AFTER THE COMPETITION, DOMINIC, Loop, and Z sat by the pool and talked about the routines they’d seen. They went over every detail, comparing similar acts and judging who messed up and who totally aced it. Some of the kids were as good as professionals, but others were noobs. The boys knew they weren’t pros, but they didn’t feel like noobs, either. They guessed that they were somewhere in the middle, but that didn’t stop them from wanting to win.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we got first, second, and third place?” Dominic said.

“Yeah,” Loop replied, “as long as I get first.”

“Why should you win?” Z asked.

“Because my trick’s the most visual. I’m the only one who used blood, remember?”

“Well, my trick had more sleights,” Z argued.

Dominic pointed at himself. “Don’t forget about me. I’m the one who had the most obstacles to overcome.”

“Why’s that?” Z asked. “You didn’t have to search for jobs this summer.”

“Maybe not, but I did have severe stage fright. Talk about wanting to throw up.”

“That’s nothing,” Loop said. “I had to learn a magic routine and read a superlong book with a bunch of old-fashioned words and draw pictures about it. Plus, my mom made me clean up my room three times this summer!”

Dominic and Z glanced at each other because they had to clean their rooms every day.

“Hi, guys.” The boys turned and spotted Ariel heading toward them. “What are you talking about?”

Loop answered her question with another question. “Who do you think’s going to win? Me, Dominic, or Z?”

She sat on the edge of a nearby chaise longue. “Are you serious? The contest is over, so quit arguing about who’s going to win and just relax. How often do you get to hang out in a fancy hotel?”

“But we need to know,” Z said. “The suspense is killing us!”

“I’m sure the judges have already made their decision,” Ariel said. “Your fates are sealed.” With that, she stretched out on the chaise longue, clasped her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes like someone getting a tan. “If it helps,” she added, her eyes still closed, “I no longer consider you noobs. From now on, you’re the Cool-Cat Conjurers in my book.”

“You mean your memoir?” Z asked.

She smiled. “Exactly.” Then she blinked open one eye to take a peek at them. “Besides,” she added, “winning’s not as great as you think.”

“Why not?” Dominic said.

“Because it disqualifies you from future competitions. Trust me, I’d rather be performing than watching everybody else have all the fun.” She yawned, and when a few moments passed in silence, the boys figured Ariel had fallen asleep.

“She makes a good point,” Dominic said. “Next year’s the stage contest. We can be like Criss Angel and do something really impressive.” He thought for a second. “Maybe I can take Diamonds and Spades and turn them into tigers!”

“Quit dreaming!” Loop laughed. “Where are you going to get tigers? You’re better off turning them into rabbits.”

“Or iguanas,” Z suggested. “It’s easy to get iguanas.”

“I’m not using animals in my routine,” Loop said. “I’m doing the Zigzag Illusion. I’ve been dying to use a saw and cut somebody up. Either that, or I’m going to escape from a sealed tank of water that’s hanging over a pit of fire.”

“How are you going to get a fire on the stage without burning the whole place down?” Z asked. “You should do something simple, like levitating. That’s what I’m going to do. Maybe I can do the dancing cane while floating in the air.”

“No way!” Loop said.

“It’s possible.”

“Only if you don’t win,” Dominic reminded them. “You can’t compete next year if you win. That’s why I hope I come in last. I really want to try turning cats into iguanas.”

“No,” Z said. “I’m going to come in last. I don’t think the people in the back rows could see my routine. I’m sure I lost points for that.”

“They totally saw my routine,” Loop said, “and they were freaked out by the blood. I saw a lady gag. So the judges probably took off points for the gross-out factor. I lost for sure.”

“You’re not last,” Dominic said, “not when you were totally in sync with your sound track.”

“Well, you can’t come in last because you had the most audience participation.” Loop looked at Z. “And you had the best patter.”

“I did not,” Z insisted. “My jokes were lame.”

“At least you had jokes,” Loop said.

“At least you weren’t throwing up in your mouth,” Dominic replied.

Ariel sat up. “Guys!” she said. “Can’t a girl take a nap?” She stretched just like her cats when they were disturbed. “At first,” she went on, “you were arguing about who’s going to win and now you’re arguing about who’s going to lose. Does everything have to turn into a competition?”

The boys were silent for a while, and then they decided that, yes, life was more interesting with competitions, even silly ones. And then they invented a whole bunch of games like who was best at winning rock, paper, scissors (Loop), who was best at finding shapes in the clouds (Dominic), who was fastest at guzzling tall glasses of lemonade (Z), and who could stand longest with bare feet on the hot concrete (Ariel).

They were still inventing games when Ariel told them it was time to get ready for the awards ceremony. And, later, they were still debating about who’d come in first and who last when they took their seats in the auditorium, and even at the moment Ariel stepped onto the stage, opened an envelope, and announced, “The winner of this year’s TAOM teen close-up contest is…”

 

 

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