Fashion Frenzy (15 page)

Maeve’s smile faded. “I’m sorry, Katani. I…I don’t
know what happened. She just started asking me questions…and I knew the answers. It was so different from school…”

“I know,” Katani admitted, exhaling a deep breath. “It’s not you, Maeve. You were awesome. You know just how to talk in front of a camera. I guess that’s why you want to be an actress. It’s just that since we’re at a fashion show, I thought I’d get more of a chance to talk about what was going on here.”

“Maybe we can get her to shoot another take?” Maeve suggested optimistically.

“Nah, I guess the thing about news is…they just cover whatever is the most interesting. Besides, that Karen woman is long gone by now.”

As Maeve turned to see if there was any trace of the chatty reporter, Michelle suddenly sprinted around the corner. She rushed up to the girls and grabbed Katani’s arm. “Thank goodness I found you. We have an emergency!” she said quickly.

“What? What’s wrong?” Katani asked, hardly able to stay on her feet as Michelle pulled her through the crowd. Maeve hurried after them. She wasn’t about to lose her friends a second time that day.

“Shh—just follow me and act like you know what you’re doing.” Finally Michelle stopped in front of a short, muscular man with a slick silver ponytail. “Blaze, this is Katani Summers—the girl I was telling you about.”

Blaze, with his ponytail gleaming in the makeup mirror and the deliberate wrinkles in his silk shirt, looked every bit the designer. He spun around to
inspect Katani. “Stand up straight,” he commanded.

Katani stood tall, her expression serious. Blaze lifted his arms and, framing her face with his hands, suspiciously studied Katani. Then he gave a quick, deciding clap and declared, “Yes! You were right, Michelle. She’s perfect.”

“Perfect for what?” Katani asked hesitantly.

“Blaze needs you to model,” Blaze began, starting to assemble skirts and pants suits in a circle at Katani’s feet. “One of my models just got sick—perfect timing, right? I need her on the runway and she’s in the bathroom moaning, ‘Food poisoning! Food poisoning!’ Blaze tells these girls a billion times, no seafood on runway days. Then I see this girl eating shrimp cocktail and an hour later, Blaze is calling 911, ambulance, and she has the food poisoning. Well the show must go on, and Blaze needs a replacement.”

“But I’m not a model!” Katani gasped.

Blaze continued to pull together clothes and accessories, unaffected by Katani’s hesitation. “You are now, kiddo. We’ve got to hustle. People want to see Blaze’s designs. We need a model, and you are it!”

“You should do it, K,” Michelle whispered. “It’ll be a great experience. Think how much you’ll learn about fashion from actually being in the show.”

“I’m really not sure,” Katani started to say.

Maeve popped up behind her. “If you don’t want to do it, I wouldn’t mind. I’m really comfortable on stage,” she said with a wide smile.

Blaze gave her one glance and rolled his eyes. “Blaze does not have time for this…this…ridiculousness.
Please, people, I need
models
here! Is that too much to ask?” Blaze started hyperventilating and fanning himself with his rumpled shirt.

Maeve seemed to shrink as she looked away. Two patches of red appeared on her cheeks, as though someone had slapped her.

“Hey!” Katani said. “She’s my
friend
!”

Michelle’s mouth hung open as she tried to find the right words. Maeve breathed deeply as she pushed back the hurt. “It’s okay, Katani. You should be the one to do this. You are perfect, so…I’m just going to get out of the way.”

“But—,” Katani began.

“Shhh!!” Maeve made a brushing motion as if to say forget about it, as she walked away to seek cover from the hurricane of commotion surrounding Katani.

As she spun around to leave, Blaze caught a glimpse of her fiery red locks. “See now this is what Blaze is talking about! The hair, it is gorgeous. You should do shampoo commercials, yes?”

“Are you talking to me?” Maeve asked, running a finger through her hair.

“Yes, you. Too short for the runway, but just right for the shampoo commercials, I think. Very pretty face.” Then—just like that—Blaze forgot about Maeve and turned his attention back to Katani.

Bye
, Maeve mouthed as she tiptoed away.

Katani wished she didn’t feel so alone and overwhelmed as the crowd of strangers swooped in around her.

“Shoe size?”

“Huh?” Katani looked down to see a tiny, elfin-like woman crawling around her feet.

“Hmm—eight or nine?” asked the woman.

“Eight and a half,” Katani answered. They pulled her over to a vacant corner to show her the outfits she would be wearing.

“The gold sweater and skirt first. Get her ready and get her out there!” Blaze started clapping as he shouted, “Move it, move it, move it!”

Maeve found an empty chair in a corner by an unlit mirror. She tried to offer supportive smiles to her friend, but inside she was aching. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so embarrassed. Even Blaze’s compliment about her beautiful red hair didn’t take away the sting that they didn’t want her to model.

She could feel tears rising in her eyes, but she blinked them away. It was silly to be upset about this. Designers had their needs, she supposed. But it did feel terrible that he had rejected her on the spot.
Maeve, chill out
, she told herself.
It’s no big deal
. She looked at her own reflection in the dim mirror. How could she have so quickly forgotten Andre’s lovely makeup job? Maeve sniffled away her sadness and gave her best television-worthy smile, remembering how well the interview had gone that morning. Her ego was almost fully recovered when two models approached and sat down on the other side of the mirror. They must have thought they were alone in the dark corner and began to freely gossip as they strapped on high sandals and primped. “Oh my gosh,
here’s
a good one! Did you hear about that little
girl who asked to model for Blaze?” one voice tittered.

Maeve heard a second voice burst into laughter. “Did I hear about it? Kaloren, I was
there
! It was hilarious! Blaze got so upset…he’s so dramatic. I love it,” she snorted.

“These kids…,” the other girl, apparently Kaloren, huffed. “I mean, they think that you can just walk off the street and magically become a model.”

“Well,” the second model said knowingly, “we did.”

They giggled.

“Whatever. Modeling is one of those things. You’ve either got it, or you don’t and that’s just the way it is.”

“Totally,” the other model said. “How do I look?”

“Hot,” answered Kaloren. “Let’s go.”

Both girls laughed once more, tugged at the straps of their sandals, and trotted off toward the show.

Maeve drew back behind the mirror. Now she was the one who felt sick. They were making fun of her because Blaze hadn’t chosen her to model?

“
Do I really look all that different from them
?” Maeve asked herself as she looked into the three-sided mirror. Back at school, she was a glamour girl. And of course her hair was exceptional! After all, it was her signature trademark. But Maeve wanted to be able to do whatever she set her mind to. She didn’t want to be a shampoo girl, and she certainly didn’t want to be mocked by a couple of mean girls—even if they were world-class models.

“There you are. I thought you might have overheard our little friends,” said a voice. It was coming from behind another mirror. A woman poked her head out from the
side. She was wearing tight leather pants with a matching halter-top. Her blonde hair, which she was in the middle of fixing, was full of little sparkles. She took one look at Maeve’s unhappy face. “Ah, you did.”

Maeve swallowed. “I just don’t have the model look, I guess. Those girls
were
right…you either have it or you don’t.”

“Model look, yes. Model height…no, but darling, take a look at them! Most girls in this world will never be so tall. And that’s okay. Listen—what’s your name?” the model asked.

“Maeve,” she whispered.

“Nice to meet you, Maeve. I’m Mimi. Let me tell you the trick about modeling. It is less about the model and more about the clothes. It doesn’t matter so much if these girls are anything special, as long as they have the right bodies to wear the clothes. But you know something? You have gorgeous red hair and lovely eyes, and you are going to be a
knockout
.” She saw the doubt on Maeve’s face. “Trust me. You really are.”

“They made fun of me,” Maeve said, hardly able to get the words out. “They thought it was…stupid that I thought I could model.”

“Maeve, who cares! From what I hear, you’re going to be a famous actress someday.”

Maeve looked up, surprised.

“I saw the interview,” Mimi explained with a knowing smile. “You have more to offer…that’s obvious.”

Maeve tried to look grateful. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “Really…I’m fine.” But saying that only made her feel
worse. As far as acting was concerned, her performance of “fine” was not very convincing.

“I have an idea,” Mimi said. She sat on the floor with her legs crossed and patted the ground next to her for Maeve to do the same. Mimi looked like a statue of a Greek goddess, completely still amongst the mayhem.

“Come on, Maeve,” Mimi urged. “I only have a few minutes before I’m on stage.”

Maeve hesitantly obeyed. She would have felt silly sitting there alone, but if she was with a supermodel it couldn’t be that bad.

Mimi closed her eyes and placed her hands on her knees with her palms facing upward. “All right, Maeve, take a deep breath through your nose and feel your tummy expand, and hold it in for about five seconds,” she instructed. “Ignore everything going on around you.”

Maeve inhaled. It only took a moment for her to forget that she was in the middle of a very busy fashion show.

“Now breathe out through your nose and release all hurtful comments and negative thoughts.”

Maeve nodded and grinned. In her imagination, Kaloren and Jamie and all their hurtful comments came out too in the form of toxic green smog.

“Now do it one more time,” said Mimi. “Breathe in good energy and breathe out the bad.”

Maeve repeated the exercise, smiling to herself.

“There.” Mimi opened her eyes. “Feel better?”

“Yeah! I really do,” Maeve gushed. “What was that?”

Mimi brushed herself and readjusted her outfit. “Just a little cleansing yoga breathing. It helps me every time I
get stressed out. Remember, the trick is not to worry about what other people think about you.” Mimi threw back her shoulders and shook out her hair, showering Maeve with glitter. “We’re special people, Maeve. And pettiness is not worth our time.”

“Mimi, out front, now!” called a woman at the edge of the room by the curtains.

“Oops! Gotta go,” Mimi said. She gave Maeve a wink and click-clacked toward the exit.

Maeve threw back her shoulders like Mimi and stood as tall as she could. She took one more cleansing yoga breath and indeed felt very refreshed.
I must remember to invite Mimi to “An Evening with Maeve,”
she thought. Kaloren and Jamie, on the other hand, were definitely NOT on the list.

H
ey, want to see the coolest part of my job?” Maeve looked up, startled. It was Michelle. Her eyes were blazing with fury.

“Michelle, what’s going on?” Maeve asked. She wondered what she had done to get Michelle mad.

“Just watch,” Michelle said as she patted Maeve’s arm encouragingly. Maeve crept behind a curtain backstage and peered around the edge. Meanwhile, Michelle, notebook in hand, marched straight up to the two models who had made fun of Maeve just a moment ago.

“Excuse me,” said Michelle.

The two models, towering over Michelle, sneered at her. They did not seem happy that she was interrupting their conversation. And from the way they were rolling their eyes, Maeve realized they had no idea who Michelle was.

“Could I have your names, please?” Michelle asked.

“We don’t do autographs before the show,” one of them snapped haughtily.

Michelle smiled smartly. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m
with
the show,” she said. “Names?”

“Kaloren Kraus,” said the first, tilting her chin into the air.

“Jamie Finkle,” said the second, also tilting her chin.

“Great. Okay, Kaloren, Jamie, the good news is you still get to work in the show today. The bad news is, you will never model in a
Teen Beat
fashion show again.”

Both girls looked stunned. And furious. “Are you kidding me?” Kaloren gasped. “Why?”

“News spread quickly about your immature comments backstage. Your words were very hurtful. At
Teen Beat
we try to make teens and kids feel happy and good about being themselves. We don’t care for attitudes like yours and won’t support them.” Maeve couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Unfortunately for you, your attitudes just don’t fit in here. But you have been paid for the day and I expect you to go out there and be professional!” Michelle gave them a stern look and walked away from the stunned models.

“My agent is going to flip!” Kaloren wailed over the music the DJ just started blaring. “I’ve just got to learn to keep my mouth shut.”

When Michelle returned, she gave Maeve a satisfied smile. “Well that was fun! Hey Maeve, the show is just about to start. Why don’t you try to get a seat in the first row? You’ll get to see everyone up close…including
Katani! And don’t worry about those two girls—they will get other jobs, just not at
Teen Beat
. We don’t want models with mean, negative attitudes. It reflects badly on what
Teen Beat
is trying to do.”

“Okay. Gee…thanks, Michelle,” Maeve said. Michelle really did have a cool job. She couldn’t believe Katani’s cousin had stuck up for her like that. It made her feel a lot better.

On her way to the front, Maeve glimpsed a young model standing still while a bevy of assistants buzzed around her like flies. Maeve almost fainted when she recognized the face. It was Katani, and she looked fantastic. She was wearing a clingy gold sweater, a matching knee-length swishy skirt, and high-heeled brown leather boots.
Katani is always beautiful
, Maeve thought,
but today she really looks like a top model
.

Maeve wondered how that outfit would look on her.
Probably not as good
.
Then again, gold really isn’t my color
, she thought as she flung back her luxurious, good-for-shampoo-commercials hair.

Just then, someone tapped Maeve on the shoulder. “Excuse me, miss.”

When she turned around and saw who it was, she almost fainted for the second time in a minute. It was Isabel’s favorite Latina singer, Dina B! “You are the aspiring actress, yes? The one who came here from Boston?”

“I…I…” Maeve was tongue-tied. She had always prided herself on her star-quality speaking skills and here she was…completely star-stuck! Not only was Maeve talking to Dina B, but Dina B had stopped to talk to
her
!
She must have seen the news report, and now she knew Maeve wanted to be an actress.

Then Maeve remembered that Dina B was launching her own line of teen clothes that day.
She must be doing the launch right here at the show
, Maeve thought in amazement.
I can’t believe I’m talking to her. Isabel is going to be so jealous!

Dina had warm, caramel skin, almond-shaped dark eyes, brown hair pulled smoothly into a bun behind her head, and a soft, bright smile. She looked a little worried. “I heard your interview with the reporter from New York 1. You did such a wonderful job! And then when Mimi…” Dina glanced in the direction of the kind, blond model, “…told me about those nasty models, I was so upset! A girl as smart as you, you probably know how silly it is to say who can and who can’t be models! Besides,” Dina added with a wink, “from what I hear, you have other plans.”

Maeve couldn’t believe how glamorous Dina was in person. She wore a full, flaring printed skirt with a wonderful glistening white cap-sleeved blouse tucked into it. She had a marvelous suede belt laced around her waist and a gorgeous amber choker around her neck.

Maeve also noticed that Dina B was
not
towering over her. In fact, she was only a few inches taller than Maeve. In her full skirt and lacy blouse, Dina reminded Maeve of an old-time movie star, like Vivien Leigh. Maeve thought she looked fantastic.

“What is your name again?” asked Dina B.

“Maeve,” she answered.

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Maeve. I’m Dina.
Today is actually my first runway show. I’m kind of nervous,” Dina admitted.

“Oh yes! My friend Isabel and me…we are really big fans! We read that you had a new line of clothes and that no one had seen them yet. We’ve been wondering what they would look like,” Maeve found herself suddenly gushing.

Dina laughed. “Well, my models are right over there wearing them if you want to check out the new line.”

She pointed at a table surrounded by a rainbow of colors. The models swirled around like a kaleidoscope in folds of glitter and silk. Some even had feathered boas! And the most amazing part was that Dina’s central color theme was a vibrant, raspberry pink. The models all looked fabulous and whimsical. It’s like
Legally Blonde
meets
The Princess Bride
, Maeve thought. This is my dream wardrobe!

“What do you think?” Dina asked with her eyebrows scrunched together. She seemed genuinely interested in Maeve’s opinion.

“Wow! I love it!” Maeve breathed. “Really, these clothes are…” Maeve laughed as she looked down at her own dazzling pink ensemble. “They’re just my style!”

“I thought you might like them!” Dina B exclaimed. “When I saw you on the news, you were so funny and cute. And I then I saw your outfit and I thought to myself, bravo! There’s a girl after my own heart.”

“Thanks!” said Maeve, turning a little pink herself.

Maeve could pick out Dina B’s models in the crowd. They were all curvy, healthy-looking girls, wearing beautifully cut print clothes in bright colors, along with unusual
jewelry. They were also the only ones eating. Maeve noticed two of them eating good-sized portions of delicious-looking fruit salad and big glasses of milk. Another one was eating a chicken Caesar salad. It all looked wonderful. Maeve was suddenly really hungry.

“Your models seem to be enjoying the food,” Maeve commented to Dina.

The singer/designer nodded. “Of course. That’s the way it should be. And I encourage them to. They’re growing girls; why shouldn’t they eat? The fashion world is changing, you know. WE want to design clothes that make all types of women feel beautiful.”

Maeve realized that Dina had very definite ideas on this subject. And it gave her a sense of tremendous relief to hear what Dina was saying. She could see that Dina’s models were curvier than the other models in the show, but they looked terrific. And the clothes they wore were striking. In fact, Maeve could imagine herself wearing them. She mentioned that to Dina.

Dina smiled and patted her arm again. “You’d better get out front before they start the show. But you know something?
I
can see you wearing my clothes, too. Listen, let’s make a deal. When you go to the premiere of your first movie, call me and I will make you a dress, okay? It’ll be my gift,” said Dina. She reached into her purse and handed Maeve a card. “Here. This is my personal designer line. Stay in touch, Maeve!” Dina gave Maeve a big smile and waved as she turned to go organize her models.

“Gee, thanks,” Maeve managed to squeak out. Dina B asked her—Maeve Kaplan-Taylor—to stay in touch. The
BSG would never believe this day. To think, all morning long she had thought her clothes were babyish and that she was not good enough to model clothes. Now Maeve was on top of the world. She couldn’t believe that in a city like New York, she’d managed to stand out from the crowd just by being herself. Maeve cast a glance at her reflection in a mirror as she headed for the front.
Ah
, she thought blissfully,
there’s no business like show business!

Maeve wanted to get her seat before the show started. She walked down the steps on the side of the stage and looked around. The runway itself was surrounded with hundreds of chairs. Behind that first row, chairs stretched out in all directions, and every single chair seemed to be taken. She looked around for Michelle, but Michelle was nowhere to be found.
I’m too late
, Maeve thought.
If I can even get a seat, it’ll probably be too far back to see Katani
.

The lights began to dim, and Maeve looked around frantically. Then she thought she heard someone say her name.

She squinted through the crowd, but it had become too dark to see anything.

“Maeve! Over here!” called a deep British voice. Maeve caught her breath as she realized the man standing and waving from the first row, right in the middle of the runway, was Simon! And there was no doubt about it—he was waving at
her
!

She waved back, trying to seem as cool as possible, and weaved her way through the crowd to him and Bea. They had saved her the seat between them. “Michelle asked us to look after you,” Simon whispered as she finally sank
down in the chair. “After all, we did a pretty good job last time.”

Maeve could hardly speak. She was so overwhelmed by the amazing view and the fantastic company, she felt like laughing out loud. Could this really be happening? Could she, Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, be sitting next to a movie star in the front row of a major fashion show in New York? Wait until Avery, Charlotte, and Isabel heard about this!

“Oh, Maeve, I want you to meet my friend,” said Bea. “Rini, this is Maeve. And Maeve, you’re from Boston, right?”

Maeve nodded. “Yes, well, actually I live in Brookline. It’s one of the suburbs—” Maeve stopped short when she saw the young woman sitting on the other side of Bea. The “Rini” she was about to meet was none other than
the
Rini Miller, one of her favorite teen stars! Could this day get any crazier?

Bea smiled. “Fabulous! Well I’d like you to meet Rini Miller. Rini is going to Boston to shoot a music video next month. Since you are from Boston, I thought maybe you could show her around a little when she gets there. Being a kid in a new city is hard if you don’t have a fun person around who knows all the hot places!”

“Of course!” Maeve said. “I’d be happy to! Nice to meet you, Rini.”

“Nice to meet you too,” said Rini in a quiet voice. “Do you really live near Boston?” she asked Maeve. Rini looked every bit the teen star, with layered blonde hair and a few freckles scattered over a button nose. But when she smiled at Maeve, she seemed really sincere. Maeve liked her on the spot.

“Yup,” Maeve said. “I’ve lived there a long time.”

“Wow, that’s so cool! I’ve traveled around a lot, but I’ve never really lived outside of Idaho. I’m a little nervous about going to Boston. Big cities still kind of scare me!”

“Don’t be nervous! Boston is a piece of cake once you get used to it. I think you’ll like it!” Maeve said, her natural warmth returning. “My friends in Boston are really nice and we always do lots of fun things. Maybe we could all get together and hang out while you’re in the city? We could take you to Montoya’s Bakery. They have the yummiest hot chocolate in the world.”

“Oh, I’d love that!” Rini cried. “I just hate hanging around in hotel rooms with all the grownups that manage my career. It’s so boring. I was worried about feeling like a stranger in Boston. Look, do you mind if I take your number? I’ll call you as soon as I know for sure when I’m coming.”

Bea smiled and supplied a sheet of paper from a notepad in her purse, and Maeve wrote down her number and email address for Rini. “There’s so much to see and do, not only in Boston but in Brookline,” she said. “If you’re interested, we can take you on a tour of our favorite places when you’re done shooting.”

“Thanks, I can’t wait,” Rini said, and she stuffed the paper into her tiny sparkly purse.

“Shh,” Bea said. “I think it’s showtime.”

Techno music began pulsating from the DJ’s speakers next to the stage. The room went completely black for a moment, and then the stage became a multicolored light show. The DJ cranked up the volume and as he did, a
shower of glitter confetti fluttered down. The curtains slid open and the first model strutted down the runway.

The letters B-L-A-Z-E glowed in a purple light on the backdrop of the stage. Maeve tried not to grin when she saw Kaloren and Jamie, the two models who’d been so rude to her, parading down the catwalk. They moved beautifully and did everything they were supposed to do to show off the clothes they wore, but each had a tight, angry expression. Maeve sighed and thought to herself,
I guess there will always be Queens of Mean wherever I go
.

Since she was right in the front row, both models saw her as they did their slow, graceful saunter down the runway. Kaloren pressed her lips tightly together and shot her a nasty look. Maeve, eager to see Katani, didn’t care one bit.

Simon looked bewildered. “I like it when models smile on the runway. Those two look like they’ve each swallowed a lemon, or something. Blagh!”