The next couple months were tough. Hali's father had sadly been diagnosed with cancer. She knew he had always wanted her to be successful in something, to pursue a career. That's what she wanted; but she could never find anything but the lingering, stupid thought of modeling.
When she was younger he had always told her modeling was evil and horrible. That judges would body shame you, and you would be humiliated and your anxiety will get worse. But she had been thinking, and she made up her mind: She would model. She would make her dad proud, and she would get enough money to pay for him to get better.
Max was, of course, thrilled by the news. She dropped everything else she was working on and they practiced photo shoots and watched videos about modeling. We pointed out things models would do, like how they posed and what angles the camera was at.
We looked for different opportunities on KidsCasting, and waited for months. It was May 2nd when she discovered she had gotten an email from a casting director for a modeling company. She excitedly opened it. Max stood next to her, hyped up. She slowly read it. Then, she saw it. She had gotten a modeling job for Justice. The day before her birthday, and she had to model for Justice. She slammed her phone down and hid her face in her hands.
Max sighed. "Well, it's not THAT bad."
Hali rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad? It's a rainbow heart peace sign cheesy glitter sparkle eight year old store!"
Max looked down. "Just do it. Everyone starts somewhere.. You have to deal with things you don't like sometimes, but at least you get this at all. You will regret this if you don't do it."
Hali shrugged. "Okay, fine. One photo shoot can't hurt, I guess. I get paid $200 an hour. So I should get around $800 from it."
Max smiled. "That's amazing!"
Hali looked up and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll do it."
