The Runner-Up Read online

  The Runner-Up

  Becca Wierwille

  Published by Becca Wierwille, 2020.

  While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

  THE RUNNER-UP

  First edition. April 2, 2020.

  Copyright © 2020 Becca Wierwille.

  Written by Becca Wierwille.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  THE RUNNER-UP

  About the Author

  THE RUNNER-UP

  MICHELLE GILMORE WANTED to win the Junior Miss Pageant at the Sweetcreek County Fair more than she’d ever wanted anything in her whole life.

  But when the judge announced Kendra Jenkins as the winner, Michelle knew what she had to do.

  She had to run away.

  Gram and Pap wouldn’t want her to leave, but they didn’t understand. The Junior Miss Pageant was Michelle’s only hope of bringing her parents home. They left Michelle with their eyes set to better things, and Michelle wanted to show them she was the best of all.

  But she wasn’t. Kendra Jenkins was.

  Michelle was only the runner-up.

  A few pairs of socks and underwear, all eight of her Anne of Green Gables books, a toothbrush and toothpaste, some nicer clothes in case she found her parents. Michelle didn’t realize how small her backpack was until she shoved her things inside it.

  That same afternoon, she put on her best walking shoes and left through the front door. Gram and Pap sat on the porch swing, swaying in the summer breeze.

  “Michelle, just who we were looking for,” Gram said. “I was thinking of making a dessert with blueberries tonight, but I can’t decide what. I would fancy some blueberry pie, but Pap thinks it’s a cobbler kind of day. So you’re our tie-breaker.”

  “What do you say?” Pap asked. “Pie or cobbler?”

  “Either way we’ll have it with ice cream, of course,” Gram said.

  They didn’t even notice Michelle’s overstuffed backpack.

  They didn’t understand.

  “Pie is fine,” Michelle said. “I’m going to the library to get some books. I’ll be back soon.”

  Gram and Pap smiled and nodded and swayed on the porch swing. Michelle didn’t know when she’d see them again. She wished she could hug them and say goodbye.

  But she couldn’t, so she hopped off the porch and went on her way, walking all the way to the bus station.

  Michelle worried the person working at the station would question her age and refuse to give her a ticket. Twelve-year-olds aren’t supposed to take the bus alone. Michelle put on her best grown-up face and slid a few dollars across the counter. “One ticket to New York City, please.”

  The man barely looked up as he gave her a bus ticket.

  There was a good chance Michelle wouldn’t find her parents. But she knew where to look for the wannabe Broadway stars.

  Michelle’s bus left at seven. By now, dinner would be cold on the table. The blueberry pie would remain uneaten. Gram and Pap would be worrying and thinking about calling the police.

  But it would be too late. By the time the police came, Michelle would be out of Sweetcreek County. Maybe even out of South Carolina.

  The bus driver welcomed everyone on board. Michelle was glad to be in a row alone. She used her backpack as a pillow and laid across the seat. Her eyes were about to close when a voice interrupted her.

  “Excuse me, darling, but I do believe this is my seat.” The woman looking down at Michelle was so tall her head almost touched the bus ceiling. She had firetruck-red lips and hair down to her waist.

  Michelle sat up and scooted toward the window. “I’m sorry.”

  “No need to apologize.” The woman plopped down beside Michelle and stuck out her hand. “I’m Dawn. And you are?”

  Michelle shook her hand strong and firm, like a grown-up would. “Michelle.”

  “Nice to meet you, Michelle. Figure we might as well get to know each other if we’re going to spend the next twelve hours together.”

  “Yeah. Might as well,” Michelle said. Even though in her mind, the next twelve hours were better for sleeping and reading and not talking to anyone.

  “So why New York City?” Dawn asked.

  “Just looking for a change of scenery.”

  “I hear you. Sometimes we just need to get away, no matter how old we are.”

  Michelle froze. Was Dawn going to question her age? Was she going to stop the bus driver and demand that Michelle be taken back home?

  No. Michelle took a deep breath in, and let it out. If she was going to run away like an adult, she needed to act like one. “Exactly.”

  Dawn talked a lot. She lived in New York City, but she was in Sweetcreek County visiting family. Michelle gazed out the window while Dawn chatted on, so she only heard bits and pieces of Dawn’s story. The truth was, Michelle wasn’t interested. She had her own problems to figure out.

  Had she made the right decision? How were Gram and Pap feeling? Were they scared, or did they trust that she’d come back when she was ready? Would Michelle find her parents?

  And if she did... would they want to see her?

  The constant motion of the bus finally lulled Michelle to sleep—maybe even in the middle of one of Dawn’s stories. In her dreams, she kept reliving that final walk across the stage at the Sweetcreek County Fair.

  “And the winner is... Kendra Jenkins!”

  If Michelle wasn’t Junior Miss, who was she?

  When Michelle woke up, Dawn was using the overhead light to write in her notebook, since the sky was still dark. She yawned.

  “Good morning, Michelle. We’ve still got a few more hours to go.” Dawn lowered her book. “So the Junior Miss Pageant, huh?”

  “What?”

  “The pageant. You talked about it all night in your sleep, kept waking me up.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Michelle clutched her backpack. If she was talking in her sleep, who knows how much she said?

  Dawn put her hand on Michelle’s shoulder. “Listen. I’m not here to judge you or get you in trouble or send you home. Nothing like that. But I’ve got to ask... Junior Miss... that makes you what, twelve or thirteen, at the most?”

  Michelle nodded.

  “Why are you running away from home?”

  Michelle almost told Dawn everything. She’d kept it inside for so long, twisted in her gut like a sickness that never went away. She almost told her about her parents moving to New York City and leaving her behind, about entering the Junior Miss Pageant to show them she was worthy to be their daughter, about the pain of losing and her decision to run away.

  Instead, Michelle said, “It’s just for now. I might go back soon.”

  “Darling, I can’t pretend to know you, or to know anything about why you’re running away,” Dawn said. “But I do want to tell you that I was a pageant queen once. I was about your age when I started. So many competitions, so much makeup, so many frilly, itchy dresses.”

  Michelle didn’t want to continue the conversation, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Did you win?”

  “Depends on what you call winning.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Dawn opened her wallet and pulled out a slip of paper. Michelle tried to see what it was, but Dawn’s hand covered it. “I won some of the contests, but I never felt good about myself, even when I won. Actually, each time I competed, I felt worse. Winning was supposed to make me happy, but it never did. There’s no joy in becoming Junior Miss. No worth in winning a pageant.”

  “What did make you happy?” Michelle felt her heart opening to Dawn
. She wanted to know this woman’s secret.

  Dawn handed Michelle the slip of paper. It was a gum wrapper with three words written on the back in tiny lettering.

  Child of God.

  “I learned who I was,” Dawn said.

  Michelle didn’t ask any more questions, and Dawn went back to writing. But Michelle couldn’t stop thinking about those words: child of God. She’d heard them before. After Michelle’s parents left for New York City, her Sunday school teacher told her, “You are a child of God, Michelle. Your identity isn’t found in your parents, it’s found in Him.”

  Michelle didn’t really understand all the identity stuff.

  But if what the gum wrapper said was true, if Michelle was a child of God, maybe she didn’t need to win the Junior Miss Pageant to prove herself. Maybe she didn’t need to find her parents and convince them to come home. Maybe she’d been looking in the wrong places to find worth and joy.

  Maybe.

  When the bus pulled into the station in New York City, Michelle wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Well darling, I’m not sure where you’re headed, but I’m happy to help you get there,” Dawn said.

  “I think I’m okay.” Michelle held the gum wrapper out to Dawn.

  “No, you keep it.” Dawn smiled with those firetruck-red lips. “And don’t you ever forget what makes you Michelle. You don’t need a pageant trophy to prove that you are loved.”

  Michelle followed Dawn off the bus. She looked down for just a moment to pocket the gum wrapper, still trying to figure out what to do next.

  When she looked up, Dawn was gone.

  “That’s odd...” Michelle murmured. How had Dawn disappeared in a matter of seconds? With her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, Michelle sat down on a bench outside the station to think.

  She had a lot of thinking to do.

  Images flashed through Michelle’s mind. She pictured herself getting lost in New York City. Hugging her parents in New York City. Being ignored by her parents in New York City.

  Then she pictured herself getting on the next bus to Sweetcreek County. Enjoying Gram’s blueberry pie in Sweetcreek County. Returning to Junior Miss runner-up status in Sweetcreek County.

  She pictured Dawn, the disappearing pageant queen who said winning never made her happy.

  Then she pictured Kendra Jenkins, the Junior Miss winner who sure looked happy.

  “All this over a stupid gum wrapper,” Michelle muttered. Everything had been so clear in her mind before the bus ride with Dawn. How did a silly gum wrapper create so much confusion?

  Michelle held her breath for a moment, then exhaled. She stood up from the bench.

  She was no longer the Junior Miss runner-up.

  She was Michelle Gilmore, and she knew exactly what she had to do.

  About the Author

  Becca Wierwille is a kindergarten teacher and writer living in Pennsylvania with her husband Seth and their dog Georgia. Becca’s short stories have been published in Guardian Angel Kids Online Magazine, Short Kid Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Mount Union’s Calliope literary magazine, and an anthology titled Blessings in Disguise. She is a member of Word Weavers International, St. Davids Christian Writers’ Association, and Lancaster Christian Writers.

  Read more at Becca Wierwille’s site.

 

 

  Becca Wierwille, The Runner-Up

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