I look over at Ashleigh. Her, too? I thought out of everyone, she really understood what I was doing, what it meant to me. Maybe not approved, exactly, but was hopefully for me. Was supportive. But if I’m letting even her down …
“You don’t look like Randy,” Montgomery says, his hand waving up and down my body. “I only see Del.”
I nod, slowly. Okay. Yes. I’ve let them down. I’ve spent too much time being Del, not enough being Randy. So they don’t trust me.
But I can fix that. I just need another plan. And one comes to me almost immediately.
“Okay,” I say. “I get it. But we’re going to win tomorrow. I have a plan, and I’m going to show you I’m still one of you.”
“In one day?” Montgomery asks.
I stand up.
“Going to your butch boyfriend now?”
“No,” I say, giving him my sassiest smile. “I’m going to free the jail and then get ready for tomorrow.” I grin. I have an idea.
I run out of the cabin, past Hudson, who waves at me. I run back to give him a peck on the cheek, then take off for the prison. There are only a few kids there, but I free them and run back to my side, looking for Charity. She usually plays guard.
I find her by the A&C cabin, shining a flashlight around. I’m out of breath from running when I stop in front of her, and have to bend over for a moment before I can talk.
“You all right, Del?”
“The A and C cabin is open?” I ask.
“Yeah, they don’t lock it up in case we need glitter or something.”
“Great. How fast can you sew?”
TWENTY-ONE
When we march toward the obstacle course the next day, we are feeling pumped. After some frantic sewing last night from Charity and a talk with my cabin, I decided to show them that not only was I still Randy at heart, but it was Randy, not Del, who was going to lead them to victory. So, that morning, after a rushed breakfast, we’d raided the costumes of the drama cabin and shared all our makeup, and made ourselves into a team.
Paz and Montgomery are practically matching, in sheer blue stockings, blue briefs, blue bras, and nothing else. George has a blue feather boa and fan. Jordan is in a blue sequined flapper dress. Even Ashleigh is wearing a blue tutu and has her hair pulled on top of her head and tied with a blue bow. We’re all dragged out in our own way. Lipstick, glitter eye shadow, and earrings, all in shades of blue, paint our faces in different ways. And I’m in the pièce de résistance: a blue sequined jumpsuit covered in pink satin stars, and on the back, like a sports jersey, the number 7 with a big lipstick kiss over it. I also have huge false eyelashes, blue glitter lipstick and eye shadow, and the jumpsuit is unbuttoned to my belly button.
I know this is a risk, but I don’t think it’s too big. Sure, after Hudson’s freak-out about Brad’s nail polish, maybe he won’t love this. He won’t think it’s hot, like I know it is. But we talked about that, and we said I love you. He loves me! What’s some makeup and sequins going to matter? Maybe he’ll even kind of like it—I do look pretty hot—and this will be the way I can show him who I really am. And even if he doesn’t like it, isn’t turned on by it, then I can just say it’s for team spirit. To bring us together, to win the competition. It’s like those guys at football games who paint their bodies to match the team colors. He’ll understand that. He has to understand that, right?
And besides, he loves me. So everything will be fine. You can’t take that back over a jumpsuit and some makeup.
We march up to the front line, Mark trailing behind us with the boom box. The way Hudson’s bunk looks at us, we may as well be walking in slow motion. Mouths drop, eyes go wide. The entire Red team cheering section goes quiet for a moment, cowed by our fabulousness.
Connie raises her eyebrow at me. I blow her a kiss. Joan seems unfazed.
“Take your places,” she says, and goes to wait at the Peanut Butter Pit, the finish line. Me and my team take our places at each of the obstacles. I’m last—the Peanut Butter Pit. Right next to Hudson.
“What are you wearing?” he asks.
“My team needed a morale boost,” I say. “This is it.” I grin. He doesn’t grin back. “I know it’s a lot, but it made them feel good.” And me too, I don’t add.
“You look ridiculous.”
I force a laugh, even if that feels like falling off the wire-walk. “Come on, I look pretty hot.”
Hudson turns away from me, but before I can say anything else, Joan blows her whistle. The moment she does so, Mark hits PLAY on the boom box. A song from Bye Bye Birdie rings out over the course. The opening one from the movie, which technically isn’t in the show, but felt right for the moment.
From where I’m standing, I can see each of the events. George is on the tires. George isn’t the most elegant dancer, but he can land a step, and these are some of the simplest steps he’s ever seen. He keeps pace with the Red team no problem.
He tags Jordan, who immediately is on the ground, crawling under the net at top speed, and then, at the end of it, running up the wall with practically zero effort. They’ve been running up walls in rehearsal all day, so I knew this wouldn’t be a problem for them, just like I know Ashleigh, whom Jordan tags, will have no trouble walking over the rope ladder and taking the slide down. We’re in the lead by the time she lands and tags Daniel, who handles the rock hop as easily as any chorus boy would.
Jen is up next on the monkey bars. She’s been doing this for the “Put on a Happy Face” routine, so she handles herself well, but not as well as Brad, who manages to catch up with her. When they land, we’re neck and neck.
Luckily, next is the wire-walk, and Montgomery is our secret weapon. Jen tags him and he hops up and walks across it at a decent clip, not falling once. He does lose a few seconds with a fancy dismount, and a wink at his opponent, though, so when he tags Paz, she only has a slight lead. She’d been nervous about the tire dive, but I explained to her it wasn’t any different from diving through the Shriners’ arms for the “Shriners’ Ballet,” so she backs up, runs, and flies through the tire, landing in a somersault and rolling up to me with much more grace than I’ve managed all summer.
When she tags me, we’re a little in the lead, but if I screw this up, we lose, end of story, no redos. I’ve gotten across a few times. But now it’s all on me. Not just winning, but proving … something. To my cabinmates, to Hudson and his friends, to me, maybe? To show that Randy can do what Del can do. To show that maybe they’re actually sort of the same person.
So I back up and I run and I leap for that rope and catch it, and even though I can feel Hudson swinging next to me, I jump and hit the ground like he’s not there.
“Blue wins,” Joan says with very little excitement. I leap in the air, and my team, seeing my reaction, starts screaming.
Hudson crosses his arms. “What was that?” he asks, staring at me.
“That was us winning,” I say with a grin. “What do I get for winning?”
“Points,” Joan says, still deadpan.
“I mean …,” I say, walking up to Hudson and running my Unicorn Trampocalypse–nailed hands down his chest. “Do I get a kiss?”