Discovering Me

Chapter 1-Vitium

I was getting ready to get on the catwalk ,and all I needed now was a tiny confidence boost ,maybe telling myself I was beautiful wasn't good enough so I looked for validation usually it was Reya who gave me it . She also happened to be the designer for this show ,me and her were the same age ,16 , although she had gathered more fame and accomplished more than I ever will this being her first fashion showcase and to me she was inspiring , and she had chosen me to be showstopper ! ME ! Diya Lailani Moghul!

"You ready?" Reya called from near the ramp.

"Yeah" I whispered back.

"Okay ,everyone ready?"

"YASSSSS" replied the rest of the girls , of which at least 15 could be mistaken for Victoria secret models.

"Ok, Rani you're opening "

"Ten seconds..." said Reya , loud enough for us to hear , she sounded nervous which was expected yet I was still surprised as she was never  nervous.

Then silence , I could feel my blood pumping and could almost hear the adrenaline rushing through us all ,I was scared and  for the first time regretted saying yes , but it was too late to turn back now. I held my breath and waited.

"...3,2,1"

As the blood red  velvet curtains pulled apart Rani walked out. She  was welcomed by a  round of applause and lots of cameras flashing .Then chaos it took no longer than a second for everyone to start jumping around frantically, practicing their walk ,look for shoes or safety pins or both , I could see some girls praying , while others were frantically chatting with their mother or maybe friends on their phones, I saw one of the new girls pacing the room as her legs shook .

To be honest I was terrified I never imagined my self being a model, ever, that was just too much for the anxious ,introverted, me , I like maths and computing not social interaction and definitely  not attention on me and tonight there would be. Reya on the other hand was back to her normal self.

Me and her met when we were fourteen, back then her people skills were bad  which is quite an understatement, anyways ever since her designing career launched she'd practically turned into a social butterfly overnight, at least she has her sarcasm which will never go ,hopefully. This was her night and I could  not mess it up. She called the show "VITIUM" which was the Latin  for flawed when I asked her why she said because humanity will always be flawed , perfect doesn't exist. Her dresses were inspired by all the cultures in the world which she mixed and matched to make fifty masterpieces. I was wearing one of them.

I looked in the mirror one more time , I looked ridiculous  compared to the others .It wasn't what I was wearing, (which was an extravagant patterned red skirt , a frilly neon top with lots of embroidery and beading and a crown made of emeralds and rubies) the clothes were amazing I was just ugly .

"Lei, you're next." Reya called breaking me out of my trance.

"okay, count me down" I called back.

"gottcha"

"....2,1, go, go ,go"

And I walked trough those curtains and I was showered with applause and bright lights , with my model face on I felt fierce sort of like an alter ego "she's hot" I heard someone say, followed by "shut up" his voice was quite raspy as if he had been chatting all night or maybe singing not that I would know ,whoever it was it was appreciated because one thing  I did not want to be was objectified .

I walked to the top of the ramp did a little twirl to show off my flowy skirt , careful not to trip ,then I was followed by the models before me because Reya wanted the spectators to have one last look.