True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager Page A

go up and tell them,” she said.
    It helps if you have curly dark hair and happen to be gorgeous. Kyle would fall over laughing if I went up to him and told him I liked him. Then he’d tell all of his friends so they could laugh at me, too.
    â€œYeah, like how you were so brave in the hall just now,” I said.
    â€œHey, he’s not an ordinary guy. He’s like actor hot or something,” she said. “But don’t you think it’s better to know? What’s the worst thing he could say? If they don’t like you back… then you just move on.”
    Easy to say when guys fall all over themselves to talk to you. I bet she had never been rejected by anyone she liked. Devon’s mom knocked on our door to say goodnight and reminded us we needed to get up early for the audition.
    â€œDo you like anybody right now?” Devon asked after her mom left.
    Like I was going to tell her about Kyle after she had gone behind her best friend’s back. “Nah. Besides, guys never seem to go for me. They all want girls who look like Yasmin or Arianna or you. I wish I had dark hair and big brown eyes like yours.”
    â€œFunny,” she said as she snuggled down into her pillow. “I’ve always wanted blonde hair and blue eyes like yours.”

Chapter Ten
    My stomach felt like I had psychotic butterflies clog dancing in there the next morning. Devon and I spent a half hour doing our hair and makeup. We weren’t supposed to wear makeup, but there was no way I was going to the audition with puffy eyes, a blotchy broken-out face, and without any brow color. I put on sheer foundation to cover my spots, powder because I get greasy, Little Rose mascara and brow pencil, lip stain, and I borrowed some of Devon’s cream blush. Devon had a black wrap dress on and I put on my outfit.
    Mrs. Myeski gave us our numbers, and we had to wait in a huge line to do a quick interview. A man named Noah interviewed me and asked me about my modeling background. Somehow I didn’t think he’d be impressed with the fact I pretended my hallway was a runway, so I said I had a big interest in fashion and photography. I had to admit my cell phone pics always came out excellent. He stared at me for a minute and then nodded. He gave me a packet to fill out and called the next number. Devon was already filling out her forms in the lobby.
    â€œSome of the girls are doing their auditions,” she said. “Wanna sneak in and watch?”
    I nodded. We sat in the back as one girl practiced walking for the judges. She had thick dark hair down to her waist, and you could tell she knew she was hot.
    â€œMonique, your nose is a little flat from the front. I don’t think print work will be right for you,” one of the judges said.
    They thought her nose was flat? She could win a beauty pageant compared to me. Devon and I looked at each other.
    â€œShe’s amazing,” she said.
    The next girl was almost six feet tall with long spiral curled dark hair. She didn’t even walk in front of the judges. She, like, sashayed or something. The judges asked about her hair, and she said it was natural. She claimed she never even used a curling iron or rollers either. I thought I was going to puke. There was no way I could compete against her. No way. Devon and I sat through the first hour of auditions. Out of all the girls there were maybe three who weren’t sophisticated, and even they looked better than me. I felt bad for Devon since the judges had already told four other girls how curly hair was the most difficult to deal with. I bet they still picked the tall girl with the spiral curls though. Devon grabbed my hand, and we went into the hallway.
    â€œI feel sick right now,” she said. “I should have straightened my hair again. Why did I bother washing it this morning?”
    â€œYou could still run up to the room and change it,” I said. “But it looks gorgeous