Page 36 of Stacked
The parade passed in a blur.
Sure, it was a beautiful morning for it, and the turnout of viewers seemed to exceed last year's, but I barely focused on the sights as we drove the route. Morgan navigated slowly as I tossed candy out the window of her SUV, something every float did as part of the festivities. The whole time, I couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming judging and how we might fare against the other entries.
I figured we’d at least be in the top three. Morgan even insisted a few times as she drove that there was no way we’d get less than first place. The trailer was too detailed, the effort we’d put in was too obvious, and the mannequins were too precise. She was confident.
I wasn’t though.
I still hadn’t seen Robert’s offering. I looked for the float before we set off in the caravan, but the crowd was too large and the flurry of activity too intense. I gave up trying to find him once the horn sounded, telling us we had to get in line to start the procession.
Now, as we pulled into Friendship Park once more, a knot of anticipation grew in my stomach, getting bigger and tighter with every breath.
“Here we go,” I told Morgan as we turned into the lot. “I guess it’s now or never.”
“I am so excited.”
I stared at her. Unlike me, she sounded happy. Relaxed. Confident even. Of course, it wasn’t as much of a moment for her as it was for me. I knew she wanted to win, wanted the bragging rights that would come with the first-place victory, but beyond securing a small place in New Burlington’s history, there wasn’t much about this that would impact Morgan’s life. After judging, she’d go back to her regular life, back to planning her wedding, back to being excited for whatever the rest of the summer would bring before kids returned to class in the fall.
No, she wasn’t as invested in this as me. Probably nobody was—not even Robert.
She maneuvered the SUV to our designated spot in front of the dais, the row had been reserved for what turned out to be ten floats. I surveyed the others as she secured the spot. An offering from Congressman Graves’s office that featured a poor replica of the Library of Congress, a holiday tie-in with multiple evergreen trees decorated in patriotic regalia from the Franks Christmas Tree Farm, a trailer bed covered in red, white, and blue flowers from New Burlington Florist, a creative wrapping of banned books from the library...
Nothing remarkable.
All were nice, of course, and were great representations of the various organizations that wanted to be part of the contest, but nothing went to the next level, nothing that stood out in a way that would put my pending first-place win in danger. Nothing that would make the judges gasp in delighted awe.
Except for Robert’s float.
I finally saw it once we parked, resting at the opposite end of the designated spots. I narrowed my eyes as I took it in, the knot in my stomach falling to my knees even as I sat in the passenger seat of Morgan’s SUV.
Dear God, it was beautiful. Elegant. It was a float that didn’t just fit with the theme. No, it would never fall as short as that. Instead, it took the theme to another level, expanding on what I’d seen that day when I stopped by his store.
“Oh my God,” I breathed, hoping to steady myself.
Stay calm, Anya. Deep breaths.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, he did hire those art students, and I knew how talented they were.
“Anya, do you see that?” Morgan was already looking in the same direction as me, craning her neck, no doubt so she’d get a better view of Robert’s float from the passenger window. “It’s... gorgeous.”
I nodded. I didn’t need to say anything. It was already obvious enough. And there, as I expected, was Kyle and his truck.Looks like he’d gotten a better offer. Damn it.
“I don’t have to see it up close to know that it’s a masterpiece,” I admitted. “It’s going to win.”
She gave me a sympathetic look, the corners of her mouth pulling down at the sides, the skin around her eyes crinkling. “You don’t know that.”
“Maybe not, but I can feel it.”
“It’s good,” she replied, firm and a bit dismissive. “But not as good as ours.” My best friend turned off the engine. “Come on, let’s go.”
Morgan got out of the vehicle, and I followed, even though all I wanted to do was leave. I’d so hoped to avoid being in second place again. For Gwen. For the store.For me.At least I couldn’t be disappointed in what I did produce as I know we did something amazing.But losing to Robert...that would sting.
Shutting the door, I willed myself to push the negative thoughts from my mind. I might have wanted to withdraw my float from the contest, but I knew I couldn’t do that either. That would be childish and dramatic. I was better than that. I needed to show up, to take up space—and I needed to do it for me, regardless of whether I won or not. I wouldn’t let a bigger bookstore intimidate me.
So, I trailed Morgan to the judging dais.
A few of the other contestants were already there, including Robert, who strode over to me the second we made eye contact. And on top of it all, he looked incredible.
“Hey, Anya,” he said, extending his hand, and I gave it a reflexive shake. “I was wondering where you all were.”
