SCRABBLE TOURNAMENT – PART 9

ORLANDO, FLA., JULY 29, 2008 – At 6:40 p.m., Dakota Fanning walked out of the Pacifica Ballroom after the final round was played in the 2008 National Scrabble Championship, said nothing to the large contingent of reporters waiting for her, and started toward the elevators. Sweater tied around her waist, hair damp with sweat, lips pressed together, she moved swiftly, grasping her mother, Joy’s, hand.

“Dakota – can you at least tell us if there’s still a tie,” a reporter called after her.

Dakota said nothing. Joy held up four fingers and kept walking. Everyone guessed it was like Dakota had said earlier: if she had nothing new to report, she probably wouldn’t say anything. If that was the case, it meant there was still a four-way tie.

Inside the Pacifica Ballroom

An hour and a half later, the entire back wall of the Pacifica Ballroom is packed with newspaper reporters and magazine writers, many of whom hadn’t been here during the tournament. In front of them, seated, are the family and friends of the 914 contestants. At the front of the room, the contestants themselves laugh and joke with one another. None of them knows the names of the winners in the six divisions, but most know it’s not them.

Dakota Fanning, just 14 and clearly the darling of the tournament – if not the underdog, until she swept her first 11 games and woke people up – is sitting between two men in the third row. Nigel Richards, the current World Scrabble Champion, is in the front row, two seats from the aisle.

National Scrabble Association chairman Bert Harding walks up the green carpeted steps and onto a stage with seven pots of red carnations, a shiny black podium, a gigantic replica of a Scrabble board hanging at the rear and a table with six trophies. The audience applauds loudly.

“What a crowd!” says Harding, who is well over six and a half feet tall. “I see a lot of familiar faces, and a lot of unfamiliar faces that I hope will become familiar in the years to come. I guess you know why we’re here – we’re about to crown the 2008 National Scrabble Champion!”

Another round of applause as Harding shifts through some notes.

“This is my third year doing this, and I have to tell you, it gets more exciting every year. Before we get to the awards, I want to thank our extremely generous sponsors.”

Elle wants to send a few good vibes

In the 40th row, Elle Fanning, Dakota’s 10-year-old sister, pulls a small green crystal out of her tiny black Dolce and Gabbana purse. Because she is so short, she can’t see her older sister down near the front, so she will send her some positive energy the best way she knows how.

Her mother, Joy, whispers, “Didn’t we talk about that?”

Elle whispers, “I didn’t do it during the tournament. It’s over now. I only want Dakota to feel good.”

Joy whispers, “Dakota feels good enough,” and holds out her hand for the crystal.

Elle gives it to her. And she was telling her mother the truth: throughout the entire tournament, not once did she engage in a single transference of energy to Dakota, and she never once allowed herself a single negative though about any of her sister’s competitors. Her mother doesn’t understand. Nobody does. Elle folds her hands in her lap and listens to Harding drone on about the sponsors. When he’s done, she claps with the rest of the audience.

Harding yawns and pretends to be tired. “Well, that was pretty exciting. What do you say we all go home now?”

Boos and whistles fill the room, giving way to a thunderous ovation that lasts for nearly a minute.

“Then let’s move along. This year’s Division I competition was as tight as in any years I can remember. Not only did we have some outstanding returning players, such as our World Champion Nigel Richards . . .” He waits while the audience applauds for Richards. “But we also had a definite first – and I hope it won’t be a last. Actress Dakota Fanning competed in the top division, and from what I’ve heard from the scorers and judges, she definitely gave old Nigel and his lot a run for their money.” He motioned with his hand toward Dakota, and the audience cheered for her.

Elle stood up so she could see her sister. Dakota turned in her seat and waved, but she didn’t stand up.

The day ended with four equal won-loss records

“And interestingly, Nigel and Dakota, along with Rob Hammer and Chelsea Bodine, finished the tournament with identical won-loss records of twenty four and four. Before announcing the winner, based on point differential, I want to thank you four – Nigel, Dakota, Rob and Chelsea, for being here with us this year and working so hard to accomplish something very few people can say they’ve ever accomplished. Let’s give them all a big hand!”

The applause is loud and spirited as many in the audience stand up. Harding motions for the four Division I finalists to stand, which they do, and now the rest of the room gets up.

“Yes, these four – and really, every one of you who participated – have achieved a remarkable goal,” Harding says as the crowd gradually sits back down. “But one of you has accomplished something that only seventeen others have since the Scrabble Championship as we know it began in 1978. The first champion, David Prinz, won $1,500 at the tournament in New York, which had a total field of just 65 players. The prize money has grown through the years, and so have the number of contestants. This year, we drew nine hundred and fourteen players, easily surpassing the 2004 record of eight thirty-seven.”

The audience claps. Elle wiggles in her seat. Joy and husband, Steve, hold hands. Elle gets up on her knees in her chair, and Joy doesn’t say anything.

“And this year, the first prize is $25,000,” Harding says and pauses a few seconds to look at notes in front of him. “With an official tournament score of twenty-four wins against just four losses, and with a point differential of 1,345, our 2008 National Scrabble Champion is . . .” He looks toward Dakota’s section of the third row, where a single scream pierces the air. “Dakota Fanning!”

Elle screams, too, and climbs up on her chair and starts jumping up and down and screaming some more. Everybody else is on their feet, so she can’t see anything, and that just isn’t going to work. She jumps down and streaks out to the aisle before her mother can grab her and runs as fast as she can to the front. Dakota is engulfed in a sea of congratulators, people she doesn’t even know, but when she sees Elle, who she knows better than anybody, she squeezes past people to get to the aisle. She and Elle collide in a fierce hug.

The sisters hold each other tight, saying nothing, just holding. Flashbulbs are so constant they make the room twice as light as it was before. “I love you, Dakota!” Elle finally says.

“I love you, too, Elle,” Dakota says and breaks away. “I gotta go up there. I won, can you believe it!”

“I know – I heard that guy say it!”

Elle has always been proud of Dakota

Elle watches her very famous older sister, with her face a mess and her makeup runny from tears, lift a side of her midnight-blue evening gown and ascend the steps, where Harding and all kinds of other important-looking people are waiting for her. Elle is so proud of Dakota she doesn’t even have words to describe it. So she just stands there in the aisle and cries.

A man in a tuxedo carries a huge cardboard check out onto the stage. The check says “Pay to the Order of 2008 Division I Winner,” and there’s a big $25,000 in the amount space. Elle is pretty sure the check is not negotiatable, or whatever they call it. The fact that it’s so big means nothing: she’s seen checks to her and Dakota for ten times that amount, and they were on little pieces of paper. But they cashed. Or so she and Dakota have been told.

Now Dakota is at the microphone with Harding. “Congratulations, Dakota,” Harding says, bending over and grasping Dakota’s right hand. Dakota is crying too hard to speak, so Harding looks at the audience and smiles. “She’s a little emotional right now, I think,” he says, “and who can blame her?” Dakota wipes tears off her face, pushes back her hair and keeps on crying.

Harding motions for the crowd to quiet down and take their seats. Everyone sits, except for Elle, who’s still standing in the aisle like a little lost girl.

“Hi,” Harding says to her, because it’s clear he’s not going to get anything out of Dakota for a few minutes.

Elle waves and wipes her eyes as her sister had.

“You want to come join your sister?”

Elle starts for the steps. People start clapping for her.

“This is Dakota’s sister, Elle Fanning, who many of you may already know,” Harding says and shakes Elle’s hand. “Dakota?”

Dakota doesn’t answer. She just moves over to Elle and hugs her again as the audience erupts with more applause.

Finally Dakota is ready to talk. She nods at Harding.

“When you arrived here, tell me the truth – were you expecting all this?” he asks her.

“No . . . I mean, I was hoping I would win, but I never thought it would feel like this. This is the most special thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m just . . . I don’t even know what to say.”

Elle does

Elle taps Harding’s arm, and he transfers the microphone to her. “Dakota knew she could win, and she worked harder than you can ever imagine. I’m so amazed by her, by the way she concentrates on a goal and won’t let anything get in her way.”

Dakota similes through her tears as Elle, usually the more reticent of the two in public, goes on. “She’s had a lot to deal with during all the time she was preparing for this,” Elle says, sniffing. “She had to turn down a movie role and go through all the stuff you have to do when you do that, she’s done all kinds of personal appearances and some traveling, and that took her away from her practice. And then last month there was all that stuff with me, and she completely gave up Scrabble to make sure I was safe and back to full health. Then she had to go through the war with that actress who I won’t even name and who isn’t even an actress, as far as I’m concerned . . . then the fight between them on the thirteenth, and the broken nose and the infection. But you know what? When my sister says she’s going to do something, she does it. And it don’t matter what stands in the way. My sister can do anything!”

More cheers, and Dakota and Elle hug again.

“Dakota, your parents are here somewhere around here, aren’t they?” Harding says.

Dakota points to the rear of the ballroom.

“Steve? Joy? Can you join us for the presentation of the trophy and the check?”

Steve and Joy walk down the aisle as the crowd cheers, because the crowd is simply in a cheering mood by now. They join their daughters on the stage, and another round of hugs ensues.

“Dakota, on behalf of the National Scrabble Association, I’m very proud to present to you with this check for twenty-five thousand dollars as the 2008 National Scrabble Champion.” Harding hands the large cardboard replica to Dakota, who holds it up for a few seconds. Cameras across the ballroom sparkle with light. Dakota gives the check to her father, and Harding hands her the silver first-place trophy. She raises it high in the air, kisses it then gives it to her mother. She takes the microphone from Harding, and the place grows instantly quiet.

“Of course I had no speech prepared, and I’m glad,” she says. “This isn’t one of my movie things, one of my Hollywood things. This is a place where there are average, everyday, super people, so all I want to do is say thank you for the best time I’ve ever had in my life. I met some of the greatest people I could ever hope to meet, and I competed against so many players who are here because they’re the best in the world. And I competed against the best player in the world – Nigel Richards – and he beat me soundly.”

From his seat, Richards says, “You’re the best, Dakota!” and another crackle of applause fills the room.

“That’s very nice of you to say, Nigel,” Dakota says. “And thank you, but I couldn’t beat you on my best day, and you know it. What was your point differential? Can you tell me now?”

“Thirteen forty,” Richards says.

“Oh, my God – I beat you by five points!”

The audience laughs.

“Next year, kiddo,” Richards says.

“If I can schedule it next year, I’ll be here,” Dakota says. “Well, I know there are other awards and checks and all that to present, so I’m going to get off this stage. Thank you again for making a dream of mine come true. I hope every one of you find ways to realize your own dreams, because no matter how old you are, dreams are all you have. Thank you!”

THE END

BONUS! Read an interview with Sarah about the Scrabble stories