chapter 18

"No ma'am," I informed her, "That would be me."

"I see. Well, you don't really look like the outgoing type, with your hair dangling in front of your face. Usually shy girls adopt that hairstyle. We will change that,"

The girl in the chair turned to look at me. She was absolutely beautiful, with straight brown hair and milky brown skin. She was slender, and had very big eyes.

"My name is Serena. I'm one of the top ten also." She got up quickly from the chair to go to the girls by the wall. She beckoned to me. "Come."

Serena seemed to be judging me, looking me over, almost... trying to find fault with me. Her eyes narrowed as she took in my drab appearance, dull in comparison to the other girls', their shimmering dresses catching the light and shining it across the room. Under her criticizing scrutiny, I began to feel inferior, shrinking before her eyes. I hated girls like her. Why couldn't I measure up to their standards?

"Hello." I shook off my annoyance and greeted them when I walked closer. None of the girls were as gorgeous as Serena, but they were all pretty.

"Hey," a girl with light creamy skin and blonde hair said. "I'm Lexi,"

"I'm GiGi." GiGi was a very tall girl, model-like, with long brown hair that flowed to her waist. Her hair was absolutely magnificent.

"I'm Donna." A girl with red hair and chocolate brown eyes nodded at me.

I started to hear a flurry of names.

"I'm Felicia."

"I'm Ginny."

"I'm Jane."

"I'm Deanna."

"I'm Zelda." I stared at the last girl, taking in her beauty. I hadn't noticed her before because she was hiding behind Donna, but now, I saw her pimple-free tanned skin and her dark, enchanting eyes. She was very curvy, not skinny, but definitely not fat. She really reminded me of Delilah.

"I'm Eve." I introduced myself, "This is my twin, Sadie." They crowded around me, barely giving me room to breathe, asking about where I lived and what school I went to. Their piercing questions were not much unlike Serena's glare, inquisitive and nosy to the maximum. I was about to die from their bombardment of inquiries when Wendy pulled me out of their group.

"Time to do your hair, sweetie!" she smiled and winked. Then she leaned down and whispered. "Those girls are a bunch of piranhas. There were trying to find out anything about you they could make fun of. I've seen it before. Remember, show them you're not a pushover and they'll leave you pretty much alone."

"Thank you for telling me this." I said, smiling at her. She emanated a friendly feel that wasn't present among the other contestants.

"You're very welcome, dear." she surveyed my hair, feeling it. "You have wonderful hair. A bit mousier than I would like, but it has great volume and, shall I say, curling potential. We're going to start here..."

I listened to Wendy's melodic voice as she went over the steps to curling my hair and then pulling it up. It was actually very easy, and it looked gorgeous when completed, a spectacular display of simple twists and designs.

"You think you can do that at home?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I assured her quickly. Hair was one of my specialties... it was just that I never had the time for that sort of stuff at home.

"Call me Wendy, honey," she laughed. "You make me sound real old." Wendy waved as I got up from her chair and started walking towards Jenni as she beckoned for me.

"Hello, Eve," she pulled me real close to her so she could study my face. Her bright green eyes narrowed in concentration, she examined every aspect of my face. It didn't feel strange and uncomfortable, like Serena's scrutiny, but kind and helpful. Inspecting every inch, she soon let me go.

"Wow," she said in utter amazement, a beautiful smile stretched across her face.

"What is it?"

"I actually feel you'd look worse with makeup on than you would without. I can't believe it!" she told Wendy who was walking towards us. "She doesn't need a makeover."

"I thought so too," they both stared at me, wonderingly. At that moment, under their generous adoration, I truly felt beautiful.

"You are very blessed." Jenni smiled at me.

"Come on, let's take you to the changing room." Wendy placed a hand on my back and guided me out the door. Before I left, I managed a look at the girls' mouths dropped in surprise and laughed softly. Serena most of all, her jaw hitting the floor almost. Her expression was of surprise, but her eyes held carefully veiled fury. I guess she didn't like having to listen to someone besides herself be called beautiful.

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