The next act, as introduced by the meat-girls, was a pair of Year 7 girls performing a comedy routine lifted from a popular sketch show, naked apart from the hats they used to identify the characters and making use of a selection of props. Although there was nothing really original in their act, the audience laughed appreciatively at the right moments and politely applauded their efforts. After that came Hallie, a sweet, transgender girl in from Year 8 like Paula and Zoe.

Having been on hormones for the past two years, the adorably plump, platinum-blonde haired thirteen year old cutie looked barely any different from the other girls in her class, with her pretty face and very respectable pair of boobies which were the approximate size and shape of stress-balls, earning her the nickname Squishy from her friends, but of course there was one part of her body, not yet eligible for surgery, which marked her as different. Hallie was so sweet and good-natured however, and so naturally feminine that all the other girls accepted her as one of their own without question. She had told her friends that she would be entering but not what kind of act she would be doing so everyone was intrigued to see!

When the curtains opened, Hallie appeared in the middle of the stage with her shoulder-length hair in bunches, tied with red ribbons, and wearing a red and pink gingham shoulder cape and shiny red shoes with white knee-socks and clutching a basket filled with foam cupcakes in front of her, covering her most intimate area despite her rump and tits being on full display. An upbeat tune began to play and she sashayed around the stage performing a song made popular in the 1980s although in the style of much earlier vaudeville burlesque called “The girl with the little bit extra” flirting with the audience and judges just as much as Laura had done. The song was less than two minutes long and at the end she threw her arms out to her side revealing her stubby little willy and marble pouch, earning her some whistles and lots of affectionate laughs from the audience. The song started up again and she sang it through once more but this time with the basket clasped behind her back, showing how comfortable she was in her own skin. This time, when the song ended, she gave a playful curtsey and blew kisses to the audience before skipping happily off stage.

Following Hallie was another dance from the Sidney Six, this time dancing to a novelty song about a girl who was nervous of being seen in her skimpy bikini, with Sarah taking the lead wearing the bikini in question while the other five remained stark naked aside from beach accessories such as inflatable rubber rings and over-sized sunglasses, adding to the humour of the scenario.

In the first verse, Sarah hid behind a pair of prop beach-cubical doors, dancing behind them during the chorus until the were pulled away revealing that she was wrapped in a bright green beach blanket which, in turn was pulled away as two of the other girls wafted blue fabric to simulate the sea in which she tried to hide herself. In the comical finale of the song, Sarah’s character seemed to realise that the best way to stop being embarrassed by her skimpy bikini was simply to take it off which she did with a flourish, twirling each piece around before flinging it away then dancing the final chorus as naked as the others.

The next contestant was Adelaide from Year 11 who performed a very witty and well-executed ventriloquist act with a dummy that she had made herself. The dummy was dressed as a chef and she, performing naked as required, took the role of a meat-girl he was assessing and planning how to prepare. What made the act funnier to the pupils, especially those from Year 8 upwards who had experienced him in person, was that she was clearly modelling the dummy’s rather lecherous performance on Mr Harcourt, the former principal. This novelty act went down very well and was followed by another solo music performance, this time from the girl in Year 12 who went by the name of Morrigan, a goth with jet black hair, heavy makeup and pierced nipples, wearing high black lace-up boots and black, leather fingerless gloves. Her performance of the sinister song of romantic obsession “#1 Crush”, accompanied by a backing track which, like Laura, she had created for herself in the music studio, was moving and just the right amount of unsettling, leaving the audience with goose-bumps!

As the curtains closed on her performance, the compares came back onto the stage and Zoe and Paula knew that it was time for them to go get ready. In the library, they quickly shed their T-shirts and put on their costume accessories then went up onto the stage to help get their props set up while the Sidney Six danced to “Walk like an Egyptian” in front of the curtains. The song ended and the applause came fast, fading just as quickly as the delicious young dancers left the stage and the compares came back on.

“Now,” Andrea grinned at the audience, “who is ready for some magic and mystery?” There was an excited rumble of assent. “Who is ready to be thrilled and to have their very perception of reality challenged?” The response was louder and more emphatic this time.

“Wow!” Paula whispered to Zoe as they stood in their starting positions. “That’s quite the build-up! Hope we can live up to the hype!”

“We’ve got this!” Zoe assured her. “Just stick to the timing we rehearsed and everything will be great!”

“So without further ado,” Andrea announced with a flourish, “allow me to introduce the Amazing Pauletto and their lovely assistant Zorina!” There was wild applause as the curtains opened and the first bars of the music began, the stage in total darkness for a few seconds before the dazzling, hot spotlight came on and the tune began. It was time for some magic!

To begin the act, Paula performed some simple tricks with small props, the kinds of thing that she would do at a party, delivered with dramatic flair, of course, as befitted the music. Then she appeared to put Zoe into a trance and had her lay on a board resting atop two chairs only to then take the chairs away and leave her levitating, using a hoop to prove that there were no cables or hidden supports holding her up.

The audience applauded appreciatively at this but, in keeping with the fast pace of their classical backing track, the girls quickly moved onto the next trick which involved Zoe standing in a cabinet which was divided into four sections, each of which could be opened independently. Once she was inside, the top section containing her head was slid out to the right, the next out to the left then the one below to the right again, leaving only the section containing her feet where it started. Paula then opened each of these sections so the audience could clearly see Zoe’s shocked-looking but very much active head in the top box, her torso which she jiggled teasingly in the second one and the area from belly to thigh in the one below although, to the audience’s surprise and amusement, this part of Zoe was turned around so she could wiggle her rump at them. All the boxes were then closed and slid back together and, when the cabinet was opened, Zoe stepped out in one piece to receive her applause.

As the music swirled to its loudest and most dramatic movement, it was time for the most dramatic trick! This time, Zoe got into a long box in which she could lay down with her head poking out one end, her feet out the other and holes in the sides to push her hands through. Having locked her in, Paula picked up a pair of thin steel sheets that looked a little like guillotine blades and demonstrated their sharpness by using them to cut a melon in half then quarters, then smacked them together to prove that they were solid. With a flourish, she pushed first one, then the other into the slots in the middle of the box. The first went in smoothly but the second seemed to get stuck, requiring more force. Zoe screamed, struggled against the box’s restraints then spat up a mouthful of blood before slumping and laying motionless.

Some in the audience looked shocked while others assumed it was part of the trick. Some even stood up and started to approach the stage but were encouraged by members of staff to stay back. Looking horrified, Paula pulled the two halves of the box apart revealing sticky blood on both blades and more trickling down. Still syched to the music, she turned both halves around so that Zoe’s blank-eyed head was close to touching her feet then further so both faced the audience. Anxiously, with what had been the middle of the box turned away from the audience so that only she could see, Paula lifted the blade from the top half, turned pale and put her arm across her mouth as if trying to keep from vomiting then did the same with the other blade, lifting it out, bloody and dripping. Still unsure how to react since, as horrific an accident as this seemed to be, it was not exactly out of character for an evening of entertainment where young girls’ butchered body parts were offered as raffle prizes and others were offered to be cooked alive. Perhaps Zoe’s meat would be for sale at the end of the show along with the rest of Becky and Andrea?

Dropping the bloody blades on the floor, Paula turned the two halves of the box back to their original orientation and pushed them together then unlocked the lid and lifted it carefully, wincing slightly as if afraid of what she was about to see inside. To everyone’s surprise, however, and the deafening applause of the audience, Zoe cheerfully sat up, wiped her mouth on Paula’s cape then stood up in the box and took a bow before being helped back down and walking to the front of the stage where she and Paula took further bows before the clearly incredibly impressed audience before the music came to an end with the lights turning off on the final note and the curtains closed.

“I think we got them!” Zoe giggled as the lights came on dimly behind the curtains so that the stage could be cleared and cleaned up.

“Their faces!” Paula exclaimed, shaking her head in amusement. “Good thing our parents knew, honestly! You really sold it with your dead face!” When they had performed for the neighbours and others that Paula’s dad had managed to gather together, they had performed the trick the conventional way with Zoe grinning, waving and wiggling her toes throughout but, as fun as it was, it had felt a bit too similar to the cabinet trick and, with the music being so dramatic and gothic anyway, they had decided it would be fun to up the ante and pretend that it had gone wrong.

“Sorry about this!” Zoe told the girls in black who were volunteering as stage-hands as they rushed in with damp cloths to clean the fake blood, washing up liquid with a little food-colouring, off the floor. “Do you want a hand?”

“No it’s fine!” the pretty sixth-former on her knees smiled. “That’s what we’re here for! Go enjoy the draw! Find out which lucky bastards are taking Andrea’s tits home for dinner!”
To be continued...