Suddenly I See

By the time Leah the sales clerk, was done with me, I was pooped. I had ended up buying twice as much stuff as I thought I would because she gave me a 50% off coupon, so I had literally tried on almost everything in the store that was my size, which was everything. I was a size zero, so I could fit anything I wanted to.

I was standing in front of the mirror, looking at myself in awe, when Leah walked up behind me.

"Like how you look?" She asked, smiling.

"Yes." I turned around and smiled back at her. "I look gorgeous thanks to you."

"Yeah, well." She blushed slightly. "It was nothing."

Leah and I had gotten pretty close in the past hour we had been together, and I had learned a lot about her. She was three months older than me, which meant she was going into her senior year of high school, and she was seventeen just like me. She was really pretty when you got past the fact that her hair was red, and she had the most gorgeous eyes. A lot of people say red hair doesn't match with blue eyes, but those people have never seen Leah. She had both of those colors naturally, and it was really beautiful. She was half an inch shorter than me, and pretty much the same size overall. Her family consisted of her and her older sister. Their parents were always on business trips, so they were always alone. Her sister was the same age as my brother, which meant she was going into her first year of college. Overall, Leah was a really nice person, and I could see us becoming friends in the future.

We were talking like that for a while, when suddenly we heard a bunch of people walk into the store. I turned around to see Tyra Banks and her posse staring straight at Leah and I.

"Wow! You're gorgeous, darling!" She exclaimed, running over in her heels to look closer at our faces. "You HAVE to do my next photo shoot with me! You'll be instant hits!"

Leah and I looked at each other. This had to be a joke.

"You're joking, right?" Leah asked.

"Nope." Tyra shook her head, poppins her "p" at the end of her nope. "I am definitely NOT joking. I was walking across the mall, over there," she pointed to Coach which was on the opposite side of the bridge. "And I saw you two over here. I saw this one's red hair," she smiled at Leah. "From a MILE off. And then I saw your gorgeous icy blonde when I started to walk closer. Is it natural?" She asked, no doubt curious.

"Yes, it is." Leah and I both answered at the same time. I looked at her to go on, and she smiled at me in thanks. "My momma's a red-head with green eyes and my daddy's a blondie with blue eyes, so this is how I turned out. I’m Leah."

"It's gorgeous," Tyra said appreciatively. She turned to me. "And you?"

"My mama is a dirty blonde with hazel eyes and my daddy," I choked on the work daddy. I tried again. "My daddy-" I couldn't keep going, and I began to cry. "My daddy's dead!"

I collapsed in Tyra and Leah's arms, and they stood there, comforting me and trying to make me feel better. After a few minutes I calmed down, and stood back up, wiping my face with my hands. Luckily I hadn't had any make-up on, so I had no smears.

"Sorry about that. I'm Rosemarie by the way." I smiled apologetically at Tyra and Leah. "My daddy died a few years ago, and it's still hard for me to think of him as dead." I paused to steady myself before I kept speaking. "My daddy had gray hair since I was a baby, but in all of his childhood pictures he had white blonde hair. He had the iciest blue eyes, just like me, and I turned out looking more like him than my mother. I got her long legs, however. My mom and dad were the exact same size, and he was a little stouter than her."

Tyra smiled. "You're father sounds like he was a very nice man." She put her hand on my shoulder. "You were very lucky to have the years you had with him." She put her hand back down and looked at us seriously. "Now, I really want you two to model for me, but you look underage. Are you?" We nodded, and she frowned slightly. "That means that I'll need parental permission for you to sign a contract. But first of all, would you like to model for me?"

I instantly nodded, and looked over at Leah to see she was nodding as well. Modeling would help me make money for my mother, which would help her pay for my school and my volleyball club.

Right then my mother walked in to the store. She came up to me and put her arm around me protectively. "Who is this lady?"

"Tyra Banks, ma'am." She stuck out her hand. "Very nice to meet you. You must be Rosemarie's mother?"

My mother stood in shock when she heard the name Tyra Banks. "Y-yes. I'm Rosemarie's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

She shook Tyra's hand and then laid her arms down at her side, looking slightly dazed.

"I was wondering if you would ever let Rosemarie pursue a career in modeling." Tyra smiled over at me and then looked back at my mother. "She is a very beautiful young woman, and I would like it if she became a model for me."

My mother shook her head quickly, snapping herself out of her daze. "What was that?" Tyra repeated herself, and my mother looked thoughtful for a moment. "I have to talk to Rosemarie for a moment. Would you excuse us?"

"Sure. Take all the time in the world."

My mother pulled me behind a rack of clothes and sat me down on a display table. "Do you want to model, Rosie?"

I nodded. "I want to help pay the bills, and this is a huge way that I can contribute in. I'm a senior in high school now, and this will help me pay for volleyball and school so you don't have to."

My mother looked at me sternly. "I want you to do this because YOU want to, not because you feel you have to help me pay the bills. Do you want to make modeling a career, and possibly have your whole life revolve around modeling?"

I thought for a moment. Was I willing to give up volleyball if my career took off? Yes. I liked Tyra , she seemed like a wonderful lady and a good role model, and I wanted to see the world and be thought of as beautiful. I think every girl dreams of being a model once in their lives, and I was definitely one of them.

"Yes. I do." I smiled at my mom. "I want to travel the world and modeling will allow me to do that."

My mother smiled at me. "Okay. Well let's go tell Tyra!"

She took my hand and we walked over to a smiling Tyra and Leah.

"So what have you guys decided? We just got off the phone with Leah's parents, and they agreed."

"I'm in." I stated firmly.

This was it.