School of Charm by Lisa Ann Scott Page B

girl’s name. Sorry, Daddy , I thought. Sorry I’m not using your nickname for me. Then, with a shaky hand, I handed over my five-dollar bill. I was officially in the Miss Dogwood Festival. A beauty pageant. My knees wobbled.
    The clerk stared at my birthmark when she took my money.
    Karen whistled as she filled out her paperwork. She handed it over with her money and then clapped. “It’s official!” she squealed.
    Dana paid with rumpled dollar bills. We looked away as she counted out the last two dollars in pennies and dimes.
    The clerk frowned, waiting for her. “So you’re entering this pageant?” she asked, counting the pennies Dana had given her. Her eyes darted back and forth between the three of us girls.
    Dana stared at her for a moment. “Yes, I am, ma’am.”
    â€œWhat are you thinking, child? This here’s a white girl’s pageant.” She said the word white like it had five letter i ’s in it.
    Dana planted a fist on her hip and gave the clerk the same squinty hard look Charlene had used on me. “There’s no reason I can’t join too.” She held out her other hand, waiting for the form.
    Dana sure was confident about entering. I tried tipping my chin up in the air like she did, wondering if it would make me feel different. Then I sighed, because it really didn’t help.
    The clerk closed her eyes and shook her head, handing back the papers. “Make sure you’re there two hours early the day of the competition. It’s four weeks from tomorrow.”
    Dana walked outside alone.
    â€œAre you sure about this?” I asked, catching up and touching her arm. “Is there another pageant you could join?”
    Dana pulled her arm away.
    My mouth opened and closed. “I just . . . I’m just looking out for you.”
    Dana marched off ahead of me, her legs looking extra-long in her cutoff shorts. I watched her walk away.
    â€œAre we going to look for the dresses now?” Karen asked when we stopped in front of the window of Belk department store. Three mannequins stared out, looking bored with the long strapless dresses they wore. “My mom gave me fifty dollars to spend.”
    Dana’s eyes bulged. “I don’t have that kind of cash.”
    Maybe the two of us had more in common than we’d thought, because I didn’t want to waste the rest of my money on an expensive dress. I leaned toward her. “I’m not buying one in there either.”
    Dana looked at me and I swear she almost smiled. It was a good feeling. I followed Miss Vernie and Karen inside. Then Dana came in too.
    Karen grabbed a puffy pink dress that reminded me of a cupcake. “I love this. It’s so me!” It also happened to be the most expensive dress in the store: forty-eight dollars.
    I didn’t even look through the dresses and neither did Dana.
    â€œThat’s very nice, Karen,” said Miss Vernie. “Look at this, Chip.” She came over to me holding a sky blue dress with tiny straps. I’d never worn a dress so fancy.
    I wouldn’t take it from her. “These are all kind of expensive,” I said, glancing at Dana, then staring back at the beautiful blue material. “Maybe we should check the thrift store down the street?”
    â€œThis one’s on sale. Just see how it looks,” Miss Vernie said. She held it out in front of me until I grabbed it and went into the dressing room to put it on.
    My mouth dropped open when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t recognize myself. I didn’t know why, but my heart was hammering and my palms felt sweaty. I turned round and round in front of the mirror, smiling. I stepped out to show the girls; I studied the ground, imagining Billy standing there with his eyes glued on me, and not laughing, either. My stomach tightened. I shook that image from my mind like I was clearing my Etch A Sketch.
    â€œOh, Chip. That dress is for