The Contest
One day, a contest was announced at the school “Billy” was attending. It was a contest to see which “kid” was the handsomest in the whole school, and not just that class. The teacher said that their class would vote for the handsomest kid in the class, and then he’d be one of the finalists for The Handsomest Kid in the Whole School Contest.
“Billy” was a very humble kid, and he wouldn’t have ever thought of himself as the handsomest kid, (even though he was), even if someone told him he was perfect, (which he was).
He was taught to not think too highly of himself by his illiterate parents who had never had the opportunity of schooling like “kids” have today. When Billy would reveal how intelligent he was because of his schoolwork, his parents would be both proud and worried.
Billy really disliked one of the “kids” at the school; Jason Charles. Billy thought he was such a stuck-up, egotistical brat. He was the only kid Billy knew that insisted on being addressed by his first and middle name together. His full name was Jason Charles Moormie.
Jason Charles’ dad was a big shot in the circus world. He had an act where he rode around a circular thing on a motorcycle. Billy thought that probably had something to do with Jason Charles’ huge ego.
Sometimes, when the teacher wasn’t in the room, Jason Charles would get on top of his desk and beat his chest. He really thought he was the top banana. Billy was just disgusted by his showboating.
Billy noticed that the girls at school were very friendly to him, always smiling at him if he happened to look their way. But because Billy was so shy and humble, he never realized that they were looking and smiling at him because he was so beautiful, like a Greek god as a “kid”.
The day the class was voting for their representative to the big, whole school handsomest kid contest, humble Billy had no idea what would happen that day, but he knew the handsomest kid wouldn’t be him. He figured everyone would vote for Jason Charles. Boy, was he in for a surprise.
Before the teacher entered the classroom, Jason Charles had been atop his desk, doing his chest-beating routine, saying “Ooh ooh, I’m the handsomest, I’m the handsomest,” over and over. Billy wished that he had half the confidence in himself that Jason Charles had.
At the end of the school day the teacher announced the winner of the handsomest kid in the class, and the winner was BILLY! Billy was in shock. Literally. He almost passed out, as fame was making its push against his natural humbleness, causing a kind of momentary distress within his mind.
To make matters worse, Jason Charles insulted him when school let out that day. He told Billy that he didn’t deserve to be the handsomest because he, Jason Charles, was really the handsomest. Billy didn’t know what to think. Was Jason Charles right?
