I relaxed. This wasn’t a problem, this was a Hope freak out. She had them regularly. I wasn’t entirely sure what her ‘personal reasons’ were for dropping out of university, but I suspected it was because of episodes like this.
I patted her back. “Hope, it’s okay. You’re doing an amazing job of pretending to own the business. You almost fool me and I know the truth. Nobody thinks you’re lying.”
She stared at me with her big grey eyes, searching my face to see if I was being honest. For once, I actually was. The irony was not lost on me.
Clearly, she needed some more convincing. “Seriously, Hope. Everything is going so well, we’re almost ready to launch. When everyone sees the clothes, they’re all going to love you.”
“Love me?” she whispered.
“Love you,” I repeated. Sometimes you had to tell people what they wanted to hear, even if you weren’t sure if it was the truth. I learned that lesson with Jane one day when she refused to do any more sewing. She sewed another four dresses that day. Score one: Truly.
Hope started nodding her head, slowly at first and then speeding up. “Okay. I can do this. Just a little longer and everything will be ready to go.”
A smile crossed my lips. “That’s the spirit.”
I made her a hot chocolate that was to die for before leaving Hope a little happier than I had found her. Sheesh. If I knew she’d be so difficult, I might have found another adult to pretend to be us.
I kept Hope’s little incident to myself the next day at school. It was better Jane didn’t know about all the things that threatened to go wrong. She’d only freak out too and I was doing enough of that for the both of us.
At lunch, I sat with my friends in the cafeteria. Once again, Jane made up an excuse to not sit with us. She didn’t like my friends and I’m pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Which sucked.
At least it gave me some time to talk with them about something. “Hey, guys, so you know about my mega awesome fashion business?”
“Oh, you’re still doing that?” Kinsey asked. Apparently she hadn’t been paying attention for the last few weeks. I would remember that.
“Yeah, I am. It’s like the most important thing in the world to me right now.” I gave them all an evil glare, they just nodded in reply. “So anyway, I need some models for our website and catalogue. I was wondering if you guys wanted to do it?”
“You want us to be your models?” Sarah wrinkled her brow with the question.
“Yeah. We’re shooting this weekend. Are you in?”
Hayley clapped her hands together. Which was good, because she was the prettiest of them all. “That would be so, like, awesome! Count me in.”
“Me too,” Kinsey said.
“I’m not going to be left out,” Sarah added indignantly. “You’re going to be, like, a huge success Truly. Especially with us as your models.”
“That’s the plan,” I replied. I hoped it was going to be as simple as they expected it to be. Just a few clothes, that’s all it was. A fashion empire was something else entirely.
When I told Jane the good news after gym class, she wasn’t nearly as excited as I thought she would be. “We can’t have them be our only models.”
“What do you mean? They’re perfect.”
“Our label is for all kinds of girls. Kinsey, Sarah, and Hayley are all the same.”
“Not true. They all have different hair colors,” I pointed out. Considering Jane loved facts so much, she clearly hadn’t really thought it through.
“But their body shapes are all the same. They’re all tall and skinny,” Jane continued to argue.
It finally sunk in. Jane was right.
Dammit.
We really did need models of all types for our photo shoot. Otherwise we weren’t being true to our label. It was so difficult admitting that. So, instead, I tried hard not to.
“There’s nothing wrong with tall and skinny. But if you want something more, who else should we ask?” I think I pulled it off.
Jane looked around. “I don’t know. We’ll have to find more people. Come on.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to her favorite courtyard.
CHAPTER 3
We sat down on the cold benches and watched the entire school go past. At least it felt that way, she made us sit there for a really long time.
“There, them,” Jane said suddenly, pointing to a pair of girls huddled in the corner. They were the book nerd type, more interested in their schoolwork than their appearance.
We had been sitting there so long, I probably would have agreed to anyone. “Fine. Go ask them.”
“I’m not doing that. Model recruitment was your task.”
Arguing would have meant sitting there longer. “Fine,” I muttered before crossing the courtyard. As I approached, I assessed the two girls.
They weren’t overweight by any standards. Neither were they really short. If there were ever two girls that screamed average, it was them. At least they weren’t tall and skinny.
“Hey, you two.” I wished I knew their names. They stared at me blankly. “You probably haven’t heard, but my friend Jane and I are starting our own fashion label. We’re looking for models and think you’d be perfect for the job. What do you say?”
The one on the right, wearing black rimmed glasses that were half hidden by her long dark hair, spoke first. “Is this a joke? We don’t have time for this.”
“No, it’s not a joke. I promise. You see, our label is all about-”
“We have to go. We’re late for book club,” the other one, the girl with a massive pimple on her forehead, interrupted me. She actually interrupted me. Nobody did that. Except Jane.
“But if I could just-” Dammit, she did it again.
“Book club waits for no-one.”
They turned around and walked away. Wow. Did that just happen? Did I seriously get trampled on by book nerds?
I glanced Jane’s way. She was waving me on, like I should follow the girls. Face Jane and sit there waiting for more models to casually stroll by, or go to book club? What happened to my life that these were my choices now? Clearly I took a wrong turn somewhere.
The harsh reality of the situation had to be accepted. I was going to book club. “Hey, hold up! I’m going to join the club too!” I ran after the girls.
They didn’t slow down for me.
As it turned out, the book club met in the library. Go figure. I wanted to mention how cliché that was, but I figured it was probably the wrong crowd so I kept my opinions to myself.
So that was what the library looked like. I’d always wondered.
The book they were reading was some philosophical look at life as told by an angel of the light or something like that. I was pretty lost after they started on about first choirs and second choirs. I mean, I thought choirs were for singers but not in their crazy book. Unless the angels were doing a lot of singing.
Another fun fact about book club: it went for an hour. I know because I timed it. I thought it was never going to end. It had to be the longest hour of my life. All I could think about was naming all the songs an angel would sing. My favorite: In the Arms of the Angels by Sarah McLachlan.
Finally, it ended. As it did, I noticed how different all the girls were in the club. There were a few that my friends would have called fat – I would have said curvy. Another few that were short, some were tall, others like my interrupting new friends, were average.
They were all exactly what we needed.
“Guys, before you all go, I’d like to say something,” I said, taking the center of the circle. Book club fun fact number three: the circle was referred to as the discussion hub. “My friend and I are starting our own fashion design company. We’re looking for models. Our vision is to make a clothing line that is for everyone, not just the catwalk type body shapes. I was hoping you’d all like to be our models?”
Silence.
Crickets would actually have been welcome. They probably weren’t allowed in
the library. Or the discussion hub.
Like always, I had to be the one to speak if nobody else was going to. I hated silence. “I think you’ve all got beautiful bodies and I think you’d really like our clothes. The photo shoot is this weekend. We’re doing hair and makeup and everything.”
Miss Hair with the glasses spoke first. “Are you making fun of us?”
“No, I’m not. I’m deadly serious.”
“Because it’s not funny. We’re not a joke. Just because we don’t dress like you or have perfect hair like you do, it doesn’t mean we don’t care about ourselves.”
Wow. So much hatred. Tough room. “I’m really not joking about this. Jane and I are determined to be different, we want all body types.”
One of the curvy girls, I think her name was Lucy, spoke next. “You really made clothes for chubby girls? I don’t believe it.”
“All sizes are included. Jane has made sure of it,” I assured her. I was lost for words. Who didn’t want to be a model? “I promise you will feel good in our clothes and we will make sure you look absolutely stunning in the photos. Please?”
“Wait, did you say Jane? As in Jane Davis?” The question came from the shortest girl. Her golden blonde hair was really pretty.
“Yeah, she’s my partner.”
Relief flooded over her face. “You should have said that before. Jane is fantastic, she totally helped me pass Biology last year. I’m in, I owe her a favor.”
A round of head nodding followed as, one by one, the girls all agreed to be our models. I really wished I had led with the whole ‘I know Jane Davis’ thing. If I’d have done that anywhere else, it would have been followed by ‘Jane who?’.
The book club stuck around long enough to hear details of where and when to meet on Saturday for the shoot. I left and found Jane doing her homework in the courtyard. That girl was never without a textbook in her hand, I swear. I’m surprised she didn’t sew while reading.
“All done. We’ve got another five models, which will be plenty,” I said proudly, sitting next to her.
“They all agreed? All of them?”
“What? Like you thought it would be hard or something?” I pretended it was easy. I wasn’t going to tell her the truth. Not for a million dollars.
Okay, maybe for a million dollars.
Jane closed her book to give me her full attention. “Fine. But I think we still need one more. I have a dress that would suit a larger body type.”
“We’ve already got some curvy girls.”
“No, I mean, a squarer shape. Like her.” Jane nodded across the courtyard. I followed her gaze, already assuming I wouldn’t like who she was pointing toward.
And I was right.
“Kristy? Uh-uh. I am not asking her to be our model,” I replied, dead serious. Kristy was about twice the size of me, both in height and width. She was a complete tomboy, she actually played for the boys’ football team. She had to get special permission for it and everything.
Plus, she scared me to death. One look from Misty Kristy and she could crumble you like a cookie. I didn’t want to die so young.
“Come on, she’ll be perfect for the dress,” Jane pleaded.
“If you like her so much, you ask her.”
“I can’t. I don’t have the same kind of people skills that you do. Please, Truly?” She pouted her lips as she begged. “Don’t you want our label to be the best it can be? All inclusive?”
I really wished she wouldn’t keep throwing my strive for perfection back in my face. I mean, come on, it was Misty Kristy. She enjoyed beating up boys on the field. She’d crush a girl.
“Hurry, Truly, before she leaves.”
Dammit. “Fine. But if I’m not alive for our launch, you’d better name the label after me.”
I picked up my bag – so I could use it as a shield – and crossed the courtyard. Kristy was by herself, taking a drink from the water fountain. I waited until she stopped before flashing her a smile.
“What do you want?” Kristy grunted. Oh my God, I was going to die.
“Hi. I, uh, Jane Davis and I are doing this photo shoot for our new fashion label on the weekend. We were both hoping you would be one of our models?” I held my breath, prepared to run for safety if I needed to.
Kristy snorted. “You want me to be a model? Right. Because I’m so top model.”
“Our label caters for all body types. We want every girl to be a model and feel good in the clothes.” By this stage, I was rambling. I’m not even entirely sure what I said. “Jane has a dress that will look really good on you. She swears you will look gorgeous and we’ve got somebody to do the hair and makeup. So you don’t need to worry about a thing.”
I took a breath. I really needed it.
Kristy glanced from me to Jane, who had gone back to her textbook. So much for partners.
“You really think I’d look good in a dress?” she asked. Call me delusional, but she kind of sounded interested.
“In our dress, yes. You’d look great.” I had no idea what dress Jane was talking about. But I would blame her for everything if Kristy looked horrible.
“What time on Saturday?”
“Ten o’clock.”
“I’d have to come straight from training. I’d be all smelly and stuff.”
Great. So what we want in our brand new dress. “That would be okay.”
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
“Seriously?” Had I heard correctly?
“Yeah. Give me the address.” I would have given her a kidney if she’d asked. Kristy wasn’t the kind of person you said no to.
I wrote everything down for her and rushed back to Jane. Lucky for her, she was suitably impressed. Lucky for me, Kristy completed our model search.
We had clothes, we had models, all we needed now was to take some pretty pictures.
CHAPTER 4
In the Winx household, there was a lot of scary things. Our laundry hamper, the dark depths of underneath the television unit, and anything in my brothers’ room. But nothing beat the phrase ‘we’re going out to dinner’ when uttered by my mother.
No, you would think eating dinner at a restaurant would be a nice treat. Perhaps even something to look forward to. But sadly it wasn’t. In the Winx household, it meant Mom had bad news and didn’t know how else to break it to us.
I sat through the meal just waiting for the announcement. I could only imagine what it would be. Maybe we were moving in with Grandma? Or Mom lost her job so we would have to live off beans for a while? Oh, God, I hope she wasn’t having another baby.
By the time we were all served a round of ice cream, I was practically psychotic. I wanted to demand what the meaning of it all was but I didn’t. I couldn’t ask when I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“You’ve been quiet tonight,” Mom said, addressing me.
“Just tired, I guess.”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with your new friend Jane, lately.”
“Yeah, we’ve been working on a school project together.”
Liar, liar, liar!
“I didn’t know you were so dedicated to your schoolwork. It’s a nice change, Truly.” She gave me one of those Mom smiles, the kind that seem adorable but let you know you’ve let her down in the past.
“This is different. I-”
My words were cut off as Ethan decided to pick that moment to fill his spoon with a load of sprinkles and shoot them across the table at Billy.
“Ethan, no!” Mom shrieked.
And that’s how the great food fight of the Winx clan started. Billy retaliated by picking up a handful of ice cream and throwing it across the table. It landed right in Ethan’s hair, dripping down to his ear.
Not to miss out on a chance to make some mess, Lily managed to pick up her bowl and throw the entire thing onto the table. Ice cream, sprinkles, and strawberry sauce went everywhere.
And I mean, everywhere.
As quickly as Mom tried to pick things up and stop
them, more food went flying. Two waitresses hurried over to break up the fight, but really, they were outnumbered by the kids.
Of course, my phone chose that moment to start ringing. I picked up my bag and left the table, impressed I had escaped with only a few sprinkles down my top.
“Hello?”
“Truly, thank goodness. I’m freaking out,” Hope said. Of course, Hope was having a panic attack. What had I signed up for?
While I talked Hope off the – metaphoric – ledge, I watched the entire food fight mishap play out in the restaurant. More kids from other tables joined in, taking over the place like they were in a siege.
It was the best family dinner ever.
If Mom was going to deliver bad news, she lost her chance. We were unkindly told to leave the restaurant and impolitely asked never to return.
We had to ride the subway in ruined clothes and with sticky hands, but it was so worth it. Somehow, we still managed to blend in with the other commuters. The city on a Thursday night, typical freak show fodder.
I told Jane all about it the next day, only to get her disapproval. Or maybe she was just jealous, it was hard to tell with Jane. She didn’t have any siblings so sometimes she thought our chaos was envy material.
After school, I went home with her to inspect the finished clothes. After what happened at the fashion competition, I was anxious she might have changed the designs again so I wanted to double check before the photo shoot.
Jane took me to her room and pulled the cover off the clothes rack. “This is everything.”
I started on the first hanger and made my way through the entire rack. There was only one word to describe the whole thing.
Wow.
“These are perfect, Jane,” I exclaimed.
She wore a smug look on her face. “Of course they are. I worked my fingers to the bone for these outfits. I can’t tell you how many times I pricked my fingers for them.”
I wanted to hug her, but Jane wasn’t all that huggy. Instead, I gave her the biggest compliment I knew. “You are extraordinary.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and looked at the floor, a little embarrassed. “So the shoot is tomorrow. You want to come over early so we can make sure the set is good?”
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