oh, my god, no. oh, god. i just do the hair and makeup on the deceased.
i'm lucky i have an after-school job where i can practice my talent.
well. it's the least i can do for the reigning mount rose junior miss amer--
huh? oh. uh, just a little snarl.
there we go.
yah.  sure.
what're you doin' here?
how nice, becky, she's anorexic.
 dreams? yah-sure i got kem.  sometimes i dream of winnin'.  i dream of gettin' outta mount rose and bein' a big time reporter like diane sawyer. i mean, guys get outta mount rose all the time for hockey scholarships or prison. but the pageant's kinda my only chance.
 yah-1963. her beauty worked against her when she started as a reporter in louisville, her hometown. those were different times.
that's my mom. i'll get kem in a sec.
they're from l.a. they wanted to see my room and film me for their movie.
hi.
here, i'll take it. it's my job.
well, you're supposed to put it in the.
then it must be wednesday.
i know.
amber. brett huntin' season.
yah-sure, fine. fine.
bye.
no, listen. we shouldn't talk here. stop by my house tonight, okay?
upset about brett? nah. hazard of the trade. i don't really have time for guys anyways. it's weird, though. he took it right between the eyes. don't often see that.
sorry. i just thought she might not wanna meet her maker lookin' like a cheap whore.
-- red nose and ears. i know, i know.
sorry i couldn't talk today kcause. i'm scared, okay? i open my locker right after first period and there's a picture of tammy curry taped inside.
this was written on back.
yah-sure, tammy liked to driver her dad's thresher - she said the heavy vibration helped her think, y'know? but i know for a fact she only smoked after a good drive. you ask me or anyone else who isn't scared to talk about it - tammy was murdered. god, i bet diane sawyer never had to deal with crap like this.  toss me "caucasian #5," would ya?
no, don't say it. another stray bullet to the head.
relax, that's my ma's code for, "bring home milk and a carton-a luckys."
oh my god - no! is my mom okay? was she home?
is mom okay?
where is she?!
mommmm! i'll be right behind you in the hearse!
oh, mom, it's so ugly.
mom, uh, about that. i-i'm-oh god.
i-i'm quittin' the pageant.
oh god, i'm dead.
so, what do i say?
oh my god. i'm so dead.
mom, look, don't say anything. first of all, i'm not pregnant.
okay. yesterday i. i got this picture. so i kinda, y'know, i'm thinkin' no. i'm gonna, i-i-i'm gonna quit the pageant.
ow!
nice mouth you got there, mom, but i- i'm not goin' through this again.
oh, c'mon.  first the picture of tammy, then brett clemens, now this? it's scary.
that's it, i'm goin'.
god i hope that's you and not your concussion talkin'.
i love you much.
no. mom said if i did, she'd look up my dad and marry him.
no. she never hid the fact that my dad picked his career over us. what'd she used to say?
oh-yah.
yes. yes i am. thank you, hello.
seriously?
well, ah. alabama. a-l-a-b-a-m-a. alaska. a-l-a-s-k-a. arizona. a-r-i-
west virginia. w-e-s-t-v-i-r-g-n-i-a. wisconsin. w-i-s-c-o-n-s-o-n. wyoming. w-y-o-m-i-n-g.
yah-my ma's clothes all melted onto mine forming like this big polyester meteor in our closet, y'know? but, in some kinda weird miracle, our neighbor boy, kenny johanson, found my tap costume on the roof-a their trailer while he was settin' coon traps for his dad. here's the weird part. it was still on the hanger.
yah-sure, eight's my luck number anyway. diane sawyer was number eight at her local.
don't you get it? i was supposed to go first. i was contestant number one. that light was meant for my head. if janelle hadn't wanted to change numbers.  god, i owe my life to that deaf baby.
really, loretta?
my mom wanted me to have this?
loretta, never have kids.
oh. my. god! it's just like diane sawyer's! kcourse it's not a size ten, diane was a little hippy back then. oh, thank you! thank you! thank you!
living in a country where no matter who you are or where you come from, you can grow up and become what you've always dreamed of, makes me, amber atkins, proud to be an american!
oh my god! my-my tap costume's gone.
no, wait. it-it was here before the openin' number. wait. what am i sayin'? i should just ask you, becky. where is it?
you heard me. where is it?
i just did.
oh-oh, you bring me some of that snotty attitude, becky - bring it on.
oh, i'll "get it." i'll "get it" all right. i might even take seconds.
bitch!
i'll get you!
i hate her!
here, i didn't get any.
and the winner of the "spirit" award goes to.
yah-it's just gone.  i mean, i-i just wanna tap, y'know? i'm not sayin' i'm the best, or that i'd even win, but shouldn't i at least get a chance to compete? i just wanted my mom to see me dance.
please, mrs. k, i got so much vaseline on my teeth, i'm gonna be smilin' for a year.
mrs. k--
mrs. clark, why are you doing this to me? why're you pretendin' you don't know what's goin' on?
but, doesn't someone taking your costume so you can't compete, overrule that rule?
this, this.  this is bullshit!
good, kcause this isn't an american teen princess pageant - it's, it's nazi germany!
mrs. leeman?
i-i'm wearin' this costume. i'm, uh, i'm gonna do my talent tonight.
but, you - i mean.  it's not my fault. i-i.  please? i didn't do anything wrong.
good luck, molly.
i-i-i-i-i-, j-uh-j-uh-just wanted to compe-e-e-e-ete.
"here," wh-wh-what?
your parents'd kill you.
lis, i want to, i really do, but.  oh, i can't.
yah?
yah-i brought her some flowers this morning. she's in the room next to my mom. she's super happy.
bye mom.
it's okay.
oh, mom's okay. they're just givin' her a ride back. she almost blew outta the back of loretta's pick-up on the way over.
yah-well, at least, y'know, i got to perform. and mom got to see me. i guess number eight only worked for diane sawyer.
yeah.
yes.
yes, leslie!
oh-yah, this is exactly how i pictured it. chokin' on swan gas.
i don't know. i just didn't wanna win like this.
really?
okay.
i never liked her, but she didn't deserve to die in the belly of a swan like that. the whole thing's just kinda sad and lame at the same time.
ah! it's from state! oh my god!
i'll be stayin' overnight at.  the airport howard johnsons!
there's an indoor swimming pool! ahhhh!
airport ho-jo!
loretta, don't do that.
i gotta work with these women.
mount rose american teen princess.
don't tell anyone, but, i have a little secret weapon of my own.
i don't eat shellfish. mom always says, "don't ever eat nothin' that can carry its house around with it - who knows the last time it's been cleaned." she should know.
oh my god. look at her, she's awesome. i should just go home now.
i, uh.  i feel like.  i, uh, i need a shower.
i just, i just can't believe it. i'm minnesota's american teen princess!
i'm gonna be on tv! just like diane sawyer.
okay, ready? here's the signal i'm gonna give ma when i'm on tv.
this is amber atkins reporting live from the food shack for. krlh news. one of our reporters has just been shot.
And I'm Amber Atkins for WAZB News.