Chapter Fourteen
" YOU'RE WELCOME TO CHALLENGE ME.
BUT YOU'LL LOSE! "

Sydney roamed the lot of Twilight Drive-in, the place where they were setting up for the annual Riverdale Picture Show. She had come by to pick up a few papers and to know the order of people showing their films. She was closer to the bottom, almost dead last. When she asked why that was, Principal Weatherbee shrugged and answered with, "The people wanted to save the best for last."

"So it was a people's vote? Like, a public one?" she asked, incredulous that so many people were anticipating to see her film. Weatherbee nodded. "Yes, Sydney. That's what a people's vote is."

Sydney felt like she could faint at any moment. That was so much pressure on her. She had already turned her project in so she hoped and prayed that it was perfect.

_____

"Did you guys know that I was practically dead last to show my movie? There was a public vote and everything!" Sydney asked Christie and Roan at lunch the Monday following the little cabin/shopping trip she took with Cheryl.

Christie took a sip of her juice before answering. "Yeah. While you were off with Cheryl doing movie stuff, the Film Club suggested a vote to see which movie the public wanted to see the most," she explained, screwing the cap back onto her juice bottle. "Cool jacket. That new?"

Sydney looked down at the red moto jacket Cheryl let her borrow for the festival to give her outfit some "edge." She was wearing it around to get used to the snug feeling so she wouldn't be uncomfortable during the event. "Oh. No, Cheryl let me borrow it for the film festival. Isn't it magnifique?"

"Syd, come sit with me," Cheryl said, nodding her head towards her usual table. "I'll see you guys later, 'kay? Toodles." Sydney picked up her tray and followed Cheryl to her table.

"'Magnifique'? 'Toodles'?" Christie repeated with a tone of slight disgust. "It's like in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers.' It looks like Sydney and it walks like Sydney but it sure as hell ain't Sydney," Roan commented while aggressively peeling his orange, orange peels flying everywhere. Christie threw one back to make him stop as the two looked on in annoyance.

"Why are you still hanging with Thing One and Thing Two?" Cheryl asked when Sydney sat down. "Because they're my friends, Cher," Sydney answered, promptly ignoring the jab and changing the subject. "So what's the game plan? The RPS is happening Wednesday night and we need to have everything right. The Twilight Drive-In's supposed to have some cute little red carpet to make it feel like a real film festival."

"Come over to my house Wednesday afternoon and you'll get ready there. I'll do your hair and makeup. I want my Sydney to look perfect for the carpet." Cheryl smiled as she assessed Sydney's hair. "You have to look pretty, too, Cher. You're gonna be on the carpet with me," Sydney added and Cheryl lit up.

"We are so gonna put the other contestants to shame."

______

The film festival was quickly approaching and it was safe to say that Sydney was freaking out.

It was now Tuesday afternoon and Sydney was pacing back and forth in her room, thinking of what needed to be done today and tomorrow afternoon.

Today, she went through a walkover of the film festival at the Twilight Drive-In and then put her outfit on to make sure it still fit well and looked good. Tomorrow afternoon, she would have to go over to Cheryl's to get ready. Cheryl said to give her at least three hours because "beauty is pain and pain takes time." Whatever that meant. Sydney went over to her mirror and realized that her eyebrows needed to be plucked.

Oh. So that's what Cheryl meant.

No big deal. Sydney could stand having her eyebrows plucked. She couldn't stand, however, getting her legs waxed. It just wasn't worth the pain, no matter how smooth her legs came out to be. Sure, the pain spiked for about three seconds and then subsided, but to have it happen constantly? Sydney would have to give it a hard pass.

Before she knew it, it was a Wednesday afternoon after school and she currently yelping out in pain because of the wax literally yanking her leg hair out of its follicle.

_____

"How do you manage to do this every week?" Sydney asked Cheryl as she felt her calf. It was impossibly smooth, like silk. "Isn't this painful?"

"It is. But you get used to it the more you do it," Cheryl answered as she laid another strip of paper after she laid down the hot wax. "Then the pain will feel like absolutely nothing."

"I don't think I'll be able to get that point." Sydney chuckled and stopped abruptly when Cheryl was nudging her legs wider so she could get to her inner thigh. "Cher, I don't think that's necessary."

"Don't be silly, Syd," Cheryl dismissed, "I'm not gonna give you a half-assed wax."

"'Half-assed wax' would constitute as my calves and parts of my thighs being patchy. My dress doesn't even go up that high. Hell, it doesn't even go up past my knee."

"Which is why we have to cover all the bases," Cheryl said as if it were obvious before getting back to work. "We wouldn't want chafing, now would we?"

"I don't think so?" Sydney responded, her answer coming out as more of a question.

_____

The torture was finally over but Sydney had to admit, her legs had never felt so smooth. Beauty really was pain.

Cheryl was now curling her hair with a curling wand and Sydney was eating some sort of fancy dark chocolate she found when she was rummaging the cabinets for something to eat. She was letting Cheryl take control of everything, considering that she had a bit more expertise in this area.

"Are we thinking half-up, half-down?" Cheryl asked, holding half of Sydney's hair in a ponytail, then gathered all of her hair into a bun. "Or a bun?"

"Half-up, half-down will be just fine, Cher," Sydney answered and Cheryl got right to work. There was a lot of brushing and a lot of hair gel going into the hairstyle that Sydney was surprised that she hadn't gone bald during the process.

It finally came to the point where Sydney was dressed and ready to go. She was looking at herself in the mirror, admiring Cheryl's handywork. Cheryl was behind her, fluffing up her hair and touching up her makeup. How Cheryl managed to get ready so quickly, Sydney would never know.

"You ready to go?" Sydney asked. Cheryl looped her arm around Sydney's and flashed her a dazzling smile. "Let's go wow 'em, babe."