Model in Disguise

33. The Posture Class

       "Rachel, you're acting weird."

       I turn around and close my eyes for a moment before opening them and walking out of the room. "I'm late. For class."

       I close the door behind me. Leaning my back against it, I take a deep breath, try to regain the composure Alex stole from me, and walk away.

The next time I sit in the same room as Alex I am determined not to look at him. Any contact with Alex will get rid of all my focus. I sit in a desk in the front of the classroom and he sits in the back.

       As Rachel Williams, I am enrolled in a class called Introduction to the Fashion Experience. Each student attending a year in Smile Academy is required to take at least two classes based on the area of profession they are interested in.

       A modeling class sounds ridiculous on its own but the name for this one is somewhat decent. Except no one calls this class by its actual name.

       Most students in Smile Academy know it to be called "the posture class".

       "No, no, no," says an old, high-pitched voice with a British accent. "You are not following the instructions. Try it again, but this time stand tall and tilt your head upwards a little bit more."

       Mrs. Dunbar is the reason this class is called "the posture class". She's really supposed to teach about the modeling experience in general. Instead she chooses to teach about etiquette, and how to walk down a runway.

       Naturally, no one takes her seriously.

       After all it is only a half-year course.

       Mrs. Dunbar smoothes out her white hair and gestures for Leah to stop. "That'll have to do for now, Leah," she says, a smile on her face. But this smile resembles one that someone would see on a Barbie doll. Plastic and fake.

       An unimpressed Leah walks back towards her seat, making sure to go the extra mile to ensure she won't pass by my desk. I focus in on Leah, intrigued. Is it possible that she feels guilty for turning Alex and I in to the police?

       She must actually have feelings, then.

       Sometime while I'm looking at Leah, Mrs. Dunbar's smile becomes real. There's an excited gleam in her eye as she says, "Class, there is something I'd like to bring to your attention." She stares out at all the students in the classroom like a queen looking over her people.

       If three quarters of the queen's people were snoring.

       Mrs. Dunbar seems to overestimate the attention span of the students in the classroom, because she pulls out this sheet of paper and holds it up for me and about five other kids to see. The other five kids are drawing on their tablets in boredom, and I examine my nails.

       There's a moment of silence.

       Then, a loud bang sounds throughout the classroom. Everyone jolts awake and some kid in the front of the room falls out of his desk. I look up with a tired expression to find a still smiling Mrs. Dunbar toying with the cover of the textbook she just dropped onto her desk.

       She clears her throat and folds her hands together. "Yes, as I was saying. There is an annual event in the first semester of every year called Model Mayhem. Each year this event is organized and coordinated by one chosen grade level, based on the number of students and their qualifications within the class. This year that chosen grade level happens to be yours.

       "Model Mayhem is one of the biggest events of the school year, and the main event of your first semester. I trust that you will all take this seriously. It is a small insight into the world that each and every one of you is asking to be put into."

       As she walks by my desk, Mrs. Dunbar rips the headphones from the ears of the guy sitting next to me.

       "And, also," she says, her tone going deeper, "throughout the night, you will be graded on your efforts in every required area of your course of study. Do not take this lightly."

       Mrs. Dunbar has finally managed to get the majority of the students to listen to her, and that same smile has now become a smug one. "Any quest━"

       "Mrs. Dunbar?" interrupts a deep male voice. Just as she has finally obtained our attention, a familiar face pops in through the classroom door. "You called for me?"

       I sit forward in my desk immediately, staring at the doorway before finally glancing at Alex who seems to be just as shocked as I am.

       Mrs. Dunbar turns toward the door herself, seemingly a little peeved at the interruption. "Well, Felix, I am actually in the midst of teaching a class━"

       "Hi, Mr. Howard!"

       Mrs. Dunbar blinks at the student who has just spoken and opens her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted again.

       "You're back!"

       "Weren't you arrested?"

       "I knew you were innocent."

       "Are you still single?"

       "So is Mr. Masters coming back, or . . .?"

       I roll my eyes. The poor old teacher in the front of the classroom has given up on trying to regain the attentions of the students and sits down to begin grading papers.

       Mr. Howard steps into our classroom, a knowing smile on his handsome face. "Well I'm not entirely sure what exactly I'm supposed to answer," he says, sliding his hands into his pockets. "But yeah, it's nice to see you all too."

                    *           *           *

It's been 10 months since I uploaded . . .

Wow. Crazy. I know.

So for half of that time I was without laptop. (-_________-)

And for the other half I just had severe writer's' block.

I kind of lost my inspiration to write for a while.

I know I told you guys a long time ago that I lost someone in my immediate family, but to be completely honest I think I underestimated how much I would change after losing such a big part of my life.

I tried pretending I was the same but I wasn't and I'm not. I'm a different person than I was when I first started this book.

I don't think I'll ever be the same person and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

But I'm not giving up on this yet, because writing used to be a way I could express myself and let out all the creativity that I didn't know what to do with.

Hopefully I can get back to that.

Well. Anyway. On a happier note, I'm on summer vactionnnnnn! c:

So someone should buy me a trip to a Caribbean island and then pay for the flight. o.o

Dedications will be given as usual, so comment, people! ANd point out any mistakes.

P.S. What'd you guys think of Rachel's dream?  c;

'AwesomelyBlaze