All That Glitters by Jacqueline Decembly

Rebecca leaned against the wall, straining to hear the voices heading towards the elevator. She could hear the door open and the sound of laughter as high heeled shoes click-clacked on the floor. I have to move fast, Rebecca thought before slowly easing around the corner. I have just enough to time to sneak into Brooke's room, spray her dress with pepper spray and make it back to the lobby before anyone notices. She took the bottom of her floor length gown into one hand and tiptoed down the hallway. Her black clutch bounced against her leg as she searched for the door. Here it is, she said to herself as she looked at the number five etched on the door. She undid the buckle of her purse to grab the key. It had been too easy to get the key to the room. The receptionist had been eager to help when she went crying to the front desk, explaining she had been locked out of her room. The young woman didn't even ask her for identification but instead gave her a Kleenex and a spare key to the room. A green light blinked as she swiped the keycard and then turned the knob. Rebecca slid her hand across the wall until she found the light switch.
Her eyes surveyed the room hoping to find the reason she had snuck into Brooke's room. There hanging on the door of the bathroom was a white Dolce & Gabbana garment bag. Placing the bag on the bed, Rebecca hurried to unzip the bag. The light blue fabric glimmered in the light. Slowly taking the dress out of the bag, she lifted it to take a better look. The sleeveless ball gown had a fitted bodice that flowed into light blue, turquoise and green at the bottom. Little silver beads were scattered along the front of the dress. Rebecca had to admit that Brooke had impeccable taste and for a moment she regretted what she was about to do.
She didn't want to physically hurt Brooke but she wanted to do something that would take her out of the competition. At first she thought about ruining the dress completely but she just couldn't imagine doing that. So instead, she decided that putting pepper spay on her dress would take Brooke out of the competition and cause her to suffer, just a little. Rebecca could see Brooke's large blue eyes becoming red and puffy after putting on the pepper sprayed dress. She could see Brooke at first ignoring the itchiness and irritation of her eyes. Brooke would instead toss her hair from side to side and admire her reflection in one of the mirrors backstage. After smiling back at the reflection, Brooke would begin lining up for the competition. Little by little her eyes and face would become red and puffy from the pepper spray. Then just when the interview portion of the competition began, Brooke would be unable to fake it any more. Instead of her usual poised saunter, the water buildup in her eyes would cause her movements to be sloppy. Walking out onto the stage Brooke unable to see clearly would fall, ripping the tiny sliver beads from her dress as she fell. Her blond hair lying in a heap around her face, Brooke would struggle to get up from the wooden stage. Her perfect makeup would be smeared like a rainbow across her face, and the echo of beads rolling around on stage would fill the room. Unable to control the itchiness, water spouting from her eyes and her sheer embarrassment, Brooke would have no choice but to drop out of the competition.
Brooke was the kind of girl everyone was jealous of. She had perfect long blonde hair, a small slender nose, a perfect body and lots of expensive clothes. Not to mention that she had won every beauty pageant that Rebecca had competed in the last ten years. First it was the Little Miss Liberty pageant, the Mayflower Princess pageant, the Harris County Sweetheart pageant, the Little Miss Grand Prix of Houston, Miss Preteen Texas, Houston's Perfect Miss, Houston's Outstanding Teen, Miss Texas Teen World US and the Miss Teen Pearl Scholarship pageant. With every competition, Rebecca sulked silently as Brooke took home the sparkling crowns, sashes and prize money, while she took first runner-up and complimentary roses.
Unlike the other beauty pageant contestants, this time Brooke had been given a separate room. Competitors were usually assigned one or two other roommates that were randomly picked from a hat when the girls arrived at the hotel. Brooke, however, had insisted that she was a terrible snorer and she didn't want to be responsible for another girl not getting enough beauty rest. Rebecca remembered rolling her eyes during the welcome reception as the other girls nodded in agreement, thanking Brooke for being so sweet. Just when you thought she was being sincere, Brooke always found a way to make you feel bad.
"I just don't know what I would do if someone didn't make top 10 because of my loud snoring," Brooke had said placing her French-manicured hand on her chest. From far away her long sandy blonde hair and tall frame stood out among the short dark-haired girls that surrounded her. She let out a sigh and invited the girls to come to her room to talk, or watch a movie.
"That room is so big, I'm so jealous that you girls get to bond with one another, while I'm stuck looking at all my suitcases," Brooke said drawing out her words to over emphasize her southern accent.
What a bitch, Rebecca had thought to herself. A few of the girls had laughed nervously thinking about the four-bag limit that the organizers had instituted for the competition. But of course Brooke had found a way to have six suitcases brought up to her room. She had told the organizers that only four of the suitcases were filled with her gowns, two swimsuits, and makeup for the competition. The other two were filled with vitamins and hair care products that she claimed were essential for maintaining her beauty regimen.
In a way Rebecca felt bad for the girls who fell for Brooke's "sweetness." She had seen exactly how "sweet" she was competing against her for ten years. Forced into beauty pageants at the age of five by her mother, a former Miss Texas, Rebecca spent most of her early competition years dreading the costumes, the questions, and the large crowds. Rebecca's mom believed pageants would be a great way for her shy daughter to make friends, and it of course allowed her to be paraded around town. She thought back to the day she first met Brooke. They were both twelve years old and competing in the Little Miss Liberty pageant. The winner of the pageant got a chance to ride a float in the Fourth of July parade. Houston was known for its parade, and it was televised on all the major networks.
This had been the very first competition that Rebecca had gotten excited about. She spent months practicing the dance routine choreographed by her mother and had even practiced the wave she would give to the crowd as she sat on the float. That is until Brooke went and stole the competition right from under her.
At first she had been thrilled when the tall blonde girl had sauntered over after rehearsing the opening number. Her blue eyes sparkling, Brooke had extended her hand and introduced herself to Rebecca. Rebecca had watched her during rehearsal, her long slender arms and legs moved gracefully across the stage. There is no way I will ever look like that, she thought bitterly as tears began to form in her dark brown eyes.
"Is this your first competition?" she had asked looking over Rebecca.
"No, I've been competing for about seven years now," Rebecca answered.
"Really, do you just do the local pageants?" Brooke asked. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just that you know, THIS is a pretty big competition," Brooke said tossing her hair to the side.
"I usually do a lot of fairs and county competitions," she answered fidgeting in her black leotard and pink leggings. She didn't know if Brooke was trying to make her feel bad or if she wanted to help. But every time she looked up Brooke was smilingly sweetly at her.
"What are you doing for the talent portion?" Brooke asked picking up a small duffle bag and placing it on her shoulder.
"A ballet routine that my mom choreographed to My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion," Rebecca said. She loved that song and knew every word by heart.
"I'm doing a tap dance to a Frank Sinatra song. I've been taking tap and ballet since I was three," Brooke said.
The girls stood in silence as the other girls packed up their things to leave. I better get my stuff together too, she thought. Her mom would be there shortly and would want to hear all about rehearsal. She bent down and began taking off her dance shoes when Brooke stopped her.
"Since I've been dancing for such a long time, you could show me your dance and I can tell you if you need to fix anything," Brooke said.
She does seem to know a lot about dancing and beauty pageants…so maybe she can help me. Rebecca stood and began to start the routine but Brooke raised her hand for her to stop. Brooke watched as the last of the girls walked out of the dance studio and motioned for her to begin. Rebecca took a deep breath and began doing her routine. She imagined Celine's voice as she flowed into a series of pirouettes, jetes; spot turns and ended the routine in an arabesque. Wiping tiny beads of sweat from her forehead, Rebecca stood there beaming from ear to ear. Brooke's bright smile turned into a look of pure shock. Her mouth hung open in disbelief and she blinked her eyes for several seconds before responding.
"I…I think it's a great start but your turns are not as graceful as the other girls. But I don't think it was too bad," she said to her while forcing a smile.
"Oh, is that bad?" Rebecca asked.
"Well, I'm sure the judges will understand that this is your first city beauty pageant. Good luck with your dance, and I'll see you tomorrow at rehearsal," Brooke said turning to leave. Rebecca sighed and then bent down to gather her things into her duffle bag. Before she could put her dance shoes into her bag she felt someone tap her lightly on the shoulder.
"You know maybe I can help you," Brooke said shrugging her shoulders. "If you come to my house we can videotape your dance and then we can look at your mistakes. What do you think?"
Rebecca was relived. With all of Brooke's experience she was sure to win first place with her help. "Okay, I'll have my mom drop me off at your house," Rebecca answered.
For the next two days Rebecca went to Brooke's house to practice her routine. They watched the tape over and over again going over every detail of the dance. The night before the competition Rebecca could hardly sleep, and instead spent hours in front of the mirror making sure she hit every movement with precision. She did each part of the routine over and over again until her muscles ached.
The morning of the competition, Rebecca waited behind the curtains as Brooke stepped onto the stage. She could barely hear Brooke's name being called because of all the noise she heard backstage. There were girls fixing their hair in tall full-length mirrors, girls reciting monologues or rehearsing songs, and even instruments being tuned in the background. But she leaned closer to the curtain anxious to see Brooke's performance. She was confused when she heard a familiar song playing on the loudspeaker, and for a second her heart skipped a beat. Maybe they meant to call my name instead of Brooke's, she thought. They'll see that I'm going next and they'll stop the song. But to her horror, Brooke smiled and gracefully glided across the stage doing pirouettes and jetes. Wait that's my routine! What is she doing? Rebecca closed her eyes hoping that it was a dream. When she opened her eyes, she saw the crowd giving Brooke a standing ovation. Brooke smiled innocently and bowed before exiting the stage.
"Brooke that was my routine you did!" Rebecca said as she stood there shaking. "Why would you do that?"
"Oh, we both know that I did that routine way better than you ever could. Besides no one would believe that I stole it from you," she answered shrugging her shoulders as she continued toward the dressing room.
Rebecca had been terrified when her name got called. I have no idea what I'm going to do now. She fought back tears as she made her way onto the stage. She looked out into the audience searching for her mother. There in the front row, her mother sat nodding for Rebecca to dance. The heat from the stage lights made tiny beads of sweat pour from the top of her forehead, and onto her face ruining her makeup. She tried to wipe her face, before motioning to the stage director to start the music. This time instead of Celine Dion's voice, the raspy voice of Frank Sinatra echoed from the loudspeakers. Rebecca closed her eyes again trying to calm herself down. There must be something I can do, she thought. Somewhere inside of herself, Rebecca found the courage to dance without the routine. Her heart pounding in her ear, Rebecca remembered a jazz routine that she had learned the year before. She had hated performing the routine as part of her dance studio's annual parent night. But with all eyes on her, it was the only routine she could go think of. She twirled herself around in a circle, mimicking the chorus line steps from the routine. With every spiral turn and leg kick, Rebecca could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. To make matters even worse, she watched Brooke walked away with the sash, title, and the honor of riding on the float, while she came in first place. Her mother had wanted to go the pageant directors and report Brooke, but Rebecca just wanted to forget the whole thing. At home her family tried cheering her up telling her winning first runner-up wasn't so bad. But she was never able to forget how sad she felt losing the competition.
It had taken Rebecca months to compete after the Miss Liberty incident. Instead of being sad, she pushed herself even harder in every competition. She spent hours taking extra dance classes and coaching from pageant professionals. She also made friends with the other contestants at the competitions by inviting them to her house after rehearsals. She helped calm nerves on competition day by telling jokes to the girls, or helping them with their makeup. Her best friends Terry and Amanda were girls that she had met at pageants. She kept in touch with the girls she met by sending them Christmas and birthday cards, get-well cards and even e-mails. Rebecca even organized a salon trip after the welcome banquet, where girls met one another, and bonded. And every time she came in second place to Brooke, Rebecca pushed herself even harder. But no matter how hard she tried, Brooke always found a way to embarrass her.
It all began with Brooke bringing photographs from past competitions to show the other girls. Instead of picking flattering pictures of Rebecca, Brooke showed the pictures of her the year she got braces, or the year she had a severe case of acne, and even the year she had gained ten pounds. Brooke would always say that it had taken a little longer for Rebecca to grow into her beauty. The other girls would smile but Rebecca would sit there fuming to herself. But this year, Brooke topped it all by bringing in a video of the Little Miss Liberty pageant. She even had the nerve to show her "winning dance routine," as Rebecca fought back the urge to out her to the other girls. And to her horror, Brooke had also shown Rebecca's routine. Brooke smiled sweetly as she took in all of the compliments, and claimed that her mother had choreographed the routine. Rebecca unable to hold back tears, she complained of a headache, and returned to her room.
Even now as Rebecca eyed the collection of small pearl earrings, diamonds necklaces and an array of chokers sprawled across the dresser, her chest tightened thinking about her disappointment. She took one of the necklaces into her hands and placed it around her neck. She studied her reflection in the mirror and admired how the necklace accented her dark olive skin. Her dark brown hair and the black gown she was wearing made her look exotic. Where does she get all of this jewelry from, she pondered as she set the necklace back on the dresser.
After years of watching Brooke fool everyone with her "sweetness," Rebecca decided that Brooke needed to be taught a lesson. Let's see how sweet she is when she has to drop out of the competition, she thought mischievously. She reached for the clutch purse she had set on the dresser and pulled out the small canister of pepper spray. When her mother first gave her the pepper spray, Rebecca had laughed thinking that she would never be able to act fast enough to use it on an attacker. Who knew it would come in so handy after all, she thought smiling. She hung the dress back on the bathroom door and stood back from the gown. Lightly spraying the canister in the direction of the dress, Rebecca waited for the fumes and particles to settle before placing the dress back into the bag. She took out a small bottle of perfume and sprayed the room hoping to mask the smell. Glancing around the room one final time, she turned off the light and closed the door.
Rebecca ran her hands over her gown smoothing out the small wrinkles of her dress as she walked out of the elevator. Rebecca eyed the hundreds of red, white and blue balloons that covered the ceiling and filled the tables of the ballroom. A white banner with the Texas flag that read Good Luck Miss Teen Texas Contestants hung in black letters above the podium. Rebecca slipped into the ballroom and surveyed the room for an empty seat. Nearly all of the seats were taken except for a seat in the center of the room. She sat down and didn't notice the blonde woman sitting at the table.
"We were starting to wonder where you were," a familiar voice said from the table.
Rebecca's eyes followed the voice and looked right into Brooke's eyes. Of all of the people I had to sit with, I can't believe this. She smiled and took her seat praying for the awards banquet to start. While Brooke and the other girls talked about who they thought would win awards, Rebecca found it hard to look at Brooke without thinking about what she had done. She could see herself spraying the dress over and over again.
Suddenly the lights dimmed, and Brooke took a deep breath before turning her head towards the podium. Pictures from the week long competition filled the screen, while soft music played in the background. There in the midst of tank tops, blue jean skirts and Capri's, Rebecca stood laughing with her arm around Terry and Amanda in front of the University of Texas Tower. In another picture, Rebecca and the other contestants posed with the conductor of The 'Dillo, the green trolley that took them all over downtown. Then there was the picture of Rebecca shrieking, and then laughing after a monkey threw food in her hair at the zoo. There were pictures of the girls in business casual attire from the welcome reception, and girls wearing gym shorts and sleeveless shirts during production rehearsals. In all of the pictures Rebecca saw the smiles and laughter on everyone's faces. She must have zoned out because all of a sudden Brooke was saying her name and smiling. Rebecca turned around and saw the whole room clapping their hands. What's going on, she thought.
"Go up there silly and get your award," Brooke screamed over the applause.
Still a little confused, Rebecca made her way to the podium. Rebecca bent her head down hoping to avoid the smiling faces that she saw. I will just walk up get whatever award this is and get out of here as fast as I can, she thought angrily. She tapped her foot nervously waiting for the pageant director to come over with her award. The director placed a white sash over her head and gave her a hug before joining in with the applause. Unable to hear anything but the applause she looked down at the sash and read Miss Congeniality. Her throat swelled and she could feel herself getting light headed. I don't deserve this award, she thought as she said thank you to all of the girls who had come up to hug her after the ceremony. It was hard for her to keep a smile on her face when she felt like the crying inside. She wanted to escape but instead she stood there taking pictures feeling like an imposter. I wonder what these girls would think if they knew what I did, she thought trying to fight the knot rising in her stomach.
That night the image of Brooke's dress haunted her as she tried to sleep. She could see Brooke's eyes swelling and water, making her unable to finish the competition. She tossed from side to side fighting the guilt she felt. Would she really be able to let Brooke wear the dress? Could she really be that mean?
The next day, Rebecca and the other contestants listened from behind the curtain for the big announcement. It was the big moment; the top five contestants would be named. The girls would have just enough time to change their swimsuits and slip into their gowns for evening wear. Although she felt happy to hear her name called as walked on the stage, she felt a pang of guilt when she heard Brooke's name.
Rebecca had just a couple of minutes to make her move before the girls rushed in to get ready. She had been unable to concentrate during the competition thinking about Brooke's dress. She found the light blue dress hanging on the rack next to Brooke's chair. How can I stop her from wearing the dress? There sitting on the makeup stand was a small bottle of perfume. She remembered that if sprayed it correctly, perfume could leave dark spots on the fabric. Glancing over her shoulder to see make sure none of the contestants saw her, she picked up the perfume. She stood next to the dress spraying the bottle so that the perfume landed on the silk fabric. Please let there be a spot, she murmured inspecting the dress. There right in the center of the dress was a round wet spot. Rebecca stood next to the dress and again sprayed the perfume. Quietly placing the perfume back on the stand she waited for the other girls to come rushing into the dressing room. She coyly eyed Brooke as she stopped in front of the dress. Brooke was beginning to take the dress of the hook when she paused, narrowing her eyes at the center of the dress.
"I can't believe this!" she said as she shook her head in disbelief.
"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked avoiding eye contact.
"It's just weird," Brooke said still studying the dress. "I had this dress cleaned."
Rebecca could feel her cheeks burning and the tiny flutter of butterflies in her stomach. Oh no, she thought. Maybe she knows.
"Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I bring so much luggage with me. You never know when you'll need it. Besides this dress is so two seasons ago anyway", she said flashing her bright smile.
What a bitch! Rebecca thought rolling her eyes and smiling to herself. She glanced once more at Brooke who pulled a purple sequenced gown from her garment bag before turning to examine her reflection in the mirror.
Rebecca stood on stage with Brooke waiting for the final announcement. They had announced the second-runner up and in moments the winner would be announced. Rebecca's heart pounded as she saw the faces of her mother and father in the crowd. She let her eyes drift to the crown held in a glass case by the pageant director. Even in the glass case, the silver diamonds sparkled and for a second Rebecca tried to envision wearing it on her head. She could see herself smiling wearing not the crown but the first-runner up sash, and holding a small red bouquet as Brooke was crowned. Rebecca glanced over at Brooke before turning her attention back to the announcer.
"The results are in," he said. "This year's first runner-up is……"