Slightly frowned as he held up the pants he was supposed to put on for the formal wear portion of the competition. They had been hastily cut off below the knees. It seemed someone was trying to sabotage his chances of winning. When he told the stage manager about it, she threw up her hands and told him to figure something out, then ran off to deal with a faulty microphone.
He looked at the pants again and had an idea. Needle and thread were nowhere to be found backstage, but he did find some scissors in one of the dressing rooms. He cut strips into the bottoms of the pant legs until they looked sufficiently tattered. Then he took his suit jacket and cut off the sleeves. He put on his dress shirt and tie, then the altered suit coat and pants. He wore his dress shoes but left off the socks. All together he looked like a very fancy pirate. Somehow it felt familiar.
He lined up with the other contestants who all stared at him with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" Asked a short boy with spiky hair.
"Improvising," Slightly responded with a shrug.
When it was his turn to walk on stage to model his suit, the audience went silent. Well, that was a bad idea, he thought, but he kept walking and posing as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Suddenly, a person near the back cheered wildly, and the rest of the theatre erupted into loud applause. Apparently, after the initial shock, they had all decided that they loved Slightly's outfit. He found Lily in the front row and winked at her. She smiled and winked back, causing Slightly to almost stumble off the stage. He collected himself and walked backstage. He may not have been the most formal, but he had certainly set himself apart from the rest.
The next portion of the competition was a group interview with the host, Rhonda Brown, whose curly hair was almost as big as her shoulder pads. All the contestants were sitting together awkwardly on a large couch, while Rhonda sat perched on a stool and asked them social questions.
"So, Colton," Rhonda said, addressing a boy on Slightly's left, "your dancing yesterday was quite sensational. How did you learn to move like that?"
Colton swept his long dark hair out of his face. "My mom taught me."
A collective sigh sounded from a dozen teenage girls in the audience.
"That is so sweet," Rhonda gushed. "Now let me ask you something a bit more challenging." She held up one of her notecards. "What is the greatest difficulty London's youth face today?"
Colton thought for a moment, and then replied, "They don't have enough time to play video games."
A smattering of laughter and applause accompanied this answer. Rhonda waited to see if Colton would say more, and then she turned to Slightly.
"Slightly, where did you get your nickname?"
Slightly smiled apologetically. "I really can't remember."
"Ah, I see," Rhonda said, nodding. "People have been calling you that name for so long that now it seems normal?"
"Yes, I suppose that's it."
Rhonda flashed an abnormally large smile. "Your formal clothes were quite unique. Where did you get the inspiration for that style?"
Slightly quirked an eyebrow. "Somebody had actually cut my pant legs before the show, so I decided to make the best of it."
A murmur of disapproval ran through the crowd, and a contestant at the end of the couch turned bright red.
"Good for you!" Rhonda laughed. "That was very resourceful!" The audience cheered and a few people chanted Slightly's name. "Alright, moving on, then," Rhonda said as she picked up and read another card. "There are a staggering number of orphans and youth residing in children's homes in the city. How do you feel is the best way to help them?"
A sadness stirred in Slightly as he considered this question. "They need a place where they can belong," he said softly. "Even if it's not possible for them to have a permanent home, they need a dedicated place where they can feel safe and free and accepted. A place where they feel they belong."
"Thank you, Slightly," Rhonda said, her gaze lingering thoughtfully on his face.
The audience applauded and Rhonda moved on to the next contestant. Slightly didn't pay much attention to the other boys' answers. Something about orphans had hit close to home in Slightly's memory, and he felt he was on the verge of a breakthrough. But before he could come to any conclusions, the interviews ended and they were herded off stage to prepare for the last segment of the contest, which would be a short reprise of their talent.
Slightly was a little distracted as he sang his song, he kept thinking about children's homes and looking at Lily, but he must have done alright because the audience gave him another standing ovation when he finished.
After the talents, they made some announcements and thanked the sponsors while the judges deliberated, and then they brought all the contestants back out and lined them up on stage. The mayor walked up to the stage with a small envelope and Rhonda Brown handed him the microphone.
"We'd like to thank all who participated and supported this wonderful event!" He exclaimed. "It is my pleasure to announce that the winner of the Mr. Capital competition and recipient of £5000 is... Slightly!"
Slightly released a breath he hadn't known he was holding and walked over to shake hands with the mayor and accept the prize money. The audience was cheering loudly, and Slightly was taken aback by how many teenage girls seemed to be going wild with admiration. He sought out Lily and gave her a small wave, and she beamed back at him. When he had bowed and waved at the audience a few more times, he followed the mayor off stage.
"Slightly," the mayor said, turning to face him, "I was fascinated by what you said about orphans. Why don't you come by my office next Tuesday so we can discuss it further?"
"That'd be wonderful."
"And then I can also give you the specifics for that party."
"Perfect."
"Alright. I'll see you next Tuesday. Would ten o' clock in the morning work for you?"
"Right now my schedule is wide open," Slightly replied.
The mayor left and Slightly took a moment to reflect on how surreal the past few days had been. He was so grateful to have met Lily and to have won this contest, but he'd only had glimpses into who he really was. The whole experience had felt rather foreign. It was almost as if he belonged to another world.
He left through the back door of the theatre to go and find Lily, but what greeted him was a mob of teenage girls screaming his name. They all advanced towards him at once and the scene was so terrifying that at that moment his only thought was to run.
The throng of girls, undeterred, and perhaps even spurred on by his flight, chased after him, waving their arms about and calling his name. Slightly turned a corner and looked back to see that they were all still following him. What was perhaps most frightening, however, was that among the teenagers there was an older woman with a crazed look in her eye who kept yelling: "Tom! Tom!"
Slightly turned another corner and ducked behind a car. He waited until his pursuers had passed by, and then he took off running in the other direction. He glanced behind him again to make sure none of the girls had seen him and ran right into a tree. He backed up, wondering what this piece of forest was doing in the middle of the sidewalk, and beheld a black and white tree with feathery leaves that tufted out of curly branches.
A zebra tree.
The memories came flooding back so fast that he almost fell over. Neverland. The family that had left him. The Crocodile. The regenerators. His mistake.
The situation had become so much worse than he could have imagined. The zebra tree had come up here, which meant that the dancing coral and the Silver Mountains had also emerged elsewhere. He backed up, then turned and ran down the street. He had to fix this, and quickly. Neverland was in jeopardy, and it was all his fault.