Backstage was a nerve wracking, terrifying place.  Even with Alex by my side, explaining that if anyone was going to be accused of being a girl it would be him, I thought that this would be the end of my days at Lakewood.  Dressed in another of the dresses that Adam had had made for me, I feared the worst.  Guys couldn't all be this oblivious.

"You'll be fine."  Alex soothed, straightening the hem on his own dress (he had no qualms about cross dressing.)  "Everyone looks like a girl here.  And, even if they did figure it out--"  

The door opened, cutting him off, and a pretty girl entered the room.  

After a moment, I realized that the the pretty girl was actually my ex-boyfriend, and I had to concentrate on holding in my dinner.  Even the sight of the totally gorgeous rock star made me sick.  

"You again?"  I said sourly.  "I never thought you would be a cross dresser."

"You're one to talk, Ethan."  Evan tossed his wig over his shoulder.  "And, just so you know, I didn't have a choice in any of this.  Some bastard mixed up all the events."

Alex smiled.  "That would be Adam."  He explained.

"What?" I turned to my friend.  "Adam the contriving is the reason that He's in a dress?"

But no one had time to answer, for the intercom buzzed on, calling the participants in the Ladies Department to the stage. 

I glared at Evan as he breezed past us, and I heard the many screams and shouts from the girls.  Apparently, they liked men with guts.

But I knew better.  Evan was only doing this so he could beat me.  There would be no end to the torture if He looked more like a girl then me.  

"Ready?"  Alex asked.  We walked out together, giggling like schoolgirls, forced smiles fixed onto our faces.

"And the contestants from dorm two and three have quite the advantage."  A commentator said from some unknown vantage point.  "They really do look like girls.  O God."  (Alex had just blown a kiss to the audience.)  "This will probably the toughest decision for the judges all night."

I closed my eyes.  The lights were blinding.  "The winner will be announced later.  Thank you, ladies."

Evan flipped the announcer off and left the stage.  

"The next event is the Commoner's Clothing, an event in which the price of the clothing is limited to fifty dollars.  Can these rich boys do it?"  The commentator said as we returned to the backstage room.   I changed out of the dress quickly, took off all the makeup and dressed in a Lakewood sweatshirt and jeans.  Alex left, Evan had disappeared, and I went to the back of the auditorium, where my friends waited, Taki nursing a bloody nose.  

"Not again?" I asked, but handed him a Kleenex (I was always prepared) and looked at the stage.  "What's next?"  

"Science Fiction and Fantasy, followed by Classic Halloween and the Kings Competition."  Edmund answered, and he was right.  The Zachs came on the stage in full DragonBall Z attire, along with Galahad, who had clearly tried to accurately portray Legolas.  Other people dressed like Anikin Skywalker, Spock, and Harry Potter.

Then came Classic Halloween, where people wore things ranging from white sheets to giant pumpkins to ninja outfits.  Neil emerged wearing a high collared black cape and dark, 18th century clothes.  His rapier at his side and red contacts covering the perfect blue of his eyes, he made a perfect vampire, even by Twilight standards.  He gracefully walked to the center of the stage, his tall boots making hardly a sound, and stood with the other competitors.  Screams from the girls in the audience threatened to overwhelm my eardrums, but I clapped my hands over my ears and wished I could applaud like the rest.  

The Kings Competition was last, right before the awards.  The costumes were superb, and I recognized Henry VIII, Elvis, Tutankhamen, and Montezuma.

"Fictional character, King Lear, you are out."  

The disappointed Shakespearean king left the stage, to be replaced by Julius Cesar, otherwise known as Adam.

He wore, not the traditional toga, but Roman leather armor and a red cape.  He held a helmet under his arms and his studded gladiator shoes gave Neil's boots a run for their money.  Adam beamed at the screaming girls, winked at a few, and won the competition.  They didn't need to announce it.  

His prize, a kiss from Saint Catherine's Queen, Adam refused.  Alex, bathing in the glory of wining the Ladies Department, and Taki, who had placed in casual attire, were suffocating me with their happiness (because who wouldn't want to get out of a final exam?), so I returned to my dorm.

Neil hadn't bothered to undress.  After they announced him as winner, I was pretty sure he had come to our room, but finding him relaxing in his bed, still in that vampire outfit, was a shock.  He looked way to hot to be allowed.

So when I walked into the room and saw him, I turned a color of red not far from what Taki often looked like, and pretended to read, sneaking occasional glances at the guy who should have played Edward in the Twilight movies.