SHOOT: A Novel (6 page)

It was a full week
after my first meeting with Sonja when I arrived to my apartment in Brooklyn,
the place that would be my new home. Not a full day had gone by when the call
came in saying my test shots were enthusiastically approved.

“You’ve created
quite a buzz,” Sonja told me over the phone. I knew my new boss, or agent, was
pretty smug about her find, but it wasn’t something that bothered me. After the
call, the signing bonus was deposited directly into my newly set up bank
account and I spent the rest of the week doing the major sightseeing the
majority of tourists do in New York City.

Now it was time to
settle into my new life. I had been set up to live in an apartment with three other
girls from the agency. I figured the other girls were also models and about my
age. Sonja herself organized everything and I was very grateful for it.

I stopped in front
of the door and tugged at the hem of my simple turquoise t-shirt. I only had
the one small piece of luggage I came to New York with. During the first week
of freedom I hadn’t done much shopping, despite the sizeable sum of money
sitting in my bank account. I was responsible enough to know it would be a
terrible idea to go crazy with the money and lose it all.

I nervously rang the
doorbell. As soon as it was pulled open, my breath caught in my throat. The
young woman who greeted me with a small but sweet, closed-mouth smile was
stunning. She was even taller than me by about an inch or so. Her long and
straight light copper locks shined even in the dim glow of the setting sun. She
had rich, coffee brown eyes that were deep and slightly upturned. She had a
straight button nose that rested above her full lips that, despite not having
much shape, were still quite lovely.

“Hey,” she
greeted. “I’m Caroline. I suppose you’re Chloe, our new roommate?”

I nodded slowly,
unable to believe Sonja and everyone else at the agency really placed me in the
same league as Caroline in terms of beauty. Caroline’s mouth curled into a much
bigger smile before pulling me into a welcoming hug.

“Come in!” she barked
with a happiness as she leaned forward to grab my bag out of my hand and lead me
into the apartment. It was larger than I had imagined it would be. After all my
research on New York, my expectation was to make due in an apartment the size
of a shoebox. Living out in Brooklyn had come as somewhat of a surprise to me,
but then I realized it was in a good area and not too far of a commute.

We stopped at the
entry of the kitchen where two other beautiful, young women were sipping green
juices. They stopped to survey me before one of them broke out into a huge
grin, “I’m Sarah! You must be Chloe, right?”

 
She eyed the luggage Caroline was still
clutching and nodded eagerly. There was something about Sarah that was a
giveaway to me—she wasn’t originally a city girl either. That instantly made me
feel more comfortable around them, or at least around one of them for the time
being. I tried not to look too carefully at them because it made me feel
self-conscious and confused. They were all so gorgeous and it was impossible for
me to comprehend how others considered me to be as good looking as them. These
women were the kinds you see in magazines, quite literally, and I simply
couldn’t fathom how I landed in the same room as them.

“Hi, it’s nice to
meet you,” I told them all rather timidly. The other young woman had resumed
sipping her tea despite not having introduced herself, but she did continue to
look at me rather curiously. Was she sizing me up? Out of the four of them she
was the only blond haired and blue eyed one.

“Nice to meet
you,” the young woman finally spoke up.

Her voice was
raspy but it was obvious it was natural. “I’m Nadine,” she said, finally
flashing her smile of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. She had the sort
of look that made you think she’d be casted in the role of the beautiful high
school girl with everything going for her in life. She would be the “it” girl,
easily.

In a flash, both
Nadine and Sarah each took hold of my wrists and pulled me over to sit on the
couch in the center of pink-painted living room. Caroline joined us a couple
minutes later, extending her arm to hand me a glass of fresh juice.

“Thank you,” I said
before taking a sip. It wasn’t as sweet as the juice I was used to drinking,
but it was delicious nonetheless. I took another sip before setting it on one
of the coasters on the coffee table and turning to look at Sarah and Nadine.
They were both sitting on the armchair across from the couch where I sat. They seemed
quite giddy. It was a stark contrast to the impression Nadine had given me at
first. I did a quick mental check that served as a reminder that first
impressions could often be misleading. Besides, just because she
looked
the part of the “it” girl with
the perfect life, didn’t mean she was anything like that.

Caroline plopped
down on the couch next to me, “How do you like New York so far?”

That was all it
took for me to launch into stories about my week sightseeing and how awesome
everything was. “I’d always wanted to get out and see the world and, even if
it’s just been one city, it really feels like it’s a dream comin’ true,” I
ended, eyes starry. I took a sip of my juice, hoping I hadn’t gone on too long and
bored my new roommates.

 
“I felt similarly when I first moved here from
Florida.” Sarah assured me. “I’m from Cedar Key. It’s a small place, but I do
love it. Even though I’d been to Tampa a few times it’s nothing compared to New
York.”

“Is this your
first visit to a big city, then?” Caroline piped in.

That was one thing
I had failed to mention, but it wasn’t on purpose. I had just gotten so carried
away telling them about my exciting adventures that I didn’t think of telling
them about home and what a shock everything was to me. “Yes, I pretty much
always stayed in my small hometown.”

“And where was
that?” Nadine asked.

“A small farm town
just outside Fort Dodge,” I responded. “Fort Dodge was really th’only place I
went to regularly outside my hometown and it was all on business at the
Farmer’s Market.” It wasn’t until I stopped talking that I realized my accent
had popped up but, for the first time, I didn’t feel the need to hide it. After
all, they were all getting to know me as their new roommate.

That was when the millions
of questions started. They asked all about my parents and siblings, where I
worked and what it was like, and even went into questions about the sorts of
guys there were out there. All of them found it quite interesting, much to my
surprise, and that was how I came to learn Caroline had also come from a small
town, although she had visited a number of big cities before. Despite that, even
she had been awestruck by New York. Nadine was the only one who was actually
from New York, something I found amazing. I didn’t hesitate in asking questions
and it wasn’t long before we were all comfortable around one another.

 
“Ready to see your room?” Caroline said as she
stood up with excitement. I smiled and nodded eagerly, my hair swinging back
and forth. That was when Caroline ran her slender fingers through my chocolate
brown locks, “So pretty. Your hair is really gorgeous, you know.” She paused and
looked directly into my eyes, “
You
are really pretty.”

“To say the
least,” Sarah replied wistfully, “Those emerald eyes really stand out too.”

“Sonja really
found a gem,” Nadine chimed in.

Caroline cleared
her throat and corrected her, “A star, Sonja found a star.” She looked at me
with a sweet smile before going on, “I really do think you’ll be the one.” The
other two nodded in agreement. Now that I felt sufficiently awkward with the
turn the conversation had taken, I murmured a “thank you,” and stood up so
Caroline could show me to the bedroom.

As she led me to my
room, which I would get to enjoy privacy in, I couldn’t help but feel
incredibly thankful for hitting it off with all three of them right off the
bat.

“There are four
bedrooms then?” I asked as I placed my luggage on the bed.

Caroline shook her
head, “Sarah and Nadine share a room. Nadine grew up in New York City so she’s
use to smaller rooms and when Sarah got here she was feeling lonely and
homesick. It all came together perfectly because the two of them are like two
peas in a pod.”

After Caroline
excused herself and closed the door, I sat down on the bed and looked around
the room. It was a decent size, though smaller than the one I had at my
family’s house. The walls were painted a pale mint green that I actually quite
liked. The bed was full-sized and came complete with plain white blanket,
sheets, and a pillow. There was a simple desk tucked away in the corner with a
swiveling chair and when I opened the closet I was pleased to find wooden
hangers in it.

It was basic, but
had pretty much everything I needed to get started; I couldn’t wait to slowly
make it my own. I pulled my bedroom door open and peeked into the hallway, eyes
landing on the open bathroom door across the way. That meant the bedroom next
to me, which had the door closed, belonged to Caroline and the master bedroom
at the end of the hallway was where Nadine and Sarah stayed. I was curious to
know what their rooms looked like, but knew I would see them eventually.
 

After some time, my
roommates knocked on my door to tell me they wanted take me out. “It
is
Saturday night after all,” Nadine said
with a bright smile.

 
Then they suggested I hurry to finish unpacking
and then go out with them. I agreed and made quick work of pulling out my
clothes and organizing it in the chest of drawers and closet before sitting on my
chair and wondering what on Earth I could wear for a night out in New York
City. During my free week I had explored a bit of the city, but none of that
had included any form of nightlife.

I sighed and stood
up to remove pictures from a pouch in my luggage and taped them to the walls.
They were all photos of my family that I had brought in case I ended up staying
in New York. I thought about them and hoped that someday I could make my mom
proud for taking this path.

Everything seemed
like some sort of crazy dream. Against all odds, I had managed to be booked by
one of the top modeling agencies. I didn’t think that was any small coincidence
and figured I would have to be a fool to let such an opportunity slip through my
fingers, especially because I truly was interested in it.

Once I was done
taping up the pictures above the desk and thinking about my parents and
siblings, I went right back to feeling out of place. I knew there was nothing
in my limited wardrobe that was nearly as glamorous or sexy as anything my new
roommates would have. I didn’t know much about the current fashion trends and
now I was mentally kicking myself for not having looked into that. Instead, I
had taken to the streets of New York my first week there. Maybe I should have
been shopping after all. My thoughts were interrupted when Nadine knocked on
the door.

“You need any help
picking out an outfit?” Nadine asked after I opened the door.

When I bit my lip
and looked down at my feet, she cautiously approached the closet and pulled
open one of the doors. Right then, Sarah and Caroline stepped in.

“What’s up guys?”
Caroline asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before peering into the closet
from behind Nadine. They realized I didn’t have anything remotely
Brooklyn-worthy and consulted each other silently, seemingly coming to an
agreement purely from looking at one another. Without a word, Nadine walked
forward and grabbed my hand to take me into the living room where she signaled
for the other two to bring out some options from their own wardrobes. That was
when I pieced together what they had been talking about.