She's No Beauty Queen

At this point Angelina wasn't even sure whether she wanted to win or not. She would have to leave her sweet baby for the better part of a year but it would also give her a ton of scholarship money. Using money she had earned for herself on her education instead of relying on Eddie was tempting.

In addition to that, winning would postpone the wedding another year. If she lost…she would have to marry Eddie immediately as stipulated in the contract.

State titleholders were only allowed to compete in the Miss Americana pageant once even though they were allowed to compete in the lower pageants down the chain multiple times. This was her only shot to be able to beat her mother.

Somehow the thought wasn't as satisfying as it once was. She had no idea what she actually wanted.

Angelina was in her third year of online school. If she kept up with her coursework after becoming Miss Americana she should be able to start applying for medical schools before her reign ended and start up in the fall.

There was only one medical school in Monterey itself but there were more within a couple hours of home. She could commute if necessary. It would make things much different than they were now in terms of being present for Aria.

Eddie would probably hire her a driver so she could sit back and sleep or do homework or whatever she needed if she did end up having to commute. He was an incredibly thorough person when it came to things like that.

Angelina thought about all of this while at the library fundraiser she was making an appearance at. She really shouldn't be letting her mind wander right now because it was easy for her smile to get too glazed and to accidentally ignore people who were talking to her.

She forced herself to focus, wishing she was at home to be there for Aria's bedtime. It always happened around now.

The little girl loved lullabies but Eddie couldn't carry a tune to save his life so he kept some videos of Angelina singing them on his phone to help her get to sleep on the nights she was busy. She would much rather be there doing it in person than stand here right now.

The end of the night couldn't come too soon. She was ready to get out of here and back to the house for a nice long bubble bath. She was polite as possible saying all of her goodbyes at the end of the night and trying to bow out graciously but that was even more exhausting.

Angelina felt herself getting dizzy as she made her way out to the parking lot. Oh no. She had been so preoccupied earlier that she forgot to slip out to take her second dose of medication for the day. That should have happened nearly two hours ago.

Not here! She needed to find somewhere safe to lie down and a parking lot definitely wasn't.

Looking around frantically for a safe place to go while simultaneously debating whether she should dig her phone out of her clutch and call Eddie to come get her first she ended up losing what little time she had left. She fell as she started to convulse but someone caught her.

The seizure only lasted thirty seconds and she blinked up at her savior weakly when it was done. "Thanks. Can you get my phone out of my bag? I think I dropped it and I need to call someone to pick me up."

"No need," a gruff male voice said. "I can take you."

Angelina didn't like the sound of that. She didn't know this guy! "Thanks but I really need to call my friend."

"I said I can take you," he growled before picking her up and bringing her to his car.

She was totally freaking out on the inside but was still too disoriented and weak to fight back much. She raised her voice as much as she could. "Let me go! Somebody help!"

The man tied her up and gently placed her in the back of his van. This could not be happening right now! How had nobody else noticed her getting kidnapped?! She struggled as much as she could against her bonds but it did absolutely nothing.

Who was this man? What did he want with her? Was this specifically because she was Miss California or what?

Angelina didn't get her answer until after they arrived at the man's house. He untied her and locked her in a literal cage like a zoo animal. This guy was completely nuts!

"Sing," he said simply.

She looked at him uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"I said sing. I heard you at a pageant before and your voice is perfect. So sing."

"I don't want to. My throat hurts from talking so much tonight."

The man went and pulled a water bottle out of a cooler. He chucked it through the bars and it landed on the cushion padding the bottom of the cage. At least he was considerate enough to put something soft in here.

Angelina nearly began laughing hysterically that she could even think something like that in such a situation. But she held herself back because he looked dead serious and provoking him did not seem like a good idea.

Self-preservation was important. Eddie would notice she was missing and call the police, right? All she had to do was cater to this psycho for a little while until someone found her.

She took a sip from the bottle and began singing the first song she could think of. She had heard it on the radio on her drive to the library fundraiser and it brought back memories because she had twirled a baton to it in one of her first pageants as a child.

He gave her the most terrifying glare she had ever seen. "Why did you stop?"

"I really can't sing anymore. I'm sorry," Angelina whispered.

The man sighed. "Fine. I need to go to bed anyway. But you have to sing for me tomorrow. I'll get you some stuff for your throat. Goodnight songbird."

The way he called her songbird sent shivers down her spine. It was as if he didn't even see her as human. She slumped onto the floor of the cage; her energy completely spent once he was out of sight.