I’d been competing for years, and I’d already made my name as a high-status pageant girl. Between the money, the prizes, and the notoriety that I’d gained from competing, I was actually thinking about retiring. That was when I’d gotten the phone call; it was from some friend of Anna’s advertising a charity event. Aside from visiting the sick girls at the Children’s Hospital, I hadn’t yet gotten too deep in philanthropy. I was still finding my feet deciding what and who I wanted to spend my hard-earned pageant money on.
The event had been a pageant for preteen girls in LA. All of the girls came from disadvantaged homes, and they were competing to win a scholarship to one of the best college-prep schools in LA. The friend of Anna’s, a girl named Tiffy, had asked me to come judge. I was exci
