Beauty Queens

Jennifer made a face. “Maybe Adina will be my maid of honor.”



Sosie raised an eyebrow.



“Right. Well, you better get me a big wedding present.”



Sosie wasn’t sure what Jennifer had said, but she was smiling, so Sosie smiled, too. “Ready, Flint Avenger?”



“Ready, Sidekick Sosie. Let’s go take down an evil corporation.”



Taylor led Adina to the arsenal the girls had made in the jungle weeks before, and Adina cleared away vines and leaves from the catapult, the cannon, the stash of beauty product weapons. “Cool. I think I can get this working… .”



Adina heard a gun cock. She turned and saw Taylor aiming the rifle at her. “Taylor, what are you doing?”



“You’re not a Miss Teen Dream. You never believed.”



Adina swallowed hard. Sweat trickled into her gown. “No.”



“Why did you do that?”



“I thought it was bad for us.”



“There’s a lot worse out there,” Taylor said.



“I know that now.”



“I’ve been in the jungle a long time,” Taylor said in a voice made hoarse by tears. Adina started to say something and Taylor shushed her. “No. Listen. No one ever just listens.”



Adina nodded. “Okay.”



“At first, I was scared to be alone. No routines. No rules. Just me. But I think …” Taylor wiped a tear away. “I think I was always in the jungle. Before. It was always there. I think I had to come out here to find the answer.”



Above them, a bird screeched. Another answered. The trees echoed.



“And what did you find?”



“I love myself. They make it so hard for us to love ourselves.” Taylor stared off into the dark. Her face gleamed with tears. Snot ran over her lips. “The judges won’t like that answer.”



“Nobody’s judging you.”



Taylor choked on a sob. “Always,” she whispered.



“I’m not the enemy, Taylor.”



With an angry grunt, Taylor raised the gun again.



“Taylor …” Adina pleaded. She shut her eyes as the gun went off. She heard a thump behind her. The black shirt was inches away, the knife still in his hand. “Holy shit!”



“Language, Miss New Hampshire,” Taylor said. The smoke from the gun billowed around her face. “You owe me twenty-five cents.”



Adina laughed. For a second, she thought she sensed a glimmer of the non-crazy Taylor, or at least the less-crazy Taylor.



There were shouts from the trees. More were coming. Adina hopped behind the catapult and readied the eyelash curler and lipstick projectiles. “You ready to kick some bad-people butt, Miss Texas?”



Taylor adjusted the bandolier so that it fell perfectly across her chest like a winner’s sash. She brushed her fingers through her hair and grabbed her AK-47. With a final toss of her head, she smiled. Her eyes glistened. “You know what? I am.”



Adina loaded the catapult with eyelash curlers, safety razors, and straightening irons. “Who’s more awesome than you, Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins, Miss Teen Dream Texas?”



Taylor seemed to think for a moment. “Nobody.” She cut the rope and a volley of beauty products sailed through the trees. The black shirts shouted as the metal hit them.



A black shirt reached for Taylor, who rolled and retrieved the filled foundation tube. She blew hard, getting him splat in the eyes. He shrieked. Another guard leapt onto Taylor from the tree. He raised his knife. Adina swirled the hair dryer on its cord and let it fly, whacking him in the head and knocking him out.



“Boo-yah!” she shouted.



Taylor lured the others. She grabbed a vine and swung over the leaf-strewn pit. Foolishly, the black shirts charged and fell deep into the hole. A shot grazed Taylor’s arm.



“Taylor!” Adina ducked behind a tree. “Taylor, get your ass over here!”



“Language,” Taylor said through clenched teeth. Her arm oozed blood. She looked up to see Agent Jones aiming for her.



“Taylor!” Adina whisper-shouted.



Taylor narrowed her eyes. A strange smile played at her lips. “Final interview round, Miss New Hampshire! I’m sorry. You have not made Top Five. Dodge and weave back to Hanover.”



Agent Jones got off another shot, but this time, Taylor was ready. She darted into the jungle to her right, letting Agent Jones chase her.



“Shit,” Adina said, and ran for the compound.



CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT



Harris had waited until he was sure he was alone before angling the Swiss Army Knife from his pocket and cutting through his restraints. Tossing the ropes aside, he laughed. “People are always misunderestimating me.”