Monday, February 22, 2010

Dirty Little Secrets OR a Really Sappy Post About Friendship

We all have some dirty little secrets. Well, at least I did until I started this blog. Now it seems everyone knows everything about me, including my mother, who I am sure was just fine not knowing every little detail of my sex life. Sorry to ruin that for you mom.

With everything I have put out there for the world to read, there is one thing that I haven’t mentioned. Perhaps I have kept this dirty little secret for so long because I am slightly embarrassed. Maybe it is because I was afraid of being judged. It’s possible I haven’t said anything because I am not the same person I was during the time the dirty little secret took place.

In any case, I am ready to divulge.

I was a pageant girl.

You read that correctly. When I was 16 I participated in the Miss Woodstock pageant in my town.

At that age, I was much more open to things like that. I was a cheerleader after all.

Everything people say about pageants are absolutely true. Of course, no one involved calls them beauty pageants. They are scholarship pageants.

Even back then I didn’t believe that bullshit. No one traipses on stage, competing against other girls to win $1000. We did it because we wanted to wear the crown and move on to the county-wide pageant which would then hopefully take us to the state pageant.

I think there were 16 girls competing the year I ran. I could lie and say they were all really sweet and we became lifelong friends like most pageant girls do, but you all know how I like to be honest.

They were not sweet girls. Of course they were nice to my face but at one time or another they all came to me to complain about other girls. Yes, I was a pageant girl, but I was not stupid.

There was one girl in the group who wasn’t bitchy though. Amy was fun and outgoing and would rather laugh than be mean to someone. Somehow in the midst of the madness that was pageant rehearsals, we managed to become friends. After rehearsals we would go out for pie and laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. Yes, we even gossiped about the other girls (I never said I was perfect). Eventually Amy started picking me up on her way to practice and dropping me off after. We exchanged phone numbers and soon started spending time together outside of pageant rehearsals.

It has been 12 years since our pageant days and we are still friends. Every once in a while we’ll reflect on those days and shake our heads in shame. But as much as we like to laugh about it, we never forget that it was the pageant that brought us together. We had lived in the same town our whole lives, we had several mutual friends, we went to several of the same parties and she had friends that lived around the corner from me, but we never met.

After the pageant she went away to college and I stayed home and started senior year of high school. We talked nearly every day and I went to visit her as often as I could. I was the made-of-honor in her wedding and she was a bridesmaid in mine.

Now that we are older, it’s hard for us to see each other as much as we would like. She now lives an hour away and has her own family. Though I don’t talk to Amy as much as I would like, I know she is there and will be there whenever I need her. We play really epic games of phone tag, but when we connect it is as though not a day has gone by.

Last week Amy turned 30 and I was lucky enough to see her twice in one week. I don’t think that has happened since the year she lived in Woodstock after college, which had to be at least 8 years ago. I don’t know when I will be seeing her again, but I know I am in her heart, just as she is in mine.

Oh, and since I know you are all DYING to know, neither Amy or I won the pageant. The title of Miss Woodstock 1998 went to one of the bitchy girls.

37 comments:

sarah said...

i loved this story! a pageant girl, eh? well we all have our dirty little secrets... like that time i went to math camp.

Taylor-Made Wife said...

The sweet girls never win do they? That is so cool that you did that and even more cool that you made such an amazing friend out of it.

Dollface said...

awwww... i was in pageants too... and I still remember the name of the little girl that beat me out!! i wonder what she looks like now, xxxooo

Unknown said...

OMG when I was reading this all I could think about was the pageant organizers asking you one of those dorky questions like: "Tell us about a time in your life when you faced great personal challenges" And you saying, "Well, this one time my vagina ripped..." LOLOLOLOLOL.

Anonymous said...

how awesome and completely unexpected!!! I almost went out for my school's pageant, but my friend flaked on me and I didn't have the nerve to do it by myself...thank god. ;-)

Gucci Mama said...

I wanted to be in pageants but my mean mother wouldn't let me. Now, of course, I thank her for being so mean. ;)

Vodka Logic said...

What a great story.. and now since you were a cheerleader I am going to unfollow you...

Just kidding.. how ever we meet these great friends in our lives is a blessing.
xx

Shell said...

Aw, I have a friend like that. We don't see each other much at all now because I moved away, but I know she'll always be there for me.

I think this post isn't complete without a pic of the pageant girls!

Macey said...

This is so sweet!
That being said: I was okay with "pageant" girls. The cheerleader nugget is what got me.

Dual Mom said...

What a really great story! I think you're the only person I "know" who's a pageant girl!

And obviously the pageant was meant to be right? As was your friendship!

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

GASP! A PAGEANT girl?!! LOL!! That's fantastic!! Shoot, I was holding out to the end where you told us you were Miss Woodstock and 1st Runner Up!

Damn those bitchy girls!!

StarGazer722 said...

Haha! A pageant girl. I love it :) I would have been friends with y'all.

Samantha said...

Aww, this was a cute story! I never would have guessed you were once a pageant girl! ;)

Since my dad was in the military... and now my hubby is, too... I live far away from all of my closest friends. Sometimes we play phone tag and I feel like we're drifting apart, but like you said, we finally do catch up and we pick up the conversation like it happened yesterday. I love that. :) Every girl needs at least one friend like that!

RN Mama said...

That's a great story!

I'm not sure why, but I cracked up when you said "we went out for pie" afterwards! I'm wondering if the other pageant bitches were eating pie, or if they were only doing water and exlax until the pagaent!

P.S. I was a cheerleader too, shhh...don't tell anyone.

Anonymous said...

*laughs* when I first looked at that I thought it said Pregnant...lol

and a cheerleader to boot...

it could have happened right?

yellowdoggranny said...

i bet the winner put out..

JenJen said...

Please please PLEASE tell me what kind of outfits you wore. Were they puffy-sleeved dresses? Mermaid costumes? Bright pink leg warmers?

OH! And I owe you a BJ or something. Because of you I have SIXTEEN followers ;) I am so excited I could cry. Thank you, girl.

Mandy said...

The only thing that would've made this post better would be if you had posted a picture of you and Amy in all your beauty pagaent glory. You have me email address, can I get a sneak peak? :)

Hey, I was on a synchronized swimming team for four years. I put JellO in my hair and wore bathing suits that looked like costumes. We all have done something like that. I also made wonderful friendships at the time and have kept in touch with one or two since then.

Good for you and Amy.

Anonymous said...

I like it that you wanted to be Miss Woodstock.

Secretia

Dee said...

I have an award for you in my blog if you'd like to pick it up!

Michelle@DomesticationoftheSingleGirl said...

That's right. FESS UP.

(I was a cheerleader for years.)

See? Dealing with all of those vapid whores was TOTALLY worth your while. AMY was your prize. And she lasted way longer than some rhinestone crown.

(Maybe not longer than a trophy, though. I was 2nd in state when I was 5 and still have the silver to prove it. MMMHMMM.)

I think this was my favorite post.

:D

McVal said...

Wow! a pageant girl! That's so great you made a such a wonderful friend out of it. Too bad a bitchy girl won tho...

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

I have a friend like that. When we do caught up it is like the old days.

Nicole said...

wow you were a pageant girl!? I never would have guessed that from your blog, (I confess, like you, I was also a cheerleader for one year), but I think those things just happen for reasons like bringing you and your friend together:) that is so awesome that when you talk its like not a day has gone by. I have a few friends like that who are like family and I cherish them and their company more than words can say. thanks for the beautiful read!

Confessions From A Work-At-Home Mom said...

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe you were a pageant girl!?!?! I would have never guessed it in a million years. Looks like you don't need Leland to be dramatic; you had enough drama back then!

~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom

Carma Sez said...

the many sides of Yankee Girl -- a pageant girl - I can see you infiltrating the beyooooootches with your practical no holds barred sassy style; You and Amy sooooo shoulda won. I wonder if it was fixed....

Holly Lefevre said...

A Pageant girl. I am strangely fascinated by pageants. We all need to celebrate the great friendships on our lives!

w said...

hey! i won that year! man. also. i've never been in a pageant. heck. i can't even spell pageant. i spelled it "pagent" but the red line spell checker think kept telling me i was wrong.

WhiteSockGirl aka The Fabulous Bitch said...

'I don't gossip. I emotionally speculate.' That is what my favorite fridge sticker is saying. I love it!

So, you and Amy did not gossip about the bitchy girls (you don't like bitchy girls? Ah,.. now you tell me!).
As per my favorite fridge sticker, you two only speculate about the bitchy girls,.. emotionally.

I love your story! Make me wanna call my best friend,... we spoke hours ago!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog on my SITS day!

Anonymous said...

I love it! How cool that you made a "lifelong friendship" - how's that for pageant talk?!

aladdinsane12 said...

you were NOT! i can't believe that! the ultimate feminist was in a beauty pageant?!

who am i kidding? in high school, i was in a "service club" where we volunteered and stuff, but it was actually basically a sorority. it was called tau gamma and everything. ugh.

Helene said...

Well, you won after all...not everyone can come away from an experience like that with a lifelong friend!!

Sassy Chica said...

Thanks for devulging your dirty little secret!!!

Woodstock, hu?? Chica if you still live near by, then you and I may be neighbors! Woodstock is only a few towns away!! Small world!

Loved this post, I think your FABULOUS!!

Smooches,
Sassy Chica

Tracie said...

Whew. I thought you meant kiddie pageants. Lil Miss Big Hair and Hooker Makeup or whatever.

I have a friend that I don't get to see or talk to very often. But we can pick up like no time has passed. It's the best.

Intense Guy said...

:) Yeah, I can see you winning a pageant or two or three :)

I wonder what your talents were - for the shows (I mean, obviously, blog writing and "Satisfying Leland" aren't pageant-type talents).

Tracy said...

lol, just read this, Morgan was a "pageant girl" as well. She ended up with one of her best friends, just like you. As someone who has been involved in them for years (I got drug in, kicking and screaming, believe me), I have seen the good and the bad. There is a lot more bad than good, but it is friendships like these you speak of that warm my heart.