The Phoenix Diaries (ONGOING)

Chapter 4

"I can't do this!" I gasp.

"Why? What's wrong baby?" Dad asks.

"Girls from school. Pretty girls." I say.

"Baby, it's okay. You got this. Remember what I said last night." Dad says.

"Are you sure it isn't too late to go back home?" I ask.

"Phoenix! Your father and I didn't go to work today just so we could bring you here! You're taking these test shots wether you like it or not!" Mom snarls.

       God, that woman can be such a bitch sometimes. But anyway, I proceed with walking into the photography studio. I look around. There are a lot of girls from school here.

"Phoenix!" Someone exclaims.

I don't remember her voice off of the top of my head. I turn around and see Grace Oakley. Grace is beautiful but unlike all of the other pretty girls in Fairview High, she's actually sweet. She has dark brown hair that goes just past her shoulder, soft brown eyes, pale skin, 5'6, and she's thin.

"Hi, Grace. Can you not say my name so loud? I don't want anyone to know I'm here." I say.

"Oh, sorry. Man, we have a lot of competition here today." Says Grace.

"Competition? What do you mean?" I ask.

Grace hugs me and chuckles.

"There's no competition. There's just a lot of pretty girls here. But even if there was a competition, you'd win, Phoenix. Like God, you're so beautiful." Grace marvels.

"Thanks but I think you'd win." I smile.

"Aw, thank you." Grace blushes.

       The door swings open behind us.

       "Oh my God, is that Phoenix Arthur?" Exclaims a loud voice.

       Her voice causes everyone in front of us to turn around. People gasp, whisper to each other, and laugh. I notice something about everyone. Besides Grace and I, all the girls are wearing makeup that looks perfect, including Amber.

       "Oh, hi, Grace." Amber smiles.

       She doesn't even like Grace. Why's she being so nice to her? Grace doesn't reply though.

       "Seriously, Amber?" I sigh.

       "What? I mean, you're here, aren't you?" She asks.

       "Look,' I sigh,' please don't tell anyone I'm here."
       "I won't need to. These people will take one look at you and kick you out." Amber smirks.

       A few of Amber's friends further ahead in line call her name.

       "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to deal with attractive people who are worth my time." Amber says.

       She aggressively shoves me to go be with her friends. Tears form in my eyes. I race outside. My parents are gone. Amber's right. Why did I even bother coming here? The door opens and Grace comes next to me.

       "Don't listen to that nasty bitch. She's just jealous of you, Phoenix." Grace assures me.

       "Why would Amber Smith be jealous of me?" I ask.

       "You're naturally tan, your hairs really pretty, you have a great body. Unlike her, you actually have the heart to be nice to people, no matter what they look like." Grace explains.

       "I'm only nice to people because I look like myself, Grace. You're only telling me this to make me feel better. But to the whole human population, I'm not even close to being attractive. I've been unattractive my whole life and I've accepted it. But when I'm here, looking at other people, dealing with what Amber has to say, I can't. They only wanted me here as a joke." I say.

"Phoenix, come back in. Don't you want to show Amber what you're made of?" Asks Grace.

Well, I definitely want to do that. I get up and give this thing another shot.

A Few Hours Later

"Next!" Shouts a guy.

He's dressed really nice. He looks super trendy, definitely not like you're stereotypical photographer. He has olive skin, blue eyes, dark hair, a thin body, and he's about 6'3 or so. When I walk in, he just stares at me. I don't say anything.

"No makeup?" He asks.

"No but I could go get some and put it on real q-forget it. There's not enough time. Alright,' he interrupts me,' let's take your pictures."

A few minutes later, the photographer finishes taking his pictures.

"How'd it go, P?" Dad asks.

"Uh, it happened." I shrug.

"What do you mean?" Mom asks.

"He just took my pictures,' I shrug,' nothing special. When I first stepped in, he stared at me."

"That's probably because you're so gorgeous, baby." Dad says.

"No, it was because I wasn't wearing any makeup." I sigh.

       It stays quite.

       "By the way, my pictures should be here by tonight." I say.

       "Okay." Says mom.

After dinner, mom, dad and I look at the pictures.

"Wow,' dad marvels,' you're beautiful, P."

Honestly, for once, I can't say I disagree. I look stunning.

"Thank you." I smile.

"You do look wonderful, Phoenix. But now, we have to fill out the important stuff." Says mom.

She gets out my forms and everything I have to do. My happiness takes a turn for the worst when I see they want me to put my weight and my height. Great, they're definitely not going to want me now.

       Baby,' dad starts,' what's wrong?"

       "My information,' I confess,' if I put it down, they'll never want me."

       "That's not true,' he tries to assure me,' they wanted you from your looks. They're probably still going to want you after looking at your information."

       That's when dad's words echo in my head.

"You should do this and if you don't like it, no one's telling you that you have to make a career out of modeling."

I then write down all of my information.