Who They Really Are

ten

"Kat Riley."

Kat took a deep breath and stood up, walking into the small room where the call backs were taking place. She didn't know exactly was going to happen, but she did know that she was extremely nervous.

"Hello Kat. Just take a seat please," a man said as she walked in. He looked around 45, and had thin, greying hair. He had a little place card in front of him saying his name was Jack.

The only thing in the room was a little rectangular table with 3 people sitting on one side of it, and a chair for her on the other side. Kat sat in her seat, and looked up anxiously at the people across from her.

"We just want to ask some questions today, Kat. It'll only take a few minutes and it's nothing formal so don't worry," one of the two ladies in the room said. She was the older one of the two, probably around 50, and had short blonde hair. Her name card said Theresa.

"Sounds good," Kat replied with a smile.

"Okay. How about we start by talking about how you first got into modeling," the other lady said. She was younger, probably mid-30's and had bright red hair and green eyes. The card in front of her said Sarah.

"I actually started in a weird kind of way. I'd always loved the idea of being a model, and one day I saw an ad for a smaller clothing store that was wanting a new model for their brand. I entered the contest, and I won. I modeled for them, and after that started getting new opportunities from bigger brands. It's pretty crazy how it all happened. I'm really grateful."

"Wow.. That's a pretty neat start you've got. What's one of your favorite shoots that you've ever gotten to do?" Jack asked her.

"Definitely this shoot I did in Utah. We did all these shots out in the mountains in the snow, and they all came together really perfectly in a wintery wonderland sort of way."

They all nodded at her, and even took notes as she spoke.

"Last question.. Why do you want to be in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?" Sarah asked.

Kat didn't even have to think.

"I know this will probably sound like everyone else's answers, but I've wanted this since I was little. I remember watching the show on tv when I was probably only four years old, and I fell in love with it. I loved the outfits and the music of course, but I really loved the confidence and beauty the girls showed. Those girls instantly became role models to other aspiring models, and to girls everywhere. They were comfortable with their bodies and appearances and made me feel like I could be that way too. And I would love to be able to make another little girl feel like that. It'd be an honor."

They scribbled down more notes, and Kat sat nervously for a couple minutes as they wrote. Finally, Jack spoke.

"Okay Kat, you can go wait outside. We'll be out in a few minutes to say what happens next."

Kat thanked them and walked back outside to wait with the other nervous girls. She chatted with a few of them she remembered from the last audition, and it wasn't long before Sarah came out and everyone hushed.

"Can I please have Lacey Palimo, Rachel Harris, Kat Riley, Reagen West, Alex Peters, Malika George and Madison Baughman come back in? The rest of you please wait for a few more minutes."

Kat slowly stood up with the rest of the group and walked to the room with a sense of dread growing inside her. This was it- they were about to tell them they didn't make it.

She followed the other girls into the room, and they all formed a line around the table.

"Alright girls," Jack said. "You all did tremendously well and we think all of you deserve a spot in the show. But I'm just gonna be honest- we have only 3 spots left in the lineup and there's 7 of you here.
We would love to be able to put all of you in, but we just can't." Jack paused to let that sink in.

What does this mean? Kat thinks to herself.

"So we're going to have the 7 of you do some type of shoot in the Victoria's Secret or Pink lines with other models who are already in the show. We want to see how you do with the brand and with the other girls. Then we'll decide who goes from there."

The girls looked at each other with wide eyes. They were going to have to compete with each other?

"We've never done this before, but we really don't know what else to do. You were all great, we just don't have enough spots. So this is what we're doing. We'll call your agents to set up times for the shoots. Good luck girls."

Kat took a deep breathe and made her way out of the room with the other girls. She didn't know what to think about the situation. She was really scared, but also excited to get to try and prove that she deserved the spot.

But what was she going to have to do to get that spot?