as if to check to make sure everyone was fully dressed before he walked in. He had already changed into a gray turtleneck sweater and jeans and was looking much more like his usual self, and still as drop-dead gorgeous as ever. Aubrey cursed her own bad luck. Of course he’d once again caught
her
looking like the bad guy, when seconds ago it had been Layla who was showing her bitchiest colors. But Grayson had walked in
behind
Layla, and she hadn’t seen her brother yet. Suddenly, Aubrey was struck with a perfect idea.

“I mean, how dare you accuse Christie of fixing the competition?” Aubrey said to Layla. “Not only do your parents own this pageant, but you spent the entire week trying to sabotage
us
!”

“So what?” Layla said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s not as if any of it worked! Not wearing that stupid yellow dress or stealing your music or trying to make you give up on twirling. Even that dinner party I threw for the judges turned out to be totally pointless!”

A few of the other contestants gasped when they heard this. Grayson’s face went ashen.
Aubrey’s heart was so happy it was doing cartwheels.

“I spent a
fortune
on that meal, but did it matter?
No-o-o!
Clearly you two had something far bigger up your sleeves than any of my plans,” Layla ranted. “So what did the Howells do, Christie? Pay off their friends to vote for you?”

“Layla!” Grayson blurted. His expression was one of shock and confusion. All eyes in the room darted from him to Layla and back again. No one wanted to miss a second of the backstage drama.

Facing Aubrey and Christie, Layla’s face fell. She swallowed hard and turned around to look at her brother, but there was no going back this time. He’d heard her admit that she’d tried to sabotage his friends. For once, he’d been there to witness her true self. Inside her chest, Aubrey’s heart did a happy dance. Finally, finally,
finally
.

“Grayson!” Layla trilled, putting on her faux-sweet voice. “Hang on a sec. I just have to get changed and then we can go meet up in the restaurant with Mom and Dad.”

“What the hell was that?” Grayson said, stepping up to her. “Did you really do all those
things? And were you really just accusing the Howells of paying off judges?”

Layla’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She glanced up at the ceiling as if trying to find some logical explanation for what he’d just heard, but clearly nothing was coming to her. “That?” she said finally, lifting a hand. “That was just a joke. I was
kidding
with Christie…right?” She glanced over her shoulder at Christie. “We were just joking around.”

She shot Christie a prompting look and it was all Aubrey could do not to scream. Did Layla really expect Christie to back her up here? After everything she’d done? Christie took a few steps forward, drew herself up, and looked down her nose at Layla. With the gown and the tiara, she looked very regal at that moment.

“I’d rather not answer that question, because anything I have to say to you right now would be very unbefitting of the Snow Queen,” she said diplomatically.

Layla’s eyes narrowed and she let out an incredulous sort of noise. “Whatever. Come on, Grayson. Let’s just go,” she said, crouching to gather up her bags and shoes from the floor.
“Mom and Dad are waiting.”

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t think I’ll be coming along,” Grayson said, his jaw clenching. “The Howells just invited me to Christie’s victory party.”

“What?” Layla blurted, standing up straight.

“We’re having a victory party?” Christie asked, excited.

“Yeah, so I wouldn’t change out of that if I were you,” Grayson said with a nod at Christie’s gown. “I’m sure everyone’s gonna want to see the Snow Queen in all her glory.”

“Okay!” Christie said excitedly. “And all you guys are invited!” she said to the room. “Come one, come all!”

Layla groaned in frustration and stormed out of the room, leaving her brother, her friends, and all her crap behind. Aubrey was both amused by her exit and relieved to see her go. In her mind she heard the classic refrain played at the end of all her roller-hockey victories.
“Nah, nah, nah, nah! Nah, nah, nah, nah! Hey, hey, hey! Good-bye!”

As the snow princesses started to chatter in excitement about the party, Grayson stepped
over to Aubrey. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure,” Aubrey said, her heart pounding. She glanced around for an escape route, but the girls were all blocking the door as they crowded out with their garment bags and duffels and makeup cases. Then Aubrey saw the changing curtain. She tipped her head toward it and smiled. “Follow me.”

Together they ducked behind the curtain and, even though it was no less quiet back there, at least they were free from the prying eyes of all the other contestants.