Pen to the Paper 15: The Announcement

"Ugh," I said, looking in the mirror and running my hands through my hair. "There is only one thing I despise about road trips, Nick. Well, two. If you decide to wear a beanie because they are comfortable and you look sexy in one, your hair gets nasty. If I had time I'd shower before going up on stage… but I think I'll just throw a beanie on again."

"You think you loo--? Nevermind. So, what's the other thing?"

"My butt hurts, of course."

"Oh. I was expecting something else," Nick said.

"Nope. My hair gets all gross, and my butt hurts."

"I think they're all up there."

"Someone told me they're keeping their seats warm up there."

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

"I'll be leaving now," I said, stepping onto the platform. Nick pressed the button, and I began my slow ascent upwards. "You know, the one thing I miss about the school is the wacky entrances."

"No one said couldn't still do them," Nick replied.

"Yeah, well, then this sweet elevator thing wouldn't get used," I said as I disappeared into the ceiling.

I emerged onto stage, all the lights were out, there was no smoke rolling across the stage, no music playing--it was completely dead.

The audience whispered amongst themselves, confused about what was happening. No one could see me on stage as I crept towards the microphone. Quietly grabbing it, I sneaked off of stage and into the audience with the best disguise ever on--sunglasses.

I sat down in an empty seat and said to the person next to me, "Hey, when do you think that lame-wad Caleb is going to come out?"

"Pffft, lame-wad? What are you talking about?" he replied. "Caleb is, like, the coolest dude ever, and I heard he looks pretty sexy in a beanie too."

"Thanks," I said into the microphone. "Wanna repeat that for me?"

I put the microphone up to his mouth, and he just stared at me, mouth agape. The spotlight came down on me, and the audience burst out in cheers as I stood up and walked back down, giving people high-fives and kissing babies' foreheads on the way.

"Has the fame gone to my head?" a videoed version of me said on the four large screens that hung from the ceiling above the stage. "No, I don't think so."

"Of course, I love doing Pen to the Paper."

"Do I what? No, I don't think I'm ugly. No, dude, I'm not ugly. Man, this interview is over," I said, getting up from my chair. The camera followed me. "I said enough!"

The camera fell to the floor and the video ended.

"Pretty cool, right? Yeah, I was interviewed! It was pretty fun. Until he started calling me ugly and egotistical. Anyway, who's ready to hear about the winners?"

The crowd let out a weak cheer. “You know, I knew it would be stupid to hold this at 2 A.M. on a Monday morning, but you guys can make a little more noise, can’t you?”

The crowd cheered a little louder. “Hey, I’m not even late if you pretend I live in California,” I said. “Ah, time zones, such a blessing. Though next time I won’t stay up late playing Minecraft with my best friend… I’ll keep this one shorter, and I’ll be back with a better one next month!

“Anyway, let’s announce third place, shall we? Third place is imcold’s Sea Glass! A great write dissecting her mind, with a great ending.

“In second place, we have A Rainy Day In the Clement Fields of Glasgow by Sanjana_S! Great read, and it left me wanting more.

“And our winner… Our winner is CaraJJaye with Arthur Giddleman’s Ankle! Superbly written, you did an incredible job!

“Normally, this is where I would leave honorable mentions, but for brevity’s sake, I will just say this: this was one of the best Pen to the Paper’s I have had! I liked nearly every post, and I recommend to all of you to go back and read them all! I had my favorites out of the bunch, and it pains me not to mention them, but, alas, it is way late. I will see you next month with a more thoughtful Pen to the Paper!”