Chapter 119: The Rules of Engagement

As Jessie Harper looked on from the sides she felt just a little bit envious of her friends going out there onto the stage to parade before the audience and the judges. Each one was going out there with their head held high and their best foot forward in the hope of making it through to the final round of the pageant in three weeks time. Even though Jessie felt a little bit envious she also felt just a little bit relieved that she wasn’t one of them. With her solo choir performances and all the new stuff she was required to learn the extra load of actually being in the pageant would have been a huge burden for her to carry. This thought gave Jessie a certain amount of pleasure as she was now able to just enjoy the show and watch her friends perform without having to worry about it herself.

As Jessie stood their in the solitude off her own thoughts she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. She turned to face Bjorn Erikson standing next to her as he got ready to go on stage with the others. When Jessie saw her boyfriend there she pressed herself gently into his side as he squeezed her shoulder even harder with the arm that was around it.

Bjorn kissed the top of his girlfriend’s head and said, “Sorry you can’t be out there with us tonight. I know you would have loved to have been out there for Carrie’s sake but if I get anywhere in the competition then every cent of prize money I win will also go straight into that trust fund for her. I’m also going to donate the money I get from our choir performances too. It might not be much in terms of what Carrie and her family actually need but I hope it helps all the same.”

Jessie looked up at her boyfriend’s face and added rather sternly, “And one day you will also tell me who the father of Carrie’s baby is, won’t you!”

Bjorn gave a funny little sigh at that point and replied with, “One day, sweet pea. One day.”

“One day, soon!” added Jessie very quickly and brusquely.

Before either one had a chance to say any more Bjorn had left Jessie’s side and was walking gallantly out on to the stage in his flowing Pageant gown with all the others and looking very regal indeed. Jessie blew him a kiss and mouthed the words, “I love you” as he looked back. He responded in like fashion making Jessie feel just so good inside. She loved Bjorn very much now and felt just so proud of him as he lined up with all the other participants in front of the judges and the audience.

After that initial line up all the Teen Beauty Pageant participants did a couple of circuits of the stage displaying each of their names and registration numbers. They then disappeared off the stage again only to come out one by one when called so the judges and the audience could begin assessing them and scoring each one on the list of criteria they had been given for doing so.

As Jessie quietly watched all this from the wings she became aware of the tremendous difficulty there would be in the selection and scoring process. Doing it all in complete fairness and impartiality would require a lot from the judges particularly when some of those judges would probably have some of their own friends and family members up there doing their stuff.