You think you're hot? Show what you've got! (OPEN)

[Elmira Medina]

"BEAUTY CONTEST" was written in large, pink, sparkling letters on the banner behind Elmira's head, purposefully placed near the desk she was now sitting on, as the folding chair no longer appealed to her. This was the most exciting event she had thought of since her beach party, and she wanted it to be a success. In order to achieve such a goal, she had brought a microphone and travel-sized speakers; they were a bit fuzzy, but there was no way in hell she'd bring fancy, expensive ones to this chaotic public school.

"Sign up for the beauty contest two weeks from this Wednesday!" she practically shouted, her voice blasting through the speakers. "Entrance is absolutely free, and first place wins more than just bragging rights- how about five thousand bucks!? That's money just to show up and look hot!" A warm smile parted her pink, glossy lips. She rather enjoyed advertising her plans, and whatever attention she gained would add to the fun. Seriously, this place could use a little enjoyment, with all the drama lately. Not that she could guarantee a beauty contest without drama- she almost counted on it. "Any age, weight, height, or sex is welcome. That's right, boys! Don't let the glitter letters fool you: we want to see sexy, topless men as much as we want gorgeous girlies!" Truth be told, she probably wanted to see sexy, topless men even more than she wanted to see 'gorgeous girlies.' "And if five thousand dollars isn't worth strutting your stuff for, you can still be part of the fun by signing up to be a judge. Hurry, before spaces close up!"

She grabbed the clipboards with the sign up sheets and waved them in the air. They were all empty for now, so the 'hurry' was a bit of an exaggeration, but she hoped that a decent amount of the students walking in the hall would show interest.

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick was on his way to class when he heard a familiar voice booming from a little makeshift stand at the other end of the hallway. He could make out the large glittery letters from his end, and he raised one eyebrow.

Beauty Contest!?

He was heading that way anyways, so he decided he would see what the hubbub was about. When Nick got closer he smiled. He guessed correctly, it was Elmira's voice he had heard a few seconds ago. He ran up to the booth and jumped up and sat next to Elmira and smiled.

"Hey, Elmira! Do you think I've got what it takes to win?"

Oh, yeah, Nick meant for that to be an obviously loaded question.

"If not, I guess I could judge. I'm assuming you're gonna be in it?" he winked at her and smirked.

[Elmira Medina]

"Hey, Elmira! Do you think I've got what it takes to win?"

Elmira clapped her hands excitedly. One interested person so far! Perhaps it did not count as much of an achievement because she happened to know him, and he might be just kidding with her, but she knew she would get frustrated if all her work so far would be for nothing. "Nicky! Of course you do, cutie!" She winked at him and scruffed her fingers into his hair quickly. "You could pull off a musician look! Dude, girls totally dig musicians, like guitar players and drum players and singers. If you could just get into the style that maybe like an alternative or indie band might have, you'd get lots of votes. Oh! And I'll do your hair for you! And since you're my buddy, I won't charge for it." This was part of her plan- at least somewhat- to do people's hair. It was more than just a knack she had; it was almost a passion, and yet she knew she could get away with charging money, if people would only see that she would do a good job and not cost nearly as much as a professional salon worker.

"If not, I guess I could judge. I'm assuming you're gonna be in it?"

"Be in it?" she repeated. "Well, yes, I guess you can say that. I'm the hostess of the show! You know, like a girl version of an emcee. It's my contest, after all. And you can be in it and judge, but you'd only be allowed to judge the female portion, since you'd be part of the male portion." She handed him two clipboards. "So, what'll it be?"

[Nicolas Constantine]

Elmira was hyper and talkative as usual. There was never a dull moment with this one, and he knew he'd have fun if he joined. Plus, depending on who would be there, it might boost his social status. Nick took the clipboards that Elmira handed to him.

"Then sure I'll do it! Could be fun, you know? And I'd love to judge pretty girls, to bad you're not in the competition, I'd vote for you." he returned the wink.

Was it possible for Nick to speak with a girl and not flirt? It was tough enough trying to match the energy that Elmira's personality gave off. Nick took the pen that was on the clipboard and started to fill out the entry form.

[Elmira Medina]

"Oh, stop, you're such a tease!" Elmira countered with a giggle, waving her hand back and forth in front of her face in a melodramatic gesture, suggesting that her face was hot and flushed from the flirtatious comment. "Besides, that's the kind of bias that I can't have with my special judges! You can't just give a girl a higher score because she's your friend, or because you think you might have a shot with her." Her eyes glazed over the clipboard, watching in contentment as the pen he held in his hand glided across the page into words.

"But I'm definitely glad you're interested. I need to have a decent amount of people signed up and committed by the end of this week or I may have to postpone the event, or even cancel." She bit her bottom lip after thinking about the last words she spoke. "Hopefully it won't come to that, though!"

[Nicolas Constantine]

"You can't just give a girl a higher score because she's your friend, or because you think you might have a shot with her.[/i]

He finished filling out the box he was currently on and looked up at Elmira and smirked.

"What do you mean think? I know I do."

"I need to have a decent amount of people signed up and committed by the end of this week or I may have to postpone the event, or even cancel. Hopefully it won't come to that, though!"[/b]

Nick resumed filling out the sheet and said his next statement a bit monotone as he was concentrating more on filling out the form.

"Yeah, that would be a pity."

Nick did mean it though he seemed rather unenthusiastic. He would love for more girls then he could handle to be ogling him.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

"Beauty contest hm?" I said, eyeing the banner from afar. I was down the hall, headed to the broadcasting room to work on the next Whammy, but this... well... this proved to be quite interesting. The stand seemed to be managed by the girl who was always throwing parties... Elmer... Ellis... Elvira... ELMIRA! That was it!

I approached the stand, coming to find Nicolas there as well... Who seemed to be pretty much everywhere I went these days... Creeper...

"A beauty contest hm?" I said aloud to Elmira and Nicolas, my eyes looking over the banner. "And I don't suppose you have the Pillar's permission to use the stage, hm?" I raised an eyebrow. "It would be such a shame to say this can't go on, hm?" I smiled. "Unless of course I should happen to find a way to a judging seat... Then I suppose I could magically put this show onto the auditorium stage..."

I shrugged. "So whatcha say? Any judging spots left open?"

You? Judging a beauty contest?

Yeah? What of it fuckhead?

Nothing... You know there isn't a nude category right?

Duh... I'm not an idiot Damien.

And fellatio isn't part of the talent competition.

It isn- UGH! Christ...

[Elmira Medina]

Elmira squealed enthusiastically and clapped her hands happily like a little girl fed too much sugar. "Ooooh the auditorium stage!" She snatched up another clipboard up with an empty judging form and dug through her purse for another pen. "That would be totally awesome. Like, I would have let you judge even without pulling those special strings, since Nicky here is the only one to sign up for anything so far, except yours truly-- the hostess. But hey, since you've made an offer, I'll take you up on it."

Now this was particularly fortunate. A moment ago, she had been thinking that perhaps she would not have enough interested participants to run the pageant as planned, but with this Pillar in the picture-- one who had been among the first to arrive at her beach party and whose face she saw each week on that Whammy program (she actually stopped texting in class for a few moments to see if there was any juicy school gossip, as she viewed the show as an opportunity to pick up dirt on others, when available)... now where was she going with this? Oh yeah, the Pillar. This guy could not only provide her with the perfect setting for the beauty contest, but he could also promote it: he had a school news show in the palm of his hands, and probably some other media-oriented forums that a Pillar would have responsibility over. She could ask him for promoting time, yet she probably didn't have to, since if he wanted his judging position to mean anything, he'd most likely recruit at least some females on his own.

Once she found a pen, she scribbled it on the edge of the banner-covered table, only to find a slight dent and no ink. "God damn it! Eff em elle." With a short sigh, she went on, "Nick, hun, are you almost done with the application? I gotta use that pen to give Damien." She paused and quirked an eyebrow up. "Unless one of you has a spare..."

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick looked up for a second to see none other than his favorite Pillar coming towards the booth. He sighed and returned to filling out the application as Damien spoke to Elmira.

He was just everywhere, strutting his Pillar power all over the place like he was the king of the school. But that's not the reason Nick disliked Damien anymore. Now it was far beyond that; but there was a time and a place for everything, and now was not the time or the place to bring anything about their "situation" up.

"Nick, hun, are you almost done with the application? I gotta use that pen to give Damien."[/i]

Nick looked up again after he had finished the box he was on, ignoring Damien's presence.

"Yeah, I have one more box to go, and then I'll be done."

He filled out the last bit of information and handed the first clipboard and the pen to Elmira.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam had been headed to the bathroom to work on her hair - yet another bun for dance class - but she heard someone shouting on a portable loudspeaker and curiously made her way towards the voice. She saw the banner and grinned. Someone was holding a beauty contest? That should be interesting. When she got closer she saw Elmira, and walked over to the girl to say hi. But it wasn't until she got up to the table that she realized that the two figures filling out applications in front of her were none other than Nick and Damien.

Great... two of the last people I wanted to see today...

Unfortunately, though, it was too late to walk away unnoticed, so she chose to ignore the two of them completely, going straight to Elmira and putting the grin back on her face. However, she couldn't hide the redness that slowly appeared on her cheeks.

"Hello, Elmira. Is this all your doing? Looks fun!" If she looked or sounded as fake to Elmira as she did to herself, she hoped the girl wouldn't think it was because of her. She liked Elmira a lot, and wouldn't want to cause any bad feelings between them because of a misunderstanding. Sam's problems involving the two boys beside her were completely irrelevant to her relationship with Elmira, and she wanted to keep it that way.

[Elmira Medina]

"Sammy!" Elmira cried enthusiastically. Finally, somebody with a vagina is showing interest, she thought in relief. She bit her bottom lip in the realization of the obscenity of the short inner monologue, but continued smiling brightly, giving the pen Nick had been using to Damien while focusing her attention on the female newcomer.

"Of course it's going to be fun! I wouldn't organize an event that's not fun!" She peeked under the desk in search for another clipboard, yet found none- only more blank applications. "Then again, you have to sign up and actually participate to see for yourself whether you like it or not."

With a loud slap, she dropped the pile of extra forms on top of the table. "Let me explain how it works. You sign up, bring a few required outifts, get hair or makeup done, blah blah, and you walk around and wait for the judges to give you a score from one to ten, which will be averaged out for your final score. There's going to be three categories: casual, formal, and swimwear. You can wear whatever you want for each, but it has to be fairly obvious to which category the outfit belongs."

She lifted a sheet from the stack and handed it to Sam. "If you got a pen, you can start filling it out now. Er, unless you wanted to be a judge instead..."

[Ryuu]

Beauty contest? Ryuu's right hand hovered in midair as he reached up to grab some books from his locker for English, except the girl who was sitting on the desk in front of the rather large banner with those words written on it in large, pink sparkling letters that had used the microphone to announce it had caught Ryuu’s attention. He lowered his hand as he scratched the back of his head before shrugging his shoulders, why not, right? Grabbing his books and shoving them into his shoulder bag, Ryuu slammed his locker door shut, before walking down the hallway towards the banner, as soon as he got closer, he smirking slightly when he recognized Nick, creeping up behind him, not making a single sound, which wasn't hard, considering how loud the various conversations were, he wrapped his arm around Nick's neck, looking like he was choking the guy.

“Nick, I didn’t know you were into beauty contests, I thought you were into drums, what do we have here...” Ryuu commented, as he lifted the clipboard out of Nick’s hands, holding away from him, turning his head to look at the application sheet, “Judge huh? Ogling the female contestants huh? Well, not much for you to look at, baka.” He said jokingly, as he continued to pretend to choke Nick, a smirk on his face, before letting go of him. “Hey Sam,” Ryuu said, giving her a friendly two-finger wave, as he noticed Damien, but seeing as he was busy filling out an application, Ryuu wouldn’t bother him just yet, “What's up? Haven't seen you for a while." Which was true, Ryuu hadn't seen her since he met her in the cafeteria with James.

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick was busy reading the second form and waiting for the pen back once he had given it to Elmira, when he looked up again. His stomach turned inside out when he saw Sam walking up towards the booth. He hadn't spoken to her since he had left her with Damien in the gym, and he wasn't ready to confront her just yet. Especially with Damien right there.

Nick sighed as she approached, her ignoring him and Damien and only acknowledging Elmira. He pretended to look at the clipboard he had in his hand while trying to look up at Sam who was directly in front of him.

He was so disappointed at the whole thing, but he didn't really want to speak with her or interact with her until he was ready to explain himself one on one. But he also didn't want to be rude because he valued her as a close friend and he wanted them to get out of this rut.

"Hey, Sam." he mumbled towards her, barely looking up from the clipboard.

Nick was then furiously attacked by... Ryuu? What was he doing here? Oh, right, they were at school...

But nevertheless, Nick was saved by him as Ryuu barraged him with questions, allowing him to ignore Sam once again. He smiled embarrassingly, Ryuu's grasp slowly choking him to death.

"Ha, Ryuu. I also filled one out for being a contestant. Seemed fair to judge and be judged, you know? Plus, " he smirked, "I'm very multi-talented." he said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Nick spluttered as Ryuu jerked his head with him as he barraged Sam with greetings and such. So... he was safe for the moment?

[Elmira Medina]

Elmira watched the scene happily. As far as she could tell, she was collecting a good group of people. Any tension between the students went right over her head; she assumed Nick had mumbled his greeting to Sam because he was busy thinking about the contest. And though she did not know or recognize the latest addition, he seemed to be friendly with each of the others, which was a good sign. Plus- "You're cute!" Yes, Elmira deemed him as cute. Maybe that wasn't the desirable adjective for most males, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"You should totally enter! You've got absolutely gorgeous hair, and since you know Nicky and Sam, it'll be completely chill hanging out backstage and competing and stuff, like a drama-free game between friends." Once again she picked up an application from the pile. "Get out a pen and fill in all the required information. There's no fee to enter. Oh, and uh, what's your name, sweetie?"

[Ryuu]

"Ha, Ryuu. I also filled one out for being a contestant. Seemed fair to judge and be judged, you know? Plus," Ryuu saw Nick smirk, as Ryuu continued to pretend to choke him, "I'm very multi-talented." "... Sure Nick, I believe you," Ryuu replied, his tone of voice matching Nick's matter-of-fact tone, as he continued to hold Nick's clipboard away from him, "I'm multi-talented too baka, I'm more than just a guitarist." Ryuu grinned evily, as he heard Nick splutter when he jerked his head slightly as Ryuu greeted Sam, grinning at her, but before she could reply, he heard another voice speak. "You're cute!" Ryuu's grin faded in an instant, replaced by a blank look, as he paused in his choking of Nick and stared blankly at Elmira. "... Thanks?" He replied, sounding kind of unsure, he was cute? Well he had to be something, anything but ugly, to have Emi, who was extremely pretty in her own right, as his girlfriend. That had to count for something.

"You should totally enter! You've got absolutely gorgeous hair, and since you know Nicky and Sam, it'll be completely chill hanging out backstage and competing and stuff, like a drama-free game between friends."

Ryuu attempted to stare up at his own hair, his front hair had fallen into his eyes naturally, which was normal for him, his grip around Nick's neck loosened slightly, as he saw the girl pick up an application from the pile. "Get out a pen and fill in all the required information. There's no fee to enter. Oh, and uh, what's your name, sweetie?" "Ryuu, and you are?" Ryuu replied, as he handed back Nick his clipboard, before digging a pen out of his shoulder bag, and took the clipboard, and placing it down on the table, started to fill it out, his right arm still wrapped around Nick's neck, his left hand filling out the application.